Hello There, my loyal readers! I apologize for the looong stretch between postings! I've been off so long, there are now new features on here! I can post from my phone and something called email posting ~ I'll have to look into that one!

Well, we survived both of Brayton's birthday parties, which were held on Saturday! The classmates one was from 1-3 and the family one started at 4. I was a little worried about how many friends were going to make it to his classmate party. We only invited 7 and 3 couldn't come. It went well, though, and here is a picture of the kids wearing their "hats" for the game I found online. These were 2 bowls glued together (bottom to bottom) and then the kids had to try and catch the balls in the bowl on top of their heads. I didn't know if they would want to participate, but some of them wore the hats most of the time, even when they weren't playing the game!

I love this shot of Brayton blowing out his candles. You can see the smoke swirling after he got a few blown out. . .

And, here is a shot of him with his cake from his family party. (We didn't have as much cake leftover as you might think. . . the last piece was shared by us all tonight after supper!)

To back-track a little, we took Brayton back to the Allergist (what the hey, we've met our deductible on him for the year :~) on Friday to evaluate. He was coughing a lot, seemed to have a lot of gunk in his lungs and we were having to use his inhaler more than they would like us to. So, we changed the meds concoction again. Now he is on Allegra for his allergies and a corticosteroid inhaler 2x a day. We then just use his albuterol for if he exercises too hard and needs it. This seems to be working quite well. Yes, I know he's only been on it 4 days, but his coughing has improved tremendously ~ that's always the most difficult thing to listen to.

When we were leaving the clinic, there was a young girl walking in with a very small infant in her arms. I almost asked her if she needed help or if I could just wrap the baby up. . . it's bare feet and legs were hanging out and it was warm that day, but not for a newborn. If she would've given the baby to me, I'd have taken it. I feel so badly when you see innocent kids not being taken care of properly! I know I wasn't perfect, but I'm pretty sure no one could accuse me of neglecting their basic needs! But, as we all know, they survive despite the care-free "care" they are given. Chris, of course, was shocked I was going to say anything ~ who will speak out for the child then???

I am not liking our Minnesota weather. . . We get 2 warm days and then BAM ~ it's cold again and it was sleeting/hailing this afternoon! I'm not sure when you look at the temp which term is used, but there were small ice pieces falling from the sky in sheets. We are ready for summer ~ in fact I was going to see how a suggestion of camping next weekend went over with Chris :~)

Today and yesterday I had the peaceful feeling that everything is perfect in our lives. Do you have those days?? The house was clean (with everyone's help) and last night the boys came to me at separate times to just to tell me they loved me! It doesn't get much better than that!! The boys are on a big kick to earn $$$. After Brayton counted all his birthday money (Taite continually has a running total of his brother's worth in his head. . .) they were both gung-ho to earn more. We labeled some extra zippered coin holders with their names and we put extra money in there so they can see what is in their "bank" (don't worry ~ we have most of their money in the real bank), but this will give them a visual of what saving 10% each week of their allowance will get them. Taite is taking this very seriously because he wants to save his money for a $110 Lego set. To me, that seems like a lot of money to spend on one toy (his wallet will seem VERY empty), but I suppose what is the point if he can't purchase something he is dying to have?? He even mentioned being on a "tight budget" tonight! LOL He's sooo money hungry I told him last night that he owed his brother (meaning a favor) because Brayton picked up Taite's dirty clothes in the bathroom (that's a deduct on their allowance chart) and he said "Aw, how much?" I laughed and said he was off the hook, I just meant he had to pick up Brayton's clothes once.

Tonight the boys worked on videos to post to their blog, but the camera is using batteries like crazy, so you can watch for those videos probably on Wednesday night (soccer is tomorrow night). Speaking of, I forgot to mention that started last Tuesday. It isn't nearly as convenient as last year, so this will probably our last year (that or Taite will have to choose which sports he wants to play for sure and just Brayton will play soccer). The boys play at two different spots in Kasson and Taite's practice starts at 5:45 and goes to 6:45 and Brayton's practice starts at 6:30 and goes until 7:30. Then, where Taite plays, there is no parking lot. Everyone just parks in the street (the field happens to be at the end of Steph's street), but I'm sure the people who live around there are not too happy about the new soccer fields. Brayton plays over by the city park (like playground equipment for little kids) and there is also a couple baseball diamonds. There IS a parking lot there, but it's very small, so some just park in the grass on the other side of the baseball fields and walks to the soccer fields. So far, now, I've forgotten to bring a coat both times! You'd think I'd know by now, but I rush out of the house (we have to eat and leave by 5:15) and forget until I am at soccer that I need a coat. I have now put a pullover lined wind-breaker in the van, but I'm sure I'll take the wrong van then ~ just seems to be my luck! :-D

Other than that, there is nothing much new here! Talk to you soon!!