Just stuff.

Yesterday I was thinking about a post, er, more of a question, well, just some thoughts. . .

Is there an age that people will "mature"? Or do the people, experiences, etc. that each of us encounter in our lives create who we are and that's just how it is? Here is why I ask:
If I go somewhere with Chris and he notices a pretty woman, I don't get upset ~ he's HUMAN! I can't say that she's not, either. Yet, I know some women get upset and mad if their husbands say anything or in some cases, just have to work with the woman! That just doesn't make sense to me. . . Is it because of insecurity they bring out the anger? If so, I don't think it will ever resolve itself!

Another "thing" I've noticed is that some parents who are single don't marry/date someone who treats their child as if they were their own. Yet, the couple stays together and to me that is the ultimate betrayal to the child if they aren't treated as fairly as the other kids involved in the "relationship". Just so you "get it", here's the example: Tim (name has been changed for obvious reasons hehe) has a son named Robert. Robert's mom is not in the picture at all, but Tim is now dating Rita. Rita also has kids and when they are all together, Robert is not treated the same as Rita's kids are, yet Tim doesn't say anything about how Rita treats Robert. Tim just acts as though it's Rita's right to discipline Robert. All it does in infuriate me! Who is going to stick up for Robert if his own father won't??? What are these adults thinking??? So, anyway, just some random thoughts (I was killing some time yesterday while we waited for my in-laws to get into Rochester).

All these thoughts were going through my head as I duplicated the photo Christmas card I had found online on Print Shop and it turned out GREAT!!! I even printed them on my printer and they look great! I ordered envelopes and will be able to mail them out next week! I am so excited! The thing I'm not excited about. . . getting all my dice game presents bought! I hate trying to come up with $5 or so gifts that aren't just junk. I thought we were going to change the "game" this year, but that didn't happen. So, I'm back to square one trying to find about 20 gifts for the dice game. When I find something good, I usually duplicate it because then I knock off 2 slots for the dice game. It doesn't make the game all that exciting, but it does ease a little pressure off of me!

Chris is still well so he's ready for his surgery on Tuesday. We don't know what time it will be yet because we have to call into the hospital tomorrow and then they have the schedule all completed for Tuesday's surgeries. We are supposed to go to a business dinner on Wednesday night and I am telling Chris he needs to let the sales rep know that we can't make it and Chris wants me to go to the meeting all by myself ~ something I am NOT prepared to do! I might consider it if we changed the restaurant we were going to to the one we ate at last night with Tom and Jane! They had excellent food and Chris said that it was better than anything he's had in Chicago (though I'm not sure if he just told me that so I'll quit bugging him to go there sometime. . .). It was excellent food and Taite was impressed that they gave him a free dessert for his birthday :~) I think he thanked the waitress and the guy who seats people at the door for his free dessert ~ isn't that cute??

Today we put up some of the Christmas decorations. If we do it in a couple of shifts, then it's not so overwhelming, though as I dug stuff out, I recall getting rid of many decorations this summer. . . You know the ones ~ you repack them every winter, but never put them out because you just don't like them?? I actually got rid of some of those!

We enjoyed the Vikings game today, but didn't do much else :~) It was a perfect ending to the Thanksgiving weekend! So, now I'd better get going on my planning for Brayton's class Christmas party. . .

What I am thankful for. . .

I know this one is a day late, but yesterday there wasn't any computer time because it was just us (the 4 of us) enjoying the day together. It was perfect ~ a relaxed dinner, movie, a little football, snuggling on the couch and no going anywhere (well, except for the delivery of bread and scalloped corn to mom & dad's ~ I couldn't change our plans to go over there and then not deliver what I said I would bring, even though we didn't eat there. . .). Taite and Brayton even thanked us a few times for the perfect Thanksgiving day! It doesn't get much better than that!

With that said, here is what I am thankful for:
~ The ability for us to enjoy just being together with no computers, cell phone calls, etc. for work. It really is different from any other day for us. I understand that is difficult for some to comprehend, but if our 7 and 10 year old can, there is still hope!
~ I am grateful that my dad is one of the few farmers with all of his crops out! I HATED trying to explain to a teary-eyed little boy why his daddy wasn't home to help him practice basketball. As much as Chris feels he has to help my dad, he absolutely despised letting Brayton down day after day. . .
~ I am thankful that the harvest was such a success! With the iffy growing season, the crops still did wonderful and Chris is excited about being compensated this year for helping! He has his eye on a new tool chest at Sears or Lowes, or where was that again? . .
~ I am thankful that over the years I have acquired the ability to remember that 'there are always two sides to every story' or 'the road goes both ways' ~ however you like to say it, it is o-so important to remember! In this day and age, everyone likes to point the finger at someone else and say it's their responsibility to make me happy ~ not 'my happiness is my own doing. . .'
~ I am grateful that our boys are excited to play a used Madden '09 football game on the Wii because it was so much cheaper than the Madden '10 that is new and just came out! They aren't as spoiled as I had thought!!
~ I am thankful that my husband sees me for the independent person that I am and is just perfect at being there for me when I need him to be!

Of course I am thankful for the usual things, but these are some of the things I have really been thinking about recently and am thankful for!

Our Photo Session photos. . .

I finally took the time to upload each picture (well, these aren't ALL of them!) from our photo session. I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and I apologize to those of you who receive a calendar from us each year, these pictures will show up again, so I hope you like them really well ~ heehee! I uploaded them as small pictures hoping that would speed up the uploading process. I'm not sure it did, but if you want to view them better, just click on the picture and you'll be able to see it in a larger shot!

Sometimes I am not very patient!

I need to explain this post & heading:
After about 4 days of trying to upload this video and the pictures from our photo session with Monica, I gave up. My computer kept locking up and then the Blogspot website would not work properly! I was done trying for at least a little while!
These are pictures and videos from Monday night. I "helped in Bray's class" (cut paper in the lounge for a project their class was going to do ~ not what I'm used to ~ in past years, helping in class meant you actually got to work with the kids and get to know the kids' classmates. . .) so anyway, while I was helping, I saw the music teacher and had to ask her about Taite's report card. It said that he "gives good effort on the recorder". I was thoroughly confused because he NEVER practices at home and I've been telling him that his teacher would be able to tell. . . Well, she explained that the effort was during class, it all made sense. In light of that conversation, Chris decided to help Taite practice by bringing out his trumpet so they could practice the notes together and Brayton brought his recorder and they all "jammed" together. Or Chris played and the boys danced :~)

Ah, I'm in love. . .

No, not with Jared Allen ~ don't bring that one up to my husband because he seems to think I am (so what if I want a fake barbed wire tat on my arm and to wear his jersey when we go to the game??? heehee!)

I bought this frame awhile ago at a little store in Rochester called Real Deals. It's my kind of store ~ the sticker on this frame says $2.42! It doesn't have a hanger on the back, but I have a husband! LOL I took the picture of Chris and I that I LOVE and printed it in sepia tones and LOVE how this whole thing turned out!!! I am going to put this above my desk at home because right now, there is nothing ~ just a blank wall. I am going to get two smaller frames and put the boys' pictures in them (they had some taken by the same barn door) and place them on the same wall setting! I LOVE IT!!!!

Just a Quick One ~

I am sooo excited today! This morning Monica came over to take some pictures and this evening we are going to Blind Side. I can't wait to see all of the pictures that Monica was able to take even though I only saw a small portion of them! Monica brought an Adirondack chair that was perfectly weathered and we even took Brayton's reading chair down to the terrace as another prop. We moved to a couple locations besides our house and all in all it went well. The boys thought it was really fun; Chris just tolerated it :~) Here are some pictures that we have from Brayton's camera. He loves taking pictures and Monica was more than willing to have a little protege to teach. In some cases she used Brayton's camera to take the picture for him.

During the "barn" shots, Brayton decided to use Jeremy's truck as a backdrop for Chris' picture. I do like the texture he chose and the piece of weathered barn in the background looks cool too.

For the Love of Waverley

I was scrolling through blogs today while waiting for my computer to do something (what exactly, I can't remember) when I came across the blog "For the Love of Waverley". It piqued my interest, so I started reading. I was reading about today's post which said the couple was in court (posted this morning) and a plea for prayers. . . What I read on this website made my heart hurt and feel heavy. I am thankful that Chris and I never had to go through the heart-wrenching thing called "adoption". Please check out Waverley's story and say a prayer for her and her family. I am somewhat glad to have found this blog when it was on the "down side" because the weight it has put on my heart today, I can't imagine feeling for over a year as this poor family has gone through it's many ups and downs.

Waverley's Story:
http://helpmattandmolly.blogspot.com
(make sure to bring your tissues. . .)

Here's what I am thankful for. . . .

On FB, there is a challenge to try and list something new every day until Thanksgiving that you are thankful for. I haven't participated just because I save my intimate feelings for my blog. Besides our health, jobs, etc. (because for that we are always thankful!), here is what I am thankful for. . .

. . . my husband

I love him more every day. I'm not quite sure why God has blessed me as he has, but I am eternally grateful. We are together most of the time and when he goes on a business trip ~ I miss him! He makes me laugh with his little one liners, has a beautiful smile and is such a good dad! We finish each other sentences and most of the time will say exactly what the other was thinking! I swear that is true. Guess we are soul mates and meant to be (well, it wasn't always that way). We have had our ups and downs, but it finally feels like we are past those big blow-up fights and saying hurtful words we don't really mean. We are together for the long haul and have made it "over the hump". I love you with all my heart, Christopher D.

. . . . my first born

He has the smile and attitude that everyone wants to be around. You care about everyone and aren't afraid to let them know. There is a song by Martina McBride that reminds me of Taite ~ it's called I Just Call You Mine. The line that fits him is "Everyone that sees you, always wants to know you and everyone that knows you always has a smile". Sometimes he frustrates me, but he's a boy ~ he can't help it! hehe He's friends with many including his brother, which is special for all sorts of reasons. He absolutely loves animals and makes me laugh when he is in the shower singing at the top of his lungs only to come out and whisper "hey Girl" to the dog who was waiting outside the door for him to finish. Ah, my love for him grows as fast as he is! I love you a ton, T-bird!


. . . .my baby

Brayton who appears to be tough on the outside, can be brought to tears with the fear of not being good at basketball and still likes to snuggle in bed with me and a good book. He is softhearted and kind just as Taite is yet only shows it to those closest to him. He's so very thoughtful and always thinking of others. The other day Chris went to breakfast with my dad to Perkins. He brought me a chocolate chocolate chip muffin because they are my fav. The boys wanted to have some, so I cut it in half for them to share. Brayton, cut his half in half and put it back in the muffin bag so Chris could have it when he came home from the office. Bray likes to curl up on his reading chair with a book and read when the urge strikes him. Brayton takes note of someone's sense of humor when he first meets them, which is unique. He's always ready for a good laugh! I love you so much, Bray Bray.

Saturday

The boys started basketball on Saturday morning. Brayton's coach doesn't say much when they are practicing, so I'm not so sure he'll get much out of this. Taite's practice I didn't really watch too much because I got to catch up with Carlie's mom (the girl who is in LOVE with Taite, well I should say one of them who is in love with him. . .). After BB, we went to Sears so Chris could check out their tool boxes (they have this monster of a tool chest at Lowe's and he really wants a new one ~ I wouldn't mind easier open drawers myself ~ but he doesn't really need the built in fridge and stereo with MP3 hookup) and the parking lot at the mall was full! People were definitely out doing their holiday shopping! So far I've ordered things off the Internet! I really like that kind of holiday shopping :~)

Saturday night my mom and I went to The House of the Crafty Mouse's special night of shopping. The whole store (well, there were exceptions) was 30% off and there was free champagne with snacks too! We enjoyed the champagne and I bought only 2 items ~ the Christmas and snowy stuff was all out in the store and I already have too much stuff to put out that time of year! The one thing I splurged on was a WoodWick candle. It kind of crackles when it burns so it sounds like a real fire and it's only a candle. Chris even likes how it smells, but he thought it was too noisy. Brayton and I liked it for "ambiance" while we read our books snuggled together in Chris and my bed!

Monday

Today was a "typical" Monday! We don't usually have crappy starts to our week, but today we did. . . We survived it and I had a glass of wine after so all is good. Chris has opted not to have surgery on his nose ~ when he lays down, he can't breathe out of the one side. The surgery would be covered with insurance, but runs about $10,000 and Chris isn't convinced that his problem isn't due mostly to swelling because of allergies. After some research, Chris is going to try and cut out wheat, dairy and refined sugars. This probably isn't a bad thing for all 4 of us to try, so tonight we tried our first tofu burgers. They were bruschetta flavored and weren't really too bad. I cooked them in garlic flavored EVOO and the boys had them almost gone when we told them "the news". I wish we could've gotten Taite's reaction on video ~ LOL He thought we were joking, but we assured him that we weren't and then he decided they weren't bad. Instead of a bun, we used slices of tomato (saw it on Dr. Oz), had fresh sliced onions, pickles and it really was good! All in all, our whole supper was pretty vegan and it wasn't bad! Chris thinks he is hungry, but I asked him if that was in his head because we had 3 fruits, mac & cheese, "burgers" and didn't run out of anything!

I am one lucky momma. . .

Today Taite is finally feeling good and went to school!!! It's the end of the quarter, so there is no school tomorrow, but he had all his work done and is all caught up after missing 4 days of school.

I took Brayton to the eye Dr. this morning because he had mentioned his eyes hurting and having headaches, but he doesn't need glasses (yet). He really didn't want them and the Dr. said that at this age he should still be a little far sighted, but he's not. He's got perfect 20-20 vision and his eyes may still grow a little which would change so he is near sighted, but we'll worry about that when the time comes. . .

The boys also had dentist appointments this afternoon. NO CAVITIES!!! Brayton is scheduled to have sealants put on the back molars on Monday and they should continue to have good reports! Taite already has the sealants (apparently they have to get to a certain age before they put them on) and he was "talk, talk, talk" on the way home. He liked visiting with his hygienist and I know she likes to chat too, so they were quite a pair. She said she wants to be his hygienist every time he comes to the dentist :~)

Taite was also very excited because he had written a story in class and his teacher took this story to the office so they could read it and the secretary in charge of putting together the monthly newsletter is going to put Taite's story in the newsletter. (He thanked the secretary as we were leaving today for putting his story in the newsletter) Some of you may remember the story, but it happened back in 1st grade, so I'll share it. Taite's class was walking down the hallway when they passed the janitor known as Big Lou (he's a nice grandpa type). Taite told his teacher, Mrs. Schaudenecker that he would like to do Big Lou's job for one day (or help him, something like that) so Big Lou could have a day of vacation because he works ALL the time! Taite already asked that we "buy" a copy of the school newsletter, but I told him, they just email it out, so I don't have to buy anything and we can have as many copies as he would like! :D

The crops in the field are still being worked on around us and this year we have corn near our house. With the rain and stuff, it's just been recently that my dad has started combining the field around us. Brayton was all upset one day because of the mess the husks made in the yard. I didn't really think anything about it until I found this in the garage. . .

Brayton had gotten a bag so he could pick up the corn husks and clean up the yard. I'm not sure why the husks cause him such distress and the leaves go unnoticed, but they do! Here is a shot of the yard so you can see what a disaster it really is ~ hehe!

I am the proud owner of a new ruby-like ring that the boys picked up in the "treasure" area at the Dentist office. Taite has reminded me multiple times that it was his idea and Brayton picked it out and gave it to me (Taite said he would have, but he thought it was too cheap and something. . .) They also had a mitful of stickers that they'll never do anything with, but I guess when you win over the hygienists, they let you get away with just about anything! LOL

Just another Monday. . .

So, this morning started out very early for me ~ at 2 Taite had thrown up again. No, he didn't get "throw-up" sick all weekend, but after Chris questioned him, we found out he's had diarrhea all weekend. With Taite, we aren't always so sure how sick he is compared to his desire to be waited on :~) Tonight, he confirmed that he is sick. He was in the bathroom for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes when I was making supper (he didn't eat) and then Chris made him some toast and that came back up shortly after. Guess he won't be going to school again tomorrow. Good thing I picked up most of his school books today and he worked on the assignments that he missed today. We just need to keep him hydrated.

Brayton brought home a project on Friday to Disguise a turkey so the turkey can make it through Thanksgiving without being a meal! As a family, we were supposed to be as creative as possible. Bray had the idea he wanted to decorate the turkey as a hunter looking for turkeys. Needless to say, I was all over the creative part, Chris ~ not his thing and Taite was on the couch, so Bray and I stayed away from him. :D

Here is the "blank slate" better known as the turkey body:

I wanted to get started on the feathers, but Bray wanted to get the hunting vest done first. We added some clear crystal type things and "sewed" them on and taped the wire we used to the back, so they won't fall off.

We weren't sure how to go about making the camo feathers. Did we color one big sheet and then cut out the feathers? No, that looked terrible. We used construction paper and colored on the different colors so we didn't have to color quite so much.

I just received today a Land's End catalog and pictured the floppy/furry boots on the feet of our turkey. The problem ~ the really large and odd shaped feet on this turkey! We cut out the boot picture because we knew we wanted that and then I said "Oh ~ I know! I have these fake leaf cutouts and we can put them on the bottom of the paper to look like he's standing in a pile of leaves!" Brayton laughed because I got so excited and gasped when I thought of the brilliant idea ~LOL! The leaves were just something I'd picked up at a garage sale, not having a plan for them, so it was perfect!

After we cut out the boot picture, the fur was kind of lost in the big turkey picture, so we added some fake fur that I had in my sewing room! They added a whole new dimension and texture to the picture!

We made the beak out of card stock and it sticks out of the picture and the waddle is made from rick-rack. I had forgotten about the red hangy-downy thing, but Bray remembered. Oh and the hat Brayton made up himself as I had some orange paper that I'd cut out with scalloped scissors and he even cut out a little extra on the sides for where the hat would be rolled up. The kid really remembers the details!

Here he is with the final product! Look at that smile ~ he kept asking me "Mom, don't you like my turkey? I bet it will be the best one in my class!" (I may have eluded to that since we ARE such a good team!) Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see the gun Bray drew and we used yard as the strap for the gun. If you enlarge it, be sure to look for his front tooth peeking through ~ it's been a long time comin'!

Here is how the caption reads (they had to write about their turkey as if it was the turkey talking):

I am NOT a Turkey! (this is provided)

by Brayton

Hey! I'm not a turkey I hunt the turkey.

I'm wearing my hunting boots, hat, and

vest so I'm ready to catch me a turkey.

So run along I may only have one

Thanksgiving left.

With that said, I am tired because I couldn't fall back asleep right away this morning so I'll catch some zzz's while Jay is on. . . Good night!

Brayton Funnies

So, yesterday my 2nd coat of paint was taking longer than I had anticipated and I was running late in getting ready to take Brayton to a birthday party. To speed things along, I had Taite get down my box of cards for Brayton to pick out a birthday card. I have a few kid ones and a lot of adult ones. Well, you guessed it, he didn't dig back far enough to find a kid appropriate card. This is what it said:
"If you want to get technical,
VODKA is practically a health drink
if you just call it potato juice. . ."
(inside)
". . .which it really is, anyway."

Of course he had already signed it "Brayton Happy Birthday"!

Tonight we tucked him into bed and I said,
"Snug as a bug, in a rug"
B: "with a hug"
M: "and a slug"
B: "in an ice cold mug" (insert a LOT of giggles here from Bray, tucked in bed) :~)

After Halloween Party

Well, it wasn't really a party, rather a re-dressing due to me forgetting to take their pictures on Saturday night. Taite went as a nerd and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Brayton went with the green Power Ranger costume (he is SO easy to please because we just pulled it out of the tote) and Taite's was just some clothes he grew out of, our camping "fun" glasses, a little white tape and a pretend pocket protector (I have NO idea where to actually get one!). They started at Grandma's house and already had a bucket full (she provided the "bucket). Then we made some extra stops this year which went okay. They still had PLENTY of candy and managed to get some non-candy items which is always nice!

The loot. . .

Brayton's classroom assignment was to count the pieces of candy they got Trick-or-Treating. I told him he should make a point of listing separately the mac-n-cheese, orange and other non-candy items, but the didn't want to, so he counted them just like the Snickers and Milk Duds.
:~)

Chris has been busy helping my dad in the fields trying to get the corn out now that things have dried up a little. Since we didn't get our front step re-done this summer, I thought we should at least paint it white so it looked a little better than the very weathered cedar that we didn't treat again this year (because we were going to redo it. . .). This is the only "before" picture I could find ~ I had planned on doing the painting myself this weekend, but Chris got started on it Friday night before I had a chance to take a real "before" picture.

So. . . what do you think??

We still need to figure out our plan for what we are going to do, but I definitely want more spindles in the front at least to the edge of the steps (I think it will look more "homey" and "inviting") and we also want to do some sort of fake brick or something on the bottom part of the columns. Oh well, we have all winter to figure it out, right?

Another project we are discussing for in the house is actually quite large. We need new flooring in the upstairs kitchen/dining/entry/living room/hallway. Since we are looking at that, we should do some painting too before redoing the floor. It's such a big project that we are going to get some bids on doing the painting. I'm not a fan of painting and my solution to not being able to perfect the ceiling line is to just paint the ceiling, but I'm not about to do that in this whole space! After we get the painting figured out and the holes spackled, we have to decide on flooring. The stuff we could afford when we built the house is just looking terrible. The carpet is stained and buckling in the hallway. The laminate floor was just plain crappy material so it's getting worse and we want the whole area to be the same, be it laminate, hardwood, etc. so going to the bathroom from any entry into the house would not mean walking on something that isn't easily cleaned. The only problem we are having is deciding on the type of flooring. Chris is nervous about doing laminate because there are still seams and "stuff" can get down in between those seams and we've already had to deal with warped boards and such with our current laminate. He's leaning towards hardwood flooring because after it's all sealed and such, it's like one piece. I'm liking the cork option because it's a little cushiony and will help deaden sound and with the boys' bedrooms downstairs, I think they would like the sound deadening quality. We'll see ~ at this point, we are still thinking about all the wall repairs that would have to be done before we could paint. hehe

Thursday night Taite was up and puked. So, he was home from school on Friday and Chris thought he had the same bug working through his system, but Bray and I are a-okay. Thursday night I was able to meet up with my friend Laurie again. That is always a good time! We share a lot of laughs and I feel so fortunate that Facebook works in some ways (in other ways, it just frustrates me, but that's a whole nother post!). . .

Yesterday was picture retake day at school and both boys were gone on the original day, so these better be good or we'll have to go somewhere else! I hope these pictures that Brayton wanted on his camera are very close to how they went at school! Brayton absolutely loves having his hair all styled. He stands there while I am drying it (trying to get it to go some direction) smiling at the mirror the whole time. Hopefully the bump on the right side of his head won't be too noticeable in the school pictures. The boys are having a difficult time with Daylight Savings. They still wake up earlier than necessary and yesterday the boys were both up about 5 and Brayton hit his head on the railing coming up the stairs. Chris was on the couch (also not adapting so well to the time change) so I didn't even know Brayton hit his head (despite his crying) until I woke up.

I absolutely love the boys' sweaters! Brayton's of course is size 8, but seems way too big.




Taite has a girl in his class who has been in his classes since preschool. There has been only one year (I think) that they weren't in the same class. Her mom and I are good friends. I had a couple of sweatshirts that I've given her lately (one shrunk way up when I washed it and the other fit, but was tighter than I care for) and she loves them both. One I brought to school and had Taite give to her and the other I sent to school with him. Carlie has a HUGE crush on Taite and her mom is not one to hide her feelings (one year at meet the teacher, we ran into them and her mom said "Carlie, aren't you going to give Taite a big hug? You've been waiting to all summer!" LOL Anyway, my point is that Shelly (Carlie's mom) sent me an email about the sweatshirt I sent to school with Taite the other day: "thanks, she loved it. 'IT SMELLS LIKE TAITE, IM NEVER GONNA WASH IT' talk about OMG! I sure hope one day when they're old enough to date that he still likes her, or I'm screwed :(! heehee" I really like Carlie too, so I hope she doesn't get her heart broken by my baby! One day this fall, I brought up Carlie's name and Taite blurted out "I just like her like a friend!" I was kind of taken aback, but I think the discussion had been had at school. LOL

Speaking of school, I don't like mean kids! There is a 6th grade boy on the bus who has been calling Taite names and doing inappropriate things (humping bus seats, etc.) on the bus. Taite didn't tell me about the inappropriate things because he was embarrassed, but he is pretty crushed about being called 'fat' and 'fool'. We are trying our hardest to help him not to let these things effect him, but we all know how cruel kids can be. I keep telling myself that when I was a stay-at-home mom, teachers would say "When a student comes to my classroom, I can tell which ones had stay-at-home moms by the confidence they would show" and this is my comfort. I hope the confidence in himself will get him through this time and any others he has in the future. I also think, that is probably why this other boy is so cruel, he doesn't have the home structure that our boys have so he takes it out on others. It makes me sad, but I'm glad that as a family we can work through these things together!

Both boys have been very "into" books lately. Today I got Brayton a book light so he can hopefully read before getting sleepy and he won't have such trouble falling asleep. A lot of times he'll be in his room reading in his "reading chair". He loves that seat (I'm actually jealous ~ I've always wanted a window seat or some place to curl up in and read in my room)! Taite finally started digging into the dog books I got him from the book orders that come home from school. He likes the true stories and he's ran late for a couple of things when he's been trying to "finish up this one story". We are proud of both boys because they've been chosen for "extra" reading groups because they both read so well (very high levels for their age). The teachers assume that we read to them a lot during their younger years. We really didn't, but I've always liked the idea of having many books around them that they might like so they'll be tempted to pick one up.