Finally - A Day Off! (maybe).

I have finally had a day where all my kids are at school and I don't have to go in to work. I recently was hired to work with a little boy I worked with last year. It's only four hours a day, four days a week, so it works out well for my schedule and Winston's schedule. Winston is now going to school on Fridays, too, which is the day I have free - so I have a little free time. Tom took me out for breakfast - he's so nice. He is getting over having Strep Throat. There were a couple days this week that he was very miserable. He's feeling a lot better now. So I suppose I will spend this morning getting caught up on everything that I've put off during the week - namely the never ending laundry. I guess it's not really a day off. So it goes in the life of a Mom. (:

Waterfall Walk:

The waterfall walk that the guys went on last weekend:

The "Pointy Picture"

Tom and brother, Paul:

Some Pictures

Cougs at a Duck Game:

Winston supports his team from home:

Ducks Win??? and Septic Systems!

So last weekend Tom and the two older boys went to Oregon to see the Oregon Ducks trample our poor-poor Cougars. Just wait for next year - we'll get 'em! The guys had a great time visiting Uncle Paul. They got to go for a nature walk and saw some awsome waterfalls. Keaton was especially impressed by one that you could walk behind into a cave. At the football game, Preston and Keaton had standing-room only tickets. They had a hard time watching the first part of the game as the Duck fans crowded the view. By the second half, though, they had a great view because the Cougs were so far behind nobody stuck around to watch the rest of the game. Tom and Paul had seats and the seat next to Tom was empty for a short time. Evidently at some time during the game a gal came and sat next to him and was being very friendly(: I think it was flattering for him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY, TOM!!!

Winston and I had the house to ourselves for the weekend. We enjoyed playing some games together. We wore our pajamas all day Friday and ate Chicken Nuggets and French Fries ( His favorites! ). On Saturday we had an in-depth discussion about where the "stuff" in the toilet goes when you flush. I explained to him what a septic tank was and where it is. He went to the window and pointed right to the place - smart kid. Then he surprised me with a complete picture that he drew of a house, toilets, waterpipes and a big square septic tank under the ground near the house. He even detailed what was in the septic tank. (Really smart kid!) His therapist was impressed! She said it is obvious that he is going to be an engineer one day.

WINSTON'S SEPTIC TANK

I Think I've Got it.

I think I've finally got this figured out. Now for our first "Real" blog. As a family we have been very busy lately. I've been doing some sub work, along with being the family chauffeur lately. Preston has been taking Driver's Ed (scary!) in the mornings so I have to take him to school early for that. Then I have to take Winston to school because he's not old enough to ride the bus yet. Then I pick him up a couple of hours later. And it's back in to town to get Keaton from football practice in the evenings. My days have been pretty full lately.

Preston has been doing very well in his Driver's Ed class. It all looks good on paper, but I'm still nervous when he's behind the wheel! Tom has been taking him out to drive for a few minutes in the evenings. He still has a few weeks left before the class is finished. Preston has also been elected Photo Editor for the School yearbook. He has been enjoying that, getting to take pictures at school events and doing things with the yearbook staff. It really keeps him busy and challenges him with keeping up with his other class work.

Keaton has been working really hard to keep his grades up, too. In order to be on the football team he has to maintain a good grade average. So far the Jr. High team has not lost a game yet this year. During the first home game Keaton intercepted the football during the last quarter. He was pretty excited about that - even though they were already several points ahead of the other team. He's been working hard at practice and really enjoys football. He also has been doing well in band where he is the lead trombone player.

Winston has been a study in patience for Tom and I. He's such a joy to have around, but some days we are really feeling our age with him. He's been seeing a speech therapist and a psychologist to see what is going on with him. It was thought that maybe he had Aspberger's Syndrome because of some of his activities. The psychologist ruled that one out, but is still considering that Winston could be on the Autism Spectrum. Near the end of the summer he really seemed to be coming out of his shell, was speaking well and was doing better at participating in activities. Then about three weeks in to school he kind of shelled up again and became a little wild child for about a week. Now he is back on track and writing ABC's. It's really quite a puzzle to figure him out. We are hoping to figure out what his triggers are. We've really enjoyed some of the little language things he comes up with. Right now he is obsessed with moths and tries to capture them all the time. Two weeks ago his obsession was with night lights. He went around the house unscrewing all the coverplates on the night lights when we weren't looking. We have only been able to find about three of them so far! What a character!

As for what Tom has been up to - "Winterizing". There seems to be a lot of that kind of thing to do around here this time of year. Between the house, Barn, Cars, Sprinkler systems, etc, there is a lot of "Winterizing" to do. He also got the boys' game room done and it's been nice to have a warm place to go and play pool. I'll post some pictures sometime. He's also looking forward to the Coug-Duck game next week! And then his big "40" the week after that! He's really looking forward to that!

Well, hopefully this catches everyone up on what has been going on here lately - and excuses why many haven't heard from me lately (: I don't forsee it getting any less busy in the near future, but maybe this blog will be easier for me to keep up with than letters. Take Care, Ya'll.

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right!!!!

Howdy to all... this is our first attempt to do a blog - and keep everyone updated on what is going on in our lives. My sister-in-law, Rachel, gave me the idea to set one of these up, so hopefully I can get it figured out. Right now I'm just learning how this thing works. I'll post more later.