PreSchool Graduation

I signed Damon up for a two month long preschool. It was three days a week and over by noon so that worked for me. It was the start of another chapter for me. Getting up early, trying to get grumpy Damon out of bed, helping him get ready, and getting out the door on time.

Before he had his first day of school Josh went over the important school rules with him:
1) Know who your teacher is and be respectful.
2) Know where the restroom is.
3) Don't hit anyone. But if someone hits you first, then you can hit back and you better do it harder than they hit you.

At first it was a little scary for me just leaving my first born son in the care of strangers for close to 4 hours. Luckily there were a few kids he knew from church in the class and that helped with the transition. For the most part school went well. He always had fun and I had a hard time getting him to leave on some days.

For his graduation he was declared "The Toughest." That could be good, but bad at the same time.

He seemed to have lots of friends who were mostly high school aged girls that were helping out with the preschool. (This guy always goes for the older girls......we are in trouble). Since his birthday is in November I'm sure we will be doing the preschol thing again. It was a good experience for Damon and for me. My little Damon isn't so little anymore.

Boy's and Their Toys

The Blog is normally my thing, but every so often Josh decides he wants to add something.  Actually he wants me to add it for him.  Anyway......He and my dad started talking race cars and got connected with the owner of a shop in the Portland area.  As Josh and my dad wandered around the shop, I'm sure the owner could see the excitment in Josh's eyes as he stared at all the "man toys" or maybe it was the drool.  Whatever it was, the owner was nice enough to let Josh sit in this.

   I'm pretty sure he had the same grin when he got home.  

Family Camping

We decided to go camping over Memorial Day weekend.  Grandpa Don was nice enough to let us use his motor home which, with little kids, makes things a lot easier.  We got a late start (surprise surprise) but drove on until we found a nice secluded spot.  As soon as the motor home stopped Damon just wanted to make smores, Olivia just wanted to eat marshmallows, and Joel could've cared less because he fell asleep before we even found a spot to camp.

 

Josh started a fire and we enjoyed a few smores.  After Olivia had her fair share of marshmallows I snuggled her up next to Joel and she went off to sleepy land.  Damon hung out with us for a little while, but then decided to turn in for the evening.  He retreated to the top bunk of the motor home, opened up the window by his head, chewed on some beef jerky, chimed in on the conversation, and slowly fell asleep . 

 

Josh was the first one out of bed Saturday morning and decided to go fishing while accompanied by Tank and Rocco.  He came back just as we all woke up.  We had breakfast and then headed outside in the morning sunshine so we could enjoy the outdoor view of the snow capped scenery.  

It was so nice be outside and away from everything.  The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. 

Josh got the fire going once again and enlisted the help of Damon.  (That kid needs a task to accomplish to keep him out of trouble).  So Damon found large rocks and carried them over to put around the fire.  He heaved over some pretty big rocks.....I was impressed.  

We just hung out and enjoyed the outdoor air and scenery for a while and then Josh showed me how to split wood.  Josh was amused to say least.  Molly chopping wood in flip flops......very safe!  Oh well, at least I learned a new skill!

Eventually we packed up and headed towards the reservoir to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa.  The guys took the canoe out and that was amusing to watch.  I'm sure Damon was barking orders the whole time.

The dogs got a chance to play in the water.....I really think it's Tank's most favorite thing to do.  Rocco just enjoys swimming after the sticks and if the water wasn't involved, that would be better for him.  Those silly dogs though.  Everytime they got out of the water, they would come stand right next to me and shake....everytime!

At one point Olivia figured that the water was perfectly safe so she just marched on in.  She tripped and went face first but luckily Josh was speedy on the recovery and pulled a bewildered, soaking wet little girl out of the water.  That girl has no fear!

We came home Saturday night.  It was a short trip, but still nice.  We will have to do a lot more camping this summer.  Especially when the lakes get warmer!  

  

Our 1st Flight

It's official..........Josh is a pilot.  

On April 16th he went in for his final check ride.  We expected it to be a couple hours for the exam and test flight.  When 4 hours had passed I started to wonder.  I was sure he was going to pass, I just didn't think it would take so long.  I finally got the call that he passed and then the explanation that the instructor had to take a few breaks and attend to other business inbetween the exam and the flight test, thus dragging the test.  So that was a sigh of relief that it wasn't Josh that needed the extra time.  Passing was a stress off of  Josh's shoulders (he had been stressing for a couple weeks and the test kept getting pushed back due to weather and the instructors availability.

Damon was pretty proud of dad and kept announcing that his dad, "has a official pilots license!"

 

On Saturday April 18th, I got to take my first flight with Josh.  The kids were happy to stay with Grandma & Grandpa for a couple hours while we flew to Tillamook.  

It wasn't a "just for fun" flight either.  Josh was hired to fly a guy and his Prom date over for their day of fun prior to Prom.  (I was pretty impressed.  I got proposed to in a helicopter and I thought that was big deal.  This high schooler was just taking his Prom date on a flight to the coast to ride quads and play before the Prom).  Some Prom date huh!  Anyway......the weather was perfect and the flight was quick and smooth.  I look forward to taking many more flights with my husband.....the pilot.

Joel's 3rd Birthday

Joel turned 3 on April 18th.  (I can't believe he is 3 already).  

We had a fun day being outside and spending time together as a family.  We went to the opening of one of the new fire stations.   Joel really liked getting in the 

big trucks.  The kids got hats which was great because Joel LOVES hats.  (Damon's "child sized" fire hat didn't fit at all.....it just sat upon the corners of his large noggin).

We went to the park and and spent some time on the riverfront.  Once dad started throughing rocks, then all the kids had to follow suit.  We had a few close encounters, but luckily there were no rock injuries for the day.

On Sunday evening we had the family all over for birthday cake.  It's nice to have family around to hang out with.  

Joel did a great job blowing out his candle and instead of waiting for a piece of cake, he just went straight into taking bites out of his entire cake.  He's so funny.  Luckily he let me get in to start cutting pieces for everyone else.

It was a nice birthday weekend, but I can't believe my little Joel is 3.

He is still my quiet little love bug who loves to give kisses.  He loves to be outside, sitting with the dogs, riding on a tractor or any other outdoor vehicle.  He likes to growl like a monster, run through the kitchen shooting his missles/guns like Damon, and wave goodbye to anyone when they leave our house.  He tries anything Damon shows him, but is just as happy playing with Olivia and getting into mischief.  He'll slug Damon when he's fed up, and pull accessories right out of Olivia's hair to see if he can get them in his hair.  He can always make me smile and that's why I'm so happy to have Joel in our family for all eternity! 

Easter = Sugar High

Having a holiday to celebrate is much more rewarding 

when you have little children to share it with.  

Saturday night we got all the kids to bed and then debated with each other on how much candy the "Easter Bunny" should leave the kids.  (Once again we bought too much candy, and Josh wasn't too happy with me because I failed to get his favorite: ma

lted milk ball/eggs).  I thought we gave a minimal amount, but then Easter morning hit and Josh added donuts to the mix.  (I was happy because I LOVE donuts).  The kids devoured the donuts, Damon inhaled about half of his candy, Joel worked on a Cadbury Creme Egg, and Olivia tried to keep up with the sugar intake of her brothers.  All this before 10Am and church.  So obviously the kids were a little "crazy" during church.

After church we came home and Damon polished off his candy and then it was off to Grandma & Grandpa Hunsaker's for an Easter Dinner.  Of course there was more candy to be had there and it was funny watching Olivia reach out and squeal in an attempt for someone to hear her plea and let her pick something from one of the numerous candy dishes.

It was a nice Easter!     

Aunt Lolly

We had a nice visit from my sister Lauren for about a week. The kids liked having Aunt Lolly around because she read airplane books to Damon (he wouldn't allow any other type of book)), she snuggled Joel after he had a collision with Damon's head during thier game of Duck-Duck-Goose, and Olivia, well she just loved having more attention from an adoring fan! What can I say, we all love Aunt Lolly. She even made dinner for us one night!

Josh was SuperDad multiple nights and days so I could spend some kidless time with my sister. We had some delicious food thanks to Lauren and my mom on Saturday night and Sunday morning & afternoon (I'm not a chef, but I'm great at the dishes so that was my contribution to the meals we had). Luckily Lauren is easy going so we didn't have a crazy schdule of stuff to do and places to go, it was just a nice relaxing week of hanging out, shopping, and eating. I couldn't ask for too much more. Thanks for visiting Lolly!!!

"Dead Horses"

On the way home today we drove by a pasture where 3 horses were laying down. Damon yelled from the back seat, "Mom! Those horses are dead!"
"No Damon. They are just taking a nap. They get tried and lay down just like you do. They aren't dead."
"Oh. If they were dead I would go give them a kiss."
"Well that is very nice of you, but they are just taking a nap."
"But if they were dead I would give them a kiss."
"Okay."

Where's the Gym?

I laugh when I see this picture of Joel.

We were making Valentine's cookies at Grandma's house. I think Joel was "sampling" the dough and made this face that I have never seen before. It looks like he inhaled air and is trying to look big and tough.

This is a typical Joel look. Just a mellow guy checkin' things out. This kid makes me laugh.

"Tea Party?!?!?"

The other night I went to check on the boys before I went to sleep.

This is what I found.........

Joel was out in the hallway asleep. Damon preferred the floor rather than a bed. All airplanes parked underneath the bed or around the lamp. All Lightning McQueens, The King, and other friends were placed in their perfect "Damon order" around the lamp that he removed from the dresser and plugged in at a more convenient location. Olivia's bear even received a large F-22 sticker plastered right on it's tummy.

The next morning I asked Damon what was going on in his room. Why were there so many toys lined up underneath the lamp and why was he sleeping on the floor. He said he was having was a "tea party" with all of his friends.

Well I guess that makes sense (even though there was no tea involved). I think it was more of a sleep over, since usually all of the toys stay in the toy room and not in the bedroom.

I was use to seeing this when I would check on the boys:

So he just added a few more toys to the mix this time.