Fire Pit

I love my husband.... Occasionally I get these whims to take on projects that I think I can do by myself. But after totally exhausting myself, I turn to my "fail-safe" who takes over and completes my projects.

Our firepit turned out totally great, but it was a huge amount of work. He hauled these extremely heavy rocks and a huge amount of gravel home to make this vision of mine come true. Our backyard looks so nice now! I also lined the gardens with smaller rocks on the south side of the house and a new garden in the backyard that isn't quite finished yet.

Teeter Totter Spin

The boys have finally gotten into the teeter totter that Grammy and Grandpa gave them for Christmas. I brought it upstairs thinking I would bring it outside, but they love playing together in the living room. Josiah does all the work which is great coordination work for him. Asher has gotten knocked off several times, but he still gets back on. Since we took this video, Josiah has started putting the blanket over his head while he spins!

Aggression

This week Josiah has had quite a change in his behavior. He has turned really aggressive. He's been aggressive in the past, but this is the worst its ever been. He even had a day at school where the aid said he was aggressive with her physically and verbally and even went after a couple of kids.

Today we had a really rough time with him. Sometimes he "goes after" us without any provocation, and at other times he lashes out when something doesn't go his way. We took the boys to the parade (more on that in a later post) and Josiah was rolling down the hill behind us and then biting my back when he got up to me. Then he started doing it to Len as well. He and Asher have been at it like cats and dogs as Asher of course won't tolerate any infraction and hits right back.

Tonight Lara was playing with the boys over at church and when I went to call to them to tell them that supper was ready, I saw Josiah scream and lash out at Lara pinching and hitting. I was about 50 yards away and I told her I'd handle it. When I got to them she was crying saying she just didn't know how to help him or how to handle it. I felt just awful.

I always knew that parenting would be heart-wrenching as I witnessed my own parents' emotions raising me... but I never expected the pain of watching your child really hurt someone else. It tears me up to know the anger he is capable of and how he has no control over himself.

Of course, intellectually I know there are reasons for what is going on with him, but it doesn't make it easier to watch the changes in him. There are lots of transitions going on in his life right now and one of the big ones is Lara leaving... After the incident, we were talking to him he said "I don't want her to go to camp, I want her to stay where I can see her." That is pretty complex thinking and I was so relieved that he could express that. So we talked about how proud we were of him using his words instead of his hands to express how sad he was about her leaving.

Lara handled the whole thing extremely well and came back in a few minutes back to her chipper self. She has just the sweetest heart and it really hit me hard to see her so sad.

Parenting is most surely the hardest job on the heart.

First Tooth Lost!!

Both of Josiah's bottom two teeth had been wiggling and we couldn't believe how long they were holding on. Josiah played with them a lot but didn't seem too bothered most of the time. One time he bit into an apple slice and it must have wiggled and he didn't like that. Other than that he's been pretty good about the whole thing. It must be so weird to lose your teeth after having them your whole life.

So yesterday at supper, Len noticed that one of them was gone. He casually said that it was down in the ballpit in the playroom. I started to get excited and wanted to get pictures, but Len told me I was stressing him out and to calm down. Sure enough, he started to cry and wanted to be held. Stuff that is so momentous for us as parents, can be so traumatic for someone like Josiah. So Len went and found the tooth (it is so tiny as he's been grinding since infancy). Before bed he was very excited about putting it into his Hippo Pillow from Grammy.

When Len and I went in to play tooth fairy, the pillow was by his feet... but where was the tooth?? We moved Josiah, his pillow, his bed... and finally found it in the covers. He slept through the whole thing so that's lucky for the tooth fairy. We put a silver dollar in the pillow as that's what the moose gets in his book that we've been reading. Len said he was very excited about the money and put it into his piggy bank. We had debated giving him a candy bar (ironic eh?) to make him more interested, but he seemed excited about just the money so that's a relief.

He's talking a little funny so that's pretty cute. The second one should fall out any moment.

Mini Gardener

Asher has been very interested in "helping out with the gardening that Len and I have been doing. I dug a new flower bed in the backyard (post to come later with pictures) and Asher really was quite helpful. He would add dirt to the wheel barrow and then spread it around with the hoe. When I would tip the wheel barrow out to get all the dirt out, he would scrape out the last bits. He was entertained, happy and helpful!

Picnic alternative

Today Josiah insisted on eating in his room. I really didn't allow this as I spent 5 hours yesterday deep cleaning the house. But I gave in and watched them really have a great time. I did leave for a little bit to make my lunch. I heard lots of giggling and walked in to find Josiah on the table next to his plate.

I thought it was great that it was his idea.

SEXY!!!

This hideous picture is how I looked after 4 hours of removing lath from the last of the rooms at the cabin. Do you see that pile of dirt at my neck?? That was all over my arms, neck and face. It was a LONG shower to get clean after this!! We have a pile outside that is now about 8 feet tall, 6 feet wide and at least 15 feet long. It is unreal. It will take us all summer to burn it but it feels good to have it all cleared out so we can start rebuilding it the way we want it.

Len is up there this weekend removing the flooring from the kitchen so it will be down to just the joists. Then he will dig the holes for the new footings to support the floor. Aren't you jealous of our relaxing vacation home??