Eyes on the Sky

Ben took the boys hunting on Sunday. 

It was a spur of the moment decision--much to the boys delight!

I decided it was high time I jumped on the hunting bandwagon, so I tagged along.  Other than when Henry took me to the duck blind a few years ago, I've never gone.  (I don't even know how I can call myself a Pracht!)

I had the VERY BEST TIME with them!   

Sadly, the very next day I found out that the farm had been sold.

I knew it was coming, and that's part of the reason why I decided to head down there with the boys--sort of a "now or never" kind of thing--but I almost think my little hunting trip made things even harder for me.

There are just so many things I'm going to miss when that land is gone. 

We're all really sad, but you can't fight progress so we'll just have to make the most of the few months that we have left.

Chin up!

Feelin' the Rumble

The boys cub scouts sold popcorn today at the Toy Run--a motorcycle rally.

I loved it!

(Not the selling part--that part makes me cringe--but all the bikes!  Oh the bikes!)

I just love that loud rumble when a bunch of them ride past.  Plus, that whole biker society thing sort of fascinates me.  It's true.

The boys sold quite a bit, today.  

Henry was especially good salesman.  Very polite and not pushy at all--my favorite kind of salesman!  Actually, all of my boys are very good, but Henry didn't once whine in my ear that he was ready to go.  So....a gold star for him!

Luke, however, was the only one to score a donation.  

The guy walked passed Luke, looked at him, looked at Ben who was nearby, and said "Is that your dad?".  We all laughed because, like it or not, our little mini-Ben has to claim his dad.  A few minutes later, when the guy walked back by, he handed Luke a $20 bill and told him just to keep it! 

It's unclear whether he got it out of pity or not.

--For the record, if Ben ever wanted to buy a bike I would tell him NO WAY!  I love for them is only at a distance.

Getting His Freedom Back

A month or two ago, Josh Oliver had a girlfriend--Trinity--but he broke her heart.

About a month ago she called Ben, she's outgoing as can be and her dad and Ben are friends.  Ben said she was talking a mile a minute, but he manged to get out that Josh was being mean to her, breaking her heart, and that he threw a corndog at her at lunch.

Oh my!

When I talked to Josh about it later he said that he did in fact throw a corndog at her and half way implied that he was in fact being mean to her.  When I pressured him about why he would act like that, he said....

"I just want my freedom."

So....I didn't think I'd be at this point with any of my boys yet.

I explained to him that you should always be kind to girls--certainly never throw food at them--and that it's okay to not want to be someones boyfriend, but if you are the one doing the breaking up, you should do your best to be as nice as you can in attempt to not completely break their hearts.  

I also told him he was going to give himself a bad reputation and then it would be hard to get a girlfriend when he really wants one.  I don't think he really cared about that point too much.  He's not actually girl crazy yet. 

Every time I would see Trinity at school, she would sadly give me the report on how Josh was treating her.  It took about three weeks before she told me that he was finally being nice to her again.  

I could ring his neck.

Josh better not have another girlfriend anytime soon.  He's way too moody.

Pumpkins and Spook Houses

Generally, pumpkin carving gets left until the very last minute at our house.

I hate to carve them too early, but then every year during the week of Halloween we get so ridiculously busy that we have no way to fit it in.  It always manages to get done, but it's usually a rushed job on the 30th.

This year I wised up and we did it a week ahead of time.  They were pretty rotten by Halloween, but no one cared.

Luke's super grossed out by the thought of cleaning out pumpkins and the other two boys were off of school for the day, so the three of us did all the scraping a de-gooping.  We're a pretty efficient trio!

When it came to carving, I told them that I would help them if they wanted me to, but otherwise they were on there own.  

I had no idea how many cool points that would earn me! 

Apparently Ben, who is usually the one to volunteer/be forced into supervising the pumpkin carving each year, never gives them free rein with the pumpkin knives.  I prefer the "less work for me" road, so knives for everyone it was!

After we finished carving pumpkins, and Ben got home from work, we headed out to a spook house, well forest actually--outdoor ones are always more fun!

We've never taken the boys to a real spook house, but they've been a bit timid in the little ones that they have been through.  They all wanted to go, though, so off we went.

This was a bit like Worlds of Fun for me.  I am so jumpy at stuff like that, but I put on my brave face and told myself that it's all for fun.  

It was a ton of fun, but I screamed my head off. 

At one point they came at us from the front and the back at the same time with chainsaws. Sadly, I learned that in that kind of nightmare I will, in fact, sacrifice my children in an attempt to get away.

Ben carried Ollie most of the way and he apparently just kept laughing--a scared/awkward laugh, not a funny one.  

Henry was ready to throw in the towel about 1/3 of the way through.  He managed his way through, although, he really had no choice.

Luke was the perfect amount of scared.  I tried to keep him close by me, because I figured if I was going to shove anyone ahead of me, he would be the least traumatized at the end of it all.

It was really a good time.  The boys are still making fun of me for all my screaming.  They have all apparently forgotten that they were also terrified.

They better watch out next year.  No one ended up with nightmares so I can up the anti!

Fun on All Saints Day

The boys are off school today for All Saints Day--yay for Catholic schools!!

We went to church at the crack of dawn, and I decided to give them the rest of the day as a free day.

They have been gorging themselves with Halloween candy--I told them they better save all Paydays for me!--raking leaves, having races on the driveway, and of course playing electronics.  

I have been excitedly trying to knock out a mountain of laundry--seriously, I have no idea how anyone still has clean clothes to wear--and catching up on other bits.

I was going to try to fit in a flu shot for the boys, but lucky for them we have to go across town to get them, and I just don't have it in me to run errands today.  I'll save that little gem of an outing for another day!

Another Halloween on the Books

This year Josh convinced Gigi to make him a dog costume. 

She was less than excited about making it.  I had previously banned any sort of fleece costumes from coming in the house, so she ended up turning an old bear costume into a puppy costume.  She offered to put spots on it, but he said no.  It probably would have helped!

I think he's the only one in love with it.  Either way, we finally got the puppy out of the way so hopefully next year he will move onto something else!

(This is Josh's new default pose.  I don't know how we ended up with such a cool kid!)

Henry was a hunter this year.

It was a real stretch for him.

He wore this exact same outfit when he went duck hunting on Sunday.  He did make his own bow out of a stick and some of my bakers twine.  He was hoping to carry his real bow, but I nixed that pretty quick.

He actually ended up wearing a Jason mask just to spook up his costume a bit, but I think that just confused people.  

Also, that is not a purse he's carrying it's a case with his binoculars in it.  Oddly enough, Grandpa John, who was the one who gave him the binoculars and case a mere two weeks ago, was the one who asked why he was carrying a purse.  Apparently he's getting senile!

Luke went the zombie route for the second year in a row.

This year, though, he lacked the ripped up clothes and makeup, and took the easy route of a mask and Halloween shirt. 

He worked in the haunted playground at our church's Trunk-or-Treat and took a quick spin around the trunk's at Gretchen's church, but otherwise he didn't actually need much of a costume.  He completely ditched trick or treating this year and instead opted to watch a spooker about Dracula.  

He missed out!

Not really, though, because he still some how ended up with a bunch of candy!

I've Lost Them to Minecraft

The boys discovered the fascinating world of Minecraft a year or so ago.

I knew very little about it other than it was mostly non-violent and it was a pretty widely "mom-approved" game.

I have since learned that is one of the most addictive, life consuming games that the Jonker boys could ever play!

When they first started showing me how it works, I was surprised at how simple the graphics were--such a throw back--but they really can do some pretty fancy stuff with it.  

I still know know nothing about it, but it has to do with building things and zombies are somehow involved.

This summer I was working a TON plus still trying to make progress on our house--I just keep adding to my list--so for the sake of getting some sleep and being a bit productive, they sort of had a free for all with electronics.  

They loved it! 

By the end of the summer, I was so sick of electronics.

I put a ban on all of them when we went on vacay to the lake, but otherwise I held my tongue and let them finish out the summer in electronics heaven.  

Once school started, though, they were limited to the weekends.  Ben gives them 20 minutes on school nights if they get homework done, but otherwise they are put away.  

It was full on withdrawals for the first few weeks.

It has since leveled out a bit....a bit.  I have to keep them busy on the weekends in order to keep the electronic time at bay, but give them a little downtime and they are likely to be attached to something.

They still take it super serious.  One time Josh Oliver caught fire to a massive building that it took Henry a whole day to build.  It was a little touch and go for awhile whether he was going to survive the wrath of Henry when the damage was discovered.  I'm not even kidding.

I think I should probably stop fighting the games and just learn how to play.  We might get some pretty good quality time out of it.  If nothing else, I might understand what they are at least talking about when they tell me about them.

Sadly, though, it's just not my thing.

--Josh has just informed me that Luke was actually playing Survival Craft.  I asked him what the difference was and he said, "The difference is actually everything."  So......good to know!

--Also, that is in fact nail polish on Luke's fingers and a furry slap bracelet.  It's the cool thing to do and apparently the way to impress the ladies these days!