Big changes around here...

The biggest one is that little Loren is going to preschool after all. I took him in last week to be evaluated for speech because I wasn't sure where he was in relation to his peers. They screen for speech, OT, and another one (I forget what), and they said that he was fine for speech, but that he qualified for OT.

I thought it was just because I'm his mom and he's 4.5 that he doesn't pay attention and doesn't follow directions, and I thought he's just being shy when we're in strange places. He's really not all that shy, but he does get very easily overwhelmed if too many new people pay attention to him all at once. Once he knows you though, you have a friend for life. My husband's whole family is "type-A" personalities and LL is already struggling with perfectionism- I discovered this when I was trying to teach him how to write his name and he got frustrated when he couldn't write the letters perfectly every time.

I'm nervous about sending him off, but it's only afternoons for less than 3 hours and I know they'll be helping him learn what he needs to do to cope. I'm still hoping to homeschool him starting next year, and I am planning on continuing to work with him on K stuff this year. But for now, we're waiting to have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting with his teacher(s?) and occupational therapist(s) to see what goals we have for him. The school district started this week so they're trying to get settled with what they have and then get the new students in. So it will be about another week or two before he actually starts. I asked him today if he wanted to ride the bus (he has the option) or if he wanted me to drive him, and he said he wants me to drive him. I'm perfectly okay with that!

The other big change is that Loren (hubby) is leaving his job at Job Corps. The management there leaves MUCH to be desired and they're just getting worse instead of better. I told Loren a couple weeks ago that I was tempted to tell him to just quit and focus on building up his judo club. At the time he told me "no, I have to stay at Job Corps." A couple days later he called me and told me he was going to turn in his 2-weeks notice. Friday is his last day. Right now, he's working on several leads for part-time work in the mornings and is going to work on building up the Roswell Judo Club in the afternoons. I'm not really as freaked out about the sudden change in income as I thought I would be. We've been through worse and we know what we can live without and what we can cut back on. He's also working on a couple other things, but right now I'm not at liberty to disclose that information.

Fall is a busy season for us no matter what, and these next few months will definitely be crazy with our new changes, but I know we'll come out the other end doing just fine. God always takes care of us.

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown

We saw a toad today!

We've gotten a lot of rain since the beginning of July, so the creatures are taking advantage of the extra moisture and coming out to play. Loren has been working on fixing everyone's vehicles (finishing Michelle's truck, replacing my brakes AGAIN) all weekend at his mom's house and when we were playing "musical cars," he decided to sweep up a little bit of the dust and debris that had accumulated under Michelle's truck. When he did that, a toad (we thought it was a frog at first) hopped out from the grass by the fence. He chased it with a broom to the other side of the carport area where he was working so I wouldn't run over it. When I parked my car, I went around the side to see if I could see the toad.

He* was just sitting out in the open all fat and happy, so I went to go get the boys from inside the house. When we got out there, I couldn't find the toad. I was pretty bummed that the boys didn't get to see him and little Loren went back inside. Justin and I were just hanging around watching Daddy and I decided to look a little harder for the toad since I figured he was hiding in the vines on the other side of the fence. Sure enough, I found him hiding under the vines and showed Justin, who thought he was pretty cool. Then we went and got little Loren back from inside the house. I used a stick to gently nudge the toad to see if I could get him out into the open but he just jumped further back into the vines. I found him again and it was actually a better view of him where we could see his whole body. The boys thought he was pretty neat. I would have tried to catch him but he was already scared, and I didn't have anything to put him in. Then I decided it was time to leave him alone, so we all went back inside. The ONE day where I didn't have my camera with me, we find something cool. Oh well, such is life.

I figured since there probably aren't very many amphibians in New Mexico, I could probably find him on a list of NM frogs/toads somewhere on the internet. Sure enough, there was an almost identical picture of the toad on Wikipedia. I'm fairly certain our little friend is called Bufo speciosus or Texas Toad**. Loren (hubby) said he must be a little lost to be in New Mexico instead of Texas, but I found that the species does not limit it's range to within the Texas border *wink*. Little Loren decided to name our little friend Megatron (after the Transformer, of course) even though we didn't keep him.

*I have no idea if the toad was a boy or girl. I just figured using masculine forms would be easier.

**It is quite possible that "Megatron" could also have been a Bufo woodhousii (Woodhouse's Toad) because they appear to have very similar markings. The toad we saw was fairly large (about the size of my fist) and the Woodhouse's Toad is at least an inch larger than the Texas Toad. I guess that will teach me to have my camera with me so that we can take pictures in order to correctly identify our finds. I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting adventure of identifying creatures from here on out.

I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the "lower animals"
(so called) and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man.
I find the result humiliating to me.
~Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, 1907

Carlsbad, Old Friends, and Puppy Love

Last weekend, the National Park Service had their second fee-free weekend of the year. Apparently they do this for one weekend in every month during the summer. There are about 13 national parks/monuments/historical parks in New Mexico and the closest one to us is Carlsbad Caverns. I told Loren I wanted to go, and he agreed. He just happened to talk to our friend Mike (best man in our wedding) that night that we decided to go, and Mike said he and his family would like to go and meet us there.
We left Roswell at about 1:30 and got to Carlsbad Caverns at about 3:30. Mike, Carrie, Sophie, and Sam were already there, but just barely. I put Justin in the Moby Wrap- backpack carry, Mike put Sam in his backpack, and we got our free tickets. It was already too late to go in through the natural entrance, so we just rode the elevators down to the Big Room. We started hiking and the kids (little Loren and Sophie) did absolutely wonderful. They didn't complain at all and they asked a lot of questions and just seemed to enjoy it. Justin and Sam weren't so thrilled- Justin got bored and wanted out of the carrier about halfway, and Sam fell asleep about that same time.
Partway through the hike, I looked over and Sophie had grabbed little Loren by the hand. They see each other only two or three times a year, but little Loren has a puppy love crush on Sophie. He always talks about how they got married a while back when we were visiting (she put a ring on his finger when they were playing house) and how they have all kinds of cool stuff at their "house in Albuquerque." They pretty much held hands all the way through the Caverns and were showing each other "look at this" and "look at that!" I'm not sure anything will turn out from their little "romance" but it sure is cute, and I wouldn't mind having Sophie for a daughter-in-law. She's cute and smart!
We messed up with eating dinner, so instead of going to Carlsbad and then coming back for the bat flight, we ended up just staying at the Caverns for the bat flight. The bat flight wasn't as exciting as we had hoped- maybe better luck next time. We ended up driving to Carlsbad (15 miles from the Caverns) and finally eating at Chilis at 10:00 at night. It was great being able to visit with Mike and Carrie. I miss hanging out with them, well, mostly Mike since he met Carrie after we left Las Cruces. But they're a fun bunch and I wish we lived closer to them. I think Carrie and I would get along great, and of course Mike and Loren have been friends for 18 years or so.

I am learning to live close to the lives of my friends without ever seeing them. No miles of any measurement can separate your soul from mine. - John Muir

My heart melted

Just a little while ago, we were all saying our "good nights" and "I love you's." I was holding Justin on my lap, nursing him, and called out to little Loren "I love you." Justin stopped nursing and yelled "Ove You!" So sweet. And then I said it to him a couple more times and he told me "Ove You" back several times and then fell asleep in my arms nursing. Oh, I love being a mommy, and I especially love his age!

My new camera

Back in November, my Kodak point-and-shoot digital camera broke. The piece that held the lens in place completely vanished. Apparently it fell off somewhere when I wasn't paying attention. So I've been without a camera for almost 5 months. Not fun, especially since I have two growing boys I want to photograph all the time.

I finally got my new camera in the other day. A Nikon D40. I LOVE it! We went to the zoo on Saturday and I got to play with it a little bit. I've still got a lot to learn, but I am beyond thrilled with the quality of the photos I've taken so far. I'm hoping for some big photo wins at the fair this year if I can learn more about composition, and of course learn more about all the vast aspects of more professional quality photography. One would think that I should know a lot about composition since I took 4 years of art in high school, but when it comes to photography, I still struggle a little. I'm just glad to be able to take some new pictures of my boys that aren't with my cell phone camera.

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. ~Eudora Welty

It is autumn, and autumn means...

fair time!

Monday was the start of the annual Eastern New Mexico State Fair. After a frantic scramble to the finish, I had 13 photos and 2 cakes entered. I also helped little Loren enter 3 of his photos that I thought were good. I managed to get the two cakes in with literally minutes to spare after an exhausting night trying to get the wedding cake to look how I wanted it to.Monday morning the boys and I met their grandma at the parade route to watch the parade. Loren (hubby) was supposed to be riding his motorcycle in the parade with his job, but called me about halfway through and said his motorcycle was overheating and he wouldn't be in the parade. Little Loren was upset at first that Daddy wouldn't be in the parade, but he enjoyed the rest of it, and I think he got over it pretty quickly. Justin enjoyed the fire trucks going by at the beginning, and then fell asleep. When he woke up (with like 5 floats to go to the end), he thought the parade was pretty cool and was pretty enthralled with the floats.
We didn't make it out to the fairgrounds until Tuesday night. I was pretty anxious to see what little Loren and I had won, especially for my cakes since I'm still what you would call a novice at them. I was very excited to see that I had won blue ribbons for both of my cakes, and I also won ribbons for 12 out of 13 of my photos. I won 2 blue ribbons (1st place), 6 red ribbons (2nd place), 3 white ribbons (3rd place), and one honorable mention for my photos. I was pretty excited, even though I still can't quite figure out their judging criteria.

BUT... I was even more excited for little Loren. He got 1 blue ribbon and 2 red ribbons for his photo entries. A clean sweep! He seemed excited, but I'm still not quite sure if he completely understands the whole thing. We'll pick our entries up on Monday, and hopefully he'll figure it out a little more by then. I am so proud of him!

After we checked out our entries, and got yummy (NOT!) fair food, we decided to go ahead and let the boys ride a couple of the carnival rides. Little Loren rode the motorcycle one (he did last year too), and then we figured out that Justin was tall enough to go on the construction tractor ride with Loren. Justin thought it was hysterical, and I wish I had had a video camera. The video recorder on my camera just wouldn't have cut it. After we got them off of that ride, Justin was still very excited. Then little Loren and his daddy went on the big airplane ride (that little Loren went on with his Gamma Gamma last year) and Justin thought it was funny watching them. We tried to find another ride that Justin was big enough for without an adult with them, but he was only big enough for the construction one, so we let them go on that one again. He loved it just as much the second time, and I think he wanted to go back on it. Those dang carnival rides are expensive though!
We are supposed to go again on Sunday with my parents if they are able to come down. I can't wait to take the boys again! If not Sunday, then next year! And next year, you can bet we'll have more entries, and hoping for more ribbons as well!

"The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly
changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools."
- Henry Beston, Northern Farm

Four years ago today...

I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

(Well, as I write this, it's already past midnight, so yesterday was his birthday.)


Loren Blanton Bentley IV was born on September 24, 2004 at 7:31 in the morning. He weighed 7 lbs, 7.6 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long.


I can't believe he's already four. Loren is learning how to read, can count to 10 in English, to 5 in Spanish, and to 3 in Japanese. He loves Transformers and insists that he is Bumblebee (one of the good guys, of course). He's fascinated with dinosaurs, his pet snails, and is a very loving big brother. He can hold a very polite conversation with pretty much anyone now, usually about Transformers. He's my little tough guy and he insists that he is going to go to the Olympics to compete in Judo some day. I am so proud of all that he has become thus far in his little life.

Happy Birthday, Loren!! Mommy and Daddy love you!!

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
-Robert Munsch

What are little boys made of?

A while back we went for a walk one evening after it had rained. We found a yard down the street that had a bunch of snails in it, so I was trying to show Loren what they looked like, but they kept hiding in their shells. I kind of felt guilty for thinking it would be cool to take some home, because I didn't know much about them, so we didn't bring any home. We came home and looked up snails on the internet and saw some videos on You Tube. Turns out they're more or less garden pests in some areas, so I didn't feel as guilty about considering bringing a couple home. Loren learned that they are gastropods and learned about their four tentacles. Two on top for their eyes and two on bottom for tasting and feeling. I also read that they're relatively low maintenance for keeping them, at least on a temporary "study" basis.

A couple days ago, it rained one of those nice, all day sprinkly, drizzly rains. Even though we were tired after playgroup, I told Loren we'd go for a rainy day walk and see if we could find a couple snails to bring home for a little while to study. We found several right in that same area out enjoying the nice rain, so we picked up a couple to bring home.
When Loren first picked them up, they would retreat back into their shells and hide, but they actually got pretty comfortable with him holding them gently on our way home and they ended up crawling all over his hands and arms (and mine too- that was fun... holding a snail, Justin, the umbrella, and my camera...). I had to find something to put them in, so right now they're in a giant "tupperware" thingy with wax paper taped over them because I don't have any plastic wrap. Apparently they like to sleep upside-down attached to the underside of the wax paper.LL has had a blast with them and loves to get them out and have them crawl all over him, and all over my keyboard. They're pretty "friendly" although one of them seems to be a little shyer than the other one and takes a while to come out of it's shell (pun intended).Yesterday Hurricane Ike hit landfall in Galveston/Houston, Texas, so I've been following the coverage on that on the tv. Obviously hurricanes make a swirl pattern, but the newscasters were comparing it to a donut (with the eye being the donut hole and the main/major part of the storm being the donut). Loren and I were looking at the snails later in the day and he told me "Mommy, the snail shell looks like a hurricane." Wow, I was stunned! Of course I had to tell him he was exactly right.

I'm not sure how long we'll keep them, but even I'm enjoying them while we have them. Loren knows if they aren't happy in their home here, then they will have to return to the wild. I told Loren if he wanted to keep them longer he could ask someone to buy him a tank for his snails for his birthday so we can make sure they like their home better than "tupperware and wax paper."

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

Camping, Olympics, etc.

Well, I haven't written in a while. The boys and I went camping with my mom and dad and brother. We went 4-wheeling and Loren spent the whole time singing "Sube, sube, sube" (Spanish for climbing) when we went up, and "Baja, baja, baja," (Spanish for down) when we went down (he learned that from Dora):Sightseeing:

And my dad and brother took Loren fishing. Dad and Gabe said he was more worried about killing the grasshoppers they were using for bait than he was about the fish themselves. He caught his first fish ever, plus 3 more. I'm so proud of him! (And I don't really blame him for not wanting to eat them... I'm really picky about fish myself.):I had planned on writing a blog for every day that we were gone, and even started a notebook with a "journal" of the first day, but we were so busy and I was so tired at the end of every day that I just crashed. It was so much fun though, and I can't wait to go back again. I promised Loren (son) that we'd save my cake money and ride the train next year. Hopefully Loren (hubby) will be able to go with us next year. I really missed having him there and I think he'd enjoy it (despite what he says otherwise).

At least some part of me will always be in the San Juan Mountains of the Colorado Rockies:

The mountains are calling and I must go.~John Muir

____________________________________________________
As for the Olympics, I've been watching almost all of the swimming events, some of the equestrian if it's on, and gymnastics. I've even watched a little bit of beach volleyball. But being that I live in a household where judo holds a prominent spot, I did watch the US Judo players with Loren (hubby) on the computer. Ronda brought home a bronze! Yay, Ronda!

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. ~Pierre de Coubertin

Future Olympians... Maybe?

My nephew, Chase, is in town visiting for 2 weeks and decided that he wanted to go with Uncle Loren to judo while he was here. He borrowed Loren IV's judo-gi (which really made L4 mad!) since it fit him perfectly. I went to class with Chase and Loren on Monday and we did some basic stuff (mostly review for me) just to show Chase what it is all about. Today I didn't participate and took Justin and Loren IV with me when we took Chase since his mom wanted pictures of him doing judo. All three of them were having a grand ole time, although Justin was just having more fun with all the free room to chase his crazy brother and cousin around.


Chase and Loren IV are both very good at judo, I must say, and I hope I'm not saying this just because I'm biased. Loren IV still thinks it's mostly a game, but he can put up a pretty darn good fight against his older cousin. That's Chase on top holding Loren IV down:

He's one tough little booger, and Justin seems like he's headed that way too. Loren and I have discussed this before and we think Loren IV will be our competitor and Justin will be the tactitian. Loren IV just jumps right in and does things, and Justin sits and watches. Contemplating his next move, I'm sure...


I suppose every parent has high ambitions for their children. And I know most parents would say "I just want them to be happy with whatever they choose." I know my parents told me that. I don't ever want my kids to feel like I pushed them to be an Olympian, a Navy fighter pilot, a paleontologist, or an undersea explorer, but I always want them to know those options are out there for the taking. The WORLD is for the taking.

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking
part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.
~Pierre de Coubertin

Sick

I hate being sick, and I hate when my babies are sick. It started with Loren, and then me, and now Justin. Our noses are all stuffed up and runny, and I've got a sore throat. I probably should have taken it easy today but I have a million things to do and spent all day in the kitchen, so now I'm really feeling icky. Justin won't go to sleep (you can tell he feels bad), Loren is playing in his bedroom (just doesn't want to go to bed yet), and I know I'm going to sleep like crap tonight. I don't even have any meds for Justin or myself, so we're both going to have to suffer, I guess.

Cute Kids and Survival of the Fittest

So after reading this article, I had a thought. And of course, I had to have just watched a show about Australopithecus so I was already in the "theory of evolution" frame of mind.

Not everybody's kids are cute, but we all think our own kids are cute, regardless. And usually we think our kids are the cutest, no matter what. I've never really thought about it before, but I have a theory. Someone has probably already studied this, and proved it, but I'll claim it as mine anyway.

We must be inherently programmed to think our own kids are the cutest in order to help them succeed in life. Because if we, as parents, think our kid is the smartest/cutest/strongest kid in the world, then we're going to bring them up as such and give them a better chance at survival. Survival of the fittest at its finest, I'm sure.

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese Proverb

Brotherly Love and a Child's Laughter

There is no better sound in the world than that of a child's laughter. To me, it's even better to hear my baby laugh because his brother is doing something silly. This was what my boys were doing when they should have been going to bed tonight...



I decided I couldn't discipline Loren too much for having fun with his brother. I pray that they always remain the best of friends and have many wonderful memories of each other.

Dinosaurs and Teeth

I decided to start Loren IV's "preschool" with dinosaurs. We went to the library and checked out a bunch of dinosaur books and a dinosaur movie. Loren is upset about having to take the movie back, but I'm sure we'll rent it again when he can understand it a little bit more. Mostly we're naming them and trying to figure out what they eat. Nothing too elaborate, there's time for that further on. He's become a Tyrannosaurus Rex and took a "bite" out of my back this afternoon. I asked him what kind of dinosaur Justin was and he said "Apatosaurus." If you had asked me a year ago who Apatosaur was, I wouldn't have a clue. Apparently Apatosaur is the same dinosaur as what used to be called Brontosaurus. Hmm, I guess I'll have to re-write my children's book, Benito's Dinosaur, if I ever find it. I believe Benito's dinosaur was a brontosaurus.

Speaking of "Apatosaurus-Justin," I'd like to change his dinosaur status to a meat-eater (apatosaurus is a plant eater). He's got another chomper which puts us up to 4. Man those baby teeth are sharp! I guess they have to be, to cut through those gums, and no wonder they hurt the poor babies. He didn't want to take a nap today, and only took 2 10-minute naps before his toofies started hurting him. I hope he sleeps better tonight. I'll dose him with tylenol in a little bit.