So far, school has been going really well for Trevor and he has two boys that have become his best buddies. He really likes to go and sometimes gets upset when I pick him up!

Brendan recovered from his cold and is doing well. I had bronchitis that is finally starting to go away.

We have put a lot of focus lately on trying to finish old projects so we can move on with new things! If I could have back all of the money that I spent on art and craft supplies because I had some grand creative idea but then never saw it through…. well.. I could buy a pretty hot new camera at least. It is nice to go back and accomplish some of those things.

On our road trip to Illinois in June, we picked up some whole geodes. Bill helped the boys crack them open!

There were some pretty crystal formations inside. The boys were excited.

They cleaned them up really well

We made some little shadowboxes with them to display on our bookshelves.

The boys were “helping” me sort my sewing and supply cabinets.

This weekend, we had a fun outing to Tucson. It was just less than two hours of driving, but we had an evening event, so we got a hotel.

Trevor has lost patience for my picture taking!

Now he is happy

The HopeKids organization was invited to be VIP guests at a car race at Tucson Speedway.

Trevor got to ride the firetruck around the pits.

Bill took the boys out on the track for a meet and greet with the drivers and to see all the cars.

They fed us pizza and pop

The boys enjoyed a couple of the events, but as it got dark, they were getting tired. We posed for some pictures on the way out.

They were not too tired for a relaxing swim at the hotel!

Trevor would stay in the pool the entire day. He loves the water.

Trevor was especially excited that he was allowed in the hot tub. It is his favorite. We had to get up and visit the pool again this morning before check out time!

With two weeks since the last post, I thought I would have more content. We have been super busy, but there has been nothing worth photographing. We hauled ten garbage bags of STUFF out of the house. Five to charity and five to trash. It feels good to purge and organize.

We celebrated Bill’s birthday on the 8th. Happy happy birthday!! The boys really helped to make this delicious German Chocolate Cake from scratch. YUM.

Trevor started his Pre-K class. He loves it! The first day, he cried when I picked him up at the end because he wasn’t ready to go home. He has a really nice teacher and seems to like the large class of kids. I got his sneakers from the spring out of the shoe rack – he has worn crocs all summer. I could not even get his feet in them! I had to get him little boys size 11 shoes! A size and a half bigger! Yikes!

We had our first child-caused toilet overflow. Fortunately Bill caught it fast, and it was just the filling tank water and not sewage coming up. Every towel in the house plus shop vac and we were all good. The floor is already destroyed from fish tank incidents.

Brendan’s teacher has started coming to the house again, plus his regular therapies continue. I didn’t get any pictures of him!

I will try to get more for the next post. A whole week and a half of school has passed, and everyone was healthy. I think the whole family could be on the verge of our first school year cold. Time will tell.

Updates, updates. The boys start school again this week. We meet Trevor’s new teacher at an open house on Tuesday and he starts on Thursday for a four-day-a-week Pre-K program. Brendan continues his homebound program with the same teacher as last year. Brendan has not yet started his feeding program at the hospital. They have no openings currently.

We try to find things to do when it is so hot outside. The boys wanted to bake cookies!

We call these cookies “Chocolate Demolition Cookies”. Instead of using chocolate chips, we melt the chips in the microwave, pour out on a cookie sheet, and then freeze.

Then smash!!!

Our own demolished chips. I have no pictures of the finished cookies! They were eaten quickly!

We drove up north to try to find cool weather. We had to go to 8000 feet to get under 80 degrees, but we found a nice nature walk.

The boys said their favorite part was discovering these mushrooms that looked just like the ones in minecraft!

Brendan studies them with his binoculars.

8000 feet is tough on Brendan. He got backpacked.

Trevor walked the whole mile and I just had to piggy-back carry him the last 50 yards.

In the winter we came up to these aspen groves to play in the snow and we left behind my snow gloves. Just on a whim, we went back to see if they were still there. (nope!)

We did some geocaching and found a little cache here

Cattle-loading bridge

We drove through this wild cloud burst of rain on the way home.

The boys ought to sleep well tonight!