We had a full house over the weekend.  Not only did J come for a visit but, at his mother's request, his next older brother visited as well.  We rummaged around in our minds trying to come up with something fun to do with all four boys and decided to visit the Richmond Zoo.  We've been to bigger zoos, and we've visited zoos with more animals, but we enjoyed our visit on Saturday as much or more than any other zoo trip.

The weather was cool when we started so many of the animals were very active.  I was able to get all the boys to stop for a picture while we watched the chimpanzees who were quite playful.  The chimpanzees were near the lions' enclosure and they were really roaring.

Several of the giraffes were quite interested in the animal feed that the boys offered them.  Some of the boys didn't mind having a long black tongue slobber over their hands while the others had to work up to the idea.

By the time we got to the camels and goats, they were a lot braver, but our food was almost gone. 

We walked into the budgie enclosure not knowing what to expect, but after we had a feeding stick in hand, we were mobbed by hungry birds.

J and his brother J took right to the idea of feeding the birds while Jeremy just wanted to pet them.  After Justin figured out that he could protect his arm with his jacket, he enjoyed the feeding as well.  By the time we got home, we knew that we had some tired boys on our hands.  To be quite honest, there were two tired parents as well.

A good night's sleep behind them, the 4 J's got right into the excitement of dressing up for Easter.  It was a blessing to have all of them with us in church and to hear the good news together.

The warmer weather on Sunday made a hillbilly water park possible and the fact that we've been having a lot of rain made it possible for the water to be on quite a while.  By this time, they had changed their clothes three times in one day and the floor was covered with clothing.  Four boys really do produce twice as much laundry as two.

We ended our busy weekend by taking J and J home after church in the evening.  J went this time without tears, but he also went with a chart and stickers to help him know when he can come for another visit.   His mother said that the chart he had from two weeks ago did help him so we decided to try it again.

This morning after watching the trouble the boys were having sitting still, I shooed them out the door and told them to take a break.  When I thought their break had been long enough, I went to call them in and found Jeremy sunning himself in the middle of the yard.  I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was sunning himself.

I looked a little further and found the instigator of this new activity.   Even though we only have two boys, he had pulled eight beach towels out of the cupboard and told me that he planned to do the rest of his schoolwork outside.  Then the begging began.  We compromised and I joined them on their towels and we had our history lesson in the yard.

I think the next lesson of the day needs to be how to wash, fold and put towels away.  Or should I let them leave them in a pile so they can do the same thing tomorrow?  I really don't want to wash that many towels two days in a row.

This morning I found the boys huddled over the computer.  No, they weren't playing a game, they were shopping.  They were on Amazon and were reading the reviews and specs of games that they were interested in buying.  I was glad to hear comments like, "It says crude humor.  We can't get that one."  For one, I'm glad that they're using their reading skills, but even more, I'm glad that they're using some discernment.  They were also comparing prices and talking about which one would be the best deal.  After they had picked out a game that they both thought they'd enjoy, they dug all their money out and counted it.  It wasn't enough.  

They went on to something else and so did I, but sometime later I heard the school bell ringing.  It wasn't school time, so why were they ringing the bell?  I walked into the kitchen and found Justin ringing the bell and holding a cup.  The cup had a sign on it that read,  "Put money here.  15 dollers" (sic) and he had attached a sign to his shirt emblazoned with a red cross and the words, "the red Shaffers".

I guess he figures if the Red Cross and Salvation Army can ask for money, it would be okay for him to ask as well.  His cup has set around all day, but no one has come along with $15.  He was so busy being a boy today that his fund raising efforts took a back seat, but I'm sure he'll still take any donations from anyone who cares to donate.

Sometime during the winter, a tree fell in our woods.  Ever since discovering it, the boys have bemoaned the fact that it didn't fall across the stream that sometimes runs through the trees.  They would like to duel on the log like Robin Hood and Little John with the hopes that they could push the other into the water.

Even though the log didn't fall where they wanted it to, they've still been having fun working on their sword techniques.   Their gloves, which they bought for gardening, have been doubling as dueling gloves.  They gave me a tour of the log noting where there were holes and where it had fallen on other logs and snapped them in half.  We also saw the rotten stump and realized that the tree had been dead for quite some time before it fell.

The tree fell right through the middle of a fort that they had been building, but they don't seem to grieve the loss of their fort.  It seems that the log alone will afford them plenty of opportunity for adventure.

worry about getting dirty.  In fact the messier the better.

Boys don't play with dolls, but they do play with plastic people.

Boys don't invite their friends over for tea parties, but they will invite them over to shoot targets.

Boys don't want to wear make-up, but they'll paint their faces when they feel like it.

I'm sure the list could go on and on and I'm sure that not all my statements apply to all boys, but these are some things I've noticed about our boys.

This week has flown by and I think it's partially because of how much we've managed to pack in.  We've taken care of "have to" items, we've done some "I've been wanting to do this for a long time" jobs, and we've even managed to schedule some "just for fun" times.

The boys have been wanting to go bowling and after rearranging our schedule a couple of times, we went today.

We got there soon after the bowling alley opened and it seemed to be a mother and child time slot.  There were two other mothers with children there and we were spaced so far apart that it almost seemed that we had the place to ourselves.

It's a good thing that we didn't have an audience.  Both of the boys beat me and I had multiple gutter balls.  They did cheer when I managed to get 9 pins one time.  (I can beat them in Wii bowling though.)

 After our game, we went to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  It's pretty amazing to see how quickly two growing boys can devour plates of food that really suit their fancy.

The week is ending with beautiful spring weather and the boys are washing out our big cooler outside - read getting wet and playing with water.  I think that counts as another one of the "just for fun"  items.  On Monday, we'll be back to our normal school schedule with no planned breaks until the end of May.

Yesterday we discovered that we needed to make some repairs that required some clamps.  But there were only two clamps in the tool box and we needed more than two.  What to do?  

Could we use something that was orginally intended for another purpose?  The box reads "multi-use" and "processing tool"  Aha!

Let's give it a try.  What do you know - this multi-use processing tool has a new purpose in life.   

It works great as a clamp and we can still use it to make tomato juice and apple sauce this summer.

Spring fever has bitten the boys hard.  This week they decided that they were going to start gardening.  They have big plans and even told me that each year they get a bigger plot.  When I looked at the corner stakes that they set, I realized that they weren't being overly ambitious.

They've told me of the crops they want to grow and how they plan to set up their tent next to the garden and scare off any creature that would threaten their garden.  They're planning to live off the land but plan to eat one meal a day with the family.

I really hope that they are successful gardeners, but right now, I'm just glad that they're getting some good exercise and fresh air every day.

you can't find a bag clip when you need one?

Now I know.

And by the way, if you happen to live in Italy, Poland, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Germany, China, France, Lithuania or Latvia and happen to read this, would you please drop me a note and tell me how you found my blog?  I've noticed that you drop in occasionally and read, and I'd like to know who you are.

We enjoyed 26 very sweet hours together with J this weekend.  I picked him up Saturday morning and we took him home after lunch today.  We had barely left the driveway of his grandfather's home before he started calling me "mama" again and he was glad to see "brothers" and "daddy".  For the most part we didn't do anything special - we just carried on as we normally do on weekends around here.  We did take a quick trip to the park though.

It was warm enough that all three boys had their shoes off for part of the time.

Jeremy and J wanted to show each other the flips they could do on the trampoline.

Since J's birthday is next week, we decided to have a little birthday celebration.  He struggled to blow out the candles and then wanted to open his gift before he had any of the birthday cookie.

This morning he was ready to find "church clothes."  He was glad to be back in church and everyone was glad to see him back even if it was just for a visit.

When he realized that his visit was coming to an end, he had tears and asked if he could stay "please".   I felt helpless as I wiped the tears from him face and told him I loved him.  We would love to have ten feet under our table all the time, but we can't tell him that.  We can only wipe his tears, tell him he can visit again and pray that the Lord will comfort his heart.