J's wish list

I was going through Jared's "Thursday Folder" last night (each week, on Thursdays, teachers send home all the work from that week in a special folder. Parents go through it and sign the front, and return it to school the following day. It's to make sure parents are getting the work, while also teaching the kids to be responsible about taking it home and showing their parents, etc) and came across some stuff that Jared had done before the break (his teacher forget to send home the folders that last Thursday before the holiday break). One of the items was a wish list.

1. invisible bed
2. spy kit
3. 33 hat (The Children's Place had ball caps with the number 33 on the front, which he had one awhile ago and lost, so was hoping for a replacement)
4. new bike
5. bakugan (look them up online, I don't really understand them!)

his list totally cracked me up (invisible bed???) in it's content and his spelling. I LOVE LOVE LOVE little kid phonetic spelling. I think it's adorable.



And apparently we haven't taught the kid how to spell his last name, because he phonetically spelled that out, too. I wish I wasn't so paranoid about online safety where I could show you his attempts and how he did a really good job, but alas, I AM paranoid, so it's blacked out...

Snowman Slackers

Last Thursday, Jared came home with a snowman traced onto tag board, and our assignment was to cut it out and then decorate it however we wanted to, to be turned in Monday (today). We had an extremely busy weekend, and finally got to it shortly before bedtime last night. Jared wandered the house with me, picking out what supplies he wanted in order to decorate his snowman, and then we sat down and got to work:


He was adament that his snowman have spiky blue hair, and he really wanted the grass and the dragon tattoo (that thing that sort of looks like a flower...). He was going to attempt rock n' roll shoes for his snowman, but we'd already glued the grass on AND it was already past bedtime, so I put my foot down on that one.

Emily had the same teacher two years ago, and we forgot about the assignment until the morning it was due, and I hauled her out of bed earlier than normal so we could finish it!


What do you think, should I just go ahead and do one for Connor now and stash it, so when we forgot to do HIS until the last minute two years from now, we can pull it out and be DONE?? ha ha ha!

Hard Worker!

J-Man asked if I had any jobs for him to do (he's been big into trying to earn money lately). I told him he could go outside and clean up all the brances from the windstorm a few days prior. I told him to leave the big branch for his daddy because it was really heavy, but that he could gather up all the smaller ones and get them onto the burn pile. I peeked out at him a few minutes later and found him working with all his might to drag this branch across the yard. It only moved a few inches a time, but, by golly, he dragged it across the whole yard and got it set up next to the burn pile.


I was impressed at his determination to do the WHOLE job, even though I'd given him the opportunity to leave that huge branch alone, and I was also really proud of him for setting his mind to it and sticking with it and getting it done. He's a hard little worker!

Hilarious

I hope this comes off as funny reading it, as it was SEEING IT.

Backstory: At gymnastics, there is an upper viewing area where the kids all go to take off their shoes and socks, and the parents get to sit and watch their child during class. When class is ready to start, the coach comes upstairs and tells the kids to come line up.

One day, the coach came up and asked the kids to line up, and Jared looked over at her, grinning, and then quoted Pee Wee Herman (using his best Pee Wee voice), "I'm trying to use the phone!"

A split second later, Connor jumped up on the lowest bleacher seat and started doing the Pee Wee dance! I busted up laughing, joined by several other moms AND the gymnastics coach. Those two boys were a great little comedy act! LOL!!!!

Weeks later, I'm still chuckling over it.

The funnier part is that they have only seen the movie once (that I'm aware of) and it was at least a year ago!!!

So sweet

Connor and I volunteer in J's class for 40 minutes for reading groups, once a week. When my 40 minutes are up in J's class, Connor and I start packing up to leave, while J and his classmates start getting out their morning snacks. This time, my sweet Jare-bear came running over and begged me to let Connor stay for snack time. I reminded Jared that Connor didn't have a snack with him and said that Connor and I should probably just get going. Direct quote from J: "No, No! Mom, I already have a chair for him, and I broke my snack in half so he can have some, too." And sure enough, there was an extra chair pulled up beside Jared's place at the table, and sitting on the table was half of Jared's snack. I will admit to feeling a few "happy tears" (as we call them) welling up in my eyes over his thoughtfulness. And Connor? Threw his arms around his big brother with a very exuberant "THANK YOU JARED!" and happily plopped into the seat and ate his half of a Nutrigrain bar. Connor was pleased as punch to be sitting with the big kids eating a snack, and I was so touched by Jared's actions!

Sharp Dressed Man

Jared has been BEGGING for months now to have a button-up shirt and a tie set, but I haven't had a chance to head to the mall and buy him one. I finally got a chance on Wednesday, and he was very insistant on wearing it ASAP, so he wore it to school Thursday: (He's totally not excited or anything...)

Need a laugh??

Jared got off the bus looking something similar to this yesterday (this is a total recreation because my instinct when I first saw him was to untie the shirt ASAP!!)--ignore his "why do I have to stand here and let you take my picture" expression



There are many fashion disasters I've ignored with my children, but I just couldn't really let this one go. I untied the shirt, made him promise to NEVER tie his shirt up like that again, and then turned around and tried my best not to burst into hysterical laughter!!

After we'd been home for about ten minutes, I noticed Em's glasses weren't on her face, which led to her admission that she'd left them at school. We loaded back into the car, headed to school, collected her glasses, said goodbye to her teacher, and started back towards the car. Jared decided he wanted to run downstairs to his own classroom to see if his teacher was still there, in order to say hi/goodbye. As soon as we walked in, she pulled me aside and asked if I'd seen his shirt, and we both giggled. Then I said, "Please tell me that was something he did right at the end of the day."

Nope, it was something he'd done around lunch time. Spent half the day with his shirt tied up like that. I'm sure he gave more than one staff member their laugh for the day!

He's going to hate me for this picture someday...

?????

When I headed to bed last night, I noticed the boys' bedroom light was on, so poked my head in to check on them (something would have done regardless of the light being on), and found Jared sleeping at the foot of Connor's lower bunk!


I have no idea why he was down there, or why the light was on, but I thought it was pretty funny! I jiggled him awake and helped shove him up the bunk bed ladder into his own bed, while he insisted he'd never gotten out of bed and Connor must have dragged him down. LOL!!

The previous night, one or the other of the boys had gotten up and mistaken their bedroom floor for the toilet and peed on the carpet in their half-asleep state. Hey, better the carpet than the bed!

Months of the year

Days of the week

I hope this video works out okay. Normally I load them through photobucket, but it was NOT working and I gave up trying.

ENJOY!

Sack races

While in the back of the house getting the bathroom all cleaned up, I started hearing this loud pounding sound, with cupboards rattling, and LOTS of giggling. Of course it was something I needed to come investigate...



GOOFS!

This picture makes me laugh!!

Sound Sleeper

Even after being a mother for 7 years and 5 months (to the day!), it never ceases to amaze me how soundly kids sleep, and how they choose the craziest positions!!



Me? I need a pillow (two, actually!), my blankets nicely smoothed and straight on top of me, and I'm curled up on one side or the other.

Officer Jared

Jared pulled the policeman dress-up outfit we have off the hanger the other day, put it on, tucked it in, and went about his merry way, playing police officer outside. He came in after a little while and said he needed his bow tie because police officers dress really nice and have to have their FULL uniforms on when they're working ("don't you know.")


He's one fine looking "man" in uniform, wouldn't you say?

I love that kid.

"Wookit our cwubhouse!"

Says Connor, as he's preparing to sleep next to his brother in the make-shift tent/clubhouse I built for them last night using four of our dining chairs and a large blanket (Emily was at a sleepover at a friend's house and the boys were all bent out of shape that they didn't have something special to do...)

1st day of Kinder

Jared had his first day of Kindergarten this week. I've been dreading it all summer; the whole idea of another one of my "babies" entering into "big kid" school is enough to make me want to curl into a ball and bawl my eyes out. Now that's not saying that I haven't been excited for this moment as well. It's another milestone checked off a list that I hope takes another 95+ years for him to complete. It's a step further on his road to becoming a contributing citizen to society, a step towards becoming independent of me and starting his own life. It's exciting and new and I'm excited for him to get to experience it. I'm excited to share with the world the little man I've enjoyed so much these past five years.

I cried on the drive to the school Wednesday afternoon to drop him off for his first day (they normally go full day, but the first day of school, the class was split in half for easier transition, and Jared's half of the class went in the afternoon), but I reassured Jared that they were happy and proud tears. I was FINE the whole time I actually walked into the classroom and dropped him off, and FINE the whole time he was gone that day. I was even FINE the next morning (Thursday) as he got on the bus to ride to school to be gone for the day. I was FINE all morning. I was FINE FINE FINE until my husband very sweetly called from work (something that RARELY happens in the first place!) to say he'd been thinking about me and hoping I wasn't having too hard of a time with J being at Kinder all day. Que the tears...

Just yesterday, Jared was my tiny newborn baby, whom we almost immediately dubbed our "serious old man". He always had this wise and knowing look about him, and I used to desperately wish I could see what was going on in that head of his. He was a charmer right from the start, and sensitive, almost to a fault. He amazed me by speaking up to 4-word sentences at 18 months old, singing the full ABC's into a microphone in front of a crowd a month after turning two, and knowing all his letters and most of their sounds by age 3. He started learning how to ride a bike without training wheels shortly after turning 4 (mastering it before turning 5), and he can spin an elaborate tale at the drop of a hat, and reduce a room full of people to hysterical laughter with his funny observations and phrasings. He's a perfectionist, a go-getter, the best right-hand-man you'll ever find, and he's got a good eye for the ladies (*grin*). I'm jealous that I have to share him 9am-3:30pm, four days a week! Someone else gets to hear his hilarious sayings, someone else gets to see him shine... I knew when he was born I wouldn't be able to keep him forever, but I had hoped this day wouldn't have come quite so quickly. He's ready. I'm not!

J-man, spread those wings and soar the world twice over, gaining experience and knowledge to help you thrive in life, but always remember that your mama is right here cheering you on, and is so very proud of you. Keep up the GREAT work buddy, and enjoy the flight.






As excited as he was to get to school the first day, it was great to see him just as excited to jump off the bus, accept some balloons and a lollipop, and run for home!

Carhartt Boys

The boys have been bugging Dan for some Carhartt overalls for a LONG time now. We kept hoping we'd find them for a better price somewhere, without much luck. I just haven't been able to justify the cost of the overalls over having SEVERAL regular pairs of pants for the same price. LOL In speaking to a girlfriend the other day, she mentioned that her boys each have a pair of Carhartt pants, which are their "outside" pants. The pants stay in the garage and the boys change into them anytime they want to head outside to get into the dirt, and then they take them back off again before coming back inside. The boys get as filthy as they want and she doesn't have to worry about how much muddy laundry she's stuck doing (my boys can dirty up several pairs of pants in a given day). GENIUS!! Then she washes them at the end of the week. Since they're "outdoor" pants, it doesn't matter how ground in the dirt is... And since they're Carhartts, they LAST. The wheels started turning in my head, and when I spotted Carhartt overalls at Fred Meyer today, I grabbed each boy a pair. Even better? They were on sale for 20% off!!! We also got some barn boots because the Target rubber boots just don't last (they always crack!!). The boys are totally set to get down and dirty, and I had the most relaxing time EVER watching them outside digging in the dirt, wiping blackberry juiced fingers on their pants, etc.


Are these handsome little guys poster boys for Carhartt, or what?!? *grin*

Day 3 of our trip

Favorites from day 3:

Connor was obsessed with picking up all the little jelly-fish laying along the shoreline. I don't remember ever seeing so many on our past visits to the ocean!


Jared spent a large portion of his day dragging this huge glob of kelp and seaweed up and down the beach, making trails, which he'd follow afterwards. (I didn't have my camera down at the beach with us for most of the day, but took it down again at night, which is why the pics are pretty dark)




I love this one!!


And finally, here is one of the rare family photos we have. I can probably count on two hands how many we have in total; pretty sad!

Day 2 of our trip

Connor wasted ZERO time getting down and dirty in the sand


Emily wasted ZERO time getting into the water, though she ended up getting more than she bargained for (that wave hit her good from behind and the backsplash ended up right in her mouth!)


Jared was a little more hesitant about the waves...


Connor was a little iffy about the waves at first as well... He was busy throwing sand at the waves, then a larger wave than "normal" came towards him and he took off, mid-throw!


They all ended up in the water, soaked and sandy, by the end of the day!


The kids also enjoyed kite flying, for all of about five minutes






I loved seeing all the little footprints in the sand:


PS Happy Birthday to my Mama!!

Day 1 of our trip

On the drive down to the coast, we saw this ENORMOUS American flag. I wish I would have had more time to line up a shot to show a size comparison, but as you're driving down the road, you take what you can get. It was HUGE!


We spent the first part of the trip listening to the music on Dan's ipod. He's got a "kids" playlist that we listen to, which is basically every song on his ipod that doesn't have swear words of any kind (which means we listen to a lot of Beatles, basically! LOL). One particularly rock-ish song came on and Jared grabbed up his ball yo-yo (that winds itself back up again so you LOOK like you can yo-yo) and hooked it up to the hook in the ceiling of the van, then pulled the ball part down low like a microphone and started rocking out, singing along with the song. It was soooooooo funny! He had his head banging and everything. So cute!


We arrived at about 6:30pm, and unloaded our stuff. This is the beach house we rented (that topmost section is the loft bedroom that Dan and I slept in, the middle section windows you see are the kitchen and livingroom, and then there was also another bedroom, and a bathroom. The lower floor windows you see are the bunk room, which had TWO bunk beds, a couch, and a TV, plus plenty of floor space for kids to play; also on the lower floor was yet another bedroom, a bathroom, and a huge laundryroom)


After we unpacked, we had dinner, and then decided that although it was getting dark, we wanted to go down and "say hello" to the beach quickly before bed. We walked down the path and wandered in the sand a bit. Then Dan wanted to go check out a rock that was right on the edge of the water. One extra big wave came through and suddenly all three kids are wet from the knees down, while fully clothed. Next thing I know, Jared's sitting in the water up to his waist, Connor's splashing around like crazy, and Em's wet up to mid-thigh. LOL All in a matter of seconds!!! At that point, we figured they may as well just go for it, so we stayed down for another half hour, letting them splash and go crazy in their clothes, in the darkening night.



(this was just as we were arriving down at the beach, but he made me laugh INSISTING on having his sunglasses, even though it was past sunset AND it was an extremely overcast day)


Now you can see him SOAKED up to about his armpits...


This one was before he got TOO wet


Connor's shorts were so heavy with water they kept falling down, so he'd walk around pulling them back up every few steps. LOL!


I was trying to self-take a family photo, but Jared refused to scrunch in close, and Connor only willingly stood there for one picture, and as you can see, it was a failed attempt. LOL


And I had originally had the camera turned sideways, then at the last minute changed my mind to orient it tallwise instead, and I somehow managed to take this picture! Crazy! I tried desperately to recreate it "just for fun", but I never could.

Thumbs Up!

I found these card holders for the kids at Target, and to be honest, I was rather skeptical on how well they'd work, and if they'd be worth the money, but we don't play many card games with the kids because they get too frustrated by handfulls of cards they can't organize and don't want us to see if we help, etc, and it seemed like they'd be worth a try. We love them!! It's not a perfect solution in that if cards get piled too thickly together in one area, you pull one out of the holder and all the ones in the surrounding area come out, too, but my kids have gotten the idea pretty quickly. Also, I can hold the holder with the back to me and adjust their cards without ever seeing a single one, the kids are more able to view the cards in their hands, and we're all MUCH happier by the end of a card game! We give this product a thumbs up.