Nutcracker artwork

Jared's class made giant nutcrackers as an art project this month, which were used to help decorate the gym during the "Winter Breakfast for Dinner" event last week. Now that the event is over, the nutcrackers have been moved onto either side of a long hallway in the school. It's pretty neat to walk down and see 24 huge nutcrackers standing at attention! This picture was taken while they were still hanging in the gym. Jared's is the one is the middle. He calls it "Angry George Washington". haha!!

Being Thankful

Jared brought home a book of things he was thankful for. This page made me smile


He's also thankful for the food he eats because otherwise he would die. And he's thankful for his community because it's a nice place to live. (and there were several other pages, but these are the ones that stood out to me)

I love this kind of stuff from the kids!!

Wounded Wing

Jared fell down at recess a few weeks ago and hurt his arm, but didn't say anything to anyone. After school, we went out for ice cream with his grandpa, and as we were leaving the restaurant, Jared said that his arm was bothering him. I rolled up his sleeve and discovered that his forearm near his elbow was pretty swollen, and while it didn't hurt to move his arm around, it was sensitive to the touch and he couldn't bear any weight with it. Off to Prompt Care we went to get it checked out! They ruled out a break and decided he'd probably strained the muscles and the tendon. They stuck him in a brace to keep his wrist still (which would keep the muscle and tendon relatively still, as well as discourage him from trying to use his arm too much). 3.5 days in the brace and another couple of days of taking it easy and he seemed good as new!


Jared wasn't very happy to have to miss swim team and and water polo... He even said he wished he'd never told me his arm was hurting because he really wanted to go! Gotta love a kid who's dedicated to his sport! LOL

Triathlon photo

I finally got the triathlon photos I ordered in the mail, and I absolutely LOVE this one of Jared! I hadn't ended up with one of him exiting the water (first kid in his age bracket out of the water) on my own camera, so I was so thankful to see the hired photographer had captured it. Nevermind that it cost me an arm and a leg to purchase...


The boys have both asked when the triathlons will start up again, and I have to say I'm pretty excited for them to start back up again myself! SOOO much fun. This picture makes me extra anxious to get the boys into another one. LOL

1st swim meet

Jared and Connor had their first swim meet this weekend. It was so fun to watch them compete! There's a lot of little technical stuff you have to do (or not do) in order not to be disqualified in a race, and we're learning as we go... Jared had some major disappointments being disqualified in some of his events, but his coaches were quick to assure him that it happens to everyone at some point, especially when he's only been in the swim club for a month!

The coaches pulled us aside and had great compliments for both boys and said they're excited to see them grow in their abilities. I am VERY proud of my little guys! It was very brave to go out and compete for the first time, and both boys had really good times for their ages and how long they've been swimming.

Connor placed 2nd in his heat for the 25yd freestyle, and 1st in his heat for the 25yd breaststroke. Jared placed 3rd in his heat for the 100yd breaststroke (but DQ'd due to one accidental flutter kick leading into a turn), and 2nd in his heat for the 100yd freestyle (several people approached us and said if his flip turns were better, he'd have easily won--Jared only JUST started doing flip turns this week, basically!).

Connor's events were ages 8 and under (he's 6), and Jared's events were ages 10 and under (he's 8), so they are both at the low end of their group's age ranges, and have lots of time to improve. They really seemed to enjoy the experience, and I loved the heck out of watching them (and also that I was safely INDOORS while all the soccer parents stood out in the pouring down rain all weekend! ha!).

WAY TO GO JARED AND CONNOR!! Mommy and Daddy are SO proud of you guys. You don't have to win for us to be proud of you, you just have to do your best, and you both swam your hearts out. We had so much fun watching you, and couldn't be more proud. Giant high fives to you both!

Jared

When we showed up at school earlier this week for Open House, there was an "all about me" writing project hanging up along the walls in the hallway near Jared's classroom. His is missing a few words, but you know what he was getting at. It made me laugh! I absolutely love this sort of stuff.


His teacher also set up a neat photo area right near the classroom door, where all the kids look like they are rock climbing!


I'm so excited to see what the rest of this year brings for Jared. His classroom runs a school supply shop a bit later in the year, and he is SOOOOOOO excited! He said they've already gotten their loan from the bank, and are starting to discuss what items they want to sell, and how much they need to sell the items for to make a profit, etc. They'll also learn how to balance a checkbook. I think it's going to be a really great year for him.

Pulling Teeth

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Jared needed to have two baby teeth pulled to make room for two permanant teeth that couldn't drop down. Jared was pretty nervous, but very brave. My aunt works at the dentist we see, and assisted with the extraction, and she said Jared did awesome! He was really uncomfortable at first, and we had a hard time getting the bleeding to stop (I don't think he was biting down on the gauze hard enough, because he said it hurt too much). After I finally convinced him to swallow some Motrin, and the feeling came back to his lips/cheek so he was allowed to eat, he perked right up and it's been super smooth sailing ever since.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


He keeps teasing me with his "bunny teeth" and saying he's going to smile with the only remaining front teeth sticking out over his lip for school pictures in two weeks. LOL




Huge teeth when the roots are still attached!


I guess it's still somewhat tender when biting into foods, so I've been either cutting up his food, or he's been ripping it up (or he's choosing softer food items). He lisps a bit when he's talking now, too, with barely any teeth to help form the sounds!

Orthodontist

Jared had a free consultation with the orthodontist last week. The ortho was running super late that day, so the gal that put us in the room came back and got out some toys/games for the kids. The boys happily played tic-tac-toe!


x-rays show that Jared's teeth are a bit of a crowded mess. He needs to get the two baby upper cuspids pulled to make room for the permanent lateral incisors to FINALLY drop down. The permanent upper cuspids don't look in great alignment to me, but the orthodontist said we'd focus on one problem at a time, and that with any luck, with the baby teeth extracted, the permanent teeth can shift and come down properly.


They baby teeth will be extracted as soon as we can schedule an appointment (dentist is closed this week so we have to wait), and then we go back to the ortho in 10 months for another consultation (unless myself or our dentist have further concerns before then).

And so it starts... $$$$$ aughhh!

Olympic dreams

I don't ever remember watching the Olympics as a kid and thinking, "I'm going to do that someday!" It was always more of a, "Wow, sure wish I could do that!" sort of thing.

Jared and Connor? It's a definite "I'm going to do that someday!"

Jared told me he's going to beat Michael Phelps's swimming records, and everyone is going to know HIS name instead. Connor has big dreams of being an olympic diver. I LOVE that they are so inspired by the Olympics to have dreams of competing someday themselves, that they have an enjoyment of the pool, and that they have such confidence in themselves.

Sometimes, though, that confidence goes a little too far, especially where Connor is concerned!

During a recent stay at a hotel, Connor decided to attempt a dive similar to this one (without the benefit of a spring board, or any training):


Before we had any warning of what he was about to do, he'd put his back to the water, jumped up, and flung himself forward in an attempt at a somersault, landing with a sickening THUD face-first on the concrete pool deck. His body slumped down into the water. He was holding onto the wall, but wasn't making any sound.

Dan got to him first, so I backtracked for the towel, fully expecting to need it to mop up what was left of his face. I was positive there'd be missing teeth and/or a broken nose. If you'd heard the sound of his face on that concrete, you'd have been expecting total gore as well. aughhh!!

I don't know how he did it, but the indestructible little guy "only" ended up with a minor goose-egg at his hairline (more of a brushburn than anything; his nose and lip clearly took the bigger brunt of the fall), a pretty scraped up nose, and a shredded inner lip.


The picture doesn't do justice to his inner lip. There were actual strings of skin where his teeth grated at the inside of his lip. The lip wound went all the down to the base of the gumline, and swelled up pretty good that night.

None of his injuries seemed worthy of medical attention, but we kept a close eye on him for the evening. By the next morning, the swelling was gone in all three areas (head, nose, lip), and as far as he was concerned, it was as if nothing had even happened.

I, on the otherhand, have woken up at least once a night since it happened, hearing the sound of that THUD of his face in my dreams. I'm so thankful it didn't turn out to be worse, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed he's always so lucky, because I have no doubt he'll continue in his little dare-devil ways.

Triathlon #2

Getting marked up for the race




A scraped up face and shredded inner lip didn't slow this kid down for one second! He's such a trooper!


transition station all set up


standing around waiting because the race was an hour delayed!


10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2...


...1, GO!






Blurry picture of Jared, out in front of the rest of the swimmers by 2-3 body lengths!


I swear I took a picture of him getting out of the water, but I guess I didn't press it down all the way... Whoever thought I could juggle trying to photograph two kids in the water, AND be helpful in the transitions was pretty silly... *grin*

Connor getting out of the water (he beat about half the kids out of the water)


They had to change the bike course last minute, so the kids had to run their bikes to and from the transition area to the mount/dismount area. This is Jared running his bike from the dismount area back to the bike "parking" area so he can do the run portion


Connor coming back (Dan hung out in the dismount area to help make sure Connor knew what to do since he was so much younger than most of the other kids)


Jared made it to the finish line just before Dan and I made it over there (pout!), but here is Connor


Jared was 9th overall for the 6-8 year old bracket, 2nd place male (missed out on 1st place male by 18 seconds!). Connor was 24th overall, 13th place male (3rd place six year old male).

Jared said he passed a lot of people during the swim and the run, but a lot of people passed him during the bike (he didn't feel comfortable riding really fast with so many other kids so close to him). Connor said he got a side ache and walked most of the run portion, but when he saw the finish line he started running again. Both boys had a GREAT time, and Dan and Emily and I had such a good time cheering them on! I wish I could have gotten more pictures of the biking/running, and better pictures of the swimming and finish-line. Next time I need to just assign photographers throughout the course to help me out. LOL

We made a family outing of the whole thing by staying in a hotel near the race location the night before. The kids enjoyed the hotel pool and getting to eat our meals out (something we rarely do!). It was a great weekend.

Ready, Set, LAUNCH!

Connor tried to add a bit of form to his flights...






...Jared did not. *grin*

Minibike

Dan bought the kids a minibike three years ago, and Connor, who was only three years old at the time, was obsessed with it. That first summer, Emily was too nervous to really WANT ride it, and neither of the boys were big enough, much to Connor's extreme disappointment. Thankfully for him, I could put him in front of me and take him for little rides. The second summer, we got Emily on it for short turns at a time, Jared was slightly more willing than she was, but Connor was still too small. Emily was really getting her confidence when the minibike stopped working. This summer, Dan's grandpa came to town for a few weeks and spent a few days tinkering around with it and got it running again. All three kids have been enjoying it, but Connor would practically live on it if he could. Nothing like waiting THREE years to finally be big enough and coordinated enough to ride something you've been dying to ride!!! The other two will take a few turns, and then have their fill, but Connor rides around and around and AROUND the yard. He rode for 45 minutes straight the other afternoon!

I had a picture of Emily as well, but it won't load properly.

Here is Jared:


And here is Connor: (Don't you love the gardening gloves he insisted on wearing? haha!)

Triathlon

My friend Kaci's daughter, Elly (Jared's age), participated in her first kid triathalon a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was something Jared and Connor would really enjoy getting to do, so I researched kid triathalons for our area, and found one for the following weekend. Connor was one year too young for the youth tri, but could do the "Splash and Dash" (swim/run) event.

These goggles make me laugh, but they're the only ones he's willing wear right now!


Jared did NOT want to wear the cap, but finally consented, as long as we left his ears out


The boys testing out the water prior to the start of their races (the ducks swimming around in the race area made me laugh!)


The Splash and Dash event was first. They put the three participants in shallow water so they could walk if they needed/wanted.


Connor was pretty bummed because he really wanted to SWIM, so he walked a little bit, and then went out a bit deeper and did his best to swim. I was REALLY proud of him for SWIMMING, even though his hands kept hitting the bottom. LOL


He got out of the water and started running towards the transition area where he was supposed to get shoes on


Blew right past the transition area and headed straight for the finish line, barefoot, still wearing his cap and goggles!!! hahahahaha!


He finished!


The swim portion of Jared's kid tri was OVER by the time I got back down the hill from Connor's finish, so I didn't get any pictures of him (POUT!). I got there just in time to see him out of the water and heading to the transtion area


Out of 21 kids (ages 7-10), Jared was the third one out of the water (hot on heels of the two kids in front of him), but we lost a TON of time battling his shoes. After we finally got them on his feet, he took off for the bike portion


The bike path took him up and around where we couldn't see him, so I snapped an additional picture when he got back. LOL


Just arriving at the bottom of the hill leading to the finish line


He finished!


Jared came in 9th out of 21 kids, less than a minute and a half behind the first place kid (we spent AT LEAST a minute fighting with his shoes, so I'm pretty positive he'd have been in the top few if we'd been a little more coordinated with the shoes!). It was a great first experience for the boys, and we learned a few things for next time. I am SOOO proud of my little athletes for participating and doing their best.

Fishin' Buddies

Jared and Connor got fishing poles and tackle boxes for their birthdays last month, and have been having fun down at our neighborhood dock trying to catch whatever might happen to be in the water (lots of seaweed and jellyfish so far!).

This picture isn't great quality because it was taken while my phone was in a waterproof case because I was out on the kayak when I took it:


Dan hooked them up with the "fishing hats"! They've been down there several times now, and have been having a great time, despite not catching anything.

Creepy Shadows

I came out early-ish the other morning and discovered a rather creepy looking creature on my floor:


Never fear! It was just the shadow of the cyclops Jared and Connor drew on the sliding glass door with special window markers. LOL