Relaxin'

Just hanging out...relaxing....just you and your dog.....

laying around....just doin' nothing....

then your sister comes dive bombing in and messes everything up!

100th Day of School

Today marks the 100th day of school!  So for school today, Jayden counted out 100 colored noodles that I strung together on a necklace.  Then I also cut out 100 circles, punched holes in them, and strung them together in groups of 10 in order to make a paper circle cape!  Jayden was originally going to put 1 sticker on each circle so that he also had 100 stickers, but decided at the last minute it wasn't going to be a cape, it was to be another necklace.  So here you go!

Then for his snack, he counted out 100 goldfish to put in a a baggie.

I guess at school today he is going to be doing a whole bunch of "100" based projects.  Can't wait to see what he comes home with!

The Pirate and the Pirate Princess

I had a couple of pirates running around the house saving me from bad guys yesterday.  Eventually they followed the bad guys outside and, according to the pirate, engage in some fierce battles. 

At first, the pirate was rescuing the princess, but the way things go with princesses in this house is they get tired of being rescued and starting helping in the fight.  And so the princess became the pirate princess.

 

Using those taekwondo moves...

Walking victoriously out of a battle, which happened to be in the garden, where I found them stomping bad guys who were living underneath my strawberry plants.....Oy

The Haircut

Royal's been asking for a haircut for a few weeks now, and since he made the news last night I decided I might as well help keep him from looking like a shaggy dog.  It's just too bad that I give such a crappy haircut. 

Jayden has been growing his hair out for the sole purpose of being able to put it in a pony tail like Anakin Skywalker, kinda like this :

And he pretty much had it.  However, Royal asked him if he wanted to get a haircut today with him or leave his hair long.  Jayden said he wanted his hair long, but trimmed up a little.  I said, "Well if you want that you're gonna have to go to someone to have it done, because I only give one type of crappy hair cut, and that's short."  So, after deliberating for awhile, he decided he wanted his hair short because he was afraid somebody might start calling him a girl and that would hurt his feelings.  (sad....) 

So, I took before and after pictures because I personally love his long shaggy hair and I take pictures of just about everything and that's just the kind of mom I am.

Everybody wanted in on the before picture, especially Willow, which is ironic because it seems like she is forgetting how to smile normally on cue...

The before and after with a short, crappy hair cut.  Oh Grandma Norma....where are you?????

Lesson Learned (again)

Once again.....

Don't leave a 3 year old unattended in a room with a bottle of lotion.

Luckily, I caught her before it turned into this!

Gettin' Ready

We are starting to get ready for our ski trip to Colorado next month!  I'm starting to pull out my snow gear - skis and snowboards that haven't been used for almost 5 years.....eek! - and taking an inventory of what we have and what we are going to need for the kids.  Jayden is getting really excited to learn how to ski, we even took him to a ski rental place today to let him try on some boots so he has an idea of what they feel like on his feet.  I'm also really glad he's taken to wearing my helmet, because this mama isn't letting him up on the mountain without his noggin' protected!  :)

Music Man

Jaydo-boy has had a bit of a love of music pretty much his entire life.  Before he could even talk, he would hum himself to sleep at night, then it progressed into singing himself to sleep at night, and it has now become him singing throughout his whole day.  Singing about something his toys are doing, or something he is doing, or something he wants me to do for him.  I put a radio in his room a couple of years ago and he goes in there to listen and sing "Jesus music".  So when he had lots of different instruments on his Christmas list this year, I wasn't too surprised.  Among other things, he asked for a guitar, not just any guitar, an electric guitar.  "You know mom, the kind that has an on and off switch, and has a speaker, and is LOUD"  So, that's what we got him.  Thankfully, it's not that loud.  :)

 

Jayden turns on Pandora and picks a station for him to strum and sing along with.  So far, it's still been Christmas music.  He told me that he wants Christmas music because "everyday can be Jesus' birthday, right?"

 

Have I mentioned how much I hate public school?  If not, well, I do.  Jayden, my constant singer, came home from school this week and told me his music teacher told him he can't sing.  I have to admit, my initial reaction was the turn the car around and let that teacher have a piece of my mind, but instead I chose to build Jayden up and tell him how much I love his singing, and if he loves to sing to keep doing it, and even if someone tells him he can't do something, that doesn't mean he has to stop trying, and if he wants to get better at something he has to practice and that we can always find a way for him to get better if that's what he wants.  Now, Jayden may not have the best voice, he may be a bit tone deaf on most of the songs he sings, but is it really necessary to tell a 5 year old he can't sing?  In front of his entire class?  He's 5 for goodness sake.  Whats the point in killin' a dream so early?  And now Jayden will have "I can't sing" repeating over and over in his head, on the track that is his life.  Ugh, I hate school.  I was in 7th grade when my choir director asked me to stop singing and play the piano to accompany the choir instead.  And it most likely had nothing to do with me not being able to sing - I can carry a tune, but I don't have the most beautiful singing voice.  It most likely had everything to do with I was a pretty good piano player and that my piano skills far exceeded my singing skills, and it's pretty darn convenient to have someone in class who can plunk out the parts for you and have the choir practice with the actual accompaniment.  And while I was built up in my piano confidence, I have always been a bit self conscious of my singing since then.  I've never sang in another choir (until this past Christmas), and who knows, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I had "I can't sing well" running in my head over and over since I was 12.

Nothing stops us at home though.  We have music on all the time and sing and dance as much as we want, as off key and off beat as we want too.  :)

Kid Quote :: 20

Willow's been squirming around in my arms for the past couple of hours saying that her stomach hurt.  So, I got prepared with towels and a bowl to catch what I knew was coming.  And it did.  Then right aftwerwards...

Willow : (laughing almost hysterically) I just threw up!  I was all like 'blech! and spit it out!  I just threw up!  Just like Jayden!  Now I'm just like Jayden!  I just threw up like Jayden!  Blech and spit it out!

She's the only kid I know who laughs hysterically while barf is being wiped from her hands and mouth, and is excited that she is one step closer to being Just. Like. Jayden.  Even if that means throwing up.  She's the sweetest little sister around.

Kid Quote :: 19

While helping Jayden read through some of his reader books tonight, he kept looking at me while trying to read each word and then guess as to what the next word in the sentence might be, so as you can imagine it was taking for.ev.er to get through the book.

Me : Hey buddy, if you stop looking at me and keep your eyes on the words, then you'll actually be able to read them.

Jayden : But Mom, I can't stop looking at you because you are just so lovely.

Lil' Dragons

Jayden started Taekwondo this past week and he loves it.  He begs to go to class every day and puts on his uniform and practices his punches and kicks all over the house.  Taekwondo means something along the lines of "the art of hands and feet" or "the art of kicking and punching".  And if any of you know Jayden, he has been kicking and punching pretty much his entire life, it's pretty much perfect for him.

Jayden is in the Lil' Dragons class which is a prep class that will help prepare him for their Martial Arts program that starts around age 8.  But they get to earn stripes on their belts and different color belts and Jayden has noticed all the different colored belts around the room and he told me, "Well, I have a white belt, which means I am like a padawan.  But once I get to a red or black belt, then I will be like a master!"

All Alone Again

I dropped my mom off at the airport this morning so she could fly back to Washington, and this concluded our marathon 2 months of visitors.  I'm just not sure what we are going to do around here while Royal's at work.  Just me and the kids.  How in the world did I keep them entertained while I was getting anything done????  How in the world am I going to get all those dishes done?  By myself?  Are you kidding me????  Ugh.  Anybody want to come stay with us for awhile????   I guess it's time to start planning our summer road trip to Washington.  Me and the kids are planning on driving and camping along the way.  Should be totally fun...or a total disaster...we'll see....but I'll be posting about it either way!

On my mom's last night here, we planned a private painting party at Paint the Towne to do a painting that my mom chose.  We had a big group coming at one point, but then everybody kept canceling on us, and it just ended up being 4 of us.  It was still fun.  Their loss!  I love painting, so I don't really care if there's 1 or 20, and it meant I had enough margaritas to share with everybody, including the teacher!

2011 into 2012

We have been having some very warm temperatures for this time of year, so guess what we did on the very last day of 2011???  We went to the zoo!  It was sunny, pretty warm, a bit windy, but totally nice!  And it was a good thing we went too, because my mom usually renews our zoo membership for our family for Christmas and they are having a big ole price hike in 2012, so we got our 2012 membership for 2011 prices!  Gotta love a bargain!  :)  And lucky for all you blog readers and stalkers out there, because I'm pretty sure you'd have thought something was wrong if there were no zoo posts in 2012!

We visited the reptiles exhibit....

And then we visited the jungle to check out what kind of bird Jayden thinks he is going to get...pretty sure it's not gonna be either of these...

We also saw the bears roaming all around.  They don't usually hibernate in the winter because they always have access to food, but they are suppose to be sleepier than normal.  I'm pretty sure these bears are so active because they think it's spring outside.  It's been so sunny and warm and nice, I'm afraid my tulips are gonna come popping out of the ground!

The amur leopard was also really close to the front of his cage.  I always feel so bad for this guy.  He got a real bad rap after attacking a kid last spring.  Attacking a kid is bad, but so is climbing over the barrier and walking right next to his cage, where he could reach through the grate and grab you.  Ummmm....adult supervision, anyone???? :) The kid is totally ok.  The leopard, well, I'm pretty sure people are still talking about him behind his back.

The zoo is also the perfect place for playing with the walkie-talkie's we got for Christmas!

Happy 2012!  I'm just sure it's gonna be a great year!  We've already got some great vacations and trips we are planning to look forward too!  Can anyone say skiing this winter???  And Washington this summer???  Oh yeah!