Jayden Stories :: Too Fast for T-Rex

Jayden and I have been talking a lot about how just because a dinosaur is a meat eater, it doesn't necessarily mean that they were mean. They just had to kill another dinosaur to survive. So if they couldn't catch their dinner, they would go hungry. One of his dinosaur books said something about most likely a T-Rex missed catching a bunch of the dinosaurs they were chasing, just like today's animal predators out in the wild. And now, it is being brought to you in true Jayden story form!

Snowy Day

Yesterday we finally got a few inches of snow!  It was perfect for playing in right before lunch.  It was only like 26 degrees outside, no wind, sunny.  I got bundled up with the kids and we went stomping through the yard.  The roads were pretty clear, so we went and worked out in the morning, Jayden had school in the afternoon.  Royal decided to come home from work early to play with the kids in the snow, so he picked Jayden up from school and came home.  Unfortunately by then, the next cold front was coming in, so it was much colder, snowing little tiny frozen hard snow, and the wind was blowing. But we bundled them up anyway!






Willow lasted about 10 minutes, before she came in to do some cooking with me.  :)  Jayden and Royal and Sam went for a long walk around the neighborhood stomping in all the snow and came back looking like ice cubes!


Now today, it is sunny and clear, and thanks to the low last night of 0 (that would be zero!), all our activities for the day have been canceled - no Strollers in Motion, no school for Jayden, no swimming for Willow.  We are now all mostly healthy but still trapped in the house, this time due to ice and frozen temperatures.  Outside right now, it's 6, but really feels like -18 (that's in Fahrenheit, my friend!).   Brrrr.  I'm gonna go turn up the heat

Happy Birthday, Jordy Pordy!

Happy Birthday Brother!!!!!!

Obstacle Course

We have been going a little stir crazy here.  The kids were sick with stomach bugs for the 2 weeks before we left for Washington for Christmas, then we got a much needed break from sicknesses for the 2 weeks we were in Washington, but then a mere 4 days after we got home, Jayden had the sniffles.  The next day he was spiking a 104 fever.  But Thursday, he was doing much better, but Willow was going downhill.  So, here we are, Sunday night, and me and the kids have pretty much not gone anywhere for almost a week.  And man, are all of our new and old toys getting really boring!  So, today, after we built like the 5th edition of Dora's castle from the legos Willow got for Christmas, I decided it was time to get their blood moving.  So, I created an obstacle course.

You start at the shopping cart, grab a piece of fruit or vegetable, and throw it into the blue box on the train table.



then you race around the train table...



past the snakes (don't let them bite you!)...



over the caterpillar chair...



where you make a hard right...



to jump off the polka dot circle...



to knock over the pillar...



to jump over the blocks...







to finally make it to the slide...





only to have to crawl under the bridge (where the dino is trying to eat you)...





where you were then suppose to get into the jumper for victory!  But nobody wanted to get into the jumper.  Jayden just wanted to know how fast he made it through the course and then went back to beat his time.  His record time was 24 seconds!

So, here's to a hopefully healthy week!  Although we're suppose to get snow, so I suppose all our activities are going to get canceled due to weather. I guess I'll build another obstacle course tomorrow...but maybe outside with snowman trying to attack you!

Back to Life...Back to Reality

(heavy picture post....so beware!...I have some making up to do)

We are back in Wichita and trying to get back into our groove.  It's hard to do considering we left a plethora of present opening behind...






And lots of family....









And cousins to make scary faces with...



And way, way, way too much food... (those are bacon wrapped lil smokies covered in brown sugar...mmmmm)



And early mornings which always lead to piling on Nana and Papa's bed to watch cartoons (Nana is behind Willow, Papa is behind the fluffy dog - like the bed wasn't full enough before adding dogs to it!)



And the making and eating of Jesus' birthday cake...



And the fantastic view.....





But back we are!  And sadly, we came back to Jayden's little red beta, Fishy, having died while we were gone.  He lived a good 2.5 years in our house - which according to my fish track record is really good!  I thought Jayden would be more upset, but he just said, 'Well, I guess when I get to Heaven, Fishy will be there waiting for me!"  And we set out the next day to find a new fish.

Another beta, Jayden has named him Rexy.



We also came back to a basement full of old and new toys we hadn't played with in over 2 weeks.



And of course, now, the nightly battles in the dark with Jayden and Willow's new light sabers.  Ah the joys of training up a Jedi...

2 Wheelin'

We've been out running, riding scooters, and riding bikes around the block to burn off a bunch of extra energy that the kids have, mostly from eating too many sugar cookies. :)  Royal's mom has managed to pick up a whole slew of bikes from garage sales in preparation for the kids coming and growing up and needing different outside toys to play with.  Unfortunately the only bike big enough for Jayden to ride that had training wheels on it was purple and he said he couldn't ride a girl bike, so he was stuck on a smaller bike that was getting really hard for him to pedal, especially up hills.

A couple days ago Jayden was getting really frustrated on the smaller bike, so he decided it was time to try out a bigger bike without training wheels, as long as Royal promised to not let go.  Jayden did pretty darn good, he needs a few more practices out there, because he's so concentrated on pedaling and not falling over that he's forgotten how to steer.  :)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Jayden decided this year that Santa wasn't real.  I never told him that Santa wasn't real, he just decided for himself.  I asked him if Santa wasn't real, who was going to be coming to Royal's work Christmas party.  He told me, 'Oh just a guy in a costume'.  Then I asked, 'So, where do the presents in your stockings come from?'.  He answered, 'They are from you.'  I think today, his disbelief in Santa might have been shaken.

Royal's mom won an appearance from Santa Claus at a silent auction, and he showed up at the house today.  Despite the fact that the kiddos freaked out when the Santa at Royal's work's Christmas party showed up, they did pretty darn well with him sitting in the living room.

Looking out the window at Santa coming up the sidewalk - Jayden's starting to freak out a bit.



Jayden ran away and hid while Santa came in, then finally came back to check him out when he heard he had candy.



We actually got Jayden to sit on his lap!



And Jayden tested out his beard.



Willow wouldn't sit on Santa's lap, but at least got close enough to get her gift and candy cane.



Finally, Santa read the kids a story, Sneezy the Snowman.  I thought this Santa was totally realistic!


Merry Christmas!!!