Run away! Run away!

This past week Kaylee decided that she has had enough of her brothers and so she was going to run away. She informed me of this very matter of fact like, and then proceeded to write up a "packing list". She even titled it, "List of things I need to run away". To give you an idea, the very first item listed was "2670 packages of Ramen noodles". The rest of the list wasn't much better. "27 apples, 160 bottles of water, all her stuff grandma oatmeal gave her, 6 chapter books, 2 math books, 2 blankets, 1 huge box for my stuffed animals, 1 pair of scissors, 2 pillows, 2 jackets, 21 boxes of matches, all my clothes, a hat, shoes-a girl cant have too many, my gold and my money, list of my friends, my pink bat, calendar, towel, place mat, trick-or-treating costume and bag." She showed me the list and I said "wow, that's a lot of stuff! How are you going to carry it all?" She said she didn't know and went off to think about it for a while. Then she came back and said that she was going to have grandpa build her a wagon to carry stuff in. She decided that he would need to have one night to build the wagon, so she was postponing running away until tomorrow. Then she found out that we were going to the library the next day, so the departure date was pushed back another day. Then she found out we were going to the museum, so that pushed it back even another day. So Friday was it, r-day so to speak. Wednesday night while grandma was tucking her into bed, Kaylee told her about her plans to run away on Friday. Grandma said "oh, but Kaylee, if you run away I will miss you so much I'll cry!!" Kaylee was quiet for a minute, then she sighed really big and said, "OK, I'll stay till Saturday" It was all mom and I could do to get them settled and out of the room before bursting with laughter. She is such a drama queen!!! Needless to say, by Saturday she had forgotten all about running away.

Heaven Help us!

I haven't been able to blog now in a very long time. Computer problems (aka the "blue screen of death"). We are back up and running again, finally! SOOOOO much has happened with our family since I last wrote, it's hard to know where to begin. Jaden is not only walking but running as well as climbing. He can reach up onto the counter and on to the table. He has pulled bowls of cereal off the table and onto his head. Not a good thing when you are allergic to milk! Ethan is a toothless wonder. Of his front 8 teeth he has only 1 that is all the way in and not loose! He has 2 that are still in his mouth but both are loose. The rest are gone! He has a few that are adult teeth that are just starting to grow back in. Jake has started school as of September and LOVES every minute of it. They have been studying apples this past month, and Jake recognizes and can name several varieties of apples. For example, he knows what red delicious, yellow delicious, gala, granny smith, and braeburn (as well as several others) all look like! He's a riot to take to the grocery store! He totally flabbergasted the produce guy that was putting out the apples at Fry's. Jake, who talks to anyone and everyone, started pointing out apples and telling the guy "this one is granny smith (pronounce granny smiff), and this is red delicious (wed dewicious)..." The grocer's eyes just about popped out of his head! It was very funny. Kaylee is still trying hard to be the queen bee around here. She is reading voraciously now.
A few funnies of the recent weeks:
Jake. In and of himself he is funny, but this one had me laughing. He got all upset one night at dinner because Kaylee got to say the blessing on the food. Finally grandma told him that if he wanted to say his own prayer that he could and to just say it in his head. Jake folded his arms up over the top of his head and squinted his eyes shut and said, out loud, his prayer. I guess when you are 3 that is what "say it in your head" means!
Kaylee. Last week she was fussin' and carrying on about something that her brothers were doing to her (or more accurately what she thought her brothers were doing to her). I was teasing her about being a drama queen, trying desperately to head off the full blown pouty tantrum that was coming, and she stops the whine cold and says really airy, Scarlett O'Hara voice, "I just want my award" and fanned herself with her hand!! I don't know where it came from, if it was something she heard at school, or what, but I about peed my pants I was laughing so hard.
Jaden is "calling me" so I guess this is all for now! More on the hutch bunch soon!

"Dot" the "I"

Well, its only 10 am and we've already had 2 things note worthy happen. Its gonna be a crazy day, I can feel it! Ethan has been carrying around one of Kaylee's chapter books called Junie B. Jones. He told grandma that he was reading it and that he was on the "second third chapter". "oh?" says grandma, "will you read some to me?" Ethan says "no, I'm just practicing reading". Grandma says "oh you mean you just read the words that you know?" Ethan says, "Yeah, I'm just reading the words that I know... I only know 'the' and 'I'"
Jake had his own moment this morning too. He and the other kids went out in the back yard to play this morning. We are dog sitting for Uncle Eric and so Toula is in the backyard too. When he came back inside I looked at him and saw that the front of his shirt is covered in brown red dust stuff. I said "Jake, whats all over your shirt?" He says something unintelligible that sounds like "toowadoats" I said "what?!?!" He says, "Toowadoats!" I thought about it for a minute and then said "do you mean Toula dots?" Yeah! He says. "she knocked me down and stepped on me. gave me tou-wa dots on my shirt."

Tootin' antelopes!

For once the funny "quote of the day" comes from someone other than Jake. Yesterday, I was in the dining room and happened to look down at the ground under the table. There was a funny looking orange square on the ground. Ethan was standing next to me and I asked him "what is that under the table?", being younger and more flexible than I, he dropped to the floor to investigate. He poked it around for a second and then tells me "It's an antelope mom!" An antelope?! "A what?" I asked. AN ANTELOPE! It was a piece of C-antelope that Jake had dropped on the floor at lunch. Then tonight Ethan had a doosey. Aunt Jenny is here visiting and we kicked Kaylee out of her bed so that Jenny can have a place to sleep. The kids were fighting over who got to sleep on the air mattress on the floor. Kaylee got it the first night and so it was Ethan's turn tonight. Kaylee complained that she didn't want to sleep in her brothers bed cause it "stinks". Aunt Jenny asked Ethan whey it stunk and he says "It's cause I toot in it every night. It doesn't stink to me!" Oh, help me please, I have three boys and this is just the tip of the iceberg! Kaylee had her own funny moment today too. For dinner I made homemade egg rolls and stir fry. She tasted it and says, "MMMM! This is good! Mom, you should be a CHEF when you grow up!!" When I grow up huh? Thought that had already happened, but I guess that shows you what I know!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

T-R-O-U-B-L-E, and that folks, is how you spell Jaden. We are in so much trouble!! He is now standing without support and is getting into more and more things everyday. He has discovered that he can reach the buttons on the TV. He stand there and reaches up and pushes the buttons with both hands at the same time. He especially likes the power button. On, off, on, of, on, off, on, off! He is also standing without support and playing. Yesterday, he was standing and chewing on a toy. He accidentally dropped the toy and so he squatted down, picked it up, and stood back up without holding on to anything else!! I am so afraid that he will take his first step BEFORE daddy comes home. He is due to come for a R&R visit in about 19 days, give or take! I hope Jaden waits till then to take his first step! I can't believe he is 11 months old now. How time flies. Jacob and Ethan are in swimming lessons this session again and are improving daily. Jacob can now jump in and swim from one side of the shallow end to the other without any help. Ethan can do the same and is more at home in the water everyday. No more panic attacks this week from him! Yesterday the went into the "deep" end! They both jumped into 6 feet of water, swam down to the bottom to get a ring, swam back up to the top and then over to the wall ALL BY THEMSELVES! Even Jake! Mrs Amy didn't have to help them at all! They are so very proud of themselves, as they should be!

Hummingbirds like kool-aid!

Our hummingbird feeder has be empty for a while. I can't keep up with the birds as they drain the whole thing in an afternoon. I had kinda given up, but Jake was very concerned about the hummingbirds not having enough to drink, so... I got the feeder down out of the tree and had put it on the counter to clean and refill. He came in and saw it and tried to pour cherry kool-aid into it. Only succeeded in making a mess and staining the counter top. He helped me clean it up and then helped me to make food for the birds and when I started filling it up, he got all excited and said "I'm gonna go tell the Hummingbirds that they have a drink again!" and he took off out into the back yard. I can see him from the kitchen window where I am standing filling up the feeder. He is standing under the tree looking up at the branches and yelling"Here hummingbirds! Come on hummingbirds! Come here hummingbirds!!" When he gets no response (of course) he comes running back into the kitchen, "Mommy! Mommy! Come help me call the hummingbirds! They aren't listening to me!" Boy, if he only knew. He must be part hummingbird too.
Jaden is starting to stand without support. He loves to bang on the entertainment center with a block and he has discovered that he can do that more effectively if he doesn't have to hold on to it too. He pulls up and gets balanced and steady then lets go and starts banging away with the block. It's only a matter of time and then we are IN TROUBLE!!

Gone Fishin'

Well, all three of the older kids have accomplished something that their daddy has tried his whole life to do. And done it twice. They caught fish!!! All three of them caught two fish a piece! You should have seen their faces! They were so excited. I have video and I have pictures so I will be working to get those online soon. We drove up to Tonto National Forest and went to the Tonto Creek fish hatchery and played around there for a while. Then we went up to a place that specializes in kids fishing. It was a nice little place, very pretty, and they had a little lake. More like a pond really, that was stocked with rainbow trout. You got a bamboo fishing pole and homemade bait from the shop and went "fishing". Similar to shooting fish in a barrel if you ask me!! All you really had to do was dip your hook into the water and pull it out with a fish on it! Kaylee caught her second one in less than 3 seconds. Not hardly fair for the fish, but for the kids and their goldfish attention spans, it was perfect! Good size trout too. Very yummy, I might add. Jake ate more than any one else. He really liked it. He told us he wanted to save a piece for Abbey, our cat. We told him OK, just to put it on the side of his plate. He couldn't help himself, and ate it anyway! After we caught the fish we had a picnic lunch right there by the pond and after we ate, the kids asked if they could go over by the fish pond again. It is surrounded by a wall to help keep kids from falling in and so we told them they could. I told Jake to be careful. His response? "Don't worry mommy, there are no sharks in there!"

Armed and Dangerous

Jaden has a tooth. Such a scary thing for me!! It finally broke through yesterday afternoon. I was excited though because I thought that might mean a few hours of sleep for me last night. Boy, was I wrong! The tooth is the top right front tooth. He'll look like a jack-o-lantern if he doesn't get a few more in soon!

Slow down, I want to get off!!

Things have been CRAZY busy here lately! The kids all have been taking swimming lessons and doing very well considering that it is their first time. Jaden has a new walker and is so very mobile in it. He loves crusin' around! He is also getting his first tooth! It is almost through and I expect it'll be in either tomorrow or the next day. He and Jake have had their first fight too. Jake had a toy car and was playing on the floor by Jaden and he set the car down between his legs to do grab another nearby toy (a superman I think) and Jaden was real quick and grabbed the car. Jake of course yelled at him and took it back. Jaden moved on and grabbed the superman and Jake again yelled at him and tried to grab it back. Jaden wasn't going to be pushed around again and he held on. He and Jake both had the toy and Jaden starts screeching. He yelled and you could tell he was mad! Jake was so surprised he let go! The fight goes to the 10 month old! Jacob has also been doing really good. He has decided that he really likes books. He used to have the attention span of a gnat and would only sit still for a few pages. Now he's on the attention span level of a goldfish and will sit for 2 or 3 books at a time! He likes to be read to which is great, of course! Ethan is doing well. He is starting to read more each day and he is finally starting to get over the whinny thing he picked up when Bryan left. It has helped that we made him a poster of a race track and every day that he is good he gets a race car sticker to put on it. Kaylee is growing... again. I think she's gained an inch in the last month and its all leg! She has been bugging me to cut her hair again. She wants to go real short this time, a little pixie cut. I think she'll be ADORABLE, but I want to make sure that she is really sure that's what she wants to do. It's shorter that anything she's had before. It would be just at 10 inches off if we go through with it. Just long enough to donate! She's been reading a lot lately. i am trying very hard to get them all to the library once a week, but it just doesn't happen. I have been busy trying to keep up with them all and in the few minutes of spare time that I do have, I have been trying to get the video we made for Father's day onto the blog. Its having problems and today I looked at it and said, "you know, I've spend well over 12 hours trying to get this thing to work and that could have been at least 24 new posts for Bryan... " Hence the new post!

Ants and Hamdogs

It seems that today is picnic themed. Ants and ham dogs... One bad, one really funny looking! The ants story first. Get the so sad, really bad out of the way first. After swimming lessons today, as we got ready to go home, I noticed that Jaden was stinky. So I opened all the doors on the oven on wheels (aka "the van") and laid Jaden on the floor of the back seat to change him. I let the other 3 stay on the side walk right by me as the neighborhood we are in is very quiet and no cars to worry about. A really pretty cat came right up to the kids and they asked if they could pet it. I told them I would rather they didn't. The girl that owns the cat stuck her head out of the door and told me that the cat was extremely gentle and friendly, so I told them to go ahead and pet her. They petted her for a minute or so, when Kaylee says, "mom there are ants all over the cat" I said, "oh, well then you guys better not pet her". I wasn't too worried about the ants as most of the ants around here are little black ones that are harmless, but no sooner than I said that and Jake starts screaming at the top of his lungs. I look back at him and he is covered in ants and they are biting. I started swatting them off of him. Several of the ants took 2 or 3 swats to get them off because you could see them hanging on with their jaws. I finally got what I thought was all of them, carried him around to the other side of the van where his car seat is and set him up in it. I got one arm into the strap and he starts screaming again. There is one big black ant on his stomach and it is just biting away. It took a second to get it off and get him back out of his seat to check for more. That one ant had bit him 7 times on the tummy. He had bites all over his body, I had several one my hands, and Kaylee had 2 on her ankle. Ethan it seems, is either too tough or too sour for the ants to bite. I got them all in and headed for home. Home is less then 2 minutes driving time, but by the time we got there, Jacobs bites had more then doubled their size. Each one was the size of a pencil eraser. The bites on Kaylee's leg and my hands were still small. I doused the bites with Benedryl spray and then called his pediatrician. Since he wasn't having trouble breathing he said to give him Dimetapp (he couldn't have oral benedryl cause I had used the spray on him already). It took about 30 minutes for the antihistamines to work and the bites to go down. Tonight, they are little red spots. Jake and I counted them earlier when I was checking them to make sure they were going away. I quit counting at 37. He is paranoid about ants now. This afternoon he started screaming and pointing to my arm. He thought that there were ants on me (there wasn't, they were only freckles.) The good part of the day was dinner. Ethan and Jake helped me make it. I bought the wrong buns from the store. I thought I got hamburger buns, but I got hot dog buns. So we made hamburgers to fit the buns! The kids thought our Ham dogs were GREAT! I thought they were a very unappetizing shape. Grandpa called them "poo burgers" when the kids weren't around.

bad boys and bugs

Yesterday, mom and I took all four kids shopping. At the second to last store that we needed to go to, they were really good so Grandma told them that they could have these little "bug catcher kits". It consists of a net, 2 little vials with magnifying lids and plastic tweezers. The boys each got one and Kaylee got a little butterfly wind chime. Then we got to the last store. Jake made it down the first 3 isles, fussing, whining and being stubborn and three. Hit the fourth isle and he hit meltdown mode. I carried him screaming and crying in one arm and Jaden in the other all the way up to the front of the store and out the door to the van where we waited for grandma and the other 2 kids to finish the errand. Today, he was whining and fussing and I told him to go outside and catch some bugs with his new bug catcher. He asked where bugs lived and I told him to go out and look by the tree in the backyard. "Bugs live in trees?" he asked. "Um... well, some live by trees and some live in trees" OK, and he ran off outside. He ran right up to the tree. Held his net out and looked up at the tree and started calling the bugs. "Bugs! Bugs! Where are you bugs! Come here, bugs!" We about died laughing. Tonight we babysat ALL the other Airzona cousins. Jessie, Trevor, Aubree, TJ and Ben. Plus our four so it was a packed house. The oldest ones and Jake were supposed to be taking turns on the trampoline. I was inside with Aubree, TJ, and Jaden (Ben hadn't arrived yet), when Kaylee comes running in and says that the net on the trampoline fell down. I head out the door to see what she is talking about and I hear Jake SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. I ran over and here he comes, blood pouring down his face. After I got him calmed down, iced his lip to stop the bleeding and got him cleaned up, I started interrogating the kids to figure out what happened. I finally got a good look at the trampoline too. The safety net is more than half off. I finally pieced together what had happened. Instead of the rule of only 2 people at a time on the tramp, they had all 5 of them up there. Jessie who is 10, Trevor 7, Kaylee 8, Ethan 6, and Jake 3 were all up there at the same time. They were playing "crack the whip" and flinging the person on the outside around on the tramp. Evidently, they fell as they were swinging Jake around and all 5 hit the net at the same time. It isn't made to support that much weight at one time. Down came the net, over the side went Jake. We are very lucky that a busted lip and scrapped hands are his only injuries. The trampoline is really tall, taller than Jake is. He could have easily broken bones or hit his head. Needless to say they are grounded from the trampoline for what could very well be forever.

Busy, busy!!

Well, it's been a few days since my last post. Our Internet connection has been down for several days now. It is just amazing how dependant on the computer I have become. It's actually quite sad. I feel left out of the loop and it's only been a few days! It has been a busy week so far! Swimming lessons, session 2, started today. It was quite the drama this morning. Jake's lesson was first. I felt so sorry for Mrs. Amy, the instructor. Jake was the good one out of the four!!!! He was the only one in his group that has been in Mrs. Amy's lessons before so he got to "help" out by being the line leader when they moved to a deeper part of the pool to do jumps. He also got to show the other three how to do things like floating on his back, getting the diving rings, etc. He thought he was HOT STUFF! He was quite concerned about his fellow students. two of them were screamers (as in they screamed the whole time). They still had to do what Mrs. Amy told them to do, but they screamed anytime they were above water. The little boy screamer ran away from Amy twice, but was tracked down and put back in the water. The little girl screamer was one of a set of sisters. Her sister while not screaming, was a "jumper". That girl sank like a stone, but continually did things that made her fall of the steps. One time she decided that she didn't want to wait for her turn to go and just jumped in the pool. She, of course, had to be pulled up off the bottom by Mrs. Amy several times. This little girl would come up gagging and coughing, but it didn't seem to slow her down any!! Jake was quite concerned about the screamers. He kept trying to calm them down by telling them "it's OK. Its not scary. Ms Amy will help you swim. The water doesn't hurt you. There are not fish in Mrs Amy's pool. Ms Amy there are no fish in your pool right?" "right Jake, there are no fish in Mrs Amy's pool." "there isn't even any sharks either, so you don't have to cry". He is such a riot! Kaylee and Ethan's class was next. Kaylee did really well. I don't think it will be long before she is off and swimming well. Ethan on the other hand won't put his face in all the way and panics a little bit when its his turn. He did all that was asked of him and he tried really hard, but I think he was really nervous. I am hoping that tomorrow will be better for him. Who knows, he may surprise me. Heavens knows that's happened before!! Jaden is doing quite well. His cold is finally starting to clear up and so that is a relief to both him and me!! I thought it was never going to end!! Jaden's newest thing is dancing. Yes, you read right, the little boy that can't walk yet loves dancing. He has always loved music. Of all the kids, he is the only one who actually would stop crying if I started to sing to him. Unlike the other three who would usually just scream louder when I sang to them!! He stands up holding on to what ever he can find and bounces to the music. If you turn it off he stops and looks at you like "HEY!! I was busy here!!" He doesn't seem to care yet what kind of music it is. You should see him when we sing at family home evening. When he hears the kids and I sing songs like "5 little ducks went out to play" or "popcorn popping" his whole face just lights up and he is enthralled! He is at the age when his personality starts to show itself and it is just so much fun to see what he will learn next!

Summer's here!

Well, school is officially over. Yesterday was Kaylee and Ethan's last day of school. Ethan had only a 1/2 day and when I picked him up at 1230, he was crying. He didn't want school to be over. He has been really excited about going on to first grade and changing rooms at his school, but I think he got scared about yet another change, and he said that he doesn't want to change after all. He wants to stay in Miss Nikki's and Miss Megan's and Miss Courtney's class. He even went so far to point out that Tia, a girl in his class, was 7 and still went to Miss Nikki's class. I didn't point out to him that Tia has Down Syndrome and has taken an extra year of Kindergarten to master the basics enough to move on. When I went back at 330 to get Kaylee, I heard much of the same thing. As i was pulling away from the school, I yelled "yeah, its summer!!" I expected to hear "yes! Yeah!" and whoops and hollers from the back and what I got was "awwwww!" in stereo. Ethan perked up today when I told him at 9am this morning to go over and see if Chris could play. He looked at me and said "does Chris have summer break too!!??!" Like it was amazing. It never occurred to him that his friends wouldn't have school now either! I guess I am reassured that my kids like their school! Tonight was pack night for our cub scout pack that I am involved with. For the first time, the kids got to go with me. They had a good time. The theme was "cubs and bugs" and I was able to take a giant millipedes and a bunch of young millipedes to show them. I remember studying millipedes back in college and I really had to work to drag up the info that I learned back then. The boys loved it! They got to hold the bugs and they got to ask questions. It was great. Kaylee was the hot shot of the group. The giant millipede, named Millie of course, comes from her class at school. As Miss Sherrie put it "of course you can borrow her, Millie would love to go on a field trip!" Kaylee is used to handling and caring for Millie and so when these boys were grossed out and daring each other to "touch it, just touch it with one finger" Kaylee just reaches in and scoops Millie up and handles her like it's no big deal. Those boys jaws hit the floor. They couldn't believe that a girl could do something like that! Jakey will still not touch or hold what he calls the "creatures". He had a good time at pack night for a whole other reason. He ran and ran and ran around in circles like the energizer bunny the whole hour and a half. All three kids just passed out as soon as their heads hit the pillows tonight.

Burps

The newest Jake-ism. He isn't allowed to say "butt" and he isn't allowed to say "fart". When he passes gas he says that his "bummie talked". All of the kids say that. Jake was going to the bathroom this evening and he was more than a little bit gassy. He told grandpa that his "bummie was burpin'".

Sea Monkeys

Well, yesterday was a busy, busy day! It was the older kids "Splash Party" at school. They did it all. Huge water slid, jumpy thing that had sprayers of water all over it, water balloons, kiddie pools, slip and slides, water guns, mud bog (sandbox on the playground filled with water), fishing pond (ie, throw line over wall and "fish" for a prize), a catch the goldfish and take it home pond, pizza, popcorn, and snow cones. For 4 hours they played hard. They came home from school at 1230 and were happy, tired and a bit pink on the shoulders. Kaylee then had a few hours to cool off and relax before her swimming/slumber party at Lindsey's house. She is still over playing and swimming with Lindsey and Lindsey's cousin and its 2pm. Yesterday, Jake felt very left out of the fun and of course Ethan and Kaylee were so excited that the only thing that they have talked about for the last 3 weeks has been the splash party. I called his swimming teacher Mrs. Amy and asked if we could come use her pool. She said of course!! So Jake and Jaden and I went swimming. Grandma went too to hold Jaden, but didn't get in the water with us. Jake loved having me swim with him and he especially like to shoot the basketball and just PLAY. Something he doesn't get to do in lessons. Jaden LOVED the water. His first time swimming ever! He sat on the top step with grandma holding on to his shoulders to keep him from falling in and splash and laughed and giggled. When he took his turn out in the pool with me, he would immediately start kicking his legs as soon as I took him off the step. He was in heaven! We swam for about an hour. Jaden started to get too cold as he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and in the shade the whole time to keep him from getting burned. It got a little chilly for him and so we all got out and headed home. Jake asked me first thing this morning (at 530 am I might add), if we were going to go swimming today too and could he bring his toy boat this time. Unfortunately, the answer was no. Today was spent doing chores and shopping for groceries at Costco. I'd rather have gone swimming!!!

Graduation and Tacos

Well, it's official. Ethan has graduated...from kindergarten!! His school had a nice little ceremony and he got to walk with his little cap and gown. Let me tell you, he thought he was hot stuff! Afterward there was cake and punch to celebrate. Ethan has really done well at school this year and especially here lately. He has finally learned how to write all his letters in cursive. He reads just a bit and improves everyday. He has really grown up this year and considering all the changes and upheaval in his life that is a great accomplishment.
Just a side note: My 3 year old chow hound, Jacob, went to Taco Bell with Grandpa after swimming lessons today. Jacob ate 5, yes count them, 5 tacos!!!!

It's a Monday

Yeah, it's Monday. It has been a mixed day. Jaden was up all night last night so Istarted out tired as it was, but now today he just cries (he's really tired too) and fusses and refuses to take a nap. He'll go to sleep if I hold him, but that's just asking for trouble!! Jakey on the other hand has been a really good boy for me. It's helped a lot that he has been content to play with his blocks and cars and play in the back yard. He hasn't turned the hose on the backyard and sprayed the neighbors cats or windows. He hasn't tried to climb up the front of the fridge to reach things stored up on top. He hasn't colored with a marker all over any chairs. He hasn't tried to turn the computer on by himself. He hasn't tried to get the front doors unlocked so that he can go out in the front yard and pick lemons from the neighbors tree. He hasn't climbed the shelving units in the pantry to reach the "treat box" up on the top shelf. He hasn't snitched an entire box of gogurts from the fridge. He hasn't even chased, hit, kicked, or thrown anything at our cat yet today either. It's been rather nice!! Must be a full moon tonight or something. I can't even imagine what a nice day it would be if Jake was this well behaved AND Jaden was his normal happy self. Wow, it would be HEAVEN!! I have done several loads of laundry and only have 2 left to do and I finished 2 scrapbook pages. It's 2pm and I am wondering if I should press my luck and try to get Jake to take a nap. Hmmmmm....

A little fish named Jacob

Jacob is three, in every sense of the word, and so I was a little bit skeptical of putting him in swimming lessons. I was sure he'd cry and not want to do it. Boy was I wrong! As you can see by the pictures, he was very nervous waiting for his class to start. He watched other kids in the class before his and was excited to go swimming, but more than a little bit scared! Once the class started though, he was fine! He goes under water and blows bubbles. He is working on his kicking and big arms. He loves to "dive" for rings off the bottom. He asks everyday if today is swimming lessons and he gets upset if its not!

Just bonuses

I decided when Bryan left for Iraq... again, that I would keep a journal while he was gone. I don't like to think about all the things he is missing out on. And not just the big things like birthdays and Father's Day, but little things too. The things that happen every day around here. Such as the fact that Jacob climbed up the FRONT of the fridge today, Ethan won prizes in the Kindergarten penmanship contest, Jaden pulled up on the laundry basket and then climbed in it and that after a discussion on the creation Jakey said "Jesus Christ made Sprite too? Wow!! He must be MAGIC!" So I am doing this for you, Bryan, and the rest of you are just bonuses!