Prepping For Fun...

A few weeks ago we bought a new swimming pool for summer. Our old one, sadly, had to be put down at the end of the summer last year. It served its purpose well for two years at a cost of only $25. It was hands down the best $25 we have ever spent. We weren't as lucky this time around finding such a killer deal, but the money we did spend is well worth it in this heat.

The only part that isn't fun about having an above ground pool that is 20 feet wide (our old one was only 18 feet wide) is the prep work, but that's what kids and husbands are for, right? Josh is such a great guy to find time between his two jobs to get the pool ready for me and the kids to enjoy, and Jaron and Jantzen were so excited and willing to help out this year.

Here, my boys are moving rocks away to put the pool down. We never did move all the rocks back from the old pool, so they didn't have to move as much this time, but getting another two feet of rocks moved was still a lot of work.





It took the boys well into the night to get the rocks moved and the ground leveled...do you notice Josh's fancy laser level? He loves his toys and Jaron thinks it's pretty cool too. I think Jantzen had given up helping at this point, he'd had enough.


We had to wait until the next week to get the actual pool set up because, like I said, Josh works two jobs and he can only do it on the weekends. The boys, again, were willing participants in this process after the pool frame was up. They got inside and were supposed to help stretch out the pool floor and make sure there wasn't any more rocks underneath.

I couldn't see Jantzen at first, just his hand, so I had to get a closer shot. He's so excited this year!




After checking for rocks for a little while, the boys decided they needed to have some fun. I caught Jaron dancing, shaking his tooshy...so cute! Josh had put the hose it to fill up the pool and Jantzen had the hardest time staying away from it. That was the funnest part for him, he even sprayed Jaron a couple times.



Here, Jantzen had to show me his owie on his elbow from earlier that day...he fell off his scooter for the millionth time that week. I swear that boy needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap before he goes outside!


I had told the boys to not get wet because they weren't in their swimsuits, but while they were running around chasing each other Jantzen accidentally fell, after that it was all they wanted to do...get wet!


The boys kept playing in the pool and Jantzen kept slipping and falling down. I thought it was so funny. I know, I'm such a good mom to laugh at my kids' clumsiness, huh? I had to record them playing because they were giggling like little girls, having so much fun together. I love watching these boys play together, they are such great friends.

"Colonial Day"

Last Friday was "Colonial Day" for Jaron's class at school. They have been learning about colonial times and what the people of that time had to do for themselves. To give the kids more of an idea on how things were, Jaron's teacher planned some activities and had a professor from UNLV come to teach the kids how to make different things, just like people back then had to.

I came to help out at the butter making station. Each one of the kids had to make their own butter using only heavy whipping cream, salt, and a plastic container. I gave each of them some whipping cream and salt in their containers and made them shake it up until it turned into butter. This took a lot longer than the kids thought it would and most of them got really tired, so I did a lot of shaking for them.


After all the shaking was done, this is what Jaron ended up with...butter! He got to enjoy some of it on a cracker, but I don't think he really liked it. Almost every kid there told me they are so glad they didn't live back in colonial times because they didn't want to have to make their own butter.



Jaron's next stop was learning how to make a candle. He had to dip a wick in melted wax and then put it in cold water and keep repeating that process until he had a thick candle. This is why he's wearing a grubby shirt over his other one, so he wouldn't get wax all over it.



After he was done with his candle, he went to make a Quill pen and write in his book with it. He had to keep dipping the feather in ink and use it to write. He didn't like that very much. He said it didn't write very well and he's glad he gets to use pencils and pens.


The last thing Jaron got to make was his own doll (or action figure as he calls it) using corn husks. He actually thought this was the funnest thing to make out of everything else. I even caught him playing with it while he was supposed to be getting his picture taken with his class...funny kid.




Here's a group shot of his class holding their favorite thing they made that day. Do you notice how none of them are holding their butter? I guess it wasn't that much fun to make, but they enjoyed eating it.


Jaron told me after that he's so lucky and grateful to be living in today's times. He likes all the luxuries we have now. Maybe I should make the kids start making their own things here to enjoy...nah, I'm not that domestic!

Red Rock Field Trip

Last Wednesday Jaron had his one and only field trip for the year. He go to go to Red Rock Canyon. I went along as a chaperon because I've never been there. We took a school bus to get there and I made the mistake of sitting in the back with all the kids while the other parents and teachers sat up front. The kids were so loud, my ears were ringing during the whole field trip! Jaron, again, didn't want to sit by me on the bus, he sat by another girl. That's right, my son likes to sit with the girls instead of the boys. This was another (in the pink shirt below) girl he likes in his class. I guess he has to find someone else to replace Kristin when she moves.

When we got to Red Rock, the kids listened to a presentation about the history of the canyon and the rocks, wildlife, and fossils they can see there. I think they were mostly interested in the fossils.


After they were done listening we all got to go see the turtles that live there including "Mojave Max". Jaron loved it ans wished that Jantzen could've been there with us because he loves turtles. We'll have to bring him back sometime. Lucky for us the turtles were out strolling along...slowly!

Here's Jaron watching "Mojave Max". He asked if we could get a pet turtle and I broke his heart by telling him "NO!"




Our next stop was getting to see the different colors of rocks that were formed as mountains. The kids got to learn why some rocks are red and others gray.



When we were done learning about rock colors we headed to a mountain that has the fossils on it. It was a bit of a hike for the kids, but they did great and were very excited. The fossils were a little hard to find, but after looking around for a little while Jaron and I found a big fossil of a sponge. Jaron had a magnifying glass to look at the fossils closely that made it fun for him. He didn't want to leave, but he had to.







Finally it was lunch time for the kids. We went to another area to have a picnic and can you believe Jaron didn't want to sit by me for lunch? That's okay, I enjoyed some adult conversations with the teachers.



We didn't get a lot of time for lunch because the bus driver was being a stinker and rushed us so we could get back to the school by 1pm. After getting loaded on the bus, Jaron had to grab another quick drink from the Camelback and then we were off.



We all had to sit in the same seats as on the way up, so again I had to sit with all the noisy kids. That was the longest ride of my life! It's probably a good thing I sat back there because some of them started playing "truth or dare". I had to make sure they kept it at least PG. Jaron was too exhausted to play or talk, so he just took a nap, or pretended to as he claims.


I had fun on this trip with Jaron and I'm so glad I have to opportunity to be a part of so many things that he does at school.

Preschool Graduation

On Tuesday Jantzen graduated from Miss Tanya's preschool. This was his second year of preschool, but his first real year of it. He had to wear red because of a song they were going to sing for us about graduating.

I tried to get some pictures of him with his friends before graduation started, but he wouldn't hold still or give me a good smile...that's my little monster! Instead he wanted to play around with his friends, I did eventually get a good picture of him with his cap on.





To start off their graduation the kids sang us a little song to welcome us there. It was really cute.

After they sang, the kids all took turns standing and telling us what they want to be when they grow up. Jantzen's went like this, "When I grow up I want to be a motocross rider, an astronaut, Iron Man, a cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, and a pirate." He's a very ambitious kid who's just going to make lots of money to buy me a really nice house to retire in.

Then the kids sang us another song called "I'm a Little Graduate". This was the reason they all had to wear red. I think Janzten sang the loudest, but so cute. He had been practicing this song for weeks. There were many days that I couldn't get it out of my head.

Miss Tanya then got up with each child and told some things about them that they have done throughout the school year. She said Jantzen was a born leader and a very energetic kid (I already knew that) who was good about including all the kids in his games. He liked to play more than he liked to do his work...this is something we're trying to work on with him before he starts kindergarten.

When all the kids had their turn, they sang their final "thank you" song to us. I think they were all glad it was over.

I tried to get a group picture of Jantzen with his preschool friends and this is what I got. He's the only one playing around.

Jantzen wasn't too happy about getting more pictures, but I wanted some with me, him, and Jaedyn. It took a few shots because he kept pulling faces. Jaedyn didn't know what to think, she just wanted to take her morning nap.

After pictures we all got to enjoy some yummy cookies and root beer floats. Jantzen, again, can't be serious in a picture, even when he's eating a cookie. Jaedyn really enjoyed the root beer float...she had a root beer float mustache after she was done. She wanted more, but I wouldn't let her have any.



Jantzen really enjoyed preschool this year. He really learned a lot and I think his favorite part was learning Spanish, he talks in Spanish all the time. He loved having Miss Tanya as his teacher and I know he will miss his friends from preschool next year, but he's very excited and anxious to start kindergarten. I think it's because he wants to go to the same school as Jaron. I'm so proud of him for all that he has accomplished this year and I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes in kindergarten. Way to go Jantzen!

Pinewood Derby 2010

Last Saturday was Jaron's first Pinewood Derby as a Cub Scout. He spent the last three weeks with the scouts making a car, but it was for Jantzen. Jaron wanted to have my old Pinewood Derby car that he helped Josh make for me when I was the Cub Scout Committee Chairman, so he told Jantzen he would make one for him. He had a lot of fun making it, but when it came down to it, he was more excited to have my car. He didn't want to keep it the same colors I had it(brown with a pink stripe down the middle and a daisy), so he gave it a makeover.

Here's Jaron waiting so patiently for the races to start. Even though he looks like he's in a bad mood, he's not. He just didn't want his picture taken.


Finally the race started. Each boy's car had four heat races, competing against three other cars to determine the winner.


Josh was one of the judges on the end who kept track of who took first, second, third, and fourth. As you can see, he was really excited and flashed his "Rock On" sign when Jaron's car won. Out of the four heat races, Jaron's car took first place on two and second place on the other two. As of the end of the race Jaron was tied for second place with Carter, so they had a race off to determine who got second and third places. The cars raced another four times and Jaron's car won three out of the four, so Jaron took second place overall.




Jaron was so excited! He celebrated by doing some high five's and side five's with Mackenzie (They were going so fast I couldn't get a good picture of their hands).


Here's my little champion with his car and ribbon. He was so happy that his car did so well. He already can't wait until next year to race again.



Jantzen was a little bummed that he didn't get to race his car, but was still so happy that he had one just like his big brother. It was even more special because Jaron made it just for him. It won't be too much longer before Jantzen's racing his car here.


At Cub Scouts last night they had a special pack meeting to honor all the boys for participating in the Pinewood Derby race and Jaron was awarded with a second place trophy, which he was really excited for. Jaron loves Cub Scouts. It makes me happy that he enjoys it so much.