In the Zone...the Minecraft Zone!

Jaron had Peter come over after school today to "hang out" because at his age he no longer has "play dates". Jantzen and Jaedyn had to join in on the fun too, but I wasn't hearing any noises coming from anywhere in the house that would indicate there were children present. I went searching for signs of life and this is what I stumbled upon...

   All four kids were zoned in on their Kindles, Jaedyn was on Jaron's phone, playing Minecraft together. Not a single one of them acknowledged me when I walked in the door. I'm wondering if I should be worried about this or if I should be happy that there isn't any fighting or arguing going on.    I do think it's funny and cute how much Jaedyn loves playing Minecraft with her brothers and their friends. She's pretty much an expert at it!

Green Food & Happy Kids!

I made the kids their annual "St. Patty's Day" breakfast this morning. It consisted of green eggs, green pancakes, green muffins, green milk (orange juice for Jaedyn) all accompanied with green plates and cups...there's so much green!! 

These are the beautiful smiling faces I got when I asked the kids for a picture...

           Jaedyn held that pucker the whole time while saying "cheese!".    The kids all loved breakfast, as usual. I think they might end up pooping green stuff for a week with all the food coloring they consumed...TMI, I know!   HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!

Family Night at the Drive In

Last night we took the kids to the drive in to see "Oz The Great and Powerful"...

   This is the first time we've ever taken the kids to see a movie at the drive in. Josh and I used to go all the time before we had kids. The kids were all so excited to go. We brought blankets and pillows and made a bed for the kids in the back of the Tahoe so they could be comfortable while watching the movie...          Josh and I sat in chairs outside the Tahoe and we also brought my stereo (from when I was 16, yeah it's still awesome!) so we could have surround sound during the movie.    We got the kids all set up with their movie treats. They each got to pick out what treat they wanted and then we popped our own popcorn at home because I'm too cheap sometimes to pay for movie concessions. The kids don't mind where the treats come from, just that they have some.      And here's a picture of Josh and I. I wasn't feeling the greatest, but I still went to watch the movie with my family and I'm glad I did.      The movie was good. Jantzen and Jaedyn actually fell asleep about half way through it, so they didn't really have an opinion about it. I think Josh and I enjoyed it the most because we've actually seen "The Wizard of Oz", so we know more about what's going on in the movie. I told my kids that they should watch "The Wizard of Oz", but they said, "No Thanks!"...fine!    We really did have a fun time at the drive in and it was cheap, so I think we'll come back often. It's a fun way to spend time together as a family.

Who's That Boy?!?!

Today Jaron made a very big decision...he decided he wanted a drastic change with his hair. He's been telling me for the last few weeks that he wanted to cut off his hair, but I thought he was just saying that because he thought he'd like it and I thought he wouldn't. Here's why I thought he wouldn't like it...Jaron's had long hair since 2nd grade and he did choose to cut it all off a couple years later. After he got it cut off, he immediately regretted it and said, "The girls aren't going to like me anymore, they like me with my hair long". So, he grew it out again and has had it that way ever since.

I personally love Jaron's hair long, it's cute on him. Not many people can sport that look. However, he's getting older and with his ever growing age comes a need to make his own choices with his appearance (within reason, of course...no piercings or anything else like that are going to happen on my watch!). So, despite my efforts to change his mind and continually remind him of the regrets he had last time, I took him to get his hair cut today.

 Before we left, I got a picture of him so I could remember the long, thick, soft hair that is no longer going to be around...Good Bye lovely hair, I will miss you terribly... 

   I made it through Jaron's dramatic haircut without tears (sniff, sniff) and I think he made a good choice in his new look...      Don't you love the poses this little cheeser is giving me?!?!    I was wrong this time, Jaron LOVES his new hair cut! I think the new style looks good on him, although it's going to take me a while to get used to his new look. I keep looking at him wondering who he is because he looks so different. I think he's getting a little creeped out by my staring at him so much. It's going to take some time, but I'll get used to it. On the bright side, it's a lot easier and faster to style it. My JarBear is such a handsome boy, I mean young man!

"Bike Rodeo"

This morning Jantzen had a bike rodeo at his school. This is where the kids got to bring their bikes and scooters to school and they learned about bike safety. Janzten was really excited to bring his bike to school because he never gets to. It also helped that he got to be out of class for about an hour...he loved that part!! 

Here's Jantzen with his best friend, JoseAlfredo...they are never very far away from each other...

   Like I said, they stayed together for all of the drills they were doing (Jansen snuck in there with Jantzen too)...      Jantzen and the other kids had to weave through rocks (aka, sponges) in the road, watch for cars (aka, Coach McCracken), and use their arms to make proper turn signals...       Jantzen had a blast and he did very well!     I thought it was a fun and informative activity for the kids. It was nice for them to be able to have some more outside time during the school day.

My Little Tiger-Monkey!

My little Jaedybug has so much personality. Today I had to take some pictures at the school for the "Tiger of the Month" awards and Jaedyn always has to be my little model before I can take any of the kids' pictures. I guess she's just practicing for when she gets chosen as "Tiger of the Month". She only has one more year before she starts going to school with her big brother Jantzen. 

   Later on we had to go to Jaron's school to pick up his carpool. While we wait for him to come out, we just hang out and play around. Today Jaedyn decided she was really going to "hang out"...          Luckily she doesn't weigh very much so nothing broke. Did I forget to mention that she made monkey noises as she was swinging?!?! She also said, "Look mom, I'm a monkey like Jansa!". Silly girl!!

My Dancing Princess

Today was Jaedyn's second dance class and she was so excited because I let her pick out an "official" dance outfit to wear every week. This is what she picked out and I think she looks absolutely adorable in it...

   I love that she's posing for me!      I took a few more pictures of her in class today because she was in her new dance outfit. I think she's a natural when it comes to dancing...          This is one of Jaedyn's favorite things to do in dance class, the stretching. This is when they get to make "pizzas" with their own choice of toppings. Jaedyn always has Cheetos on her pizza...yummy!       Jaedyn also loves "mat" time. I feel bad today because I put a big black flower clip in her hair so she'd look cute and it got in the way when they were doing their tumbling on the mat. I guess she won't be wearing hair bows to dance class anymore.      Josh came to watch Jaedyn dance today and that made her so happy. The only bad thing about us watching her though, is that she pays a lot of attention to us instead of Ms. Kim, so I think I'll sit in the lobby and wait for her from now on so she can learn more dancing steps.    I can't wait to see her dance in her recital in June, she'll be so cute!

Jantzen's 1st Power Point

Jantzen's teacher has been having some of the advanced kids in class do extra projects every month. They are usually supposed to be on a book they've read, but this month she had them choose a president to research.

Jantzen chose President George W. Bush to do his project on because that's who was president the year he was born. He found all the required information that his teacher listed and then he decided to present it as a power point. I hate to admit this, but I had no idea how to do a power point because I've never had to do one. Luckily for Jantzen, Jaron knew all about them because he's had to do several of them when he was in GATE. So, Jaron taught Jantzen how to input all the information and how to add animation to his power point.

Jantzen presented his power point to his class today and he did an awesome job! His teacher loved it and he was the only one who did his project this way, so his classmates thought it was cool.

 (Sorry, this photo is a little fuzzy because I had to take it with my iPod in the dark so I wouldn't distract anyone)

   BTW...Jantzen got an A+ on this project. Way to go buddy!!