Fire Station Field Trip

Today Jaedyn got to go on a field trip to the fire station with her preschool class.   She was so excited, not only because of the field trip, but because we got to be twinners.  Ms. Tate had "field trip" t-shirts made for all of the kids and us moms so we all would match.  I must admit, it was kind of fun matching Jaedyn.  Are we cute as twinners?!?!...

   The first thing the kids did when we got to the fire station was take a tour of the captains office, then they were off to see the fire trucks...that's all they really wanted to see anyway.  (Oh, and that's Jantzen's head covering most of the top right picture.  He had no school today, so he got to come on the field trip too)      The kids were excited to see the big fire truck up close.  They got to see everything it carries...      I think Jaedyn was having fun...      Here's more of the truck tour...     ...if you look closely at the bottom right picture, you'll see that Jaedyn's standing on her tippy toes.  I didn't notice that until after I had taken the picture.  She likes to practice her dance moves everywhere she goes.
I had to get a picture of Jaedyn standing next to the truck's tires because they were as tall as her.  She thought that was pretty cool!      Next, Jaedyn got to go inside the fire truck and look around...      Jantzen wanted to take a turn too...      Here's a all the preschool kids, plus Jantzen, with the friendly firemen that gave the kids the tour...      ...and one with Ms. Tate...     I love it that the firemen had pink hats for the girls.  I've never seen them before and the girls all loved them!  I tried to convince Jantzen to take a pink one, but he refused.
One of the firemen decided to give the kids a demonstration on how they put on all of their gear when going to a fire.  I can't believe how much stuff they have to put on and how much it all weighs!      Then, the fireman demonstrated a beeping sound his gear makes when it detects he has fallen down.  It was a beeping noise that gradually got louder and louder so the other firemen could find him.  The kids had to cover their ears because it got so loud.  
   My little Jaedybug makes a super cute fireman/firegirl, don't you think?!?!      After the kids were done with their tour of the fire truck and gear, they headed to the kitchen area to see where the firemen eat their meals.  The kids had lots of questions for the firemen there.     Then a surprise visit from the fire truck came around the back of the station with it's sirens going off.  The kids thought that was fun.  They got a demonstration with the ladder so they could see how high up it goes.      Then, one of the firemen walked across it to the top of the fire station and back.  Jaedyn was fascinated by that.  I think she wanted a turn with it too.      My little Jaedybug loves to play around.  Maybe she'll be a fireman when she grows up.          I love this picture because it's of all the girls having their little 4 year old conversations that I think are so cute...     Jaedyn had a lot of fun on her field trip to the fire station today.  I love how cute the firemen are with the little kids.  They seem to really enjoy giving tours to kids.

"McTeacher Night"

Tonight was "McTeacher Night" for Jantzen's school.   I felt bad because Jantzen did something to his back (I think on the trampoline) that caused a lot of pain, so he wasn't able to go.  Josh stayed home with him and I took Jaedyn and Jaron.  We were able to meet up with some friends there, but again I felt bad because one of them was Jose, Jantzen's best friend...

    Jaron was "too cool" to play with the little elementary kids, so he did a lot of playing on his phone...       Jaedyn found her own electronics to play with...       Here's some of the teachers that came to support the school...     I made the "Tartan" banner to display at McDonald's.  They are sponsoring our "Tiger of the Month" students with free food items until the end of the school year, so I put up the banner to recognize them.   As usual, my kids had a good time, except for my poor little Jantzen who couldn't even sit up with his back pain.  I hope he gets feeling better soon so he can resume his daily activities.

"Halloween Dinner"...Take 2

For our second Halloween dinner I made the kids "spiderweb pizza" and "bones" with some "blood" to dip them in... 

   For dessert we had "dirt & worms" per Jantzen's request...     ...the worms were really good this year!   We all washed everything down with some "ghost blood", a favorite at our house...     The kids loved it all, as usual.  This is one of the only times it's quiet at our house.  I should make fun dinners more often.     Watch out Jaron, you're going to eat a spider!      I think dessert was the favorite part of the meal, what do you think????         Jaron was the only one who didn't eat any worms...silly boy, they're the best part!   Hmmm, what's on the menu next time?????

Fall Carnival...2013

Last night was the annual fall carnival at Jantzen's school.   I'm still in the PTO this year and, again, I was put in charge of the haunted house.  I really don't enjoy being in charge of the haunted house, but I do like how it all turns out in the end.

This year Jaron decided he wanted to be in the haunted house again because he had so much fun last year scaring all the kids.  He stuck with his "Ghost Face" costume and Kennedy decided to join him this year as a psycho butcher...

   The haunted house "only" took about 11 hours total to put all together...you see why I don't like being in charge of it?!?!  It's a very exhausting project!
Here's how it all turned out...
This was the entrance...the werewolf and witch were only there for a minute to greet everyone.      This was the first hallway and corner you had to walk down (I made it a little more like a maze this year).  When the kids were walking through it, it was almost completely dark...that made it a little scarier than it was last year.     This was the next couple areas.  We had a lot of strobe lights and black lights in there as well...      I think this (the first picture) was my favorite part of the haunted house this year.  It was a life size person that was sitting in an electric chair.  There were lights, sounds, and fog that would come out of it, although we weren't allowed to use the fog part of it.  Last year we tried to use a fog machine in the haunted house and we set off the smoke alarms in the school.     This was the last section of the haunted house...      As a whole, I got a lot of compliments on the haunted house.  I was told it was "cooler" and "scarier" than last year.  There were a few issues though.  Every so often I'd go check on things in it to make sure all was going good.  It turned out that there were several kids causing problems.  Jaron complained that kids were hitting and pushing him and some kids were even tearing things apart inside.  At one point I had to shut the whole thing down so I could fix things that were being ruined.  After I was done with that, I went out and lectured everyone that was waiting in line to get in.  I was really frustrated that some kids had no respect for anyone or anything, especially because Jaron was being mistreated.  I really don't think he'll want to be in the haunted house again next year, which is sad because he was having so much fun.
I had to divide my time between the haunted house and cake walk (I was in charge of both), and I also had to take pictures for the yearbook (I also put that together every year), so I was doing a lot of running around and I didn't get to be with my kids the whole time.  Josh was still at work, so Sadie came and took Jaedyn around to play games, Jantzen went around mostly by himself.
I was surprised when Jantzen found me and showed me the goldfish he won.  He was so happy because he's tried so hard for the last two years to win one of these and he finally got one.          Jaedyn quickly decided that she wanted a goldfish of her own too.  She tried really hard to win, but she wasn't successful...      Then Jaedyn and Jantzen moved on to the cupcake walk...     Jaedyn won on the first try.  She picked out a chocolate cupcake...      Jantzen was jealous, so they both tried it again.  Jaedyn won again, but Jantzen didn't.  She was sooo happy to have two chocolate cupcakes...can't you tell?!?!      The third times the charm I guess because that's when Jantzen finally won!     After some sugar, Jantzen met up with his friend Jose for some more fun...      When I wasn't around, Jaedyn finally won a goldfish...she was super excited!!!      The kids took a break to enjoy some yummy shave ice...I stole a little taste too...it was good!     Then they enjoyed their dinner...nachos and soda!  I'm such a good mom!     Ghost Face totally photo-bombed this picture...kind of creepy, huh?!?!  Seeing that mask really makes my jaw tired!     Josh finally got there to help take Jaedyn around to play games, so I took a little bit of a break so I could watch my kids play some games too...      Jantzen and his friends were loving the prizes they were winning...      ...while Jaedyn enjoyed getting her face painted with Sadie and Haley...             Such cute girls!!
My friend, and fellow PTO board member, Angie was kind enough to take a picture of our family plus one (Sadie).  I was happy to have at least one picture of me with them, even if I was all sweaty and tired from the whole event...      Josh took all the kids home and I stayed to help clean everything up.  It only took us a couple hours to get everything cleaned up so we could go home.     Before we left, we got a group picture of all of us PTO moms.  This was our reaction to the carnival finally being over...yay!!!      As exhausting as it is putting carnivals together, I love it that my kids always have a good time.  It really does make it all worth it...I'm still tired today though!

"Spooky" Sugar

Every year my kids get excited about Halloween. One of the things they love about it is that they get to have fun Halloween cereal... 

  So, they were really excited when I let them have it more than once, only because I found the "old school" versions...you know, the way they looked when I was a kid...          Jaron's favorite is the "Count Chocula", Jantzen's favorite is the "Yummy Mummy", and Jaedyn's favorite is the "Hot Choclia"...aka, "Count Chocula".  I love how she says that.   My kids told me that cereal boxes back in the "olden days" looked kind of weird, but they definitely loved the way they tasted.  I love how they think I'm so old!

"Halloween Dinner"...Take 1

It's that time of year again...when I make my family fun Halloween dinners.   My kids get so excited about this every year, especially Jantzen.  He loves to help me plan them.

For our first Halloween dinner this year I made "mummy dogs" per Jaron's request.  Along with those, we had some "bat and pumpkin skins" with some "pumpkin puke" to dip them in and they washed everything down with some "ghost blood"...mmmm, yummy!!

   As usual, the kids all loved it!       We had a guest with us for dinner tonight...Jaron's best friend Jace.  Jace thought this dinner was pretty cool and yummy.  He told his mom later that night that she needs to make "mummy dogs".
For dessert I put some "raw meat" out on a plate for them to eat...      At fist Jaron was a little hesitant to try it, but the rest of the kids dug right in...     ...and they all enjoyed it!     Don't worry, it wasn't real meat.  It was rice crispy treats made with red velvet cake, but it looked pretty real.   It was another successful Halloween dinner for my family.  They all enjoy these dinners so much and I love having this fun tradition every year for them to have fun memories of.   I wonder what's going to be for dinner next week...

Smith Center Field Trip

Today Jantzen got to go on his first field trip since he's been in elementary.   His class, and the rest of the 3rd graders, were going to see a play at the "Smith Center" and I was lucky enough to get to be one of the parent chaperone's.  

The play we went to see was based off of this book...

   A lot of it was in Spanish, but luckily they did English translations, otherwise some of us wouldn't know what was being said.  The play was interesting, definitely not the best story I've seen played out, but the kids all seemed to enjoy it.  I think they were just happy to not have to be at school doing work.  There was one part in the play where the husband and wife embraced each other and all the kids yelled, "Ooooh, gross!"...that gave all of us adults a good laugh!
Jantzen and I got to sit together on the bus as we drove back to the school.  He thought that was pretty cool, mostly because I let him play on my iPod.     Even though the play wasn't my favorite, I had a good time hanging out with Jantzen.  I love it that he's still young enough to think that hanging out with his mom is still cool.