Pictures

What a lucky girl I am... Luis helping me pin Mama Toni's quilt!

Represent!!! BYU-I!!! Luis went to Becky's graduation from BYU-I and I asked him to bring us back t-shirts! I love them! Especially my purple one!

The boys had a lot of fun with Becky while she was here. She stayed with us for a week. I wish I took more pics. It rained a lot while she was here, so most of our fun together was indoors!

Making cookies together! We really wanted to have some family time and Luis suggested making cookies! What a great idea! The boys had so much fun helping out. Plus, I like to eat the chocolate chips while we make the batter! :)

I have such handsome men in my life!

Kindergarten Info Night

Last night I went to the info night at the Elementary school. It was very exciting for me! I sat down in the cafeteria and was so emotional! I can't believe Jax is going to school already! Well, in the fall. The school he is going to is small, but it has a good reputation. There are 3 kindergarten teachers and I met all of them. They all seemed great. We got a tour of the school. The classrooms are so cute! There are 2 normal classes and one Multi-age classroom which is a mix of kindergarten and first graders. They are together most of the day but separate out into grades for math and reading. So they say it is not better or worse academically than a regular classroom... I think the benefit is that they get to be with older children. I think this would be great for Jax since he is so big... and honestly he will behave better if the children around him behave well. And I'm just assuming that 1st graders are more well behaved than kindergarten... but maybe not! You have to request to be in the Multi-age classroom... what do you guys think? They also have a gifted program. The child is in a regular class but for reading and math hours they are pulled out and they do those classes in the gifted classroom. I think Jackson might be selected for that because he can count way higher than is expected, he can read many words already, and knows how to write. One thing we will be working on is writing his name with a capital J and lowercase letters. He needs to work on that. It was a great night and gave me a little more info about what to expect. Now I'm so excited for him to start school but we have to wait all summer!

Stuck in Laramie, WY

GRRRRR... I just want my husband back! He went to Becky's graduation in Rexburg and is driving with her back here to our house... before she travels on to Charlotte. Well... they got just past Laramie, WY last night around midnight and the police had closed the freeway and were sending people back to Laramie. So after a mad rush to find a hotel room... they got one and hopefully have had a good night sleep. I checked WYDOT this morning and and the freeway is still closed! How frustrating... they don't even list a time that it will be reopened. So I am hoping they might be able to head south into Colorado on a smaller freeway instead of going across into Nebraska. I just don't like his arrival being delayed! :( I miss him! And of course, we are excited to see Becky too!

**** UPDATE ****  So, they were able to leave on the right road because it finally opened. Then, 10 minutes into the drive they call me and say that there is a semi blocking all lanes of traffic and they can't go anywhere... it's been like that for half an hour so far. I am pretty frustrated... but I'm hoping it clears up soon.

"Private"

Jackson learned the meaing of private today... at least I hope he did. When I walked in to child care at the Y this morning they let me know that about 5 minutes ago Jackson pulled down his pants and underwear and was just standing in a little play area. All by himself. Naked from the waist down. They don't know why he did it... and as she was telling me Jackson walked over and seemed very worried that he was in big trouble. He said "I'll never do it again." Well that's a start! I was kind of horrified at this event. I told Jax that he can never do that! So now that we are home we had a talk about private parts. We have had this talk before but never as in depth. I asked him questions to make sure he understands and I think he does. He definitely knows it was wrong... I just hope he understands why. Hoping he never does that again!

Jackson Funny

At the mall today we walked past Abercrombie and Fitch and they were playing their music loud and obnoxiously (is that a word?) like always... it was an unusual funky song. We walked by and Jackson said "oh, this is a great song!" and jumped around a little bit. It was very funny. The Abercrombie employee in the doorway just stared at us so I scurried away with my silly children!

Clearance Addict!

I have been wondering why I have never noticed such good clearance as I am finding now... I think I figured out what it is. I haven't needed to buy my childen clothes for a LONG time! Jake gets all the hand me downs of course. But Jackson was given so many clothes by friends that it has literally been years since I have had to buy him clothes! He fits into his summer clothes from last year to get him through this season... but come fall he doesn't have any wardrobe! So I did the post a few weeks ago about finding great clearance and starting his winter wardrobe for this coming year. I found a cute long sleeved shirt at Target yesterday for $2.70. It has just a hamburger on it. I thought it was cool :) Today I was at Penney's and I had a 20% off coupon. They had sweaters for $3 each! I bought 3 sweaters. (One might end up being for Jake depending on how fast Jax grows!) I have been buying all of his winter clothes for school size 6-7. So it will hopefully fit him for 2 winters! I am very pleased with my find today! 3 sweaters for $7. Awesome!

Healthy Boys

Jax and Jake had an appointment today with their new pediatrician. I had been wanting to change pediatricians for a long time and finally did. Their last doctor was very nice but he was very old and said some things that made me uneasy and not very confident that he was completely up to date in medicine! A friend recommended a new doctor and we had a great experience today! He was very throurough and wasn't rushed and was so good with both boys. The entire office staff was great. I am so happy we found them! Jackson got 3 shots today and now he is all ready for kindergarten in the fall. Both boys are healthy. Jake was just over the 50th percentile for weight... no surprise there... and 75th percentile for height. He's my scrawny boy! Jackson was over the 90th/95th percentile for height and weight! Like always. That boy is dense! Both boys were so well behaved and Luis even came with us. I felt like it was a really special experience for us all to be there together. I was happy Luis was there to help. He really does have a calming influence on them in situations like that. They were rewarded with a Chick-fil-a ice cream cone! I'm very proud of them!

Backpacks for the boys

I've mentioned before how we are putting a lot of energy and effort into preparedness lately. So far we had Luis and I each with a backpack that included our stuff and the boys. We decided last week that the boys should each have their own pack. We found good backpacks (originally $30) on clearance at JC Penney for $10. (I bought one for school for Jax too! Great deal!) So we got each of them a backpack that they can use as their emergency pack. It now holds a change of clothes, bathroom items, glow sticks, water and snacks. I also threw in a Hot Wheels car... for fun! The boys are so excited to have their own packs! They each got a whistle to put in the pack and we let them pick out a flashlight. Jake chose black and Jax chose red. It was really fun for them. And I am excited too... It is really fun to explain what they use each item for and show them how to use it. They understand that the whistle is to be used if they are ever lost or need to call to someone. They know how to use the flashlight which has different settings- normal, red light, flashing light, SOS. We also filled up our 5th gas can today to add to our gasoline storage.  It is just a huge relief to know that we are prepared for almost anything... whether we are staying in our house or if we have to get up and go in a hurry.

No Sweets Committment

This blog post is important for me. I do much better with goals if I make them known! So hold me accountable people. I am committing to NO SWEETS starting next week... the reason I'm starting next week is because I have some girl scout cookies open on top of my fridge and it would be such a shame to waste them! :) I have good intentions with this goal. I bought a bolero jacket to go over my bridesmaids dress for Mel's wedding. It was on clearance and the only one in the right color... but it's an extra small... so it is VERY tight. I can wear it as long as my arms don't get any bigger! I have been working out like crazy and I'm not losing anything... and it's because I eat junk. Candy, cookies, anything sweet I can't resist. I am a well-know sweet-a-holic! A true addict. So, until Mel's wedding cake in on June 1... no more sweets for me! No more twizzlers, or cookies, or jelly beans! So sad! So now that I've made this committment I am off to the Y to have Amy kick my but in Power Pump class. (Think 80's step aerobics mixed with P90X with a 20 lb bar on your shoulders! OUCH!) Please hold me accountable!