Ups and Downs

Jaxon is doing better with his behavior - sort of. I think maybe I'm getting better at handling it. He actually does decent at VBS preschool if I stay away from him and let others deal with him. He did really well yesterday and got to have a friend over. Today was rougher though but all the kids were a little more wild for some reason. Even though it is Thursday since we started Tuesday it was our third day and like "hump day" (Wednesday) which is usually like this at school.
I do have some good pictures from VBS but I am too tired and lazy to go downstairs and download them then put them on the blog. Sorry - I'll get to it.
I know there are some funny Jaxonisms but I can't think of them. I try to write them down as I go but it just doesn't always happen.
Two more days of VBS so pray all goes well.
Also, Blake came home late last night. He is working at my parent's farm this summer so we will be back and forth. He is back to work on fixing the fence that was a casualty in the attempt to get a patio - another blog. Also we are having a retirement party for a teacher/friend on Saturday that should be fun - no kids! I love 'em but it is always good to have a break.

Dustin's Graduation

The Two Grads

Another late post: my brother's graduation. My brother Dustin graduated 2 Sundays ago May 18. After my cousin Tyler's high school graduation, Sunday was my brother's college graduation from KU. It is always interesting to see how different graduation ceremonies are. At KU the big deal is to walk through the bell tower, down the hill into the stadium. They told me that they do not say everyone's names which I thought would make it quicker - WRONG! Walking down the hill took 1 1/2 hours! Thank goodness ceremony only took 30 minutes. It was a fairly nice day but the sun was out so we got umbrella's so we wouldn't get sunburned. It had been really cloudy the week before so I totally didn't think about sunscreen. Jaxon made a little tent by laying a blanket on the ground and putting umbrellas over him. We're all proud of my brother Dustin! Congratulations - time for the real world!


Here are the pics. The little girl Jaxon is playing with is my first cousin Aidan. They always have a lot of fun together and I'm glad he has someone his age to play with.

Trouble!

I picked the title for two reasons. First off Jaxon found our game Trouble and wanted to play it which I thought would be good counting practice. Second - that's what he was in big time today. Today was the start of Vacation Bible School and this is Jaxon's first year to get to go to preschool. A friend of mine was doing preschool so I said I'd help her out. Mainly I was excited to not be a crew leader this year - it is too much like school doing that and having to get on kids. I knew that it would be tricky for Jaxon though with me being there. I told the other leaders to take care of him and I'd help the other kids. So I was mostly trying to stay away from him this morning and telling him to ask the other leaders for help. Everytime I was around him he was whining and disobeying. Afterwards he wanted to have a friend over and I told him no because he wasn't behaving well today. This set off a humongous fit while we were still in the church that continued on the way home and for about 30 minutes afterwards. We had a big talk and some disciplining about his behavior. He keeps saying that tomorrow he will work so that his friend can come over and play. Hopefully he will start learning more about consequences of his behavior or it will be a long summer.

Tyler's Graduation

So I'm over a week late posting this but at least it is getting up sometime. Last Saturday, May 16 was my cousin Tyler's graduation from high school. I come from a class of 15 so you can imagine how different it is to attend a graduation that has to be held in Kemper Arena. You can see from the pics how many grads there were. The bulk of the ceremony was just saying everyone's names. I don't think I got any pics but as soon as they started calling students names the grads got out blow up balls and toys and started hitting them around to each other. Everyone laughed but the teacher's made a big deal of going and getting them from the students. I could have told them since I teach first grade that if they would have just let them do it then it would have quit sooner but they made it a better game by going after them. Each time they would get them taken away new ones would pop up from nowhere. One teacher literally tackled a student. It made it more enteraining for me since I only knew one student and was sitting there waiting for it to get over.
Congratulations Tyler! We're proud of you!

By the way if you think you can spot him - Tyler has a yellow sticker on his hat.

Preschool Already?

Time has flown and this summer Jaxon will be 4 so that means he will get to start preschool next year. Monday, May 18th was the Open House to go and get information about what it is all about. Jaxon is excited to go to school because a lot of his friends go and Mommy and Daddy go every day. I just hope he behaves well. Being a teacher, that is my fear that I will have "that kid" in school. The hardest kids are not the ones that are lower academically but the bad behavior kids that know better and can do it if they really try. I hope Jaxon is not "that kid". Of course, I want him to be smart and do well academically but I'm really not as concerned about that. (Hopefully I'm not eating my words later.) I am anxious to see how he will do so we'll know if he'll be ready for Kindergarten the next year or not. Since he's a summer birthday (and a boy) he may not be ready which is OK too.

Here is Jaxon sitting in the chair listening. (Actually he was looking around talking to friends while we tried to teach him to sit and listen to his teacher.)


Here is his teacher next year, Miss Brandee. Sorry it's not the best pic Brandee but I don't have any of you looking at the camera.


Checking out the room and playing with friends.



He hadn't seen Clara (the girl hugging him) that day because we were coming back from graduations so I guess they missed each other. They go to daycare together.


Here is the blog for the preschool so when it starts you can keep up.
www.simplygoodpreschool.blogspot.com

Daddy's Helper

Here are some pics of Jaxon helping daddy.



We are working frantically trying to get a patio done before summer starts and Blake won't be here much. He is going to be helping my dad farm this summer since my brother still has some classes to take at KU to finish up. We will be going back and forth a lot and I think it would be great to have a patio to sit on and watch Jaxon play this summer.

Today we went to a friend's farm to get sand - no big deal right? First let me tell you how the day was already going - it was my class's field trip. We go down to Beaver, OK to the sand hills. Which is exactly how it sounds - there are big hills of sand and the kids go up and down and play all day. So of course I am covered with sand and Blake wants to get more sand so I figure why shower until we're done even though I'm dying to get clean. We are shoveling the sand into the trailer and the people's house we go to has some strapping young boys so the mom sends them out to help. Well needless to say, I go forward and the shovel goes back and Wham! I'm hit. I get hit right above my eye on the brow bone and start gushing blood (you know how head wounds are). Fortunately, it is not deep but that was my cue to take a break. It has been a long day (and week) but we only have half a day with students tomorrow. I will miss my class but I am so ready for summer! Bring it on!

Yes, that was my son!

Jaxon is gassy! So if there is ever a question then yes it is him. All our friends and family know how loud he is and his great "talent" with burping and farting. (I'm so proud.) We were in Sublette with Kings eating at Mama Mo's and Jaxon let out a huge burp which of course got everyone there laughing. The high school students were clearly impressed with such a great sound coming out of such a little guy so I guess I should be proud. He sees no need to stop when everyone around him seems to enjoy it so much. If you ever happen to miss his farting he will proudly let you know. We were in the car and I heard a little toot and asked him if he farted. He matter of factly said, "Yeah, it was me." So now everyone knows there is no question who it was - put your money on Jaxon.
It's funny how all these people laugh now but will be repulsed when he is older and doing this as a kid that is very disrespectful. Hopefully we can get him trained to not do it by then even if people laugh. Because you know it is only going to get smellier!
Jaxonism: (Can't remember if I put this already or not)
ibrite = Sprite

We are busy in Lawrence this weekend with 2 graduations so more to come on that later.

Happy Mother's Day!

Since Satanta Day is always right before Mother's Day and we're always frazzled and not wanting to travel we decided to have Mother's Day here this year. My parents, grandparents, and Blake's parents all came to church in the morning then back to our house for dinner - lasagna, bread, salad, mixed veggies, and apple turnovers with ice cream (Leanne's recipe listed below - YUMMY!)
For Mother's Day gifts I got creative (and thrifty). I got some clay pots then instead of me doing all the work I let all the grandma's do the work. Each Grandma, Granny and Mamaw got to paint a clay pot with Jaxon. Doing their own designs with Jaxon and his handprints and their own special grandmother names. I figure the experience would be memorable and fun and so much easier than me doing them all by myself. They turned out really great as seen below. Jaxon had a lot of fun making them also. I still have to make mine with him but I figured spreading them out would be better than doing them all at once.

Grandma's (my mom)


Granny's (my grandmother)


Mamaw's (Blake's mom)


Jaxon's (he had his own to do what he wanted with which kept him from going too far on the others')


Mommy's still to come...

Leanne's Apple Turnovers - easy and yummy!
2 apples - peeled, cored and each sliced into 8 slices
2 cans crescent rolls
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 can Mountain Dew

Roll each apple slice with a crescent roll, making sure all of the apple is covered. Place in a 9 x 13 pan (greased). Mix together butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Add a little Mountain Dew to make it drizzling consistency. Drizzle over apple turnovers. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Satanta Day 2009

Saturday, May 9 was our 4th Satanta Day! To see more about what Satanta Day is all about and what went on then click here. Jaxon really enjoyed it this year. We went to the carnival both nights (Friday and Saturday). Jaxon loved the rides and could hardly stand to wait. Unfortunately they set up on Thursday and I showed it to Jaxon thinking he may not remember it from last year. He did remember and wanted to go right then. It took a lot of convincing (and tears)for him to realize that it would not be open until the next night. He was ready to go the second I picked him up from Julie's and was disappointed he had to wait until 7. He did pretty good and was about to burst so we headed on down about 10 minutes early and there was already a line. The carnival is fairly expensive and the best deal is to get a bracelet for $20 and unlimited rides. This is when everyone is jealous that we only have one kid to pay for. The next night grandparents were here and wanted to see him ride so they got him a bracelet.
After getting our money's worth on Friday night, we went home to rest up for Satanta Day on Saturday. Daddy had to leave early for his last junior high track meet which was League in Holcomb. Jaxon and I met Grandma (my mom) and Granny and Papa (my grandparents) at the parade. The parade was a lot of fun even though it was cold. Afterwards we went to the barbecue which was yummy! Then there was the Show and Shine Car Show and Craft Fair. We all went home to take naps (everyone except Jaxon of course). Then Grandpa (my dad) got here and Blake so we could go back to the carnival and street dance. As you can see it was a very busy day but lots of fun.

Will you still do this when you're older?

It was hard to clean when Jaxon was little because someone had to watch him or he'd get into something. Now that he is older I thought it would be easier but of course not. Now he wants to "help". Which is great but it slows me down and there are some things he doesn't do right so then I have to go over them. I want him to learn and start learning now so I have to make myself let him do some. I just keep remembering when I really wanted to learn how to vacuum by myself and mow the lawn by myself and my parents telling me, "You won't want to do this when you're older and we want you to do it!" This was so true. I wanted to be so grown up and when I got there I was like, "This sucks!" So I am now wondering when that point will happen with Jaxon and am attempting to appreciate his "help" now when he wants to give it.





Here are some pics of Jaxon in his tent. We got it for him on his 2nd birthday but it got put away and we recently got it out. Here is watching TV in it and he has taken naps and slept in it every night this week. I don't think he has his mama's claustrophobia problems at all! (We need some with him wearing his "Warren" helmet.)

Have you seen my baseball?

The quote is from the brother Warren on there's Something About Mary. (We're movie people so real life can usually relate to a movie to us.) Any way the special brother Warren wears ear muffs all the time and always asks, "Have you seen my baseball." The reason why it relates to us is because Friday we met in Dodge with our families to celebrate Blake's birthday. Before going home, we hit Wal-Mart and got Jaxon a bicycle helmet. He asked if he could watch a movie and wear his helmet when we got home. Remember that the second he gets home he has to strip down to just underwear or a pull-up. We got some pics and it just reminded me of Warren so here you go.






Here are some snaps from Blake's birthday celebration at El Charros on Ssaturday.

The Three Bears

I mentioned awhile ago I was starting a Fairy Tale unit with my students. We are getting ready to wrap it up this week with a big Fairy Tale Ending party on Friday. Here is something we did at the end of the week when we did activities with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Since I can't post pics of my students so I don't get in any trouble, I brought these bear ears for Jaxon to make. He did a really good job cutting too. He did the straight parts and I did the rounded. I haven't been working with him on it but I was surprised.









Here are the Bear Cupcakes I made for my kids. We ate them with the 5th graders while we watched the Powerpoints they made together about different kinds of bears.