Summer Fun

Now that we're 3 weeks into summer vacation, we've fully established a schedule of no schedule at all.   This summer is actually going to be shorter than summers past and I'm finding we haven't done as much fun stuff as I'd like...I'm finding I've got to pick up the pace and get off my lazy buns (actually its not that I'm COMPLETELY lazy, I spend most of my day nursing this oinker of a baby I have).  Heres a little piece of our summer so far.

Jonah sure loves his baby brother!  He can't get enough of him.  He loves to read to him...or rather Jonah explains the pictures and Jamen wanders aimlessly into space.

Jaxon is his Aunt Carina's little helper.  He helps her cook, walk her dog, and he LOVES to drive in her car and run errands...doesn't matter where, just as long as he gets to be in her car.

Jaxon discovered a new favorite show..."Super Why" on PBS.  He's actually only seen a few episodes we downloaded on Netflix, but he's convinced that he's "Alpha Pig."  

He wears Jonah's chemist goggles and carries a plastic hammer, magnifying glass, and his metal Toy Story toolbox around singing Alpha Pig's ABC's song and tells everyone "I'm Alpha Pig!!" I've got to hand it to Alpha Pig though, he's taught Jax his alphabet better than I have!

One day Alpha Pig Jax found my breast pump and asked what it was.  I told him, so he decided he needed to try it himself.  He's adamant that he produces milk too.  When nothing came out, he decided it wasn't his lack of milk that was the problem, but the pump must be broken.  Then he whipped out his hammer and said, "I'll fix it!"  Thanks Alpha Pig!

Gramma got a new slip 'n' slide, so naturally the boys had to test it for her.  Jonah had the time of his life.  It was SO much fun watching him.  I love to see the pure joy and excitement in my children's eyes.  There are few greater joys for me.

He slipped...

he slided...

he splished...

and he splashed.

There was so much fun being had!

And out came Captain Underpants!

Jaxon wanted so badly to have as much fun as Jonah, but he didn't know quite what to do...he'd forgotten his slip 'n' slide skills from last summer.  He sat on his bum and tried to slide...that didn't work.  So he tried his knees...that didn't work either.  He just expected to slide down it like a normal slide.  He didn't get he needs to get some momentum.  So he tried out the little pool at the end.

He walked up and down the slide until...oops...he slipped, and he slid...not on purpose.  And BOY was it fun!

But he wasn't about to do that again, so he splished and splashed in the little pool until he slipped again.  There was WAY too much fun being had!

I couldn't resist ending this post with this picture:

It so doesn't do him justice, but it's oh so cute.  When Jax gets mad, he folds his arms, huffs and puffs, sticks out his lips, scrunches his eyebrows and says, "I'm mad!"  It is the funniest, cutest thing ever!  

Despite what this pictures shows, he is the happiest boy ever...he got to graduate to a booster seat.  He out grew his car seat...I'm sure it would have been more harm to him then help...so we got him a new seat.  He loved it so much when we used it for the first time, he cried in the car when we went into the house because he wanted to take it with him.  He is the funniest kid!

Swim Lessons

Jonah spent the last 2 weeks at swim lessons.  He absolutely LOVED it!  We went to Avila Hot Springs, which was perfect because the pool was nice and warm!  Jonah did really well.  The first week his class was only him and 1 other boy, which was awesome because he got a lot of 1-on-1 attention.  The second week there were 3 new kids (all brothers & sisters).  Jonah went into show off mode...I felt bad for the teacher...all 5 kids were a little wired.  The good thing about that was Jonah did extra good because he was showing off for the other kids (who 2 of which happened to be girls...the little flirt!)

While Jonah swam, Jamen chilled in his stroller.

One day Jaxon got in the pool, but only stayed on the steps.  It only lasted about 10 minutes until he floated off the steps and was hanging onto the rail...it was quite dramatic!  The other days he sat on the side with me and cheered.  He'd yell out "Good job Jonah!" and "Kick harder" He'd even coach from the sidelines.  It was really cute!

This picture cracked us up...check out that hair!

He made me smile every time he'd float...he was stiff as a board and would puff out his chest!

Jonah loves going under water...but for some reason he's petrified of doing it while he swims.  He wore his goggles in the pool, but never actually put them over his eyes.

The last day of swim lessons was especially fun for the boys.  David got in the pool with them.  While Jonah was in class, David & Jaxon swam around.  Jaxon was SO excited that he could walk in the water (the shallow end is only 2 1/2 feet deep).  It took David a bit of convincing him that he'd be okay, but once he realized it wasn't too deep, there was no stopping him.  He'd walk around moving his arms like he's swimming.  For some reason he thought it was so awesome that he could stand on one leg and kick the other one out of the water.

When Jaxon finally got done swimming, David and Jonah hung out in the hot pool (as Jonah calls it).  The water in the hot pool is from natural mineral hot springs, so it spells a bit like rotten eggs, but is nice and hot.  Jonah thought he was So cool because you're supposed to be 8 to go in and he went in (I'm sure he's not the 1st!)...breakin' the law, breakin' the law!  Jonah's convinced that the minerals are natural healers.  When he got out he went through all of his "wounds" (aka scratches, nicks, bruises) and said they were now miraculously healed from the water!

A Million Posts

No, this is not my millionth post (despite appearances), but I did just add a TON of posts.  Be sure to scroll down and click on "Older Posts" or I've added links to all the new posts below (for those of you basking in your summer laziness as I am!), so just click on the title to view!

- A Very Special BOYS ONLY Day with Daddy -

- Some Very Special Visitors -

- Strawberry Festival -

- Valley, Meet Jamen! -

- Totally Random -

- Concerts in the Plaza -

- Ma & Papa's Visit -

- My Baby's 7! -

- Happy Father's Day! -

- Baby Jamen -

My Baby's 7!!

Sunday Jonah turned 7!  As Jaxon would quote Little Einsteins, "I can-not be-lieve it!"  This year Jonah got to share his special day with his dad, seeing as his birthday fell on Father's Day.  He was actually pretty excited about that...don't know why, but happy that he was willing to share it.

Jonah was so anxious to open his presents.  From Gramma and Grand Pa, he got some much needed clothes and a soccer net.  Jaxon gave him some Legos - he was VERY excited to give them to Jonah!

Ma and Papa gave him some Star Wars Legos (can you tell he was pretty excited about them?).  The first present Jonah opened from us was some knee & elbow pads.  He was pretty confused (from the picture, looks disappointed), but he was cool about it...he didn't really get what they were for.  That is until he opened his next present, a new scooter.  

Jonah was nice enough to let Jaxon open one of his presents for him.  Jax was excited even though it wasn't even for him!

Jonah was lucky enough to spend his birthday with Gramma & Grand Pa AND Ma & Papa - he couldn't have been happier!  Ma helped him get started on his new Star Wars Lego ship.

And here's the cake.  

Jonah said he wanted another pirate birthday - I'm not really sure why because he's not into pirates anymore.  Since my last pirate cake (a pirate ship) was a mega disaster (the cake split in 2!), I just prayed that this one would stay together at least until he blew the candles out.  And that it did.  Jonah was so excited about all the edible treasure that would go inside his treasure chest.  He actually asked for a pirate AND crystal cake, the sugar crystal candy that I found was just perfect.  Jonah helped me frost it, he crushed the "sand," and he and Jaxon helped me place the treasure on the cake.

Jonah wanted a picture of Papa & him with his cake and of course he needed a hook if he was going to be a real pirate!

Some how Jonah never learned that you want to try to blow the candles all out at once...oh well!

The day after his birthday, Jonah tried out his new scooter.  He loves it and we love watching him try new tricks on it.  His favorite trick is poppin' wheelies!

After a slight wardrobe change :-), Jonah then tried out his new soccer net.  For some reason Jax kept sitting on the backside of the net, then he'd get pegged by Jonah's ball.  Silly kid!

Jonah is such a fun kid.  He has his tempermental moments, but he is such a loving boy!  He sure loves his family.  I'm glad that he's not old enough to be "too cool" for us yet.  Jonah is my #1 helper...especially when it comes to Jamen.  He's actually asked to change his diaper a few times...even the poopy ones...and he actually does it too!  He is so smart...sometimes too smart for his own good!  He likes math, especially when it has to do with money!  And he LOVES science!  He still says he wants to be a chemist when he grows up, but I think with the kind of mad skills he has with Legos, I think he'd make a great architect or engineer!  Some of his favorite things to do right now are Legos, riding his scooter, playing kick ball, climbing trees, playing guitar & singing (he makes up the coolest songs!), and drawing.  

Jonah I am SO lucky to be your mom and am SO grateful for you!

Happy Birthday Jonah baby!!

Coolest Kid on the Planet

Jonah's definitely got my vote for the coolest kid in the world. He's so much fun and such a cute kid. A couple weeks ago he lost his 2 front teeth. This racks it up to 4 teeth now (well 7 if you count the 3 he had pulled last year). I love when kids lose their 2 front teeth, but unfortunately I kept forgetting to take a picture of it until his new teeth started growing through...oh well.

Jonah loves to sing. His new thing lately is he strums this little guitar and makes up songs as he goes. He really is very talented. His songs rhyme and actually make sense! He's a WAY better songwriter than I ever attempted!

A few weeks ago we ordered this Snow Science book from Jonah's school book orders. It comes with a little kit that you can make your own "snow" and grow crystals on a snowflake. Of course my little scientist LOVED it!

Here's the snow. Its actually "diaper dust..." the crystal stuff they put in diapers that absorbs all the pee. You just add water, then you can play with it like snow.

Butterflies!

It is that time of year again, when the Monarch butterflies gather here for the winter. They've actually been here since November or so, but January is the time of year that I always remember and think "Oh man, I've gotta hurry and get down there before they're all gone!" My boys LOVED it. Anything science or nature related Jonah's in heaven. I thought Jaxon would just run around the entire time, but he was really in to it....just as much as Jonah! We went on a warm day, so there weren't as many butterflies bunched together (when its 55° or less, they actually can't fly and they all bunch together on the branches of the Eucolyptus trees), but there were lots flying around.

After the butterflies, I took the boys down the road to the park. Jonah doesn't really get to go to the park much during the school year, since I usually take Jaxon when Jonah's at school. So the 2 of them had lots of fun!

Breakfast with Santa

Every year my parent's church (ward) has a special breakfast with Santa for the kids. Since we live close, the kids get to go most every year.

They serve them breakfast (the little smokies...um wienies?...were a major hit with the kids...definitely caused some trouble with my boys!) and make some crafts...

Then Santa comes and each kid gets to sit on his lap and Santa gives them a gift (a nativity ornament).

This is about as close as Jaxon would get to sitting on Santa's lap...he took his present and ran!

A Jonah Moment

The other day Jonah proclaimed, "I'm Dr. Jonah Kai Radmacher"

Me: "What are you a doctor of?"

Jonah: "I'm a doctor of explaining things. I can explain everything. I can do whatever I want in the whole world. I have this company that I own that I have lots of rooms that have every store in the world in them."

Me: "Wow, an explaining doctor, huh? I've never heard of that before!"

Jonah: "Uh, there can only be ONE explaining doctor! Yup. And I'M it!"

I love childhood imaginations!

Happy Halloween!

We didn't do anything too exciting the day of Halloween. We don't get trick-or-treaters at our house (one of the perks of living in the country!) and we had too many errands to run during the day to stop by the Village and trick-or-treat the shops. But we DID make it to the Trunk-or-Treat at church!

We all dressed up this year. We even got an award for our costumes!

Can you guess who we all are??

We've got Sheriff Woody & his girlfriend Bo Peep (fyi-Jesse is more like his sister, NOT his girlfriend! That's Bo Peep!) Thank you mom for my cool costume! You did a great job! My absolute favorite were the bloomers!

And of course the (not so) Evil Emperor Zurg and (the cutest ever) Buzz Lightyear of Star Command!

The kids did a costume parade here too. Poor kid in front of Jonah kept getting his costume stepped on...watch where you're stepping Zurg! :)

Jax was just so cute and squishy in this costume! He loved carrying his candy bucket around. He and his little friend were so cute playing with Jax's Buzz & Woody toys. They didn't even care about getting more candy! We went home and I asked Jaxon if he had fun. He said "Ya, I play with Tommy! Tommy Doo-Boo!" (Tommy dressed up like Scooby Doo)

David...I mean Sheriff Woody...was such a good sport. I think this years costume wasn't as embarrassing as years past. Plus he knew my costume was much more embarrassing then his, so he couldn't complain!

David was in charge of handing out the candy. We didn't do anything exciting with our trunk, but we did have our Toy Story soundtrack playing in the background. I think Jonah likes giving out candy more then he likes getting it (thats a REALLY good thing!) and Jax just likes to sit their and eat it! :)

"You got a friend in me..." The best of pals, Woody & Buzz!