Bubble Fun

Who would have thought that milk could make that many bubbles!! The boy's figured that one out! I almost made them stop blowing bubbles and "making a mess," but it looked like so much fun and so neat that I just let them go!!

Grandma & Grandpa Visit

Grandma & Grandpa from Utah were able to come visit for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was wonderful to have them here. The kids absolutely loved being around them and enjoying the extra love. We spent one evening roasting marshmellows with them outside again, to Cooper's delight! The boys did lots of arts and crafts with Grandma, did some shopping together, and just spent some good quality time playing with Grandma & Grandpa! Kaylee had no fear of the grandparents she hasn't seen very much. She loved their presence. It was a great visit and we love them so very much!! They were able to stay and help get our house ready for Thanksgiving. We got to decorate, plan the menu, and cook together. What a great time to be together with family! We love you Grandma & Grandpa!

Preschool Thanksgiving Program

Jaxton was in a Preschool Thanksgiving Program at his preschool, Creative Play School. He was able to invite 2 guests to his feast and program. He chose to invite Grandma from Utah and his mom. Grandma and Grandpa from Utah were here visiting for Thanksgiving. So he felt honored to have Grandma come to his program. He knew all his songs and sang proudly on stage with his Indian hat on. What a great Thanksgiving feast!!

Birthday Dragon Training

Jaxton has been into the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" and was set on having a dragon themed party! It turned out quite well and I think everyone had a great time learning how to fight and conquer dragons!!

Jax painted herbal tea over his white invitations to make them look old and feel stiff. When they were dry, we burnt the edges with matches. Then we mailed them off!! On the day of the party, all the kids got their own round shield to paint however they wanted. These were the same shape of shields that the vikings in the movie held. They also each got a viking hat to wear, made out of regular party hats, cardboard, and tin foil. So right off the bat, they were all VIKINGS!!

But, these vikings needed to learn how to fight dragons!! That's what they were here for, right? So they had to go through some extensive training courses. We had an obstacle course they had to conquer, with a balance beam, climbing over, under, and all around to get their energy up!

Then we played "Viking Says," a spoof off of Simon Says. The Viking, also known as Nate, had the dragon warriors copy him in various dragon fighting moves! The last game we played involved the kids' painted shields. We dropped empty plastic eggs (Dragon eggs) at the kids from the balcony and they had to use their shields to protect themselves. They loved it!!

Finally, they were ready to fight a real, green dragon filled with sugary fierceness!! We made a homemade dragon pinata out of a brown grocery paper bag filled with candy and goodies, rolled and stapled shut. More crumpled brown bag pieces were added with duct tape to create the shape of a dragon's body. We covered the body with fringed tissue paper in rows all the way down his body on both sides, then added tissue paper feet, eyes, and mouth with fire coming out. We punched a skewer stick through his sides and made cardboard covered with tissue paper wings for him. The kids got to fight the fierce dragon with a sword! You can see that Jaxton made his wing fall off!!

Next came presents, and then cake! How to make a dragon cake? Any idea in the whole world can be found online!! I found this idea and it worked out great!! Next time though, I'll use something edible so we can eat the dragon!! We just molded a dragon shape out of tin foil and used some hot glue to add feet to him. We covered him with frosting and added cardstock wings. Waalaaa! There we have "Toothless," the main character of the movie "How to Train Your Dragon."

We now have 9 experienced dragon fighters in town. If ever anyone sees a dragon in Fort Wayne, Indiana, they know who to call! Happy Birthday Jax Man!

Happy Birthday Jaxton

Jaxton Turns 5!! Happy Birthday Jax!! I can't believe you are five today! Here are some fun things about Jaxton at 5 years old:

1. Jaxton's favorite cereal is caught between honey cheerios and kix!

2. Jaxton's favorite activity is building with some special snapping blocks. Every day he is building a new spaceship or a city for his little vibrating bugs.

3. Jaxton is learning how to read and is picking it up very fast. He is on lesson number 50 in the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." He amazes me at how fast he is learning how to read!!

4. Jaxton is a white belt in Tae Kwon Do. He loves Tae Kwon Do! He is very good at it as well with strong movements.

5. Jaxton loves babies. I wonder why! His little sister has taught him how to play with and interact with babies and every time he sees another baby, he gravitates towards them and talks baby talk and plays gently with them. He has a soft spot for babies and has told me that we need to have 2 more girl babies and then 2 more boy babies in our family......hmmmm

6. Jaxton is a performer! He loves to make people laugh and loves to be silly. He has no fear of being in front of others, on a stage, or in a classroom, or in a group of friends. He has confidence in performing.

7. Jaxton's favorite sport is still soccer. Since its fall and almost winter, he will wait till springtime to play, and he asks often when soccer will start up again. He really is a great kicker!

8. Jaxton's closest friends these days are Kye Stump and Gabe Gregory.

9. Jaxton loves to eat! He can eat sooo much for 1 meal. He is hardly picky and tries most anything placed in front of him. I can always count on him to eat mom's dinners!!

10. Jaxton is a sweetheart. His heart is just so good. He is always concerned about the feelings of others. When he is at fault, and knows it, he wants to make it right. He is honest and good all around. Just a sweet boy. We love you very very much, Jaxton!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Daddy is Thirty-One!! Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you!! Daddy has been golfing lately. He decided one day that he wanted to be a golfer and got invited by a friend to go golfing together. Well, he couldn't go golfing empty handed. So he went out and purchased himself his own golfing gear, complete with a stand for his equipment!! Golfing is expensive though, so for his birthday, we got him a gift certificate to go golfing next season! Hopefully that equipment gets put to good use! He also has been wanting "eggies," a little kitchen gadget that cooks eggs so you don't have to peel hard boiled eggs. We'll see if they work as well as they say they do on TV!

Since BYU football has been playing very well this season, with Jimmer of course, we decided to combine a BYU football party and birthday party in one! It was a fun gathering. I think the birthday boy had a good time!! Happy Birthday Nate!

Fun in the Fall

Autumn is by far the most beautiful season of the year in Indiana. It is so colorful! The humidity of the summer is gone, and the weather is fresh and brisk and not too cold yet. It's absolutely perfect! Since we don't have many leaves on our grass, we gathered some from the edges of our backyard that fell from the trees in the woods and made our own pile to jump in, something the boys have been wanting to do, but we haven't since we don't have any trees in our grassy backyard. We had a lot of fun in the leaves, even Kaylee girl!

Halloween Bonfire

After Trick-Or-Treating, we headed back home to start up a bonfire and roast some marshmellows, one of Cooper's most favorite things to do!! We spent the evening with some of the kids best friends, Coby, Kye, and Cameron stump, with their parents Summer & Blair. Cooper had at least 4 or 5 smores and could have eaten even more if we didn't stop him! What a fun Halloween to remember!!