Roller Skating

Jonathan had Luke spend the night on Friday. They wanted to go skating, so I looked online and found they have 2 skate sessions every Friday night. The first is from 4-6:30 and the second from 7:30-11. They decided the second session would be less crowded (I figured it'd be packed with obnoxious teenagers). But they really pushed for the later session, so that's what we did. I can't leave work until 4pm anyway, so we would've missed a good chunk of the first session. Jake spent the night at Jon's, but Jayden went with us too. She loved it. My arms were aching from pushing her around and around the rink. We stayed on the outside corners- away from the fast skaters. And thank goodness they allow you to walk around the rink with regular shoes with little kids!!! It was less crowded and calmer than I thought- with lots of Jr. High aged kids rather than High School kids. Jonathan got better as the night went on- as with any sporty thing, he is pretty coordinated. Luke fell at least 100 times- poor kid! But he's such a good sport and even offered to play the dice game with Jayden- which he ended up winning. Jayden got a blue icee- which will explain her blue mouth/ teeth in the pix. We went to Fred Meyer after to get chocolate chips for a dessert the boys wanted me to make- and Jayden found some Tweetie Bird jammies there- which neither one of us could resist. We got home at about 11pm or later. By the way, Jayden was the only 4 year old at the rink!! Also, a group of girls about Jonathan's age kept skating by he and Luke and smiling and waving. Jonathan said "Those girls are acting so WEIRD." I told him they probably thought they were cute- to which he responded "oh yeah- a LOT of people think I'm cute mom- I don't know why. I think it might be my blue eyes and long hair..." I am quite certain it's not the hair! But it was funny how he said it- so innocently and not at all in a conceited way. Looks like I'll never be able to convince him to cut his hair now!!!

Writing Attempts

Jayden has JUST recently been trying to write her name on her papers at daycare. She can copy pretty well- and is now noticing letters in her environment. It's fun to watch her concentrate so hard. This particular time it's hard to see her name- She usually does it a bit better (not much though!)

St. Pat's Day

After going to work all day, the orthodontist after school, the post office, the cable store, the drug store, and 2 baseball practices, we finally got home at about 7:30pm. I, for one, was worn out... But it was after all, St. Patrick's Day..and I always make the annual green "breakfast" dinner for St. Patrick's Day. These traditions are important to Jake- and he was so excited about it that I just couldn't say no. I figured I've broken his little heart enough this year. I even tried to talk up the idea of doing it on the weekend, but he looked so disappointed that I just couldn't wait. Here are some pix. I put together a last minute scavenger hunt, too. They found a pot of gold with lollipops and Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs. I am going to miss those Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs. They have been my strength to make it through reading group each day lately... sigh... It's hard to share chocolate...

Seein' Green!

Guess Where???

Yep- another quick visit to Chuck E. Cheese. I had left-over tokens from Jayden's B-Day, so after running some errands, I told Jake and Jayden we'd go finish them off- and we did! Jake is really into video games these days- and has finally outgrown the tickets pretty much. I asked if he got any tickets and he replied,"Nah- I just wanted to play for FUN this time..." Jayden earned a whopping 12, and got a little lollipop with hers.

Reptile Man Comes to Scout Meeting!

As you know, Jake fully intends to be the next "Reptile Man" upon reaching manhood, so when the Boy Scout Troop invited the Cub Scouts to their Reptile Man Show, Jake was ALL over it!!! He sat wide-eyed and bushy tailed in the very front row, mesmerized by the animals and the wisdom of the "Reptile Man". Super cute! Of course his hand shot up immediately whenever a volunteer was called for, and who can resisit that precious little face when it lights up??? He got to hold a HUGE snake, along with other volunteers, and touch 2 tortoises (his fav), an alligator, a lizard thing, and a komodo dragon. Jayden sat (on me of course) and was surprisingly engaged in the show, too. She touched every animal that came along, and was even called upon to ride- yep that's right, RIDE A LIVE TOROISE!!! She went right up to the front and got on, but looked rather serious as everyone watched her. What a highlight! So now, Jake "needs" more animals ASAP- of course! Oh, and by the way, the reptile guy was very knowledgable- has his own show on Animal Planet, and even used to work with the late Steve Irwin. Impressive!

Jungle Playland

Jake had his friend Tyson over on Sunday. He REALLY wanted to do a sleepover, but I think he/ they are still a bit young. They had fun together anyway... mostly playing Halo on the X-Box. It was too cold to go out. It had sleeted/ snowed the night before and there was still some left on the ground. After Tyson left, the kids and I headed to Jungle Playland- along with everyone else in the Northern Hemisphere. Jayden and Jonathan did all the scary slides together, the boys rented lazer guns, and Jayden liked playing in the "marbles" (ball pit). I couldn't wait to get out of there...