Our Little Ninja in the Making

Beau has learned to climb the walls just like his dad used to do. It's so cute to see him taking after Joe so much.

Merry Christmas!

I have misplaced my other camera that had more pictures on it. This will have to do for now :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Traditions

When I was little, we would always make sugar cookies on Christmas Eve and I looked forward to it every year. We have tried to keep that tradition going, and so far we've done a pretty good job. The kids love the thought of making something for Santa. Here are a few snapshots from tonight.. please ignore the children on my countertop.. that doesn't happen anywhere else right?

Awww the mess. It's worth it though.

Another tradition is that we let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve, and now they always know what it is... pajamas.Merry Christmas Eve!

Happy 6th Birthday Beau!

Today we had a friend party for beau.. all boys. Very loud, very crazy, very fun! He invited all his close friends from class.

He had a Hulk party, so we started out with balloons tied to everyones ankles, and they all ran around trying to "Hulk Smash" everyone elses balloons. Jarek won.. he's the biggest so that's not suprising.
They then got to try to hit a bullseye with a sticky party favor.
After that they made some little snowmen out of marshmallows and graham crackers.

To add to the sugar rush, they then ate some frosting stacked cupcakes followed by presents.
While waiting for parents Joe got out the gymnastics mat and they kids went wild.

It was a great party. The family party was later, where he got a few Wii games, including the one he asked for a million times, Star Wars The Force.

Thanks everyone for coming and making it such a great day for him!

A quick message from Jada

Sorry the video quality is crappy, but the cuteness makes up for it.

Finally, the tree's up...

I guess I'm just not really in the holiday spirit yet, so when Joe mentioned decorating the tree after church today, we did. It's been up for a few days, just not decorated. Putting the lights on is my very least favorite thing to do. I think investing in a pre-lit tree will be in the plans within the next few years. It's not the most glamorously decorated, but it's up. Here's little Jada helping with the finishing touches.

What to do, what to do?

What can you do with 308 legos? Build a huge pyramid! Jarek had a friend over after school and the boys all had a good time being little architects. It was very cute, because after they got done building it they wrote out a fact sheet about it, how many legos, how long it took them, etc., it was labeled "The biggest pyramid in America". Fun times.

I Voted

and it only took me 14 minutes from the time I walked in to the time I walked out.

Halloween

Here they are in the morning, before school.

I got them all ready for the school Halloween Parade. This is out front of the school, waiting in line to go into class.
Beau during the parade.

His hair is hairsprayed up like ears since he couldn't wear a mask to school.
Classic Jada moment. (I'm mellllting, I'm meelllllting!)

Jarek during the parade, heading back to class.

Very cute pictures of Jada.
Beau "being" Batman.

Jarek in class...

I loved how the carpet in his classroom was so very Joker-like.
Jada with her green witch hair before going trick or treating.

She seems so grown up!The kids all had a great time trick or treating, Jada even got out there and went to quite a few more houses that I thought she would. She didn't even want me to carry her between houses, even though the boys were running two houses ahead most of the time. Tristan came trick or treating with the kids, they had tons of fun together.This was one of my favorite decorated houses.I think we all felt like this on the way home.

Happy Halloween!

A girl and her dog

Jada is so in love with her little Mocha. Anytime she sees her laying on the floor, she always goes and lays down next to her. Today she was being so cute with her. Despite all the choke holds...

...Mocha loves her too!

Goodbye Tonsils and Adenoids

Today is the day Jarek got his tonsils and adenoids out. Jarek has been very nervous up to today, so it is a relief that the day has finally come. He seemed in good spirits going in. We went in and waited for them to call us back. The anethisiolgist came out to tell Jarek what was going to happen, and anwer any questions he/we had. Then they called us back to go get him changed.

He actually looked kind of excited. And then embarrassed.

Then they took him away. It's always hard watching your kid get wheeled away. This is actually Jarek's second surgery, he had one back when he was just a year old to repair a hernia. They said it wouldn't take too long, about an hour. We went out and waited.. it seemed longer than that. It wasn't though, and they came to get us telling us that he would be coming into his recovery room. Ohh that was horrible when he first came in. He was screaming and crying so hard, and shivering in pain. I couldn't imagine screaming after just having surgery on my throat. The nurse gave him some pain medicine and a popcicle. He still wasn't calming down but then she pulled out this cool tv from the wall (Flight of the Navigator style) and it took his mind off of it and he calmed down. He had his little turtle Grizzly with him during his surgery, I think that made him feel better too.

He had to wait around after surgery for an hour to see how he did. The nurse wanted him to rest. We turned off the tv for a while, and he looked like he was sleeping, but it ended up that he couldn't sleep, so we just let him get back to watching tv. He really just wanted to go home.

Finally they let him go, the nurse wheeled him out and he was much happier to be on his way. We even got a smile out of him :)

We had to stop off and get a perscription filled for him, and that was hard. He was tired, and the pain medicine was wearing off a little. It seemed like forever, but we were finally on our way. We made it home to where Grandma Cathy was watching Beau and Jada. Jarek just laid out on the couch for a while. He wasn't too into eating anything not even popcicles. He hates the liquid pain medicine, it smells horrible, I don't blame him but I don't want his pain to get too strong. I'll update soon.

Update: Jareks been sleeping with me at night. Joe has been a good dad to give up his spot. He has been pretty good about taking his medicine, except at night when we have to wake him up to give it to him. He seems so out of it and he gets combative and then ends up spitting some of it out. We started reading Harry Potter together and he loves it. I read aloud and Jarek just wants me to keep reading and keep reading. He still isn't eating anything solid, although the doctor said he can start when he feels ready. The pain does seem to be getting worse, but t supposed to get better soon. Now that the swelling has gone down, he has said to me that he didn't believe me that he would be able to beathe easier with his mouth closed, but he does feel like there is more room in there which makes it all seem worth it. Now lets just hope he sleeps with his mouth closed after he is all healed.