Rain, Rain Go Away....At Least On Field Trip Day!

Today I went on a field trip with Kendall's grade. They were going to these really cool gardens and for 3rd and 4th graders, they take them in the foothills above the formal gardens and you go on a 2 mile, 2 hour hike (natural area, no paved trails). I checked the weather report right before I left and it said a slight chance of showers, but mainly north of us. We started loading the buses (another story--they only ordered one bus for 3 classes, so the parent volunteers had to drive separately at the last minute) and noticed it was black to the West. Right as we got to the gardens, it started pouring and hailing and thundering and lightning. They do this hike no matter what the weather, but after an hour, when we were hiking in slippery mud and STILL out there in the lightning, they cut it short. The problem is, most of the kids were in shorts and had no jackets. The staff did hand out rain jackets, but we were still soaking wet where they didn't cover (mainly feet) and freezing! The plan was to go to a park and eat lunch and let the kids play, but it was still raining, so I guess the teachers finally got permission to go back to the school and let the kids eat in the gym. I'd really like to go back up there sometime and see it without the lightning--it's really pretty!

Happy Birthday Jarren!

Today is Jarren's 5th birthday! I really can't believe how fast these 5 years have flown by! He'll be starting Kindergarten in about 2 months and then we only have Jenna left at home. It's kind of a weird feeling to know that when I blink, she'll be in school too.

Anyway...back to the birthday boy. I felt so bad for him--everyone was in such a hurry to get to school and work this morning, so he didn't get to open ANY presents until Jon got home. Jon had to work a little bit late and then stopped to get some pizza for dinner, so it was about 7 pm before he got to open anything. He was soooo patient (for the most part). Kendall and Kristen made a cute treasure hunt for him to go on to find his gifts and he loved that.He got some fun Indiana Jones things (whip, Legos, action figure), a rocket, a couple of Star Wars things, and some treats (thanks Grandma!). He was kind of weird about it all. He'd just rip open present after present with hardly a smile on his face and then after a little while, started playing with things. I don't know if he was disappointed or overwhelmed. I thought it was a good day for him overall.
I don't know what it is with my kids and candles, but before I could get the cake frosted, Jarren stuck 20 candles in it. But I thought his cake turned out cute! I didn't really know how to make an Indiana Jones cake--but it worked. He was happy with it and that's all that matters.I apologize for these pictures--I didn't realize until I was loading them onto the computer (and Jon pointed it out) that the camera lens was dirty and that's why everything looks kind of fuzzy.

Birthday Party!

Today was had Jarren's 5th birthday party--three days early. He wanted an Indiana Jones party (his new obsession). We had 7 friends here and played animal charades, duck-duck-goose, freeze dance, musical towels (had them sit on towels instead of chairs), and the big thing--a treasure hunt! They had to go and find different "artifacts" and when they got to the last one, Kendall was hiding and sent a huge boulder down after them (an exercise ball)! According to most of them, they thought that was the best part. After all the artifacts were found, they pieced together a treasure map and had to dig in the sandbox for it--it was a cool gold box that held all of their goody bags--a squirt gun, yo-gos, chocolate gold coins. We had cupcakes, opened gifts, and then the kids all ran around squirting each other. I think they had a really good time!

New England Trip

Just in case anyone wanted to see pictures of Jon and Kendall's trip, here's a link to the photo album that Jon made. Sure looks like fun!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jwatkins.riverton/NewEngland?authkey=34V2btTRXfA

And an update on the tick attack....So far Kendall seems fine. The site was sore for a bit, but we haven't noticed any infection or anything. On Monday, he had a headache and stomachache, but he was fine later, so we don't think it was a Lyme disease symptom. We just need to watch him for another 2 weeks, but I think he'll be fine.

Only 12 more days until we leave for Germany!!

Preschool Graduation

Jarren graduated from preschool today!! He just decided last week that he actually likes preschool and doesn't want to move on.

He sang most of the songs and had a little speaking part. I think Jarren's favorite song is one about a dinosaur. They start out quiet and get louder. I could hear him above everyone else. ;)

I wouldn't let him take Hooie, but we brought Hooie (his raggedy blanket) to "watch" Jarren graduate and he was pretty thrilled.

Miss Ann is his favorite teacher because "she used to have braces and she loves Star Wars."

I can't believe he'll be starting Kindergarten in 2 1/2 more months.

Kendall's Souvenir

We picked Jon and Kendall up last night from the airport just before midnight. And then we headed straight for the Emergency Room, since all the Instacares and doctor's offices were closed. We went to the ER because....Kendall decided to bring a souvenir home from their trip--a deer tick (those are the ones that about 50% of them carry Lyme disease).

I guess there were lots of ticks and he didn't get checked well enough--it was on his back, kind of behind his armpit, and in there deep. Jon tried to get it out and the head broke off. He called me (during their layover) to ask me to look up on the Internet on what we needed to do). A lot of things were saying to call or go to a doctor, night or day. I called the doctor and they said he needed to be seen immediately. I asked if we could wait until morning and they made it sound like it couldn't wait. So...in we went. They got it out and said he probably won't get Lyme disease because it usually has to be in there for more than 72 hours and to the best of their knowledge, it was only about 30-36 hours. Phew! So we actually didn't get home until almost 2 am.

They had a good time and I'm sure I'll be writing more later about their trip and posting pictures.

Bedtime Battles

I have no idea why bedtime is so hard. My kids (and I'm sure mine aren't the only ones) think that it's illegal to go to bed when it's still light outside. If that's the case, and they have to go to sleep when it's dark, I guess they should go to bed when it's 5:30 pm in the winter. Hahaha--wouldn't that be nice?

I guess after 12 nights in a row of me putting the kids to bed on my own, I've just had it. Jarren gets overly tired (again, it's illegal for him to go to bed before anyone else) and does anything to stall bedtime. And Jenna will NOT go to bed on her own for me--Jon can just lay her down and she's fine and asleep in minutes, but me? No. I have to sing, snuggle, and rock her.

I used to wish that kids ran on batteries and you could just flip the switch at night (or remove the batteries) and they'd "shut down" and go to sleep immediately. Wait a minute?! Used to wish? I still do. :)

**Jon and Kendall come home very, very late tomorrow night AND only 18 (almost 17) more days until Germany!! Guten Abend!**