My First Slide Show - Pumpkin Patch

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Thanks for the tips Carly! Now to work on the header...

Bobcat

Jackson worked really hard with Grandma Anderson this past week to achieve his Bobcat badge. He was given the award on Thursday the 26th. He loves scouting so far and is asking me daily if I want him to say the Cub Scout Promise or Law of the Pack. He's got them down!

A huge thank you to Grandma Anderson and her help with everything from sewing the badges on, to making leaf rubbings, fall placemats and mowing our lawn with Jackson! She is amazing!

Go Kate!

Kate is enjoying soccer more and more. Not only did she not cry this time (although she did slump her shoulders and pout a few times) but she took the ball from one end of the field to the other and scored a goal! Go Kate!

I had to laugh when I saw these pictures and noticed her protruding tongue while concentrating on getting the ball and kicking it. I think that every one of the pictures taken of Jason playing tennis have him biting his tongue. Like father, like daughter!

Kate's favorite time of the game is still the end when the parents make a tunnel and the kids run through while we cheer. Then snack time. Does life get better than that?

Miss Independent

Boy is Ava getting to be her own person. My friend Anne said on Sunday, "What a big personality in such a little body". She sqwaks loudly when we do something that she doesn't like/want including feeding her. Meal times have gotten considerably messier in the last month! Notice the progression of messiness and the removing of clothes.

She also is very adept at shaking her head no or nodding yes to let us know her preference. Gratefully, she is usually such a happy girl and we are trying to let her grow and do on her own.

Happy 7th Birthday Jackson!

We can hardly believe that Jackson is 7 years old! When I was waxing nostalgic on his birthday, thinking about the turmoil involved in getting him here, I told him that 7 years ago we were in the hospital waiting for him to arrive. I said that when I saw him I fell in love. He smiled a huge smile and told me that he did too. Cutest thing ever?!!!

It seems that kids end up getting at least 3 birthdays what with school party, friend party, family party, etc... These pictures are from our little family party. I continue the tradition of ice cream cakes which is so yummy. Jackson got a new bike for his birthday, Floam, Star Wars V and Over the Hedge. What do you think his favorite present was? That's right...FLOAM. I could have save a lot of money!

Cast is Off!

Thrilled would be an understatement in trying to describe how Jackson felt about getting his cast off. He was incredibly patient over these past 7 weeks and I don't think that the full arm cast really slowed him down at all. That being said about a week before his cast came off I noticed that he began putting check marks on our family calendar. When I inquired as to why he was doing this he said so that he could count the days until his next doctor's appointment. What a trooper. He wasn't complaining to me but just quietly counting down. It was like Christmas morning though on October 26th when he woke up. I am just glad that we had an 8:15am appointment! His arm is slightly deformed still but the orthopedist assures us that this will continue to straighten. The orthopedist also told us that the next 2-3 weeks are a critical time and to try and remind him to be careful and not fall down! Are you kidding? The boy is 7 years old. He falls down walking into the next room. Wish us luck!

Oh, notice the cute Tiger Cub uniform? Sewn patches are courtesy of my ever talented Mom and no we don't dress him in the uniform daily. He had a pack meeting that day. :)

Fall Festival

As if I don't have enough going on in my life I agreed to chair the fall festival at Jackson's elementary school this year. This has been 4 months in the planning and although it was a tremendous amount of work it was a blast! We reportedly had the largest turnout ever and the kids had a wonderful time. I am already roped into doing it again next year but now that I know what I'm doing it shouldn't be too difficult. Gramma and Grampa Hansen were visiting with us and were able to share in the fun. They were unbelievably helpful and we couldn't have done it without them. Well I guess we could have...but there would have been a lot less fun!

Pumpkin Patch

Grandma Anderson is visiting from Montana this week and what a special treat it is to have her here for Jackson's birthday! Today the kids were out of school for a teacher preparation day so we took advantage and went to a pumpkin patch. While we ended up at a different location than originally planned the kids had a blast anyway. This pumpkin patch had a large caged area where the bunnies jumped around and the kids could pet/hold or hop after them. It was the highlight of the trip but the kids are also looking forward to carving the pumpkin (or watching Daddy carve it).

Primary Presentation

Both Jackson and Kate participated in the primary presentation program at church yesterday. It has always been my very favorite Sunday service and this was no exception. I love watching the children sing their little hearts out and shine as they say their memorized parts. This Sunday Kate added a little something extra to her part. After she said loud and clear into the microphone "Prophets in the scriptures, teach me to follow Jesus", she gave me the thumbs up sign, tilted her head and gave a long deliberate wink. Of course everyone laughed and she wasn't sure why. Jackson too did a wonderful job with his line, "Noah's family was protected through obedience. I too can be protected when I obey". He is getting so big and continues to show me what an obedient boy he is.

Zingo was his Name-o

The kids new favorite game is a version of Bingo called Zingo. It is fun to see them at an age where they can play games together in harmony (at least some of the time). This afternoon I was delighted to find them playing Zingo together without any encouragement from my direction. I eavesdropped from the other room to hear them telling each other that the other person should win this time. So cute!

Whirlwind

Baby in Basket


Where am I?

Ava is everywhere! It is hilarious to watch her toddle around like she owns the place. She is very inquisitive and is fast learning to escape from her misadventures. Here are a couple places that I have captured on camera in the last two days.

New and Improved

New Cast (pretend sad face)


Super muscles

Last week we went back to the orthopedist. The first week Dr. Bruce took off Jackson's short arm splint and re-staightened the bones. Then he put on a long arm cast. This past week he took x-rays again and found out that the bones still weren't lining up like they should. So, Jackson had a piece of cast cut out and then a new piece of cast put on top. The idea is that by taking out a part of the cast the bones will move in the direction of the missing piece and straighten out. We go back to the orthopedist tomorrow and find out if it is working. These are the pictures that Jackson asked me to take of his cool new cast.

Our Littlest Soccer Player

Big Muscles


Ready for practice


Game face (we've been working on it)!

Kate is such a funny kid. She is quite a mix between tomboy and princess too! She spends her play day divided between trains and ponies. And while she was so excited to play soccer the ball HAD to be pink. I just love her spunky spirit.
Kate is a quick little runner but is also having a hard time realizing that this is her first season playing soccer and there are bigger kids who "won't share the ball". A good lesson to learn I think!
Note-Kate does NOT run like her Dad. hee-hee

Broken Bones

Yep, that's broken!

Wavy Arm

Post reduction

Today at noon I received a call from Briarlake elementary school telling me that Jackson had fallen and that he had injured his arm. Gratefully, I was about two minutes away so I hustled over. When I arrived I saw that Jackson had an obvious deformity of his forearm so off to the ER we went. The x-rays revealed both a radius and ulnar fracture that needed to be reduced. A few doses of versed and lortab later, his arm was relocated, splinted and we were on our way home with a full bottle of pain elixer. (The previous sentence makes it seem like the visit was quick but those steps took over 5 hours).

Everyone in the ED kept commenting on what a trooper Jackson was. Except for an occassional whimper he hardly made a peep the entire time. The IV was a different story however, and I am sure he'll give you an earful about that traumatic event that took 3 attempts...poor kid!

Jackson's main concern, "what about soccer"? We'll have to see what the orthopedist says next week is our reply. Right now he is sleeping well with the aid of that magic potion. :)

Odor Free

We have been going through a 2 week ordeal with our car and I just realized that the car is odor free again. On the way home from the grocery store a gallon on milk dumped over on the ground of the front seat. I grabbed it before too much had spilt but the damage was done! We thought that we'd cleaned it up pretty well until I opened the car door the next morning. I'll let your imagination paint you an adequate description of the horrific odor. After several trips to the car detailer and 1/2 a bottle of febreeze things are back to normal. Yea!!!

Peek-a-Boo

Peek-a-Boo
Ava is so unbelievable cute (and I am not biased in the least)! Jason and I were tickled tonight when she was playing peek-a-boo in his closet. She would slide the door shut and pull it open giggling when we would say, "where's Ava?". After 3 children I am still amazed at how I am turned into a puddle of goo by a little one's gummy smile and giggles.

Construction September 11th

Front View

Front Porch

Rear elevation
The house is nearly framed and they should be putting the roof on tomorrow. We walked through the entire house this weekend and things look great. This week brings meetings with the builder, cabinet designer and some plumbing fixture choices. We are having a blast!

Favorite Toy

Brushing those 3 teeth

Hello Kitty

I love that my kids each choose their own special toy. Ava's however is somewhat unusual as she has deemed Kate's Hello Kitty toothbrush to be her constant companion. In truth, Ava would like all of our toothbrushes but we have pacified our 15 month old with one. Kate has been a good sport about the compromise but we did have had to promise her a new cooler princess toothbrush. Funny kid...

Rapid Fire Framing!!!

Front View

New Garage

Rear View

Two days ago the framing crew swooped in and has worked like crazy on our home. The builder says that they will be completely done framing in 2 days and they'll put the roof on. I can hardly believe it. I am starting to have sleepless nights however, when I begin thinking about all of the decisions I soon have to make (tile, appliances, paint, fixtures, etc...) We'll post the finished framing photos in a few days!

Construction September 1st

Front Porch

Back Addition

This is a picture taken 1 week ago of our newly added foundation. We hope that they are built upon a rock