More Swimming Lessons Fun

On the last day of swimming lessons, they pulled out the famous canoe to take the kids for a ride!

I remember doing this as a kid!

Jackson started in it for one lap and then they pulled him out to make waves!

By the last day, Jackson was happily jumping off the side (as opposed to the first week where he would run to me screaming when they put him on the side!)

And putting his head under with a normal amount of annoyance

And of course the after-lesson treat was a big hit too!!

Swimming Lessons:

This week the boys have been taking swimming lessons!

It was a last minute decision to put Jackson in too, but with leaving for Lake Powell in 2 weeks I decided the more comfortable in the water he is, the better.
Tyler is a natural and has been doing great! He is learning to kick his legs, make an arrow with his hands, do big swimming circles with his hands (freestyle stroke) and float on his back. He has always been a great swimmer, but last year wouldn't try to float, so even though he started out strong, I can still see improvements!

practicing arrow arms and kicking

swimming to his teacher

Tyler floating!

Jackson, on the other hand, screamed the entire time his first day. Luckily each day he has gotten a little more comfortable, but is yet to go through a lesson with no tears.

Jackson practicing kicks! Tyler is lower left corner. I love that I can watch both boys at the same time!

Super happy after doing "motor boat"

When one child is jumping in, Jackson's teacher puts the other kid on her back so she has her hands free. What a great idea!

Jackson with help 'jumping' in

practicing to float... he is screaming here...

Jackson smiling and waving- one my favorite moments! He was yelling "Hi Mom!"

he does NOT like to practice blowing bubbles and especially being dunked. Who can blame him?

{my favorite moment was after Jackson's lesson he got out and climbed in my lap for a snack. He said, "where Ty'ya?" I pointed him out and Jackson started waving and yelling, "hi Ty'ya! yay Ty'ya!" so sweet!}

Most day after lessons, we have gone to my parents to swim after, and Jackson hides in the house and watches a movie instead of swimming. A couple times, I'd bring him in the water with me and play motor boat (he loves to "step on the gas!"), but he'd clutch onto me the whole time and was super nervous. THEN, on Saturday when the nephews were here- he would sit on the edge and reach for Keenan or Trevon and play with them! He laughed and kicked and was totally comfortable. He got out and did this a few different times, each time doing it by his own choice. I was in shock, but so glad that this is paying off!! There is not much worse than watching your little boy scream in the pool for 20 minutes and there's nothing I can do to help! So this is a huge improvement. Now I am just SUPER excited for our Lake Powell trip in July!

Jeff's family came to visit!!

For Father's Day, Jeff's dad drove down to visit with us! When he was 2 minutes away we found out our nephews Keenan and Trevon were with him- we had such a great time!

On Saturday night, the boys all saw Green Lantern. On Sunday, we had a family party at my parents. I wish I took a picture of my dad and grandpa , but I think I will next time we all get together. I'm so thankful for the men in my life! It was so nice having Jeff, his dad, my dad, and my grandpa all at one party!

On Monday, we swam all day and as they were getting ready to leave we asked if the boys wanted to stay with us for the rest of the week. We decided we could meet half way or arrange a trip the following weekend to take them back. Kaylynn said she would come get them on Friday and she brought Qai and stayed this weekend. Once again we had a blast! Lots of swimming (pictures coming) and even went camping together.

It was much more comfortable than last time with my new HUGE tent! (Thanks for the B-day money Kenny & Judy, and Lanie & Papa!) The boys fell asleep on the air mattress, but when Jeff and I were ready to sleep we rolled them off and I slept without having both children on top of me all night! The weather was much more comfortable and the extra space makes all the difference.

We had fun telling silly ghost stories by the fire, eating yummy hotdogs, tinfoil dinners and tons of s'mores- I think I had 4! Lots of fun and great family time!

SD Safari Park

One weekend in June, Melonie and the kids came down for the weekend and we went to Safari Land! It was fun--

The kids LOVED doing the carousel- they picked their favorite animals!

This picture is special to me because I have a picture of my sister and I on this EXACT Gorilla from when we were growing up!! In the picture, we were picking his nose!

I think we had WAY Too much fun being goofy and taking pictures:

Being frogs on the lily pads!

At this point in the day we were all sweaty and hot and miserable and grouchy-- willing to throw ourselves- or our children to the tiger (which we never saw even after the 10 mile uphill hike to get to him!) He was too tired and hot to let us even look at him!

Can you tell how hot we were? We had a blast though!

Botanical Gardens Butterfly Pavilion

When my grandparents came to visit, we went to the Butterfly Pavilion at a nearby nursery. It was beautiful!

Tyler's big boy bike riding!

So Tyler asked his Daddy to remove his training wheels... a few minutes after, he wanted them back on. But here he is doing it big boy style!!

HAha I also have to laugh about his green shark helmet. He wants to wear it everywhere, not just when he is in danger of a head injury. Better safe than sorry, right?!

More Funnies

Last night my cousin Sarah came over to visit- she's in town from Pocatello. Tyler was so sad that he had to go to bed but I told him, "Sarah will come back tomorrow after preschool" Tyler said, "Hey, I go to preschool too!"

When Tyler was little and he asked for something, I would say, "how do you say it nicely?" And knowing that we must say please and thank you, he literally said, "please and thank you"

Now when I tell Jackson to say it nicely, he says, "thank you, welcome." Sometimes he even says that instead of sorry. We are a little confused, but at least we are trying to be polite. :)

1st Day of Preschool!!

I know it's June and most kids are just getting out of school, but Tyler is ready for some structured learning! My friend told me about a great Tiny Tots school that is very low key and I thought it would be perfect for him to do one day a week to get him ready for Preschool in the Fall. I packed him an earthquake kit (I remember having one in grade school!) with his sea animals book- and good thing I included that, because Friday is show and tell day so he got to show that.

Of course Jackson wanted in on the picture!

Silly Boys

A few funny things they've been doing lately that I hope I never forget:

--Sometimes we take a bath when we are perfectly clean. Sometimes they are filthy dirty and won't. So after they've spent some time at the park but refuse to take a soak, I'll wash their hands, legs and feet in the sink. The other day I was telling the boys it was feet washing time. Tyler said, "I'll wash your feet mom, just do a headstand."

--Today Tyler couldn't find me because I was in the garage doing laundry. (Out of the 4 baskets of laundry sitting in the hall, I managed to get one to the garage. go me!) I could hear him yelling, but didn't want to yell back so I just waited. A couple seconds later, he walks outside and says, "There you are. Don't do that again. I thought someone took you."

--At the park the other day, the boys were playing in this big cement tube. Tyler was at the top dropping down leaves and Jackson was at the bottom. He said, "Thank you Mailman."

--Tyler has been comparing everything lately. "Am I as tall as Daddy? I am stronger than you Mom." When he yells, he'll say, "that was as loud as a dinosaur or you are as mad as a lion."

--I told Tyler not to do something and that I was "dead serious!" Tyler looked at me and said, "oh that's bad, you shouldn't be dead serious, you should be real life serious."

Jackson's ABC's

So I just got my blog books printed from blog2print, and I was reading over our 2008 'yearbook'. I did an ABC list for Tyler when he was 1 so I thought I'd do the same thing for Jackson at 2 1/2 yrs. old:

A- Attached or Single: Jackson loves being able to do something by himself. He especially loves running out the door and down the street. The ONLY way I can get him to come back on his own is by saying, "see ya later Jackson, bye!". This makes him freak out and come running back (Screaming). So I guess he likes being on his own until he realizes he might be on his own :)

B-Best Friend: Tyler! I love that. Since they are 21 1/2 months apart, they are close enough to love spending time together. His other good friends are mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, olivia (bibia), and carter (tarter).

C- Cake or Pie: Jackson has never said no to a yummy treat :)

D-Day of Choice: Saturday! Airport day. On Saturdays, we got to McDonalds and pick up breakfast and take it to the nearby private airport to watch the airplanes take off and land. It is definitely the highlight of our week. And Jackson knows Saturday is airport day!

E-Essential Item(S): Cars shirt (which we decided to buy 4 more today to hopefully end the painful period in between washes!) binki, any toy that seems to be in his hands that day (matchbox cars, puzzle pieces, airplanes...)

F-Favorite Color: He calls everything "green, purple."

G-Gummy Bears or Worms: I'm sure he would love either one (see letter C)

H- Hometown: Claremont, California

I- Indulgence(s): cookies, ice cream, cupcakes

J-January or July: January is when we usually celebrate his birthday (December 31 0r January 1) but he loves swimming and playing in water in summertime

K- Kids: yes please... he loves other kids.

L- Loud or soft: He loves being loud-- in fact when I yell at him, he yells back! So I am trying not to yell. I'm trying to talk softly and calmly so he will do the same.

M- Movie: The last movie we saw at the Theatre was Rio. We loved it! He kept yelling Bird! and Oh wow, and would gasp with his mouth open all the time! He also loves Tangled, Monsters Inc, Cars, and Ice Age

N- Number of Siblings: Older Bro Tyler

O- Oranges or Apples: Jack loves fruit! His all time favorites are pineapple and berries.

P- Phobias or Fears: He does not like snakes and bugs. In fact, that's another trick I use when he's trying to get into something he shouldn't. (I Know, it's so mean, but it works.) Although, he will always try to step on bugs, even when they are in the air.

Q- Quote: The other day while in the bath he accidentally sat on the drain. He said, "Uh oh, water go down drain." He loves saying prayers and repeating what we say, singing songs. The other day it was "Happy Birthday to Grandma" song. When Jeff says, "yummy in my tummy." Jackson yells, "NO! MOUTH!"

R-Reason to Smile: He loves making us smile and laugh! Anytime he does something to make us laugh he laughs too and does it again and again.

S-Season: Anytime he can be outside. Lately he is loving being able to play in water. Loves taking walks and going to the park.

T- Tag: Cousin Isaac!

U- Unknown Fact: Jackson has amazing ears! He can hear a helicopter or airplane before any of us do. Then he yells it out and points it out. We think he may end up being a pilot some day!

V- Vegetarian or Meat Lover: He LOVES meat- hotdogs, chicken, hamburgers, bologna, turkey

W- Worst Habit: Dumping out all the toys in the play room. He just grabs a box, dumps it upside down and moves onto the next one. Then he climbs up to the now empty toy shelf and sits on top.

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Nope, not yet. No broken bones or major boo-boos. (Thank goodness!)

Y- Your Favorite Food: cheese stick, hot dogs, yogurt, chips, milk, fruit, cupcakes, anything anyone else is having

Z- Zodiac Sign: Capricorn (the Sea-Goat): independent, confident, strong-willed and calm. Persistent for as long as possible to accomplish their goal. Reading that cracks me up-- he is so funny about his CARS puzzle. He loves carrying the puzzle pieces around everywhere, which means he loses them often. Then when he wants to build the puzzle, he cannot understand why he can't finish it. I tell him that he needs to find the other pieces and he will look for a LONG time (for a 2 year old). He is definitely persistent and he is also strong and usually calm.

me and my bud...

Found this cool tutorial and wanted to try it out. Only got about half way through... time for a run/walk/bike ride since I skipped out on aerobics this morning to sleep in.

Big Boy Jackson!

I post this not to announce or brag that my little 2 year old is the cutest in the whole wide world (ok maybe just a little bit), but mostly to record it in his non-existent baby book.

Yesterday, May 18, 2011 Jackson Jefferey Clark went poo poo on the toilet!! Yes, that's right. I was as shocked as you might be right now. He also went pee 3 times by choice. Once being the McDonald's nasty dirty one and you should've seen his face when I turned on the hand dryer. Oh that boy was so happy I could hardly pry him out of that nasty bathroom.

How many times did he ask me to use the potty today, you might ask? Well, none. But that's ok, I'm not quite ready for the gung-ho of potty training an almost 2 1/2 year old boy. We'll go buy some pull ups and some prizes and ease into it slowly.

But let me tell you, he is definitely 2. If he hasn't been for the past 5 months, he officially is now. He has recently decided he does not want to take a nap-- oh I forgot to do a post all about his big boy bed. He got a toddler bed a couple weeks ago since he outsmarted the crib cage. The zipper broke a long time ago so I faced the opening against the wall. Then just one day he learned how to push his crib away from the wall and climb out, almost breaking his poor little neck each time and I decided to bite the bullet, go to walmart, and get him a toddler bed. Grandma of course took him right to Target to pick out some bedding and what did he pick, you wonder. Cars. Kinda like his Cars shirt that he kicks and screams when the day (or two) is over and it's time to put on a new shirt cuz that one is really dirty and stained with the day (or two)'s meals... see? He's 2.

Our Camping Adventure!

Jeff took the boys to the Fathers and Sons outing on Friday night. But since he works at 6:30 am Saturday morning, they came home at midnight to sleep in their own warm beds :) Jeff promised them we would go camping as a family, so Sunday evening we re-packed the car and headed out. We found a great campsite in the Angeles Forest, it was pretty, but COLD! I was getting nervous as I watched the car thermometer tell us it was 32 degrees outside as we drove up the mountain.

We built a fire right away- cooked hotdogs and smores and had a great evening. Sleeping with 4 bodies on a queen blow up matress in the tent with only 3 sleeping bags wasn't my highlight of the trip, but we got through the night!

The next morning I asked the boys if they liked camping. Tyler yelled, "Yes! I DO!!" And Jackson shook his head and said, "Grandpa's house" I'm pretty sure he was telling me that next time we go camping in 3o degree weather, he would like to hang out with Grandpa in his house instead!! :)

A few other funny moments:

In the middle of the night Tyler yelled, "don't let it eat me!" I think the pretend bear rated-G ghost story Jeff told might have been a little too scary :)

Early the next morning after very little sleep, Jackson woke up crying and wanted his binky. I was searching through all the sleeping bags for it and asked if anyone had seen it. Tyler said, "Maybe he swallowed it."

We woke up to the lovely sound of birds chirping. A very weird-- ooh ooh ehh eeh chirp. As we were exiting the tent and getting ready to take a walk, Tyler said he wanted to go find the monkeys. Jeff and I had a good laugh and decided the birds did indeed sound exactly like monkeys. We told him, "they're not monkeys, they're birds". Tyler's reply was very certain and matter of fact. "No they aren't. They are monkeys. Let's go find the monkeys." Even after identifying the birds that were making the monkey sound, he wouldn't give up on his search for the monkeys. On the way home he declared since he didn't see any monkeys while camping, we needed to go to the zoo. today.

I just love spending time with my family! Even though we were mostly freezing cold, didn't get any sleep, and were annoyed by the monkey birds, we had a total blast!!

He does have a conscience!

So, lately Tyler's been lying a lot... Jackson will cry and I'll ask what happened, only to hear Tyler reply, "he fell... he hit himself with a toy... or I didn't do it" all of which with a sneaky face and very obvious that he was involved in whatever just happened to my baby boy.

Today, we were eating oranges when I walked into the other room. A few minutes later, Tyler calmly walked into the office with his hand behind his back. He said, "Mom, I was cutting an orange and this happened" and held out a bloody finger. I yelped and jumped up, (exactly the wrong response) and he started to instantly cry. Oh yeah, dumb mom-- first aid 101: stay calm!

After looking it over I realized this was not a bad cut, cleaned it and put on a bandaid. Then I noticed the two orange halves on the table with no knife in sight. "What knife did you use?" I asked. Immediately, he said, "the kid knife" When I asked him which one, he fished through the silverware drawer and found me the plastic blue shark knife with a serrated edge. Not sure that would cut him, plus it was totally dry. When I asked him why it wasn't dirty, he said, "I washed it" With no stool by the sink I knew the pieces weren't adding up. I looked at our metal butter knives and saw one with orange pulp and juice on it, put back in the silverware drawer in the proper compartment. BINGO. The mystery is solved. When I told Tyler I knew he wasn't telling the truth, He burst into tears again...

I gave him a huge hug and tried not to laugh... teaching moment, teaching moment! I explained to him that I wouldn't have been mad at him if he accidentally cut himself with the knife, I just want him to tell me the truth. We feel bad when we tell lies (remember how you cried?) And we feel better when we tell the truth (don't you feel better now that I know what happened?) Plus I put a little in about Mom always knowing the truth, with my magic eyes (as he calls them) and my smart brain. I hope this is the end of his fib-telling phase!

Mother's Day 2011

I had a great weekend celebrating those I love and what I love about being a mother. My family is my greatest blessing and my heart has been full and happy!

I am also thankful for all the women who support me and love me. My mom, mother-in-law, grandmas, sister, sister-in-laws, and friends... all of which are great examples to me and enrich my life with their friendship.

I told Jeff my mother's day wish was a family picture of us all dressed up, and we got that...not perfect, but captures the day!

I also got a 5 minute back massage from him, full possession of the memory foam pillow we've been trading off each night (mine forever!!) and the cutest little boys in the whole wide world!

...and also, the funnest, most cutest and hardworking man in the world. He's mine. all mine!