Frankincense, Gold and Murder??

It sounds like a Christmas thriller but this is just what Boomer said the other day in response to "What did the Wise Men bring as gifts to Jesus?".  We were having family home evening with our friend Susan and she asked the question to Boomer who quietly responded "murder"...pause "What was that?" she questioned.  "Murder" Boomer replied a little louder.  Then she smiled a big smile and said "Myrrh yes, they brought Myrrh."  Phew that was a close one.  She probably wonders what we are teaching our kids at home.  Murder is not a family value.

Pharmacist, can you fill my prescription now?

I have had a cold for about seven weeks now.  At week two the doctor gave me a prescription.  I think I'm ready to get it filled:

Salt and Pippert

Jon hates Halloween costumes...or I should say he hates getting dressed up.  It's just not his thing.  In the ten years I have know him he has donned his football jersey with a pair of jeans as a "costume" twice and wore a doctors jacket with a stethoscope twice (Dr. Pippert).  One year I tried to make his football attire a little more believable by painting those black rectangles under his eyes with one of my eyeliners.  It looked ridiculous but he humored me. 
So this weekend when  we were invited to a Halloween party that encouraged costume,  I decided to make it easy for Jon by telling him he could just go as Pippert.  I would dress as salt and together we could be salt and Pippert.  Easiest costume ever.  Jon was nice and went the extra mile by wearing black  but nobody got the costume.  Oh, well there's always next year..(to wear his football jersey or maybe his Dr. Pippert getup).

Kindergarten, The Bus, and Two Preschools

I haven't written forever, mostly because my computer is out of memory and I can't download any pictures right now. So this post will be void of any photos.  Hopefully I can add them at a later date.

I am officially the parent of a public school student.  (Which I'm not sure if I like or not???) We were happy that Jackson's teacher is Mrs. Rodrigues.  We had heard great things about her.  Jackson is finally starting to like school.  (Now that we are going into month two.) He is slow to warm up to new things and new people.  Our biggest trauma was the bus. But to explain that story I need to give a little background info:

Originally, Boomer was signed up for afternoon preschool and Jackson was in afternoon kindergarten. I thought this was a great idea because I would get a break while Sadie took her afternoon nap.  Unfortunately, I didn't think about the ramifications of what this meant. You see, Sadie usually sleeps until 2:30 (or later).  Jackson got out of school at 2:00 and Boomer needed to be picked up at 2:30.  We resolved the problem of picking Jackson up by having him ride the bus home.

So here's how Jackson's first bus trip went:  I called a babysitter to make sure he wouldn't be missed while I went to pick up Boomer.  When I came home from picking up Boomer from preschool our babysitter was outside and she told me " I don't think the bus has passed by yet.  I waited out here and then went to check on Sadie, got her out of bed and then I came back out again."  I wasn't too nervous because I saw the bus going through the neighborhood.  What I failed to recognize was that it had already past our house and was on the way out of the neighborhood.  As I saw the bus head away from our road I suddenly panicked.  I had no idea where it was heading or where Jackson was headed.  Thoughts of him sitting alone on the bus in a crowded bus yard entered my mind.  I called the bus hot line multiple times but it was busy.  Finally, I called the school and they told me that they brought him back to the school.  Boomer, Sadie and I jumped back in the car on our way to rescue Jackson.  When I entered the school office Jackson was sitting on a chair and didn't want to look at me.  "You told me someone would be there to pick me up."  He said.  "I know Sweetie, but the babysitter wasn't out there to meet you.  I'm so sorry."  I told him.  "I didn't like that.  I don't want to ride the bus again."  "Yes I know, I didn't like that either." I explained  " It won't happen again"  He wasn't crying, just somber. What Jackson doesn't know is I was crying almost all of the way home.  Poor little guy.  I felt so bad for him.  I felt bad that I told him someone would be there and it didn't happen. I am glad that he is more resilient than I am.

The scheduling conflict resolved itself when I finally moved Boomer to morning preschool in a different location (just across from Jackson's school).  I felt bad to move him a month into school but Boomer didn't seem to mind at all.  He is so easy going and said "That's OK Mama.  I don't mind going to a new school."  He always sees the good and was so excited that the new preschool has a playground.

We haven't had anymore bus incidents and Jackson told me today that the best part of his day was riding the bus home.  I was so relieved to hear it.

Seven Year Itch

Today is our Seventh anniversary. I'm itching all over...kidding of course. I'm not sure what the seven year itch is but apparently I don't have it. It doesn't sound good so I'm thinking it's probably not something I want.

It's not always easy to be married. Jon jokes that we've been happlily married for five years. Jon and I are both incredibly stubborn, and I'm demanding which can make for some heated discussions. That being said, I can't think of anyone I'd rather be with. Jon is a dreamer and a visionary man. I love the way that he thinks. Jon can make a friend with anyone. He's got a wonderful ability to call me on the carpet and help mold me into a better person. To his chagrin, the process is much slower than expected and the results are nowhere near immediate. He's a great Dad. The kids are just as lucky as me to have him.

I don't know much about the seven year itch but one thing I do know is that I'm itching to have many more years with my incredible husband. To quote my friend Rivka "Seven years down.....Eternity to go."

Villebois Campout

For some reason I got the crazy idea to let the boys go to the Villebois capmpout. Last year was the first annual campout and movie night in Villebois. The neighborhood joins together, sets up thier tents, watches a movie, and camps out on the lawn in the park across from our house.

It seemed a great idea until I showed up to see how the boys were doing during the movie at 10:30 and neither of them were sleeping. I was sure one of them would fall asleep during the movie. Bed time for these kids is somewhere between 7:00- 8:00 P.M.

The movie ended at about 11:00 and then it was time for smores. The boys had already brushed teeth so we saved the smores we made for the next day.

By this time it was about 11:30 and they both decided they needed to take potty breaks, then they went back to the tent, next they came back in for blankets, back to the tent, then back in for some water.

Finally, by 11:45 they still wanted to come and get supplies from the house, they were exhaused but couldn't sleep and they were both fighting and crying about everything.

Sunday was a difficult day for these poor little guys. Lucky for all of us they took some excellent Sunday naps but are still trying to recover from the lack of sleep even today (a week later).

We love our neighborhood events but we think we'll do our own campout next year (all the fun of the Villebois campout but bedtime about 3 hours earlier.)

Super Boomer turns four

On Sunday Boomer turned four! We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa, The Jensen family (Aunt,Uncle,cousins) and Uncle Mark who was in town from Utah. Boomer kept asking where the rest of his presents were. He only asked for a sword (and a dog but that wasn't going to happen) so we really didn't know what to get him. Grandma and Grandpa got him the sword he wanted. Dad got him a football that he looked at unexcitedly and moved on to other presents.

Mom got him some shoes he didn't like, a new shirt that he gave to Jackson because he said it was too big and a Spiderman action figure.

Monday we had a friends Superhero Birthday party. Since Boomer was turning four we decided to invite just four friends. We started planning on Friday so lucky for us his friends were all able to come.

My experimentaton with fondant:
The kids colored supervillians which we taped to ballons. Then we put on our super capes, got out our spidey spray, and cast a net of silly string all over those villians.
Next we searched for the kryptonite so we could protect superman.
We got super sugared up with our pinata, ate super sugary cake, Boomer opened his presents and just as the sugar was starting to set in we sent the children home to their parents.

That evening we went to Bullwinkles (Family Fun Center). When we got there we were surprised to see cousin Clint working there. He gave us a few tips on the games and Jackson and I both hit the jackpot on one of the games and got 200 tickets each. So many tickets, in fact, that we weren't able to use them all. Jackson couldn't believe he got the jackpot and talked about it all the way home.

Happy Birthday little Boomer. It's been a great four years.

Sadies 18 month Pictures

Technically these are closer to 20 months pictures. She was super tired, getting over being sick, and has a scratch on her nose (fell on her face just before pictures) so not many smiles but they still are pretty cute

One Less Tooth

After several weeks of a loose tooth Jackson finally lost his first tooth (with a little help from Mom). He decided not to put his tooth under his pillow but to save it and get a device to catch the tooth fairy. The next day Jackson was excited to find a "gold dollar" that the tooth fairy had dropped when she came searching for the tooth.

The gold coin was motivation for Jackson to give up the tooth. However, he didn't want the Tooth Fairy to take her first coin back so he wrote a note saying "No tooth fairy allowed! Jackson's" He put the tooth in a cup of water and when he woke up the tooth was gone and it's place was another shiny Gold Dollar. Jackson's already talking about how he's going to catch the tooth fairy the next time.

Water Park

The boys had been asking to go to Roaring Spring water park since we got to Boise. We finally went and it was so much fun. I went off to ride some rides that the kids were too short to ride and Jon watched the kids. When I got back he told me he sent Sadie down this slide:



She did great and only cried when she was leaving. Jon wasn't sure if she was crying because she got scared or if she wanted to do it again.

Aaron (Jon's Nephew's Son) came with us.

Jon and I highly recommend this place. We took a wonderful babysitter (Maddy)with us which made it even better. Two thumbs up for Roaring Springs!!!

Aug 2: We went to visit Angie, my friend and classmate from hygiene school,and her beautiful family. She lives on a huge farm in Idaho and her husband Tim is a farmer. As if she isn't busy enough, Angie also has a greenhouse business where she grows beautiful hanging flower planters. She shared her brand new pool with us and Jackson and Boomer had a great time on the diving board.

Aug 4 We went to the world center for Birds of Prey. We saw a dinosaur egg fossil, California Condors, Harpy Eagles, an Elephant bird egg and got to compare our wing span with birds. We learned a lot about birds of prey. The center has the primary purpose of breeding Perigrine Falcons and California Condors and releasing them back to the wild. In 1982 there were only 22 California condors now there are more than 350! They are amazing birds.

Aug 5 We got invited by Jenny to a great swim park called IvyWild. It only cost 2.50 a person. Jackson passed the swim test and was able to go down the waterslides. It was so much fun.

August 6 We took a tour of the Capitol building. It is a beautiful building. It's the only Capitol building heated by Geothermal energy and the state seal is the only one designed by a woman. We learned that the state flower is syringa (also called mock orange), the state horse is the apaloosa, the state insect is the monarch butterfly and the state vegetable is, of course, the potato.

Here's the future leaders of America:

August 7 We took a trip to check out Bogus Basin. (Local Ski resort area). It was a beautiful day. Jackson found some cool granite rocks that shimmered and he was sure he had struck gold.




August 8 My Sister and her family and my mom and regular grandpa were in town. Just one more week in Boise. It's been a great working vacation!

Biking, Baptism, Boys with Jewels

Today we've been in Boise for 4 weeks!

I was invited by Jenny Williamson (our babysitters Mom) to do a thirty mile bike ride with some ladies in the area. I haven't biked in almost a month but why not? Not surprising that I was the slowest. The ride was beautiful but a killer with 4 or 5 hills that just about did me in. Mornings are beautiful here. (Who knew?)

My nephew Jake was baptized on Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa Evans came from Oregon and Grandparoo and Grandma Ginny from Utah. The kids were so excited to see them. Boomer is so funny he told us "I have three Grandpas: Grandparoo, Grandpa Bubs and my regular Grandpa." I guess our regular Grandpa needs a nick name too.

We brought home some costume jewelry from the Maids office. "Why did the office have costume jewelry?" you may ask. The previous owners used the jewelry if they thought someone was stealing. None of it looks real so I don't know why someone would want to steal it so I brought it home for Sadie to play with. Guess who ended up playing with it? Mr. Jackson, of course. He says they are his spy jewels and that he's going to be so rich he will rule the earth. He keeps asking if we can take it to be appraised and find out if the jewels are real.

Conversation from the back of the car

Here's what I heard from the back of the car the other day:
Boomer: "There's an Eagle on one side and Beethoven on the other."
Jackson: "That's not Beethoven, That's our first president."
Mom: "Good Job Boomer, it kind of looks like Beethoven"
Jackson:" No it doesn't, it's our first president."
Mom: "Yes, Do you know what his name is?" (Pause....) It's George (pause....)
Jackson: "Washington!" "Is he a monkey?"
Mom: "No"
Jackson "Then why is his name George? George is a monkey"

Dare devils and Floppy elbows

This week I helped Jon do inventory at his office. I picked out paint colors and I helped do a little organizing. His office still needs some TLC, the sad thing is that this is the best it has ever looked. I'll have to post before and after pictures when we finish it. My only holdup is the lack of an IKEA here.
Here's what I have invisioned for the office:

The boys finished up their last week of Swim lessons. Which is good since I seemed to be rule breaking there daily. There were rules about the hot tub, No climbing on the slide, no big slide without a wrist band, no running, no babies in the swim lesson area, and ABSOLUTELY NO HAVING FUN.

Jon's Sister Janice and Uncle Lloyd came to visit from Baker City on Friday. They were on their way to the Boise Temple so it was a semi convienient stop for them. It's always nice to spend time with family.

Saturday we went to Twin Falls to visit my beautiful friend and worlds best study partner Chelsie, her dashing and talented husband Blake, and their beautiful, well behaved children: Remi, Crew and Cash. They fed us a delicious lunch and the kids ran through sprinklers while we talked. After lunch they took us to Shoshone Falls and we got to see where Evel Knievel took his infamous jump.
Before we left to go to Twin Falls, Sadie was playing in the car and hurt her arm but we couldn't tell what was wrong. Nothing looked swollen but she was not moving it and just letting it flop. She was so tired she fell asleep but woke up crying again. When we got to Twin Falls we had Dr. Blake look at it. We thought it might be her wrist so Blake wrapped it and it seemed to feel better. He mentioned something about Nurse Maid elbow.

You can see the bandage on Sadie's arm here

When we got home that evening Sadie was holding a strawberry and was about to squish it all over the house. Jon grabbed her hand, she threw her self back and Pop...floppy arm again (and crying.) Jon felt awful and was preparing to take her to the emergency room. I told him to wait a minute and after examining her wrist and arm I looked up nurse maid elbow on Youtube and found this great tutorial.
It was magic. Her arm was in full use and like nothing happened. I'm convinced that you can fix anything with Youtube. I wish I would have thought of that when Boomer needed stitches.

Sunday we went to Church in Eagle. The ward members were so nice. We even got invited by the Nielsen Family to dinner. They were wonderful hosts and Jackson and Boomer had fun playing with their youngest son Jack. We also met the aunt and uncle of one of Jackson's classmates from preschool. (The Warnick family). (Insert it's a small world music here.)