Terrible at keeping up with this!

I am so bad at keeping up with this!  Things are always so busy around here that I barely remember that I have the blog.  So here is an update on the past couple weeks


Still going to church and LOVE it!  So glad we made the decision to do this.  We've been for a few weeks now and attended the Newcomer's Dinner, I applied for membership but Mark wasn't quite ready, which is fine :)  I also went to a Mommy Meetup last week at the park, took Hayden, the other two were in school.  It was a lot of fun, we had a really good time and I met a lot of great moms!  The one that organizes it actually came and picked me up, we'd never met before but she offered and I took her up on it, so glad I did.  People have been so nice and welcoming, it's been so great.  It's always the first Thursday of the month, in the morning, Mark always works then so I don't know if I"ll be able to attend anymore until we get a 2nd car but can't wait for that so I can!  The boys absolutely love church!  


The boys have been doing great lately :)


On Wed I had Landon's parent/teacher conference.  He is in 2nd grade now and doing wonderfully!  His teacher said he is right where he should be, slightly above average in most things which is great!  His reading is a level above what it needs to be which is awesome, we were a little worried about that because he needed the Reading Recovery last year, which helped him tremendously.  She said when you sit and talk to him he is so intelligent and very very sweet.  He's friends with everyone, everyone just loves Landon.  He got his first report card and has all As except his reading grade which was a 78 because he doesn't test well in it, he reads just fine but it's the remembering details for the test he has problems with, but hte past couple weeks tests have been a lot better so hopefully that goes up soon.  He is also still playing baseball which he loves.  He's getting much better this season.  His team is all pretty new, it's him and 3 other kids from last season then the rest are all new to the team so they are still working out the kinks I'm sure in the spring they will be much better, this season has been a bit rough.  He is now 49.5in and 51lbs!  Getting so big!!!  


On Tuesday I had Casen's parent/teacher conference and he is doing amazing!!!!!!!  Sooo proud of my little boy.  He only went to preschool about 3mo when he was 3yrs old, when we moved from Colorado he didn't go anymore.  But he is at the very top of his class, top reading group as well.  She said he is WAYYYY above average and has such a desire and excitement to learn.  He is very very bright and absolutely loves school.  Like I said he's in her top reading group, they'll start DRA testing on him in Jan but he'll be getting books home next week, most kids aren't getting books home yet, just flash cards, so yayyyy go Casen!  He is very advanced in math, they are working on numbers 0-5 in class, really understanding the concept of numbers, counting and all that.  Casen on the other hand is adding into double digits and counting to over 200.  She keeps writing addition problems on the back of coloring sheets to challenge him, he just loves it.  He asked her in Imagination Stations (playtime) the other day if she could do that for him to work on that instead of playing.  He wants to learn everything.  He got his first report card and has "mastered" everything for the 1st 6wks, 2nd, 3rd and 4th and almost everything for 5th and 6th!  I'm so glad he got a teacher who recognizes his abilities and is challenging him instead of letting him get bored relearning things he already knows.  He LOVES his teacher!  He is also doing tball still, a favorite of his.  His coach is having surgery next week so everyone please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, he hopes to be back on the field with the kids very soon.  Casen is doing sooo great in baseball this year, he really GETS the game now and is getting so much better at everything involved with it!   Casen is now 44.5in and 41lbs!  


Hayden is doing great too.  He is, of course, staying home with me.  He had so much fun at that Mommy Meetup last week, I can't wait to get a car to do more things like that with him.  He is loving his "school" (Sunday School), he thinks he's hot stuff going to class by himself.  He's always so well behaved at school and such a sweetheart to other kids, minus his brothers lol.  but I guess that's to be expected haha.  He is getting much better at home too, he still has his days but he's listening and understanding so much more, it makes things much easier.  He is playing blastball this season and really loves it!  He is very good at it too :)  He's going to be really good once he gets to tball stage.  He is now 29lbs and 36.5in!!  Finally growing, he's still a little small for his age but catching up, not off the charts anymore.  




Well I guess that's about it.  We have some other news in another update, but that's going to have to wait for awhile longer ;)

Our Church Experience

We haven't been to church in many years.  The boys have never been and me and Mark haven't been since we got together.  We've been back and forth on our beliefs for awhile but have decided we want to go back to church.  So here is a post I wrote on my forum

So we went to church this morning! First we had to sign the boys in to the kids program then they had someone walk us to each of their classes so we could find them. We dropped Casen off first and he didn't even say bye lol he was gone. Landon was really excited but a little nervous walking in but he was fine. Then we took Hayden to his class and they were playing with playdoh so he was excited, had no problems at all with us leaving him. Then they walked us over to where we needed to be. It was actually a really good service, I liked it a lot. And the Pastor was awesome! He was really funny and I just really enjoyed how he talked. Even Mark who said he used to always fall asleep and was a skeptic lol enjoyed it. During the service when they did the offering there were cards to fill out if you were new or for prayer requests so I filled one out for us and turned it in. After it was over we went and got the boys and they all LOVED it!! Casen earned 3 epic bucks...which is like fake money they can use in a store there to buy little toys, he's saving his for now though. We had picked Hayden up first and he colored us a picture and he told us he was really good lol. When we were picking up Landon I ran into Stacy, the one from baseball and photographer, and she was so happy we were there, we talked a minute then we all left. A little bit later she text us to tell us how happy she was to see us there and hoped to see us next week. Every other week her and her husband teach the kindergarten Sunday School class so next week they'll be in there and when I told Casen he was jumping up and down. Her husband is his 3rd base coach and he really likes him, and there son is his age and they get along really well.

We went out shopping and stuff and I totally forgot Landon had baseball...oops! But then I got home and checked my email and we had a message from the Pastor. He had recorded a video for us personally, talking about what I wrote on the card and welcoming us and saying how he hoped we were there next week and he would like to meet us after service if so. For a church of almost 4000 I thought that was awesome that he took time to make a video welcoming us to his church.

We plan to go back next week and on Oct 3rd is a new member dinner which we will go to, you have to do that and fill out a paper and be welcomed into the church to become a member. We will be doing all of that.  

All the boys have talked about all day is Sunday School.  They loved the band they got to see and can not wait for next week!  Landon even asked me to buy him a bible...which we will be doing this week

Another update on lunches

Man I've been so busy I haven't been updating at all!  I think I'll start doing one post on the weekend of the lunches from that past week.  We've been so busy between baseball and school and now church I barely have time to breathe.  But here are the lunches I've missed

Day 19 they bought lunch

Day 20

Chicken and dumplings

half of a pb&j on sandwich thin

white cheddar puffs

mash up

1/2 apple kiwi strawberry juice and 1/2 water to drink

Day 21

Graham crackers

Grammy SAmmy

white cheddar puffs

hard boiled eggs

carrots

applesauce

water to drink

Day 22

Egg salad wrap

apples and carrots

white cheddar puffs

applesauce

half apple kiwi strawberry juice and half water to drink

Day 23

Half of a Boar's Head everoast chicken and muenster cheese sandwich on potato bread

pretzels

fruit salad

hard boiled egg

water to drink

Day 24

Same sandwich as above

white cheddar puffs

fruit salad

strawberry shortcake roll up

water to drink

Day 25

Ham and Cheddar crescent rolls

cucumber

cherry yogurt covered pretzels

pomegranate seeds

water to drink

Catching up on lunches

I haven't updated lunches on here in a few days, we've been really busy.  Lots of baseball and then Hayden's birthday today, so very tired.  

Day 15

Half of a Boar's Head Ever roast chicken and muenster cheese sandwich

cinnamon graham crackers

granola bar

baked cheetos

applesauce

water to drink

Day 16 

Lemon Pepper roasted chicken

Baby carrots

apples

fig newtons

Graham cracker sandwiches (cream cheese between 2 of them)

caramel yogurt dip for the apples

Strawberry banana mash up

water to drink

Day 17 they bought their lunch

Day 18

Cheese pizza

Roasted tomato and garlic pasta

piece of hayden's cookie cake

apple cereal bars

strawberry banana mash up

pom-blueberry juice mixed with water

3yrs ago

About this time 3yrs ago my labor was really starting with Hayden.  About midnight is when my contractions set in.  His due date was Sept 15th and midnight on the 15th is when it all started.  I was already in the hospital being induced but up until that point had just had Cervadil, nothing to actually start contractions, they started on their own.  They come on quick and intense and went from mild to very painful in a matter of about 45min.  At 2am my water broke on my own, first time that has happened.  By that point I was in a lot of pain and begging for my epidural, I hadn't expected the pain to be that bad so fast, I think it was from my previous c-section.  At 2:45 they came and put in my epidural and gave me a big dose of the medicine to start out with.  But I'm very sensitive to medication and I quickly went completely numb, I couldn't feel my throat even and was beginning to have trouble breathing.  They got it all fixed around 4am and checked me and I was 4cm.  It went very fast after I was able to relax with my epidural being fixed and at 5:43am Hayden Noah Jackson was born.  He was born with one contraction into Mommy's hands.  Best birth experience between the boys, it was amazing.  First words I ever said to/about him were "wow his head is so tiny!" probably not the first thing most women say when they just pushed that head out haha.  He was beautiful!   

We weighed 7lbs 6.1oz and was 20in long.  We said we wished he had been 21 in because with his birth weight, time and length it would have been 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...oh well haha.  He nursed right away for an hour, it was amazing.  

Hayden immediately after birth

Just a few minutes later

First time nursing

Casen's reaction when he first met Hayden

Proud Big Brother Landon

Daddy and Hayden

Mommy and Hayden at home

Casen and Hayden

Proud Big Brother Casen

Hayden about 3mo old

Hayden's first Christmas

Hayden's 1st birthday

Hayden's 2nd birthday

My big 3 yr old

I really can't believe our little monster is 3yrs old today.  He has grown and changed so much.  He is now 36.5in and 29lbs 4oz.  He is talking loads and so smart.  He has totally earned his nickname of monster but we adore him anyways.  His brothers are absolutely in love with him and him with them.  He looks up to them so much.  His first baseball game will be this Saturday!!!!!!  

Happy Birthday Hayden Noah I hope you have an amazing day and I love you all the way to the moon and back Monster <3

Why do people think it's ok to subject others to their disgusting habits?

I hate cigarettes!  Can't stand the smell, just flat out don't like them.  If I'm honest I hate seeing that any parents smoke, inside or outside, it's still in your skin and clothes and I don't think kids should have to be around that.  But it's their choice so I don't say anything.  When I WILL say something though is when someone thinks it's ok to subject my child to their disgusting habits!


Tonight at Casen's baseball practice one of the new kids on the team her mom is pregnant, she had a pregnant friend with her and her husband.  Then there was another mom there sitting with them.  The dad was helping coach tonight.  I looked over and all 3 women are smoking...2 pregnant!  No I don't agree, but again if she wants to do that to her child, I guess it's her choice, I don't agree with it but she's an adult and isn't breaking the law.  Oh wait except that they were on school property!!!!  Then the dad walks over and lights one up too and walks back to keep coaching!!!  Knelt down and talked to 2 of the kids with the cig just a few feet from their face!  Better be glad one of those kids wasn't mine or I would have been over there saying something.  I was pissed off enough that they think it's ok to be walking around the kids and on school property smoking.  They weren't too close to Casen so I doubt he could even smell it but still...what gives them the right?  One of the ladies sitting with me teaches at that school and she wrote her principal just to confirm the law and then wrote the security guard requesting them put up signs again showing it is illegal. Hopefully that happens and she said next time she will say something and show them the sign.  The coach was supposed to talk to them after practice, not sure if he got a chance to.  But man....pissed me off big time!  If it happens again, even away from my kid I will say something.

Day 14

It was not a very good evening here tonight, so lunch was just thrown together, nothing great, nothing cooked, just easy.  After Hayden's acting up all evening and a 2hr bedtime with us both in tears and him falling asleep on my chest with me singing I just didn't have the energy for anything else

PB&J for both

Pineapple

Pretzels

Raisins...and Casen's has peanuts too

Grammy Sammy

Peach Mango Juice with half water to drink

Blast Ball Meeting and Day 13 Lunch

We have been dealing with some heavy rains the past couple of days and today there were tornadoes touching down all around us.  I was watching the news and the helicopters were catching some awesome videos of it, you could actually see the tornado forming and going across the ground.  I haven't seen the evening news yet to see what kind of damage was done but I hope everyone is ok.  


This evening I had the parent meeting for Hayden's Blast Ball.  He came with and played with some kids.  He's by far the smallest that we saw, and he is the youngest.  We found out he is on team Black.  He is so excited to get started, his season opens on Sept 18th.  

Day 13 Lunch for Wed

Landon forgot his lunchbox at school today so his is the one on the right

Spaghetti Pie

Granola Bars

Raw baby carrots

Veggie Straws

chocolate chip cookies

Grape Mash Up

Water to drink

Day 12

Tonight for dinner we had some amazing orange chicken that I made.  It was the first time I've made any asian style food and it was soooo easy and OMG so good!  I was planning on using the leftovers for the boys lunches tomorrow but we all had so much tonight there was only one serving leftover and I wasn't about to give it up haha, that's my lunch for tomorrow.    So instead I stayed up late tonight to cook them some stuff to have instead.  

Lunch for Wed

Pizza Pinwheels (first time making them and OMG good!)

Veggie Straws

Granola Bars

Graham Crackers with applesauce to dip them into

Mash Up

Water to drink

Day 11

We had such a busy weekend that I didn't get to prepare anything for lunches this week so I'll be doing that tomorrow.  Tuesday's lunch is pretty pitiful (no school on Monday)


Here it is.....

Peanut butter, honey and banana on sandwich thin

m&m cookie

kiwi

pretzels

Jammy Sammy

raisins

peanuts

Their "water" bottle was in the dishwasher when I took this but they will have peach mango juice in it

Hawaiian Falls

We had a lot of fun at Hawaiian Falls yesterday :)  Thanks again Heather for entering us in that contest!  The boys had no fear, they wanted to ride everything!  Poor Hayden is so tiny he can't really ride anything, they have a kiddy section that had small slides that he went on all of them by himself, loved that.  Then there was another ride that was meant for 42 in and up (he's barely 36) and the lifeguards let Dessa take him down, he absolutely loved it.  That kid isn't scared of anything, he would have gone on every single one had he been allowed.  Landon rode a really scary one, or one I thought was really scary, where you get in a capsule and then they count down and the floor disappears and you go flying down a really steep slide, he thought it was awesome haha.  Casen rode a lot too, but was too short for that one.  They had sooooo much fun it was great!!!!!  Here are a few pictures from our day :D

Outside Hawaiian Falls, don't mind Casen he had to pee lol

Casen coming down a slide

Landon coming down

Landon flying out to go again

Landon having so much fun!

Casen coming down head first

Hayden coming down with Aunt Dessa

Hayden playing on the splash ground while the others rode rides

We had sooooo much fun!  Can't wait to go again!

Fun Weekend

We have a busy but fun weekend going on!  This morning Mark got up with the boys and dressed them, ok let them dress themselves it was a mess, and took them to the bank and to get out of the house for a bit.  Then took them to get donuts for breakfast so that I could sleep in and it actually be quiet in the house :)  It was NICE!!!!!  Then I got up and took a shower and they came back and I changed their clothes to something so I would be ok being seen in public with them lol YES THAT BAD!  We went and saw Aunt Dessa and she got them some slushes, talked with her for awhile then went to Grandma Gail's house.  Mark helped her with some stuff while Hayden terrorized everyone.  I don't think he's feeling very well, his nose has been yucky today, plus he didn't have a nap, it wasn't pretty.  But while there I was able to plan my menu for the week, it should be yummy!!!  When they were done Gail took us to Chilis for dinner and then we left.  We went to Marshall's and me and mark got some clothes, not much.  Then to Best Buy so they could reserve their copy of Halo Reach...OMG Landon was so excited I thought he was gonna pass out lol.  Then to Target to get a few more things.  We were trying to find flip flops but no luck.  Maggie ate the ones we had and we need them for tomorrow because..........


We're going to Hawaiian Falls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The boys know we have a surprise planned but have no clue what it is.  They are going to be so excited.  We will do that for a few hours, Dessa is coming with us and maybe Heather.  After we are done there though we have to come home and get everyone changed and get Landon to baseball practice starting at 6.  We are going to be worn out tomorrow from all that sun.  Can't wait though, should be fun!  Mark is off on Monday, so are the boys so we'll be relaxing that day!

Day 10 and also my 100th blog!

Yay 100th post!!!!!!

Here is today's lunch, it's for Friday so they get to choose everything

Mac, chicken and cheese bites

Landon, on the left, chose pretzels, Casen chose veggie straws

kettle corn 

blueberry yogurt pretzels

applesauce, I stirred in some cinnamon

mash up

For a special treat I added in an oatmeal cream pie, they never get that type of thing and don't know it's there so they'll be excited

Raspberry Ice to drink

Casen had a bad day at school

Casen came home from school today in tears, all out crying. I looked at his folder and in today's spot there is a light stamp but written in red says "got out of seat some today" Casen is sooooooooo upset. He said he never moved his clip from green so he should NOT have been signed. There is a sub there from Wed-Friday and he came home yesterday and said she wasn't very nice and then this happened today. He said the only time he can remember getting out of his seat when he wasn't supposed to was when he had to use the restroom and he had his hand up and she wasn't seeing him so he got up to ask and she told him he had to wait. So no warning, nothing and he has his folder signed for the first time this year. Then he told me to look at his worksheets he brought home and one is a practice D worksheet. The D example looks like 1/2 a 0 it was very narrow. Instead of having the fat ) part of the D, does that make sense? so he copied it exactly! He was a little shaky because he was trying to make it so narrow. She wrote in red over his a fatter D like that was how he should have been writing it. I handed Casen a sheet of paper today and told him to write D's and he did it PERFECTLY, the only reason they looked like they did was because the worksheet looked like that, that isn't his fault. He knows how to do it, but he's very particular and if you tell him to do something a certain way he's a perfectionist and he's going to do it exactly that way. That isn't his fault there was a shitty example. So he is soo upset thinking he can't even write D's and he's in trouble at school now.

Casen has been absolutely loving school, even told me he wished there weren't weekends because he wants to go all the time and even wished he could go until late at night, he LOVES it. But after I got him calmed down today he asked me if we could tell the sub that he is sick so he doesn't have to go back until his teacher is back.  Poor thing, I feel so bad.  I wrote his teacher but I'm still waiting to hear back, he's dreading going to school tomorrow

Day 9

Today was kind of a blah day, it rained this afternoon and I was just feeling really tired and lazy.  Didn't want to do too much today, really dreaded cleaning up the house today.  Hayden was just in a mood this afternoon, picking fights with the boys all evening...was def ready for bed when the time came.  Then it was still storming and Casen and Hayden were really scared but finally they got down and I was able to take a hot bath and relax some.  Then was time to make lunches :)

Ham and Cheese sandwich

Apple banana muffin (in Landon's only)

strawberries

kiwi

pretzels

marshmallows

applesauce

Crystal light raspberry lemonade to drink

grammy sammy and mash up too

Want a chance to win 4pk easy lunch boxes and a carrying bag?

When I was trying to pick lunch boxes for the boys this year I spent months deciding and eventually went with some from www.gogreenlunchbox.com that we love...but they are pretty expensive.  These from www.easylunchboxes.com are a very inexpensive option!  I'm realizing after Casen leaving his lunch box at school 2x already in just 7 days I really should have got some extras to have, if I don't win this I'm going to have to order some to have as extras and to use for Hayden's playdates.  They look great!  Check out the giveaway here


http://www.amommysadventures.com/2010/09/easy-lunch-boxes-review-and-giveaway.html


While there check out her other great posts!  

Day 8

Well we got Hayden signed up for baseball today!!!!!  Really "blast ball" which is like tball but for 3-4yr olds.  He is technically too young but they want him to play anyways.  He is so thrilled!  He can't wait for his first practice.  


Tonight was Casen's first practice and he had a great time.  He had a lot of fun and was really happy to be back out there.  


Landon came home from school with his folder signed YET again.  5x in the 7 days of school!  So I wrote his teacher wondering what in the world was going on because this isn't like Landon at all.  His teacher called me back to talk about it and said that pretty much all the kids have been getting signed a few times and that she can tell Landon is a really good kid and he's just adjusting to her rules but she likes to enforce them from day one and she thinks that after he gets used to it he'll be great.  She said he's very smart and well behaved just keeps talking.  She also said though that most of the time he's getting in "trouble" is during math and I figured out why today.   He brought home homework, a math worksheet with about 20questions on the front and 20 on the back, he sat down and was done in about 2 minutes.  So....he's bored!  But they are reviewing from last year so I'm sure once they get into new stuff he'll be fine.  Just gotta get past these first few weeks.  I'm really glad I talked to her though because we had been grounding Landon to his room everyday he got his folder signed.  After talking to her today and realizing what it was about and how he really wasn't being "bad" we won't be doing that anymore.  If later in the year he starts getting in trouble again we will address it then.  


Today Casen left his lunchbox in his locker so luckily I had bought some extra little containers so I packed his lunch in that today.  Tonight for dinner we tried 'chicken in a crockpot' and Casen loved it and asked for LOTS in his lunch tomorrow....so here are their lunches

Chicken in a crock pot (Landon has some BBQ sauce to dip, couldn't find anything to put in Casen's 'lunchbox' to give him some so without for him)

Apple Banana Muffin

2 Carrot Snack Sticks

Cantaloupe and Strawberries

Granola Bar

Bottle of water

Day 7

School just started and both boys have already asked me to buy their lunch :(  WHAT!?  Landon said he just wanted to buy on chicken nugget day so next mission is to find a good recipe for nuggets that the breading will hold up to being in the lunchbox all morning, not get all soggy and yuck.  I think with Casen it's just the new factor.  First year in school, most kids in his class buy so he just wants to try.  I'll eventually give in and let him.  He said the biggest reason is he wanted strawberry milk so fine, that's what they get in their "water" bottles today.  Yeah, yeah I know....strawberry milk, sugar, unhealthy, etc...but I figure occasionally having stuff like that is fine, there is no reason to go fully without and make them want it even more.  


I've been cooking all night since they went to bed.  I was going to do it earlier but I got the new Shark Vac Then Steam and I got a bit carried away. If you have a lot of tile, wood flooring in your house you NEED it!  It's amazing, love it!!!!  Then I cleaned out the fridge, reorganized it and cleaned all the shelves and drawers...looks good :)  Then had to clean the rest of the house, make snacks, get the boys settled so I could jump in the shower.  Then get everyone ready to go to Casen's parent orientation (which went really well!) then home to make dinner, baths and boys in bed.  Then I've been cooking......laying in bed now typing this up about to go to sleep.  Tomorrow evening is Casen's baseball so thinking we'll do a crock pot recipe tomorrow, not so much work!  

Day 7's Lunch

Granola Bar

Apple Banana Muffins

Carrot Snack Sticks

Pretzels

Cantaloupe

Strawberry milk

Day 6

Well today starts week 2 at school!  Casen was very excited to go this morning, Landon was dead...so tired from practice last night, really didn't want to get up.  Hope they have a great week :)


First, snack plate from Friday.  Landon had practice this afternoon so I made more than usual and they were still hungry after eating it all!

PB pancakes with cream cheese and grape jelly inside

apples with PB to dip

granola balls

turkey

cheese

mash ups 

And their lunch for today.  I had to do grocery shopping yesterday then drop it off at home and take Landon to practice that started at 6pm, didn't get home until almost 8 and still needed to feed, bathe and get the kids in bed.  Bedtime is usually 8 but they didn't get in bed last night until 9.  By then I was just tired and didn't really feel like cooking for a few hours to prepare lunch stuff.  Sooo...today's lunch is pretty simple.  Today I need to cook and prepare some lunch and snack stuff.

Landon on left:

cream cheese and strawberry jam on sandwich thin

strawberries and kiwi

applesauce

for a treat kettle corn and a few blueberry pretzels

Casen on right:

PB&J

strawberries and kiwi

applesauce

kettle corn and blueberry pretzels

Both with water