Another Winter Sing video

I was going through old videos and found this one of the 2010 First Grade Winter Sing. It's really long (10 minutes), but I was able to zoom in closer on Dallin. 

Winter Sing

Can you spot an adorable red-head in this crowd?

Dallin's school held their Winter Sing this week. It was at my old high school's auditorium. I took a video with my ipod, so it's not very good quality, but you will get the idea of what they sounded like. Dallin is near the bottom left in the video.

Polar Express

The day after Thanksgiving, we took the kids to Williams, AZ for the Polar Express. They were all dressed in their pajamas and then we boarded the train for about an hour ride to the North Pole and back. Then Santa boarded the train and gave all the kids a bell. We had cookies and hot chocolate and sang Christmas carols. 

 We got pictures with Mrs. Claus as we were waiting to board the train. They had a fun gift-shop where we let the kids pick out a souvenir. Dallin chose a big gold coin with a picture of a train on it.

The chefs took our tickets to board and then they passed out the cookies and sang and danced and they read the Polar Express book.

 We took the 3:30 train, so it wasn't even dark yet.

 The conductor came around and punched the tickets. Very official.

 You can see in this picture how the train windows were cracked open a bit. Carly put her foot out the window as she was sitting on Jarom's lap and her shoe flew off and was lost somewhere near the North Pole. After our train ride we drove to Flagstaff and stayed in a hotel. They had an indoor pool and Dallin went swimming at about 9:30 that night. Jarom went with him. I stayed with the other kids in the room.

On our drive home we went through Sedona. We were going through Oak Creek Canyon and Dallin could see the water in the creek and he wanted to pull over and throw rocks in the water. So that's when I took the above picture.

  Then we kept driving and Dallin saw the sign for Slide Rock National Park and asked if we could stop. So we did and everyone took their shoes off to put their feet in the water. It was FREEZING!

Dallin crossed this little stream several times. It was only a few inches deep in that part.  Sean wanted to cross it too, so I told him I would go with him. Well the rocks are very slippery (hence the name "Slide Rock") and Sean fell down instantly and was swept down stream. I thought I could just walk down and get him, but he slipped into a deep pool of water and went under. So I had to hurry and I slipped and went the same direction as him right into the same pool. Remember I said the water was freezing? Well, it takes your breath away when you are completely immersed in it! I lifted him over my head and he just clung tightly to my head and I stayed under the water. Luckily, a nice man came and grabbed Sean off of me and then helped me out. Jarom was holding Carly and was trying to hurry and help but he slipped and fell on Carly. It was quite the experience! So we went back to the truck and changed our clothes and finished driving home. The pains we go through to make memories with our kids! Yikes.

9th Birthday

 The best part about having a Veteran's Day birthday is that flags always line our street on Dallin's big day.

 On Saturday, the day before his birthday, we took Dallin shopping to pick out one present. He knew he wanted an Air Hogs remote control helicopter, but we did some research and found out that this jet would be easier for a beginner to fly. It worked really well and we spent the rest of the day flying it in our front yard and then in the park. He flew it right into a tree at the park, but luckily it was a windy day and so we were able to coax it down.

 These pictures are on his actual birthday. We had a dinner and party with all of his cousins on my side of the family. Dallin wanted a chocolate cake and he wanted to light his own candles.

On Sunday night Dallin was able to have cousins spend the night. Another perk to having national holiday birthday is NO SCHOOL! They were off on Monday the 12th, so that day was dedicated to playing video games in his pajamas. He got this robe and pajama pants for his birthday. He is so cute, he keeps coming up to me and saying that his robe is his best present ever. He has wanted a robe for a long time. He runs kind of hot by nature and has hated pajamas since he was a baby. When he cried as a baby I could always unbutton his sleeper and he would stop crying. He still hates pajamas because he gets too hot, but in the morning it's cold in the house, so a robe is perfect for him. It's the simple things in life that keep him happy!

I can't believe this kid is nine! When we brought him home, I thought 18 years sounded like a long time to raise a child, but I've changed my mind now that we are half way there! I feel like we need more time, but maybe I will change my mind by time he is a teenager ;) I absolutely love the stage he is in right now. Third -graders are the best! He is still a little boy in so many ways, but he is so responsible and grown-up too. He always hugs me and tells me he loves me. He is helpful around the house and likes to please. He does his homework all on his own. I hardly ever remind him to get it done. If he doesn't get his homework done at night, then he gets up early and does it in the morning. He is self-motivated to get it done. He loves to read and has read 52 books already this school year. He loves "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and has the whole set. He likes me to read to him at night and sometimes he reads to his younger siblings.

I love Dallin because he has such a big heart. His brother Sean sometimes cries in the morning and doesn't want to go to school, but Dallin will kindly encourage him and then put his arm around Sean and get him on the bus. It is such a big help to me. When we go for bike rides, he will stop and wait for the twins who still have training wheels. He will get off his bike and give them a push if they get stuck. There are also other people who notice his kindness. There are three special-needs boys at school or church who's parents will call Dallin over to play because they know that Dallin is nice to their boy. One little boy was laughed at during PE at school and it broke Dallin's heart and he came home to tell me. He said that he told the other kids to stop and then he stayed with the boy and was nice to him. One mom at church always comes up to me and tells me how much she appreciates Dallin's kindness to her son. He is such a special person and we love him so much.

Halloween

Dallin was a hunter for Halloween this year. He usually likes to create his own costume rather than buy one. He carved his own pumpkin and did a really good job for his first time. The only problem was he placed his pattern over the ugly side of the pumpkin rather than the nice smooth side. We carved them on our back porch and it was kind of dark by the time he started his, so he couldn't really see what he was doing. I was really impressed with it though! This picture is after the pumpkin sat out for a day, so it was kind of wilted.

On Halloween night we went to a "trunk-or-treat" with my mom's neighbors. Dallin loves going there! There is a house with a HUGE front lawn and a driveway that goes all the way around, so lots of people can park their cars around the house or set up lawn chairs and sit and hand out candy. They serve food and have games. Dallin goes around the circle several times and trick-or-treats to all the people. He gets a ton of candy in a short amount of time. The best part is he can go around with his friends and his parents don't have to tag along because the area is all blocked off. We had a great time and were home by 8:30! It was perfect.

Party with Cousins

I haven't taken any pictures lately, so here is the lazy way to update this blog: a link to my sister-in-law's blog! She took cute pictures of Dallin and his cousins at my nephew's (her step-son) birthday party.



http://fullclousehouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/ethans-10th.html

School Picture

Isn't he handsome?

New Pets

Dallin is obsessed with animals lately. This probably stems from him watching "Billy the Exterminator" on Netflix any chance he gets. He has wanted a snake for months and he has even caught one in the neighborhood and a couple at Grandma's house and tried to keep them as pets in a plastic bin in the backyard. They always manage to get away somehow or we have to leave them at Grandma's in the cooler weather. He is brokenhearted every time. We go to PetSmart and research what it takes to keep a snake healthy and happy, but it's hard to take the plunge and actually become the owner of a snake. Eww. So when a friend's tortoises had little hatchlings, we jumped at the chance to get a different kind of reptile pet. (Don't try to call these things amphibians--Dallin will set you straight!) These are sulcata tortoises and grow to be pretty big. They will eventually be big enough to roam free in our backyard and eat the grass. Low maintenance pets! Dallin was completely satisfied to be the caretaker of these little things for about 5 days, but now he wants some parrots also...and kittens. 

Cub Scout Day Camp

This weekend Dallin participated in a Cub Scout Day Camp. 

He acted in a skit,

 built a birdhouse,

shot a bow and arrow...

...and got the closest to a bullseye in our group!

They made paper rockets and launched them off of a tank of pressurized air

The boys loved running into the field and trying to catch their rockets. They really flew high and far! 

Then, there was an obstacle course...

...complete with a bouncy water slide. 

And Dallin got to hold a macaw, but I didn't get a picture of it. Here, the bird is holding his own pizza and eating it.  There were several exotic birds there and we learned a lot about birds in Arizona. Dallin loves animals and remembers everything he learns about them. It was a fun way to spend the weekend!

What we did over the summer...

In June we took a "stay-cation" at a resort in Peoria for a couple of nights. 

We spent hours in their enormous pool.

Dallin went down this slide dozens of times. He was the only one of our kids tall enough to ride.

 It's pretty nice having an 8 year old who can haul all the luggage back to the car!

For the 4th of July we were at home. We went to Water N Ice to fill bottles of water and let all the kids pick out their own treat. Dallin chose this huge jawbreaker and licked it until it was about half-way gone in one day. The dental hygienist in me cringes when I see these pictures! I don't know what I was thinking ;)

We painted and drew pictures on our driveway and then lit our own fireworks. Dallin is a little pyro--he loves fireworks more than anything. My dad gave him a huge box of fireworks that he had collected over the years and Dallin wouldn't go inside until we had lit them all.

At the end of July we went to a parade in Jarom's hometown. The kids are here sitting on the curb waiting for candy to be thrown. This parade is the highlight of their summer. I think they look forward to it more than Christmas.

 For the rest of the summer we tried to always find a pool to swim in and keep cool. These are pictures at a Junior High pool. Dallin jumped off the high dive about 30 times until he had a headache. I couldn't get pictures because I had to stay near the little ones.

Check out those moves!

Then a couple of days before school started, I made a special dinner for the kids complete with crowns celebrating their new grade and a little bubbly to make it feel festive!