Swim Lessons 2010

My Swimming Crew
On the last day of lessons they let the kids try the slide and the diving board. Oakley loves the slide and goes down over and over again.

This is Dallin's one and only try down the slide. He isn't a big fan of the slide and I really had to talk to get him to even try it once, so I was proud of him for trying!

Rhett chose to skip the slide all together and just played in the water for awhile. He gets the award for "3 YEARS OF SWIMMING LESSONS AND STILL HASN'T GOT THE TOP OF HIS HEAD WET!" He is funny about swimming....he loves to do it as long as his head is above the water. One of these days maybe he will out grow that.

This is Laiklie and her teacher just coming out of the slide. She liked it pretty good, but when her teacher asked if she wanted to go again she answered with a definite "NOPE!" This was her first year of lessons and she LOVED them!

Rhett talked all week about jumping off the diving board. So, first thing when we got there he got his life jacket on and headed straight for it. He walked out on the edge and he stood there.....and stood there.....and stood there...for about 5 minutes before he walked back off. I guess it looks less scary when you are off it than when you are on it! Funny boy!

This is Dallin's 1st jump. He is getting to be a great little swimmer and really liked the diving board.

This is Oakley's dive/bellyflop. She learned how to dive the last 2 days of class, but still struggles with getting her head lower than her feet. Some of her dives really looked like they hurt. She will get it with time I am sure. She really is a good swimmer too. She can swim all over both the pools and I don't hardly worry about her.

I am so proud of all my kids and the hard work they put into their lessons this year! Way to go kiddo's!

What a Week!

Last week was definitely WORLDS CRAZIEST WEEK!! Monday I packed a bag for my kids to go to Grandma Jacobson's, a bag for at Grandma Hawkins, a very large bag for me to take to girls camp, and a bag (with church clothes....which are always fun to pack) to go to my brothers. My mom came Monday afternoon and picked-up my kids for the week (I am not gonna lie to you....I did cry a little after they left) and I was so glad she did, because when I went downstairs to get my sleeping bag just after the kids left I found - WET CARPET.....let me remind you.....my basement has only been remodeled for not quite even a month now and I found WET CARPET!! When Ryan flooded on Saturday he "thinks" he told me to watch that side of the house and I am "pretty sure" he didn't and anyway....we spent a good hour pulling up my BRAND NEW CARPET to dry out for the week while I was at girls camp! AH!!

Tuesday morning bright and early at 6 am I left for girls camp. I really did have a great week. I was nervous about going this time for a few different reasons. 1) I am a little "wild and crazy" - you could ask any of my family, my BFF from High School Sherri, my college roomies or my friend Shellee that has gone to girls camp with me 3 times as a leader and EVERYONE of them will tell you that I really am a little "wild and crazy" and I didn't know if once the girls learned my little secret if they WOULD LIKE ME! I know that sounds extremely Jr. High, but I really was scared. 2) I get so nervous about leaving my kids, especially Oakley and her diabetes. She has had some very interesting blood numbers this summer - anywhere from 36 - 500 and that alone makes me nervous. 3) I haven't ever been to camp with this ward or these ladies and truthfully I really didn't know just what to expect. BUT OF COURSE, I HAD A GREAT TIME! We did have a few issues that are not blog worthy (or I guess appropriate) but all-in-all it was a great week. (Sorry....I was too busy playing to take pictures.)

I got home from girls camp Friday about 4 pm and did a couple loads of laundry to be ready to leave Saturday at 7:30 am for my brothers. We had a little "mini" Jacobson family vacation where we picniced and visited a Dairy my brother AI's for. The kids LOVED watching them milk the cows and loved seeing the little AI babies! We also got to be there for Sunday when my brother blessed his sweet little baby Taelyn.

This is a picture of most of the kids and the dads while the moms took the picture. My sister Jenny's family was missing this time and we are small in numbers without them!:) Because I forgot my camera on the "mini" vacation I had to use the pictures off of Oakley's and as you can see this is what I got to choose from!:) I guess while we were gone Ryan, who has had my nephew Jacob here working for him this past week, took Jacob fishing. Ryan is the proud owner of the fish on your left weighing in at a whoopin 7 pounds after it was cleaned and Jacob is the owner....I am not sure if he is really proud or not.....of the itty tiny fish in his right hand. They had a good time and I was glad because I hated them having to stay home to farm while we were having fun vacationing!

We hurried back Sunday night to start swimming lessons bright and early Monday morning (pictures soon to come). Because we missed all the 4th of July stuff on Saturday we were able to find a little town near us doing Fireworks Monday night and got to be a part of that. It was fun for the kids and I think this is the 1st year that I didn't have a kid cry about the noise....although, Rhett was on the verge of tears a few times. He has ALWAYS hated the booms!

We have had a crazy couple weeks and continue to be SUPER BUSY! I PROMISE, (and I am putting it on the blog for all to see so that MAYBE it will get done) to get caught-up on my scrapbooking from Christmas to the present before Oakley's birthday the 1st of August!! That is the next project on my list of things to do!! Post pictures when I am done!

A Day in the Sun

My friend Hollie invited us to go to Ross Park with her this past week and we, of course, jumped on that band wagon! I leave for girls camp next week, so I have really been trying to do some fun things with the kids this week so they don't feel jipped that mom is leaving them. We hit the free "Toothfairy" movie on Monday, swimming and hotdog roast at Heise (with cousins in swim lessons) on Wednesday and then Ross Park on Thursday! It has been so much fun spending time together!

This is Oakley and her friend Lauren. Lauren had a couple cousins there that are also Oakley's friends, so we didn't hardly see her once we got there. It is SO NICE having kids big enough to do their own thing. I didn't get a picture of it, but they have some giant leap pads with a rope net above them that the older kids can cross and Oakley pretty much lived there. She had so much fun!

This is Dallin coming out of the slide in the kiddie play area. He thought the lazy river (which again I don't have a picture of) was the place to be. He spent his day there either floating on the innertube or teasing the girls on the tubes.

Rhett and Laiklie loved both the lazy river and the kiddie play area. This is Rhett dancing to the beat of his own drum???:)

This is Laiklie clogging! I don't know what the deal was with her and clogging in the kiddie pool....maybe the way it splashed, but she did it over and over again!

We had a great time and thanks again Hollie for the invite!

Happy Fathers Day!

We took these pictures for the card the kids made for Ryan. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. It amazes me how hard he works to support us. He is so good to his kids and I truly couldn't ask for a better husband. Ryan and I are also so blessed to have "Worlds Greatest Dad's" too. HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the wonderful men in our lives!!

Last Post Cont.

For those of you who don't understand these pictures, READ ON.......

Super Busy

We have been super busy lately....hence, no new blog posts! Last Thursday we made a quick overnight trip to my sisters in Preston to help with a little home decor of the new house. Saturday Oakley was cloggin' crazy in the Jefferson Stampede Parade. Sunday we took a drive to the new ranch in Kilgore and on the way I begged and pleaded with my sweet Ryan to PLEASE LET MY KIDS PLAY AT THE SANDDUNES FOR A MINUTE!! He was super nice and let us run and jump for a few minutes He did take a "one-of-a-kind" snapshot with his phone that I was really hoping to upload to my blog, but when you are married to a farmer/rancher during the spring/summer they are home for approximately 20 min. everyday and 3-4 hours each night and uploading photos from their cell phones to their wives blog is DEFINITELY not priority!!:) Then Monday after dentist appointments we did a picnic at the park and a jont over to the zoo. The kids thought that was "greatest mom ever!" Tuesday we had extra kids most of the day so we decided....why not a few more and had some friends meet us at the park for a couple hours in the afternoon and ice cream cones afterwards to top it off. Today we have had 5 extra kids most of the day and we are dropping them off just in time to go pick up my 3 nieces and 1 nephew to keep for the rest of the week! SEE WHY NO POSTS LATELY!! If we ever slow down, I will let you know!:)

SCHOOLS OUT!!

We are SOOOO EXCITED to finally be done with school for the year! This is Rhett's preschool group. Yes, he is the only boy. We started with 2 boys, but the other one moved. He didn't seem to mind and had a great time with these 3 sweet little girls. Because it was a "Mommy Preschool" we had our turn one week every month to teach and he thought it was SO COOL to have them come to our house. I actually really liked doing preschool this way and he learned so much! He is definitely ready for Kindergarten in the Fall.
Dallin just finished 1st grade. His favorite day was the one where his teacher announced to the whole class that he had the best handwriting and so he didn't have to do the handwriting assignment that day and got to do something fun instead while the rest of the class did their work. He is a smart little dude. These skittles he won at the awards assembly....his certificate was sent home the day before.

Oakley just finished 4th grade and has had a great year. She got straight A's as always and we are so proud of her. Her teacher commented several times as to what a joy it was to have Oakley in her class. She was amazed at how well she juggles school and diabetes. We are always amazed by this sweet little girl!

With the end of the school year comes the end of babysitting our baby Jade. Jade's mom works at a school so she has summers off. We are going to miss her like crazy. Just look how much she has grown and changed over the 7 months we have had her.
When I told Rhett we were going to be finished babysitting her he cried and I got alot of "it's not fair!"

Also with the end of school this year came Memorial Day. We always try to take our kids to the cemeteries to understand why we celebrate Memorial Day. This year we made a trip on Sunday to Wilford - where we happened to run into Ryan's Romrell grandparents and then up to Ashton to see the new headstone on Ryan's grandma Hawkins grave. On Monday I took my kids with a few of their cousins to the cemetery in Idaho Falls. We always go with my parents and grandparents. I LOVE hearing all the stories they tell my kids about those we are there to see.
We also every Memorial Day attend the Annual Jacobson Picnic. It is a HUGE event now that there are so many of us. It is always SO FUN to see my cousins and their kids. My sweet aunt always has such fun games planned for the kids. This is their relay races. She had fruit and veggie teams. This was the oranges team, there was also a green beans team and a blueberries and cherries team. She had some really fun "minute to win it" games for the adults to play too.

So far we have had a GREAT first week with NO SCHOOL and we are looking forward to a summer full of fun!!