Today Landon and Dayton had their first piano lesson with none other than William-Joseph. Seriously?! How cool is that. Of course I made a grand impression seeing as I was only 20 minutes late since I COULD NOT find his house even though I allotted plenty of time. True to form, what can I say, I'm a loser. Hopefully the boys will be back on the piano playing bandwagon in no time. Someday I will treat myself to my own piano lessons but for now I must live vicariously through my children.
Check out William's skills-- I never get tired of hearing him play. So fortunate to have him in our area and to teach the boys. Super talented.
What it takes to send a preschool, 3rd grader and 5th grader off to another year!
Reece was excited his supply list included feathers and pom poms.
Landon not so much since his list had 8 spiral notebooks and 2 reams of "wide ruled" lined paper.
Look what I made last week .....
I framed these cute photos of my babes and placed a little hook under each one so that they will have a place for their backpacks and school stuff.
For today it is holding all their supplies. Tomorrow-homework, art projects and library books. It's an attempt to stay "on top" of all their stuff.
Reece was really excited to show his luggage tag? in his Preschool Back to School Photo. Okay buddy, whatever makes you happy!
Here Reecer man is showing his back to school supplies!
His bags were so heavy he could barely lift them.
Dayton chose the sporty look for his 1st day of 3rd Grade
Strong arming his school supplies!
Posing for back to school pictures is old news for Landon since he will be a "upper classmen" going into the 5th grade today!
Not even breaking a sweat with all those notebooks.
One final "group" shot before we pile in the car.
Mom was informed by 3rd grader and 5th grader that NO PICTURE taking would be allowed at their school so I'll move on to the preschooler who doesn't know better yet.
I'm excited for Reece and he is excited to be "big enough" for school. He had a great 1st day of Pre-K! Look there is his name on the door! Welcome Reece!
Who wouldn't want to go to preschool again? Look how fun!
Well mom and dad were sad to see them all go back to school but we know we have to cut the cord sometime :)
Sadie is thinking "I can't believe my brother's left me with these crazies"
It wasn't long before dad was back to doing this...
And mom and Sadie went and did this with the other mom's that were sad to see their kids head back to school.
Sadie and her girlfriends still a bit in shock of what all this means. Hopefully everyone had a great back to school day AND has a Fabulous year!
I'm super excited about the boys football this season! We are participating in the Pop Warner league and they are so put together it is such a breath of fresh air from our experience last year in Erie and both Landon and Dayton have awesome coaches. Actually there are about 9 coaches per team plus a team manager and a team mom. It's pretty intense. One of the things that is intense is the price tag! The initial cost is around $175 ish per player. This is pretty typical but then you have about a million things you do fundraising for. At the end of the day the total per player amount is around $400 and goes up if you make it to playoffs and other levels. I think it's a bit over the top. Football is not suppose to be a rich kid sport but that's where all the fundraising comes in. Right now between Landon and Dayton's teams we are selling.....cookie dough, pizza, jewelry, cinnamon rolls, BBQ nights, sports cups, suckers and other food at practices and games, having a team garage sale, poker night?, and asking everyone, every business and their dog if they would like to be a sponsor. It's sort of insane. Fundraising sucks but it pays for the equipment-including uniforms, field usage for practices and games, referee's, etc. etc. Dayton was hitting the fundraising road tonight in our neighborhood and brought in about $60 buckaroos. Parents can do a "buy out" but seriously? I think it sends kids the right message to make them earn the money themselves and that money doesn't grow on trees and gives them good sales skills. If dad can sell a $80K drug to earn his money they can sell some overpriced cookie dough. Dayton's team even has their own website www.deervalleybullwhips.com Ummm ya, they are 8 years old. Anyway. Here are some fun pics.
Landon is a receiver, he is in front looking for the ball.
Oh crap it looks like he is going to miss it?!
Nope, somehow he managed to hold on to it.
Landon has actually been doing really well so far with catching I'm just not that great of a action photographer to get his good catches. Hopefully the team has some decent passing plays. The QB seems to have a good arm so if they can connect that will be fun to watch.
In case you haven't heard me say or you don't know but it is hot in AZ. Like 110 degree hot during practice. Landon is grabbing a ice cold wet towel from the "towel" cooler. The kids drape these over their heads and around their necks to cool off during water breaks. This is "my job". Everyday I fill up the cooler with ice and water and 20 washcloths, bring them to practice, take them home, wash, dry, repeat the next day. A little different than the Colorado snow we froze in last year during football.
Pop Warner does this magical thing with siblings. If there are siblings on different teams they work it so the kids will be on teams that practice on fields next to each other at the same time! Seriously a mother's dream. So while I'm watching Landon's practice I'm also watching Dayton's practice.
Dayton is #78, Here he is conversing with his peeps.
Dayton is on the line. Am I surpised? No way, he is solid. I pity the fool that tries to go through him. He is third one in on the right.
What I don't like about football is having to "ice" the hurt body parts of my 8 and 10 year olds? I get it when I have to ice because I'm old and my body has been through the war but little kids? Every time I ask "Are you sure you want to play football?" The answer is always the same.
Eye roll, followed by a "Yes Mom"
Okay then. Love you boys. You're the toughest/coolest football kids out there.
July 3rd was a very special day for our family. Dayton was baptized in Utah with family and friends there to celebrate. It was nice to have most of my siblings there with their families to support us and Travis's Aunts came as well. My good friend Molly Cherrington also came to support Dayton. Something wonderful about seeing your husband and child all in white. Landon was able to give the opening prayer, all of Dayton's cousins sang a special musical number and Grandpa Honeycutt gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. We love you Dayton and are pleased with your decision to be baptized.
Handsome guys
Our little family. Proud moment for mom and dad.
Dayton with Grandma and Grandpa Honeycutt
Mom and Dad gave Dayton his first set of scriptures for his baptism. Study and learn from them son. Grandma and Grandpa Honeycutt gave Dayton a baptism journal to help him remember this day.
Aunt Kathy, Aunt Dawn, Aunt Heidi and daughter Brooklyn (not pictured Aunt Mignon "Boo") all came to support Dayton and their oldest nephew Travis. I am closer to these women than my own Aunts and appreciate their support of our little family. I know it isn't easy as they are all very busy with their own children and grandchildren. Thanks for coming.
Sunday after Dayton was baptized Aunt Tami and Uncle Chris blessed their 3rd son Shay and we took a impromptu Honeycutt family photo. All kids and grandkids are here. First time in how long? It's a miracle. It was great to be together. I love my family so much. Living away from family you learn to appreciate them so much. Having almost everyone at Dayton's baptism was so great. Uncle Kevin is a river guide and was in the Grand Canyon Saturday during Dayton's baptism but was able to make it back for the blessing.
All the grandkids of Ken and LeeAnn Honeycutt
**Side note: The Day before Dayton's baptism I went to my suitcase to get the paper that I had from my Bishop in Arizona to allow Dayton and Travis permission to get baptized in Utah. I had placed it in the front pocket for safe keeping. Well it wasn't there. Panicking I searched everything but it wasn't anywhere. After several phone calls between the presiding Bishop and my Bishop in Arizona everything "was approved" and it was fine. I mention this because when I got my suitcase off the luggage carousel after returning from Hawaii I noticed the front pocket was open and I had a thought to look for the paper and make sure it was there. I ignored the thought as I just wanted to get back to my parents and see my kids. I don't know what happened but I'm guessing I ignored a prompting from the HG and if I would have listened perhaps I would have avoided the missing form hassle. Live and learn. Thought I would document so I can remember to listen even if it seems like a small thing.
We celebrated bright and early in the morning with smoothies and cupcakes for Dayton's Birthday.In our home 8 years old is a magical birthday. That is the magical age that you get your first BB and pellet gun. I found this out a few years ago from Travis when Landon got his. Apparently it's not til the age of 12 you get your first "real" rifle. (Help me!) Anyway, Dayton was super excited and we made the trip to Cabela's and spent THREE LONG HOURS there and he finally settled on the one you see in the picture. I'm pretty sure we would still be there if a certain mom didn't threaten all the lives of those in her family if they don't get the heck out of there! My boys aren't into toys too much anymore, they like stuff like flashlights, compasses, survival stuff and of course the normal football and sports stuff. Dayton got some of each from his siblings. Grandma's and Grandpa's went the smart route and sent cold hard cash for Dayton. A gift all Jensen's love no matter what age. Happy Birthday Dayton. We love you!
