Tanked

I think the phrase Jeromy hates more than any other is "the toilet's clogged"! Unfortunately, it's one we heard in our house a few weeks ago. Usually a good plunge will do the trick, but this time, it just wasn't happening. So Jer broke down and bought the industrial strength Drano. Throughout the course of the day, he dumped about a gallon of it into the toilet. When the last drop fell without any sign of improvement, he grudgingly admitted defeat. And this meant the toilet was going to have to come off. So this morning, after dismantling the toilet and introducing it to the back lawn, here's what he found:Now, we aren't pointing fingers or anything (Luke), but somehow Breanna's plastic cookie ended up lodged in the toilet (Luke). Isn't he a cute handyman? Seriously, I am so lucky that he is willing and able to just dive in there when things go seriously wrong. Over the past 13 (almost) years, he's become a fix-it-all kind of guy. (In fact, he just replaced the door handle of the Corolla and the seatbelt in the Sienna too.) He's my hero!!!

Jake and Bree (especially Bree) are so happy to have their toilet back! Thanks Dad! We love you!!
Luke supervised the project and thought the whole process was very interesting. He's always been a huge toilet fan, but had no idea they could make for such fun outside too. What? It wasn't me!!!!

Hip Hop Power Girl

Breanna thought of the title for this post and she wanted to write the entry for it, so here's what's happening in her own words: Breanna is going to do a real recital and get to dance with her friends. She also gets to get dressed up in her costume and gets to go to the finale with all the screaming which is her favorite part of being in dance.

Breanna put aside her tap and ballet shoes and decided she wanted to give hip hop a try this year. I had no idea this girl would be so great at it! At their dance studio, they don't let parents watch towards the end of the season, because they want to keep everything a surprise. I went to the dress rehearsal today and was completely blown away. She can even do the Coffee Grinder. Here is a little clip from the rehearsal. (Breanna is in the front row, just right of the girl with the brown hair in the center.)

This is Breanna with Georgia after their final performance! Great job girls!

Pinewood Derby and Chocolate Goop

Pinewood Derby was back in March (I think!). Not posting pictures of this would be like not posting pictures of Christmas as this is one of Jake's favorite events of the year, so I'm doing a retro post. His car was fast, but he didn't exactly win. He still had a good time though. I can't believe next year will be his last one!

Waiting intently....
Jake's Fan Club. Luke is taking this event very seriously. Bree's getting ready to some pictures.

On a different note, I thought I would throw a few of these in. This is one of the first good lickin's for Luke. Bree and Jake took about a million pictures of him and they were laughing so hard as the chocolate goop smeared further and further across his face. Would someone please get this sticky stuff off my face???

Webelo

After an amazing week at scout camp, Jake officially became a Webelo. He was so excited for pack meeting. Here he is getting his awards for stuff he earned at scout camp. BTW, scout camp was fantastic this year. Lisa did an amazing job organizing so many things. They boys did bowling, the rock museum, tennis, golf, horseback riding, flag football, computers and hiking. It was so great. Jake loves to be outdoors and scouting is his thing. Way to go Jakeiddybee!

And now for the real moment he was waiting for.....The famous flip as he got his Webelo neckerchief. (He loved the stuffed bobcat that you can see next to him laying on the drum.)

Jake's buddy Caleb getting ready to drink the "blood of the wolf". The look in his eyes really fit the moment! This was not your ordinary pack meeting. There's Jake's blond head that I just couldn't crop out of the picture.

2 boys earned their Arrow of Light. They did a big ceremony and shot fire arrows into the air. Very cool!

My Perfect 10!

Jake turned 10 on May 26th! It's impossible to believe his age now holds 2 digits. I wish that my scanner worked because I would love to show some pictures of Jake when he was a baby. He came out with a head full of brown hair! He was one of the cutest babies EVER. He was always smiling. And his smile was not just any smile. He was one of those babies that somehow made sure every muscle in his face was smiling. He was so HAPPY!! He has that smile still. But now it's a more selective smile that usually surfaces when he's talking about bugs or animals or pokemon or webkinz or jokes or dinosaurs or video games or ketchup.

Here are a few fun pictures of my Jake's big day. Man, I love this kid! And except for the one shortcoming of his being so intent on growing up, he's my perfect 10!

Jake decided to do a Survivor Party with a few buddies. The boys drew bandannas for teams and it was Jake and Peter vs. Luke and Caleb.We had a treasure hunt which led to water balloons. A few tosses and then it was war.
Here's the obstacle course. They liked this so much, they asked to do it over and over. Here's the scooter race.


Hoops. (Yes, that is a soccer ball. We improvised.)



Ten seat drops while getting sprayed with the hose.Run over to the rock wall, climb up, then slide down.


When I put Jer in charge of the hose, I pictured the boys getting "misted". Such a mom word. He completely drenched them. Thank heaven for Dads!
We set up a bunch of cans with a team name on each one. The boys had to shoot down the cans of the other team w/o knocking their own cans down.

Mushed worms, rat droppings, crushed beetles.... no survivor party would be complete without the food contest. Caleb won this hands down. Peter threw up.... well sort of. In doing so, he inspired the other boys to do some serious fake puking as well. Ah the joys of being 10!!

The muddy earthworm birthday cake.

These guys picked the perfect presents for Jake. He's had a blast playing with everything.

Happy 10th Jake! Thanks for making these past 10 years the happiest!!! We love you!