Homework

Artwork by Jonas: September 2008

The list of favorites (above) came home with Jonas in his "Homework" folder on the second day of school. The answers crack me up. I love that he listed sandwiches as his favorite food which is so true. He would never answer cake or candy or fudgecicles even though he really likes all of those because he knows that food is something you eat at meals. If you asked about his favorite snack, however, you might get some of those sweeter answers. After seeing his answer I feel satisfied that I have brainwashed him enough regarding food.

I laughed out loud at his answer for favorite game. Scooby Doo? What? I didn't even know that he knew Scooby Doo. I asked him about it and he said it was a game at school. So his favorite game is one he played for the first time ever that same day. Wow. Must be super-cool.

I really love his painting. LOVE. IT. Pretty sure this is going in a frame. (Some of you think I'm kidding but I am sooooo not.)


Directions: Glue beans on the dotted lines. I love that he is getting to be so crafty. Wonder where he gets that?

JAC 2004

Photos: July-December 2004

More leftover photos put to good use. I love going through the photos of Jonas as a tiny baby. He seems like a giant now compared to all these photos.

Favorites: Ducky Hood, 1 month old (top middle) and Camo Hat, 5 months old (bottom right.)

NOTE: Apologies to Frank for inadvertently shaving off most of your head....I got a little carried away when I was editing this layout on the computer. Oopsie. Hope it didn't hurt too much. =)

The Cove

Video and Photos: September 8, 2008

We've been on vacation this week, or "stay-cation" as Tony likes to call it. Other than a weekend trip up to Yakima to see Tony's sis Tammy and family we have just been hanging out around Central Oregon.

In keeping with our getting-the-most-out-of-our-summer goal we took a day trip to Lake Billy Chinook (aka The Cove for anyone who grew up around here.) I have fond memories of skipping school and hanging out at The Cove....oh, no, did I say skipping? I meant spending non-school hours at The Cove swimming and fishing and just being a typical (yet weird) teenager. Neither Tony or I had been to The Cove for a long time. We were excited to go, especially during the week when everyone would be in school (except for those naughty teenagers that skip!) and that would mean a pretty quiet afternoon lakeside. The one thing we didn't think about was that in late summer and fall there is the dreaded Algae Bloom. Just by the name most people can guess that this is not a good thing. I really had to play it off like it was no big deal so that Jonas would get in the water and play and have a good time. I, of course, did not get in the disgusting water but I acted like the green slime floating around everywhere was the coolest thing in the world. And we're not talking about some seaweed type leaves/plants bobbing around. This was serious slime that was absolutely thick in the water. Sick!


Click on this photo and you can see pretty well how horrifically green the water is.

That's a awfully little boy in a great big world. We really enjoyed the great scenery.


"Push me on the raft, Dad! Push me, push me!!"

We enjoyed some hotdogs for lunch. This is actually Jonas' second hotdog that he had for a "snack" when he got hungry a couple hours after lunch. Mmmm, beefy.

First Day of Preschool

Photos and Video: September 4, 2008

Finally!!! Here we go on the big adventure of school. Jonas started his first year of preschool at the Kidz Center School. We are very excited about Jonas going to a Christian preschool and it's even better that it is a Four Square Church (like ours) and we know the pastors there pretty well. Jonas is very excited to go. He would be even more excited if the school bus would pick him up but he says he'll just pretend that our truck is the school bus. Thank goodness for a fantastic imagination.

We weren't sure how Jonas would do with being left at school even though it's only 3 1/2 hours, two days a week. Two weeks before the year started we went to the Open House night to see his classroom and meet his teacher and (in theory) aleviate any fears he had about school. When we pulled up in front of the school, where he had never been before and had no idea where to go, he said happily: "Thanks for dropping me off at school, mom and dad. See you later!!!" He was fully prepared to just cross the street and find his school and class all by himself. He was actually quite disgruntled that we would not leave. "Ok. You can go now mom. MOM! You're supposed to leave!" He was absolutely crushed when it was time to go home. Over the next two weeks leading up to the first day Jonas reminded us frequently that "You will take me to school and then you leave, okay mom?" Very insistant upon finally gaining some independance.



Jonas is lucky to have a friend from church, Mani, in his class. She's a very sweet girl and we love that they are in the same class this year.
When I picked Jonas up from school that day, his teacher, Miss Donna, said that he got a little upset when he realized that he had to leave his pencil box and supplies at school. He actually started tearing up talking about it as we drove away.

"She said we haveta leave our lunch boxes at school, mom."
"Ya, it's a pencil box."
"Right. Pencil box. We haveta leave our pencil boxes at school." (sniff, sniff)

A fascinating interview before school.

Big Wheel Boy

Photos and Video: August 28, 2008

Jonas has finally figured out the whole pedaling deal on his Big Wheel. Awesome.



And now for the live-action:

Back to the Great Outdoors

Photos: August 8-9, 2008

We met up with our friend Jamey and Tracy for round two of summer camping. It was so very easy to just show up at their camping spot at Paulina Lake. They are incredibly experienced campers and had everything you could ever think of needing while camping. We only stayed one night but made the most of it playing and going on some adventures.

First adventure: Hiking along the lake. The best part of this was some photo-ops along the way with Austin and Emily. Pretty much anything that Austin and Emily are doing is what Jonas wants to do, too. Aren't they cute in their little bucket hats?


Between adventures Jonas and Emily played ring toss at the campsite.


And of course played in the tent...our new tent that was a gift from Scott and DeAnne. It was great to have such a big tent just for the 3 of us. Lots of room to move around.

Adventure #2: First fishing trip. Jonas suited up for fishing. Safety first!



Out on the boat the kids had a lot of fun but no one caught anything. That was okay since they were mostly in it for the fashion.

Photo below shows as close to fishing as Jonas got. He abandoned his pole after a couple minutes and Tony was left holding the tiny florescent green kids pole.

Adventure #3: checking out Paulina Falls. The very top photo on this post is also at the falls. We walked around for a little bit to check things out and, of course, get some more super cute photos of the kids.




Adventure #4: Hiking through the Obsidian Flow. If you're ever around the Paulina Lake area, near LaPine, OR, check out this Obsidian Flow. It's incredible. It was a little more treacherous for the kids (esp. Jonas) than we expected but was really amazing. All this was lava that flowed out when Mt. Newberry erupted.



Near the highest point on the Obsidian Flow trail.

Emily showing off her incredible muscles. She pretty and strong!

Adventure #5: Paulina Peak. Just before we left on saturday afternoon we all drove up to Paulina Peak where you can see all of the Newberry Caldera (crater) which has Paulina Lake and East Lake in it. You can also see a lot of the Cascade Range mountains. Very impressive.

I imagine this is the same pose as the original discoverer of Paulina Lake, Mr. Paulina.
(pretty sure my eyes are closed, don't look too closely)

All Aboard

Photos: August 23, 2008

Jonas' dream of actually riding on a train came true. We were out at Terrebonne Days and there was this awesome little train driving around all over town. Once we found out were the depot was, we waited and waited til it was Jonas' turn to ride. Although he would have rather been the driver than a passenger, he still thought it was the coolest thing ever! And that was before he found out that the train made a stop along the way for everyone to get popcorn. What a fabulous day for Jonas.

Everyone Loves a Parade

Photos: August 2, 2008
Deschutes County Fair Parade

Is there any happier moment in a child's life than when they have their cup holder full of parade candy that they have scrounged for off of the filthy street? I think not.

Jonas had an awesome time at the parade this year. Previous parades have been a little disappointing but this year was great. It was almost as cool as I remember it being when I was a kid. Every year I would walk away with a grocery sack stuffed full of candy. Did my mom really let me eat all that candy? (I'm so thankful that we only ended up with a couple small handfuls which Jonas ate 5 pieces of.)

Below is the Eberhard's milk truck which was handing out small cartons of chocolate milk! This is the first time I've witnessed chocolate milk at a parade. This really blows away all the rootbeer barrels and starlight mints that were in my candy bag!
Examining his chocolate milk.

Another really cool first time appearance was the Terrebonne Thriftway float. Someone had the ingenious idea of crafting an enormous grocery cart and filling it with all sorts of candy and food. There was also candy and food walking along in front of the cart. It was awesome but the photos, unfortunately, do not do it justice. (click on photos to get a better look.)


Jonas was much more courageous about getting after the candy this year. At previous parades he could hardly find the candy 2 feet away from him. This year he would (after asking) run out into the middle of the street during a break in the parade to get a stray piece of candy. Below shows the joy on the run back.