2nd Annual Rocket Launch

The finished product before take-off.



The final salute.



Watch out camera man!

Stomp rocket fun!

Look at that height...

...and speed.

...Ready...

...Set...

...Blast-Off!!!

So this is what they call a stomp rocket! WHAT A BLAST!!!

Strawberries

I took three kids in tow ON MY OWN to our first big summer adventure to Lyman Orchards to pick strawberries. I was a little nervous about how I would handle 3 kids and still come home with any strawberries. My worries were resolved when my 2 oldest kids jumped in to help pick some strawberries and chase after Ty when they needed a break which allowed me to finish up the job. We ended up with about 12 pounds of strawberries.



What did we do with all of those strawberries? Well, chocolate covered strawberries were a must. We also made some fruit leather and last but not least some homemade strawberry jam. YUM!!!

Tasha was my SUPER CHEF who never left my side during the whole process of making the jam. In fact she washed and sliced all the strawberries except for a few.

After slicing the strawberries. Next came the fun part. MASHING them. Garrett put some muscle into it as you can see.

Finally, we filled up the containers.

Now we get to enjoy the FRUITS of our labors.

Bluefish

For a ward activity we headed to a Bluefish baseball game.



It drizzled for most of the game. The kids are trying to enjoy their cotton candy before it melts due to the rain.



Ty wasn't sure about eating the cotton candy UNTIL he tasted it.



And then he pretty much devoured it.







We weren't there for a long period of time before there was a heavy downpore. That pretty much ruined the fun. We looked like drowned rats. Sorry I have no picture to prove it, so you will just have to take my word for it.

We will attempt a baseball game once again in the future and HOPE for better weather.

Tad Poles

When my parents came to visit. We took a trip to Kent Falls.



There we found a whole bunch of tadpoles in pools of water around the Falls. Since I was teaching a Joy School lesson on frogs I thought it would be fun to actually show the boys some tadpoles and conduct an experiment to see if we could actually grow a frog. The boys wouldn't see the end result because school would be over, but I thought my kids would enjoy watching the transformation. The water bottle became the tadpoles transportation for their upcoming journey.



And so the experiment began. Unfortunately there were several that didn't make it, but we had 9 survive in all. They looked like fish for a good 2 weeks. It wasn't until the 3rd week that we actually saw dramatic changes.



First came the back legs and then the front and slowly they lost their tails as we saw them transform into a frog.



The end result: We ended up with four frogs and five tadpoles. We couldn't keep them long once they became frogs because they started to climb up the bowl.



It was time to take them to their new home, THE POND.



A sad goodbye.

Joy School 2008-2009

After seeing Mr. Grumpy all too often.

Guy Smiley has finally returned.

We have seen a tremendous change take place in Garrett. He has matured. His personality is shining through. He's full of life. He's more confident and willing to try new things. He will jump into any situation and just have fun. He has discovered that he can make friends and enjoys being with them.

Here are a few pictures of the fun we had this year in Joy School. Most of the pictures are from field trips we have taken.

Joy School has been a great experience not only for Garrett but also for myself. I had the priviledge of working with some great moms. Joy School has been a tremendous amount of work. I'm actually looking forward to having a break next year. However, I'm probably crazy enough to do it again with Ty when he reaches the same age. Now the challenge will be to find some crazy moms who are willing to do it with me.

Farewell

A,B,C, FAREWELL

A is for the alphabet which we know how to say.

B is for busy bodies -- at work and at play.

C is for color -- red, black, blue and green.

D is for drawing pictures, the best you've ever seen.

E is for exeercise to keep our bodies strong.

F is for the fun we've had as we have gone along.

G is for the good friends we made throughout the year.

H is for the happy faces, filled with love and cheer.

I for imagination used at every turn.

J is for good jobs and the praises that we've earned.

K is for kindness, we use in our play.

L is for learning -- more and more each day.

M is for minding and showing our respect.

N is for never knowing what to expect.

O is for obstacles we learned to overcome.

P is for puppets and for playing rhymes on a drum.

Q is for all the questions we've asked throughout the year.

R is for reading stories, even those that bring a tear.

S is for diffferent snacks, several we have tried.

T is for talking. It's not to be denied.

U is for unusual; it fits some things we've done.

V is for our volunteers -- parents every one!

W is for the world of words, the world we dipped into.

X is for extraspecial kids -- it's him, it's her, it's you.

Y is for yes, it has been a great year!

Z is for second-grade zest. We're ready have no fear!

Tasha's cello concert

Tasha has been doing a great job with the cello. She had her concert while Grandma and Grandpa Fredericks were here. We'll let you be the judge of how well she is doing.

Just so you know, she is one of the few first graders that uses the bow. She is really proud of her accomplishments and we are proud that she is such a good learner.