Jaydenisms

"When I read it's like I go into a different world. It's almost like going to sleep."

 

"People take you more seriously when you wear sunglasses."

Pinewood Derby & Daddy Daughter Dance

Jayden got 2nd at the Pinewood Derby! His car was named "The Phantom Driver" and they gave him the award for "Most Inspirational Theme" because it was a Star Wars car. 

 That same night Josh and Sidney had a daddy daughter dance at the school, which Sidney had been ecstatic about. Dancing, dessert, and photo booth, they had fun. She is his little twin.

 

Jayden

Jayden made the A honor roll for the first semester. He's made the A honor roll every semester his whole school career, he continues to impress us. He also got a special award for music class.

Let Me Run

Jayden participated in a running program called Let Me Run. The boys trained for 7 weeks for a 5k. The day was perfect for the race. Josh did it with him, and Jayden did awesome. During practice he always took breaks from running to walk, but at the 5k he didn't stop running once! And his coach said it was the hardest 5k he's ever done. So I'm more than impressed! So awesome to see him work really hard for something.

 

Pre-race fun. 

 

 

Sidney cheering them on as we saw them nearing the finish line. 

 

After the race! Jayden was so happy to have earned a medal. He kept saying it was cool to do something to earn it, instead of like when he did soccer when he was little and everyone got one just because.

Chorus

Jayden joined the chorus this year. They meet twice a week before school. They've had a couple of little performances. One was at a women's volleyball game at Winthrop University.

Sidney got a real kick out of the mascot.

Jayden's 10th Birthday

Ten years have gone by since Jayden came into our family. It's hard to believe. With his birthday being on a weekday and his after school activities it didn't leave much time for partying. Tanner and I had lunch with him at school, and we went out for dinner.

 

Tanner was a riot at lunch. He is so social and goofy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were talking the other day about all the adventures Jayden has been on in his lifetime. It's a lot more than I did by the time I was his age. He has swam in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, been to 29 states (by the time I was 10 I'd been to maybe 6, and I didn't see the Atlantic Ocean until I was 26), has run through Texas blue bonnet fields, eaten ice cream at the bluebell factory, ridden to the top of the St. Louis Arch, visited Yellowstone, the Tetons, and the Smoky Mountains, hiked in the Rockies, the Blueridge Parkway, and been to the highest peak in the Oregon Coastal Range above the clouds, visited the Alamo, Nauvoo, Palmyra, and Kirtland, experienced Niagara Falls, he crossed the Mississippi during a minor earthquake, toured the largest aquarium in the world, stomped on grapes with his bare feet at the Biltmore, been to Disney World and Disneyland, hugged a giraffe, played under cover in a hailstorm with golf ball size hail, visited NASA, ridden a 100 year old carousel, he's seen the Space Needle, Mt. Ranier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood, has been to Temple Square and the Conference Center, and walked around the grounds of a dozen temples, and so so much more. I have loved experiencing it all with him, and it's still hard to wrap my mind around him getting older. Love this kid!



Zoo Field Trip

I was able to go on a field trip with Jayden in October. I was supposed to go on one with him a couple of years ago, but he got sick, so we missed it. Then the zoo was scheduled for a day when Hurricane Joaquin came through so it was postponed to a day when my babysitter was out of town. I called a half a dozen people to babysit before I was able to find two people who were able to split up the day. It's not the biggest deal, it just felt like everything was working against us, so I was determined to make it work because Jayden really wanted me to go.

 

It turned out to be a really fun day. The class split up so we had 6 kids in our group. They were a great group of kids. The weather couldn't have been better. Jayden took lots of pictures.

 

 

There were lots of giraffes and they were really friendly. The kids got to pet them and Jayden even gave one a hug. 

 

 



Conversation

Me: It's from when I was a teenager.
Sidney, jaw dropping: You were a teenager?!?!?
Jayden: It's hard to believe.

Mother/Son Date

Jayden and I had a really fun night out. It was just what the two of us needed. We started the evening out mini golfing. It was his first time and he loved it.

 

 

He wanted me to knight him. 

He chose to get dessert at the mall so we could browse the bookstore afterwards. We passed by the Disney Store so decided to look around for a while. Jayden was so cute, saying he loved feeling like we were at Disneyland.

Our last stop was Barnes and Noble where we got dessert at the café and then browsed the books. We are both huge book nerds, I love looking at any kind of book, and I still love looking at children's books. I bought him a book, and we just had the most fun night together. 



Fun Run

The kids love the Fun Run every year at school and this year I went for the first time to cheer them on. They work so hard, it was fun to watch them and all the kids out there running their little hearts out.

 

Sidney waved at me every time she ran past.

 

 

 

The 4th graders got to do a color run.

 

 

 



Jaydenisms

He said to Sidney about me and Josh, "The reason they tell us to do stuff is so they can feel like they're in power."

I could hear him talking to Sidney in the other room, saying, "So when you hear people say 'Gamecocks' say 'booooo, booooo' ok?" I guess adjusting back to the south might not be as hard as I thought. He has been devastated about our move. He had some great friends in Boise, and he's pretty upset that this is our third summer in a row moving. We feel awful, but I hope he'll remember that he liked it here before, and will get back into the swing of things.

Piano Recital

Jayden and Sidney started piano in January. They had their first recital in May. I didn't take any pictures of them individually. Mostly because I was so distracted by trying to keep track of Tanner, and Josh was out of town so I didn't have the help. I did get video of their songs, and they did awesome. They've made some wonderful progress. Their teacher is the sister of one of my best friends from high school. They both live here now and it's been so nice to have them back in my life for a little while. They both teach piano, so here's a group picture of their students. Lacey has been a great teacher, we are sad to be losing her.



Jaydenisms

Conversation in the car.

Jayden: Can teenagers get married?
Me: Well, technically they can, but they usually don't.
Jayden: Why?
Me: They have to get permission from their parents.
Jayden: Why? I don't get it.
Me: (I give him a spiel about how they aren't adults yet, they have to have permission, a few reasons why it's not a good idea, etc.
Jayden, not giving up, persists with questions.
Me, becoming at a loss for words.
Jayden: I just don't get it! Why do they have to get permission from their parents? It's just a beard!
Me: Wait, what? What was your question?
Jayden: Can teenagers grow a beard?
Me, laughing.

Jayden is 9!

And I'm freaking out a little because he's HALF WAY to 18! What in the world? The last 9 years have flown by, and it makes me want to cry thinking about how 9 more will fly by. I'm truly in a panic.

 

He had a Star Wars party. The boys had a great time, Jayden was a happy boy, goal achieved.

 

He wanted a wookie cookie cake. 

Played a few games.