Rocket Derby!!

The Elder's Quorem at church recently had an activity that my boys were VERY excited about (especially Dustin!). They held a Rocket Derby! Jack had fun cutting out the shape of the car when we were in Kansas in Grandpa's shop.

Then he got to paint the car with his daddy (which up until it happened he reminded us EVERY day that we needed to paint this car....)

Then they had to add the finishing touches....

Jack with "The Jack Attack" before races began!

Here are the proud boys with their car after its first run! (BTW, it was FREEZING!)

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Jack and his best buddy, Phoenix, watching the launches!

Some highlights from the activity....

The Jack Attack pretty much rocked each run, posting speeds like 69 mph and 71 mph. However, it took a beating each run too, bending axles, losing tires, etc. Between rounds of the bracket, Dustin frantically worked to piece the car back together, stealing pieces off of cars that were out of the running if necessary. It was pretty entertaining to watch!

It all paid off! Look who won the 100 Grands.... :)

And this is how much freezing cold, tired Zander cared about it all! :)

All in all it was a fun activity for my boys, and The Jack Attack is the reigning Washington Park ward Rocket Derby champ! Wahoo! :)

Little Kickers

We decided to sign Jack up for Little Kickers, soccer for 3 and 4 year olds at the Rec Center! I also decided I would try being the coach! (I decided that it doesn't matter how much experience or knowledge you have with soccer, that all means nothing when coaching this age level!) It was definitely a fun adventure!

Here is the adventure with the Green Eagles (and Jack's first attempt at organized sports) documented in pictures.

Jack seemed really excited to play soccer, especially when I bought him shin guards, socks, and a soccer ball! :) Jack loves to run and kick balls, so I thought he would be totally into soccer....

But this little maneuver in the kitchen before the first practice may have been my first sign that soccer for my 3 year old would not go as planned... :)

Some of these pictures make it look like Jack was a little baller.....those may have been the only times he touched the ball.

And see the bottom right hand picture of me and him....awww...no! I am probably threatening him that if he doesn't kick the ball he doesn't get to do something he really wanted to do....like take Chewie for a walk.....

I had fun coaching. 3 and 4 year olds have A LOT of energy! It was fun to look up and find drills (like letting the kids kick the ball at me and I run around yelling "OUCH" as they giggle and chase me) but also very frustrating at times because 3 and 4 year olds rarely listen and have VERY short attention spans. Plus there was a very large range in skill level. Plus, I think Jack might have listened better to someone other than his mom. But the kids showed me lots of love and I had fun, making a fool of myself and all!

Everyone's favorite part was the cheering....."GO GREEN EAGLES!" (I love all the facial expressions in these pictures!)

So now for some pictures that show the TRUE story of Jack's first attempt at soccer.

This picture shows that he much rather would have participated with his friend Eli's team, at least for stretching. (Notice the only green shirt...that would be Jack!)

I don't even know....maybe doing the hula during the game?

Literally twiddling his thumbs....This was indoor, but if there was grass or daisies to pick, my son would have been the one doing that in the middle of the game! :)

Apparently all tuckered out from his one run at the ball...

Seriously?

But seriously cute too! :) I can't wait to show these pictures to Jack when he is a star athlete when he is older, show him how his adventures in athletics began! :)

Thanks for a fun little season Green Eagles! :)

A visit from Grandma Hansen

We were lucky enough a few weeks ago that my mom chose to come visit US for her Spring Break! We loved having her here for a few days! I really think my mom is amazing! Here are few fun things we did: we read stories, chatted, went to the store, played games, went out to eat, and played with Playdoh.

We also colored some Easter pictures, played with eggs, and made a Countdown to Easter chain.

Also while my mom was here we decided to bust out the sewing machine my mother-in-law got me for Christmas and my mom gave me a lesson in sewing. We decided to start with something really simple: pajama pants for Jack! He picked some "Cars" material from the store, and my mom and I sat down for an adventure in sewing! My mom is a great teacher! She was encouraging when I was nervous, and it was fun to spend this time with her!

Jack was very excited when he woke up from his nap and saw the finished product!

My mom sneakily put treats in some eggs that Jack had handed her! His face was pure happiness when he got them back and discovered candy had magically appeared in them! My mom and I laughed and cried with delight at the pure joy on his face!

My mom is such a wonderful mom and Grandma! Both boys enjoyed having her visit!

I know we didn't do much while you were here mom, and the weather of course wasn't the best, but thanks so much for wanting to spend some of your Spring Break with us! We loved having you and WE LOVE YOU! Thanks for everything!

Spring Break in Kansas

Dustin had to work the first few days of the week during UW's spring break, but when he got off on Wednesday we headed to Kansas for a few days. We had lots of fun enjoying nicer weather, eating delicious fried food {seriously! why do I love that stuff so much!?}, making brownies, visiting Grandma's classroom, helping Grandpa in the yard, playing with an old dollhouse and dad's old cars, visiting the Lumberyard, playing outside, playing inside, and watching lots of March Madness.

The most important matter of business {pleasure} to take care of in Kansas was to meet our newest niece, Audrey! We definitely enjoyed snuggling a new little baby girl!

Here is Dustin with his sis's newest baby girl. I think it is so interesting that Dustin has had two boys and his sister has had two girls. Maybe third time will be the charm for us both to get a different gender!

There are two wonderful things about when this picture was taken: 1) I was snuggling a sweet baby girl. 2) I am outside in a capris and a short sleeve shirt. Such nice weather! I even got to go for a lengthy, wonderful run outside around town while there!

Jack couldn't get enough of snuggle time with Audrey. Hmm...he needs a little sister.

Zander wasn't quite sure of the littlest one, as you may be able to tell from this picture!

Zander loves to be outside, but he definitely is not a fan of grass. He cracked us up with his extreme Superman pose every time we laid him down in the grass!

Jack loves visisting Grandma and Grandpa Enslinger and playing with his cousin Gillian! I just love this picture of Grandma with the kiddos. I love Jack's arm just casually draped over Grandma's shoulder.

Jack and Gillian were slightly obsessed with their "lipstick." Thankfully Grandma had spare tubes! :)

Zander NEVER holds still to get dressed. It was quite hilarious to watch Jack and then Gillian chasing Z around and trying to get his pants on!

Grandma and Grandpa with their four beautiful grandkids!

I am always amazed at how Dustin and his sister look nothing alike! They definitely care so much for each other though, and it is very sweet to see - if they ever let us get a glimpse!

Of course the kids are always spoiled at Grandma's. Zander got his first taste of popsicles and Cheetos on this visit! Mmmmmm....

I love some of these snapshots of the kiddos. And the one with Grandma, happy as can be in GrandmaLand! Isn't the one of Jack giving Audrey a kiss just precious? Yeah, a little sister needs to be in his future!

And these pictures are so fun! They totally show these kiddos' personalities and I love the different poses! They are very candid, and really show how much fun these guys can have together!

Gillian and Jack saying goodbye! So precious now, but gonna be awesome to tease them with later in life! :)