New Swing Set

A few weeks ago we bought a used swing set for $75. They normally run between $400-$500. We thought we were getting a good deal. However, when Jesse went to pick it up it was in pretty bad shape, which you couldn't see in the pics. The wood was rotted in most places, and the rope ladder was all frayed and the bars were broken. Jesse spent 2 weeks replacing all the rotten wood (basically re-building the thing). Ethan was so excited, first to have the swing set, and then to be able to "fix" it, he was out there every night with Jesse "helping". He wore the new giraffe rain boots that Nana Conn, and Aunt Cristina sent him (THANKS guys!). Here are some before and after pics. The kids are absolutely LOVING the new addition to our yard. And, I LOVE that they have more to do outside. Thanks Daddy for all your hard work on the swings, they look great, and now it's SAFE! What a handy guy my hubby is!

By the way, we miss you and can't wait for you to get home (he's in New York this week).

New Swing Set

Real-Real Race Cars

Me and my boy, he's got a real-real race car in each hand.
What's THAT face?
Thinking, I think?
This is our Unilever car (Ragu). Driver Kasey Kahne.

Whats up Ya'll. There is a first for everything???? Right???? This is Jesse and I had a great day with my boy yesterday at Real-Real Race Cars, and Cassandra was procrastinating the blog, so I thought that I would shock everybody and POST, something that I said I would never do. But Here it goes.


For a long time Ethan has loved cars. Go back several blogs ago and you can see the pictures of Ethan with all of his cars on his bed. But I showed him Nascar on TV and he called them 'Real-real Race Cars'. Many of you know that I work for Unilever, and we have many different brands. We have a car on the Nationwide Series, #9, Kasey Kahne. We sometimes get tickets to some of the big races so, I asked the lady in our office who is in charge of getting tickets for events like these if she ever gets tickets for the race up in KC, she said rarely. But, she got several and she gave them to me. So Ethan got the tickets for is birthday and he and I got to go to the races up in KC. As a three-year-old, his attention span lasted about ten minutes,considering the race lasts three to four hours, I knew I had to do something. So, we left in the middle of the race and just came back for the end. We had tickets for today's race too, but there is no way that Ethan would have made it through another day.


It was an experience to say the least. There were normal people there. But I tell you what, there was also a lot of camo wearin', beer drinking, mullet- wearin', cigarrette smokin', cut-off sleeves fannel shirt wearin' folk that were spending a lot of money on nothing...well it was something, but it was what I could have bought at Walmart for 1/4 of the cost, instead of at the gift shop there.


Peace out and let me know what you think of my first blog!


P.S. When Jesse took over the blog for today I got worried, but I am relieved AND proud so, this is Cassandra Conn, and I approve this message!

Where The Wild Things Are

Ethan loves reading books. We pick out a stack for his bedside and rotate them every few weeks because he likes repetition. He has been memorizing stories since he turned 2. We finally recorded him reciting "Where The Wild Things Are".

Stylin'

Avery loves her sunglasses. She will wear them ALL day if she can. I LOVE it! and then when she adds the binki it's just classic!

Ethan and Avery Antics

Another journal entry...

The Teacher and His All -Too Eager Student

A few Sundays ago Ethan and Avery snuck into Nana and Papa's room while Papa was getting ready for church. Papa was in the bathroom shaving when he heard them. Just as he was about to check on them...

Ethan: "No, Avery, don't do that!"

Papa (thinking): "Oh good, Ethan will keep her out of mischief."

A moment later...

Ethan: "Look Avery, you do it like this!"

The Lesson of the day...The correct way to climb on the bed and jump off the end.

This picture was "posed". I did NOT catch them and THEN run for the camera! We have had enough trips to the ER! They sure are happy to be allowed to be on the big bed for a picture though!

The Story about Ethan!

Setting: Monday night family home evening...The lesson is on how to say I'm sorry when we make a wrong choice.

First we talked about what some choices we make sometimes that are not good. Ethan listed, pushing Avery, and biting (he has a thing with coming up behind us and biting our rears, I told you he was weird). I started telling a story about a little boy named Travis and his friend Matthew. Ethan wanted to me to change the boy Travis to him and call him Ethan. So, I did. So the story goes like this.

Ethan and Matthew were really good friends. One day Ethan went to Matthew's house to play. Ethan really liked all of Matthew's toys, and decided that he wanted to borrow some, so he put a few toys in his pocket. The story goes on to say how he took the toys without asking and that was a wrong choice. And it made Ethan feel bad because he was not honest with his friend. Anyway, as I went on telling the story Ethan interrupted me and said " That boy is Ethan Hughes NOT Ethan Conn OK?" Ethan Hughes is Ethan's best friend, poor guy! (Picture below).

So he went from wanting the story to be about him to THAT BOY IS NOT ME. After laughing hysterically for a few minutes, I was actually very impressed by how much he listened and understood about the story. I remember Brendan (Ethan's uncle) would always shift blame, during family prayer when we would coach him what to say, ie, "Please bless Brendan to be good", he would always change the name to Jessica.

A Bendable Stem!!!

I started homeschooling Ethan for preschool a few weeks ago. I found a really great curriculum online (and it's free). It's perfect for our schedule, and Ethan really likes it so far. This week our theme was Jungles, and our vocabulary word is VINES. The definition of a vine...Vines are plants with long bendable stems; they grow along the ground or climb up trees. We put everything we learn each day on a "learning poster", and each day we review what we learned the day before and then teach a new concept. You never really know how much kids are learning until the surprise you.

Yesterday Ethan was playing in the backyard in his sand box, and then he started collecting grass, and branches, and sticks and stuffing them into his cozy coupe. All of a sudden, and I have never seen him so excited. He runs up to me with a long green stem and says, "Mommy, I found a bendable stem". He was so excited that he found a "vine", and I was so proud of him for recognizing it.

I decided to homeschool him for preschool to save money at first, and I am loving it. I have so much fun bonding with him, and he is such a smart kid. He is always surprising me with how much he ALREADY knows.

Head Case!

Last night Jesse and I had a fun date night, at the ER. This is our second trip with one of the kids in the last 8 months. That doesn't seem to be a great record so far.



The First Time... Nana was babysitting, and I had just left and was about 1/2 way to my destination when I got a call, "Avery fell out of the highchair." She landed on her head. We took her to the ER, after a CT scan and lots of $$$ later, fortunately she was OK!



I think...she may have some long term damage. I can seem to get her to understand that not EVERY animal says "woof, woof". Every time she sees a cow she says "woof woof".



The Second Time...Ethan spilled some water on the floor and then slipped in it. He hit the side of his head. He didn't really cry, just whimpered a little, but when I looked at him I could tell he was in shock a little. All the color had left his face, and he was suddenly lathargic. I held him for a while and then we went to take a bath. After the bath he started throwing up, and I knew we would need to take him in. Throwing up after hitting your head is not a good sign. We got to the ER, and he threw up again! Luckily he was fine, of course after lots more $$$ and a CT scan.



While at the ER he kept begging to Please see the doctor. What a weird kid! He also, may have some long term damage. Now, when I ask him a question, he just roars. Is that normal??? He tells me he's The Beast! I think he may watch too many movies!



Thankfully our two little head cases really are OK! I hope our ER streak is over for a long time. Somehow, I think that's not going to be the case. What with Ethan (who always gets the comment, "WOW he's got energy"), and Avery who has been climbing since before she could walk (I'll post some pics of the heights she's acheived.

More from our PRIZE Garden!

We finally picked the last thing from our garden. We got 4 watermelon (this one was the biggest), tons of cucumbers, tomatoes, banana peppers, 3 BIG zuccinis, 2 butternut squash, crook neck squash, green onions, basil, AND jalepenos. We used it all too!!!! Ethan loved helping to pick things from Nana's garden. I think he looks so old in this picture, maybe it's his really corny smile!

Ethan's 3 Year Pictures

Monday we took Ethan to get his 3 year pictures taken. I have to say we probably spent a little too much, but it was really fun, and I think they turned out great! He was really excited to get his picture taken, and besides having to drag him out from behind the backdrops repeatedly he did really good.

Ethan's 3 Year Pictures