Halloween-here we come!

This is usually what the front of the Jackman house looks like toward the end of August when we are getting tired of all the heat and sun! Autumn is my favorite time of year (I love all the colors and the weather) so I start decorating early! I take down all the bright spring/summer decor and swap it out for the orange, yellow, reds and browns!

The last week of September, Ryan gets out all of the Halloween decor and it takes usually about 1 week to get it all up!

Halloween is my favorite holiday! The scarier the better. When we were looking at houses, we would look at them with Halloween and Christmas decorating in mind! All three of our homes were/are the focal point of the neighborhood during the holidays!

Today I enlisted the help of the little boys with the window decorations. They helped me decide what should go where! Yesterday, we got to painting again and this time we made spiders from our hand prints. They loved it-they turned out really cute too!

Here is how to make them:

You will need:
white paper
black craft paint
white craft paint
paint brush or cotton balls
optional - plastic goggle eyes

Instructions:

1. Use a paint brush or cotton balls to apply black paint to your child's palm and four fingers (omit the thumb).

2. Have your child make a hand print on white paper.

3. Turn the paper around, and make another hand print, overlapping the palm area.

4. Paint over any extra white areas in the spider body (the palm part of the the print) and let the spider dry.

5. Attach goggle eyes, or paint white circles for the eyes.

6. You can cut out the spider if you wish, or hang it just as it is!

Ghost feet, be very scared!

It is hard to believe in one month it will be Halloween! Today it was in the mid to upper 80's, so it is really hard to get into the Halloween mood; but we are trying! Last week, I decided to make ghost feet with Mason and Brandon.

Ghost feet are so easy to make (we made them at the preschool)!

What You Need:
Washable paint (white)
Construction paper (black)
Towels
A pan to put the paint in

What You Do:
Dip each child's foot into the white paint.
Have the children step onto the black piece of construction paper.
Turn the page upside down and paint black eyes onto the footprint shape in order to create a ghost.
Hang up the painting with fishing line for Halloween!

*I laminate mine, so I can keep them year after year.

*Be sure to write the year and child's age on the back!

My goal was to make two ghost for each boy, but that plan quickly changed! I did Mason's foot first and he was wiggly and squirmy; I was luck to get one made! Brandon wasn't as bad, but he wasn't willing to let me do two! I will have to try again another day!

I have a "ghost" foot for every Halloween since Mason has been born and one from Jacob since he was 4! They are cute to group together and hang from the ceiling as if they are floating!

I have created a MONSTER!

Here in the Jackman house, we have been working on cleaning up after ourselves. Jacob and Mason have been expected to do so since they were old enough to make a mess and the daycare kids are slowly catching on!

In the living room, we have a bin system set up with different toys (cars, food, dishes, Little People, books, oh- did I mention CARS!) for the kids to play with. I took pictures, laminated them and taped them to the inside of the bins so there would be no question as too where the items "live".

Yesterday it was just Mason and I at home, so we devised the same type of system in his room. He helped me take pictures of the toys and helped tape them to his bins! When it was time to clean his room before bed he was telling Daddy he wasn't putting things away right.

M- "Daddy, It doesn't go in that bin! It goes here!"

D- "Oh, I'm sorry! Where does this go!"

M- "Right here!"

Today, when Brandon came, Mason ran him over to the bins, emptied out the cars and showed him the picture on the bottom.

M-"This is where you put the cars when you are done playing with them!"

B- "Huh!"

M- "Put the cars in here!!!!"

B- "Huh!"

When it was time to clean up for lunch, we sang the clean up song and everyone went to work. Brandon picked up a pile of food and put it into the red Little People bin. Mason quickly ran to him and said, "No, the food goes here, in the yellow bin!"

Mason is such a neat freak! Everything has to be just so or it drives him crazy! I hate to admit it, but he takes after me in that regard! I'm glad I have one on my side though!

Soccer Season...Already!

This year Jacob has made the move to the "big" field in soccer. Last year, he was in second grade playing on a first grade team. There were not enough players that signed up, so it was the "little" field again. Jacob was okay with that because it meant not as much running.

This year, he had the choice to do soccer or little guy football. I was very excited when he chose soccer; he is not the physical type.

He is one of 5 third graders on a fourth grade team and they are having a hard time knowing what to do.

I hope he sticks with soccer! He has improved so much from his first season. When he first started playing, he ran in circles around the ball. He was afraid someone might kick him. After the first game, I told him that I would give him a quarter if he touched the ball; forget about making a goal! I think it was the end of the season before he earned his first quarter. After about two seasons, we graduated from the quarters to a dollar for a goal; we are still waiting for that first goal-maybe this year!

Week in review...

This week has been going pretty well. On Monday, the boys and I hung out outside for most of the day. We planted some flowers, fed the birds, picked some tomatoes (even some green ones), and had a lot of fun! I love this age. They are understanding more, asking great questions, and going on many adventures!

I love to watch them interact together; showing the other something new and exciting. It is so nice to have them grow up together; even if they do fight like brothers! For the longest time, they didn't even realize there was another person around; it was all about them.

This morning, we finished planting the plants, pulled out all the "sad" things in the garden, and ran after some "squitos"! It was great fun. Now it is time for some R & R, so we can make ghost feet when we wake up!

Update... at my wits end!

So this week has gone a little better. I realized that the little person is used to getting and doing what ever he/she wanted! The child has been here for about three months and one would figure that he/she would have caught on by now; but NO!

The highlight of the week was having the child spit in my husband's face. Ryan asked him/her to move over in the chair and the child told him "NO!" Ryan said, "You don't tell me No! Move over!" The child climbed down, got up in Ryan's face and spit! I just don't get it! It is a complete lack of respect for a child to spit in an adults face. What parent or child, thinks that is okay?

I am really having a hard time keeping my cool with it. My child would have done it once, been punished for it, and never done it again; I would make sure of that! I put this child in time out, have taken away privileges, and nothing seems to help!

Mason is starting to model some behaviors that this child is showing, and to be honest, I am very upset about it. It is really hard to be so strict with my own child; knowing that I can't be with other people's children. Hopefully it will get easier or I will go out of my mind; which ever comes first!

At my wits end...

I am not sure what to do! I have taken many early childhood education classes and have attended many trainings on how to deal with difficult behaviors, but this child broke the mold. I need help figuring out how to get through to this child.

Said child is two and a half, and the only form of communication this child has is crying and whining! Whenever said child doesn't get what he/she wants, said child throws one major tantrum; hitting, kicking, throwing up, spitting in people's faces, the works. I know I did say they were two, but this goes beyond the "terrible twos" phase! Usually, I just say, "I know your upset because you didn't get ... and that is okay. Maybe you can have that later!" That just sets this child off more; then I become the target for the hitting and the like!

A couple of days ago, I sang the clean up song so we could have lunch. This child looked me in my face and told me "NO!" I reminded the child that we clean up everyday before lunch and that the others needed help putting the toys away! The child told me "NO!" again! I then "assigned" jobs...you pick up all the cars; you pick up all the babies; you pick up all the dress-up clothes; and so on! Everybody did their "assignment"(even the two 18 month olds), and said child did not. I told him/her, "You can not come to the table and eat until all of the cars are put away!" The child looked at me, screamed and laid on the floor. The other kids were done with lunch, had been cleaned up, and were laying on their beds, before the cars had been cleaned up!

I just don't know what to do anymore! I am at my wits end with this child. I have talked to this child's parent, but they just keep making excuse after excuse, and I am tired of hearing it! I know how hard it is to hear that your child is not doing what they are supposed to, but work with the person to help fix it!

The fence is FINALLY going up!

When we purchased this house, we decided early on that we would fence in the yard! We live on a corner lot and people driving up the street can see into the back of our house, so we hoped to do it soon after moving in. Well, we have lived here 2 1/2 yrs now and after many long days of chasing the kids out of the street, we finally put up a fence.

I wanted to do the fence first, but Ryan had other ideas. Ryan and our GREAT neighbor Darrell put in a retaining wall to level out the yard; that was a job.

Finished wall! They did a great job!

Then my father-in-law brought his tractor over and tilled the yard, leveled it and helped us put a sprinkler system in.

Grandpa Jeff, Jacob, and Jeff's neighbor Darrell putting in the sprinklers!

When we got our stimulus check we decided to use it on the fence. I was ecstatic. We got to work on it Wednesday afternoon and Ryan and Darrell had seven holes dug in about 4 hours. They did such a good job.

Thursday, they finished digging the rest of the holes along the back and most up the sides!
On Friday, all the daycare kids left by noon, so I went out and put up all the fence boards along the back stretch. The sun was out and I got a little red, but it wasn't too bad.
This morning, Ryan and I went out early and finished the side and the front where the gate is going to go. Ryan has to work tonight, so we wanted to get as much done as possible. We have to finish the gate, and then our yard will be secure for the kids and dog to run.
Today it was a little hotter, and I was already red from yesterday! I am feeling the pain, now!

In the weeks to come, we will be digging out the floor beds, and planting some fall plants and bulbs. I can't wait!

First day of 3rd grade!

Today was Jacob's first day in Ms. Cleary's third grade class! He was so excited to go back to school and see all of his friends and old teachers! Every morning, he visits all his old teachers for a good morning hug! (It's kind of weird with Jacob having some of the same teachers that I had, or having my friends as teachers!)

With the new school year fast approaching, Jacob has been TRYING to go to bed earlier-without luck, I might add! Last night came upon us pretty fast and we had a lot to get ready before the first day of school!

When Jacob woke up this morning, he got up and was ready to go about an hour and a half before school even started. We had breakfast, and talked about what type of things he thought they would do on the first day. He was sure they would do some reading, maybe writing, and of course MATH! He insists that he "hates" math, yet he is good at it; it comes easy to him!

We talked a lot about making good choices and not following what the other kids are doing! He was very concerned that the neighbor boy was in his class! He picks on Jacob and gets him into trouble; Jacob tends to be a follower! I told him to remember his manners and if he remembered what was right then he would be fine!

When I picked him up this afternoon, he told me that he made sure to make the "RIGHT" choices and that he had fun!

J- "Momma, I think I'm gunna like the third grade!"

M- "I thought you would!"

On the way home, I had tears rolling down my face. It really hit home that my baby is really in the third grade. I can remember every moment of the day that he was born, just like it was yesterday! It is hard to believe the cute little butter ball that I brought home from the hospital is now 8 years old. Time goes by faster than ever- this just reminds me to take in all the memories that I can!