Jayden
Again, with the injury to the shoulder it has been hard to
keep up with my thoughts the past 6 months.
There have been so much great things happening with Jayden
that it is hard to remember it all. I do
know that Jayden has grown in so many ways, both educationally as well as
socially and physically. Kindergarten
went so well for him and we have to thank Cascade Elementary and Ms. Hepworth
who really did care about Jayden and his education. He did great scoring really high on his math
and language arts state assessment. He
scored almost perfect in math missing one shape question and was 93 percent in
language arts. Those scores really
impressed me as he showed knowledge AND the ability to sit and tell people what
he knows…
Jayden loved the start of summer as we started swim lessons
again. We did a lot of swimming and
hanging out at parks. He played and got
wet and just liked being outside. We
would set up pools and slides in the backyard and the kids had a great time. He was pretty good with Kallee and she was a
pest to him. But he would entertain her
and they would just have a grand old time.
Memorial Day was once again a smash hit with both Jayden and
Kallee getting dirty a lot… and a lot.
Jayden got to do more walking adventures and then even got to watch duck
race. He has lots of kids that he can
play with up in Concunully WA. It is
truly one of the thing we look forward to every year.
And then, just that fast…. We were headed to Hawaii.
During the Months of February through May, both my wife and
I work a lot…. A LOT. Alison and I work
hard too during that time. But when
vacation comes,,,, we play hard…
We get to go to our Maui Home for 23 glorious days. And we play like a family hard. I know that my parents would watch Kallee
and Jayden more if we asked them too… but the thing is. We really want them around. The point of the vacation was to go out and
make memories as a family,… no matter how exhausted I get… and I do…. but to
see my son and see how he is…
Here is a story about him and first day we were there. We went to our favorite establishment in
Moose McGuillicuttys in Keihi. We have a great meal and then across the
street the sun is setting over the Pacific.
We hit the beach and Jayden is told he can get his feet wet… then his
shorts are wet,,, then he stumbles and his whole body is wet… no problem… so we
stay and he and Kallee are happy and Alison and I are enjoying the setting of a
perfect day…… so far.
As we are walking back to the car,,, Jayden says “what
happens if I fall and ….oopppSSS”,,, right after I told him to be careful not
to get sand on him. He falls and is
completely covered in sand… head to toe… I go BALLISTIC!! I am losing it on him, but everyone else on
the beach is laughing at me,,, saying to
themselves… been there done that… I look at all the smiles of sympathy
pointed at both myself and my son and just walk to the car… and Jayden has no
problem as he is driven home naked wearing his moms sweatshirt… It gave
everyone there a good feeling about life and where they were and kids…
Jayden was given so many opportunities to enjoy life in Maui
and he did. I get so much joy from
watching him tackle new things.
And he was able to do so many things… He snorkeled and
boogie boarded. He got to learn how to
Surf,, one of my favorite memories of the whole trip was watching my wife and
Jayden surf… I loved it… I loved just watching and seeing them both succeed in
an adventure… He picked it up so
quickly… but still has a lot to learn if he is going to try it on his own.
Jayden got to Snuba as well, swimming all around the pool at
the Hyatt. He got to enter the biggest
splash contest where he did not win, but was improving the whole time. He hung out and watched an outdoor movie on
the beach at night. He also got to go
on a Boat, but….. as he would tell you “Will NOT do that again!!!!”. He got sick but was fine once his legs got
back on Terra-Firma.
He is the adventurous type.
So willing to try things new and wanting to do things for fun. Except food of course where he will not try
anything. I know for a fact that Jayden
and Kallee are the biggest reasons that Roy loves us being there as well as
seeing a lot more of Auntie Eleanor and her family during this trip. They even drove down and stayed a couple of
extra hours just to hang out with my family.
Kallee and Jayden both have something that just seems to allow people to
like them. Kallee and Kailee (sp) really
got along because Kailee and Kallee are 2 peas in a pod. How fortunate it is for our children to
spend time with relatives.
What is most special is watching Jayden and Alison together…
there such a strong bond there. He
really wants to be with her and impress her and just hang out. They have their “spelling words” time or
their “watching Survivor or American Idol” time, or their “reading books”
time. But there is always time. Both of them are late night people, with
Jayden staying up sometimes just to talk to mommy, or using the excuse that he
is hungry to hang out more. There are
times where I think the kids has 3 different dinners at night time… ps that boy
can eat…
Kallee and I hang out in her room doing our thing and Jayden
and Alison are talking life in his… it is nice to be a father and a husband.. I
love it. To say that I do not get tired
or I am sometimes frustrated by the moment or the lack of effort or the lies my
son tells to try and stay out of trouble.
That both of them can suck the living being right out of me would be
outrageous… and untruthful. They both do
things that have me running up the wall and thinking looney bin. Jayden can at times have me so furious that I
want to shut down completely until he is 20…..
but I would take all the bad to see the good. I would take all the pain to see him grow
into what he is going to be.
Jayden had a great summer all the way until the end. He really loves hanging out with the
grandparents the days that we go to Vegas with the gang. They love the fact that the grandparents are
close and they like to hang out with them.
Jayden is so happy that Grandpa Lee sets up a tent with him. In fact I am told that Jayden is pretty close
to being able to set it up himself… with help of course. The kid just loves building things and
seeing how things work.
Jayden also loves going to the Fair. This year was a great time as Alison got us
tickets to the rodeo part of the Benton Franklin County Fair. It was a great time, he had a blast. He also loves just doing the Fair thing with
the rides and the tractor pull and rides… it is a pretty good time.
When September hit Jayden had to go to school at the old
Fruitland School, which is nice for Alison as it is right across from where
Kallee goes to school. So that is nice…
Jayden is really doing well in school as he is scoring high
on his spelling and math assignments. He
is drilled by his mommy almost every night to make sure he knows them. The teacher has mentioned good things about
our son and he scored satisfactory on all aspects of his trimester grades. He is reading pretty well and spelling and
math are going great. I really love how
quickly he picks things up.
He has also been part of an All-Star Soccer team. And when I say All-Star, I mean part of the
Shark teeth team in Upward Soccer at South Hills Church. On the team were three strong, stong players
in Jonah and Charlie as well as Tyler.
Then Jayden and two Sisters Camille and Kayda were the 2nd
group of players who, in time all could be strong players. The team really did roll through the
competition. But alas, my son had a hard
time getting a goal. It was not because
of the coach, who tried hard to get him the ball to score, but Jayden was very
rules orientated. If to coach said to
stay in one place, he did, no matter that the ball was 3-10 feet away. He stayed where he was told. But in the last game he took a pass from
Kayda and dribbled and scored… Yea!!!
He loved practices with the coaches and kids, and kind of
liked the games. He had fun and was sad
to see the end of the season coming… I am glad he enjoyed it as I was very
pleased with how far he came during the season.
I am very interested in seeing how he does in basketball… I hope he
loves it.
One more quick story… As we were getting ready to leave the
soccer celebration.. my nephew Jonah came up to me and said Jayden’s tooth was
loose and it was bleeding. I told my son
to just grab it and yank it out…. And he did.
Again, pulling his own tooth.
That is awesome! He is a tough
kid…
PS—Both Jayden and I are getting excited because the seasons
of Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming and we both love this time. He wants to get out the lights already and
it is hard for me to say no.
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