Penguin Report: Pre-Research

The above photo is black and white in honor of the color of penguins.  Jasper came home from preschool today with an assignment to do a research project on penguins.

I thought it would be interesting to ask him the questions we are supposed answer and see what he thinks about penguins as a benchmark for our research. 

During lunch I asked him the questions and wrote down the answers on his research sheet.  Then I realized that I should have just been recording our interview and asked him the questions again on camera.

Surgery Report

All went well with Jasper's second set of tubes and adenoid removal.  Mike was able to be with us for the surgery.

We read some Thomas the Train books: "A Crack in the Track", "Stop Train Stop", and "Go Train Go" to pass the time.

Jasper kept saying, "Let's get out of here!" So when the nurse came to take him to surgery she said, "Okay Jasper, let's go."  Of course Jasper had one of his puppies and a little plastic alligator with him so they could get their ears fixed too.

Jasper went back at 8:00 AM and it was 45 minutes before his ENT came out and told us he was okay, which had me a little worried since when he had his first set of tubes he was only in surgery for 10 minutes.









I took this photo of him looking so miserable after he has been out of surgery for an hour.

Dr. O'Donnell said that Jasper's adenoids were pretty big and he was glad that he removed them.  I asked him to check his tonsils too and Dr. O'Donnell said that on a scale of 1 to 4 they were a 2 and are fine for now.

Jasper had a really hard time coming out of anesthesia.  Because he threw up after his last surgery they gave him NO pain medicine at all, in case they would make him nauseous on his empty stomach.

Jasper's throat was really hurting when he woke up.  He couldn't stop crying.  The nurse only let me go back since Jasper was having such a hard time.

I just held his hand, sang him some Primary songs and held his oxygen mask in place so it wouldn't pinch his face.  We had a great nurse who gave Jasper three doses of pain medicine in his IV to get his pain under control.

Jasper was highly motivated to start drinking because his nurse promised she would take his IV out.  He also earned three "Cars" stickers for good sipping.

Jasper's nurse was so nice that she ran out to our van to give Jasper his alligator that he had left behind in the tangled mess of sheets.

After more than an hour Mike was able to come back to be with us.  Jasper was so happy so see his Daddy.

At home Jasper enjoyed a Popsicle and orange push-up festival coupled with a movie marathon.

He told my mom on the phone, "The orangey-orangey's (referring to the push-ups) are REALLY STICKY!

He is doing great now.  We go in for a post-op check up at the end of January.

THANK YOU to everyone for your prayers and well wishes.

Preparing for Surgery

What better way to prepare than drinking hot cocoa with a Candy Cane?

Jasper's tubes in his ears lasted 1 1/2 years.  He got his first set in on June 3, 2009.

Everything went smoothly the first time and we hope the same for this time.

We've known since a hearing test in October that he has a lot of fluid in his ears and that the tubes probably weren't functioning.

At Jasper's ENT appointment in December Dr. O'Donnell said that the tubes were in Jasper's ear canal and not down where they were supposed to be.  He also confirmed the fluid in there.

And so on Wednesday Jasper is having a second set of tubes put in AND having his adenoids out.

We're slated for a 6:50 arrival ath the Surgery Center on Rancho and Charleston, 6:15 AM.  And of course, nothing to eat or drink past midnight tomorrow.

So he's getting the good stuff in now!

Jasper's had a fever the last few days and even had to miss his first Sunday as a Sunbeam!  We weren't even sure if he could still have surgery on Wed., but the ENT is started him on his post surgery antibiotic today just in case he has some kind of a bug.

Bellagio Fountains

When we have company in town, we will oblige them and endure a little time on The Strip.  But we'll only go to one place...The Bellagio Fountains.

We've had several guests this last month and below are a few videos from our fountain viewing.

Holiday Stories and Hot Cocoa

Last night our family, the Schroeder's and the Bradshaw's went to "Holiday Stories and Hot Cocoa" at the Gibson library.

Hot Cocoa is one of Jasper's love languages, and since I don't let Jasper sit on the carpet drinking hot cocoa at home, he was in Heaven.

Jasper wore his snowmen footed PJ's and brought puppy and his pillow and blanket. He sat there and listened to all of the stories.

I'd told him that there was going to be singing at the end, and when there wasn't Jasper was quite disappointed.  I was worried that I might have to break out in song to appease him, but he was able to wait until we got into the Jeep to break out in his favorite Christmas song, Jingle Bells.

Cows with Piggy Banks

On the page in Crunch Munch that shows the cow munching on grass Jasper proclaimed  "Daddy, that cow has a piggy bank." 

We've been cracking up for months about that revelation.  All this time we thought it was an udder

"I Know the Scriptures are True."

One day I will do a real blog post of my own.

But today I am posting another link of Heather's greatness.  I didn't want to put off posting this in case some of you are already gearing up for the 2011 Primary Theme, "I Know the Scriptures are True."

Heather has free downloads of the monthly theme cards in 5x7 , 4x6 and 2x3 sizes.  Click here to enjoy.

Book of Mormon Stories Quiet Book

My friend Heather has been up to a lot of good AGAIN! 

While we were at our Academy for Girls Counselor Reunion Retreat this summer some of our friends talked about using the Gospel Art Kit to share scripture stories with their kids. 

Heather took the initiative to use the photos and information on the back of the pictures that relate to the Book of Mormon and incorporate it into another great quiet book.

Click here to download the pictures and text for FREE!  Thanks again Heather!

Prophets & Apostles Book

I am not sure I've mentioned it before, but in addition to teaching the Valiant 9 Primary Class and sending out the Ward Relief Society emails I am now an Activity Days Leader for the older girls.  I love the girls and I am so happy to serve them.

On Oct. 5th we had a lesson about the LDS General Conference that we'd just watched and then put together some really neat books about the Prophets & Apostles. 

My amazing friend Heather created the book we put together so all we had to do was print the pages.  She's offering the files free.  Click here if you want to make your own.


The Activity Days Girls really liked these books and I know you will too!

Singing Singing All The Day

It is not uncommon for Mike and I to wake up to a 39 inch high Jasper belting out the song from his favorite ride at Disneyland, "It's a Small World."

My favorite is when he says, "You sing it loud like this."  That's a favorite line of his when we are singing any song.

Below are a few videos taken while we were riding "Small World" in case you want to relive that experience, or motivate your kids to get stuck on the song too.

Boy Scout Canyon Hike with the Schroeder Family

Saturday we went on an adventure with the Schroeder family to one of our favorite places, Boy Scout Canyon.  It's almost 3.6 miles round trip to the drop off and back.

The kids had so much fun scurrying up all of the cool rock formations.  Cydnee and I love slot canyons so we were happy hikers.


The natural rock slide was a big hit with the kids (see video below).  Mike had to pick Jasper up and drag him away from the rock slide.

Jasper liked to climb high --sometimes too high.  Occasionally he had to be rescued by his dad and even Cydnee.

Jasper LOVES Reagan and whenever we wanted him to quit scurrying up rocks and get back on the trail we would simply say -- Go catch up with Reagan.

Cydnee commented that she thinks that Jasper already like girls!  I think she is right.  :>

Fire Station Tour

Jasper and I took Peyton with us to the Henderson Fire Station for a great tour with Miss Nancy's Preschool on Oct.22nd.

We went with Nancy last year as well.  This year we visited the Henderson Fire Station on Green Valley Parkway and last year we went to the Lake Mead Fire Station -- which is extra cool because they have a boat and a fire pole to slide down.

The kids were thrilled to climb up and sit behind the wheel of the fire truck.  You gotta' love that Peyton wore his fireman suit.  Jasper was so excited to step in the fireman's boots.
 

I was so glad I took a video because the fireman who gave us our tour did a great job.  At the end of our tour they had to go out on a call so we got to watch the fire truck roll out.

The first one is of the fire truck rolling out and the second video is of the Fire Station tour.

Fall Leaves at Mt. Charleston

I've been so anxious to see some Fall leaves.  We had a trip planned for Beaver, Utah that fell through because of all the smoke in the mountains due to a fire (which is now out).

In an attempt to ease my anxiety Mike drove us up Mt. Charleston last Saturday to see what we could see.

We had a nice time walking around, and I was thrilled to see the aspen leaves fluttering on the trees in the breeze.

I know it as a bit of a sacrifice for Mike to be in the mountains in the Jeep and not really go on any off-road trails.  Thanks for focusing on me and the leaves Mike!