VBS in the insane Central Valley heat

This week, Andrew and I participated in the annual Vacation Bible School, hosted by Nancy, the head of the children's department for Hanford Church of the Nazarene. Our theme was "Custom Garage", so last Sunday, Nancy and I got together at her house and previewed some of the videos and music that were part of the daily lessons for the week ahead, conjurred up some crafting and food ideas (piggy banks out of recycled plastic bottles, doodling a la Ed Emberly style, hot dogs, smores, etc.) and going over things in general, although we couldn't really figure out what to do with our theme. Sadly, I wasn't able to help much besides that Sunday, Monday and Friday as someone short and chubby cannot miss his nappy time, but Andrew had a blast being with other people his age and size and energy level (ha ha!).

All week long, the kids worked hard at memorizing songs such as "Custom Built Heart" and versese such as Luke 4:1-3 and Mark 12:28-34. Initally, Andrew was a little bit of a wallflower, but he eventually blossomed with the other girls and boys, trully singing and following along with all the motions on the video. That was all good and fun, but the real fun was to be had at the end of each day when all 10 of the kids (count 'em!) got to cool off in Nancy's pool; a veritable chlorine stew arms and legs cooking in the dry 100 degree heat. I was pleasantly surprised at how much Andrew seemed to enjoy doing the activities, thriving on the interaction with the other kids. When all was said and done, everybody left VBS with awesome tans and God in their hearts.

This Sunday rolled around and although I was in charge of the nursery for the day, Jimmy came to see our son perform with his contemporaries. I'm sure it was a heart felt performance that brought the house down, a fun, new dimension to add to our already lively Sunday service. Don't have any pictures, but will have some to upload soon, so keep checkin' us out!

Teething in June

Tonight, Caleb woke up at around 11:15 crying his little eyes out. We waited about five minutes, as he sometimes wakes himself up but falls right back asleep after a while, but he didn't seem to want to give in. Jimmy warmed some milk and I went to pick him up. We took turns cuddling him as he fought sleep for the next fifteen minutes. Jimmy ended up having the Midas touch tonight, so he got to rock him toward sleep. It was all quiet and the little guy was having a thumb snack, rubbing his eyes, when all of a sudden he ripped a big fart! Jimmy and I glanced at each other, hardly able to hold back our laughter, and decided that he could out do any of us grown ups (and Andrew!) if ever challenged. The best part was that Caleb was unfazed by his gaseous offense and was drifting closer into the arms of sleep while Jimmy choked on the fumes. I am not a vengeful person, but if you can dish it out... (Jimmy!)

Today, I set up a little "supermarket" with a couple empty food containers and random objects around the house. Sort of another way of recycling without using a bin. After dinner, I told Andrew to gather a few "groceries" in his shopping basket (the basket off the front of my bicycle) that he would like to purchase using his real money. In the middle of shopping, I noticed that Caleb had a full diaper, so I went to undiaper and give him a bath. As I bathed his little brother, Andrew cleaned the toilet (per my instructions) and regaled me with a cute little story about his future family that went something like...

"My wife works at Savemart Supermarket. But she's over at the factory place. She does all the cleaning of things. I do all the cleaning at home so that she doesn't have to. I work at the toilet cleaning place."

"That must be hard work. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Who does all the cooking?"

"We both do. How much does a baby book cost?"

"Oh, about $10. Do you guys have a baby?"

"We've got 2!"

"What are their names?"

"Um.... (makes that little looking to the left thinking face of his) we're still thinking of them."

Caleb pulls the plug and lets the water drain out, signaling the end of bath time. I gather his toys and wrap him in a towel, making an exit to his room. In parting I tell Andrew

"Tell your wife I said hi and that she needs to stop by and pick up some donuts (one of Andrew's wishful diet staples, of course)"

"Okay. Do you need to pick up donuts from Savemart?"

"No, silly! That's why I'm telling her to pick some up from my supermarket."

Done packaging Caleb up in his post bath diaper, we go out to the kitchen to finish up our shopping.

It's so cute to hear Andrew make up these kinds of stories. He's a bright, imaginative kid with a heart of gold.

Tiger Cub Graduation

Last week (Saturday, June 6), Andrew graduated from Tiger Cubs in Cub Scouts and moved on to Wolf Scouts. The graduation was at Adventure Park, and the boys raced their Raingutter Regattas before the graduation. Here are some pictures of the fun times they had.

Totoro

Last night, Andrew and Caleb were watching one of their favorite movies, "My Neighbor Totoro." I went into the room, and saw a picture-perfect moment to depict how "into" movies these boys get.

Something to Start With

In the past month, we have had some fun with Andrew's birthday, and Andrew's Cub Scout Night at Chukchansi Park, watching the Fresno Grizzlies play the Portland Beavers. Here are some pictures of the events.


We had Andrew's birthday party at the local park, and many of his friends came. He was happy to get a lot of Bakugan, Transformers, Lego, and Star Trek gifts.

The following week, Andrew's Cub Scout pack, as well as many others in the area, went to Chukchansi Park in Fresno to watch the Fresno Grizzlies beat the Portland Beavers 5-1.

Welcome

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Jimmy and Jackie's new blog page.

We will periodically be posting pictures and news of what is going on in our lives. and the lives of the kids, Andrew and Caleb.