Why do some kids like to do manual labor?

As we continue our landscaping project in our front yard, it was time to start getting the rock back where it belongs. This pile of rock that we previously pulled from the landscaping has been sitting in the driveway, in MY parking spot for a few weeks now, and we finally were getting back to it.

John build a "sifter" to separate the rocks from the dirt that we shoveled up with it. Apparently the kids in the neighborhood thought this was the coolest thing and we shortly had 2 of the neighbor kids come over and ask if they could help.

Kids, asking to help shovel rocks? Were they for real? So John said yeah, why not. He figured that they would help for 5 minutes and then run off to play. Boy was he wrong! Not only did they help us for the entire evening, more of the neighborhood kids came over to help! At one point, we actually had 4 of the neighbor's kids, in our driveway, shoveling rocks into John's homemade sifter. They were shoveling so fast that he could not keep up with them! They got to take many breaks as he sifted and put rocks into the wheelbarrow.

Before long, they had shoveled over half of the rocks and were still going strong... but John was out of gas. He was ready to call it a night and find a shower. The kids would have kept shoveling until the pile of rocks was gone, but he thanked them many times for all their help and told them he was done for the night.

Yeah, he was in need of a shower!!!



But the landscaping in the front of the house was starting to look much better!!!

DARE Graduation

As the end of the school year quickly approaches, it is time for the afternoon that many of the 5th grades have been eagerly waiting for... DARE graduation.

They have spent afternoon's each week with Officer Van learning about drug and alcohol abuse as well as many other topics that have a factor is these issues.

From what we have been hearing at home, not only have this been a very education experience, but extremely fun too. There was songs, dances, cheers and a lot more!

As part of the program, Officer Van brought a guest speaker with him. This was a young man that has spend a great deal of time with Officer Van talking about drug and alcohol abuse. During his presentation he spoke openly and everything that he said was was very eye opening for the adult.

As with any graduation ceremony there were certificates to be handed out. Each of the kids was very exited to receive their certification that they earned. During the ceremony the parents were entertained with several of the songs, cheers and dances that the kids learned over the last few weeks. Now we could understand why they were all so excited about the DARE program!

But there were two things that they kids were the most excited about. This first.... once they all received their certificates, Officer Van announced that they were official DARE graduates and could now UNTUCK their shirts! This of course got a huge laugh from all the parents.... we all were wondering how he got everyone to come out with their t-shirts tucked in! NOW we knew the real truth! LOL
The second thing these kids were all excited about? Office Van personally signed the back of each of their shirts to "seal the deal." As soon as the ceremony was over, the kids quickly lines up to get their hard earned signature!

Great job to all of the kids in this year's DARE graduating class!

Darrin and Officer Van chatting as we left the school

Family Reading Night

Each spring, everyone looks forward to Family Reading night at the school. The kids start preparing for this night weeks in advance as they all have the opportunity to take part in the huge book swap. For 2 weeks before the big night, the kids can bring in books that they want to donate to the book swap. For each book that they bring in, they will receive a ticket for a free book at the book swap!

Every year, Darrin bring in a huge pile of books from his ever growing collection and replaces them with "new" ones. However, in the last few years, he has been finding it harder and harder to find books that he wants at the swap - many of the books are for younger kids. He has always been an advanced reader and many of the books were just too simple for him! We figured that this year was going to be tough for him to find many books at the swap.

But then he had a great idea! John and I had recently reconnected with an old friend and found out that she has a 5 year old son that, at 18 months old was diagnosed with an in-operable brain tumor. As any young child, Jayson LOVES to read and play games. Darrin decided that instead of picking out books for himself, he was going to pick out books for Jayson and then we would send these to him. I was very proud of his generosity! When he went through the books on his shelf, he ended up with 2 bags of books to donate to the book swap - 48 books in all!!

Now, with Family Reading night upon us, Darrin was on a mission to find books for Jayson.

This evening was filled with all kinds of exciting events, including a petting farm, open mic night, the book fair, basket raffles and of course the book swap. I think most of the kids spent the majority of their time playing with the animals in the petting zoo - including a snake!

By the end of the night, we found about 5 books at the book fair (gotta love when they book fair features buy one get on free books!), bought a bunch of raffle tickets for the basket raffles and found 30+ books to bring home - some for Darrin, but most of them were for Jayson... another fun successful family event at the school. With this being Darrin's last year at this school, we are going to miss the many events that they put on for the kids!

A day in the life of a 9 year old

So, DS has been at Grammie and Papa's house all week. (Quiet time for us yah!!).

My mom calls me this morning. Apparently last night DS mowed my Uncle's lawn as payment for my uncle taking him out on the boat tubing the other day. DS had a blast (mowing the lawn and tubing) and even THANKED my uncle for letting him mow the lawn! Go figure. We as adults really dont' care for mowing the lawn, but tell a 9 year old to do it and he is all over that! I guess we know a new job for DS to do around the house when he gets home!

Well, then she proceeds to tell me that they had just picked up one of DS's friends and they (My mom, DS and his friends Angie) are going mini-golfing. I guess Angie has never been mini-golfing before. (The poor child! We go mini golfing at least once a month when the weather permits!) So they were heading to one of the mini golf courses about 40 minutes from her place.

Before they head out of town, they have to stop to see Angie's mom at work so she can get some money. Then a quick stop at Wal-mart to pick up eggs and a few other things that they need at home. FINALLY it is time to leave....

One the way out of town, they had to stop so he couldput gas in the car - yes, he - my 9 year old! They pull up at the gas station and he jumps out of the car, as does Angie so she can help. So now we have 2 9 year old putting gas in my mom's car. He then proceeds to tell her that he needs a credit card. The pump said "to pay by credit card, please swipe card now". Once he is convinced that since he is paying by cash, they start pumping the gas. My mom then informs the two of them that if they go over what she told them, then it was coming out of thier lunch budget... so they are going very slowly, trying NOT to go over. Needless to day, they went over by .22 oh well, at least it wasn't too much over! Meanwhile, as they are pumping gas, my mom said she HAD to get a picture of them, in all thier glory, putting gas in the car.

So now they are on finally on the road....



Now I am just awaiting that phone call to see what other adventures they found today!