Rad Kids

The last few weeks, Jackson has been involved in a program at school called Rad Kids. It is taught by a police officer and a few other people. Jack doesn't tell me much about what he does at school, so that is all I knew until I got a letter that today parents could come watch the kids do a little obstacle course kinda thing and use all the moves they learned during the program.

Don't quote me on this, but these are the three rules of Rad Kids:

1. No one has the right to hurt you.
2. You don't have the right to hurt anyone else, but you can defend yourself and make people stop hurting you.

3. Tell an Adult

At this station, the kids had to use their fighting skills like elbowing, eye poking, and yelling at the dummy.

This lady was hitting the kids with these foam things and the kids had to block her and then run away.

All the kids with Deputy Mulder...dressed as the "bad guy"

So, this is the best part of the blog. Make sure you watch the video. After the two first stations, the kids were instructed to run to their teacher, who was sitting across the gym. Standing between them and her was Deputy Mulder dressed up in sparring gear pretending to be the bad guy. The instructions were very clear. Run to your teacher. If he got you, you had to use your moves to fight him off.

When I first got to the school this morning, they were running late and I got to sit in and hear the staff talk about how they were going to run things and what the kids were supposed to do, and how 2nd graders usually react. The deputy told the rest of the team, "Most of the kids will run right to me and try to fight me off. I have found that only the really smart ones get it right and actually try to run away." (which is the first step they are taught and what they are encouraged to do)

So, without further ado (or bragging :) check out Jackson. He was one of only 2 or 3 in the whole class who actually tried to get away. It was pretty funny.

The Boys

More from this morning before school.

The Girls

Just some random pictures I took of the kids before school today. The girls were loving their matching curly hair. It was also pajama day...AGAIN! I think that makes the 14th time this year :)

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter party at Nana Blair's today, and then we came home and dyed eggs. Lila says she doesn't appreciate that she is naked in this picture, but I didn't want her to get too dirty, so I stripped her down.

Busy at work. Egg dying is serious business.

A random picture of Sunny someone must have taken this morning. How cute is she?

I wanted a picture of all four kids before we went to Nana's. These are what I got. I decided to post them all because someone looks good in each one. I just can't get one single shot with everyone's eyes open and looking at the camera. Such is life :)

Jackson's Baptism

April 9, 2011 was a very special day for Jackson. It was his baptism day. It means that he has officially chosen to become a member of the church, and is a huge right of passage.

I am so proud of Jackson. He was so excited. He said he wasn't nervous, but I think he looks it in this picture. (Check out the mohawk on Little G. Pretty awesome. It has since been buzzed though.)

Our family of 6. I can't believe it will soon be 7.

Jackson and Nana Blair. I love this picture. They both look so happy!

And of course, one with Mimi and Bear. (Told you I got a good one Mom)

We had a really nice party after the baptism. We had originally planned on having it at our house, but turns out we had way too many people who love Jackson and wanted to be there, so we moved it to the church.

Aunt Jess was in charge of most of the food, and she did a fabulous job, as always! If you need a baby shower/wedding shower/some kind of fun event catered, she is the best.

Apparently Lila was very happy to be there.

My sweet girls with their good friend Caitlin.

Griffin was a super big grump for most of the day. He did consent to one of his cheesy smiles for this picture though. Our good friend Kathy took care of him during the whole baptism. It was so wonderful to be able to focus on Jack and not deal with Griffin. I think the food was the only good part of the day for him.

For the sake of record keeping I'm going to try to make a list of all those who attended.

Dad, Mom, Sunny, Lila, Griffin, & even Baby Cam (kind of :)
Bob and Mary Mikel
B.J. Mikel
Josh & Jess Mikel

Nancy Blair
Carl, Zoii, & Jared Nethery (and Jack got a super nice email from Nathan, who is on his mission)
Troy & Sarah Blair, and kids
Clint & Jonette Webster, and kids
Julie Gunderson and kids
Tony and Marcia Lono

Tony & Kathy Alonzo, and kids
Ashley and Maci Pitcher
Aaron & Brittainey Timothy, and kids
Keith and Kim Mayhugh

Thanks to everyone for being a part of Jackson's special day!

Uncle B.J. Was Here

...and all I got were these crappy pictures!

Seriously though, B.J. flew out for Jack's baptism/birthday/yearly visit. It is the best time of the year around here. The kids look forward to it for months and B.J. never disappoints. He is such a great uncle.

Unfortunately I didn't realize I needed to take some pictures until his trip was almost over, so this is all I got. Here they are in random order.

They played a lot of Wii. And by a lot, I mean a freakish amount.

Sunny could always be found in his lap. She is so snuggly.

There was also a lot of climbing, sitting, and jumping on B.J.

Love Sunny's crazy face in this one.

Lila and B.J. played dollhouse all week. She is a really good toy player, just like B.J. used to be. He is so sweet and spent hours playing Mommy and Baby.

One day they decided to make a band. Griffin loved it. They took turns swapping instruments and singing. I wish I had it on video.

Of course you remember the "No Paparazzi" pose.

Of course Jack was playing Wii during band time.

All the kids loved having him here and cried when he left. We won't see him again until Sunny's baptism...Sept. 2012. Good thing it's coming up fast. We love you Uncle B.J.

Let It Rain

This would be the view from my backyard. The rocks are the retaining wall at the end of my yard. We affectionately call the gully behind our house, "the pit". As in, "I will throw you in the pit!" or "If you don't clean up your toys, they will go in the pit!" You get the picture. Usually the pit is dry and kids play in it.

Today, there is a river running through it. It's okay, it's supposed to happen (or so I've been told.) The real name for the pit is the Tickville Wash (don't know how it is really spelled, but who cares) and it is for excess water drainage/run off. I've been told it fills up every few years or so. This is the first time we've seen it.

I'm a little freaked out, b/c it is pretty close to my house, but the water would have to rise a lot to get up here.

It's running pretty fast right now. It looks really dirty and gross, but the sound is gorgeous. Like my own private river...sort of :)