Family Night #3 - Doggy Birthday Party

Okay...So I know what you're thinking...this crazy lady takes pictures of her dogs, blogs about her dogs and now she's having a birthday party for her dog. I know...Crazy. I never thought I'd do any of these things, but i can't help it...they are part of our family and Jackson get's a huge kick out of celebrating them too. Benji's birthday is on August 1st so we decided to have a party for her. Jackson and I went shopping for party supplies and we even bought her a new collar tag (since we just moved), and a few new toys...for presents of course.
Here's the birthday girl...looking so thrilled.
She's a typical girl...Doesn't want anyone to know her real age.
We even decorated like a party. We put up streamers and balloons.
We made cupcakes...but none for the dogs...they got an even better treat (or at least
they thought so). Here is Simon...loving every minute of Benji's party...including her new toys. What a bully. We played Pin the Tail on Benji. It's not a good picture since the light was shining through. But I put a picture of Benji on the door and we made her a body with no tail. It was so funny because when I put it up Simon barked at it for about 10 minutes. We were cracking up. Jackson helped Benji open her presents.
And then we sang happy birthday and both dogs got there very own birthday HOTDOG. They had a race to see who could eat their's fastest...Benji won.
We had a lot of fun. What an evening.

Wind In Your Hair

When ever the dogs go anywhere with me (and it's really not that often), I make them share the front passenger seat. They both try numerous times to climb over on my lap, but I never let them. On a recent trip to Poodletown (our groomer) I looked over at them while they were sharing the window. I didn't have my real camera, but my camera phone did the trick.
They are pretty good as long as I have the window down. Here are Benji's ears flyin' in the wind. Simon doesn't look too happy in this one. We might have been getting close and he figured out where he was going.
I love this picture of him in the rearview mirror. So funny!
That's it...Just my two crazy dogs.

Family Night #1 & #2

Well, we started doing a Family Night. Thanks to some inspiration from a fellow blogger (I don't know how to get you to her link, but she's great) we started dedicating one evening a week to spend some quality time together. Not that we aren't normally together, but for a couple of hours we aren't doing homework, watching tv, playing video games...we're playing together.

Our first Family Night was actually last week, but I didn't take pictures...it was harder than I thought to get everything going. Honestly, Heather's blogs make it look so easy. Anyway,we had a good time and decided we'd try it on a weekly basis. Last week was "Under the Sea" Night. We dressed in our bathing suits (partially why I didn't take any pictures) and ate shell macaroni and cheese, hot dogs cut like an octopus and watermellon in the shape of a star fish. We played Let's Go Fishing together too. We made fish out of construction paper and hung them all around. For our first Family Night it was fun.

This week we decided to do "Cowboy Night." We found some cowboy hats and I bought material to make bandanas. We made Jackson a vest out of a paper bag. Jackson helped plan it and said that cowboys eat beans and biscuits so we had baked beans, rolls, corn on the cob, and tri-tip. I don't have a stove or an oven right now so we got take-out help from the Meat Market.


Jackson was very excited and thoguht it was so silly that I made our dogs wear bandanas too.

After dinner we set up a shooting gallery with cans and a bail of hay. We used a squirt gun to shoot down all the cans.

Lou did wear a cowboy hat for a little bit. He actually liked it more than I thought he would. We had a lot of fun and will hopefully continue with Family Nights.

We didn't pick a theme for next week, but I've got a few ideas. I think I'll surprise them next week.

Lowes Kids Clinic

Today I took Jackson to Lowes for a free kids clinic. A couple Saturday's a month they have classes for kids and you go and build something (everything is free...which I like). He was a little worried about going, but once he got there he had a great time. He met a few people (other kids) and did a great job. I was very impressed with him.They actually use real hammers and nails...He was absolutely thrilled to be using real tools.
Tongue out and all...You know he's working hard. Funny thing is...Lou used to stick his tongue out too when he was little.
All finished. He made a race car/dune buggy. He was really proud of himself. They gave him a patch to sew on his apron and everything. He's already asking about the next class.
He had such a good time building that car that we shopped around Lowe's and bought him a little tool box and a tape measure and a hammer (small one, but it's real). He walked around Lowe's with his apron and goggles on and he thought he looked like he worked there. He felt so big that he didn't have any problem asking one of the employees where he could buy his own wood. He walked out of the store with a piece of wood in both hands.

He insisted that I tell Lou that I brought a Lowes employee home with me. He carried in his toolbox and of course wore his goggles. Daddy wasn't supposed to recognize him, but he did. Jackson asked Lou for a few real tools to put in his toolbox. Here they are looking in Lou's toolbox.
Simon's down in the corner of the picture...acting interested. Anyway, A big day for Jackson...he's graduated to real tools. No more plastic fake ones.

Simon...again.

This is what happens when I leave every morning. Sometimes both of them climb up on our dining room bench and watch us leave out the window.

My crazy dog...Simon.

Well, we moved and on moving day I brought the dogs over to the new house with me. They followed me everywhere...including into the bed while I was making it. That lump is Simon...He actually was laying down, but when he heard the camera, he thought he'd get out and pose for a picture.Shaking out! Benji's in the background...She thinks he's crazy too.
Now he's off to go explore somemore.
Just a few pictures. I couldn't help it I had to grab the camera.

Fireworks! Fireworks! Who Wants Fireworks?

Well, I know I've mentioned it, but here I go again...Lou is the new Debate and Forensics coach at Clovis High School. He just got hired this summer and right away they told him the only fundraiser that Debate does is a fireworks stand. Without really knowing any of his students or parents we had to rely on our family and friends for support...and boy did they come through. Here are a few pictures of the stand.I'm sure he's making a deal.
Our dear friend, and old neighbor, Jeff bought this HUGE firework box for his family. Lucky for us...the 4th was our last night in our old place and we got a great going away fireworks display...and BBQ. Thanks a bunch you guys for the wonderful food and all your help.
Brittany, my sister, didn't want to be photographed, but this is her waving at me. She worked this stand every day...all 6 of them. Thanks Brit! We really couldn't have done it without you.
Jamie, our neighbor, helping us sell sell sell. I don't know anyone who loves fireworks like she loves fireworks. She helped us so much. Thanks again Jamie for all you HARD and HOT work.
Not pictured: Shalee, thank you so much for helping out every day. You were a wiz on that calculator. We could not have managed without you there. Tara, what a hard worker. Thank you so much for volunteering to help. You are awesome! We had a lot of fun...even though it was hot. Thank for EVERYTHING! Kristi, thanks for helping us out. We absolutely loved having you around. We need to see more of you...and Phil. Thanks for your help. Chuck (our one parent), thanks for all your support. Thanks for lunch on the 4th! We loved having you stop by the stand to check on us. Really, everyone that help...We could not have done this without you. We had a lot of fun...hard work, but it was fun. Looking forward to many more years...Don't worry...hopefully next year we'll have some parents out there too.

Jackson's Birthday Party (June 27, 2008)

So I have been a bit behind on my blogging. I mean...really blogging. We are finally moved and settling in...I have unpacked my camera cord so the uploading has begun.

Jackson's birthday party was so much fun. He had so many friends there!

He called this his "team."

From left: Ben (Laing), Jackson, Jack (Tuttle), Micah (Laing) & Jacob (Laing).

Swimming with his best friend, Jack.

Blowing out his candles on his race car cake.

Jack's dad had to remind him not to put any cars on the cake.

Opening presents with his "team." These boys were more excited than Jackson I think.

We love you Jackson! Happy 5th Birthday. You are one special kid.

The Lou blog...

I feel like there is a lot I want to say about my sweet husband lately. I'll start with the bad news first...

The other night after we worked the firework stand all day, my bike riding lover husband decided he needed to fit a bike ride in to his oh-so-long day. It was about 8:30 or so and even though I don't like him to ride at night, he geared up and went out on a "short" ride. He is always very safe (he wears a helmet, has lights, all the good stuff), but I worry about cars not seeing him or weirdos being out there. Anyway, I was especially worried this night because he was feeling sore and tired from all the lifting and hard work he'd been doing lately. In the last week, he's painted all of our kitchen cabinets, moved a dishwasher, painted Jackson's new room, set up and tore down a firework stand a few times...anyway, you get it.

So I'm at home packing and about 9:30 or so Lou calls. He tells me that he had taken a break, but he was fine and not to worry...He was on his way home. I thought the call was kind of weird and I asked him if I could come and get him, but he said he was okay. Anyway, I went back to packing and cleaning. About 10:00 or so Lou comes in and tells me that he lied to me on the phone. I ask him what he's talking about and he tells me this...

He's riding his bike and all of a sudden he hears a car accelerate and is coming up close to him. 4 young guys are in this car and one of them throws a full water bottle at him and hits him. The cap flew off and Lou was mad. Now for those of you who know my husband, you know he's a sweet, kind man, but if you make him mad...watch out. He stands up on his bike and the car gets stuck at a red light. (Side note: I'm totally nervous listening to this story at this point, and scanning his body for marks or wounds). Lou is pulling up to them, and a car up ahead flips around and guess what?...It's a police officer. The cop saw everything and pulls over the car. (Another side note: I'm thinking thank goodness at this point. I'm so glad the cops got there before Lou did. My husband is a big guy, but 4 against one probably wouldn't have ended well). Anyway, the police office gets the kid (he's 18) out of the car and arrests him. It's a FELONY to throw an object from one vehicle at another (and bikes count). The cop asked the kid, "Do you know what would have happend if you would have knocked him off his bike? You could have killed him." The kid didn't have anything to say. He spent a night in jail for the incident and now will have a felony on his record.

I could not believe it. I still don't believe it. Who does that? I don't know if I got all the details right, but it's mostly right. Lou can correct me if I told you all any big lies. I don't think so though.

Okay, so the good news...Well, really he's just totally wonderful. Really, I don't know how he does all that he does. He is teaching summer school right now...elementary, special education summer school...not even high school summer school. He is running a firework stand this week (which is a ton of work). He gets off work at noon or so and goes right over and sets it up. We've been out there until about 8-8:30 every night. He's been working at the new house getting it ready to move in, and he's still in school taking an online class right now.

He has all A's and each class is really hard since it's only a month long...There's a ton of work. Anyway, some of you may know this, but Lou signed his contract to teach at Clovis high next year, but he was only at a 60% contract because he only had 3 or 4 classes to teach...and technically it's considered an internship. We were happy as ever with the arrangement, but at 60% you are not eligable for benefits. That's okay because I have benefits at my work. We pay for them, but at least we're insured. Anyway, yesterday Lou found out that they added another class to his schedule and now he's at an 80% contract with more money and BENEFITS!

He has worked so hard for our family. He really doesn't get enough credit for all that he does. Just wanted to brag about him a little bit. Honey, I'm so proud of you. Thanks for all that you do for our family. I love you.


Ps: Please no night bike rides for a while...

Moving

Moving day is fast approaching, and last night Jackson and I had a little chat about it. This poor kid...Between starting kindergarten and moving, he's a wreck. I'm trying to get everything packed and I have waited until the last minute to get his room done. We were in there last night packing up a few boxes and Jackson says, "Okay, but all my new toys, do I have to pack them up too?" We've had a few yard sales and we're always getting rid of the "baby" toys. Poor guy thinks I'm already getting rid of his new stuff. I had to explain to him that we're packing everything, but it's just getting moved over to the new house. We wrote his name on the box and I explained that this way whoever moves it will know where it goes and this seemed to make him feel better. Anyway, I am hoping to get his room all unpacked first that way he has plenty to do while we organize the rest of the house. We've been taking pictures, but I packed my usb cable so I'll be downloading a lot of pictures in a fews days...once I unpack it.

Hope everyone is well.

Just an update...We're busier than ever right now.

We are busier than ever right now and we haven't had much chance to blog. We are in the process of moving, and as exciting as it is-we still have a lot of work to do. My sister is taking our apartment which is good and bad. I want her to have a nice clean apartment to move into, but I haven't had much chance to get it ready for her lately. We will hopefully be spending our first night in the new house this weekend...the 5th.

On top of moving, we have Jackson's birthday tomorrow...July 1st. He is turning 5! I can't even believe he's already 5...How time flies. We had his party this past Friday (pictures to come). That took some planning, but we got through it and had a ton of fun. Jackson had a great party and finally met Kelly's boys (Micah, Jacob & Ben)...He can't stop talking about them and when we'll see them again.

And as if we were not busy enough with moving and Jackson's party...Lou is running a firework stand this week (For Clovis High Debate & Forensics...his new program). Now when I say Lou...I mean "we" are running a firework stand. We took turns working at it this past weekend. It was hot, but we actually had fun. I took pictures and will post them soon. My sister Brittany saved the day...or the two days. Because we had Jackson this past weekend, both of us could not work in the stand at the same time (kids can't be in the stand). Brittany came both days...all day. We had a lot of fun though, but I can't say I wasn't thinking about all of the packing and cleaning that I still need to do by this next weekend. I'll get it done some how. We'll be working the firework stand all week. Lou and I both still have to work so we'll open after work all week...Lou get's off at noon (summer school) so he'll open around 1 everyday and when I get off at 5 I'll go straight there. We don't have lights so we close around 8. On the 4th we'll open earlier and still probably close around dark. It's a huge task with a lot of work, but we're having fun. Anyone that wants to come see us...We're at Walmart in Clovis on Shaw and Peach.
Thanks brittany, Tara, Shalee & Jamie for all of your help. We need all the help we can get. Oh and thanks Grandma Bev too...for babysitting.

Anyway, that's our update...We're crazy busy, but once things slow down I'll post some more.

Love,
The Standifers

Jackson's Conversation with Lou this morning...

We let Jackson watch PBS Kids Spout almost all the time. It's non-stop kids shows...cartoons all day long so we never really worry about what might come on while we're not watching. The only thing they do have is infomercial type commercials. you know for stuff like Oxy Clean and storage containers and stuff like that. They are just kind of long commercials...not exactly an infomercial, but...anyway, you get the idea.

So this morning Jackson is watching Sprout while Lou and I are getting ready for work and Jackson walks into our bedroom and asks Lou, "Dad, do you ever have so many clothes in you closet that you just don't know what to do?" And Lou says, "Yeah." And then Jackson goes into this spiel, "Then you should get the Store, bag and seal system...You can stick your clothes in there and seal them up so small that they can fit anywhere..." We just looked at each other and laughed.

Also, sometimes they have commercials for credit debt and stuff. One time Jackson is in his room watching Sprout and all of a sudden he starts saying, "Shanna, do you have uncontrolable credit card debt? If you do call 1-8-0-0-4-8-6..." He's hooked on the infomercials!

Congratulations Lou!

My husband, Lou has been going to school for about a year and a half now to pursue his Master's Degree and become an English teacher. He's been working at Clovis High (where I went to high school) for a year now as an instructional aide. He worked his butt off this year (school and work). He coached, tutored, subbed, he did whatever they needed him to do. Over time he made some really great friends (other teacher's) and connected with many of his students. It felt good and he knew that that's where he wanted to teach if the opportunity presented itself.

There were a lot of talks, meetings, and maybes, but no promises. As it got closer to the end of the school year it looked like Lou would get an interview for a possible English/Debate & Forensics opening in the fall. We were not sure how many candidates there were, or if he would get it, but this was really the only option Lou entertained...He wanted it bad.

Well, yesterday...He had his final interviews (he went thru a total of 5 I think), and he SIGNED HIS CONTRACT. He is teaching Freshman English next year along with Debate and Forensics. He picked up the keys to his classroom yesterday. We went and saw his classroom last night.

So proud of you honey! You worked so hard to get here! I love you!

So I've yet to post on our family blog...I figure that it's way past due. I'll keep it short and sweet for now. Many of you may know of my passion for cycling. If you didn't, you do now. Anyway, that has spilled over a bit and Shannon has been riding her new bike a ton. I'm extremely proud of her. The reason for the cycling tie in on this post is my favorite website...not so much for it's content, (which rocks for bike geeks) but for the general message that lies within. It's www.howtoavoidthebummerlife.com and it's all about bike geeks doing bike geek stuff to avoid the "bummer life" at all costs. Check it out if you are so inclined. These pictures are a great example of how, along with my bikes, I avoid the bummer life everyday. Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I love these two more than life. I'm truly blessed and feeling very thankful...hence the blog. You really don't see "hence" much anymore do you? Awesome. Be well and hug your family a lot.

-Lou

Some of my Favorite Pictures

Just thought I'd post a few of my favorite pictures....

Benji and I were on our way home from getting her hair cut. It was hot in car, and so her tongue was out. It matches her mood though...She was mad at me for taking her to the groomer.
This is Jackson in Monterey. We found this really cool park and he was having so much fun.


Another picture of Jackson in Monterey. We found an ice cream shop and had some fun taking funny (messy) pictures.

Brittany (my sister) and Jackson after one of his T-Ball games. She didn't get a trophy or anything, but she definitely got "Aunt of the Year." She was at every game cheering Jackson on.

This is in our backyard. We sidewalk chalked our back wall. It's our family! jackson and I drew it one morning.

We love going to the Fresno Falcons. The 1st time we took Jackson he was about 2 years old and he sat through the whole game and creid at the end when no one would come back out on the ice. He's been hooked ever since.

Jackson at the park. Lou actually took this picture with his camera phone...We really liked it.

My husband the singer. I think I took this of him at band practice.

The good ol' days! That's me, my cousin Chirs & my cousin Jill. We were like 3 peas in a pod. We did everything together back in those days. Look at my fingernails. I felt so grown up.
That's it...just a few of my favorites.