June 2015

I can't believe June is over already!  We were so busy last month that it just seemed to fly by.  My kids are at really fun ages so summer has been so fun so far.  We've just been staying busy and trying to stay out of the heat. Just a quick update on whats been going on with the boys.  

Link

Link is definitely in the terrible 2's right now.  He's really fun but he can also be kind of a stinker.  He hates bed it's a fight every night to get him to sleep.  He is in the in between stage if he takes a nap he won't go to bed but if he doesn't he's really grumpy. It's been kind of tough especially since it doesn't get dark until so late he won't go to bed early.  

Link loves to run!  I can't take him to a store if they don't have carts.  He has to have something to hold him in or he just runs around like a wild man.  He loves to be outside and swim.  

Jacks

Jacks is really enjoying the summer.  He loves to swim and go to the splash pad.  He's had a lot of friends to play with.  He plays with one of his friends from preschool a lot and his cousins a ton and he loves it!

Popcorn movie with their cousins

The boys have been great and seriously getting so big.  We've had so much fun this month and definitely kept busy.  We have a punch pass to the pool so we've been trying to go as much as possible and my boys love it!  Jacks has no fear at all he just dives under the water without even plugging his nose and he loves the water slide he'll even go down by himself.  Link loves the pool as well.  He loves to go in the deep end with Jacks.We love going to splash pads and just trying to stay cool in this crazy heat.

  
My brother Sean was able to come for a week to visit before he moved.  It was really good to see him and Link loved seeing Amy.  Link loves Amy!  He told me everyday they were here "I want to play with Amy."  He still asks me about Amy and asks when he can play with her again.

We went to the Aquarium for the first time and loved it!  It's super expensive but it was really fun.  Both of my boys absolutely loved it!

Coolest shark tank ever.

4D movie. Loved it

We've been spending tons of time outside at the park and just enjoying the summer. We unfortunately haven't been hiking a lot this month because it's been so hot.  We hiked the Y at the beginning of the month before it got to hot.    

Y hike with this handsome guy

Summerfest parade

Summerfest pararde

Springville reservoir

Springville reservoir

Probably my favorite picture ever!  Jacks looks just like his dad.

The boys and I went to Salem Pond with some of Jordan's family and they loved it!  The boys had a ton of fun just hanging out swimming with their cousins.

He seriously loves to swim 

Birthdays
We celebrated Jackson's birthday in June with a swimming party with his cousins.  Seriously can't believe the kid is 4. He has a whole post dedicated to his party so I won't post pictures but it was really fun and we all had a really good day.

For my birthday we went to Yuba Lake with Jordan's family.  The night before we found our floats in the basement and blew them up to make sure they didn't have holes.  The boys LOVED them!  They would not get off them.  They loved them so much that they wanted to sleep on them.  Link didn't last very long but Jacks actually slept the whole night on his float.

We spent the day at Yuba Lake boating and swimming.  The boys loved it.  The boys got kind of scared tubing but they loved to swim and just play with their cousins.  

He loved the boat!  He loved to drive and didn't want to get out.  He called it the "Optimus boat"

Photo bombed

June was really fun and crazy busy.  The boys are so much fun and I've been loving working less and staying home with them a lot more.  They are at such fun ages right now we have so much fun.  They can be crazy and wild but always so much fun to hang out with.

Preschool

Jacks just finished his first year of preschool at the end of May.  He absolutely loved it! His first year of preschool was really more of a social growth for him than an academic growth.  He made a lot of friends and got the social interaction he needed.  He didn't really learn as much as I would have like him to.  He had amazing teachers he just really struggled. I've been trying to work with Jackson at home since the beginning of June and he's already made some progress.  He's a really smart little boy he just struggles with paying attention and certain other areas.  

When Link takes his nap it's Jacks time and we sit down together and do preschool work.  At first I really had no idea what to do and how to teach him.  I think we have a system now that is really working.  He's made a lot of progress in the last month.  I've printed a ton of handwriting worksheets off and put them in sheet protectors in a binder and let him use a dry erase marker to write on them.  We start out by doing  a worksheet then do a craft, worksheet, game and then a science experiment. Jacks kind of hates worksheets.  I have to break it up and just try to find crafts and games that are educational and help him with numbers, letters, colors, and basic skills like cutting and gluing. He loves science experiments, crafts, and games. I bought him some leap frog movies and try to make him watch those when he watches tv.  Those have actually helped a lot with his letters and counting.  
It's been a lot of work and can get really frustrating.  I definitely have more respect for teachers now I could not do it! It's been hard but totally worth it it's really fun to see Jacks learn and progress.  He still has a long way to go to get ready for kindergarten and even catch up to some of the other kids his age.  He still has another year of preschool left so I'm hoping that he'll catch on and be ready for kindergarten next year.    

Jackson's Progress:
-When Jacks finished preschool he could only count to 3.  We've been working really hard counting everything, playing games, and singing songs.  It's been something he really struggles with.  He can count to 6 now!
-Jacks didn't really know any of his colors.  I really wondered if he was color blind for a long time because he just does not get his colors for some reason.  In the last month he's learned yellow, orange, blue and he knows green sometimes.
-A month ago he didn't know any letters.  Now he knows what sound the A makes.
-Jacks is getting better at basic skills like cutting and gluing.
-Jackson's attention span seems to be getting better he is getting better at sitting for longer.
-Jacks really struggles with handwriting.  He hates it!  He still struggles to hold his pencil correctly and it's always kind of a fight for us to get him to hold it correctly.  He is getting better at tracing things.  He can trace but writing independently without something to trace is a serious struggle.

By the time Jacks starts preschool in August I'd really like for him to be caught up to other kids his age and be able to do the following things:
-Count to 10
-Consistently hold his pencil correctly
-Write his name: this one I know is a stretch but we're really going to work on it.
-Learn all the colors.
-Cut a straight line
-Use appropriate amount of glue.

Last day of preschool

Some of Jackson's favorite projects

Watercolors and pipe cleaner spider

Monsters made of baking clay