California October 2013

AJ and I took a week long trip to California to visit family. We had a REALLY good time! Before I get into the trip, I have to start by saying that AJ's Papa passed away from cancer about a week before we got there. Papa was such a wonderful, caring and thoughtful man. He and AJ had such a special relationship and I know AJ will miss him terribly. Dave had been battling cancer for about 4 years and we knew it would eventually take him, but it wasn't until a few weeks before he passed that my mom realized it would be so soon. We had planned to spend time with Papa in California, knowing it would likely be the last time AJ got to spend time with him. A few days before we left, my mom said he may or may not be alive. Selfishly, I did not want AJ to see him laying on his death bed. At the same time I didn't want to go to California and AJ not see him. It ended up that Dave passed and obviously we didn't have a choice.

 

I explained to AJ what happened. I tried my very best to be honest, but not too graphic. I think it's important that I don't lie to him or make up words that he may not understand. He knew that Papa had a bad back and so I explained that he had cancer (he had heard of that before and asked if Papa lost his hair) and that the cancer bugs had taken over his body and shut down his organs. I told him that now Papa was in Heaven and was no longer in pain. That he was up in Heaven with Buster and other family members and looking down us and smiling. (My mom told me that he asked her if when he died "did he just go up?" Her answer, which I thought was perfect, was "I think so") AJ was sad. He was and still is very sad, but he understands it. Over the past few weeks he has brought it up and he told me that he missed Papa a lot but was happy he wasn't hurting anymore. That he knew he will see him again. I have told AJ that I want him to continue to talk to us, ask questions and tell stories about Papa. We will miss him so much. Papa was very good to us.

 

Here is one of my favorite pics of AJ and Papa

 

 

This picture was this past June, for AJ's birthday. The last time they got to hang out.

 

 

 

OK... so, our California trip.....................



Matt, Kristin, Mom, AJ and I rented a Duffy boat and drove around Newport Beach.

My mom kept Papa's office the same so AJ could play in it. He and Papa used to play in here a lot. They both loved it!

AJ and Lexi. They seriously love each other!

 

 

On Monday, we went to Disneyland! It was great because the lines were short and the weather was great! 

AJ and Grandma on the tram

AJ's good friend from Preschool, Kelan, and his mom were there too so we spent most the day with them. It was such fun for AJ to have a buddy there!

Star Tours! (AJ hated it, Kelan LOVED it- kind of a theme for the day)

He did the Materhorn!!! He wasn't thrilled to do it, but I was proud of him!

Autopia!

Sword in the Stone! He tried so hard!

Parade time!

 After our trip to see Southern California, we headed up to the Central Coast where my Dad and Cory live. Matt drove us up there and we had lunch as this AMAZING fish house called Brophys. YUM!

 

 



It didn't take long for AJ to want a wheelbarrow ride! Think this may be his last one as he is getting HEAVY! (and Pop isn't getting any younger... )

These sneaky guys... eating cake!

Of course, we went to the Avila barn and fed animals

Love these people!

We also got ice cream. I told AJ about how when I was a kid I would get Bubble Gum ice cream and spit the gum into a cup while I ate the ice cream. Then, I'd eat all the gum. Of course, he tried it too :)

Love

Pop and AJ love working in the garage. This time they made a cool car.

They cut, drilled, sanded..

The final project!

AJ and Grammy Cory worked really hard making adorable Despicable Me pumpkins



Check them out!

Pop busted out the drills and saw to carve a pumpkin with AJ. They had a blast getting messy!

 

 




 

 

The last night we had the family next door come over for dinner. These kids are always so kind to AJ. They've become friends!

 

September Pictures

It's been yet another busy and fun month here! We're happy and healthy and loving the change in weather and the start of football season. (GO BRONCOS!) Here are some pics...

 

 

Fall is HERE!

AJ watching the game. :)

Go Broncos!

A few weeks ago I went to have lunch with AJ at his school. It was so fun!



Of course he sat next to the girls... :) This is Bella and Elyson

Saturday morning at the grocery store- Starbucks and Donuts- a good start to the weekend!



It was Johnny Appleseed Day at school!

Love this guy!

We had some friends over the other night. Here's AJ, Abby and her brother Jack :) 

AJ Reads a BOOK!

Here is a video of AJ reading a book this morning! He rocked it! I'm SOOOOO proud of him! This is one of the BOB books and it's called Fun in the Sun. GO AJ!

AJ's Run for Funds!

Yesterday was AJ's first school fundraiser! This was Academy Charters Run for Funds event and it was so fun! All the kids in the school tried to raise money by running laps around a 1/16 of a mile track. For the last week or so, AJ has been saying he'd run anywhere from 2 to 22 laps. I truly don't think he was totally sure what he was going to be doing. When we first talked about it, he told me he didn't want to do it at all.

 

But, the good news is, he did it and had a great time! It was VERY hot, so I was thankful the Kindergartners got to go first. They ran around the track as many times as they could in 30 minutes. At first he started running with his teacher and friends and about 20 minutes into it, I decided to run with him. He and his friend, Conner, both held my hands while we ran around the track. There were teachers around the track squirting the kids with water guns to cool them down and a DJ playing music to keep us all excited and entertained. At the end of 30 minutes, AJ finished with 24 laps!

 

I was so happy to be able to take the day off and enjoy this with AJ! And as an added treat, I got to have lunch with AJ and his buddies. Such a fun day!

 

Thanks to everyone who donated and supported AJ in this run. His goal was to raise $100 and he did it!

 

All the kids in AJ's class getting ready to run!

AJ and some other friends got to run with his teacher, Mrs. Hayden!

 

All done! He rocked it! 24 laps!!

 

Sight Words!

I am so excited to post that AJ is starting to learn to read! He has obviously been working on sight words at school and at this point, knows about 15 or so. Last night before bed we were reading a book that was way too old for him to read. It's one we read together, but I'd never expect him to read at his age. But I started pointing to some words, I thought he could help me with (The, and, it) and he would read them. We did this for 2 chapters.

Then, this morning he wanted to do more, so we picked up his Flat Stanley At Bat book that is a I Can Read Level 2 book. It's much more appropriate for him to read. He did awesome! I can't believe how quickly he can pick up the words I teach him.

Here are a list of words he can read:

The, can, it, he, be, to, and, an, a, no, in, was, I, ball, bat

I'm going to get him some more I Can Read books because they are awesome! And he LOVES to read!

YEAH AJ!!!

AJ's Favorites - Age 5

I was talking to my Mom the other day and she reminded me that it's been a while since I've done a post that talks about what AJ is into these days. I always love looking back at these posts and seeing how he's changed. I asked him some questions yesterday and here are his answers:

 

 

 

Food: Noodles

Color: Purple

Best Friend: Kelan

Animal: Lion

School subject: science

Activity: "play video games for the whole entire day"

Sport: ski ball

Outdoor activity: swim

Books:  Magic Tree House, My Fathers Dragon and Flat Stanley.
Music- Selena Gomez, Beiber, Katy Perry, Lifehouse, Pitbull, Jason Mraz, Maroon 5, Toby Keith- (Red Solo Cup), Blake Shelton- (Boys Around Here).
Shows: Word World, Chuck, Justin Time, The Voice, AGT, Duck Dynasty

Movie- Despicable Me 2

 

 

Here are a few other things about AJ at the age of 5:

He still loves to sleep w us- (on weekends only)
Loves his dog, Jazzy. He talks to her like he is her dad. Stern but loving
He told me recently that he wants his whole family to live in his home. Grandparents, aunts, uncles....
We continue to work on riding a bike and skating. He's not terribly interested tho.
Movie- despicable me 2
He has already been to 2 Bronco games!