April in Review (aka- I'm behind again)

Easter 4/12/2009


The Easter Bunny was very generous this year.
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Jack playing with Jill's toy...
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and visa versa
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Cute Easter pj's by Nana.
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Jill sporting her new bathing suit.
(isn't that tummy amazing?)
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Bunny cupcakes I made for an Easter picnic.
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The Kid's Room
You might remember this post.
Where I showed off my fabric finds for
the kids' room.
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We’ve been using the bedding since

Last June, it’s taken me almost

a full year to decorate the walls.

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A very special thanks to Nana for all

her sewing, talent, & attention to detail.

The bedding is beautiful!

We love you a bushel & a peck.

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4/18/2009

Jack’s birthday fell on a Saturday this year.

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His special day went like this:

Morning-

Donut shop & classic cars

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Over to Disneyland to apply Jack’s

free past towards a season pass.

Afternoon-

Picnic @ the park

Examine the ladybugs in the field

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slide, slide, slide

Evening:

Pizza...
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a party... (Kent never disappoints)
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presents...
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and cupcakes…

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Hugs & kisses & Birthday wishes!

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It was a great day and Jack

Loved being in the spotlight!

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Birthday Party 4/25/02009
On April 25, Jack and two of his friends,
Mason and Zack, had a Car Birthday Party.

Us Moms decided to combine the parties into
one for two reasons-1. The three boys are all friends &
were born within 4 days of each other!
(Jack 4/18, Mason 4/19, and Zack 4/21)
2. It's less work & more fun to do it all together!
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Here are some pictures from their special day-

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I was in charge of decorations.
Checkered flags, road signs, traffic lights, and funky
food signage. Kent even helped and made
a giant coloring page for our racing table.
(Thanks babe!)
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Zack's mom-Alex made these amazing cakes.
Aren't they beautiful?
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She made the cupcakes too!
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Here are the birthday boys
L to R- Zack, Jack, and Mason
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The party was a home run!
The birthday boys had a great afternoon.
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Pickin' Berries 4/29/2009
Jack's preschool class took a field trip
to Tanaka Farms in Irvine.
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Jack was so excited to ride the bus and
literally climbed with walls in anticipation.
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Here's Jack with his two buds
Emma and Mason.
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Jack enjoying the bus ride.
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Before we picked berries we toured the farm.
The farmers would pick fresh produce right out
of the ground for us to try. Jack's favorite
was this carrot, he kept commenting about
its sweet taste.
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Ready, set, go!
We were free to pick and eat as
many strawberries as we wanted,
but we could only take home 16oz.
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These berries were beautiful and
the sweetest I've ever tasted.
Jack and I were in heaven.
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After we were back on the bus
one mom told me she'd seen women
in the fields with cans of whipped cream!
If only I'd had known ...
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Heavenly!
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Fin

Jack and Momma's Preschool Midterm

This Semester Jack and I enrolled in

a Mommy & Me Preschool
offered through Coastline Community College.
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Jack has loved every minute
of his first school experience.
Art, story time, singing, snacks, friends, toys,
field trips, fun, and homework!
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To clarify, the homework is all mine.
I've been asked to document Jack's
emergent reading and writing skills.
Since I wanted to include notes,
pictures, and video I figured the family blog would
be the easiest way to display all my findings.
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Miss Jeanette this is for you:
Before attending your preschool class I had spent
very little time thinking about the literacy environment
in my home. Nor had I realized all the little steps Jack has
been taking towards reading and writing.
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This quiz you handed out to us has been very helpful.
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The Home Literacy Environment Checklist

click here if you'd like to take the quiz to evaluate your home.
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And I am happy to report that our home has
most of the necessary supportive literacy elements (33 trues).

Emergent Reading-

Jack loves books.
I think that's something he's learned from me.

July of 2007 (15 months old)
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He has 100's of them.

A small sampling of Jack's books.
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I read to Jack everyday.
Quite often I find him "reading" to himself
or "reading" to Jillian.
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Jack has quite a few materials and games to
help him learn the alphabet/learn to read.

magnetic letters
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sticker letters
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flashcards
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bin of writing supplies.

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letters & cards matching game
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To date Jack can sight read 15 uppercase letters:
A,B,C,E,I,J,K,L,O,P,Q,R,S,T, and X.
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Jack can also sight read numbers 0-12 and
can point to those numbers when asked.
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Jack can sing the ABC song;
it's not a perfect rendition, but he sure
likes singing it anyway.

Recorded 5/17/09
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Here's a video showing Jack's early
reading skills. He listens as I read to him.
He asks questions when he want to
clarify parts of the story. Jack can answer
questions that I ask him as we read and
sometimes even accurately predicts what
will happen next in the story. Jack likes to point
out things he notices in the story's pictures.
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Jack's emergent reading stories-

1.Last week Jack found our Annual
Disneyland Passholder Magazine and
dug it out of the recycling bin. (I'm pretty
sure it was Mickey on the back cover that
enticed him to pick it out of the trash.)
I've found him "reading it" several times since then.
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Recently I've tried to recycle the magazine
a couple more times, but Jack keeps reminding me
that it's his and he likes reading it.

2. A couple weeks ago we caught Jack
brushing up on his Mario Kart skills in the bathroom!
Apparently he grabbed the manual before he headed
off to go potty.
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In this first picture Jack looks a little worried
that he's been caught reading on the toilet.
But by the second photo...
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He's back to business!

3. Every night we read the scriptures with Jack
Before we get started we talk about a couple
important pictures I've placed into our scriptures.
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Here is a picture of our prophet Thomas S. Monson.
Each night when I ask Jack who this man is,
Jack places his finger under Thomas S. Monson's
name and moves his finger as he says his name.
I know he learned this behavior from me, but
it also shows me that he understands how print works.
a. Jack knows that each letter goes together to form a word.
b. He know that print goes from left to right
and c. Jack knows that the words under the picture
says Thomas S. Monson.

Emergent Writing Skills-


Click on the picture for a better look at
the beginning stages of learning to write.
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Right now Jack is moving from stage 2 to
stage 3 in his writing progression.
Most of his work looks like separated
scribbles (2), but I have noticed in Jack's
more recent work that he is starting to
write left to right across the page.


This sample was made on April 15th.
You can see the separated scribbles, but
if you look at the 6th line from the top
Jack did "write" across the page left to right.
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How Jack holds his pencil
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Kent thought he would do a little writing activity
with Jack to see if he could trace his name. The top
is Kent guiding Jack's hand while they trace Jack's name.
And the bottom is Jack tracing his name by himself.
Needless to say we were shocked, we had no idea Jack
had the motor skills to do this!
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Jack's birthday was last month.
And in the weeks following we've written lots
of thank you notes. I write the notes and Jack
draws the picture on the front.
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While Jack was drawing on one of his
friends notes he looked at me
and said "here's a 7" and then drew a 7.
I was floored. (I should have taken a
picture right then and there, but instead I
put it in an envelope and mailed it off.)
Later on (5/17/09) I sat Jack down and asked him to write
another 7 for me. He did, but this time it was backwards.
He also drew a 1, a triangle, a house, and a castle.
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I love that Jack is starting to tell me what
he's drawing and I get even more excited when
I can see what he's telling me about in his picture.


On 4/19/09 Jack used a highlighter to make
this picture. While he was coloring he said "Look
Mama, a fish" and sure enough, I could see a fish!
This was the first time I could recognize what he said
he was drawing right there on the paper .
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Jack's fish

Miss Jeanette, we have truly enjoyed your class.
Jack and I have learned so much.
Thank you for all you do to make our preschool
so much fun. We can't wait for the field trip next week!

Love,
Jackson, Jillian, and Jodi

THE END

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JODI

Kent here, I have a confession to make: I am not a super-husband. I am constantly told that my wife enjoys a good card for her birthday, or special occasions. Without fail, I either forget to buy the card, or I opt for the "funny-not-so-serious/questionable content" card as opposed to the "mushy-this-is-how-I-feel" card.

I thought in addition to a card (I think I'm finally learning) I wanted to let everyone know, via the Howe Family Blog, a few reasons why I love my wife.

1. Compassion: I think only Jodi could teach me that it's okay to give money to a bum regardless of "what he could be spending the money on." She is always looking to help others in need.
   
2. Patience: I'm sure everyone feels that their own kids are difficult, restless, whiney and needy at some point, but no one can handle our kids with such a patient ability as Jodi. She has the amazing gift of knowing how to create learning situations out of meltdowns.
3. Sense of Humor: I am convinced that most people don't know how "gut-busting" Jodi's sense of humor can be. I don't think a day goes by that she doesn't make me laugh. I appreciate the humor, especially when life's situations can be awkward or difficult.
4. Confidence: This may be a little selfish to say, but Jodi boosts my confidence. I love that about her. Sometimes all it takes is one smile or touch, and I feel like I can conquer the world.
5. Talent: If Jodi really wants to do something (sewing, blogging, teaching, etc.) she has an uncanny ability to learn something, and be great. She also never does anything "half-baked." It's all or nothing.
6. Beautiful: Jodi is absolutely beautiful, I mean gorgeous. I still remember what she wore and how she looked the first time we "hung out." (It wasn't really a date.) I often catch myself staring at her feeling like I was the lucky one, and why did she pick me?

Happy birthday Jodi. Thank you for being in our lives, we love you.

Love - Jackson, Jillian and Kent

Cheat Sheet

Buzz' ride is a personal family favorite
when we visit Disneyland.

Click here to read up on all the secrets this ride
has to offer. This is all you need to totally
smash the competition next time you rendezvous
with Star Command.

Happy Blasting!



PS- Here's my last visit on 5-7-09.
I focused on hitting only the triangle
& diamond targets. Check out that
score! I was shocked and totally proud
to email my picture to Kent. By the way,
Jack rode with me, but you can't tell, he's hiding
behind the cart.

Time Stands Still for No Mom

April 18th, 2006

April 18th, 2007


April 18th, 2008


(picture to come)
April 18, 2009

3 years already!?!
Jack, you've made our
"love stronger, days shorter,
nights longer, bankroll smaller,
home happier, clothes shabbier, the
past forgotten, and the future worth
living for." -author unknown

Thank you for all your
giggles & love. You are
now officially our favorite
3 year old!

love,
Mama, Dada, & Jill Jill

PS-The trend seems to be, it's not
really your birthday until you need
a bath. Let the tradition live on.

Everyone Poops

On March 26th Jack & I took

"the plunge" into the wet & wild world of
potty training!
(dun, dun, dun...)



I decided to take the 3 Day Potty Training route.
Which meant:
No diapers...period. Tons of fluids,
consistency, patience, & praise.
(click here if you'd like to learn more about 3 Day Potty Training)


Were we insane? Maybe, but these
charts speak for themselves.


Day 1 - 25 % accuracy 75% accidents.


Day 2 - 50/50 split.


Day 3 - 75% accuracy 25% accidents

Progress was tract. Praise doled out liberally
(as were candy bribes & matchbox cars).
The washing machine never stopped running.
And I finished off a bottle of Tylenol.


A prize for going #2 in the potty.

Did the 3 Day Potty Training work?
Yes. By the middle of day 2 Jack was
telling me when he needed to pee.
Jack wasn't perfectly potty trained in 3 days,
he needed more time to recognize what it felt like
to need to go #2, but he was almost there.


Jack's motivational reading.

This has been the longest 2 weeks of our lives,
but Jack & I happy to report
that Jack has gone days without an accident,
gets up @ night to pee, & wakes up dry
in the morning!

Jack I want you to know that I'm so very proud
of you for conquering this huge milestone.
I can't help but smile when I think of how far
you've come in such a short period of time.


The End

Jack > Jill

Jack is bigger than Jilley...
for now.

On the left we have Jack weighing in @
28 pounds (soaking wet) & 35 inches tall.
On the right we have Jilley a "petite"
20 1/2 pounds & 28 1/2 inches tall.

Every night @ dinner we remind
Jack to eat his food, so that he can
remain the "big" brother.
Usually he giggles & works to finish what's
on his plate, but sometimes he just shrugs
as he passes his leftovers to Jill!

1000 Words

Its dawned on me that I never shared

the family pictures we had taken in January.
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My good friend Shari Hanson was our
photographer. The kids were less than
willing participants that day, so I was worried there
wasn't a single good shot from our shoot.
And then Shari delivered these...
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Needless to say, I was thrilled with the results.
Thank you Shari; I love our new family pictures!
click here if you'd like to visit Shari's website
to view more great photo shoots.
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Shari, I know the light was off in this one,
but it's one of my favorites because of Jack's sweet kisses.
Thanks for capturing this moment.