Rolling Along

Today the boys decided that they wanted to go roller skating. Jason uses Nathan's old skates and Nate is on some hand-me down roller blades. Although I find blades much easier to skate with, you definitely need to know what you are doing and keep your legs and ankles strong (easy to bend them the wrong way).

Jason is a pro now and is so proud of himself scooting around the complex- more practice and one of these days we will go to a rink for some real fun!

Hey, maybe they will be good enough before I am too old to skate with them!

A Visit From Ryan

Ryan was home this past week for his Spring Break. He spent time with both of his families, hung out with friends, caught up on rest and even did some homework. The boys (Dan too) LOVED having him home for some wrestling and Lego building.

As soon as he came- he was off again. He will be back soon though for summer break!

We love you Ryan!

Brywood Talent Show 2012

The Crazy Crouts made an appearance this year at the annual talent show. Again, they were first up and had a crowd pleasing song and performance. This year they danced (and lip-synced) to "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5. About 80 seconds were cut out of the song- we figure less is more when it comes to this kind of thing!!

I will post a clip of their act, but for now the pictures will have to suffice. Here they are demonstrating some of their moves.

Same kid?

I took a picture of Nathan dressed up for his school play and realized it looked just like a picture I took of Ryan a few years back. Check out the likeness~

Ryan was 16 1/2 and Nathan is 8 1/2- just 8 years difference- Ryan just needs his glasses and Nathan just needs to be a bit taller and we would have twins!

New Lego Set

Dan really wanted to build Legos with the boys and the easiest way for him to do this is to buy a new set- heck, the pieces are all there- no searching for missing blocks in umpteen bins.

So, he went on got The Pirates of the Caribbean ship- and it's cool. They started in the afternoon and finished after dinner. I love how Dan patiently includes the boys in building different sections and makes it a team effort!

Lots of skeletons on the ship!

check out the new haircuts!

That's one way to recycle!

Funny Flats

I made a large bowl of pancake batter and instead of trashing it, the boys had pancakes all week. The first day I made them the silly flats (what Jason calls pancakes) I used chocolate chips and whip cream to make funny faces with them. The next day I took cut out photos of eyes and mouths and put them on the faces. The boys got a kick out of them and now we have a new thing- "funny flats". It is fun to surprise them in the morning and it makes breakfast a bit more fun!

More Straw Fun

Okay, the boys have really gotten creative with the straws they got as a late Christmas present.

Here is Nathan's sea plane- he made up the design and executed it! Want to take a spin?
Here is a nice arch that the boys made. The original design was much smaller, but they really wanted to BOTH be able to walk underneath it without having to bend over- so cute!

The Blessing of Baptism

Romans 6:4

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Today was Baptism Sunday at The Journey Christian Church. The boys have been asking to be baptized, but I didn't have my act together to do it today (or so I thought). I had really wanted to make it a family event, but who defines family?

I felt very deeply that the boys be baptized by Rob Conatser. Rob dedicated them as young toddlers and I felt like it would be very special to have him do this very important step in their faith journey. Rob and his family are leaving next week to go to Georgia to continue the work God has called them to do- so it was now or never!

After their goodbye celebration, the boys prepared to be baptized. The more Jason got closer to it, the more excited he became- he kept bugging Rob all afternoon to do it NOW (sorry Rob). Of course Nathan was the opposite- he was not keen on doing it in front of others, but I (strongly) encouraged him to do it today with his brother. I knew he was ready and just needed to get over his fears.

The few "family" members (including our pastoral staff) that were still there at church witnessed the baptism of Nathan James and Jason Daniel. It was a beautiful sight to see my children being asked the questions,"Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God?" and "Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins?" and for the to answer in the affirmative. As he fully submerged them into the water and pronounced as he brought them up that they "were dead to their old life and like Christ, raised to a new life."

Before the "Dunk"

Jason is excited to be baptized

(and have everyone watching him)

Jason :: Before & After

Nathan :: Before & After

What a precious moment in all of our lives!! Welcome to the Lord's family my sweet, precious sons!!

Pumpkin Time

This year I let the boys do most of the carving themselves. There was no drawing on the pumpkins beforehand. I did gut the pumpkins and cleaned them for them, but Nathan did all of his work. Jason needed a little help with his face, but it was all his idea!

All in all- it was another fun pumpkin carving experience!

The Art of Imagination

Okay, so my kids are not artistic in the traditional sense, but they are creative when it comes to Lego blocks and stories.
Jason built this nifty "International Space Station" and then sold it to Nathan for all of his "Pretend City" money. It came with places for ships to land, a junk yard with extra parts to modify ships and spaces to create new spacecrafts.
Who needs 100 sets of Legos when you have an imagination? Nathan has played with this ever-evolving toy for a week now. The ships are constantly morphing into bigger and better creations and the possibilities are endless.
Thank you Jason for creating something for your brother to play with and thank you God for giving my sons complex brains and imaginations that have no limits!!

A Funny Thing I Heard

So, this morning Nathan is out playing with the dog in his PJs. I hear him going back and forth between loving the dog and frustrated that she is nipping at his hands. Then I hear, "NO, not my penis." Apparently she got him good in his privates and he was almost brought to tears. Jason on hearing this says, "One boy down, me to go." I guess he figures the last one standing (or with his penis in tact) wins!!

Oh, the joy of parenting boys!!

We Love CAMP!!

The boys have attended various camps throughout the summer and have loved EVERY minute of it (and selfishly, so have I).

Don't get me wrong, I love my children!!! They are active kids who love being around other people- I on the other hand am a homebody and love to be curled up reading (when I am not doing all the other things that I have to do to keep our home and family going).

The first week of summer the boys joined several of their friends at Voyagers Bible Church for VBS. Then for the next two weeks they did Adventure Camp through the city of Irvine. Adventure camp goes from 1 to 6pm. They wouldn't go every day, but two to three days a week. They have also attended morning camp through the city (which goes from 8-1). One week was Science camp and this week they are in Sports and Games Camp. Last week they did a day camp through Voyagers Church again where they got to go on different excursions plus some really fun stuff at the church site (plus, every morning there would be a Bible lesson and worship time).

Needless to say, we have had our share of camps this summer and we aren't done yet. Why camp for the Crouts? Jason is a super social child who needs to be around lots of people. Nathan would choose to be home like me, but by sending him out into the world he gets to flex his "social skill" muscles and have fun too. They both love interacting with the other kids, but especially the
adult staff.

The best thing for me (besides time to get stuff done and relax) is when I go pick them up and they don't know I am there yet. I watch them run around with the biggest smiles on their faces and then the tell me "I had the best day EVER". What parent doesn't want their child to get to experience such happiness!!

35 more days of Summer Vacation left. . . . . . .

Summer begins NOW!!

My boys are now done with school for the year! There were 177 days of school and there are now 84 days of summer vacation (but who is counting?).

We have been counting down to this day and now it is finally here- what a relief.

We have lots of fun things planned for the summer and we have lots of relaxing to do. I will be spending a lot of time with my new puppy dog, the boys will be doing various camps through out the summer, lots of pool and beach time and just hanging low!!

Jason-
future 1st grader!

Nathan-
future 3rd grader

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- summer vacation!!

Swim Lessons 2011

My boys have been water safe for quite some time, but they look like they are drowning to some. For 6 weeks they have been taking swim lessons with our friend Jen Wilson. She has done such a great job with both boys (who do their lessons together). Nathan is really becoming a good swimmer and has his form down. Jason has learned big arms and side breathing.

Although they won't be competing in the Olympics any time soon, they will be getting around a lot better in the pool and won't freak so many parents out who think they are sinking!!

Jason- little fish!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathan- Big Fish!!

Open House 2011

Tonight we went to the boy's school, Brywood Elementary, for Open House. What a treat it was to be guided around their classrooms, seeing their work and all that they have accomplished. Although I am very familiar with Jason's routine and room in Kindergarten, it was fun to witness him giving his dad a tour. Nathan quickly left our group and played with the legos offered for little siblings visiting the class.

Mrs. Vitarelli & Jason

Nathan had a checklist to go through so he wouldn't forget anything he was supposed to show us in his class (his teacher is so wise). He was beside himself to show us all the fun surprises that they have been working on. My boy has come a long way in 2nd grade and I was just so proud of him.

Got Milk?

Nathan & Ms. Garmon

We love our school!!