Landon and Cache
Landon and Brady
Landon cheering because his car is winning the race. :0)
Riley and Mackenzee waiting expectantly at the end of the race track to see who would win.
Landon accepting his Pinewood Derby award certificate.
Nice car Landon!!!
Mackenzee and Landon eating their twinkie cars. :0)
The scoreboard. Landon did pretty good this year. He won some and lost some....and had a really good time racing his car with his friends. Landon's team was named the "Blasts" this year. He had so much fun playing basketball with his friends. It was really fun for us to watch as well. He really got into it this year and was way more aggressive with the ball on both offense and defense. I think he came out with bruises a couple of times after diving after a ball.
I thought it would be fun and super cute for the kids to create their own artwork to hang on their bedroom walls. So, I went out and bought some canvases and paint and let them get creative. I told them they could paint whatever they wanted...
Landon painted a picture of Spiderman swinging through the sky...
Mackenzee went a bit more abstract with hers :0)
They had so much fun and it was fun to watch them do it. I think their favorite part was when I hung the pictures on their bedroom walls. :0) 
Landon had his Christmas Recorder Concert his last week of school before Christmas break. Jaysen and I were able to make it even though the concert was in the middle of the morning on a school day. I love that my son is having fun with music, I just wish those dang recorders weren't so loud and squeaky. Maybe honky is a better word for the noise. I don't know. Oh well! They all played well for Mr. Gibson and it was fun to see Landon play his songs from memory with all of his friends. 
Yes, that's right....my son is now a full decade old. Double Digits. I'm not sure how I feel able that. :0)
Landon ended up getting a RipStick from us for his birthday....
and a puzzle and frizbee from his friend, and a Wii game from another friend.
Here we are at the theater waiting for the movie to begin. We went to see Planet 51. I hope the boys enjoyed it. 
Nathan and Jesse were shepherds back in the time of Jesus' birth. {Insert a big thanks to Nana and Papa for help with the costume!}
Landon's friend Reese played the part of Nathan. Landon woke Reese up from sleeping and dragged him out of bed to help tend the flocks of sheep. Of course, the angels told them to go and see baby Jesus, which they did. 
The gym was set up so beautifully and the characters did such a good job. Landon remembered all of his lines and said them prefectly. I know he was inwardly dying because of his fear of getting up in front of people, but he did wonderfully. 
Bad shot here....but here is the entire cast taking their final bow for the evening. It was a really nice program, especially with the music added to the various portions of the play. And, honestly, it was a really nice way to start out the month. This year I knew that I couldn't be as involved in the class parties at Landon's school. As the years have progressed it seems like there is less time to put towards these kinds of things. This year I didn't sign up at all to help out with the Halloween party at Landon's school. I figured I could lend a hand during Christmas and Valentine's instead. Well....when Landon found out I wasn't going to be in charge of the party this year he was more than a little disappointed. {Which secretly made me feel REALLY good. I mean...come on...my FOURTH grader wanted me to come and hang out in his classroom STILL!!!!} He asked me if I would still at least come and watch him do his costume parade. How could I turn him down? The parade was at the same time as the class party, so I was able to sit in on a little bit and poke fun at all of his friends. Mackenzee came too {in her Dorothy costume}.
All of Landon's friends from his classroom {excluding girls....OF COURSE!}
What a handsome kid!!!!
Our neighbor Whitley was in the parade too....isn't she a scary witch?
Genea dressed up as a witch this year too...
I don't know what's more scary....Landon's "gun" {he was pretending his hand was a gun}, or Mackenzee's finger up her nose....
Monday was the first day of school. Because my sister, Crystal, has been staying with us her daughter, Genea, got to be able to go to school with Landon this year. Normally I take my kids to school on their first day, but both Landon and Genea were WAY too excited to ride the bus to want me to take them. So, instead I waited with them at the bus stop. :0) Landon, being the almost 10-year old boy that he is, decided that the studly outfit I had picked out for him for the first day of school was not the right choice. He did wear the shirt I wanted him to wear....but he covered it up with his BSU hoodie. The brand new stylin' jeans I wanted him to wear....got shoved aside for some old worn out shorts. His reply when I asked him why he wasn't wearing his jeans?......
"WHAT? I like these shorts."
Yeah....good times. 
Here is Landon, our next door neighbor Noah, Genea, and a new friend that just so happens to be in Genea's class. They all wait together at the bus stop and it has worked out so well.
The boys were super excited to see that their favorite bus driver, Shane, was their driver again this year. Apparently Shane is the nicest bus driver out of all them. That's what the boys say anyway....
Landon just finished up his week of basketball camp. His friend, Cole, went along with him, but they ended up on different teams. The camp focused on teamwork and being positive even when you don't win. {Which was perfect since we tend to have a problem with that kind of stuff around here}. Landon had so much fun and I'm hoping he remembers everything he learned so he can show off his new "skills" during basketball season this winter.It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here. Which, of course, means I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog here. And...because it would take too much time and effort to keep everything straight....none of these next several posts are in any specific order. I was there....just don't ask me to remember which day it actually happened. :0)
Landon finished up his swimming lessons this last week and passed with flying colors! In fact, every box on his certificate was checked off. {We can't say the same for Mackenzee} Not only that, but the class that he was supposed to be in told him he swam too well for their class and automatically bumped him up to the next higher class level. So, he atually passed two levels of swimming classes instead of just one. Way to go Landon!
He is doing so well with his swimming and is turning into quite the little fish. In fact, he passed the "mommy" swimming test out at Bass Lake last week as well. Last year he struggled and ran out of energy while trying to swim out to the dock and ended up needing Jaysen to help him make it there. So, he did not pass the test last year and was "forced" to wear a life jacket if he wanted to go out in the deep water. This year he didn't need any help at all and so he doesn't have to face the "shame" of wearing a life jacket.
Though it was awesome to watch Landon learn new swimming strokes and how to dive, trying to keep Mackenzee entertained in the hot sun for an hour every day for the last two weeks was definitely interesting. She got in trouble with one of the life guards there for pretending the bench on the side of the concrete was a balance beam. She had to get down and take the walk of shame back to her mother {who had already told her not to walk across the bench but apparently does not have as much authority as Mr. Lifeguard}. She later told me that the lifeguard was mean to her and so she hated him. Good times.......
On a different day, a different Mr. Lifeguard was seen walking around with a Hello Kitty towel wrapped around him. Mackenzee laughed and told me that he was a girl.
And, still another Mr. Lifeguard was commented on. Mackenzee was quite taken with him and let everyone sitting around us know by pointing emphatically towards him and then, speaking very loudly, said, "he has BIG muscles!". After which she struck the muscle man pose with her arms up in the air. She was right....the guy did have big muscles...but I am worried about the fact that my three year old is already checking out lifeguards. I may be in trouble. ;0)
Congrats Landon!
