Happy Birthday Jackson!

Hi All,
Jackson’s 8th birthday was August 29.   We celebrated with a party today at the Sternberg Museum (Jackson’s favorite place).  We invited his entire 2nd grade class, but we had lots of regrets on attendance due to the Labor Day weekend.  This caused Jackson to complain to me, “Mom couldn’t you have waited a few more days to have me!!”  I told him that I didn’t have much choice in the matter!  Actually we had a good turnout even considering Labor Day weekend.  Also attending were Grandma Long, Grandma and Grandpa Stanton, Uncle Dew,  Aunt Amy, Aunt Leah, Briana, Daniel, Summer, Jessica, King and Henry.

I can’t believe that my baby boy is 8.   I remember so vividly the day I found out I was pregnant.  I remember looking at myself in the bathroom mirror in disbelief.  I remember not being able to tell anybody for 24 hours because Andy was out of town and I wanted to tell him first.  I remember how HORRIBLY sick I was during the pregnancy and how all I could keep down for the first five months were strawberries and popsicles.  I remember the wonder and awe I felt the first time I felt him move in my stomach.  I remember how HUGE I got and how miserable I was in the August heat.  Strangly the memories of the painful (but routine) labor and delivery have faded, but I vividly remember Andy excitedly shoting, “It’s a boy!”.  That boy has grown into an intelligent, handsome, loving, curious, funny, compassionate 8 year old.  I can’t wait to see what he decides to do with his life. 

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Jackson Adam Stanton - 8 years old

Jackson and some of his friends.

Having fun at the Sternberg.

Daniel, Summer, Briana and Grace

Sydney, Reagan and Megan

The boys

Our niece Lori with the big spider.

The kids exploring the exhibits.

Running from t-rex!

T-rex is always a favorite!

Caleb, Bryce and Jackson

Opening presents

Thanks Uncle Dew and Aunt Amy

 

Gabe really liked the cake!

Daughter and Mom

Grandma Carol, Jackson and Grandma Carol

Chaco the Tarantula

Chaco the Tarantula

Originally uploaded by andystanton

Although the photo is out of focus, this is the newest member of the Stanton family – Chaco the Tarantula. Jackson’s 8th birthday is on Friday and he wanted a pet. He loves science and so we discussed various pets that could survive in our little house with 5 people (including a very rambunctious (sp?) two year old!

We settled on a tarantula. He takes little maintenance, eats only a cricket each week, loves the dark and stays in his CritterKeeper!!!!! He’s pretty small right now (only about 1.5 inches wide) but will grow over the next couple of years and should live for around 15 years!

Welcome to the family Chaco!

Grace and Daddy’s First Day of School

Hi All,
Today was the first day of classes at FHSU and the FHSU Tiger Tots Preschool, so both Andy and Gracie had their first day of school.

Grace breezed in like she owned the place.  No tears, no doubts – preschool was hers to conquer!!

Here are some pictures.

Dana

Grace Jo YingZhen Stanton ready to leave the house on her first day of preschool.

Andy and Grace outside of Rarick Hall

Grace with her school supplies - next to her cubby

Grace and her teacher Miss Laura

A Night Out with Friends

Since Gabriel has came into our lives we have kept the outings to a minimum.  He doesn’t do well in large crowds and anywhere he is forced to sit still.  Over the last several months we have been working with him and he has made good progress.  So, we felt confident enough to call our good friends the Crowley’s (Tim, Ann, Alex and Sam).  We made plans to eat dinner in a restaurant and then go play miniature golf.

At first things were going o.k. between the four adults we were able to keep Gabe somewhat entertained.  Poor Tim made the mistake of sitting on one side of Gabe – so Gabe helped himself to the tomatoes of Tim’s salad plate.  I also think Gabe might have spit some celery on Tim, but he was too nice to say so.  When we were almost done with the meal I looked over and blood was pouring out of Gabe’s nose.  Since we have had him he has only had a couple of bloody noses – it is not an everyday occurrence.  This one was a gusher and to make matters worse everytime we held a napkin to his nose Gabriel thought he was supposed to blow.  Talk about your blood borne pathogens!!  I picked Gabe up (with Ann following) and I hurried him bleeding through the crowded restaurant to the bathroom.  After a while between the two of us we got him (and me) cleaned up and we were off to the next stage of our adventure.  It is a testament to our friendship that Ann and Tim didn’t run for the hills let alone agree to go on leg two of our evening.

By the way the big kids did great through the meal.  They sat in a booth next to us and were so well behaved.  They allowed us to focus most of our attention on Gabriel.

Gabe did better at the miniature golf course – there was more room to run.  It was an absolutely beautiful evening – a perfect night for miniature golf.  It was good getting to catch up with our friends in between times spent running after Gabe.

Here are some pics from the evening!

Dana
P.S.  I told Ann and Tim I wouldn’t post any pictures of them, but they turned out really good so I went ahead and posted them anyway.  And besides they know I am blog happy.  All my good friends know that if I take your picture (and I take lots) there is a good chance you will end up on our blog!

The Crowley and Stanton kids

 

Gabe playing golf

 

Ann and Dana

 

Dana and Gracie

 

Jackson and Sam

 

Tim and Ann

Jackson’s First Day of School

Hi All,

Today was Jackson’s first day of school.  He is now a second grader!  I tried to get him to get dressed in a nice pair of khaki shorts and a polo for the first day of school, but he informed me, “Mom, I’m not a kindergartener.  I’m wearing a t-shirt and gym shorts!”  Apparently it isn’t cool for second grade boys to come to the first day of school in their Sunday best.  They only went a half day today, but Jackson was very excited. 

Gabriel started with his new (and first) babysitter on Monday.  So far so good.  The sitter says Gabe is doing great and Gabe loves to go there.  In fact when we pull up in her driveway he yells, “Yeah!”.

I am back to work full time, but since Grace doesn’t go to preschool until Monday she is coming to work with me.  Andy is back to work as well, but classes don’t start until Monday.

Here are some pics of the Jackson and Grace I took today.

Dana

What Mom found in her bed this morning!

 

Jackson before we left the house.

 

Jackson outside his classroom door.

 

Jackson at his desk.

 

Grace and Jackson outside of Dad

 

Andy, Grace and Jackson outside of Dad's office.

A Little Elbow Room

One of the reasons we hesitated moving to Hays was our house in Dodge City.  It was wonderful.  Close to a hundred years old:  two stories, five bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, hardwood floors, two fireplaces, huge closets, family room, office, beautifully landscaped and lots of storage.  It really was our dream house.  Sadly when we moved to Hays the housing market was not on our side.  With the same amount of money in the Hays market we ended up with a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, no basement, no family room little, bitty ranch.  Don’t get me wrong – it is a cute house.  It is in a nice part of town, but we are literally living on top of each other.  Right now Jackson and Gabe share a bedroom. 

From the get go my someday dream was to renovate our garage (which has just been storage) and turn it into a family/playroom for the kids.  I kept envisioning putting up drywall, carpet and some custom bookshelves/cabinetry.  Well, after a summer of tripping over each other (and all the toys on the floor), Mom finally had enough.  On Saturday morning I woke up with a mission.  I took all the excess boxes to the shed in the backyard (which took a good two hours), dusted, swept and finally mopped.  I then bought a 8 x 5 carpet and started dragging stuff to the new playroom.  I took the mattress from the crib (that was in storage) and converted it into a kiddie sofa.  We had an extra dresser and in each drawer stored something different.  The top two drawers hold art supplies (out of Gabe’s reach).  The last two hold VHS tapes.  We have a tv/vcr combo and the kids video game.  We have little tables set up with Grace’s little people house and Gabe’s farm.  All the legos, toys and the kiddy tent are all out the there.  It isn’t pretty and certainly won’t win any design awards, but the kids seem to like it.

The result has been a quiet weekend and wonder of wonders the rest of the house has stayed clean for the remainder of the weekend.  Before the playroom I would end up cleaning the living room five or six times a day – an endless cycle of picking up toys.

Hopefully this will give our family a little elbow room and especially a little peace of mind for Mom and Dad.

Dana

Our garage/playroom makeover.

 

Another view.

 

Hanging out in the playroom before bedtime.

Pics from the park

Hi All,
We are having unseasonably cool weather here, so this morning I took the kids to the park.  Usually in mid-August we experience 100 plus temperatures – this morning it was in the high 70’s.   It was a perfect morning for the park.

Dana

Grace, Gabe and Jackson

 

 

Jackson is king of the playground!

 

Catch me if you can! Gabe trying out the soccer field.

 

Gracie Jo

 

Gabe on the swing.

 

Gabriel

 

Grace was not pleased to share the slide with little Bubba! Littls Bubba (of course) thinks it is pretty cool to be with the big kids.

Back in Hays

Hi All,
Tonight we got a call from Briana.  She just arrived in Hays after spending the summer back home in china.  Briana is a grad student at FHSU.  She came over with her friend Daniel (Korea) and Justin (from plain old Hays, KS).  She had stored some of her stuff in our garage for the summer and was picking it up.

It was great seeing the kids again.  Jackson, Grace and now Gabe love Briana and Daniel.  During the last several months our kids have spent lots of time with Jessica (also from China).  Jessica has spoken lots of Chinese to Gabriel.  The other day my computer had gone into screensaver mode and was randomly flashing pictures from my photo files.  A photo of Jessica came on and Gabe told me excitedly, “Yi Jin” – which is Jessica’s Chinese name.  Also this summer Gabe has sometimes started calling Andy “Baba” as well as “Daddy”.  “Baba” is the Chinese word for “Daddy”.  So, tonight I was telling all this to Briana.  To test Gabe, Briana started talking to him in Chinese.   She told him her Chinese name and then asked if his name was, “Dang Hui” which is Gabe’s Chinese name.  Gabe told her that no, his name was “Gabe”!  What a hoot!  I am happy that he knows who he is, but also estatic that he still comprehends and can converse a little in Chinese.

Here are some pictures.

Dana

Briana, Gabe, Grace, Jackson, Justin and Daniel

 

Briana and Gabe

 

Briana and Grace

 

Obviously my kids love Daniel!

A very uncommon sight!

Hi Everyone,
It is no secret that Gabriel and Grace’s relationship is rocky at best.  Since Jackson has been out of the picture – or at least not quite as visible – for the last couple of days, Grace has been forced to turn to Gabriel for a playmate.

Actually sometimes I see Grace, Gabe and Jackson fight and it reminds me of my early relationship with my sister Tracie.  We fought like cats and dogs.  Once our very sweet, but misguided, piano teacher had us a play a duet in the yearly piano recital.  During the recital we got into an argument and Tracie somehow ended up off the piano bench on the floor.

Tonight I got a RARE picture of Grace and Gabe playing together and actually (gasp) showing affection.  Of course a few minutes after the photos Gabe whopps Grace upside the head and the fight is on, but let us not think of that.  Let’s just look at these pictures and think they are a loving brother and sister!

Dana

My China girl and boy!

Gabe taking a nap earlier in the day.

Rolling Hills Zoo

Since Jackson was getting around really well yesterday we decided to go ahead with a trip to the Rolling Hills Zoo (about an hour away).  Although Jackson preferred otherwise, we bought tickets to the tram and let the “choo-choo” (as Gabe called it) give us a ride.  It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 80’s.

This was Gabe’s first trip to the zoo and he had a great time.  He did really well and all three enjoyed themselves.

The zoo also has a museum which features the 2nd largest collection of full-mount (stuffed) animals in the country.  I personally think the museum is neater than the zoo – it is AWESOME.  In this part of the museum Gabe actually got scared a couple of times because he thought the animals were going to eat him.

Here are a few pictures!

Dana

The kids at the Rolling Hills zoo.

My crew on the tram.

This cougar probably thought these kids would make a good snack!

Waiting for the tram.

One in each hand. If Gabe keeps growing people will think they are twins!

Grace getting to touch the turtle!

Gabe changes his mind and does NOT want to touch the turtle!

I love giraffes!

Father and Son

Looking at the lemurs.

Andy makes a new friend.

A tiger in the museum.

Enough of the zoo - let's go home!