Jack started Tae Kwon Do last year, and he’s loving it. Here’s the “professional” shot that we got last year from the studio:

Follow that up with this year, where Jack AND Grayson are taking the class:

We’re in trouble!

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 157 user reviews.

Just got this email from Jack’s teacher… Can’t wait to congratulate Jack on his GREAT report card (no matter what it actually says, it’ll be great… I want him to learn to enjoy getting report cards and learning how to use them as a source of power and fulfillment):

From: Jill Brumley
Subject: Report Cards
Date: October 22, 2010 12:34:29 PM CDT


Hello:

Report cards are coming home today! The children did a great job- Please sign the envelope and return next week.

Explanation of Kindergarten Academic Grades
– 4 means ADVANCED. The student is working a year above grade level on a consistent basis.
– 3 means SKILLED. The student is working at grade level and has a deep and thorough understanding of the concept/skill.
– 2 means BASIC UNDERSTANDING. The student is working AT GRADE LEVEL and has a BASIC UNDERSTANDING of the concept/skill.
– 1 means NEEDS IMPROVEMENT. The student is working BELOW grade level.

Jill Brumley
Kindergarten Teacher
Hill Elementary

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 221 user reviews.

Today, Jack was crying a little in the TV room, so I walked in and asked him what was wrong.

He said “Grayson hit me in the eye” and he whimpered a little.

I turned to Grayson and asked “What did you hit him with?”

Grayson pivoted his torso just a little, tilted his head, and with one crazy evil eye he whispered “with my magic powers”.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 265 user reviews.

Last year Jack got to dress up for the 2009 Pow Wow. It was a pretty darn cool event.

I kind of can’t wait until Grayson’s turn at it this year!


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Found this photo today. Thought it was too cute, and realized I never posted it.

Christmas in September anyone?

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 267 user reviews.

Christine wrote this bio for Grayson for a project at his school last year:

Grayson is full of energy and imagination. Having recently acquired the self-awarded title of ‘big-boy’, he spends much of his time at home constructing LEGOs with his big brother and pretending to be Buzz Lightyear, Optimus Prime or various characters from Star Wars. Grayson’s extracurricular activities include riding bikes, swimming and gymnastics. His favorite things to eat include raspberries, cantaloupe and birthday cake. Grayson aspires to be a knight with silver armor when he grows up.

I can’t wait to see what she writes up this year!

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 200 user reviews.

I should have posted this a year ago:

From: Christine Engler
Subject: Conference with Jack’s Teacher
Date: October 23, 2009 10:50:57 PM CDT

We had a conference with Jack’s teacher today, and I wanted to share with you her statement describing Jack on the school’s “Progress and Development Report.”

“It is such a PLEASURE to have Jack in my class this year. I can ALWAYS count on him to add ‘his two cents worth’ to my story or lesson.”

She described him as exceptional, very sweet, super intelligent and academically advanced. I teared up a little when she said “he is the model student.” She said she often calls on him when the class doesn’t seem to be ‘getting it’ because she knows he will always have the right answer.

Needless to say, we are very proud!
Love,
Christine

We miss Ms. Flores.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 249 user reviews.

So, we went to Bull Creek Park the other day, to get out of the heat, and into the creek, for a little cooling off.

After a little while, I noticed Steven was skipping rocks. I told the boys to go learn from him. Jack was super interested.

After a few tries, Steven leaned down to give Jack some pointers. He was showing him how to throw the rocks, so they’d skip.

After a few more tries, Steven leaned down to show Jack how to pick which rocks to skip:

“See this rock? This rock is good and flat, but it’s not perfectly flat. This side bulges out a little, and this other side is caved in a little. See this side? It’s convex. And this side is concave. We want to throw it with this side down. Got that, Jack?”

And Jack looked up at Steven with these “I completely understand you, but I have no idea what you said” look in his eyes. He then proceeded to throw the rock, and it skipped a little.

That is how Jack learned the difference between convex and concave. Now to get him into a 10th grade geometry class, so he retains it.




Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 190 user reviews.

I love taking photos. Really, I do. The photos I love taking the most, are photos of kids… because they’re just perfect, every time… kids can be dirty, stinky, frowning, smiling, jumping, running, falling, or just sitting there, and they’ll still be just perfect.

Here are some photos I took on my brother’s birthday at his house in Bellville:

And here are some non-kid photos from the day that turned out pretty good:

Happy Birthday Bro.

The rest of the photos can be seen here.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 223 user reviews.

A week ago, or so, Jack and Grayson grabbed their guitars and a harmonica and sang songs to Christine and I, so I set the experience to some Jack Johnson, and edited the clips a little. Here’s the result:

Boy Band Movie

After watching it, Jack asked me “Daddy, did you name me after Jack Johnson?” so I got to tell him a little about his Uncle Jack, who he is really named after… which was a nice memory.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 233 user reviews.

On Saturday, Christine and I took Jack and Grayson to Anderson High, here in Northwest Hills Austin, so that he could ride his bike on the running track around the football field without his training wheels. Christine figured he’d be less scared if he knew that the track was softer than concrete, or the road out in front of our house. It also helped that there weren’t any cars on the track to worry about.

They boys had a blast:

After riding bikes for a good thirty-minutes or so, we headed back to the car.

On the way back to the car Jack said “This is the best day of my life.” Christine just about melted when she heard that.

She did good recommending that we go to the track to ride bikes.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 177 user reviews.

I got home tonight to some wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. Christine was cooking chicken, and it looked good.

As she cooked, I sat on the couch and recounted my day with the boys… and vice versa. Turns out Jack got to go in a paddle boat today, in a lake, that had only three alligators in it.

We sat down for dinner, and Christine said “I hope it’s good” with a pleading look on her face.

I said “something new?”

“Yes, I was trying to make Chicken curry, but I was missing one ingredient.”

I asked “what was that?”

“Curry” was the answer.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 276 user reviews.

Last week, Christine and I, Jack, Grayson, Cyndi, Marc, Rowan, Caelyn, Elise, Maly, Jennifer, Steve, Brendan, and Mia all headed to Garner State Park for a Spring Break camping trip.

We spent a day at the Frio River… and yes, it lived up to its name:

Rio Frio!

We danced under the stars.
We climbed a mountain, and looked down at the world.
We cooked out on an open campfire.

We had a blast, and can’t wait to do it next year:

Father and Son

Photos are here and there are a few on my Facebook wall.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 203 user reviews.

Jack turned five last week.

FIVE YEARS OLD.

And to think, I used to be able to hold him with one hand:

I just re-read the first post I made about his birthday,

It’s hard to explain how cool it is to have a five year-old in the house, but it’s pretty cool. Jack is becoming the “big boy” in the family, and he’s learned so much in the last 6 months… going from four to five, I’ve really seen him mature.

He’s now sharing with Grayson pretty much all the time, and when he’s not, he uses his words to tell Grayson and his mommy and I that he’s “playing by myself right now” which is so sweet. He’s also learning responsibility. Just last week he told me to take my own trash to the trash can after dinner, because “it’s your responsibility Daddy” and when he had a friend over for a playdate, he asked him to help him clean up “the toys you’re responsible for”.

Jack is an adorably sweet boy who gives hugs and kisses, and thanks God for his family, while also being pretty independent and resolute in his endeavors (just today he opened the back door at Nana and Papa’s all by himself (it’s a heavy sliding-glass door, and hard for me to open at times)).

He’s also rubbing off on his little brother. Yesterday, Grayson walked up to Jack and said “Hey Jack, do you want to be Jazz or Rachet?” When Jack chose Rachet, Grayson said “Ok, I’ll play for you and tell you if you win” which is a cute game for Jack when he plays it, but wasn’t cute to him when Grayson played it… though we got a kick out of it.

Jack is a sponge and just loves going to school and soaking up all the knowledge he can. Today he wrote his first item on his list for Santa… and he wrote all of the letters himself. He wants a “Lego Watch” with Luke Skywalker on it.

Jack is also a good Aggie fan, and great football game buddy. He’s been to pretty much every home game with me or Christine since he was born, and to a couple of games in Austin. And he loves seeing Bussy at the games.

I hope he continues to grow and develop in the manner he’s being doing so far, and that he grows to be a compassionate man who knows that love and communication are the keys to everything important. I think he will.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 207 user reviews.

This year, for Halloween, the boys wanted to dress up like characters from Star Wars.

Grayson wanted to be Darth Maul. Jack wanted to be Luke Skywalker.

So, I give you:

Darth Maul:

And Luke Skywalker:

Between the two of them, we’ve had some major lightsaber battles around here!

(more photos from Halloween here)

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 226 user reviews.