Jackson's party

Jackson had his 5th birthday party Saturday night. He wanted the theme to be "game night" and for the party to start after dark. I'm guessing that his motivation for wanting this kind of party was seeing all the goodies we buy for "real" game night! We bought candy and chips galore. It was a fun time! Jackson received many nice gifts including a few board games and a Wii. Although we've already had a couple injuries, the boys love playing the games (especially boxing!).

Oh yes, and baby Drew provided endless entertainment for us grown-ups!

Oh, man!

Nothing tells you that you need to go on a diet faster than breaking furniture with your fat butt! Now I don't know if it helps my case but I think I broke it in stages. A couple months ago I was sitting on the arm of the chair and playing around on it when suddenly I heard a crack! I froze, my eyes grew large,and I just sat there. Nothing seemed to be broken so I made a mental note not to be rough on the arms of the chair. Last weekend I appeared to have forgotten forgot my mental note as I was once again jumping around on the furniture. What happened next? Another (louder) crack, followed by the arm actually falling off, and me falling out of the chair and onto the floor! Now I know it wasn't the adult reaction, but I found it to be completely hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing! I was rolling around on the ground like a thirteen year old girl having a giggling fit.

I was talking to my Mom the next day and she pointed out that it was one of those things where it's so good you did it and no one else did b/c then it wouldn't be funny. And you know what - that's SO true! If Jackson had broken the chair I would have been so upset! But what's done is done. I'm going to see if it can be repaired but I'm not counting on it.

I could say that I've learned my lesson - but I can pretty much guarantee that before the new chair is six months old I'll be carelessly throwing myself all over that one too. Oh well, some people never change :)

Hip Hop Hooray, Jackson is 5 Today!!

Today is my baby's 5th birthday! Time flies by so fast! Granddad and Scott made cards for Jackson which we put up in our den. We're having his party Saturday so today has been pretty low key. I asked Jackson if he wanted to go to lunch - that he could pick ANYWHERE he wanted. I was thinking about a "real" lunch but of course his child brain went straight to McDonald's. I asked him why he wanted to go there (knowing darn well it was because of the playground) and he said "They have the best food, Mom!". So we brought Scott and they had a great time running around like wild animals.

Jackson at 6 months



















Jackson at 2 1/2



















Jackson at 5!















I don't know about all you other mommies out there, but all I have to do is think about the moment I first saw him and it still makes me get all mushy. Being a mom is such an amazing gift!

Silly Baby Boy

Andrew cracks me up! Yesterday he kept climbing on the seat of one of the dining room chairs and then he would squeal because he was stuck up there with about six inches of space between himself and the underside of the table! He's such a silly boy that even though I had to help him get down, he kept getting himself back into the same situation. Tonight I was getting a bath ready for the boys, and I randomly thought "Hey, I don't think I've ever given Drew a bubble bath before." So he's in the tub splashing and I add some soap. As I turn around to help Jackson undress I hear a hysterical scream behind me. I frantically turn around and find Andrew looking terrified and trying to scramble out of the tub. Yep, apparently he's afraid of bubbles. It then triggered my memory and I remembered that Jackson was afraid of bubbles when he was a toddler too. I have strange children! So... I'm leaving you with a photo of Andrew being adorable - it's what he does best!

In case you didn't know

I may be the last to know but I just found out I can back up my blog for free! I'm so paranoid about losing files and photos so any extra protection for me is a bonus! I signed up for the free version (since I only have one blog) on www.bloggled.com. :)

Kept Promises...

I've been promising Jackson since November that we'd go ice skating at MacArthur. Since this is the last week they're open, an after school adventure appeared to be my only option. He was sooo excited when we got there yesterday afternoon! It was his first time (and only my third) so it took a few minutes to get adjusted.

Poor Jackson fell down consistently about every ten seconds. Nonetheless, he did a great job and kept popping right back up. We spent about an hour and a half skating and falling and enjoying every minute of it. It was so fun to have a special afternoon with just "Jackson and Mommy". It brings back memories of the four years we had being buddies before Andrew joined the crew. So yeah, it was fun, but it was cold, and I'm more than happy to retire from skating rinks until next season!

Photo booth Jackson insisted upon doing (note to self = take photos before skating next time!)




















Jackson looking terrified















Oh yeah - and he kept telling me that he "meant" to fall - he hates the idea of looking silly in front of people!

I finally did it.....

........I ignored the guilty nagging in my head and cleared out our playroom! I know it sounds bad but it had to be done! This is what we were living with:

I would:

See a cute project I want to try...
Clear the dining room table...
Remove some of my scrapbooking supplies from the closet (very carefully!) as not to knock over the carefully arranged bins...
Sit down at the table...
Five minutes into project...
Realize something I need is at the bottom of the closet (of course)...
Watch in horror as everything on top of what I need comes tumbling down...
Finally get back to the table...
Wait - it's time to pick up the boys from school....
Etc, etc. - you know how it goes...

Before I know it it's dinner time and we're all eating on the couch because our dining room table is covered in supplies.

I decided I just could not work out of a closet any longer. So yes, I'm a bad mom, I hijacked the kids playroom. To be fair they still have some toys in there, we just had to change one important rule. From now on toys must be removed from the playroom, played with, and put back when done. I can just see glitter covering every surface the minute I left them alone in there! Here is what I ended up with:

Work Space (has ribbons, and large supplies such as heat embosser, etc. in large drawers below)



















Papers, Misc. Supplies and Toys



















Storage Area



















Stamps in the Green Bins















Chipboard Alphabets



















Scraps, Mat Stacks, 8.5 x 11 Paper















Ink Pads, Ink Spots, Stickers















Woven, Adhesive, Misc.

Bye, Bye Winter Break!

Firstly, let me sheepishly admit that I was somewhat dreading the two weeks of winter break! I suppose it's because, for me, once I'm in a routine it's easier not to break it. All I could think of was two weeks with no break from Jackson, no quiet time, always dragging around both kids for chores, etc.

And while all that was true, it didn't take away from the fact that it was a really nice break. For one, I had overlooked the fact that no school meant sleeping in! What a shock when 7am came this morning and my alarm blasted me out of my lovely dream. More importantly, I realized how easy it can be to focus too much on how difficult Jackson can be and not enuogh on how wonderfully sweet and helpful he is. The last two weeks he has: climbed into Andrew's crib every morning to play with him, helped me with Christmas baking and crafts, helped transform the playroom into a scrapbook room/playroom (hey - at least I got half the room!), and many other good deeds.

As Andrew and I went through our day today, there were countless times when I was reminded of Jackson. Dare I say it, I even missed him! One of my resolutions this year is to try to focus on all on Jackson's endlessly fantastic qualities and not let myself get so caught up in the little tantrums. I've even heard suggestions from family members that having a difficult child might just be my payback. (I have no idea what they're talking about!:))

P.S. As I write this I am listening to Jackson explaining something to Drew in the other room - Jackson is truly the BEST big brother!!

Welcoming the New Year with Wii

Usually on New Year's Eve I am in bed and asleep by midnight. This year I went wild (for me) and decided to have a game night to welcome in 2009. Megan was nice enough to bring over her Wii and we spent the night racing around in circles, falling off cliffs, and playing skillball(skeeball). I had a lot of fun and have confirmed that fact that I'm REALLY awful at any sort of racing game!















The best part for me was getting the video of Clayton, Oren, Megan, and Adam (yes - that is him hiding from my camera!) playing skillball! It's so silly looking that it's hilarious to me. :)