We had a couple of fun outings with Jackson’s preschool this past week. He has a great class and it was fun to meet some of the moms and siblings. The fire station was really fun for the kids. Krispie Kreme was fun and it was neat to see their machines running, but I think most of the fun was in getting donuts at the end.
Micah and Jackson decided to have some fun one Sunday and create a video. We love the kid history movies – if you haven’t seen them yet, they are pretty entertaining stories that grown men/brothers/friends told to their kids about their childhood. Then they had the kids retell the stories and they acted the stories their kids told. Anyway, this is sort of a long the same lines except just a story Jackson made up! They sure had a great time making it! Without further ado…
Jackson had an awesome birthday this year! In the morning we let him open a few presents and then Micah took him out to breakfast. That just started the day right for him. He had preschool and was sure he needed to bring one of his favorite snacks to share with everyone, which is mini powdered donuts. School was great and they treated him well there to help celebrate his day. After school we had a few things to get done to prepare for his party – so he played his new basketball and baseball video games while I got to work setting a few things up. I had made a star wars cake for him with an edible printed cake topper like this one the night before (which really was so easy and I would definitely do again), and I followed the instructions that said to cover it so the light didn’t fade the colors, so I gently laid a piece of foil on it for the night. Well, I think they meant put it in a box or something, but don’t lay anything on top of it, even gently… when I went to show Jackson his cake the next morning this is what happened as I peeled the foil off:
Bummer! Luckily it was early in the day and I found a nearby store that had a star wars cake that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Then came party time! Jackson had thought about several themes we could do for his party – Star Wars, Sports, Water games, and then finally he asked to have a water slide like the one we had at a family reunion last summer. We were so glad that some cousins had this slide and were so nice to let us borrow it! It was awesome! Everyone was so excited about it. The weather, of course, had to be a little cooler and windier than it was supposed to be but all the kids would get in for as long as they could last, get out, warm up, and then get back in! It was a lot of good play time. We had the big water slide, beach balls, squirt guns, sidewalk chalk, our play set, etc for them to just play, play, play! After about an hour we brought out the pizza, cake and ice cream, presents and the pinata. We still had about 15 minutes left at the end so we let them play some more – they all were dying to get back to the slide! As parents came I was not as organized as I had hoped, I had tried to keep picking things up and putting things back together, but towels were everywhere, shoes and clothes were everywhere, people’s bags of candy were everywhere – it was quite a site, but amazingly not one thing got left behind! It was a really easy clean up too – just hose everything off and we were done!
Jackson was in heaven! We had the big water slide, a football pinata, star wars cake, star wars table cloth and star wars plates, and regular old “happy birthday” cups, preschool friends and cousins – it was everything he wanted. Thanks for all the gifts, phone calls, and cards! There is something so fun about celebrating your child! Its the best to see their little faces so excited and so happy! I love the excitement of birthdays.
I love Jackson. He is really growing up. He is a good helper. He hates hearing Rachelle cry and tries so hard to help with her and make her happy. Most of the time he listens, responds, and obeys. He LOVES church and school and learning in general. He likes to figure things out and teach himself how to do things – like chess and checkers, video games, legos, football and any sport, etc. The other day he sat at the table and wrote 1 – 100 on paper. I was pretty sure he could count that high, but I wasn’t sure about writing. He is kind of a picky eater, unless I can keep snacks away from him – then he eats almost anything. I’ve even convinced him that he loves spinach! He loves to do things before he is asked and surprise me with the end result. Many of his friends’ parents from school have told me that their little boys talk about Jackson at home all the time and think he is so fun and his teacher has told me he is happy, makes cute and intelligent comments, and a friend to all in class. One of his favorite things to do lately is smiling with crossed eyes – he thinks he’s pretty funny! He is such a great little guy! Happy Birthday Jackson!
Lacey had a FABULOUS birthday this year. I loved watching her enjoy every part of her birthday – this has got to be one of the best parts of being a parent! Sunday was the actual big day, so we made a (pinkalicious)cake for desert and let her open a couple presents. She was thrilled! She loved the phone calls, cards and anything that had anything to do with her birthday.
Lacey loves to read books – she asks me about a million times a day to sit and read with her. Her favorites right now are any books from the Fancy Nancy or Pinkalicious collections. She asked for a Pinkalicious party for her birthday so on Monday we invited all of her ‘girls’ over to celebrate Pinkalicious-style! As party guests arrived we gave them a pinkalicious (or peter for the boys) bottle cap necklace to wear:
I couldn’t convince Lacey to wear pink this day because she had just received this cute Minnie Mouse dress and flip flops from Grandma and she loves it so much! but all the other girls were wearing pink 🙂 We painted on butcher paper, painted our fingernails pink, played pin the cherry on the cupcake, played “pink, pink, purple” (duck, duck, goose), had a pull-string pinata, ate pink sandwiches and fruit, and finally decorated cupcakes!
It really was fun – thanks to those who came to party with us! I’ve been looking for a good excuse to try these cupcake pops, so we sent everyone home with a little bag of these as a thank you for coming! MMMmmm, we liked them… a lot, so hopefully everyone else did too.
I sure had fun getting ready for this party! Lacey is so easy to please – just tell her its her birthday and she’s more than excited! Lacey has the most fun personality – she loves to play and have fun! She is very sweet and loves to cuddle and be loved (all on her terms). She is such a good sister – she loves Jackson and Rachelle. Her smile is so contagious! I love our little Lacey!
Next on the schedule… Jackson’s party!
We have so much fun with our cousins around here! Last Thursday we were so glad for the safe arrival of Eliza Grace King! We all were holding our breath at soccer practice on Thursday. Michelle had a pretty rough c-section the last time around, and this time we knew it would be tricky. It was (I won’t go into the details here), but Dr. Beck did an AMAZING job, and we are so happy Michelle and cute little Eliza are both doing pretty well. A huge thanks to Dr. Beck. Eliza really is precious!
On Friday morning we got James for the night! We were so excited and we played hard with him. After he arrived here, we dropped the girls off at Lori’s and he, Jackson, and I went to Krispie Kreme for a little tour of the donut making machines, etc. It was neat and Of course we had to buy some of those delicious donuts and eat them! It was a fun outing. We went and got the girls, went home, got lunch, and Jackson was so thrilled to have a buddy to play video games with him! James may have asked 10 times to go swim in the pool, but I didn’t want him to get wet right before we went to pick up McKay, so I held him off ’til after that. Finally, I let them go swimming, and they all loved it! It was pretty hilarious to watch them freeze their buns off, but they swam for a good 45 minutes. Lacey and James were the crazies who stayed in the water for the longest! I could barely get them to come out.
On Saturday morning we started building rockets then had Jackson’s last soccer game ( where he scored the goal for his team) and went straight from that to this awesome train museum. It really was neat – we’ll have to go back again sometime. We were able to walk through a few cars that were from the 1930’s, and one that was over 100 yrs old. We also got to get up in at an old engine and ring the bell. McKay and James, with a little help from Jackson and Lacey, jumped that old coal engine over a broken bridge. We weren’t sure if we would make it, but the boys did a phenomenal job bringing us to safety ;o) I wish I would have caught more of that on video! There was an awesome story they were making up as they went along.
Next on our list of things was to get Jackson to a b-day party for a friend of his. Lacey and Chelle were pretty tired, but we sent Micah and the boys to the park to launch the rockets they had made. Then when everyone came back they wanted to jump in the pool again! Really? It was so cold, but again it was fun to watch them! After the “Antarctica” swim we made dinner and warmed up and Robyn and Devan came to pick up the boys.
Jackson and Lacey have both gone through some withdrawals! They keep asking when we are getting James and Kay Kay back! I’m sure it wasn’t quite as fun for the big boys as it was for us, but we hope they’ll come stay with us again sometime!!!
