Happy Birthday, Jackson....and America!

Every time birthday's roll around I begin to have the "worst mom ever" feeling. Neither Bobby nor I grew up having big birthday blowouts, so I just haven't been inspired, motivated, eager, etc to plan a big party for Jackson. Don't get me wrong, he does get a cake, presents, and a celebration of sorts, just not the big shabang. And, there are always these words my mom had said many years ago that linger in the back of my head..."if you do things big when your children are young, you will always have to do it bigger, and bigger each year..." So, with that said, our children will have a rockin' party when they turn....18! The other reason or excuse is that Jackson's birthday is on the 3rd of July. This is typically when many families are out of town or with their families for the 4th of July.

This year we started out inviting some friends over, and then various reasons occurred and some could not come. The Star Wars party that was planned, was changed to a simple Slip and Slide party. We did have a Star Wars cake and some Yoda Soda to go with it! All in all children of all ages enjoyed their time!

After the other children went home...like I said, children of all ages!

Jackson and his friend Dasia

Happy 6th Birthday, Jackson!

Then, on Saturday, we celebrated America's birthday at the lake. It was kind of an impromptu decision, but I'm happy we decided to do it. We drove out to Bobby's aunt and uncles house on Bridgeport Lake. It was by far a very HOT day, so we all came home sweaty, stinky, and tired! We always enjoy spending time out there, and wish we could see the family more often.

All About Madelyn

I can hardly believe our little Madelyn is almost a year old...weep, weep! She is growing so quickly, and has quite the personality. Here are a few of her accomplishments so far...

-at her 9 month appt. she was 19.5 lbs!!, I guess that is what happens when you don't have reflux and spit-up everything that goes in your mouth(like Jackson did)

-cruising along the furniture and walking while holding our hands

-saying, dadadada..., mamamama...., and many other squealing sounds

-clapping

-still sleeping like a champ (she needs her beauty sleep, like every other princess!)

-she LOVES books and looking at books with pictures of other babies

-Madelyn has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on the bottom)

-waving bye-bye, and hi

-to my frustration she has started pulling out her hair bows and clips!!

Springtime in the bluebonnets



This is what happens when we're not paying attention, and Madelyn starts swing her arms while she is eating!

The invitations are ordered and the planning has begun for her 1st birthday party. This week, however, is all about Jackson's 6th birthday, so we are excited for that on the 3rd!

Farewell, Kindergarten!

I guess I will start blogging for the summer with the momentous occasion of completing Kindergarten. That includes both Jackson and myself. Jackson had a wonderful first year of school and learned so much! Thank you, Mrs. Gruver for working so well with our little ball of fire! We are delighted that his Kindergarten teacher is moving up to 1st grade and we had the opportunity to elect to have Jackson in her class again next year.

Jackson with Mrs. Gruver on the last day of Kindergarten

Jackson excited for Kindergarten!

I, also, had my last day of teaching Kindergarten this year. It was a bittersweet day, as I do love teaching Kindergarten. But, I am excited that I will seeing some of their faces next year in 1st grade. I am busy this summer preparing and getting organized for this transition.

I plan on posting frequently in the next few days, so that I can get caught up....

I Will Be Back!

There are numerous reasons for no blog posts in the last 3 months...YIKES! One is that we have had computer issues. All our pictures are on our camera, so I hate to post without pics...since that's what most people want to see anyways. As soon as the software is installed on our new computer, I will post pictures and updates.

In other news...Hallelujah for Summer Break!!!!!

Blooming Into Spring

We went to the arboretum yesterday and had a wonderful time. The tulips were fabulous, as well as the weather. I love Spring and watching everything begin to bloom and wake up from the Winter. We had many photo ops while there...enjoy!

Coming soon.... a Spring Break post.

Writers Block

Not only have I been extremely busy, I have been in a bit of a rut on what to write about, so here is a little glimpse into the last month. Not much excitement happens around here other that the day-to-day routine...wake-up at 5am, wake-up Madelyn at 6am, drop off Madelyn at the babysitter, at school until 4:30ish, pick-up Madelyn, pick-up Jackson, dinner, baths, bed. And then the whole cycle starts over again. Thank goodness Madelyn knows that on Saturday and Sunday we do not wake-up at 6am!

Speaking of Madelyn, she has had several milestones in February. We began solid foods with her and she is accepting it, but is not crazy about it. Her least favorite so far is rice cereal. We have introduced the green veggies, and now starting the orange veggies. Her biggest problem is that she doesn't know what to do with her tongue. It seems to get in her way of swallowing the food.

Madelyn sprouted a couple bottom teeth this month. It made her a little fussy, but nothing major. And finally, she is sooo... close to crawling. She gets up on her knees and aggressively rocks back and forth. She seems OK right now with the fact that she is not going anywhere, but I do not see that lasting too long!

Jackson continues to be "all boy." He is consumed with Legos, Legos Star Wars Wii game, and acting out Star Wars scenes with Bobby. It is really quite amusing to watch them...sound effects and all! I knew that Jackson would do well in school, but I was a bit concerned that he would not have the focus to do really well and do quality work. It was proven to me last night that when he puts his mind into it, he has complete ability. I had brought home an extra Journal book from school this weekend. I really did not have my hopes up that Jackson would want anything to do with it, but I thought it was worth a shot. I showed it to him last night and he could not wait to get to writing. I explained to him how to use it, and he was off. He said he wanted to write a letter to Santa! I let him roll with it, just to see what he would produce. So, while I was folding laundry in the living room, he sat at the kitchen table and wrote a letter to Santa in his journal. I listened to him sounding out his words, and periodically reminded him to remember to put spaces between his words. I guess the teacher in me couldn't help myself! His response was, "I am, mom! And, I am not even using my finger to put spaces in." All the teachers out there will know exactly what that means. He brought his journal to me when he was finished. Mind you I had to brace myself for a complete mess, and not to immediately start correcting all his errors. But, I was pleasantly surprised. Here is what it looked like:

This page reads: "Dear Santa Claus, Next Christmas bring me a Lego star wars falcon ship."

And he continues on the next page..." Then I will build my big box of lego falcon pieces. He wanted to write more, so I did not want to discourage, and yet again it was a letter to Santa. Our next lesson will be that not all writing is a letter to Santa! All-in-all I was very impressed! When I showed it to Bobby, he could read it, which surprised me since he is not used to reading inventive spelling like Kindergarteners use. Jackson might be a rowdy little boy, but he does have the ability to be kind, focused, and creative...when he takes the time to slow down!

We, mostly me, are looking forward to Spring Break in a few weeks. Jackson, Madelyn and I will be going up to Kansas to visit family and friends for a few days.

Lysol, Laundry, and...

...most of us are finally feeling better. The stomach bug struck our house! It started with, what we now believe, sweet little Madelyn. And, has trickled over to all of us having to hurl over the toilet-YUK!! I had planned on being off Monday, because the babysitters children were both sick, and it is a good thing, because that is when I started getting sick. Thank goodness, Bobby took off work to take care of Madelyn! I think, cross my fingers, we are almost all in the clear. Needless to say I have been spraying Lysol EVERYWHERE, and washing all the sheets and blankets today.

This afternoon, Jackson and I are going to begin making his t-shirt for the 100th Day of School. We bought 100 googly eyes (love those things) to glue onto it!

Madelyn turned 6 months this weekend, so she was introduced to cereal. So far, she is just trying to figure it out.