No cake for Jessica??

How in the world could we possibly have a daughter that does not like cake?
For Jessica's first birthday, it just so happened that our lucky little girl got to celebrate her big day with a party on two different occasions --and she got to have three different birthday cakes!

Jessica's birthday-cake-eating-attempt, take 1...


Jessica's birthday-cake-eating-attempt, take 2...(She didn't even make it into the high-chair for this one; she just didn't have any interest in eating the cake)!


Jessica's birthday-cake-eating-attempt, take 3... She just sat there and played with this cake; we couldn't believe it!



She's all smiles as long as she's not being asked to actually eat the cake. :)

Jackson has gone "fort-crazy."

"Hey mom, let's build a fort."
This is a statement I hear on a daily basis. Lately, Jackson has become quite good at building forts. He will come up with the ideas (which blankets to use and in which places to put them) - the "master-mind" if you will, and mom helps to hang the blankets to meet Jackson's requests.
Here is a picture of our latest creation...

A little early Easter fun.

While the babies (Jessica and Carson) were napping, the big boys (Jackson and Dawson) and I decided to paint, yes paint not dye, some hard-boiled eggs. Not quite sure which is the messier technique, painting or dyeing? Probably about equal mess when you're dealing with two 3-year-old boys!



And the boys were sure proud of their egg masterpieces.

The "Leaning Tower of Jessie"

Jessica has been standing, unassisted, more and more now. In an attempt to capture both kids "standing" next to one another, I had to pretty quick with the 'ol clicking finger on the camera...



As you can see, it didn't go so well...
Jackson was a sweetheart however, and he kept trying to hold his sister up so she wouldn't fall down. Although his effort was appreciated, it just wasn't enough to keep this tower from falling over.

Check out these guns!...

So the sad thing here is not that our child believes his elbows are his "big muscles," but that we, as his parents, don't bother to correct him.
We could very easily explain to Jackson the difference between elbows and muscles, but instead, we choose to laugh at him and have him pose for silly pictures like this one that he will look back on someday and probably feel a little embarassed about.

Kids Say the Darndest Things...continued.

Jackson: "Hey Mom, you wanna come to my party?"
Me: "Sure!"
I follow him into his bedroom (apparently which is where the party is at). We get in there and he immediately starts dancing and jumping on his bed. While I was dancing on the floor next to his bed, he all of a sudden comes to a dead stop and says...
"But Mom, I don't have any drinks, or sprinkles, or coffee at my party --ok?"
I asked, "what do you have?" And he looked around his room for a moment and then said, "trucks and puppies."


A few months ago, Jason and I started praising Jackson when he'd eat all his fruits and veggies. We'd say, "good job, now you're going to grow big and strong like daddy and mommy." Ever since then, whenever he does a good job eating anything (even if he finishes a big piece of cake) he says, "I'm gonna grow big way up to the ceiling because I eat too much."


On a sweeter note... at bedtime, after we read books, I lay with Jackson and we say prayers and I rub his back. Some nights, when we are laying there, Jackson will wrap his arms around me so tight, then, he whispers, "I love you very, very much mommy." It's so precious... brings tears to my eyes every time.

"Every thorn has its rose??"

This past weekend was supposed to be my sister, Laura's, baby shower.
Let's just say, things didn't go exactly as planned...Laura came down with a severe case of the stomach flu the night before; therefore, we called off the two showers (one was to be held on Saturday with family and friends, the second on Sunday with her fitness clients and friends). Because most all the food had been prepared and the cakes had been purchased, we chose to split up everything and eat it instead of freezing it and hoping it would keep for the re-scheduled shower (which was not determined at the time). Not only did we end up coming home a day early, but we completely missed out on any quality visiting time. So, I guess you could say it was a total bust.
However...
"Every thorn has its rose" - (ok, yes, Brett Micheals' "every rose has its thorn" song was obviously my inspiration for the creation of this idiom). But nonetheless, it does hold true in this situation...despite things going wrong, there was also some positive outcomes. Such as:

Jackson had a blast riding around with Uncle Chris in his bobcat.




The kids also had a great time dancing and playing in Aunt Laura's fitness studio.






FYI - Both Laura and baby are doing just great now.
The shower has been re-scheduled for this coming Sunday.

Jessica's encounter with static-electricity...

No power = Creative playtime!

On Tuesday this week, we were without power for about 2 1/2 hours (from about 9 - 11:30 a.m.)while the power company fixed some sort of fuse shortage.
So, the boys and I were forced to get a little more creative with our choices of entertainment.

We painted...


and built a fort...


and played in the Thomas tent (Jessica had awaken from her morning nap in time to join us in the fun).


These are all activities we do anyway, but not usually within a 2 hour time period. I have to admit, during the power outage, the silence was a welcome relief. Other than our "reading time," which lasts about 1/2 hour before the big kids go down for their naps, we have the T.V. or music playing the whole day.

I was very grateful our power was restored within 2 1/2 hours; the initial estimate I was given by the power company was 4 hours. The temperature in our house would have definitely fallen to an uncomfortably low number within that time. Within 2 1/2hours of not having any heat, our temperature gauge went from 71 to 68 degrees!

No Babies Allowed!

Jackson and Dawson (the big boys) work hard to come up with successful ways to keep the babies away from their "projects." This is their latest idea...



It actually worked pretty well!!

Jackson's gets an A+ for swimming.

Jackson had his final swim lesson at Gundersen Lutheran (Infant/Toddler Water Program) last Saturday. It was a family "fun day," but since Jason had a class at Viterbo to attend, Grandpa Bob came with to take a few pictures of Jackson and I.
Although Jackson still needs to work on laying back in the water and going under the water, he gets an A+ for having fun! Doing the spiderman crawl along the side of the pool (pictured below) still remains one of Jackson's favorite "skills" he learned in this class.

Popsicle Treat!

It doesn't matter how old you are... every kid enjoys a good popsicle treat every now and then.

Following in Auntie Laura's footsteps...

Jackson has taken quite an interest in climbing, rolling, twisting, turning, holding his body in yoga poses (trying to copy mom) - so, we thought he'd really enjoy taking part in a gymnastics class. We enrolled him in the preschool (3-5 year old) program at UW-La Crosse.
We were right about him liking it...he totally loves it!
It is quite a thrill to watch your child take instruction from a "teacher" for the first time and interact with the other kids in his class.
I snapped a few pictures, but most of them turned out too dark to show, but here's what I have so far of Jackson doing gymnastics.
Auntie Laura, aren't you so proud of your little nephew? =)


This one is hard to see. He is swinging on a rope!


Walking on the low beam - he is jumping over stuffed animals.


Sitting with another boy in his class - it was "safhari" day, so the kids all got to bring a stuffed animal with them to class.


Sitting with the other kids in his class listening to the teacher talk.