Happy 9th Birthday Jackson!!!

Our week began with prepping for Jackson’s second birthday party that we were having on his actual birthday with family.  Lincoln, my handy helper, helped me with the cookie muffins again.  We also spent some time outside playing as the weather was beautiful.  Lincoln loves getting the chance to play with Ty these days and they have a lot of fun together along with all the other kiddos.  But Lincoln is testing his freedom these days.  I do allow him to go out by himself in our front and back yard as long as I can see him.  We are working on coming in to ask me if he can go play elsewhere.  Well later in the afternoon, as I was working on dinner, he kept wanting to go out and I wanted him to stay in and one time he didn’t listen to me so he got in trouble.  A little later he was looking out the front windows pouting and says to me, “Mommy, why are the babies outside?”  I look out to see Miles and Bennett walking down the driveway.  He had left the door to the garage ajar and they saw the chance to get out.  They are very observant to any open door or cabinet, whether it is the pantry, a bathroom door, the basement door, or our bedroom door.  Any place I try to keep them out of, the quickly notice if the door is open.  So, I ran out and grabbed the twins and they were quite upset. 

Tuesday was Jackson’s big day, his golden birthday.  He didn’t really care about that part though, just that it was his birthday and it was a beautiful day for a birthday.  I was trying to finish stuff up before he got home and got a text from Andrew around 2:40 asking if I could pick up the kids from school.  I was still trying to get some balloons blown up for the chalkboard for outside and bring up his new bike and hide it away for later and knew I wouldn’t be able to finish that and get the kids.  Tiffany was outside and just the day before she offered to help pick up the kids if I ever needed it.  So I asked her if she would mind getting them from school that day and I was so thankful she said yes.  I was able to get all of it done before Jackson got home and the kids all played outside for a bit while I finished getting some things prepped for dinner.  I was then able to go outside and enjoy it for about an hour before it was time to get dinner going.  All of the kids are having such a great time playing together right now with lots of different adventures.  Jackson requested steak for dinner, so I put in Andrew’s calendar for him to be home at 4:30 to make sure the steaks were all ready to go for dinner and he was home right on time.   So we went inside to get everything ready while all the kids migrated to our backyard.  The twins were still napping at this point which helped with the preparations.  Then we had a nice, smaller, quieter birthday party than usual.  Jackson seemed to enjoy it along with his presents.  He loved the Lego kits he got and his Lego table we gave him.  Andy and Autumn got him some stuff for kamp that he was excited about and he has been enjoying his new bike.  It is hard to believe he is now nine.  As everyone says, he goes by so quickly.  Even though we struggle at times, we are so proud of the young boy he is becoming.  I love that there are still pieces of our little boy in him.  He still sleeps with Grover and uses the Thomas the Tank bag my mom made for him years ago to carry around his Bey Blades.   But now he can help me get the twins in and out of the car if I ask him (and sometimes he just volunteers), he can shoot a gun and kill a deer or turkey, he helps Andrew with chores out at the ranch, he and Andrew do pushups together at night, he reads in bed almost every night…but he stills gives us hugs and tells us he loves us.   He still gives me one last wave as he walks into school if I drop him off in the morning.  He still throws out some funny quotes but I am not as good at getting them written down these days.  He is starting to make reminder notes for himself much like me.  He is very grateful and gives me big hugs if I make a dinner that he really likes.  He has a great imagination that comes through with his artwork and his Lego creations.  I love watching his skills and confidence grow in the different sports he participates in.  He is a smart one, but isn’t too crazy about school.  Sounds like his dad J.  He goes though, does all of his work, and gets good remarks from his teacher so I’ll take it.  I also love watching his knowledge and love of God grow.  A few weeks ago he told me that he thought he would like to get baptized when he turned ten.  I asked him if he knew what it meant to get baptized and he said, “It means that you give your whole life to God, it is His.”  It will be awesome when he is ready to understand and make that decision.   I am so thankful God gave him to us and we love him so much!   After that party, my parents helped me quickly tear everything down while Andrew did baths.  After everyone went to bed and I finished cleaning up, I headed to bed too.  Jackson was staying up a bit with Andrew.  As I sat in bed I remembered that some storms were coming that night and Andrew probably still had stuff outside from grilling.  It was around 10:15 so I got my shoes on and headed outside to clean up.  As I went out to the family room, I saw Jackson in the kitchen doing his homework.  Oops-forgot about the homework.  I let him go play as soon as he got home because it was his birthday and then we had the party.  Such a responsible boy.  So I headed outside and picked up all the stuff from the grill, covered up the grill, and put away toys.  And the storms came later that night, so I was glad I remembered. 

He was excited to get another Diary of a Wimpy Kid book he has been wanting.

When he first saw his new bike.

Playing with his new Legos on his new table (and barricading it to try to keep the twins out)

It was still raining the next morning and Andrew surprised me with the news that he wouldn’t be able to take the kids to school that morning.  So I rushed around and was able to get the twins fed and ready along with the others before it was time to leave.  He was still out of town when it was time to pick up Lincoln so we did that run too.  I know that the responsibility will switch back to me at some point, but I am so grateful his has been able to do it most of the time the last year and a half.  The old balloons from the party provided lots of entertainment for all the kids throughout the week.  I even took some downstairs for them to play with while we had small group.

 

And Andrew and the twins really enjoyed the leftover steak from Jackson's birthday dinner.

Thursday morning the twins and I did some grocery shopping in the cold.  I am glad we enjoyed the nice days earlier in the week because it seems like we just can’t shake this cold, damp weather.  Lincoln did try to make the best of it and still go outside a play a bit.  I got to stay inside and work on stuff for the office and then that evening we went to my parents for dinner.  My mom had made dinner because she thought Lissy was coming into town and she wasn’t.  We were lucky that they had us over anyways J.  The twins aren’t the easiest to be around lately.  I think I am still going to blame it on the teething.  Miles gums are so swollen.  But the scream, a lot, and very loudly.  And they are very attached to my dad and want to be with him all of the time which can get a little overwhelming.  Plus they always want his phone and then fight over it.  My mom has started trying to hide it though so it doesn’t get broken.  And then my dad was the nice guy again and had all the kids help him make cookies. 

Jackson was wanting his turn to stir-grumpy boy

Friday I worked on putting together some baskets for the silent auction at the K-Life 3on3 basketball tournament that is next Saturday.  I also had to get packed up for our trip to Kansas City the next day.  We were splitting up for the weekend.  My parents got Ellie and I tickets to go see Mary Poppins for Christmas along with Briley and Bella and their moms.  So the twins, Ellie, and I were going with my parents and Andrew was keeping Jackson and Lincoln.  I gave Lincoln the option to go with either of us and he really wanted to spend the weekend with Andrew doing stuff out at the ranch.  So they headed out around 6:45 Saturday morning and then we headed out around 7:30.

Andrew and the kids had a full weekend.  They checked cows, fixed fence, rode the tractors, did some gold panning, gave the boys hair cuts, and put out new mulch at our house (it looks great).  I think Andrew tried to do some office work and Jackson got to go to a birthday party at the Aquatic Center.  I think they just kept going and going.  They did get to enjoy a lunch at La Fuente which is tradition for Andrew and Jackson when I am out of town.  Andrew even ran a load of laundry through the wash.  He was quite proud of himself J.  But for some reason, there is a ton of laundry to do.  I even ran a couple loads after bath time on Friday night so that there wouldn’t be as much when I got home.  But I have done three since I got home and have three more left to do. 

The truck got stuck in the mud and I think they did too

My dad watched the twins while Ellie and I went to the show.  He tried to keep them entertained but I’m not sure if they were very cooperative.  I got to drive all of us downtown and it was packed.  It looked like there was a big cheer competition and volleyball competition going on and the parking garages were full.  We ended up a little ways away and then had to book it to the theater.  We had to go down five flights of stairs to reach the street and then walk over ½ a mile to the theater and go up to the fourth level to our seats.  They were ringing bells and telling us to hurry up because they were going to close the doors.  And then the show was delayed an hour because there was an alarm going off backstage that they couldn’t get turned off.  But the girls did well and we all enjoyed the show.  I think we were all tired and hungry by the end, but it was a good time.  When we got home, it was time to celebrate Briley’s 6^th birthday.  Her birthday isn’t for a couple weeks, but there was some family in town so they decided to do a little party. 

Awkward pre-show picture-They wanted to use the Mary Poppins umbrella and Baylor wanted to be in it

Somehow they all ended up coordinating and wearing their yellow bows :-)

Singing Happy Birthday

It was a long day and we were all tired but we all had some kids that had trouble sleeping during the night.  I imagine everyone will sleep hard tonight.  Andy and Autumn made us a yummy breakfast of German pancakes and homemade syrup along with fruit on Sunday and then we all got ready and headed out.  We made a quick stop at Sam’s then met Caroline and Jared for an early lunch at Texas Roadhouse.  Next was  a stop at TJ Maxx and I was able to find a few things including a quilt for when Jackson moves to a queen bed.  Then I did a quick return to Kohls and we were on our way home.  Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us, watching the kids, and the show-all of it was wonderful.  And thank you, Andy and Autumn, for your gracious hospitality!

Thankfully Andrew got home just a few minutes after us because the house was all locked up and I didn’t have any keys.  The rest of the day was spent unpacking, cleaning, doing laundry, and playing outside for a bit.  There were a couple girls next door playing basketball and Miles kept trying to walk over there with his ball.  I guess he just wanted to play with them too.  They both like to think they can play ball J. 

And I forgot to add these pictures from last Sunday.  Here is one of Bennett with my old bear, Barney.

And like I said, Miles and Bennett like to play basketball.  Bennett thought it was funny when my mom would chase him.  And one last one of some of the kids riding the train through the neighborhood.