Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving weekend is truely the start of a fun and busy holiday season.  Adam and I climb up into the attic to get down all the Christmas decorations.  Scott spends time trying not to fall off the ladder while hanging Christmas lights on the house and decorating the yard.  I pull out the all the fun stuff for inside the house - nativity scenes, advent calendars, Santa pictures from the past few years, stockings and snowmen. 

For the past 4 years I've taken Adam, and now Jackson to see Santa on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I found a few years ago that the mall may be crazy with shoppers, but there is never a line to see Santa on Black Friday.  We can always just walk up and Santa can take as much time as he wants.  The best thing about this year was that Adam was excited to go see Santa and had been talking about what he was going to ask for.  In the end, all he asked Santa for was a present for Jackson.  Then he said a couple of more things, although I don't think anyone understood him!  He was happy to sit on his lap.  Jackson wasn't quite sure, but seeing Adam, he let me put him up there as well.  He kept glancing over at Santa, not quite sure what to think.  It was pretty cute.  Since there was no line, they took pictures and let me look at them and delete them and try again.  I think we ended up trying 4 times before we finally got a picture where Adam has a good smile and Jackson is actually looking at the camera instead of looking at Santa.  No smile for Jackson, but I still think it's a cute picture.

Saturday of the long weekend, we took off for a Christmas tree hunt.  We ended up in Carnation at a tree farm that we've been to several times in the past.  It was a rainy and muddy day, but we had fun tromping around in the mud to find the perfect tree.  It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa join us. 

Here are Scott and Adam posing by the tree before they cut it down.

 I remember every year growing up my dad would give each of us kids a chance to saw away at the trunk of the tree.  Adam was dying to give that saw a try!

 Jackson wanted to try too!

 Here we are all posing by the tree.  It was a cold day.

 I love this picture!  Adam is such a strong boy!

We piled back into the car and got mud all over, but that's ok.  We had a fun time tromping through the mud.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to spend time with my boys doing things that hopefully they will remember fondly when they get older!

It's hard to be the little brother...

I was fixing dinner tonight and noticed that Jackson wasn't around any more.  This is where I found him...

Adam's friend Xander was over, and the two older boys were trying to set up the train set, but of course, Jackson was not making it very easy.  After listening to them whine at Jackson for ruining their track - AGAIN - I told them to take it upstairs onto the landing, and to close the gate at the top of the stairs.  That way Jackson couldn't get to it. 

He sat on that last step for probably 20 minutes, just watching the big boys play.  Every once in awhile he would grunt and bang on the gate.  He wanted so bad to go play with them!!  It's tough to be the little brother sometimes.

(Notice he has his hand on his ear.  This kids is always tugging on his ears!  It's his very own security blanket!)

Snow Day - Playing outside!

We did head outside to play in the snow for a little bit this morning.  It was very unusual snow for Washington.  Temperatures were much colder than we normally get around here, so instead of the wet, heavy snow that is great for snowmen and snowballs, the snow was powdery and light.  And underneath all that snow, was pure ice!  It was only about 20 degrees (I know some of you reading this are saying - "ha, 20 degrees is like summertime around here" - but this is Washington!!), so it was COLD! 

Jackson wasn't so sure about everything at first.  He just stood there for awhile taking it all in.  But he was soon trying to walk around and figure out what all that white stuff was.  It was really fun to watch him.

He even took his first sled ride with big brother. 

The girl in the pictures with him is Maira.  She is 11 months older than him, and they are about the same height.  I love the picture of her giving him a hug - it looks like she's kissing his nose!

Our best neighbors joined us outside to play.  Adam and Xander had fun throwing snow at Scott while he tried to shovel the driveway.  It was so funny to listen to them yell "Get Scotty!"  Silly boys!

We had fun playing outside and are looking forward to lots more snow this winter.  I can't remember the last time we had snow before Thanksgiving!  It could be a fun and white winter around here!!

Snow Day playing inside!

We got snow here in Washington yesterday.  So, everything was shut down this morning and we had a fun and lazy morning here at home.  That box that Jackson likes so much is still sitting around, and Jackson still loves to sit in it.  Adam decided to give him some rides down the hallway.  Jackson LOVED it! 

Ab-Ripper!

Adam joined Scott in his workout this morning.  He did the Ab-Ripper X from the P90-X workout series.  Scott had to take several breaks - Adam told me several times today that he did the whole thing - "better than daddy"!!

Roseo-what???

Jackson woke up Sunday morning without a fever, which was a huge relief.  However, he was covered in a beautiful red rash.  Luckily it didn't seem to bother him.  I called the doctor on Monday, just to make sure everything was ok, and the nurse confirmed that it was probably Roseola.  They said the rash should be gone within 24 to 48 hours.  It's been almost 4 days now, and he still has the rash.  It has moved from his belly, back and face to his legs and arms.  Hopefully it's almost done!

Helpful Big Brother

Jackson has been sick.  He spiked a fever this past Wednesday and has been miserable ever since.  My baby who normally never wants to be held, has sat in my lap with his head on my shoulder since Wednesday afternoon.  He has spent most of the past 3 nights sleeping with his head on my stomach or chest.  Every time I've tried to put him down, he cries miserably and it just breaks my heart!  I was thankful this morning when he woke up (after actually sleeping in his crib for a few hours) and his fever was down to just over 100 degrees.  I thought that maybe I wouldn't be carrying around with me all day.  He started the day pretty good and actually played on the floor for a little bit, but he was soon tired and ready to snuggle up in my arms again.  I have to admit that I have enjoyed the snuggling, but it has been hard to get anything else done.  So, this morning when I tried to put him down so I could get Adam a snack, he started to sob like I had just told him the saddest story ever!  Adam walked over to the couch, sat down next to him and picked him up.  Jackson struggled for a couple of seconds and then just laid his head back on Adam and calmed down.  It was such a relief!  Adam is an awesome big brother!

 After a long nap this morning, Jackson seemed to be doing much better, so we decided to head out to Costco.  Some of our grocerys were packed in this box.  After another nap once we got home from Costco, Jackson found the box and thought it was the best thing, especially once Adam and dad started dragging him around the house in it.  It was nice to hear him giggle a little after the past couple of days.  I've missed my happy boy!

The incredible shrinking daddy

This is a picture of Scott Thanksgiving weekend 2009.  This was the Sunday we blessed Jackson.

 This is Scott just this past October at the pumpkin patch.

Notice anything different?  It's about 50 pounds!

Tender Mercies

We have heard lots of talks about "Tender Mercies" from our Heavenly Father. All the little things he blesses us with as reminders that he is in and a part of our lives and loves us very much. Last night during family prayers Adam thaked Heavenly Father for helping him find a toy (It was found under Mom and Dad's bed just before prayer). It reminded me of how we should be thankful for the little things in our lives that show us how much Heavenly Father loves us, those "Tender Mercies"! So here are a few of mine.
After reading Adam a book I tell Adam I love him and "I'm glad he's my son". He always follows that up with "I'm glad your my dad" and a big hug and kiss. It makes me feel special EVERY time!
Jackson now has caught the fever and likes to come to the door as fast as he can when I come home from work screaming and yelling as loud as he can with a big smile on his face! That always washes away a tough day at work! He still likes to tease me and when I ask for a kiss he instantly looks for his mom and then gives her the kiss! (little stinker)
As much as I love what my boys do having a loving wife who is a great mom is the best! All she has to do is smile and say I love you and I am reminded of how great Heavenly Father has been to me!
I am greatful for all the little things in my life that Heavenly Father has blessed me with to remind me he's always present and loves me very much, the "Tender Mercies".

Kissing Cousins

My boys love their cousins! 

This is Adam kissing his cousin Talia - they are 5 months apart.

This picture was taken just this past Sunday - Jackson putting a big smooch on Robyn's nose. They are 11 months apart.

Where's the Broccoli?

Adam and Jackson just sat down to have lunch.  On the menu today - Macaroni and Cheese.  The first question Adam asked after he said the blessing on the food was, "Mom, where's the broccoli?"  Adam loves broccoli.  I usually roast it in the oven and add it into the Mac and Cheese, but sadly, I haven't been grocery shopping yet, and there is no broccoli in the house.  When I told Adam that we didn't have any broccoli he said, "when you go to the store, buy lots of broccoli."  I think the kid would eat it at every meal!!!

Wanna hear something weird - broccoli is one of the things I craved when I was pregnant with Adam.  Hmmmm......

But...I don't want out....

This was Jackson in his crib this morning...

He loves his crib.  Every morning this week when Scott or I would go in to get him up, he didn't want to get out of his crib.  If you try to pick him up, he dodges your hands, and when you do pick him up he screams as if you are doing something terrible to him.  Wednesday morning, he didn't want me to get him out, so I left his room and started putting laundry away.  Every few minutes, I would go back into his room to see if he wanted out and he wouldn't.  I think he played in their for probably an additional half an hour while I did miscellaneous things.  At least I know it's a safe place for him to play!  He has never tried to climb out.

What a silly boy!!

Veterns Day

Adam was pretty disappointed that he couldn't go to school yesterday.  He kept asking me why there was no school, and I tried my best to explain to him that it was a special day to honor those people who had fought for our country.  It was hard to explain, because we live in a country that that has not seen war on our shores for hundreds of years.  Yes, our military men and women are serving in places of war in other countries across the world, but a 5 year old (at least my 5 year old) doesn't get that.  How do you explain war to a 5 year old who has no concept of it?  I must have told him something that made sense, because he walked away and played with his bakugons.  Since our conversation, I've been thinking a lot about all those men and women who have served and are still serving our country.  I went and pulled out a couple of pictures that I was given several years ago of my grandfather.  He served on the USS LST 295 during World War 2.  I don't really know that much about it, except that he drove a landing vehicle onto the beaches of Normandy in 1944.  I remember several years ago when we were all visiting for his 80th birthday, we somehow got him taking about his service during the war.  He was always hesitant to talk about it, and I'm not sure how we got him started at that time.  I wish that we had tape recorded it or something.  I don't remember much of what he said. 

This is a picture of the crew of the ship he was on.  My grandpa is the guy with the number 1 on his chest.  The captain of the ship is number 2.

 This is a picture of the ship in May of 1945.  The caption at the bottom says "USS LST 295 landing on St. Aubin Bay Beach, Jersey Island, in early May 1945 with German POW's waiting to embark.  A total of 22,195 prisoners were removed form the islands Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Sark, 9,838 alone from Jersey.  There remained approximately 3,300 left to do clearing up work.  'Operation Nestegg' as it was called."

I found the following information on the internet about the ship that he served on:

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

• Laid down, 19 October 1943, at American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA.

• Launched, 24 December 1943

• Commissioned USS LST-295, 7 February 1944

• During World War II LST-295 was assigned to the European theater and participated in the:

• Invasion of Normandy, June 1944

• LST-295 earned one battle star for World War II service

I can't imagine what my grandfather saw during his service in World War 2.  I am deeply grateful to him and to all the men and women who have served our country so that I am able to raise my boys with the freedoms that we enjoy.  So that Adam can go to school, we can worship in the way we choose, we have basic necessities of life, and in fact we live a very comfortable life. 

I need to teach my boys about the sacrifices that have been made.   I know Adam missed going to school yesterday, but I'm glad he was home and that he made me think about why he was home.  Why we enjoy the things that we do.

Thank you Grandpa!  Thank you to all those who fought beside him, before and after!

Boys

Scott sent me this picture the other morning.  Jackson has become much more interactive, and Adam is great about playing with him - most of the time.  They both love these glow stick thingys.

This is Jackson's favorite place to sit in the house!  At least he's really good at going up and down the stairs!

Leaves are Falling all Around

We surprised Grandma and Grandpa Saturday morning with some amazing donuts from Frost donuts, and then headed outside to rake some leaves.  My parents have several large trees in their yard and come October those leaves start falling!  We did some raking, some running and jumping into leaf piles and some burying of little boys.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

Adam was a little disapointed that as we were filling yard waste bags full of leaves, more leaves were falling from the trees.  It's too bad they can't sell those leaves to someone for compost!!

No more speech!

Adam has been attending speech theapy since he was about 2 and a half.  He's attended at the Alderwood Early Learning Center in a program offered by the Edmonds School District.  He has had the same teacher - Noralee Green, for the past 2 years.  She is a member of the church in our stake and has been great!  I've appeciated her insights on raising boys in the church and reading scriptures and things like that. 
We met with Noralee during the middle of October and decided that Adam was ready to graduate!  He was excited!  I've been reading through the notes from Noralee and remembering the progress he has made over the years.  This is what she said:
"Adam has made wonderful gains in his speech.  He is using corect speech sounds in conversation.  He is a very smart child who seems to catch on quickly to new knowledge, epsecially when he is interested.  Adam is much aware of using correct sounds in his conversations.
From a language sample, Adam's speech intelligibility is at 94%.  In conversations, Adam continues to demonstrate a few articulation errors, including: w/l, w/l blends; w/r blends.  Furthermore, Adam often uses phrases rather than complete sentences to tell another person about events.  Often, he will omit words or parts of words, ie., "He twist it around", "Oh, I do spin".  Adam continues to have confusion with pronouns "he, she, they"; however, when prompted, he can correctly identify and express correct pronouns.  Another concern is that Adam confuses present tense verbs with past tense verbs.
Adam continues to demostrate some difficulty/frustration with expressive speech; however, given prompts, he is able to correct most of his errors.  Adam, his mother, and this therapist fell that they can work on these areas at home without further service.
Adam's expressive language skills are within the normal limts of typical developing children.  Therefore, Adam will be released from speech therapy services at this time.
A good way for Adam to work on pronouns and verbs is with storytelling from books.  When the words are constant and unchanging, Adam can repeat them and then retell stories using correct language forms."

Pre-K Halloween Party

Adam had a fun Halloween party at preschool. He was so very excited to dress up as Dan - especially since the letter of the week was "D" and he could bring himself for show and tell. I really love the preschool that Adam is going too. He has really settled in and has started to make friends. Unfortunately, one of the costumes really freaked Adam out! I'm still not sure what it was. The only thing I could get from his was that one of the girls was dressed as Luke Skywalker, but she was wearing a very dark cloak with a huge hood. The hood was covering most of her face. Whatever it was about her - something really scared him! It was kind of funny, because it was a little girl that he normally really enjoys playing with. Luckily - he did finally get over it, and ended up having a good day.
This is a picture of his class all dressed up for Halloween. Adam is over at the far left. He wouldn't go anywhere without me for awhile - so I'm hiding behind him in the picture. (I'm not one of the cool moms that dressed up!)
The teacher is in the red cloak - her name is teacher Judy, and we really love her!

He just sits in his chair, and listens for the bell to ring

Adam had a bit of a rocky start to preschool this year.  I'm not sure if it was just a new place and not knowing anyone, or the crazy new routine, but the first couple of weeks, he did not like going to school!  It was tough to drop him off, and on Thursdays, when I was there (he goes to a co-op preschool, so I work once a week), he spent most of the time glued to my side.  Well - things have changed, and now the first thing he asks every morning is 1. what day is it? and 2. is it a school day?  He is very sad when he doesn't get to go to school.  I may have to figure out how to send him to school everyday next year (our school district recently changed so that part-time kindergarten is Tuesday, Thursday and every other Friday - weird, I know!)
Anyway - on the way to preschool yesterday, Adam and I had the following conversation:
Adam: "Mom, I love my school!"
Me: "I'm so glad you like school buddy."
Adam: "You know at Wyatt's school - he just sits in his chair and listen for the bell to ring.  Then he can go outside, and listen for the bell to ring again."  (Wyatt is his friend who is in 1st grade)
Me: "Oh, well - what does he do when he sits in his chair."
Adam: "He just listens for the bell - and he does homework."
Me: "He doesn't get to paint or play with toys or anything?"
Adam: "No, he just sits in his chair.  That's why I like my school - we do fun things!"
Me:  "Did Wyatt tell you about his school?"
Adam: "No, I'm just smart."

Hopefully things are little more active by the time Adam reaches 1st grade!