kids say the darndest things

Jackson has a daily behavior card monitoring system in kindergarten.

Green card = good job.
Yellow card = oops, you messed up.
Red card = you're in big trouble.

It is not uncommon for Jackson to pull a card. Every day his goal is to "stay on green card all day". Some days he meets his goal. Some days he does not. As far as we know, Jackson has never made it all the way to red card.

Yesterday, towards the start of the day, Jackson was talking too much and pulled his yellow card. (Oops, he messed up.) He happily went along with his day trying hard to be better, pay attention, follow directions, and not talk too much.

At recess Jackson so kindly shared a cookie from his snack with his teacher. She graciously ate the entire cookie! After she had eaten the cookie Jackson says, "Mrs. Nelson? I can go on green card now?"

Mrs. Nelson paused and thought about his best efforts to be good and said, "Yes, Jackson. You've earned your green card back. You can turn your card back to green."

Jackson walks into class and announces to the entire room, "EVERYONE, IF YOU WANT YOUR GREEN CARD BACK YOU JUST GIVE MRS. NELSON A COOKIE!"

Of course she heard his little announcement and she quickly tried to explain to Jackson and the entire class that this is not the proper way to earn back your green card. Poor Mrs. Nelson!

Jackson (and Mommy's) last day of Joy School

Jackson has successfully finished his preschool years. He had a fun year learning his ABC's, 123's, and making lots of cute crafts. Here he is on his last and final day as a preschooler. Goodness! That boys is full of spit and vinegar! Of course, with a little sprinkling of sweetness and sugar on the side... :)

Jackson and all of his siblings participated in 2 years of Joy School. The moms of all the kids would take turns hosting Joy School at their house once or twice a week throughout the school year. That means that I (ME, the Mama) have also successfully completed 8 YEARS of Joy School! (Yay me!) It is a bittersweet moment to say goodbye to those years - the years when kids were still babies. These kids are all growing up on me. Too fast, I say. 'Stop growing up' has been our motto around here for the last several months. But since there is nothing I can do to slow time or force them to stay young we will instead look to the looming future...

Jackson looks forward to starting kindergarten this fall and is in for quite a surprise... ALL DAY kindergarten! None of our other kids experienced a full day of school during their first year in public school. Another school in our area has had huge success with their trial of an all day kindergarten program and now our school has decided to follow their example. I'm sure there will be a Jackson update at the start of the school year. We cross our fingers and toes to get a loving, patient teacher for our squirrely boy!

For now, Jackson is happy to run wild in the backyard and soak up the long days of summer with all his backyard pals.

kids say the darndest things

We're having dinner as a family. Jackson's cup is empty and he is thirsty. He thrusts his empty cup towards Jeremy and says, "Daddy. More juice!"

Jeremy says, "Excuse me? Jackson, you are supposed to say, 'more juice, please'."

Jackson responds, "No daddy, YOU say, 'coming right up'!"

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . *

Here's another deep conversation between Lizzie and Mommy...

Lizzie: Mommy, are there any old movies I haven't seen?

Mommy: Yes, there are lots of old movies you haven't seen.

Lizzie: Like what?

Mommy: Well... let's see... have you seen Meet me in St. Louis?

Lizzie: No

Mommy: Have you seen The Wizard of Oz? That's one of my favorite old movies.

Lizzie: You're just like Oprah!

Mommy: What?!

Lizzie: You love The Wizard of Oz just like Oprah, but I hate that movie!

Mommy: Well then, it sounds like you need to watch it again because it's the best.

[How does this girl know that Oprah likes that movie? We've watched Oprah ONCE in the last 5 years!]

kids say the darndest things

While driving in the car yesterday we were having a family conversation that went a little something like this...

Jackson: All the girls nike me.

Daddy: Why do all the girls like you, Jackson?

Jackson: Dey say I so cute.

kids say the darndest things

Jackson and I are pumping gas at Costco when the freak hail storm hit us last Monday. The hail is hitting the ground and bouncing all over the place. I think to myself, Jackson's got to see this up close! I call him to get out of the car and check out all the crazy hail. As he's hopping out of the car some stray pieces of hail make their way into the car. Jackson sees them and yells (loud enough for all the other gas pumping people to hear), "WE GOT TO GET THE HAIL OUTTA HERE!"

Yes, that is my child. He is hilarious!

Jackson get's stitches AGAIN!

Just in time to kick off Spring Break this year, Jackson took a header off the trampoline and smacked his forehead into the trampoline frame. It split his skin perfectly down the center of his forehead. We butterfly bandaged it up pretty good until we got to see our favorite expert stitches doctor at urgent care. Remember, Jackson had his first set of stitches only 6 months ago. We got to see the same doctor again.


Here we are in the exam room. That gash was really good.
BEFORE: (Here is the BEFORE picture from 6 months ago. Look how close his new gash is to the old gash.)
.....



We passed the time waiting for the doctor with some good ol' thumb wrestling...




DURING the procedure:
Here's Jackson under the paper shield and the doctor's expert hands working their magic. Can you see only his boo boo peeking out from the cutout in the shield?




AFTER
Jackson was not a fan of getting stitches. He told us as much afterward. He did not like being strapped down to the papoose board totally restrained from using his arms. Can you see the white ring of skin all around the stitches? That is the numbing medicine the doctor shot right into the gash. The stitches didn't hurt going in, but that shot was sooo painful!




A WEEK LATER

Here is our boy at his Easter portrait photo shoot. Stitches removed. Happy as can be. It looks ok in this picture, but if you see him anytime within the next 30 days he will have a big purple splotch of "anti-scar" ointment over his scar. We will do our best to make sure that scar is as small as possible in that prominent spot on his forehead. We can only hope that there will be a single scar right there on his head. With Jackson's track record we're probably in for many more trips to the urgent care.

kids say the darndest things

We had just hopped in the car to run a few errands. We're almost to our destination when Jackson looks up from the iPod and realizes...

Jackson: Aw, dane-it! I got for my shoes!

Mom: You what?

Jackson: I got for my shoes!

Mom: You got for your shoes?

Jackson: See, I got for my shoes. Dey are at home.

Mom: Oooohhh. You mean you FOR-GOT your shoes.

* * * * * * * *

Jackson is helping me load the groceries from the conveyor belt and into the car. He spies a treat he likes and says, "I nike those rocket chips!"

Mom: You like rocket ships?

Jackson: No, I say rocket CHIPS.

Mom: Rocket chips?

Jackson: See, dose rocket chips. [Pointing to the flamin' hot cheetos] Dey so spicy.

Jackson turns 5!

Jackson is officially 5 years old! He survived his whirlwind birthday day (that was the same day as the great DI competition) and ended up more spoiled than usual. He had so many birthday celebrations!!

- with the Duran family
- with the Ward family
- a small family party on his birthday morning
- a large chorus of DI competitors singing at lunch
- a McDonald's full of cousins singing at dinner
- a birthday date with mom to Build-a-Bear workshop and pizza lunch
- and a special birthday playdate with his birthday friend, Liam

We went to the doctor for his 5 year old physical (and shots - ow!). We had already measured him on our "birthday growth chart measuring board thingy" and the dr. visit confirmed our measurements. Here are his official stats: 44 inches tall and 44 pounds! He is perfectly proportioned.

Jackson is one inch taller than Lizzie was at 5 years. He also grew 3 INCHES in one year! My goodness they grow so fast!

Jackson, here are 10 things we will remember about you at 5 years:
1. you love to play on the iPod
2. your favorite foods are chicken nuggets, Me N Ed's pizza, Dole peach parfait cups, and top ramen noodles
3. you like to wear your church clothes all day long on Sundays
4. you love going for bike rides to get a shoot gun from the gas station
5. you like helping mommy make banana chocolate chip muffins
6. your favorite color is RED
7. you are addicted to playing with LEGOS and love to organize them on your lego shelf
8. your googah is still around and brings you much happiness
9. you are excited to go to kindergarten
10. you know all the letters in your name and enjoy writing them... in no particular order

Jackson gets ready for Easter

Here are a couple of great FHE ideas for your family at Easter time. We did made these "Easter Symbol Baskets" last year in YW and Jackson made one this week at Joy School. The idea behind the basket is this: 12 days of Easter instead of the 12 days of Christmas. Our family will have enough attention span to do one a day for 12 days. You families with older kids will be able to do this activity in one sitting.

This activity should help your family focus on the true meaning of the season. We love to hunt for Easter eggs, eat lots of chocolate Easter candy, and make a traditional Easter basket for the kids. But we never want to lose sight of what the season is really all about.

The short kid-friendly Easter story at the left was perfect for our almost 5 year old boy. He was totally listening the first time I read it to him. He read right along with me the second time and got a huge kick out of reading the pictures.

EASTER SYMBOL BASKET

Supplies:
1. 12 plastic eggs
2. items to fill eggs
-sacrament cup
-3 dimes
-knotted twine
- chunk of hand soap
- square of red fabric
- small nail
- sponge
- crushed rocks
- strip of white cloth
- small flat stone
- bay leaf (we used a small piece of fake greenery)
3. sharpee (or cute scrapbooking stickers) for writing numbers on eggs
4. dollar store basket
5. printed scripture references cut into strips.
6. cute Easter grass or moss to put in the bottom of your basket

Assembly Directions:
Put coordinating scripture references and symbols into each egg - printing the symbol number on each egg as you go. Place all eggs into basket. Display until 12 days before Easter.

EASTER SYMBOLS

1. Matthew 26:26-27,39 (sacrament cup)

2. Matthew 26: 14-15 (3 dimes) [This fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 11:12-14.]

3. Matthew 27:1-2 (knotted twine)

4. Matthew 27:15, 17, 21, 24-26 (chunk of hand soap)

5. Matthew 27:28-30 or Mark 15:16-17 (square of red fabric)

6. Matthew 27:31-32 (small nail)

7. Matthew 27:48 (sponge)

8. Matthew 27:50-51, 54 (crushed rocks)

9. Matthew 27:57-60 (strip of white cloth)

10. Matthew 27:60, 62-66 (a small, flat stone)

11. Mark 16:1, 2-6 (bay leaf)

12. Matthew 28:5-6 (empty)

Jackson the dare devil

Last Saturday we took the kids out to the BMX bike park. Jackson had never been out to this park mostly because all the hills and bumps are much to big for him and his little 12 inch bike. After about 45 minutes we found some small bumps that he could handle. He took the first 3 really well - he LOVED the thrill of flying down the other side of the bump!! Hill #4 was slightly bigger than the previous 3 and he didn't make it all the way to the top. His bike rolled backwards, he fell to the ground, and slid back down the hill all twisted in his bike scraping up his hands on the way. He stood up wailing, crying, and blubbering on!! I tried to comfort him, but he just wouldn't have it. I kissed his scraped hands and tried to snuggle him to make it better. He was SO upset! Come to find out he wasn't crying about his hands or the pain. He was purely frustrated with the fact that he was to small! That he wasn't big enough to ride the bumps like the big boys!

Oh, my risk-taking, thrill-seeking, dare devil boy!

During the last 20 minutes of our stay at the park, Jackson wanted to try the smaller speed bumps on the main course. Jeremy ran right behind him hanging onto his back the whole time to make sure he made it up and over every one. Jeremy ran behind him twice as he rode this course and Jackson was in dare-devil heaven! Finally! Something he could do!! Jackson was so confident that he attempted the bumps all on his own. He fell. But he did not fall hard nor did he cry. He came up laughing at his spill! He got right back up and started again.

He ended up riding those smaller speed bumps several times. And was even sure enough of himself to ride without a helmet.

I know, I know. We are looking forward to some serious injuries in the future. He will be into anything and everything dangerous. He is ALL boy that is for sure. Nothing makes his daddy more proud than to see his boy enjoy the outdoor extreme sports.

It wouldn't be Halloween without...

STITCHES!

Jackson got stitches today. Here's the story:

This morning was our annual "Donuts with Dad" event at our school. Not everyone in our family likes donuts (Logan, specifically, who eats zero sweets) so daddy and the kids headed over for a delicious breakfast at McDonald's. As they were getting out of the car, kids hopping out, doors flying open, and Jackson ran smack! into the edge of the open door! And *thud* landed on his back. Blood dripped everywhere. Jeremy tried desperately to get it to stop, but head injuries like to bleed forever. He finally got things under control long enough to order the kids' food to eat in the car and head for home. What a special treat that was.

As soon as they walked through the door we headed back out to the urgent care. It was quickly confirmed that, yes, Jackson needed stitches. This fact may be hard to believe, but Jackson, child #4 at 4 years old, is the first of our children to need stitches. It is quite the miracle that it has taken our kids this long to be injured enough to require stitching.

Jackson knew he was wounded. He milked it to his advantage - big puppy dog eyes, pouty lip and all, fingers promptly inserted into mouth soothing his soul... Jeremy and I were both there and we were feeling just as bad as he was! Here he is in the waiting room:

After checking for any sign of concussion (there were none), Jackson was mounted flat onto a child sized stretcher. Then he was wrapped up like a burrito in restraints from neck to toe. Finally, they laid a sheet over his face to keep a sterile work environment. Good grief! Talk about a claustrophobic moment! Oh how Jackson screamed when the doctor injected the needle into his wound 4 times filling it with anesthesia. Oh, my goodness! It was so painful just to watch! The doctor assured us that the relief would be almost instant. And it was. He quieted right down and doctor went to work.

2 inner stitches and 8 outer stitches later and Jackson was a free man. Look at that handiwork. The doctor has had many years to practice his stitching technique. He bragged that he'd given his own daughter stitches 21 times!

"Neosporin 2 times a day and do not get those stitches wet" were our only orders. We'll be back to see the doctor on Halloween to get them removed.
For now, Jackson will be happy he survived his first surgical experience especially with his new "shoot gun" from the gas station in his pocket. Didn't you know? A treat from the gas station always makes everything better - even a head wound.

kids say the darndest things

Jackson "bought" a new battleship toy from the Dollar Store. Shockingly, this new boat was broken less than 24 hours later. Mommy suggested we try to fix Jackson's Dollar Store battleship toy rather than go buy a new one. Jackson agreed and leaned in intently watching the repair process. Halfway through he says, "Mommy, you awesome."

It's those moments that parents live for! Finally, appreciation for my parenting awesomeness!

* * * * * * * *

Jackson is in the dentist chair. He is tuned out to the world as he watches the TV mounted on the wall in front of him. Dentist comes in for the cleaning and to read Jackson's x-rays.

Dentist: Jackson, do you brush your teeth every day?

Jackson: nods yes

Dentist: Jackson, do you floss your teeth every day?

Jackson: nods yes

Dentist: Jackson, are you telling me lies?

Jackson: nods yes

Dentist: Bah ha ha ha!

* * * * * * * *

Daddy was reading a bedtime story to Lizzie and Jackson. While reading from the Fancy Nancy books he finished with the line: "... se magnifique!"

Jackson, half listening, thought he was being insulted by this big word from the book so he replies: "No YOU stink! You stink like bootie!"

kids say the darndest things

Jackson: Mom, where's my dollar? [actually, he says, "donner" because he still can't say his L's]

Mom: You have to do a job first and then you can have a dollar.

Jackson: No, I don't do job.

Mom: Well then, you can't have a dollar.

Jackson: Ok, I just watch TV. Then I done. And I get donner.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

We're eating lunch in a small San Diego park. Jackson starts chasing the birds and yelling at them to get out of his way and making quite a ruckus.

Trevor: Mom, Jackson is going to wake up all the people from their naps.

Oh, my sweet innocent child! There were about 7 homeless people snoozing on the park benches - he was so concerned that they wouldn't get enough sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jackson: Where's Deigo?

Mom: What?

Jackson: Where's Deigo?

Mom: You mean San Deigo?

Jackson: No. Go Deigo Go!

Mom: Jackson, we will not see Diego in San Deigo. Deigo is on TV. San Diego is here!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jackson: First we go Sandy. Then we go Eggo.

Mom: What?

Jackson: Sandy Eggo.

Mom: Oh. I see. San Deigo is Sandy Eggo.

Summer Games

Our kids have discovered some new games this summer. It has been fun to see them get excited about new things. It seems like we stick with the same ol' same ol' for so long and it's hard to break away from that. This summer they've all gravitated toward different interests. Here are each of their latest obsessions:

Jackson: CLUB PENGUIN

This little boy can log on to Club Penguin at any time. He has his own penguin, house, puffle, and items he's "purchased" for his living area. He loves playing the games and buying new things for his wardrobe and his igloo.



Logan: FUSION FALL

He is content to spend hours and hours in front of the screen on this game. All I know about this game is that it's made by Cartoon Network and the kids all wanted to try it out after seeing the advertisements between TV shows. He logged on, created a username and password, and hogs the computer all day long




Lizzie: OLD MAID

Lizzie spent some time at Gramma Elizabeth's house this summer. She came home with this "new" card game called Old Maid. (We'd never played this game at our house before and she was sooo excited to teach us something new!) She has taught everyone in the house how to play. She sounds like an expert as she teaches the rules and explains exactly what an old maid is. She looks so cute hiding behind her fan of cards trying NOT to choose the Old Maid from another player's hand.











Trevor: RISK the game of world domination

Trevor discovered this board game at Family Camp this year. All the big boys were playing the game and he got sucked in. He was OBSESSED. They played for hours and hours 2 days in a row trying to conquer the world! When we got home from camp he had to keep playing. We decided it would be a good investment for our family to spend some quality bonding time together so we purchased it from Target. We played 1 game - for 6 HOURS! Oh boy. We had fun, for sure, but wow. It is time consuming! Anyone that will "risk" the time commitment to play this game is welcome to come on over and feed Trevor's need to dominate the world.

Jackson and his accessories

It's Tuesday morning. Library day on our summer schedule. We must hurry to get there early to get a good seat. There will be a lot of people there today to watch the magic show out on the front lawn in front of our local library...

We're piling into the car and Jackson says, "I need my purse and my gun!" He runs back into the house and 2 seconds later comes running out with his purse, his orange potato gun, and his blue helmet. Classic. And he WORE that blue helmet the entire time we were there!

Jeremy LOVES it when Jackson does not embrace his manhood. It makes Jeremy squirm whenever Jackson asks to "put his dress on", or paint his nails, or carry his purse. I, personally, enjoy the fact that my son can embrace his feminine side and proudly carry a hot pink purse out in public - to the library - where there are at least 100 people there to admire his ensemble. He's confident. He's sure of himself. And he knows who he is. That's all that really matters in life. (And getting a good laugh out of how ridiculous my child looks in his get-up.)

And, just for the record, the gun and the helmet cancel out the purse anyway. It's a man's carry-all. It's not a purse - it's European!

kids say the darndest things

Mommy: Jackson, I love you. You my boy.

Jackson: Yes. And Daddy. Daddy's my frien.

Mommy: Yes, Daddy's your friend.

Jackson: And mommy's my man.

Mommy: I'm your man?

Jackson: Yes, you my man.

Jackson's Sunday School Lesson

The coloring page that came home from Jackson's primary class this week was hilarious! I love it's age appropriateness. They all need help learning to master their feelings and it's never to early to start learning. HA!

I really do like his coloring. He's gotten a lot better at this most necessary life skill. It's good to see that he finally understands that he's supposed to be coloring SOMETHING to make it pretty. And the words at the bottom of the page were definitely his own, "I am happy when I... play with trains!" How true it is.

Jackson's Napping Place

Jeremy and Trevor were still out of town. It was time to go get some dinner. Just me and the kids. Mama was determined not to cook tonight! I began the round up of children. Logan? check. Lizzie? check. Shoes on? check check.

Now to find Jackson. I went next door to the Stoph's - up the stairs and down the stairs. No Jackson. I came home - up the stairs and down the stairs. No Jackson. Out the back door again to Grandma's house. Hellooooo??? Jackson???? No Jackson there either. One more time through the Stoph's - a deeper look into the garage and all the bedrooms. Really. No Jackson. I start to get a little panicky. Ok. He must've fallen asleep somewhere and that's the reason he's not answering any of my calls. Let's try home ONE MORE TIME. I go through every bedroom, every closet, look behind every door, and finally come downstairs having exhausted every hiding location.

"Has ANYONE seen Jackson?!" I sternly ask to the oblivion.

Lizzie quietly answers, "He's in the laundry room."

"Yeah, right." I think to myself. Of course she says the only room I'd overlooked.

I stomp back up the stairs and peer into the dark laundry room. Thinking to myself, "Why would I look there? He never goes in that room."

Lo and behold, there he was! Fast asleep on top of a great pile of stinky laundry - chonis and all. Look closely and see what is near his hand. He couldn't find any of his own goo-gahs and must've heard mama's silkies calling him from the laundry room.

We had lots of late nights since Daddy and Trevor had been out of town. Our sleep schedules were a little off (as well as the rest of our schedules!). Note our late dinner hour of 7PM. No wonder the child had to take an evening siesta - he was exhausted from our lack of a routine and scheduled week!

Panic attack over. Total searching time: a good 12 minutes. The pizza dinner we were late for was cold, but still enjoyable because we were all there together. No children missing. Priceless.

the end of the joy school year is here

Jackson had a great year of preschool/joyschool with his friends. These kids were his schoolmates. It was such a treat for him to go to a different friend's house each week to learn and play!

Jackson really did learn some things. He can recognize several letters and numbers and can even write a few on his own already. None of our other kids took an interest in letters and numbers like Jackson at this age. He has one more year at home before kindergarten. He'll be ready when that day finally arrives!

Look at these cute kids! Don't they look like a boatload of fun just waiting to happen? There is so much energy inside each one of these little people and each with a distinct and different personality. We had so much fun together this year - it's hard to say goodbye. (Not too sad... they'll see each other every Sunday at church!)

Thank you Joy School friends (and moms for all your hard work, time, and patience)! It was a great year!

Strikes back the Empire Does