Kindergarten

Wow. It has been too long since my last post. This summer was amazing, and I promise rewind in the next couple of posts.

Jackson is a Kindergartener!! Yesterday was the day. He is such a big boy and that's hard for this mommy to accept. He woke up in a great mood, had a good breakfast and got dressed in his favorite new glow-in-the-dark dragon shirt. We made the .3 mile trek to the primary school in Dad's new truck. The three of us walked hand in hand into the madness that is the first day of school. It was much calmer than I had expected. There was one little boy in Jackson's class who had to be coaxed into the classroom, but we didn't see any tears. There was a special room for tears, but thankfully we didn't have to use it.

We had forgotten the nametag that his teacher gave us at open house, so we had to ask for another one. I know, bad first impression. Jackson went immediately to his seat and began playing with the Legos on his table.

He didn't talk to us after we got to the classroom, but he let us give him hugs and kisses. I realized later that day that he didn't even know we were there. He couldn't remember us taking him into his classroom! I'm thinking there was a little overload going on in his head.

Over the next few hours, Jon called me twice to check on me. I was fine. I did unfortunately let my mind wander a couple of times. Nonnie and I were first in the pick-up line after school. I had allowed myself to envision a very sad Jackson coming out of the school doors at pick up time. I pictured him with a pouty lip, tears and wearing different shorts than I had sent him in since I neglected to stop by the bathroom when I dropped him off. To my relief, this was what I saw:

Same shorts, no tears... YAY!! He had a great day. He loved his lunch and the playground. He told me about a book that Mrs. Stone read to the class. He made some new friends, but he hasn't learned their names. Success!

Monster trucks, movie reviews, great food and friends...

Wow! Super-packed and fun weekend here. We went swimming at our friends' new pool Friday evening and had a great time, as usual. Saturday morning, Jon and Jackson set out for an adventure to our local Dodge dealership, where they had snow cones and a ride on the Raminator!

They both had a ball, although Jack wasn't so sure to start with. After a nap, we headed to the movies. Jon and Jackson saw Ratatouille, which got MAJOR thumbs up by both guys. I was a rebel and ventured to a 'grown up' show. I had been wanting to see Knocked Up for a couple of weeks, because I love "Izzy" from Grey's Anatomy. It was AWFUL!! The first twenty minutes or so got a lot of laughs, but then it just became crude and very, very long. So disappointing!

Today, we took a much anticipated trip to Uncertain, Texas and had lunch with friends at Big Pines Lodge on Caddo Lake.

As usual, the catfish was out of this world and the surroundings were beautiful. It was great to watch Jon tell Jackson about his memories on the lake as a kid. Jackson enjoyed the scenery while the grown-ups sat on the bank and unbuttoned our pants:). He picked me this beautiful weed.

All in all, a great weekend was had by all.

Hamburger Helper!

Ok, Jackson wins the pickiest eater contest. I hate it too, because I am a horribly picky person and I hoped that was the one thing he would not inherit from me. Trust me, Jon and I have tried so hard to teach him healthy eating habits. We have always made sure he had a variety of foods to try and we have been encouraging. Still, he only has a few things he will really eat. Here's the list: pepperoni pizza, tacos, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese sandwiches, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, french fries, applesauce, cereal, bananas, string cheese... that's pretty much it. He won't eat burgers or hot dogs, much less anything resembling a vegetable.

So, a couple of weeks ago I was grocery shopping and happened upon Hamburger Helper. I remembered how much I loved it when I was little. I even thought surely Jackson would try it, since it is made up of things he does like. Tonight I worked a little late and Jon whipped up the HH. When I got home it was simmering on the stove and I heard Jackson say, "mmm, something smells good". We sat down to eat and it was just as yummy as I remembered! Jackson put one macaroni noodle in his mouth and spit it back out on the plate. I told him no snacks or sweets unless he ate his dinner, but he chose not to. I felt bad, but he kept telling me he wasn't hungry. Then, while getting him ready for bed, Jon said, "arent' you hungry?" and the five-year-old happily replied, "No, I could go for days without food". Where did that come from? No idea, but it cracked us both up. Also made me feel a lot better about sticking to my guns!

Most Heart

Baseball season is over and it was a big hit! Jackson's coach gave him the "Most Heart" award. Keep in mind this was Jackson's first year, and to put it nicely- he didn't show any natural talent for baseball. He went several games without a hit. He enjoyed dancing in the outfield. He never complained or gave up. He lived for sno-cones! He was a good sport.

Jackson had lots of fans at the games. Nonnie, Uncle Drew, Neane, Big Daddy, Aunt T and Uncle D, Ashley, Jeff, Lil' Ian, John, Chase, Richard, Susan, Steve, Jill, and even baby Trent came to see him play.

I hope he wants to play again next year. It was an awesome experience. He is so proud of his trophy. He carried it everywhere for two days.

Spidey

I still can't get over how Spiderman took over our lives on Jack's 5th birthday. I did a quick scrapbook page tonight using these two photos Jackson begged me to take:

Happy Birthday to Jack!

Jackson is FIVE!! He started the big day with his gift from mom & dad- a Gameboy! He figured it out really quickly and didn't want to put it down.

His party was a grand slam! I think he went into over-stimulated mode. He had a couple of major fits during the day- especially when he realized he wasn't going to be the one to crack open the pinata.

It was a great day. Lots of friends, family, food, and gifts. I'm pretty sure he got every Spiderman toy there is- he was a happy birthday boy! Four days later, I'm still recovering from exhaustion!

My little brother

My baby brother, Drew is all grown up. It's the end of his senior year, and I can't believe it. Since he's much too "cool" to have senior pictures made, my mom and I talked him into a little photo-shoot with sis. I got lots of great shots of him- this is just one unedited favorite of mine. I'm going to have to spend some time in photoshop with these considering he had two large hickies (how do you even spell that word?) on either side of his neck. I love my brother and I'm so proud of him. I know he's going to be an amazing man!