Say What?

A few things Jackson is saying:

"Sure!" When asked if he wants something he likes.
"I think so."
"No thanks." When asked to do something he doesn't like.
"Don't like that anymore.  Very much."
"Don't like that very much.  Anymore."
"Want to show you something." Accompanied by tugging on your finger, as soon as you sit down.
"Look at me!"
"Come with me."
"Go to McDonalds.  Get me a smoothie."
"Take me back to preschool!  Right now!"
"How are you this morning?"
"Goodbye friends!"
"Where is Grandma?"
"Daddy going on errands."
"Good" when asked "How are you?"
"I'm sorry." After a potty accident.  Or when prompted after pushing.
"Stop it Hayley!"  All. The. Time.  In the car.
"Want to watch Kipper/Barney/Yardigans/Fireman Sam."
"Mom. Mom! MOM. MOM!" "What?!" "Hold my hand." Love this.
"Jackson do it." As in, "I want to do it by myself."
"Jackson is awake!" with a huge smile.  Sometimes as early as 5:30 a.m.  It's lots cuter closer to 9:00.
"Ow! That stings!"
"Wipe Mommy's kiss off!" When he's teasing me after I kiss him.
"Bless you!" as he sneezes.  Then, "Excuse me!" when he's done.

 His favorite things to sing:

Wheels on the Bus
Itsy, Bitsy, Spider
B-I-N-G-O
ABC Song
Pop! Goes the Weasel
The Birthday Song

And some of Hayley's:

"I'm sweating like an elephant!"

And this conversation:
Hayley: "One of my fish will be dead when we get home."
Me: "Why do you say that?"
Hayley: "Because I forgot to feed them this morning."
Me: "You fed them kind of a lot last night.  Some of their fish flakes were still on the bottom of the bowl this morning.  I think they'll be fine."
H: "Like they were saving their food?  Like leftovers?  Like cavemen?"
Me: "Um.... Yeah."
H: "Wait, where do cavemen get their food?"
Me: (Not one to mince words) "They kill it, and cook it, and eat it."
H: "Do they eat people?  Like other cavemen?"
Me: "Uhhh... No."
H: "What do they do when they meet other cavemen?  Just invite them in for iced tea?"
Me: (Cracking up by now) "Yeah, maybe.  Why do you think they have iced tea?"
H: "Well, cause they can just make the ice cubes out of sand."
I cannot wait until this girl starts writing more stories in school.  Her teachers are in for a treat!

December Update

 Well, we finally got out the Christmas stuff and decorated around our house.  At least with the things that Jackson can't destroy/can't reach/can't get hurt by.  He loved this little play nativity that we got last year.

He may not know the whole story, but he's got the main characters down pat.  Of course, he also thinks the  donkey had just as important of a role as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

We did not put up the big tree.  I really was too nervous that it would end up on top of Jackson sometime within the month, and a visit to the hospital is not exactly the "Merry Christmas" I have in mind.  We did buy Hayley her own tree to put in her bedroom, and got out the "kiddie" ornaments.  She was plenty happy with that situation.

Jackson took a liking to this Santa.

But would only get close enough to the real thing to give him a high five.

 We tried inching him a little closer to Sinter Klass at the Dutch Party, but he didn't handle that very well.

Hayley was more than happy to chat with Sinter Klass.  She wasn't scared of him or the Swarte Petes, even though they had their sack ready to take the naughty boys and girls back to Spain to be slaves.  That part of the story scared the crap out of my when I was little.

Then again, Hayley is happy to tell pretty much any Santa what she wants for Chistmas.

Which would be great, except that the gift that she keeps telling Santa she wants is one that she hasn't even mentioned since October, that I didn't buy, and that I can't find anywhere.  So, if anyone sees any of the extra large ladybug pillow pets that they had a Costco a couple of months ago, please let me know.

If not, I'll hope the other presents she finds under her tree is enough. 

Random

Just a few things.

I wish I would have known about this: http://haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com/ when I was pregnant.  So funny.  Seriously, click the link.

Don't you just love how old friends "get you?"  I do.  Plus, you can talk about the people you both know who turned out crazy, and it makes you feel exceptionally normal.

Don't let the Christmas lights on the outside of our house fool you.  We have no decorations for Christmas up inside our house.

We may not do a Christmas tree this year.  Because my son is a crazy little tornado, and I would be scared for the ornaments, the tree, and him.  Hayley may get her own little tree in her room out of the deal though.

I cleaned the playroom and put nearly half the toys in storage.  Neither child has even noticed.  If that keeps up, they are out of here.  (The toys, not the children.)  And I might "clean" again.  Also makes me wonder just how many of the Christmas presents we bought are really necessary...

Oh yeah.  Christmas shopping is done!  Almost.  Have to pick up a few more giftcards.  Oh, and wrap everything.  Ugh.  I hate the wrapping.

Switched over the CDs in the car to the Christmas ones.  Some guy honked at me (mean honk, not "Hey, good lookin'" honk) while I did it.  I say bad Christmas karma to him.

This week I got called a "competent teacher" and a "favorite teacher." :)

If you are wondering what to get for your child's teacher, let me help you out.  My hands down favorite gift goes like this: Card (store bought or home-made).  Nice handwritten message from kid.  Nice handwritten message from parent.  That's it.  Sure teachers love all the other stuff, but kind things that you say and really mean go such a long, long way.

My husband is absolutely impossible to surprise for Christmas, birthday, basically anything.  He seriously guessed my surprise present.  Trouble!

I resisted getting any kind of a smart phone, even with the Black Friday deals.  Just couldn't do it.  Gonna stick with my dumb phone.

I finished the Fablehaven series.  It was fantastic.  If you have a fourth grader or older and they haven't tried it, they should.  Also recently read these scary-but-not-too-scary-because-you're-ten books to my class: Trapped in Death Cave, The House on Hackman's Hill, and The Letter, the Witch and the Ring.  All of them are books that I read in fourth grade.  And, I just found out while reading the last one that it's actually the third in a series, so guess I'll be reading the other two.  After I finish rereading The Candy Shop War.  And its sequel.  And the Giver series again, because there's a new bonus book like ten years after the other three, which were ever only marketed as a trilogy!!  Excited. :)

Okiedokie.  That's it for now.  Not a single picture.  Sorry.  Brain dump only.

Treehouse Update

Jeremy wanted me to post a treehouse update, so here you go:

 It also now has a railing.

Yeah, it's a little bit massive for a treehouse.

But lots of fun!

Go Utes!

Today Hayley and I went up to the U of U for their intra-squad meet.  It was at the Dumke Gymnastics Center, which is their practice facility.  It was so cool to be up close and personal enough to see their toes grab the beam and hear what they say to each other, and what the coaches have to say to them.

We got there a little late and missed vault, but you can see Hayley and I on the top row of the bleachers when they are filming Uneven Bars.

Next was Beam, which we went upstairs for.  No pictures since we were literally like ten feet from the girls as they flipped and twirled on the four inch wide beam.  Didn't want to make them nervous.  And I wasn't sure if it was against the rules. :)

I did sneak some pictures during Floor Exercise.  Below is Corrie Lothrop, who looked great!

 

When the meet was done, Hayley was itching to get her trading cards signed.  I wasn't sure where she was supposed to go, so I had her go ask the coach, Megan Marsden.  She could not have been any sweeter.  She handed us a Sharpie, called the entire team over to sign Hayley's cards, and then she thanked us for coming!  So sweet, and such a great coach.

Hayley was a little star struck, and so was I.  She especially liked Hailee Hansen, because of the whole same name thing.  She was very sweet and talked to Hayley for a bit, asking her name, and how old she was.  It was so sweet.  Hayley had a group picture with a few of the girls, and I was going to wrap it up...

  

Until one of my total faves, Georgia Dabritz came over!  She signed Hayley's cards, and I told her that she was looking great on her routines, which she was very humble about.  She also told me that the plan is for her to all-around this year (Yay!) and that they hope to have another open-to-the-public intra-squad meet.  She really was just so nice.

  

I was already so excited about gymnastics season coming up, but now that I feel like I know some of the gymnasts on a more personal level, it will be just that much more fun!

Go Utes!

P.S. I know I'm not in any of the pictures.  It just seemed a little weird since I would have to ask another one of the girls to take any of the pictures.  "Um, excuse me.  I know that you are totally busy doing amazing things, but would you mind stopping to take a picture of a strange lady (me) with one of your teammates?" Yeah, see?  Weird.

Halloween

When I took Hayley shopping for a Halloween costume, she surprised me by picking out a mummy costume.  Jackson had a cute little doggie costume that we got last year after Halloween on sale, but had no interest in wearing it.  The few times I forced him to try it on, he just cried and squirmed around on the floor until he slid out of it.  Then he'd tell me, "No thanks, don't like that costume anymore."  So when we found a mummy costume for him too from my mom's costume box, and he actually kept it on, that sealed the deal that this mommy would have two little mummies for Halloween.

The kids first got to wear their costumes to the Witches Breakfast at the Fitness Center. 

They both looked really cute.

 

Hayley also wore her costume in the Halloween parade at school.

She really got into character.  She  walked like this for almost the entire parade route.

  

Jeremy took the night of Halloween off of work, and we headed to my mom's for pizza, and then out to do some trick-or-treating.

 

 I love it when the weather is nice on Halloween.

 

We trick-or-treated on two streets near my mom's house.  That was plenty for my kids.

There was also a house that had a Halloween train the kids could go for a ride in.  That was a definite hit for the little mummies.

 Hayley's a die hard and wanted to do a few more houses after we got home. 

 

It was a fun Halloween, even if it was a bit stressful being during the middle of the week this year.

Too Cute To Not Post

Just some random pictures that were too cute to not share. :)

Hayley and Jackson on a trip to the zoo to see the new Polar Bear.  It's so cool.  If you haven't been since the new Rocky Shores Exhibit opened, it's totally worth it.

Jackson and Grandma Heidi:

 

Hayley and Aunt Whitney:

 

Hayley's Reflections Project:

 The theme this year was "The Magic of a Moment."  Here's what she wrote about it: "Going on Tower of Terror for the first time was magic because the pretend lightning struck and we fell!"

More Cabin Fun

A few pictures from this Fall at the cabin:

Jeremy helped Hayley shoot a gun for the first time.  She didn't like it.  I was relieved.

More progress on the massive treehouse:

Some cabin snacks:

 

And cabin smiles:

 

And some surprise snow!

Just enough to get the snowmobiles out for the Friday evening and Saturday morning we were there.  It had all melted off by Saturday evening.

It's going to be an awfully fun winter at the cabin, especially with Hayley and me being off track for all of December. :)

Preschool Boy

These pictures are from September when I was off track.  Jackson had been going to preschool for a few weeks already at that point.

 

He looked so cute with his little Jackson-sized backpack.

 

He is still loving going to preschool.  Jeremy drops him off, and he hasn't had any tears at all.  Just lines up with his class and heads on in.

My mom picks him up most days, and he is ready to go, with a smile on his face.

Then he usually sings the songs from preschool for the rest of the day.  His favorites are Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the ABC song.

His teachers have also commented on how polite he is.  He does say lots of "please" and "thank you" and "no thanks."  Although lots of times it's when we tell him, "Jackson, it's time to go to bed" and he says back, "Sorry.  No thanks."  Yeah, you try telling the cute, polite boy no.  He's pretty much got life figured out.

The Treehouse

Hayley has a fantastic memory.  So when Jeremy and my stepdad Robert mentioned to her that they would possibly build her a treehouse at the cabin, she did not forget.  On the contrary, she reminded them about it each and every cabin trip.  This summer, they made good on their word.  My mom and I were thinking a cute little playhouse.  We should have known better putting our husbands in charge of the project.  It's anything but little.

 

Don't worry.  Robert has only fallen once.  And he caught himself.  With the tree trunk.  He only scraped off a bunch of the skin on his arm.  I told him it's an awful long half-hour ride to Evanston if you are needing medical attention.  Then I told Jeremy he better not do anything stupid.  And he told me he's not nearly as crazy as Robert.  I'm not sure I believe that...

 Hayley is elated about the whole project, and is out with "the boys" every chance she gets.   Up and down the ladder, passing out tools... Sometimes that girl is a little too brave for my liking.

 

It is coming along nicely though.  Jeremy said it's been good to have something for him to do until we get snow at the cabin, and can break out the $140 snowmobile we scored off of KSL that Jeremy has been restoring.

Keep your eyes peeled for pictures of the final product.  Hopefully before the snow season sets in.

Thanksgiving Point

We'd never done Thanksgiving Point's Two Buck Tuesday that they do every August, and this year it turned out I would be taking the last Tuesday in August off anyway for Jackson's preschool orientation, so I decided we better head on up!

After we were done with the preschool orientation, I checked a surprised Hayley out of school, and told her where we were headed.  I also surprised her with stopping by cousin Zekie's school.  We checked him out for part of the day also.  His mom was cool like that about an educational field trip chaperoned by a teacher playing hookey. :) These cousins were excited to spend the afternoon together.  I don't even remember what they were talking about on the way there, but I know it was cracking me up.

We headed to the dinosaur museum (Museum of Ancient History, I think?) first.  It was really fun, but also pretty crowded.  I love this picture.  They're so like, "Just take the picture already, will you Mom/Aunt!"

Hayley was sweet to help Jackson get in on the dinosaur sand table action.

Nothing like practicing your dinosaur growls.

Right before this we were waiting for some other kids to finish their picture.  The moms told them to sit on that rail.  I'm watching, thinking, "Not a good idea."  Sure enough, before they can even get their picture: "Clunk!"  One of the kids fell straight back and smacked his head on the floor.  Hard.  Not quite the photo op they intended, I'm sure.  Hayley and Zekie watched this mishap, and then Hayley turned to Zekie, and in all seriousness said, "Let's not do that." Yes, Hayley.  Let's not.

This guy was content in the stroller.  For once.  Which is good, because he is a runner, and there were a lot of people.

We did head over to Farm Country for a bit after the dinos.  It was a little bit calmer there, and I let Jackson out of his restraints, er stroller.  In this picture he's laughing at and talking to the ducks.  He kept saying, "Silly ducks! Crazy ducks!  Ducks are swimming! Ducks are walking!"  He had a lot of fun running around outside and seeing all the animals.

 

Worth the day off, and worth the two bucks a person for sure!