Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's hard to believe the holidays are already here! On Wednesday, we drove to Moore to celebrate Thanksgiving with the McGillens. We had picked Jackson up during his naptime, thinking he would sleep in the car. Nope! He had a 45 minute nap that day and did surprisingly well! On Wednesday night, after dinner, we headed out to a local park so that Jackson could run off some of his extra energy. We all had fun pretending to be Buzz, Woody and Zurg!

Linda made some cute cupcakes that looked like turkeys (made with frosting and candy corn). We discovered Jackson REALLY likes candy corn! Wish I had got a picture of them. They were cute.

Here we are for our Thankgiving feast!

While we were resting before dessert (an extremely yummy pumpkin pie - I need the recipe!), Jackson decided he needed to do a little work on his phone. I love how he calls this "his" phone. He is so good at playing on the iTouch! I also love how he has just settled into a comfy spot in the chair - make yourself at home, Jackson!
Earlier that morning, we were going through all of the Black Friday ads. The Walmart Toy add caught Jackson's eye. He looks so serious!
While we were at the McGillens, we helped them put up and decorate their Christmas tree. Jackson liked hanging the ornaments, though he kept wanting to put them on the lights rather than the branches. We can also tell at school they are doing a lot of matching. All of the red ornaments had to go on the red lights, green ornaments on the green lights, etc. I wonder where he got all of those organizational skills, Tom??
Once he covered the bottom half, we brought out the step stool (he calls it his "climber").
Hmmm, where should this go?
Ta daa!!! I can't tell you how many pictures of this we took. I love Jackson's face in this one - it's like he's copying Tom and trying to figure out if he did it right!
On Friday, we all go together at my parents house. This picture is pure Jenna!!
Reese decided to help me and mom butter the bread...
...only we forgot to tell her that you're supposed to wait to eat it until you cook it in the oven!
Happy Thanksgiving! We started a new tradition this year - delicious crab cakes! They were yummy. Can't wait for next year! Mom brought out Grandma's Thanksgiving decorations. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them and Grandma's salt and pepper dispenser!
I hope everyone had a fun and family-filled Thanksgiving. I know we did! We have so much to be thankful for this year. What a wonderful day!

On Tuesday night, Broken Arrow hosted their send-off performance of "Zo". I was so thankful that we were on the "VIP" list as there were over 5000 people in attendance for the 15-minute show. Quite amazing! The show is based upon The Wizard of Oz. Love the music and all of the visuals! For Grand Nationals, they even had some of the alternates dress up and act like flying monkeys. It was all very impressive and lots of fun to watch.

Broken Arrow goes on for Finals at Grand Nationals tonight at 9:15 EST - about 10 minutes from now. Keeping our fingers crossed that they have a great show! They placed 2nd in Finals and also won High Visual, Fan Favorite and Espirit de Corps (nicest band). Great job!

Jackson was excited to see Grandma and Grandad. They had just come back from a trip to Florida. They brought Jackson a stuffed Shamu, which Jackson now calls "Shampoo". We like to put Shamu on his head and say "Hey Jackson, you've got Shampoo in your hair!"

Because we were able to get in early, we got to watch rehearsal. Quite amazing. Very different from anything I'm used to! Here is the drum solo with the color guard dancing in front of them. The drum solo was so cool!

Jackson was so sad not to get to play with JP (who was up in the press box). He stuck out his lower lip and then started waving to him. So pitiful.

After rehearsal was over and the students were getting into their uniforms for the performance, Tom took Jackson on the field. Jackson absolutely loves getting to play the drums. He's just barely tall enough to see over some of the instruments.

After knocking out a few tunes, Tom took Jackson for his first bike ride. The color guard rode out on the bikes during the show, even in between the band members in the drill! At the end of the show, some of the tuba and trumpets exited the field playing "We're off to see the Wizard" while riding the bike. Wow!

Jackson was so good while we were waiting. He sat there so patiently waiting for the show to start.

Found a video of the band's show on YouTube - check it out!

Jackson likes to cook, especially anything involving pouring. Tom and Jackson are making blueberry muffins to have with our yummy vegetable soup. Tom was so sweet this week. I was feeling under the weather, and one morning, I woke up at 6am to find that Tom had already picked up the house, made veggie soup and was going to the store to pick up a few things we needed before work. Thank you, Tom! You're the best.

Patiently waiting for the muffins to be ready ...

Now that Jackson has realized that he can reach almost anything with this stool, he uses it a lot. He's also decided that Woody and Buzz needed a step stool, too!

Have a great week!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This was such a fun year. Tom was home (thankfully he didn't have rehearsal because Halloween was on a Sunday), so he got to go out with us. Jackson really got into it this year. He was so excited to be Buzz Lightyear. Tom found his costume and went all out, even getting him the Buzz Lightyear wings that go in and out with the press of a button. When the wings are out, they also light up and make noises that sound like you're flying or talking to Star Command. The neighbors all got quite a kick out of the wings.

Getting ready to go out trick or treating! Can you tell how excited Jackson is?

Jackson had been practicing how to trick or treat for the last week. Since he loves ringing doorbells, we knew this was going to be a great year. Jackson would go up to the houses and say "Trick or Treat!" and then after receiving his candy, he'd say "Thank you! Happy Halloween!" We went to quite a few houses this year though we did bypass our favorite neighbor sitting outside.

Jackson would pull out his candy and look at it before going on to the next house. His favorite candy is now Kit Kats....which is interesting since he doesn't like chocolate. He calls them "Kitty-Cat Chocolate". All he has to do is ask for a kitty-cat chocolate and I will usually give him one....I have no willpower when it sounds so cute!

After Jackson's pumpkin was full of candy, we came back and handed out candy while sitting in the driveway. It surprises me how many people sit in their driveways to handout candy, but I have to say, I really like it! Jackson brought out his Buzz Lightyear chair from inside and would lounge in between trick-or-treaters. Jackson loved handing candy out again this year. I only had one bowl for both the young kids and the older kids (who really were too old to be trick-or-treating), so we'd end up giving 1 a piece to the older kids and lots to the younger kids. He accidentally gave an older kid two pieces of candy, and he almost reached into the kid's sack to pull it out!

Halloween dinner - Mummy dogs and a Halloween orange. Yummy!
I actually cooked! Turns out that this was a REALLY easy meal and Jackson loved it. Think this is going to become a new Halloween tradition!
Tom and Jackson took the opportunity on Halloween to dress up as a mummy using an entire roll of toilet paper. When Jackson came around the corner, he held his hands up in front of him and pretended to walk around like a mummy.
Jackson's class had a Halloween party in their room before going downstairs to the carnival. I absolutely loved Julia's costume (who is sitting next to Jackson), dressed up as Snow White. I loved her wig! The teachers also had a "dress-up" station all set up to put on make-up and do hair for all of the little girls. Jackson's other buddy, Joseph, is sitting next to him dressed up as a baseball player.
Jackson and one of his best friends, Batman (aka Nash):
Buzz Lightyear was an extremely popular costume this year - Jackson was 1 of 3 Buzz's in his class. We decided we liked Jackson's teachers too much to let him wear his expandable wings at the school party. Here are Jackson and Max posing together:
Here are Holden and Jackson posing together. They were both looking at each other's "tattoos", and Jackson had to teach Holden how to do the laser pose.

Mining for marshmallows with Jackson's friend, Sarah. The kids had lots of fun playing with the white packing peanuts. Jackson kept putting his "treasure" back so that he could find it again.

Jackson really got into Halloween this year. He was really concerned when he realized that neither Tom nor I had a costume. He told me that we needed to go buy a costume. So, on Friday night before Halloween, Jackson and I went out on the town for some Halloween shopping to get some costumes and candy. Jackson told me that I was going to be a witch. Sure enough, he picked out a green witches hat for me (which was a lucky find since the costume aisle was decimated!). I saved Tom from having to wear a sombrero....until Jackson picked out a pirate's hat for Tom that was about 3 sizes too small! Here is Jackson trying on the hat to see what I'll look like:
Jackson in his "Jr Explorer" costume (thanks Sara!). I was getting ready in the bathroom and heard Jackson playing with something, but I didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later, I heard "Hey Mom - come look!" He had managed to stack everything on (and near) my nightstand without it falling over! In case you can't tell in the picture, he stacked a coaster on top of an empty cup, a glass 1/2 full of water, a small candle, a big tall candle and my blackberry - all topped off with a sock!

All lined up waiting for the OSU Homecoming parade to start.
Isn't this just the stereotypical American shot? Watching the parade on the side of the road, eating candy (a "kitty-cat chocolate, as Jackson likes to call them) and waving your American flag. Life is good.
Jackson loves to be held upside down. And even better than just being held upside down is crawling up and over your shoulder to become upside down. I think we have a future stuntman in our house.
We're so glad you're back, Casey!
Comparing their loot. Stickers and suckers were big this year (to Jackson's and Reese's delight!).
Look at my sucker!

Jackson and Reese really liked all of the music. Here they are dancing together in the back of Papa's truck.

Funny things Jackson said since the last post:

I'm growing! Like a flower! I'm getting BBIIIGGG. I'm not big enough yet. I'm growing, Mom! (Backstory: Jackson has been eating 2-3 times what he normally eats in a day lately, and so I told him a few days ago that he must be growing. He looks down in total shock like it's happening RIGHT NOW before his eyes.)

*****

(as we pass by a lit Christmas Nativity in the back of a trailer). Mom, that's Jesus. I'm not afraid of him. He loves me. We read it in a book. I love that book. We have it at home and at school!

******

Me: What did you do at school today?

Jackson: I played with Holden and Jerrett and John. They're my guys, my buddies.

Me: Really? What about your other friends?

Jackson: Max is mad at me cause I took his spot. I was there first. So I played with my other buddies. I was the leader.

Me: How did you become the leader?

Jackson: I said "Come on guys, let's run" and they did. We played soccer and kicked the ball hard cause of my really fast shoes.

"Mom Guilt" Strikes Again....

Remember back to Jackson's first Easter Egg Hunt at his daycare? Just to recap: plastic eggs (still in the wrapper and UNFILLED), no candy to include in the eggs, and no change to even buy Starburst from the vending machine. Thanks to Ms. Cresha, I was able to borrow 50 cents so that Jackson could have some candy-filled eggs like everyone else. While I was stuffing his eggs with the Starburst bought from borrowed money, in walks another mom with her daughter dressed up in her beautiful, spotless Easter dress carrying a beautifully decorated Easter basket filled with beautifully dyed Easter eggs that had obviously taken quite a bit of time the night before. All I could think of was "I was supposed to bring a basket too???" Still getting the hang of this parenting gig - Jackson's daycare is sometimes my Cliff Notes version, reminding when I should be doing for Jackson at various ages. I'm constantly surprised that Jackson is old enough to be doing 1/2 of the activities they do at daycare with him. As a result, we're always a little behind the eight ball when it comes time to do non-routine activities at school.

Fast forward to this week. We received an email from his school letting us know of the various activities that were going to be happening in the next month or so. I always get a little feeling of dread when I see their emails - I always wonder "what did I forget this time?". The big news this week is that on Friday, they are having their annual bike and trike-a-thon. The older kids are supposed to bring their bikes and trikes to school....and don't forget their helmet! This shouldn't have been a big deal, right? Well, there were a few minor issues:

• I can't remember the name of Jackson's class (is it Discoverers or Explorers or Seekers?) OR his room number. And unfortunately, that's the only way to tell who is supposed to do what. I was pretty sure I knew what class he is in (after all, I've been dropping him off in the same room for almost 2 months now), so I decided he was in the class that is supposed to bring their bikes. They're always doing stuff earlier than I think is possible (and they always prove that Jackson can do it!).
• He doesn't have a helmet OR a bike. Should I have already bought him a helmet, even though he doesn't have a bike? Is he supposed to wear one on his Big Wheel? Am I a terrible mother for not having one yet?
• Jackson doesn't know how to ride a bike (at least not at home).....and he hates riding his Big Wheel. In fact, I can't remember if he even really knows how to ride his Big Wheel without someone pushing him. Is he supposed to know how to do that already?

I was determined that Jackson was going to show off his bike riding skills on Friday. I sent Tom an email that said looks like we need to buy a bike (and a helmet) early this week so that Jackson could ride it on Friday. As soon as Jackson and I got home on Monday night, we went right outside so that we could practice pedaling on the Big Wheel - didn't even let Jackson have dinner first so as not to waste the daylight. (I know, I know - it's hard to have a demanding mom, but when Jackson wins the Tour de France, he'll thank me.) I learned a few things on Monday night: 1) Jackson, like me, likes riding downhill, and 2) Jackson, like me, thinks its too much work to pedal uphill without someone pushing you from behind. Unfortunately, the school parking lot isn't level.... He also learned a few things from Jenna - no matter how slow you go, you still need to steer (pretty sure Jim doesn't appreciate Big Wheel tracks in his yard along the sidewalk). It was obvious that we had a ways to go before his "event" on Friday.

Fortunately, I had lunch with my good friend Katie today. She reassured me that Jackson's class probably wasn't biking on Friday. She told me Jackson's class was doing the "hop-a-thon" instead. Whew! I know he can hop! He can be a rabbit or a frog (incidentally, the corresponding noises Jackson makes for either of these animals sounds the same......"rabbit" or "ribbit".) So thankfully, I was concerned over nothing. And now I know what to expect next year and can start preparing in advance (we'll begin a training schedule early next spring). Needless to say, Santa is going to be bringing Jackson a bike (and helmet) for Christmas - whether he wants one or not! :)

I did feel pretty good about my mothering abilities last night, though. I saw a picture of some creative Halloween meals, and thought "I can do that!". I actually tried it, and it came out pretty cute. Jackson loved the "Halloween Spaghetti" and seemed to really have fun eating the spaghetti out of the bell pepper cut to look like a pumpkin.

It has been absolutely gorgeous out lately. We've spent a lot of time at the park. Jackson's imagination has really started coming out, and he loves to pretend to be various characters at the park. For some reason, Jackson always makes me be his trusty sidekick and Tom be the bad guy. Maybe it's because Tom has such a good "evil laugh". Either way, it's funny to watch it unfold each time. This time, Jackson was Buzz Lightyear (and wore his Buzz Lightyear armband that makes sounds), I was Woody, and Tom was......yes, you guessed it - Zurg! Jackson made Tom chase him all over the park. It all worked out, though, because by the end of our time at the park, Jackson told me "Zurg is my best friend. He's nice now. He's my best friend."

Jackson has been dressing up a lot. One weekend, Jackson and I ran quite a few errands, and Jackson decided he needed to be a superhero in order to come with me. He wore his superhero cape and diego gardening gloves everywhere that day. That was the most fun I've had running errands in a long time! I think there is a lesson to be learned there. Everything is more fun with a cape!

Jackson is really enjoying Amazing Athletes. I'm so thankful that he has that opportunity at school. We've been playing a lot of soccer and now baseball in the house. I think we're going to have to change that rule soon because he's getting so good at it. He really has some power behind his swing and his kicks!

Jackson has also started playing with his baby doll, Charlie (I don't know where he came up with that name). He likes to feed it and thinks it poops every 2 minutes, which means I have to change its diaper (he refuses to do it). Jackson likes to hold it and cradle it when it is crying. It's so sweet to watch him pat the doll on the back gently and say "It's ok. You're safe. Daddy's here." Makes me melt.

Tom's friend, Mike, stayed at our house a couple of weekends ago while in Tulsa to help judge the Broken Arrow band contest. Jackson was so excited to meet "The leader of the Green Superheroes" (aka - the Cavaliers). He even made us change his clothes so that he could wear his superheroes shirt, and he got his drumsticks ready to play for Mike when he came downstairs. I have never seen Jackson be so enamored with someone new so quickly! He wanted to show Mike everything that he could do. Here is Jackson showing off his skills on the iPad with the Talking Tom app (a cat that repeats what you say and purrs when you rub its belly or head):

Another milestone! Jackson has FINALLY begun sleeping in his bed again. We're now in the routine of reading 1-2 stories before he climbs into bed on his own. It's even to the point now that he doesn't cry when we leave his room. He also now likes his door closed with just the nightlight on - what a big change from a month ago!