Happy Birthday Jackson!

My Jackson turned....

4 YEARS OLD ! ! !

My very talented sister designed this invite for his b-day party... I know a Super Hero party, so suprising right? I asked Jackson the day before his birthday what he wanted for breakfast, out of everything I suggested, he chose...

DONUTS -- BLUEBERRIES -- ORANGE JUICE

So first thing in the morning we all went to the grocery store, in our pj's (which he thought was pretty cool), and picked out donuts (his happened to be a sugar cookie... for breakfast... whatever its his birthday), he got his blueberries, and OJ.

Here is the Birthday Boy, ready to get breakfast!

I took on the challenge of making the cake for his birthday this year. I decided to try making fondant. It turned out much better than I had expected... I was pretty sure I would end up purchasing a cake from Costco the morning of - but I suprised myself, and I think everyone else for that matter.
His party was at CHUCK E. CHEESE... for all you moms that hate the chaos, the kids, and the idea all together - so sorry - but we loved this place! It was our first time, and I am sure we will be going back in the future.

It could not have been a better place to throw his 4 years old super hero party.

Alot of the boys dressed up. Jack stayed in his shirt that we had given him that morning, I guess it was "cool enough".

He has sooo many good friends here. The attendees:

Brendan, Keagan, Kevin, Nixon, Dash, AJ, Andrew

*I think it will be just as hard to say goodbye to his buddies as it will to say goodbye to mine, when we leave for school this fall.

Jack is not much of spotlight person. So when they did the whole "chuck e. birthday performance" (which by the way was pretty lame), he was a little uncomfortable. The rat/mouse wanted Jack to dance with him - he looked back at Scott like, Daddy please don't make me do this.

Although the crown and medal made it all worth it!

Birthday kids with Chuck E. (Is that his name?)

Loving the rides.

Clara loved it too. This jeep was a favorite.

The party lasted 90 minutes. Although we stayed for 3.5 hours! Jacks friend Nixon and his dad Morgan, stayed and played around for a while too. Dads are always boys at heart - especially when it comes to playing with their boys.

Finally at home - I was able to get a picture with my birthday boy!

And of course, Father & Son.

His birthday could not have been a more fun day. I don't know who was more excited at the end of the day - Jackson or me! We had so much fun, and the chaos at Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday at 2:00 in the afternoon was well worth the smiles that I saw on every little boys face! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Jack with my family or Kristen... but it was so fun to have them all there to support Jackson on his special day.

Happy Birthday to the sweetest most sensitive boy that I know. I love you Jack.

Thank you peanut butter.

Last night I had a wax party... it started off at my friend Mykelle's house that lives just a few doors down. My wax pot has two sides to it... I put my hard wax in one side and the soft wax in the other. For the face I only use the hard wax. I figured I could heat up the hard wax at home and then once I got there it would be warm and ready to go.

I walked over, went upstairs and set all my stuff down. I very quickly noticed my wax pot was sticky -- my soft wax side was ON and had somehow spilled on my way over. Not only was the pot sticky... my jacket... my pants... and MY HAIR! Forget the clothes... but my hair!?! I tried not to panic, and I just pulled it back into a bun and figured I would take care of it later.

Later that night - once all the waxings were complete - I immediatley went to work on my hair.

I used every bit of wax remover I had on hand. Nothing.

I used oil. Nothing.

I washed with shampoo and conditioner over and over and over again. Nothing.

I used HOT HOT HOT water, hoping to melt the wax. Nothing.

I remembered my mom once told me if I ever spilled wax on the floor, I could use a brown paper bag and iron the wax up. So I had Scott try to iron the wax out of my hair. This worked a little.

I was getting hopeless.

Almost in tears.

Wondering what I was going to tell my hair dresser.

My last thought was peanut butter. My mom used this on my hair when I would go to bed with gum at night, and of course the gum would end up in my hair. HALLELUJAH!!!!!! It worked. It disolved the wax right out of my hair.

THANK YOU MOM FOR TEACHING ME SOME VERY IMPORTANT YET RANDOM TECHNIQUES THAT I NEVER IMAGINED I WOULD BE USING LAST NIGHT.

THANK YOU BRAIN FOR ACTUALLY REMEMBERING SOMETHING.

THANK YOU PEANUT BUTTER FOR SAVING MY HAIR.

Story Time...

When Jack was little he never loved to read. I would hear of so many other babies his age loving to look at books and always sitting and having "story time". I wouldn't say I had a hard time with it, but part of me was a little worried, the other part of me brushed it off and figured it would come to him eventually.

Now... Jack LOVES his stories. We read every night before bed and just recently he started to sit in bed with his books and "read" until he falls asleep.

BUT Clara on the other hand, is like all the other kids that I would hear about. She loves books. Many times through out the day I will find her just like this: She climbs into Jacks chair and "reads" her books. It is so cute.

Two Great Locations....

Scott was just accepted to a school in Boston... TUFTS UNIVERISTY!!!

We are so excited for all this good news we have recieved. We have been living on our knees in prayer - so we are feeling sooooo blessed!

BUT, now we have a huge choice to make.

Southern California OR Boston

??????

Please share YOUR pro's and con's of these locations. I have my own, but I feel like everytime I talk to someone my "opinions" start to change a little... which is a good thing. I feel like I need to be open to both locations in order to really feel confident with whatever choice we feel is right.

Love you all, and thanks in advance for sharing!

A Valentines Weekend...

Our weekend was filled with lots of LOVE...


A Friday night Valentines celebration with our friends...

Jessie.Steffani.MeA Game:

Put a licorice through a large marshmallow. Couples each start at different ends of the licorice and its a race

Mykelle.Riley Julie.Morgan
Jessie.Ashley.Whitney.Julie.Steffani.Mykelle.Me

Kristen (Scott's sister) went to Cancun last week. So we watched little Duke. Clara loves "Duuu".

Saturday night we celebrated Valentines Day. We went to dinner and I asked Scott if we could get dessert, he said no (rude right?). But then we came home to this:

Chocolate fondue, and Almond Roca (my favorite)!

I bought my "boys" matching ties for Valentines Day Church. They looked adorable, and Jackson loved looking just like his daddy.

It was a fabulous weekend. Thank you mom & dad for taking Jackson Friday night and doing a sleep over with him! And thank you family for not hating us for choosing our friends party over the boat show ;)

Thank you to the LOVE OF MY LIFE for making each day worth it. I love you.

Ode To My Cravings...

Life withou chocolate is life lacking something important.

-Maecia Colman Morton and Fredric Morton, American Writers

Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person lies.

- John G. Tullius, American artist and cartoonist

... I can recommend switching to chocolate for all you addictive types... Think of the advantages... Chocolate doesn't make you stupid and clumsy. It doesn't render you incapable of operating heavy machinery... You don't have to smuggle chocolate across the border... Possession, even possession with intent to sell, isperfectly legal... and seconhand chocolate doesn't offend the people around you.

-Linda Henley, American columnist

If in fact you are what you eat, I am a 114-pound bar of bitter-sweet chocolate.

-Lora Brody, American chef

In Cuba, real men don't eat strawberry ice cream. They eat chocolate.

-Jay Carr, American journalist and film critic

Clara... at 18 months

This little girl...

1. Thinks that smiling means looking like she is drunk and about to pass out.
2. Loves Pink Milk (we go through 3 gallons in one week).
3. Makes a lot of noise... screaming, squealing, laughing, talking... she loves to be heard and noticed!
4. Eats asparagus? Not kidding.
5. Mooches off everybody else for food.
6. LOVES, LAUGHS, and YELLS at her brother all day long.
7. Loves to give hugs and kisses. Especially to make up for being naughty.
8. The BEST tantrum thrower... she is quite the drama queen. Flops on the floor, throws things, yells, hits, pulls hair... she is good.
9. She would spend all day in her diaper, if mom would allow it (and sometimes I do).
10. SUPER MISCHIEVOUS.... she loves climbing on anything and everything. And it usually ends with her falling off - she has quite the collection of bruises.
11. Asks for Daddy ALL day long. It is cute - but gets old real fast when its 5 o'clock and still it's just me... no Daddy.
12. Says "up" when she wants whatever someone else is eating or drinking.
13. Can sign... milk, water, food, more, shoes, and all done.
14. She loves to shake her head up and down very DRAMATICALLY when you ask her a question that she says yes too.
15. Tells me when she has a messy diaper.
16. Still will not sleep in the car.
17. She hates the shopping cart, and doesn't care for her stroller either. Most of the time at the store she just screams. So when you are at target and hear that child screaming with the mom that just pretends its not happening - it's probley me. *and please don't give me those "please take care of your child looks"... there is nothing to be done, unless I choose to sit home all day, which will never happen.
18. LOVES her bed. LOVES her blankets. LOVES her baby. LOVES her hoo-hoo-hah-hah (her monkey).
19. Folds her arms when we say prayers, but it only lasts a couple seconds.
20. IS VERY INDEPENDANT.

I love my baby girl... even though most of the time I can't wait for nap time, and praise the day daddy comes walking through the door.