Jack's Party

Confession: I didn't plan on having a birthday party for Jack.  I didn't even really want to have a birthday party for Jack.  Ben was about to go out of town, I had my Mom's visit and a bridal shower to prepare for, and a move just a few weeks away.  But I made him this huge cake (out of necessity, really) and I didn't want it to go to waste.  Our family wouldn't have even been able to eat a quarter of it.  So.... time to call in reinforcements.  I mean, um, party guests.  I called up my cousins a couple of days prior to the big day and they were miraculously all available.  So we had the makings of a party!  We all met up at a local family fun park, which most of us have passes to, and we let the kids play for a little while.  Then we came back to our house for pizza and cake.  Of course, it ended up being a very fun evening, and the birthday boy was thrilled to have cousins to celebrate with him.

I love how they're all smiles until...

the showdown!

Jack and Eliza reiterated their obvious preference for watching a video game rather than actually playing with something.
Remember the bowling alley?

Ready for dessert!

Singing to the birthday boy.

Jack and I had been planning this Thomas cake, per his request, for about a week.
It seemed to be a hit with the other boys too!

Opening Jack's presents ended up being a group effort.
He didn't seem to mind, though.

Jack's wooden truck sets from Mema and Papa were definitely his favorite gift of the night.
They beat out a t-ball set, a large cardboard Mater, and even candy.

So this is what he was doing for the rest of the evening.

While the other kids went outside and played in the backyard, even trying out the new T-ball set.

Jack was so into playing with these trucks that it was a challenge to get him to go to bed.  Here, Cat was all ready for bed and decided to come join Jack playing after everyone left.  Jack hasn't put his trucks down long enough to put on his pajamas!

It really was a fun night, and we are so glad our cousins could come celebrate with us!  We planned the party for Friday night, two days before Jack's actual birthday, since Ben had to leave early Saturday morning for a 2-week trip to the South Pacific.  We were glad we could include Daddy in the fun and that the party was such a success.  Yeah for a last minute party with people we love!

And another thing

I forgot that I also wanted to include this funny little thing Jack's been doing lately when I wrote his post last week.  He LOVES to flip upside down against a wall or the back of a couch and just stay that way for a bit.  And recently he started exclaiming, in a sing-song teasing sort of way, "You're upside dow-hown!" while standing on his head.  It makes me laugh. And I caught it on video this week, so I thought you'd like to see it too.

Here are a few still shots of him hanging out like this...

My Boy

Guess who went and turned FOUR on me?  Yep.  It's my boy.  My Jack-Jack.  Oh, how I love this kid.  Over the last year he has become even more fun to be around.  He is active (read: borderline wild) but incredibly cuddly.  He's curious, observant, and eager to follow his older sister's example/directives (whether good or bad).  He probably makes me laugh more than my other children, especially when he does one of quirky little things.  For example, he went through a phase a few months ago where he would pause, bend his knees, and get his arms in "racing position" before running off to do something.  It reminded me of a cartoon super hero taking off to save the girl from an evil villain.

It's a long story...

There are some Jackisms I've been meaning to share for a little while that are too long to include in my sidebar, so here you go.  The first two are from a Sacrament Meeting when, as usual, I was trying whatever I could to keep Jack quiet (read: not yelling) and still (read: in the same vicinity as the rest of the family).  I am the Primary Chorister, so I always have my Children's Songbook in my bag.  I pulled it out thinking we could look at the pictures together and that would keep him entertained for a little while.  I would point to a picture and whisper in his ear, asking him about what we were looking at.

Mom: Who's this?
Jack: Jesus.
Mom: Yes!  What's he doing?
Jack: He catched a bug.

Mom: What's the girl doing?
Jack: Reading a book.
Mom: Yes!  What kind of book?
Jack: About a elfewent.

Jack likes to do a lot of role play using his favorite TV show characters.  So you can tell which TV show phase he's currently in by which character he assigns to himself and his playmate (usually me).

I'm Thomas and you're Percy.  (Thomas the Tank Engine)
I'm Jay-Jay and you're Snuffy.  (Jay-Jay the Jet Plane)
I'm Hard Hat Harry and you're Frank.  (All About Monster Trucks)
I'm Chuck and you're Bumper (The Adventures of Chuck and Friends)

He even went through a phase of a couple of weeks where the only show he wanted to watch during his designated TV time was this one:

Gotta love having an older sister...

At which time his first instruction for role play was "I'm Twilight Sparkle and you're Spike."  Once he figured out that he got his genders wrong, he corrected himself.  But it still made me laugh.

His teacher in Church told me a cute story that happened a while ago.  There is a girl in his class named Lily Brown who was wearing a red dress one day.  When an adult called her name out to help with something, he replied with, "Lily Brown??  (looking puzzled)  Lily RED!"

Jack wanted something from the refrigerator one day and I offered to hand it to him.  He replied very matter-of-factly, "No, I'll hand it to me."

One night Jack was feeling really cold.  I offered to get him a blanket and he replied with, "I don't want a bwanket.  I want to hold you!"  He really is my snuggle bug.

Jack still adores everything THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE.  We used second-hand Thomas toys as incentives to help him with potty training.  When I rewarded him with a Trevor engine one day I made the mistake of referring to Trevor as a tractor.  "No!  He's a traction engine!"  Oops.  My mistake.

He has Thomas underwear, Thomas pajamas, a Thomas blanket, and he went through a phase of wanting to sleep with Thomas or other engines.  It made me smile to hear him say "I want to sweep wif my big Thomas."

I had the kids in the back yard while I was taking pictures of the girls in the Easter clothes I made them.  When I went inside to change Eliza's clothes, Cat asked if she could use my camera.  She is normally very careful with the camera, so I felt like it would be okay to let her take a few pictures.  I loved seeing the photos she took, with Jack's expressions and the ways she had him pose.

I can't believe how much Jack seems to have matured in the last few months.  He's learning and growing in so many ways.  I love that he is much more expressive now, and we can actually have conversations about things happening in his life.  It's fun to hear his insights, such as tonight when he told me that he wished there was "anudder Jack-Jack."  I couldn't find out from him why he wants a clone of himself, but it was an endearing sentiment.  Sometimes I wish I had anudder Jack-Jack too.  Maybe one of them would stay young for me??

Everyday Stuff - April Edition

It's official - Cat has cut a doll's hair for the first time.  (At least the first time I know about...) I wanted to get upset and tell her it was a bad thing to do, but anyone who's ever seen my beloved Cabbage Patch named Hannah would know that I didn't just give Hannah a little trim when I was a kid.  She was all but bald by the time I was finished with her.  So... I'm not one to talk on this particular subject.

It seems that the main focus of the first year of the MBA program was for Ben to find a summer internship.  Classes and grades were secondary.  So you can imagine our frustration when APRIL arrived and he still didn't have an internship nailed down.  Then, BAM!, he not only had an internship, he was supposed to fly out on a business trip DURING FINALS WEEK.  Oh, well, yes, that would be great.  So Ben jumped feet first into his new job by spending 12 days in Virginia, during which time we got into the routine of talking to him on Skype at bedtime.  You can see on Cat's Highlights calendar (which she LOVES, Granny Bailey!) that she wrote "Daddy left for Job" on the 17th.

This is what Jack does with a jacket when he's trying to put the hood on.  The funny thing is that the jacked in the top picture didn't have a hood.  The jacket in the bottom one did.

Cat LOVES to play teacher.  She "taught" Jack a lesson about nature recently and even made a book on his behalf.
Left - "My Nature Book by Jack"
Right - "Plants and animals are part of nature.  We care for them."

Jack was so excited to see Ben after his 12-day trip to VA that he HAD to be with him when he cut the grass right after getting home.

Jack was using a book or some similar item as a steering wheel during his quiet time one day, so in  a moment of inspiration I decided to cut one out of cardboard.  It took me a few minutes, but boy did he love the result.  And when Eliza woke up from her nap, she loved the result too.  A few tears were shed, but in the end, they shared.  Then they decided leg wrestling was just as fun.

Tomato soup, anyone?
(I apologize for so many pictures of Jack in his undies, btw.  But it is his favorite outfit these days.)

My Southerners sure LOVE grits.  Thank you, Mema and Papa!  Cause we can't get the good stuff here.

Jack has been on a pirate kick since his pirate preschool day.  He found my Kitchen Aid dough hook and decided it was his pirate hook.  And my PC chopper is actually a spy glass.

This was our last dinner with our good friends who moved away for their MBA internship over the summer.  I just love pictures like this that seem to capture the fun carefree play time that should characterize childhood.

Another example of such pictures.

Air heads!
(The candy which dyed their tongues.  Not the children.)

We had an impromptu picnic dinner in the back yard one Sunday while Ben was on his trip.
Eliza got a little carried away with her smoothie.

Not just one, but TWO cool straws.

I always try to have the kids help me put things away or bring them upstairs after a shopping trip.  This time I asked Eliza to put Gatorade in the fridge in the garage and she did a great job!  Unfortunately, the lower bottles were too tall for the space, but still.  It was nice to find a simple job she could complete and feel good about.

Rocket Man!
hee hee hee

The kids felt the need to paint the cantaloupe with butter (when they found my pastry brush on the counter alongside a bowl of melted butter).

Eliza does Cat's homework every chance she gets.

Eliza walking with my Opa.

Jack got the last muffin :-(

Read her new book from O&O, Black Beauty, before leaving for soccer practice

Right before I took this picture, Cat said, "I do NOT like being in the middle."
Poor girl.

Construction in our local Target means shopping trips take a lot longer...

We all turn into our mothers eventually, right?  Looks like Cat is starting early.
One night she was procrastinating going to bed by, what else?  Making a list of what she was going to do the next day.

Practicing letters during Eliza's nap.

Reading time outside.

Eliza's turn.

Jack likes shrimp so much that he was eating them stone cold from the fridge the day after we ate them for dinner.

Love this.

What should you do when you don't want to wait for Mom to put your shoes on so you can play outside?
Put on your older sibling's shoes.  They're easier than your own.

A last-second idea to keep Jack entertained while I was doing something in the kitchen turned into days of entertainment for Cat.  Sidewalk chalk and black construction paper.  Who knew?

My girls are so bubbly.

Cat chose to write about her "Cusuns" for an assignment.  A few of the names are even spelled correctly.

For two nights in a row after getting these new shoes, Eliza insisted on sleeping in them.
This is the second night.  Because the first night, she'd been wearing footie pajamas and had to take them off completely to get the shoes on.

It's so nice to see Cat starting to read for pleasure now.  When we received our latest issue of The Friend magazine, she immediately grabbed it and started reading on the couch.