Ms. Leigh

You all know that Eli gets speech therapy like Jackson does. His talking is really coming along! It has taken us awhile to get him to comply with Ms. Leigh & do the sit down structured tasks that she brings, but only because Eli wants things his way or the highway! He gets SOOOO excited though when she pulls up in the driveway every week. He runs to me saying, "ith eeeeee" (ms. leigh minus the beginning sounds!) So one day, i finally just asked her if i could take her picture with him because i HAVE to scrapbook her right??? She is an important part of his childhood for heavens sake- she is helping him learn to talk. So she wil definitely go in the book!

Nanny... look away....

If your name is "nanny" then you better not read this post! She gets upset with me when i post things about the boys that make her sad. So don't read any further, mom!

Lately.... Jackson has been acting a bit "big for his britches" so to speak & no matter what discipline technique we have implemented, he doesn't really care. So after lots of consulting & contemplating- i decided to try what a friend from church does with her boys. We began putting Jackson "on the wall" for 1 minute at a time when he smart mouths us or blatantly disobeys us. I have to admit, it is hard to watch, BUT it works! He hates it & is immediately apologetic when he gets done. So once, i snuck a picture zooming in from the bedroom doorway so he wouldn't see that i was taking it! Yes, he is crying, so that is hard to see, but let me tell you- if you had heard what came out of his mouth before, you wouldn't be just so sad! Every kid needs discipline & with Jackson we have to get creative sometimes!
Randy said to me one day when he Jackson was on the wall, "Ya know, this will actually make his legs stronger!" Yeah, Yeah- Jackson will thank us one day when he is a basketball superstar, right? I'll remind him of that the next time he is telling us that it burns! Maybe he'll begin to think of that BEFORE he disobeys! Oh, I pray so!!!

The Incredible Hulk (aka Eli)!

Okay, so this shows just how on top of things we are around here sometimes! I was on the phone one night with Grandaddy & i knew that Eli & Jackson were having a special surprise in the kitchen from the valentine candy that Jackson had. Well.... nothing prepared me for what i walked out to find!
Not only had Eli thoroughly enjoyed his "Lik-a-Stick" but apparently it turns GREEN when it gets wet... and he decided to use his fingers instead of the actual stick! I guess the stick wasn't getting it in fast enough?
Really though, who thinks of this mess? Who thinks it is a great idea to have candy & swap it for every occasion under the sun? I hate this aspect of valentines & halloween. I seriously hide the candy as soon as it comes into the house because it automatically begins a constant beg for sugar- which you all know i despise giving to my kids. So anyway, i do occasionally & this is the proof (not only that they do in fact get sugar, but also the proof of one of the MANY reasons of why i don't like it! ha!) For the record, when Jackson was 2, he didn't get this stuff, but when your second one comes along & sees that the older one is getting it from everywhere, he insists on it too. Let's face it, he didn't fall off the potato wagon yesterday!
But i digress..... back to the story. I immediately insisted that we go wash his hands & so i walk into the bathroom & find this.....
Apparently we had not been checking behind Jackson when he brushed his teeth & this is what the sink looks like afterwards! He recently has been let loose with putting the toothpaste on the brush himself (which after this, i am reconsidering!) So i had to clean the sink & THEN wash Eli's hands. Do you think all that GREEN came off??? Well, some did. But the finger he apparently used the most looked like this after i washed & scrubbed & washed & scrubbed again...
So i gave up.... and let Jackson finish up helping him get more off.... I think maybe he thought if he didn't try to help that it might be the end of the Lik-a-sticks...... And guess what - he was right!!

Clowning Around

Back in February, the boys cousin, Kaleb went to the circus & brought back clown noses for the boys. They don't make them the same as they used to! Now they curl into themselves & you have to open it up to get it to "clip" to your nose. That presents a problem when your nose is as tiny as a toddler! The boys love them, but quickly get frustrated with them when they fall off. We have to practice getting them to stay on & sometimes it will & sometimes it won't! And if they leave them lying around, Lola LOVES to bat them around too!
Of course, Jackson insisted on taking a picture of me with the camera too!

Stay Tuned.....

Okay, so obviously i have fallen off the blogging bandwagon for the last month. It is my goal to hop back on this week! I will be working on getting the blog updated (no more snowflakes in the background hopefully) & getting some new posts going. So stay tuned......

Eli's baby...

This past week, Eli has taken to Jackson's baby. This is the baby we got Jackson when we were pregnant with Eli to prepare him in advance for what was coming. Jackson sleeps with this baby everynight & when we go out of town, we take him with us along with the "blue blankie." So, to say the least, he is not too hip on sharing his baby. (Yes, his name is just baby- we tried to name him, but it didn't take). So Wednesday, when Jackson was at preschool, i let Eli play with the baby (because Jackson wasn't around to have a fit). He carried the baby around, placing him on the bike, on the couch, & finally put him in his booster at the table & pretended to feed him. It was really sweet. So, i called Aunt Becca in for a favor (me being frugal & all). Leah LOVES babies & has a blue million of them, so i was wondering if Leah could possibly be a blessing to Eli & give him one of her babies. So this was how i found Eli asleep that Wednesday night......

Leah (& Aunt Becca) brought him a baby to church that night & he held tight to it the whole way home (in his carseat with him) & proudly showed it to his Daddy when we got home. The baby even has little blue shoes & blue & white clothes to help Daddy feel a little better about the whole baby thing! But lets face it- Eli needs to learn to be nurturing too, because his Daddy sure is!

Early Valentine.....

Today Jackson's preschool class was having their valentine party. So last night we got all the valentines together. Jackson signed his name to each one & printed each classmates name on each one once i wrote it for him to copy. He is getting so big these days & it amazes me that he is figuring out so much. He has learned to write "mom, dad, lola, eli, emma, & leah" all from memory. I hope this all pays off in Kindergarten next year! Well back to the reason for this post. When i arrived at school today, he greeted me like this......

How cute was that?? I didn't have my camera at school when i picked him up, so i took a picture once i got home. He made the vase & flowers with tissue paper, glue, & some pipe cleaners. I tell you, these teachers come up with some really cute ideas! I love this preschool!
He is certainly my valentine (hopefully forever!!)

Happy 5th Birthday!

My big boy!

I can't believe that Jackson is FIVE years old! Where does the time go? Due to poor Grandaddy's unexpected heart surgery, his little birthday get together was cancelled. We were only going to have his little cousins over for a movie & pizza anyway, so we decided, literally last minute to have emma & leah come over for a movie on his birthday (school night!). Even without a party (which i really tried to make this year low key, even before the medical issues with grandaddy) he still got tons of presents! All in all, he still had a great day & got cupcakes & his favorite meal

Eli enjoyed the cupcake... can you tell?

Watching Toy Story (in honor of our upcoming Disney trip!)

Opening presents... Theresa got him Lego's & a cute outfit...Mema & Grandad got him a cool matchbox truck that hauls a race car on a trailer.
Aunt Debbie mailed him a cute card with a target gift card (already used part of that on a battery operated pencil sharpener he wanted so bad!)
Nanny sent some puzzles (which he loves), some Mickey shades, & a flashlight that is the envy of everyone!


And Grandma & Papa Evans sent him $20!! He is loaded let me tell you! He decided he wants a magazine subscription with that money to "My Big Backyard." So it will be put to good use too! Aunt Becca made him a monogrammed bag with little goodies inside (he loves his J on everything these days!) Thanks everyone for helping Jackson feel special on his big day!

Snow... finally! Jan 20, 2009

We all enjoyed our few days in the snow..... We got a little over 6 inches & at first Eli was not a fan of all the "wet." But he quickly found out that it could be fun! This was the Eli's first snow ever & the first real snow for Jackson too. It has snowed before since he has been with us, but not enough to accumulate & he doesn't remember any of that. Anyway, we drove over to Randy's parents house since they have an awesome driveway for sliding & thanks to their cousin, Becca, the boys had lots of time outdoors. She slid them down the Moss' driveway & shook trees of snow all over them. It was a blast. And while they were all out playing, we (the adults) stayed in for most of that time & watched history unfold (the inauguration). Jackson especially could have stayed out all day in the snow. He literally rolled around in it constantly! Thanks to a hand-me-down snow suit (thanks Sophia!) & a few tricks from Aunt Marie (ziplocs over their socks but inside their shoes), they stayed dry most of the day. Of course, we took breaks to dry the mittens, gloves, hats, etc but then it was back at 'em!

jackson's first look at the snow when he woke up....
Whooaah! Eli checking out snow in our yard.
All of us over at Mema's
our house early that morning.... it continued to snow all day!
the three of us just before heading to Mema's
Jackson, digging in....
I love the snow on his eyelashes! Uncle Jeremy took this one (& a ton of these actually!)
Sliding down the driveway...
Whee... here we go!
ummmm, i am not too sure about all of this!

The Napping House

This is what my house looked like today for a few hours.... It was the napping house & i LOVE that! You can tell from this picture that Eli didn't mean to fall asleep. I have never seen him asleep with his hand under his cheek like that.

All snug in the bunk above Eli was Jackson, like this.... (and let me tell you - this is EXACTLY how his daddy naps.) Seriously, it is crazy the things they do alike! This makes me claustrophobic just to look at! I would sweat to death like this!And then, i walked into the living room & found Lola on the couch like this....
I guess she figured if the boys were quiet & still, then it was her time to nap in peace!
And don't underestimate the importance of a sleeping cat- she can cause just as much chaos as a toddler!