My Birthday Boy...

Can you believe Jackson is SIX years old? I can't & already he seems more grown to me. How does that happen?
On the morning of his birthday, he came into my room ( I was still in bed) & he was fully dressed & ready to go... in a buttondown shirt! He wanted to look "really handsome" on his birthday apparently!
Since we weren't having his little family party until the weekend, we let him open up the gifts that were mailed to him that morning before school. (Which, by the way, was his first day back at school after the big snow! What a birthday gift, eh??) He dug into the big box from Nanny first... It was filled with lots of goodies from a movie, to chocolate, to a game!Next up was the bag from Peto.... and let me tell you.. he was SO excited! He got a wallet & it had dollar bills in it! He immediately wanted to carry it to school & i had to explain that he didn't need any money at school, & we didn't want anyone to take it!And then he opened his gift from Aunt Debbie. It was a mailer filled with pipe cleaners to add to his art bin & then in the card was more money! I think he has more money than me at this point! ha!So, then off to school he went with the idea that after church that night, he would open our gifts to him. Nothing like celebrating all day, huh? But apparently, he was sick & we didn't know it because by church time, he wasn't acting right, so i left him home with Randy. When we got back home, he looked like this....And he wasn't waking up to open gifts. Poor thing had a fever! And then the next day i took him to the doctor & it turns out he had a double ear infection! So after a day of antibiotibiotics... he got to open his gifts, finally!

He asked for Walkie Talkie's & clothes. Interesting coming from a 6 year old! So, Eli got him this Gymboree fleece jacket from the Goodwill for $2. Seriously. What a bargain.

We got him more clothes (off the Kohl's clearance rack)..note the pile on the floor next to him. This is how his room looks most of the time!
And we got him GIJoe Walkie Talkie's. He was SO excited over those!
He really got into his birthday this year & i could tell he felt special all week (despite the poor ears!)

Snow Day 3

Ugh... the snow took FOREVER to go away, & by the end of it, we were pretty sick of it! But the neighborhood kids weren't! They were all using OUR hill to sled down. We told a few kids that they could use our hill (the kids next door) but then all these teenagers showed up & it was like a party in our yard! So, we headed back out to let our own kids enjoy the hill some & the older teenagers finally left. Zack was very interested in all the commotion out front....
Let me at 'em.... please!!
Once we finally did head out again, Zack was ready for a good time!
Although, he didn't appreciate being sent down the hill alone....
All the sticks he was able to find made up for it though! He LOVES sticks!
Two younger boys hung around for awhile with us & let us use their sled....See how steep our hill is? I was near the bottom taking this shot up the hill...A birthday present arrived for Jackson in the mail while we were out playing (from Aunt Debbie)... he was thrilled...And then it was time to head back inside... But i think Zack would have gone home with the other young boys... he had a blast by day 3!Lola, on the other hand, was not so much a fan of the snow. She did handle it better than i had anticipated but she would go out, do her business & promptly be waiting back for us at the front door...
Sweet little Lola prints...
Much bigger Zack prints in the snow...

Snow Day 2

On Day 2 of being snowed in, we decided to tackle the roads & head over to Mema & Grandad's. It's a tradition, & their driveway is always nice to sled down... it isn't as steep as our new hill at our new house, so not as intimidating for the kids, but still lots of fun! It literally took us a solid hour to get over there! This is what our neighborhood looked like on our way out...And about 30 seconds later, we slid right into a ditch once we turned onto the next road. Luckily, Randy managed to turn the Jeep so that we slid on our side instead of head on, because that would have damaged the Jeep! Instead, we just damaged someone's yard while we rode down their ditch & then gunned it out & back onto the road! Whew! We made it though & my heart was thumping! We took it much slower after that & so slow in fact that Eli sacked out on the way!When we finally arrived, we got right to work on that hill!!
Uncle Jeremy took Jackson & Kaleb down together.....
And i even took the boys down a few times myself!

Of course, Randy is more of an adventure seeker than me... he tried fun tricks.... like sledding on his knees & using a huge umbrella to steer & slow him down....

Snow Day 1

On the Friday evening of January 29th, we let the boys wait up because we knew snow was on its way.... They were THRILLED when it finally started to come down....
The next morning, we headed out in it for a little while & the boys had a blast making snow angels & throwing snow balls at one another. Actually, they weren't really snow balls, but hunk of snow/ice that were already clumped together. They would grab some & chunk it at the other as hard as possible! Of course, this didn't end well, but it was fun to start with, right??

Standing on the porch to pacify their mother for a picture!
The first snow in our new house!

Just rolling around in the snow.... and letting the dog tackle them, of course!
It took a little warming up for Zack to fully appreciate the snow....

Throwing snow bombs at one another...
Look out behind you, Jackson!!
Aunt Marie & Uncle Jeremy braved the roads to come hang with us & sled our hill. That meant that the daddies went out with the big boys & the mommies stayed inside & cooked all day. And tended to this little guy! He was so happy (at first!) to be in the laundry basket, all propped up & cozy!Then all the festivities wore them all out. Randy had one on each arm asleep....

These boots were made for walkin'!

You are all probably pretty sick of hearing about Zack by now, but he demands so much of our attention that he is like having another child. Honestly, i think another child would have been a bit easier! But because he has so much energy, we try to take him for a walk everyday, unless it is raining or so cold we just can't stand it. Usually on the weekdays, i try to hang on until Jackson gets home from school for the walk for several reasons-
1) Zack is much better behaved when the kids aren't around. They get him all riled up (J especially!)
2) From 4:30-6:30 every afternoon is the witching hours around here, so anything to take up some of that time, & wear the dog out for the remainder of that time works for me!
3) Jackson LOVES to run this dog, & I LOVE for him to run him too! This way they BOTH get worn out! (And Eli likes to get out there & run too, but he just can't keep up most of the time).Zack is funny too, because he wants to run with the boys, so i let Jackson take the leash & run a certain distance ahead as long as we are in the undeveloped part of the back of our neighborhood. But if they get too far ahead, Zack will put his brakes on & wait for me. And the same goes for them. When they want me to get ahead so that they can run & catch up, he will put his brakes on & wait for them once we get too far ahead for his "comfort."




And every now & then, i catch a break on the weekend & Randy will take him for a walk for me. These pictures were on a Sunday afternoon. I convinced Randy that i needed him to take the dog for a walk because all the clothes i needed to fold were on the bed (that HE would be needing to use to take a nap pronto upon return from the walk.) He tried to say that Zack wouldn't walk on the leash for him, but i told him if he took the kids that the dog would definitely walk for him because he wants to be wherever they are... And as you can see, it worked!! Actually, i think this may have been the ONLY time Randy has walked this dog.... maybe we should work on that {(wink}. He looks so thrilled, doesn't he? Ha!