Hiding Spots

Grace is a thief.
It happened every morning. Right when she would wake up, she would go straight to Jackson's room and grab the little green frog that sat on his bed. She loved it!
We tried to explain to Jackson that she only liked it because it reminded her of him, but that did not make him feel better. Finally, one day, he'd had enough. I had heard enough about it so I told him to go and hide it and then she won't be able to take it. That seemed to work. He was happy!
I didn't think anymore about it. Grace would ask for it each morning, but I just told her it was lost and to go look for it. It kept her busy and that was just an added bonus. Then about two weeks later, I was in Grace's room and noticed this.




Apparently, Jackson thought that the best hiding spot to keep his frog away from her was right under her nose. I don't know what's worse. Jackson thinking this was the smartest place to hide it or that Grace never found it. Either way, I about died laughing.
* In the end, the frog was discovered and the process went on and on until Christmas time. Jackson was trying to decide what to get Grace and thought of the perfect gift ... his little green frog. He wrapped it up and before handing it to her on Christmas morning explained to her why he was giving it to her and that she was going to need to take good care of it for him. She agreed and then he let her open it. She was so excited. It was her favorite gift and still is. It's always nice when it ends happily.

Mohawks Rock!

Who doesn't look good with a bath tub mohawk?

No matter the length of your hair, it always works.

It finally happened!

We thought this day would have happened much, much sooner, but ... to everyone's surprise ...

he waited to get his first set of stitches a week before his 4th birthday!
As the story goes, he did a naked cart wheel and split open his chin on the coffee table. This is exactly how Jackson tell it to everyone and anyone that asks ... the doctors, his teachers, people at the store and even people at church. We are incredibly proud of him for being so brave throughout the whole process. Once it happened, he cried, but was able to calm down quickly. We drove to the hospital and he had no fears or worries.When we arrived, he told everyone the story and continually asked me to take pictures of him during each step. I however, did not think of bringing my camera to the hospital when we were just trying to rush out the door. Next time I will know better and pack it right along with us. He was laughing and having a great time. So proud of his accomplishment! They numbed him up without a shot and later had to numb him again with a shot. That is when the laughter stopped. He did not like that and quickly changed his tune that this whole process was in fact ... NOT FUN! He wanted to go home right away. He still did great and braved 4 stitches on the outside and 2 on the inside of his mouth. He probably should have gotten more, but the numbing was wearing off and we didn't dare push it.
We are so proud of our brave 4 year old!
*The inside stitches didn't even last until the next morning. He quickly chewed those ones out (despite my best warning and offer for a really cool prize if he didn't touch them). The outside stitches made it a few days short of how long they were supposed to be in because one night in bed (Kelly didn't put a band-aid over them) Jackson decided to pick at them. So much so, that he pulled them all out except one tiny little one. This lone stitch stayed in an extra few days but really what was the use at that point. Way to go Jackson!

Jackson's Birthday Celebration!

Jackson had about a week long of celebrating for his birthday this year. It all started with bringing cupcakes to school (the day before his birthday) to share with his classmates. They of course had to eat their orange slices first. Some enjoyed them more than others.

The cupcakes were a hit!The day of his birthday, we played at home, he got to pick where we went out to lunch, and then go and pick out his birthday cake. This year, he wanted a cake from the store and I was happy to oblige. Less stress and no mess! Once Kelly got home, we got ready to meet the Gardiner's and the Hill's for a pizza dinner. It was great and I think the kids had a fun time together.
After dinner, we went straight home to open presents and eat cake. Opening the presents took a total of about 4 minutes. He has become a pro and definitely could not contain his enthusiasm! It was so great to see how excited he was over every little thing! It definitely made it more fun this year.
The birthday cake, that he picked out, was not as wonderfully as he had hoped. He did enjoy blowing out the candles, but after the first bite, he was done. So much for that, but since this was not the first birthday cake of the month, I was definitely not heart broken!It is, however, always better when you share it with someone you love.*Since this is only the half way point in our month of birthday chaos, there will be more pictures posted soon.*

Birthday Boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON
I can't believe you are already 4! Everyone always told me that it would go by too quickly and boy were they right. We love your infectious smile and your goofy personality. You are a constant joy and we can't wait to see what the next 4 years will hold.
We Love You!

PARTY TIME!!!!

It's birthday season in our home again! With that, comes the big birthday party. This year, we had the party over at our community pool.

They had all their friends there.
We swam, played and had lots of yummy food.
Make that, lots and lots of yummy food.
We had a wonderful cake (which was even more wonderful since I didn't have to make it). This wonderful cake even magically turned into cute cupcakes. We can't always be bothered with silly things like hands!

Sometimes we weren't the most observant about what our children were eating. Case in point. Maybe this is why he was so wound up the rest of the night.

Here's our little social eater!Overall, we had a wonderful time and are so grateful to all our friends and family for helping us celebrate!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Owen's Big Day

This is Owen, and he is my youngest nephew. Today is a very special day for him and his family. This morning they will be sealed together in the Newport Beach, California Temple. I am so sad to be missing this, but hope they all know how much I love them and miss them. They have been waiting a long time for this day and I am so thrilled that it is finally here. We love you Owen and you couldn't have picked a better family!

How cute is he?

Grace's Birthday Celebration

Gracie had a GREAT birthday!

(despite the birthday cake incident)

We ate dinner with her Oma & Poppy (my parents) at California Pizza Kitchen. She loved the bread and is always a fan of pasta.

Then we went back to their house to open presents.She got more into it when she noticed that we made great reactions once the presents were open. It quickly became a game and she immediately learned how to react just like us! Such a little mimic!Grace got tons of her favorite things, bracelets, purses, movies and books. She had a great time and loved showing us her new gifts.

What a day!
Thanks Oma & Poppy for celebrating with us!

Who Cries Over Cake?

Apparently, she does!
It didn't even get better once the candles were blown out. We tried getting her to at least take one bite of cake, since last year, that's all it took for her to realize how yummy it was. That didn't even help. It actually made it worse. She just thought we were feeding her poison or something. I just don't get it. Oh well, that's Gracie for you!
*this is not a good picture, but it says it all

Birthday Girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE!
We love you!

"The Box"

Why are they always more entertained with the box then what's inside it?

1st Day of School

Jackson was so excited to get back to preschool. I think we all were a little bit.
He was lucky enough to have the same teachers he had the year before so everything was very familiar. It definitely makes the first day of school easier for everyone. No tears for this kid!