8 Year Old Fun

I can hardly believe that our little man turned 8 years old yesterdat. It really feels like we were just going to the hospital for induction and now look at how big he is!

This is a picture of him with his favorite birthday present - a submersible cruiser. He has had his eye on this since April and the infatuation never wavered. I was psyched to find it on clearance in September and quickly snagged it. I hope it lives up to his expectations when he can finally take it on it's maiden voyage in May!

For his day, we told him that he could go anywhere he wanted for his 8th birthday dinner and of all places he chose McDonalds! Our wallets were happy but Jason and I would have definitely preferred a different venue. Nevertheless, we had happy meals and opened up his family birthday presents. Here are a few pictures of the very low key event. The theme for nearly all of the gift definitely had a Pokemon common thread but he couldn't have been happier about it. It was so refreshing to see how easy it was to make it a special day for him. I think he could have had 2 gifts and been just as happy.

We have a Pokemon friend birthday party in the works for November 10th and that is when we'll pull out all of the stops! We're trying to make the birthday last a month I think.

That is one happy face opening up a new Pokemon DVD. His first, and I am quite sure that it won't be his last.

Jackson was further thrilled by Grandma Hansen's gifts of Pokemon cards and book. He has counted and organized all of his Pokemon cards already and can't wait to add more to his collection. I can't believe how much he know about this stuff.

While Ava may technically have been the one to give Jackson this Pokemon Piplup. She just as quickly took possession on the item calling it, "My Klip-Klop". Thank heavens Jackson is an easy going big brother when it comes to things like that.

More Reviews

This book was a sequel to Goose Girl and it was wonderful! Both books have a strong moral undercurrent and very strong female characters. I will definitely encourage my girls to read them when they are teenagers! Shannon Hale may not have won me over with Austenland but she was right on the money with Enna Burning.

Speaking of strong female characters, this novel's lead character is positively heroic. You will totally fall is love with her! She comes from a difficult past to say the least but is able to triumph. Read this if you need a dose of hope.

Ava, Ava, Ava

This little girl is a total crack up! She is by far the most verbal one we've produced yet and is constantly making us laugh, even when we probably shouldn't. Here are a few of her latest funnies.

I bought this darling Flamingo costume from Babystyle for her to wear this year. She dons it once and then declares, "I no like birdie". She now refuses to put this costume on and instead requests to be a fairy for the upcoming holiday.

She has also decided that she chooses which spoon color, cartoon character bowl, type of cup, style of shoes, etc. If we decide for her, she cries and chants, "I like dis' one. I no want it". Kill me...

At the risk of painting this cutie pie as a demon child, she also has recently decided to start saying "Bad Mommy" and "Bad Daddy" when we give her directions that she doesn't care for. I have a really hard time keeping a straight face for this one! The gumption of a 2 year old I tell you!

Despite her burgeoning independence we are as always, completely smitten with this sweet girl. Kind of makes me wish I had another one. Almost...

Fall Festival Success

You all haven't heard much from me lately because of a little thing called The Fall Festival. For the last 12 years our elementary school has put on a really fun festival and yours truly was the co-chair of the event for the second year running. Despite the craziness that is our lives, I really did want to co-chair the event again and yet am SO happy that it is over. After putting in the first year learning the ropes, this year went much more smoothly and we had a great time "upgrading" the event. We added many new games, had inflatables, a rock wall, zip line, terrifically spooky haunted house, and yummy food!

I couldn't have done it without my better half (better fall festival half that is). I had an AMAZING co-chair, Angela, who is a "get-it-done" person and really made things happen so I didn't stress. Note - Don't you love our "Fall Fesival Boss" T's? Those were inspired by Jackson, who last year told everyone that his Mom was, "the boss of the Fall Festival". Angela thought that was really cute and our idea was born.

The kids really look forward to this event and I love being able to have a part in making it a very special day for them. Down side to today was that Kate was feeling really bad and had to leave the festival just a short while after arriving (for more details see her blog). Jackson spent the entire day there with me from 10am-5pm and loved every minute of it.

The wheels are already turning for next year's event. Stay tuned for a bigger and better Fall Festival!

Happy Birthday Anne!

This shout out goes to my very cool sister-in-law, Anne McNally Anderson! She is one of the most creative, talented and funny women that I know. It truly makes me sad that she lives in Austin and that we don't get to hang out on a daily basis.

(This is us singing you Happy Birthday now)! Hope your birthday is a great one, Anne!

Project Organize - Part 1

This post is basically just for my Mom so feel free to disregard if you find this too mundane. (I am celebrating a small victory here though.) Since we moved into our home in March there have been several unfinished projects that stare me down each day. They haven't broken me down to complete them mind you, but they linger and cause me a kind of guilty stress on a daily basis. Well, last week I completed one of those projects and it felt so good! I know that many people would have ensured that their closet was the first thing organized in their home but I managed to get by without having it done. (Of course, I have rotated the same 7 outfits for the last 5 months but it worked - sort of).

I really should have taken a "before" shot too, so that you could experience the true transformation but I will try to describe the chaos that was my closet. In the center of the closet was a pack-n-play that was actually set up. There were 3 laundry baskets divided into tennis clothes, running clothes, and "I have no idea what to do with these clothes". The shelves were a mish-mash of heaps of clothes which desperately needed some sorting and thinning out. After a mere 3 hours - VOILA! (Kind of makes me wonder why I didn't tackle this sooner).

I guess that all I have left to do is to go shopping. :)

Side note - Jason pointed out that this entire rack is workout clothes! I think that I need to spend some time diversifying my wardrobe and less time in workout clothes.