Hide-and-go-Seek

Colby came to visit us during his spring break! The boys had SO much fun with him! They wrestled, built forts together, had tickle fights and all kinds of boy fun. One of their favorite things they did together at our place was playing Hide-and-go-seek. They had so much fun playing. My favorite was Baron.... he is so darn cute. When it was Colby's turn to count, Baron would say to him, "Ok, I'm going to go hide in the closet." and then when looking for him, all you had to do was say, "Baron, where are you?" and he would yell back, "I'm in here!" He's not so good at hiding yet :) . Someday he will learn not to give his hiding spot away!

I'm There For You Man

On Monday of this past week it was actually sunny, with no rain in the forecast and a high of around 53. I know that sounds cold to most people, but since the rest of the week's temperatures were suppose to be in the 30's with some snow showers thrown in there, we were pretty excited. We have been couped up inside way too often lately from weather and my work. So, Monday morning I got my work all done in the AM so we could head out to a park and enjoy the chilly sunshine later in the day. I am so glad we got out! The boys had a GREAT time. We went to Magnolia Park- definitely one of our favorites. It has little short slides for the little guys, medium slides for the slightly more daring child, and a huge tall slide for the adventurer. There are also swings, spinny things, grass, other fun equipment that I have no idea what they are named, and it even has a water area for the summer time.

Jackson has always been my more cautious child. Baron- he's always been one to throw caution to the wind. Jackson really wanted to go down the big huge tall slide (as he calls it). It took him a few moments at the top to take some deep breaths and give the whole, "It's a little scary" evaluation to me as I stood at the bottom giving him my encouragement. But he finally just went for it... and of course loved it. His "scared out of my pants" face quickly turned into a huge grin which resulted in a desire to go down it over and over again for the next 30 minutes straight. I should add in that Jackson actually has been down that slide plenty before. But when you live in Oregon and have to therefore go months in between park visits, it's quite easy to forget where you left off in your previous slide adventure levels.

Right after Jackson went down that first time, I looked back up to the top, and there is Baby Bear, huge grin and all, sitting at the top, yelling for me to say, "On your mark, get set, go!" I smiled, gave him the chant, and away he flew down the slide without a moments hesitation. He also loved it and wanted to go again, over and over. How can my children be so different?? I love it though- keeps me guessing.

The best part however, was a little while later, after Baron decided to head over to the swings. I was sitting there pushing him and look over to see Jackson ready for another trip down the slide. I yelled out my obligatory, "On you mark, get set, go!" from across the playground (does anyone else's kids LOVE for you to say this for everything they do? Mine are currently obsessed with races and competitions), and away Jackson flew down the slide once again. Bear had been watching this too. Upon Jackson hitting bark dust on his dismount, Bear yelled out in his cute, little brother voice,

"Good Job, Jackson!"

To which Jackson yelled back from across the playground, "Thanks Bear!"

And ended with Baron yelling, "Your Welcome!"

I love those two. I love that they already encourage and support each other.... most of the time.

No Girls Allowed

The other day, while we were just sitting there eating lunch, Jackson randomly told me this:

Jackson: "Mom, I just would like two more brothers."

Me: "Oh yeah? What about a sister? Would you like to have a sister or just brothers?"

Jackson: "No, no sisters. Just brothers."

Me: "How come? Do you not like girls?"

Jackson: "No, girls are just obnoxious!"

I have NO idea where he learned that from, but I think it's pretty funny! I am sure the whole "girls have coodies" stage is not too far away. It reminds me of that Bearstein Bears book, "No Girls Allowed". Little does Jackson know that he really doen't have any say in whether or not he gets another brother or if we have a girl eventually someday!

Superheroes

Jackson is on a HUGE superhero kick right now. He hasn't even seen Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Spiderman, etc., yet he is totally enthralled by them all... must be one of those things that are just engrained into all little boys. We just spent a very fun week out in Glide at Grandpa and Grandma's house over the Christmas break. Jackson had asked for Iron Man from Santa. He must have been a good boy because Santa delivered the perfect Iron Man toy complete with sound effects, lights and a shooting bullet. He has slept with it just about every night since and is rarely seen without it. He also made sure he told everyone he saw for a good week afterwards about what Santa brought him.

While in Glide, I overheard this conversation coming from the kitchen:

Jackson, "Hey Grandma, do you know Iron Man?"

Grandma Sue, "Yeah I know Iron Man... do you like him?"

Jackson, "Yeah, he's pretty cool." "Do you know Batman?"

Grandma Sue, "Yeah, I do. I like Batman too."

Jackson, "Yeah, he's pretty awesome too."

And all that said in a very big boy voice and attitude. I love this kid. He is a lot of fun!

Baron and Maggie

We are coming to find that Baron is a pretty big animal lover. He especially likes dogs, in particular Grandpa and Grandma Graham's dog, Maggie. I will never forget last winter when he was just barely a year old and we were at the Graham's one night. It was getting late and I had put Bear in his pj's and given him a bottle of milk to drink before bed (he was at that age where he just liked to walk around and feed himself with the bottle). The rest of us were hanging out watching a movie in the family room. Next thing I know, I look over and see Maggie lying on the couch sleeping with Baron cuddled up next to her with one hand on the bottle in his mouth and the other hand reaching back petting and rubbing Maggie's head and ear. He looked like he was about to fall asleep as well. It was pretty darn cute.... a boy and his dog, his best friend, moment. It actually made me consider (though just for a brief moment) of letting John finally get a dog.

During the past year or so, whenever we are at the Graham's, Baron is always playing with Maggie. Jackson says he likes Maggie, but gets freaked out if Maggie gets too close or tries to lick him. When Maggie licks Baron, however, he just giggles and says, "oh, Maggie!" He is always trying to ride on her, likes to cover her with his own beloved blanky, sits in her cage/bed all the time and is always always trying to feed her.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend break, while in Glide, Baron was trying, unsuccessfully to reach something on the kitchen counter. Grandma Sue noticed and asked what he needed.

To which he replied, "umm.... Maggie wants some chocolate."

We had been eating some chocolate kisses that were on the counter and he was very concerned that Maggie wasn't getting any. He had just previously fed her some of his popcorn that we were all eating. He sure loves that dog!

Mr. Potato Head

Baron loves to try to put the Mr. Potato head pieces (or Tato Head as Jackson calls it) on himself. Sometimes I catch him trying to put the arms into his ears. He loves these little green glasses.

New TV

We have been thinking and looking into buying a new TV before College Football Season starts this next weekend. I am about to smash our current one in with a bat.... it's been having all kinds of problems and is so darn heavy and big- the whole thing, not the screen. We spent a few hours at Best Buy the other night checking out some new TV's and Jackson is totally sold on it. This is what he said today in his lunch prayer:

"Bless Daddy to come home in safety and bless that he can come home with a new big TV so we can watch some football...."