Party Time!

Jaxon turned 5 on March 12 and we had two parties to celebrate his milestone of life. The first party was a fun chocolate fountain party shared with his cousin Hailey who turned 2 on March 16th. As we gain more and more cousins it is easier to "double up" birthday parties for family. 13 little ones on our Brody side and 4 on our McIntosh side. That's already getting to be a lot of birthdays to celebrate in 1 year! We love it though and each little one is such a blessing!!! Jaxon saw the chocolate fountain in a box from when I used it for a baby shower and he really wanted to do it for his birthday party. I opted for the family party for this and then we got carried away with a pirate theme for his friends party! The friends party was lots of fun! If you would have walked into our home during it you would have thought it was very chaotic, but amongst that organized chaos was lots of laughter, screams of joy, and excitement. I coaxed a couple good friends into helping this year again... I've decided a successful little kid party is much better when attended by a 2 to 1 adult to kid ratio :) Thank you Jen, Mark, and Kris for joining in the craziness for a few hours! I think that after 1 treasure hunt, 1 pin the eye patch on the pirate game, lots of pizza, cupcakes, swords, and tattoos we all had FUN! Below are a few pictures from the 2 parties... friends and fun times!

Time to eat! The kids all made their own pizzas and we had cupcakes for dessert. (Never mind that we got distracted and BURNT half their pizzas...luckily we had an extra big pizza we could dip into for the kids! Ooops!)

Having some fun with a few of the friends at the party... this is Jaxon's new "bonk" bed (as he calls it) and it was perfect for hiding pirates! Here is Gage, Jaxon, Mason, and Eli.

I wasn't brave enough to make an actual pirate ship cake, so I went with my plan B...a treasure cake! The cupcakes were Jaxon's favorite...chocolate with whip cream frosting :) Yum!

Jaxon and Hailey and the chocolate fountain. A hit for a birthday party! (notice Aunt Heidi's sweet Dr Seuss cake for Hailey on the table!)

Family of four celebrating Jaxon's fifth year with us... what a wonderful 5 years it has been!

On a side note...our good friends Jonny & Katie Rogers had their first baby girl just hours before Jaxon's birthday... Avery Lynn arrived at 10:13 on March 11th. Jaxon was excited she didn't arrive a few hours later :) Welcome Avery!
We'll be celebrating your first birthday this time next year!!!

Happy Birthday Jaxon!

Jaxon and his buddies today... it was a wonderful day which included a pirate party with old and new pals!

Jaxon today... we love you big boy! Happy Birthday son... you are the best little five year old boy that we could have ever wished for! Have fun being FIVE!

We are headed to God's Mountain this weekend for all of next week... there are many great pictures to share and lots to write about Jaxon's super fun and crazy five year old parties, as well as catch up on Austin! More to come after our trip!

Happy Spring break everyone!!!

Jaxon at a glance, take 3- Last Take!

This is the last part of 3 posts all about Jaxon! He is turning five next week and well, this has become my scrapbook! So I've posted many photos of our oldest son hoping to capture him a bit over the last year. Thanks to all of you that make a difference in my children's lives...it truly takes a village to raise a child and I must say our village people are amazing!

One of Jaxon's jobs is helping with laundry and he usually does so with smiles! I wonder how long this will last? :)

Arrrr! Pirate Jaxon!

Jaxon letting Austin feed him breakfast.

Lately Jaxon has been playing basketball and has a lot of "games". He often times waits for Dad and Mark to come home for lunch to take one of them on in his game. Here in this picture he posed like a basketball player and told me to take a picture just like that. Does this kid want to play sports or what???

Jaxon's first attempt at bowling this winter and grandma & grandpa. Not bad Adrian Peterson, as we had to call him that evening.

Amazingly Jaxon STILL naps...regularly. Here he is getting a nap in with cousin amber after a busy morning playing outside. Jaxon loves playing with all his cousins and gets so excited when one or more comes over!!

Orange smile!

Jaxon being Peter Pan at friend Eamma's party... I love these Peter Pan days and will be sad when he hangs up his hat and sword for good :(

Jaxon has become a pretty good fort maker the last year... here he is trying to get Austin to go through. Austin isn't sure what to think yet!

Jaxon loving on cousin Elsie... he loves babies usually and sometimes just squeezes the love right out of them :)

I believe Jaxon had a "football game" here and Kyler was the lucky boy to be another player this day! Jaxon will actually tell me a specific time of when his game is and has even told me "I can't pick up my room because my game starts in 5 minutes and I'll be late". Uh-huh, nice try buddy!

Jaxon got to help show a pig at Cattle Congress this year thanks to Uncle August. Dad wasn't sure what to think being a city boy and all...but it was so fun to watch him and Jaxon had a great time!

wrestling, wrestling, wrestling.... boys will be boys...

"No Mom, do not take my picture of me dressed up in a wedding dress and marring my bunny!!"

Jaxon likes to play around with all the babies in our circle of friends... Here he is keeping tabs on Austin and Boaz.

CHEESE! A mouth filled smile from our brown eyed boy!

Jaxon at a glance, take 2

Jaxon is usually the funny guy when with these two! Austin & Addelyn love to laugh at Jaxon's silliness!

Games, games, games... I think we've played hundreds of Candyland games in the last few years. Markuse visited and Jaxon convinced him to play at least 5 games during his stay with us!

Jaxon and our dear neighbor Roger have become good friends. Roger likes to pick Jaxon up for a cruise in his shiny red car...and even get an ice cream treat once in awhile. Roger will pay Jaxon 10 cents to help him wash his car... I'm not sure how much help Jaxon really is, but Roger is great about helping him feel like he has a job and he earned a little income. :)

Jaxon looking at books before bed... Lighting McQuenn seemed to be the books of choice this last summer a lot!

Our silly boy on his first day at St John Preschool!

Dad took Jaxon for his first ever Vikings weekend-Boys only trip. Jaxon was so excited to fall asleep with the TV on in the hotel with his daddy.

Jaxon trying to hide his excitment about going to preschool!

A finished building project... after he was done he said "take a picture mom!"

Rub a dub-dub...gotta love those pics of your little ones in a tub!

Most of our summer days are spent at the local pool, which Jaxon LOVES! He especially liked it when our family friends, the Reisetter's, were there too. This year Jaxon pretended to be Michael Phelps often and would have me "time" him....he's always been competitive since he could figure out games and races.

Diggin around at the State Fair...a tradition I try to keep with the kids every summer.

Grandma Pat is always willing to spoil Jaxon...today it was a camel ride :)

Jaxon does have a snuggly side every so often...

The last couple summers Jaxon has become good buddies with our neighbor's granddaughter, Kendyl. He absolutley loves it when she visits from Texas and keeps her picture by his bed. These two would play ball, draw with sidewalk, sit in the yard, and just hang out many summer nights. She's a great gal...I wish she lived closer because she'd be an amazing babysitter!!

Jaxon's first swim lessons at the big pool... he was a Champ...just like Miss Jen always said :)

Uh, just waking up...

A climber, just like dad!

Jaxon had a great time at VBS this last summer at Naz and Orchard Hill. After VBS at Naz he told me he wished my name was Kimbo...if you knew Kimbo, you'd understand. She's one of the most happy and fun filled people you can hang around and she led the VBS program!!

Stealing a brother hug between swimming and snack time at the pool.

Slip n slide! Jaxon mastered this!

Jaxon finally wasn't afraid of sparklers this year...however we still couldn't go to fireworks, not ready for those yet....maybe this summer???

Big buddy Michael is always willing to make Jaxon feel special... today it was going to get pirate balloons at Sturgis Falls. We traditionally sit in the park with our friends the Rogers for 3 straight days and eat as much Sturgis food as we can! Love it and so does Jaxon! He hasn't missed a Sturgis Falls yet in the 5 years he's been here :)

Jaxon at a glance...take 1

Last night we were watching our video from when Austin was born with our friend, Katie, and we both made the comment at the same time about how LITTLE Jaxon seemed...just a year ago! Even the way he talked was much more younger sounding and it was amazing to watch how much he has grown the last year or so... Jaxon is turning 5 next week and I wanted to post a few pictures of Jaxon's last year and then we'll start fresh with our new little five year old. Oh, where did the time go? It's been so great to watch him reach different stages the last five years... I'm sure this next year will be just as fun! So... here is Jaxon at a glance... I have a few more photos to add a bit later too...

Jaxon in the Sturgis Falls Big Wheel race!

Jaxon spent many days playing in the pool in our backyard! I LOVE these days!

Jaxon has loved Peter Pan and pirates for a couple years now. This summer we usually saw him in at least one part of his Peter Pan or pirate costumes :) And, of course being silly!

Jaxon is always up for some silliness and getting mom is just an extra bonus usually!

What's so funny? I'm pretty sure Jaxon was tooting on our friend Katie here... no, not our son???

One of Jaxon's summer jobs is helping water the flowers and plants. He usually enjoyed it and almost always came back in soaked :) He's a really good helper when you give him a specific job.

Jaxon was a busy parade walker this last summer. Our good friend, Walt, ran for a senate seat and Jaxon did his best to keep up and shake hands just like his big buddy Walter!

Uncle Augie is always up for some playtime with Jaxon...and Jaxon always eats it up! These two are usually up to trouble together :) I believe they are conspiring together to get Aunt Katie wet here!

Jaxon does get sick once in awhile like most kids... a day spent on the couch here :(

Jaxon loved going to dad's soccer games for Longfellow. He always asked when he could go over with the guys. Here he is running over as soon as the game was over. Jaxon loves to play soccer and no doubt caught the soccer fever from our good ole Longfellow soccer days!

Jaxon and Mason making May day baskets... Jaxon usually really likes projects.

Dad's last pop run day... we promised Jaxon a donut and here he is waiting for the people to stop saying nice things to dad so he can go in for his donut and chocolate milk.

Jaxon has developed more of a love for animals this year... I think the relationships with Muffin, Bumper, Grace, Buddy, and Bella have helped along in this department :)

Jaxon chillin... he actually likes to sit and watch a program on TV first thing in the morning. I know Tv is a bad habit to start, but he just wakes up like this and enjoys his "down time". See...he does sit still at times people! :)

My little baker...he has always loved helping in the kitchen!

Easter eggs!!! A special activity him and I did while the baby was sleeping.

Friends!!! My they have all grown!

His football party last year...blowing out the candles!

Mason took Jaxon to McDonalds for a special birthday lunch last year. Mason made these great crowns to wear to! I love to watch Jaxon develop relationships with his peers.

Jaxon has become a really great big brother the last year... a role he will carry for the rest of his life. He's been a wonderful first born son!!