Goodbye my sweet 5 year old!

Jaxon turns the big 6 tomorrow! Wow! The last 6 years have been amazing with him in our lives...  I have some fun birthday party pics to share but I think I will wait to post those until next time. For today, I want to remember some great Jaxon things...


I have a feeling I have seen the last of some of these things about Jaxon in the last year... 

So, Jaxon I have to say...goodbye to Peter Pan and Captain Hook. The ships rarely get drug out anymore to battle between good and evil and save your sweet Wendy.  I think the pirate stage that we played for days and days may have come to a silent halt. I don't know when it happened for sure but know it was between 5 and 6. Good bye to having a bed full of stuffed animals each night before you fall asleep with them all in their very own special spot. What used to be 10-12 "buddies" has dwindled down to 2-3.  Thank goodness for Bunny, Cheetah, and Bear :)  Good bye to needing your mama right by you in the swimming pool. This last year you found great confidence in the pool waters and often had friends there that you'd rather play with then your old mom!  Along with that skill, you've mastered shoe tieing, showering by yourself, making your bed, setting the table, cleaning your room (most the time :), putting your toys away in the right spots, going to school everyday, and helping your brother with so many things to name a few.  So many things I used to do for you have been replaced by my ever so capable boy!  You rarely want to hold my hand anymore when you cross a street or are in the parking lot. You rarely want a real kiss, but prefer "cheek to cheek" and eskimo kisses instead.  Hugs have turned into "knuckles" this year and bear hugs have become scarce too. However, I love the rare moments when you are overly tired and crawl into my lap to cuddle and fall asleep. As you told your little brother last week "it's my turn, you have been on mom's lap your whole life!". True, but there is plenty of room for you still big boy!! 

This last year as a 5 year old you had some firsts too... going to school at the big school was the main one! Wow! We are so proud of all you've done at school this year! You've been an awesome student and we are so proud to call you our son. We have also had the begining of many games this year I believe.  They aren't official games yet, but never mind that you ask us to attend one of your prescheduled games almost daily!!!  You seem to keep up with whatever season it is... football, basketball, baseball, soccer. I have no doubt we will proudly sit in the real bleachers someday and cheer you on. It has been fun to watch you this year as you really plug into your love for sports.  I guess your dad was right when you were in the womb... you are our little sportster! I really did  play lots of music for you when you were developing, I promise :)  This year you also really started to get a hold on remembering some of your scripture. I think you memorize verses quicker then me and I have to admit I am thankful for your memory since you keep me on my toes in this area. I have to work hard to keep up with you! 

Jaxon, you are a active, outgoing, sensitive, brave, funny, and a natural leading little boy.  You are now closer to 10 then 0. We've been saying that for awhile now and it is here!  You remind me of your dad so much at times.  Not a bad thing since your dad is a heck of a guy!  I love you lots and am so happy to celebrate 6 years with you! Happy Birthday my big boy!  Have fun at God's Mountain and all of your next year as a 6 year old!!! You are my most favorite 6 year old boy!

february days...

Jaxon made his 'fort' area cozy for quiet time!

 

A & A just hanging around...

 

pre-haircut :-)

 

Can you believe Dad grabbed this off the front of our house?

 

Austin's first "semi" sleep-over... Jakey went home at midnight when daddy got off work!

 

water table fun

 

noodles!!!

 

"SO BIG" with Ave's under the table... a regular hang out spot for these two :)

 

Special Valentine lunch!

 

and a little valentine day fun :)

Hello March! You are VERY WELCOME this time of year!!!

50 reasons why I love ALDI's!!

But don't worry, I won't list all 50 :)  My new favorite reason though is this...

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...I just purchased and tried this salsa this last week. It was only $1.99 and it is SO GOOD!  If you have followed this blog for awhile now, you know I love to make a home-made sweet salsa each summer/fall. This ALDI salsa is almost exactly like the one I make. I love it. I get to enjoy the yumminess without all the work :) It's so good my kids even eat it! Yum!

P.S. yes, it's so good that I took a picture and blogged about it! 

what do we do in the dead of winter?

play in the closets

win lots of made up football games that result in serious celebrating

take team photos with our team members (notice Adrian Peterson made an appearance for this game day) ***Jaxon's idea by the way

go outside of course and make numerous attempts to break off the icicles hanging from our house 

 watch movies!!!

have cute play buddies come over for dance parties and jump on the bed parties

have lunch dates

(what can I say, Austin has a busy schedule :)

build with blocks 

 (Jaxon built a Haiti village here and drove through with his army trucks to drop off food, his idea again, man this kid is getting old!) 

sometimes get sick :( 

 

visit a local museum and build arches

do cool science things at the Imaginarium

 make homemade pizza and parfaits and party with friends

 

read A LOT of books

turn the heat up really high and go swimming inside

play pig pile on Avery, oops, I mean the balls :)

paint with shave gel

of course... sleep!!! (you just run out of ideas after awhile :)

... and learn some new letters!

Whew, it's been a cooped up but fun winter! Spring is around the corner! Yipee!!

snow buddies

Even in the middle of the winter we can find SOMETHING to do outside!!!  When the temps get above freezing we find our way into layers of clothes and into the white outdoors. Jaxon loves to build snow tunnels and Austin loves to do what most 2 year olds do in the snow... eat it. The best is when Austin holds his arms up spread wide and looks up to the sky and shouts "nooooooo".  His version of a very happy boy in "snoooow". Everybody needs a snow buddy to make snow so enjoyable each day!

19 and counting...

Yup, I am blogging about the famous Duggar family today.  Wasn't planning on this but I was so moved after watching a random episode from their reality show, that I can't help but share what I see in this interesting family.  I really don't watch this show much, but while Dave was gone this past weekend the boys and I watched a movie together.  They both fell asleep on me and I did not want to move just yet and could only reach the remotes (I had a chic flick to put in but settled for channel surfing so I didn't wake them).  I stumbled across the 19 and Counting show and it just happened to be the episode when they delivered their 19th child, Josie, emergency c-section and 15 weeks early.  I don't know why, but I sat through this show filled with emotion. (by the way I would recommend this episode to anyone...I think you can find it on-line on TLC website???). 
This family may not be your typcial family in America, but I believe they are doing some things very right.  If you can look past their long skirts, long hair, tucked in shirts, and simple ways you will see many characteristics that many of our American family's today could learn from.  With 18 family members they still make it a priority to sit down for each meal at the table and share meal time together.  They plan for and make time for family activities.  They intentionally set their home up to create the most opportunities to encourage family togetherness.  They provide the needs of their children, but don't let all the wants take over the things that accumulate in their home.  They have high expectations of their children being responsible team members in this large group, yet they have many moments of sillyness and fun.  They pray together. They play together.  They talk with each other. Yes, this family may be a bit out of our norm, but they have what seems to be a healthy, happy, and God honoring family.  I think I could be friends with Michelle if she lived on my street :) 

Anyways, back to this particular show... It started with Mama Duggar feeling a good amount of pain and being taken to the hospital. She is admitted and later they find she has preeclampsia which can be fatal for baby and mother. The only way to cure it is to deliver the baby.  I watched as Papa Duggar phoned home to keep the family informed.  This followed by Brother Josh leading the family in prayer for Mama & little Josie. What a great leader Josh was being at only 21.  Nobody knew the gender of this baby yet and the family was soon to find out.  For some reason I assumed after having 18 kids the siblings would not be overly excited to hear if it's a boy or girl. You know, it's another sibling...yeah-yeah... add them to the gang, hooray. The kids were so excited to find out! They all stood around a computer screen as Mama & Papa Duggar made the announcement and everyone cheered and yelled in pure joy over the news of another girl.  I'm sure the same would have happened for another boy, but I was moved by the excitement these 18 kids still had for another addition to what many consider a non-traditional, traditional family!  19 kids and these people still have the same joy, excitement, and happiness as if it were the 1st!  This alone was a testimony to me of their hearts and true belief in the blessings of children.  As I continued to watch the show I was so interested in seeing the process of delivering a 24 week baby.  One of my thoughts during this went back to an article I read not long ago about babies being aborted at 24 weeks. Yes, you read that right. Babies lose their lives at 24 weeks by mothers who have sadly made this choice for them.  It was amazing to watch Mama Duggar deliver her 24 week baby and see that little one move, kick, cry, and fight for her little life.  At 24 weeks this baby had a lot smaller chance of surviving. However, with today's technology and medical knowledge this baby will probably go on to live many years in her new family of 21!  Watching this delivery was another testimony to me of the gift of life. It is precious. It is real.  The Duggar's may have a few things to teach our families, but maybe the most important lesson they have taught us lately starts with the gift of life.  Thank you Duggar's for sharing this personal experience on TV.  I hope it was played for all those that needed a little reminder of God's desire to bring life into this world.

 While watching I thought back to my earliest ultra sounds. I loved seeing Mama Duggar's u/s displayed on TV.  With Austin we had a very early u/s due to a previous miscarriage.  At 5 weeks we saw his little sac and heard his faint, but ever so there heart beating. Amazing.  (this is not my u/s, but another one at 5 weeks)

At 12 weeks with Jaxon we had an u/s because we had no clue when we were due!!  In Jaxon's u/s we saw his little legs, hands, and head. His heart was beating strong and he had his fist up to his mouth already! (again, a borrowed pic from the web, but very similar to Jaxon's picture).

buddies

It is so fun to watch these two develop their own relationship.  Lately they have been hanging out like old pals.  It seems like more often then not anymore, they are doing something together or feeding off each other's ideas.  I think it's amazing to watch two young siblings form a bond that nobody but them can experience.  We recently put a big boy bed in Austin's room thinking Austin would transition to it. Jaxon has decided it is his bed in his little brother's room and most nights begs to sleep in there with him. What fun to have a brother!  The above photo is when we were all getting ready for bed one night...there was a Disney movie on and they sat so still here for the longest time. I snapped a photo and joined them and thought to myself 'I'm so thankful I can sneak in on some of their sweet brother time on nights like tonight!"

One of my favorite parts about these two being buddies is the simple fact that Austin can not say Jaxon's name yet... he simply refers to him as "brother (pronounced brutter)" all day long.  "Brutter do it" Brutter home" "Brutter's car"  Brother... a sweet definition only these two can share :)