Boy Update

I have some pretty awesome little boys.  I love them oober much, and they are my Valentines.  Here are some recent snippets of them.


Jackson

A few days ago, Jackson was pretending to talk on a cell phone.  Here's the conversation I heard:

"Where were we?...Oh, yeah, the baby. You're sure it's not his because it sure seems that way...Ooooh, so that's how it happens." Then turning to me he says, "Mom, that was your friend, Lisa [meaning his aunt Lisa], she wants to talk to you."

Um, yes, I was trying SO hard not to laugh in front of him; no, I have NO idea where he got that stuff.

Jackson:  "Mom, does this have sugar in it?"
Me:  "Yes."
Jackson:  "Then you can't eat it, but I can have one. . . or two, but not you.  It will make you sick and fat."

Last month my brother and his wife bought Jackson a telescope for his birthday.  It was missing the tripod that goes with it, and so Matt bought a camera tripod and fixed it to work with the telescope. Now, we're just waiting for some slightly warmer nights to go check out the moon instead of eyeing the neighbors bird feeder across the street.   

Last night was the annual Blue and Gold Banquet for cub scouts.  Jackson decided near the end that he wanted his face painted (we did a carnival theme).  Surprisingly, to me, he chose to become a zombie.  When I took this picture, he instructed me to share it with his 2nd grade teacher who is ready to defend the world from the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.  The most amazing thing to me is that he wanted his face painted.  This is a huge step for him.

 This morning I was trying to figure out if Jackson had made a Valentine's holder/box at school since his teacher said they were going to make them.  However, Jackson occasionally missed art, and so I wasn't sure if he had a chance to make it.  After 5 minutes of intense questioning, the most definitive answer was "I don't know."  So, 20 minutes before school, we pulled out the crafts and went to work.  He wanted a bunny, so he got a love-crazed bunny. 

 Cole
 This past weekend Matt's grandparents were in town for a wedding, and so we drove up to Matt's aunt's house to see them and his cousins.  Matt's aunt has a dog, Abby.  While Jackson was clinging to my legs, Cole was giggling and loving on Abby.  He made her nervous as he followed her around and just wanted her.  

As for the grandparents, he sat on Grandpa's lap, but wouldn't go near Grandma until we were ready to leave, then he gave her a hug.  I'm glad we got a picture of all of us.  (And you can see that I still have a LONG way to go in losing weight, but I'm getting there.)

This week has been an off-week for Cole (and me) as he has had 4-8 different teeth all trying to come in.  Yesterday it took him quite a while to fall asleep for his nap.  When I went to check on him, this is how I found him.  

 Finally, here's a video I took of Cole playing with Jackson's balloon.  Babies and Balloons are just too fun to watch.  (For me, anyway)

Mission Call FHE

 On Monday Matt decided to do a special Family Home Evening to introduce the new missionary changes to Jackson.  He wrote a letter based on the actual mission call letters and "called" Jackson on a mission.  Included in the envelope was a name tag.  Jackson was excited to go on a mission, that is until we started talking about how to prepare, and then he was so nervous that he wouldn't be ready.  We reminded him that he has 10 years to prepare.  Hopefully, we can keep the desire burning strong for him to want to serve the Lord for 2 years on a mission.

Reading the call:

Proud Future Missionary!

Show and Tell

Okay, there's GOT to be a better way to do Show and Tell on Fridays.  I mean, my kid wants to grab the first thing available and throw it in his backpack just so he has something to share.  He hates to be there empty-handed.  He wants a turn.  This morning he grabbed a naked "hospital buddy" - a cloth doll he was given a year and a half ago when he had an MRI done.  The doll comes with a hospital gown, but I have no idea where that is.  Jackson would have taken it for Show and Tell, but I stopped him.  I was encouraging him to take something meaningful or different.

Teachers usually use Show and Tell for the kids to get their oral reports in for the curriculum.  Kids love Show and Tell because they get to show off their stuff.  I know this. I mean, my kid is counting down the days to Show and Tell at the beginning of the week, and he's not one to say, "Oh, I don't have anything" or "I don't need a turn this week."  He has to have a turn. 

Personally, Show and Tell is boring for the kids as they watch their peers show the same toys they had last year and the year before.  I've been there. . .it's not that fantastic.  However, I think teachers could make it more meaningful.  Jackson has been taking items for Show and Tell for 3 years now, and none of the teachers had guidelines.  While most parents are happy that there isn't some assignment, I need some guidelines for my son who feels he has to take something every week.

When I was in first grade, Mrs. Louchard had a shoebox that was our "secret item."  Each student had a turn to take it home and bring it back on Friday.  We couldn't show anyone in the class what was in there, but we got to choose.  The kids would then ask questions to discover what was in there.  I remember the day it was my turn.  I chose a striped dish towel (exciting, I know).  The second kid asked if it was a dish towel.  I was so bummed that he got it right.  I'm now wondering if he peeked. . .hmm. . .

A friend's preschool son had Show and Tell, too, but there were themes.  Something green, or something that starts with the letter "A." I also think that maybe if the teacher could give a theme, but said, "If your student was to bring something for Show and Tell, our theme is. . ."  It could go right along with whatever they're learning in school.  It doesn't have to be an assignment, but just a requirement if the kids are going to bring something.  Just give some direction.  I've tried.  It doesn't work for me because I'm the mom, not the teacher. 

If Ye Are Prepared

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."  Doctrine and Covenants 38:30

Over the last few weeks, Matt and I have felt that Jackson is ready to learn emergency procedures.  We decided last week to start talking about our fire escape plan and what we would do in case of a fire.  For Family Home Evening last week, Matt drew up a floor plan of our house, and we talked about exits on the main level of our home.  That's about all we could get to.  Seriously, it took several minutes to get Jackson to "see" the house on paper.  It was a new concept for him.  "No, that big circle in the backyard is the trampoline, NOT the sun or a swimming pool."  We took 5-10 minutes only to go over the plan and the exits because, well, we were reaching the "limit."

Last night it was my turn to continue the plan.  I decided that Jackson really needed to practice and really know what to do.  We talked about what he would do first (roll out of bed and touch the door with the back of his hand), second (decide if he can go out the door, or if he needs to go out the window), and third (leave the house through the window or the front door).  I showed him how to unlock his window, slide the screen over and climb out the window. . . okay, this is where I say I may regret my decision in a few years when he decides to sneak out of the house. . .

He was set, ready to go.  Until I told him that we were really going to practice -- once without the smoke alarm and then with the smoke alarm.  Begin panic attack.

"Mom, no, no, no, no."  Insert fingers into ears, start crying and making a mad dash out of your room. (That's what he must have heard instead.) 

Have you heard our smoke alarm?  If you live within a mile radius of my house, then you know just how loud it is because it has probably alarmed you.   Basically, it's a buzzer, you know like from a high school basketball game -- not a horn -- a buzzer.  But imagine your ear right next to the buzzer when it goes off.  That's how loud it is.

Also, the buzzer is trippy.  I can be cooking bacon, and it will buzz.  The syrup overflows and smokes, it buzzes for several minutes.  Cole screams and Jackson panics.  Sometimes a bit of dust makes it go off.  In good news, it will always wake us up.

For a child with hearing sensitivities (and a baby), the buzzer is sheer torture.

Back to the story:  I had to grab Jackson.  At first I kept a calm, reassuring voice, but when that didn't work, I had to hold his hands by his side and talk louder.  Then I had to yell.  "Jackson, it's OKAY!  It's not going to go off yet."  It took three minutes or more to calm him down and explain what was going to happen.  He was hysterical, panicking -- not about "what if there's a fire," but about "the alarm is going to go off, and I won't know when."

We were finally able to practice, but he was leery the rest of the night.  When we were done with Family Home Evening, and I told him that Dad won't push the button again, he pronounced, "Dad, you're mean!"

In good news, he can open the window by himself and get out.

But the moral of this story is,

If you are prepared, you won't have to fear, but you will have severe panic attacks and will demand to go to sleep with your ears plugged in the meantime.

Relationship Status: Brothers

You tell me how this relationship is going.

New Obsession

Can you tell what Jackson has been learning about school?  It's his latest obsession.

I give you permission to play this video over and over until you, too, can name all of the planets.  :)

Contest

Okay, you readers, who aren't as many as you used to be. . .

I have a contest for you.  A real, actual contest, hosted by yours truly.  It all revolves around a picture that Jackson drew during church today.  He was so excited to show it to me when he got home.  It's a picture of where he will be traveling over the next year.  (He says.)

You will need to click on it to see it larger, but here's the contest.  The person who can leave a comment and tell me the most correct destinations will get a prize.  I will buy you your favorite king-size candy bar or other equivalent and send it to you, wherever you live.

I will give you a couple of hints.  There are a total of seven destinations.  The point without a time and date stamp is our home.  The destination where he went today, 2/26/12 at 2:30 p.m. was Hawaii (so, yes, this is a map of the world).   Yes, he literally packed his suitcase and "went" to Hawaii.

You can have until Friday to make your guesses. Leave your guesses in the comments section (and you all will get at least one destination correct because I gave it to you), and then I will announce the winner on Saturday and get your address from you.  :)

This very picture is another reason I just love my boy!

What Jackson is Made of

• Trinkets in his pockets (for example, the other day I found 2 rubber bands, a pink eraser, and a plastic dinosaur)
• Snow Boots: If there's a sprinkling of snow, he clomps around in snow boots and swishes his snow pants all day long.
• Swing:  The best thing my husband ever did for Jackson was to build a fort and put up a swing for him.  He swings way past the dark hours.
• Dates:  If the date is important he saves it in his memory bank.  
• Ages:  He'll never forget how old you are, and he'll post it next to your bed so you don't forget either (this was taken last May, FYI).

• Time and Temperature:  No need to call that number anymore, he'll tell you.

• Time:  Want to know how many minutes until your special appointment, just ask Jackson.  This kid knows elapsed time better than fifth graders.
• Clocks:  He owns at least five clocks and two watches.  Both digital clocks are plugged in at all times near his bed.  (I would take a picture, but baby is sleeping.)
• Penguins:  This picture with Natalie (last May) who is playing with Jackson, says it all:

• Music:  He doesn't necessarily like to sing with a crowd, but he'll listen to a song until he memorizes beats, rhythms, and melodies.
• Maps:  My son can tell you where every state is and a cool fact about each one (thanks to the game my mom got him for his birthday); he knows where Egypt and Australia are; and his greatest wishes right now are to live in Alaska, Hawaii, and Antarctica to visit the penguins.
• Pizza:  This kid could eat pizza every day of his life and be content; however, if we don't eat it on Friday nights, I get an earful. . .

• Movies and Shows:  He'll watch shows over and over again and quote them just for you.  He'll ask, "Mom, are we out of syrup?" because Curious George needed some on his show. 
• The Grip:  If you've met Jackson, you've felt his grip.  He can cripple the strongest man, I'm sure of it. 
• Cousins: 

• Hugs:  You won't be allowed to leave him until he squeezes you. 
• Big Brother:  He adores his baby brother.  Yesterday I sat and just enjoyed the giggles that burst from each of my boys as they interacted with each other.  There's a bond there that I thank the Lord every day for.

• A Best Friend:  Need one?  Look no further.  My boy will love you until the day he dies.

Jackson is Baptized

On February 4, 2012, Jackson was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It was a very special day for him.  His Katschke grandparents drove up to be there for him, and he had many friends come.

This day was a huge milestone for many reasons.  In our religion, we believe that age 8 is the age of accountability; meaning the age when a child can be held responsible of his actions and understand what the difference between right and wrong.  Before age 8, we believe that a child does NOT need to be baptized in order to be saved in God's Kingdom.  Turning eight and being baptized is sort of a rite of passage, and children who have grown up in the church look forward to this day from the time they are very young.

Jackson has always wanted to be baptized, but a year ago, he almost changed his mind.  When he turned seven, in true Jackson form, he began counting down the days until he was eight and could be baptized. . . until we told him that he had to go all the way under the water.  Jackson was terrified of going under water.  When he'd go swimming, he might dip his face in the water.  If he was dunked, he'd panic and scream.  He refused to go in the water without a life jacket.  He hated showers and washing his hair in the bath.  (Don't worry, I made him clean his hair anyway.)

As a mother, I really worried about this.  I didn't want to traumatize my child by making him be "dunked" if he wasn't ready.  I called my mom.  She gave me some great advice -- apparently, my younger brother was terrified to be baptized as well.  We decided that we needed to really explain to Jackson what it meant to be baptized, what would happen, and how he could prepare.

We took him to a friend's baptism.  We pointed out the ceremony, and when it came time to draw a picture or write a note to the person who was baptized, Jackson drew a gem of a picture.  (I can't find it right now, otherwise I'd take a picture and post it.)  The picture had Matt standing in the font, and Jackson standing on the stairs into the baptism font.  Matt had a little speech bubble saying, "Jackson get in the water, NOW!"  Jackson had a thought bubble that said, "NOOOOOOO!"  However, he said he still really wanted to be baptized.

Over the summer, we encouraged him to practice putting his head under the water.  He was very hesitant, and it took massive amounts of encouragement to get him to try. . . until the family reunion when we went to Lake Lemon in Indiana.  He decided to swim under the water all by himself, and he was so proud.

From that moment on, he was a water bug.  He enjoyed holding his breath under water in the bath tub (enough that it freaked me out when he wouldn't move for 30 seconds).  The hardest part about getting ready to be baptized (for Jackson anyway) was overcome.  He only had to practice the procedure with Daddy in the living room.

Jackson's Baptism Day was especially neat for me to watch my child all dressed in white, who had struggled with a fear of water for year, calmly walk down into the font, hold his father's hands, and be baptized by the authority and power of the priesthood of God. 

 (before the ceremony)

He had picked all the songs, and not one was a baptismal song, which made me smile, and all were near and dear to me.  The opening song was, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," which Jackson calls "Blue, blue sky." This was a song that my mom sang to me from the time I was a little girl, and so it always meant a great deal.  The special musical number was "Families Can Be Together Forever," sung by a sweet girl in our church who's family Jackson just adores; and the closing song was "I Feel My Savior's Love," which is Clarissa's song -- my Natalie and her sister played it at Sissy's graveside.

Matt and I each gave a talk on baptism (me) and on the Holy Ghost (Matt), and we each bore our testimonies, and my dad bore his as well.  Below are pictures of Jackson after the baptism and with his cousins and friends:

being a goof with friends:

 with his cousins being a goof:

My sister-in-law was there with Jackson's cousins, and they came back to our house afterwards for donuts and juice.

I'm so glad that Jackson made the choice to be baptized.

Despicable Day -- Just for Jackson

I started preparing for this Despicable Day several days ago.  I had this in my freezer:

And this on my table:

Yesterday we decided to surprise Jackson a day early and take him to the Living Planet Aquarium.  (Sorry, no pictures since we were both either carrying a baby or wrangling an almost eight-year old.)  Our favorites, hands-down, were the penguins.  We got to watch them eat, swim, dive, and walk around.  If you know my son, you know he LOVES penguins.  In fact, he's mentioned a couple of times lately that he plans to go on an exploration trip to Antarctica "without Mommy, Daddy, or Cole."

Last night Matt and I stayed up a couple extra hours getting the kitchen and living room all ready.  You see, turning EIGHT is a big deal in our house and for our boy.  We wanted him to have a GREAT day.

I had so much fun preparing his birthday. He'd only told me a few days earlier that he wanted a "Despicable Me" cake.  I know that it was inspired by the movie he's been watching every day lately.  I began scouring the internet for ideas.  I had a fantastic cake decor idea in my head, and I found this fantastic tutorial here to make one of Gru's "cousins."  He doesn't look exactly the same, but isn't he cute?!

I ended up painting him with yellow acrylic paint instead of covering him in crepe paper like the tutorial did, but that's because I went to THREE stores, and none of them had crepe paper.

Like I said, I had a fantastic cake idea in mind, but I ended up only doing half of my idea because by the end of the day yesterday, at 11:00  p.m., I decided that the cake toppers I bought were enough, and I knew Jackson would be happy anyway.  Here's how it turned out:

  Jackson picked the colors himself:  Orange for Vector's jumpsuit and blue for the color of the shrink ray.  The cake itself is German chocolate.

When he woke up and came into the kitchen, he looked around and was happy.  Of course, after a few minutes he began to cry and asked, "But Mom, where are my presents?"  I just chuckled and told him that I hadn't wrapped them yet, and that we'd open them later in the day.

 The streamers dangling from the chandelier represent the shrink ray, and we printed off a picture of the moon, and you can see that it's been shrunk.

I made pancakes, just like in the movie, for breakfast, but Jackson chose to have a "V" for Vector and a "G" for Gru.  He also wanted blue pancakes for the shrink ray.

Since we don't have a lot of family very close by, and I'm just not up to doing a "friends" party yet for various reasons, we decided to just celebrate with the four of us. He blew out the candles and opened his presents.

His favorites were new Walkie Talkies from Matt, a globe from Mom, and a fun Interactive United States Map, uh, THING from Grandma and Grandpa.

 I knew Jackson wouldn't have a problem being the only one to break the pinata.  In fact, he had a grand time beating that cousin.  It worked fantastically!  Sorry, again, no pictures.  I was manning the video camera, and I'm too lazy to post it on the blog.

 Happy Birthday, Bud!  So glad you stuck around!

Pain in the Dentist

Last week I took Jackson to the dentist for his six-month check up.  If you've followed my son at all, you know that the dentist=Den of Torture in his mind.  I have to admit that this time, things went better than they had in the past, for the most part.

The screaming and uncontrollable crying didn't start until the hygienist started cleaning the back of Jackson's bottom front teeth.  It didn't help me that my face was right next to his when it happened.  Cole, who usually starts crying when someone else does, sat in his stroller smiling away.  Hopefully, one of our guardian angels was there entertaining him, knowing that I couldn't be a comforting mom in two places at once.

Jackson calmed down okay after that, but so was so worried about the dentist coming in because I was going to have him pull Jackson's loose tooth.  You see, this tooth had been loose for almost a year.  The new tooth had already come in behind it, and this one wouldn't leave.  We could have started calling Jackson "Snaggletooth" because of that baby.  We had tried a month before to coax him to let us pull it out.  After an hour of him screaming and us finally getting a string around that sucker and pulling it, only to have it loosen and break the string, I was done.  Nope, not doing that fight again.

That's what the dentist is for. . .

or so I thought until yesterday when we got our insurance statement.  Apparently, pulling out a VERY loose tooth that only took a slight yank is considered oral surgery and costs $90!  Did you know that?  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?  I had to pay someone $90 to pull my autistic son's tooth because he wouldn't let me do it.  If I'd known that he'd pay ME $90, I would have done it, too.

Guess who's getting a phone call today?

The hygienist who spent the time calming my son and making friends with him even though she was the evil monster and cleaned his teeth deserves that $90 more than the dentist that came in, checked for cavities, pulled a tooth, and shook my hand all in under 2 minutes.  Seriously,  $90. . . I hope his student loans are long paid off. . .

I'm sure he doesn't remember us from Adam each time he sees us.

Eggs, Pancakes or Pudding?

A while ago, Jackson watched this video:




After watching it a few several bazillion times, he decided he really wanted a mixer for Christmas.  Of course, he really wanted one like "Mommy's" -- a Kitchen Aid.  It had to be just like the one in the video.

Since I'm that kind of mom, I went out and bought him one on sale for $299.95 right away.

Uh, yeah, right.  Actually, I tried very hard to convince him that he couldn't have one of those until he was much older, but we would see what we could do.  Well, my mom, being the awesome grandma that she is, went searching for just the right mixer.  This is what she found:

You have to admit, it looks pretty close to a Kitchen Aid, or at least to a real mixer.  The mixer promises to even be able to mix pancakes, eggs, or pudding.  Today we decided to try it out for "real."  Jackson decided he wanted to make scrambled eggs for breakfast (one of his favorites).   Five eggs in the mixer seemed to overwork it a bit, and the whisk and the paddle both just seemed to push the eggs around without scrambling them because the mixture was too thick.  This tells me that next time we need to either scramble one egg at a time or use the hand-crank, OR that the option needs to be changed from "eggs, pancakes, or pudding?", to "egg?"

Despite trying very hard to look mean, menacing, and annoyed, the chef really is very cute (in my very unbiased, motherly opinion):

Giggles More Galore

Good news:  Cole laughed without peeing through his outfit!  He is still, however, true boy.  He laughed hysterically at my raspberry spitting sounds.  :)

Bad news:  Jackson lost his glasses at school -- nowhere to be found.   Yup, awesome.  Good thing for Jackson that I just wrapped all of the presents, otherwise I might have to return them and get him a very non-exciting present.

Good news: Santa sent Jackson a personalized video telling him he was on the nice list.

Bad news: I'm pretty sure Jackson was scratched out and put on the naughty list within an hour.

Good news:  His mother doesn't really want to buy coal.

Bad news:  Jackson is really struggling with giving Cole the present he picked out for his little brother at the Dollar Tree.

Good news:  I think Cole might get a really nice picture of a race car.

Bad news:  I've already gained the 20 pounds for the holidays and it's not even Christmas.

Good news:  My free issue of Fitness Magazine came in today.

Bad news:  I have five loads of laundry to fold.

Good news:  I have clean laundry so I can answer the door instead of making my husband answer it while he's on vacation and while I hide in the bedroom at 2 p.m. in the afternoon because I still haven't showered because all of my laundry is in the process of getting washed.

Bad news:  I'm beginning to ramble in this post.

Good news:  I'm actually posting on my blog*, and now it's done.

THE END.


*This is what you get when I've inactivated my Facebook account and can't give you a play-by-play of my every move there.  ;)

Happy Halloween!

A cute pumpkin and a spooky, but friendly, ghost hope you had a "boo-"tiful time last night collecting candy.

 (Oh, Nate, do you recognize the mask?)

 Cole was DONE doing pictures after about 10 seconds.  Ha!

BOOOOOO!

Jackson enjoyed trick-or-treating with Daddy this year.  He wore the mask for about the length of time that I took pictures and then took it off after leaving the house (Matt says anyway).  He got a bucket full of candy.   Cole was just cute and admired when the trick-or-treaters came to our door. . . while he slept.