Pumpkin Carving and Spiderman Captain Hook

So last night I carved our pumpkin. Jackson had a hard time choosing between a pirate, Mickey Mouse, or a monster, but he finally settled on the monster. The original plan was for him to help me with the pumpkin, but once he saw how gross it is inside a pumpkin, he refused! He kept saying, "Mama, that is gross and yucky and I'm not touching it!"

So I did it and was really pleased with the end result!

And today Jackson has a Halloween party at school. He was so excited about his costume until it was time to put it on. He pitched a fit! We finally convinced him to wear it as long as he got to take his pirate hook with him today. So, I would like to introduce you to Spiderman Captain Hook.

He also did NOT want his picture taken!

So I tricked him and told him that I was only taking a picture of his hook. It worked. He fell for it hook, line and sinker!

Have a great day and Happy Halloween!

Update from Jacksonville

So thanks to Jeremy's hard work and steadfast determination, Jackson can now say, "supercalifragilistic" and "expialidocious" but only as two separate words. It's quite funny, especially when he's insiting that "you say it like this!"

Jackson is going to be Spiderman for Halloween. He has a "Fall Festival" party tomorrow at his school that he gets to wear his costume to, and then tomorrow night we will be heading to the downtown area to go to FBC and do their fall festival. Then on Saturday night, we will be heading to the fall festival at the church where Jackson goes to school, and then, maybe, if we are not in "melt-down" mode, we may go through our neighborhood.

And speaking of Halloween, Last year my sister and I went to a Halloween party as Britney and and the very pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears. I was Britney and Kellyn was Jamie Lynn. A year later my sister is pregnant. Does this mean that a year after pretending to be Britney Spears that I've turned into a crazy person? Miranda, keep quiet!

So in thinking about Halloween costumes this year I thought about having Jeremy and I go as Jon and Kate Gosselin. It should be easy enough. I could just wear this wig and a pair of over sized sunglasses and yell at random brunette-haired children, and Jeremy could wear a diamond stud earring and follow me around pretending to be as disinterested as possible, or just not show up since Jon isn’t really in the picture anymore. Just a thought….

Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Papa!!!

Jeremy and I want to wish his Dad a wonderful and happy Birthday! We can't wait to see you! We hope you have an amazing day!

Happy Birthday Buddy!!!

I'm Nuts For This Kiddo!

He's only three and check out his coloring page from school yesterday! Look at that "coloring in the lines" talent!

I may be biased, but I think he's brilliant!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Last night during bathtime I decided to get all wild and crazy and put a tattoo on Jackson. We got the tattoo at the Sherrif's Office booth at our fair a few weeks back. Of course, like most people with tattoos, he wasn't ready to stop with one!

Jackson's new pose! He makes this face all the time now!

Double trouble!

Check out my guns!

Does this mean he's an undercover agent?

And after we got him out of the tub Jackson looked at me and said, "Thank you so much Mama for my tattoos!" Jeremy officially called it last night that if Jackson decides to get inked when he's older, it's all my fault!

And speaking of Jeremy, this morning as I was getting ready he came into the bedroom and said:

Jeremy: "Amy, Jackson can almost say 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' all by himself!"

Me: "Really?"

Jeremy: "Well, he can say the 'supercali' part!"

Me (insert crickets chirping): "That's not even close to the whole thing. You are sooo going to end up on the blog for that."

Have a great day!

At Least He's Got The Right Idea....

Mom and Dad watched Jackson for me on Saturday so that I could take a group of girls from our church to Birmingham, AL to go meet a missionary we have been collecting school supplies for. We had a great time, but as usual, my parents had a funny Jackson story to share with me when I got home.

Mom and Dad have a baby gate put up between their den and their kitchen to keep their dog Shadow contained. Mom had run out for a little bit, so my Dad was watching Jackson. Dad went over to thet gate and pretended like his foot was stuck and wouldn't come over the gate. Jackson, of course, was doing everything he could to help his Tata get off the gate and my Dad, of course, was doing a great job of pretending that he needed help.

Dad said after a minute or so Jackson just tore off running through the kitchen and Dad hollered to Jackson, "Where are you going, Jackson?"

Jackson hollered back, "I'll be back in a minute! I'm going to call 911!"

My Dad was dying laughing, but luckily caught Jackson before he was able to make his phone call.

But at least he know's what to do....

My First Crock Pot Flop (Which Worked to My Advantage)

I got all adventurous Friday and decided to try out a "make it all up as you go" crock pot recipe. Here's what I did: Open a package of chicken breasts and dump them into the crock pot. I then added a mixture of bbq sauce, Moore's sauce, Italian dressing, and Dale's sauce. I guess I was thinking that since the chicken would cook all day that it would need to stay moist. Guess what? It didn't work. The chicken was terrible! I opened the door to the house to smell something funny. It wasn't a burnt smell, just odd. When I tried the chicken I think I was a little surprised at how bad it was, but I was going to pass it off as edible and hope Jeremy didn't notice.

He did.

He took one bite and quickly pronounced it awful. There might have even been some gagging sounds involved.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. Ahem.

So I quickly enacted my family rule that if a recipe doesn't work out we are either ordering a pizza or going out for dinner. We decided to head to I-Hop for breakfast at dinner, but at the last minute changed our mind and went to the new Japanese hibachi place in town.

Can I just take a moment to tell you how much I love hibachi restaurants. I love them. I really do. Hands down it is my favorite thing to eat in the world. Too bad it costs and arm and a leg to eat at one.

Anyways, we decided to try out the Japanese place with Jackson. I know, it was a risky move with a three year old. I've seen many a kid freak out in the restaurants when they start up with the fire. I was praying we wouldn't encounter that. We talked on the way over with Jackson about how the cook would make our food at the table and that he would see some fire, but we stressed that it would not hurt him at all.

So we got in and got seated immediately. We ordered and they brought out our soup and salad. I think that's one of the things I love so much about these restaurants; you get so.much.food.

So Jackson was not a fan of the salad at all, and personally, I think he's crazy because that Ginger dressing is heaven on earth. But he LOVED the soup. While he was eating the soup, my ever-so-safety-conscience son was pointing out all the fire extinguishers in the room because, "I'm not gonna let the fire get to me."

And then the show started. Jackson was a little scared at first of the sounds, but quickly got into enjoying himself. Then the man lit something on fire, and guess what, Jackson didn't freak. He got a little scared, but all in all, it was not big deal.

Jackson loved the rice, he ate most of my steak, he was not a fan of the veggies (surprise, surprise), and he ate with kiddie chopsticks. I so wish that I had my camera with me. He told us that he loved the food. So now I know we'll be back. If only I could get him to like that Ginger dressing and we'd be all set.

And just for the family....new pictures of Jackson!

Jackson wanted to shave with Daddy!

Apparently he really enjoyed himself! (And not to worry, the safety cap is on!)

Have a great Monday!

It's The Song That Never Ends....

I’ve always heard about parents talk about the frustration that occurs when their child gets to the “why” stage of life. “why do we do this?” or “why are we going there?” type of questions. I know it gets old being questioned all the time, and I definitely know that Jackson is just trying to figure out his world, but I’m a little confused as to whether we’ve completely skipped over that line of questioning, or if we are just gearing up for it!

Jackson’s questions about life right now are “what” questions, and we get them all the time and usually it’s a question that we’ve answered about a million times already and his questions always take us in a circle!

Jackson: “What are we doing, Mama?”
Me: “We’re getting ready to go to church.”
Jackson: “What are we going to church for?”
Me: “To learn about God and Jesus.”
Jackson: “What are we going to learn about God and Jesus for?”
Me: “Because God made everything and we love him.”
Jackson: “What did God make everything for?”
Me: “Because he loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Jackson: “What does he want us to be happy for?”
Me: “Because God doesn’t like it when we’re sad.”
Jackson: “What does he not want us to be sad for?”
Me: “Because being sad is no fun.”
Jackson: “What is being sad no fun for?”
Me: “Because if we’re sad then we’re not happy and if we aren’t happy then we aren’t having fun.”
Jackson: “What are we not having fun for?”
Me: “We are having fun sweetie. We’re about to leave to go have some fun.”
Jackson: “What are we doing, Mama?”
Me: “We’re getting ready to go to church.”
Jackson: “What are we going to church for?”
Me: “I give up.”

It’s the song that never ends….

More Ruminations on Life

Katherine over at Grass Stains posted more Ruminations on life. I had to share them with you. They are too funny, and too true! Once again I've starred my favorites. Enjoy and leave me a comment with your favorite!

I'm 100% convinced that whenever I'm behind one of those trucks transporting about 18 cars, they're all going to fall on me and I'm going to die. Realistically I doubt this would ever happen, but you can bet your tail I'm switching lanes right now.

*I wish I could copy and paste things onto paper with my eyeballs.

*Yes, I'm pretty sure I turned the oven off before we left, but now that you ask, I'm pretty sure our apartment is definitely burning to the ground right now.

***I really can't wait until the day when I can hum a song into my computer and Google will tell me the name and artist.

*“This person was dumber than we initially thought" should be a valid and legal reason to fire anybody.

*There is no worse feeling than a failed nap.

Nothing is more excited than turning the radio on and hearing the chorus of your favorite song. And nothing is more disappointing than realizing it's the end of the song.-

The worst feeling in the world is when you are in the middle of a good story and realize no one is listening to you.

I hate scrolling down through all the U's just to find the United States ... No, I am not from Uganda.

Can we please just stop the "I can't believe it's the end of the month" conversation already? I don't think I can go another 60 some odd years listening to people constantly getting surprised by time moving forward.

I can never gauge accurately how much dressing to put on a salad or how much sauce to put on spaghetti. It's kind of ridiculous, actually.-

*A multivitamin a day keeps the vegetables away.

Who decided that every home needs a fake drawer directly below the kitchen sink?

No, Microsoft Word, my name is not spelled wrong.

Why is the universal "Save" button logo still a floppy disk? I'm pretty sure they became obsolete about a decade ago.

What is it about turning a picture black and white that makes people feel artistic?

Does anyone actually sing in the shower? I’ve tried it. I was alone, yet still mortified by the result. But in the car with the stereo cranked up so I can’t hear myself? I'm hitting every note, and sometimes better than the artist. I just know it.

*I love it when an impatient person tries to pass me, only to find out they totally misjudged the other lane and have to get right back behind me. I wish a sign would pop up on my back window and say, "Hi, you look awfully familiar..."

Can Someone Please Make The Imaginary Friend Behave?

Remember Jackson’s imaginary friend Allison? He’s still wrecking havoc around our house. The other day Jeremy came into the kitchen as I was making supper and said, “You have GOT to go see what is going on in Jackson’s room.” I walked into his room, where I promise he had only been unsupervised for less than 5 minutes, to see that the cords from Jackson’s 2 sets of plantation shutters were wound into a knot that was almost an inch and a half thick and the blinds were completely open. We’re talking 4 cords with wooden do-dads on the end in a knot that was half as big as my palm.

We have no idea how it happened so badly and so quickly.

Jackson swears that Allison did it.

We’re not buying it…

I abandoned dinner making, much to everyone’s chagrin, and started working on the knot. In order to reach the knot since it was so high up on the blinds I had to climb on top of Jackson’s toy box and keep my hands about neck level the whole time. Talk about numbness! In all fairness, Jeremy completely offered to take over undoing-the-knot duties, but by this point it was almost therapeutic trying to unravel the knot. I was so over making dinner by that point.

It took me ten minutes to just get the blinds to go down.

After pulling on the cords relentlessly for awhile I realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere. I would loosen one strand only to tighten the other three. Keep in mind I was also dealing with 4 of those wooden pieces on the end of the blinds, so I really had no give with the strings. I finally got a brilliant (if I say so myself) idea to take off the wooden do-dads and just work on pulling out the strings with tweezers. Luckily I stopped taking the wooden do-dads off after removing only one because as soon as I took it off, I realized that I had no idea how to put them back on.

So 30 minutes after working with 3 wooden do-dads, one pair of tweezers and one string I finally started making progress and the knot started unraveling. After 45 minutes it was completely done.

Jackson was watching intently the whole time and kept saying, “Allison needs to get in trouble. He messed up my blinds.”

Uh-huh.

I have now informed both Jackson and Allison that if either of them ever so much as touch the blinds again, I’m going to get both of their hiney’s.

Seriously, as a working mother I have enough on my hands taking care of a three year old without having to worry about disciplining imaginary friends as well. It’s hard enough making my kid listen to me, let alone a kid I can’t even see!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

On Saturday Jeremy, Jackson, Mom, Dad and I headed up to the Pumpkin Patch. We've loved making this a yearly tradition, and Jackson just has a blast going there. I can guarantee that he will talk about it for weeks, if not months! Enjoy the pics!

Our little punkin!

He loved the wagon!

Such a cutie!

Riding the Twactor Twain with Mama!

The pony ride was so much fun!

Such a big boy!

The Wade's

I love this picture of him waiting for the hayride to the pumpkin patch!

Jeremy, Jackson and I on the hayride!

Us with Nana

It was cold!

I like this pumpkin, Mama!

But these look good too!

I can do it all.by.myself.

I'm guessing he needed a little help here!

I think he pooted on me! Such a stinker. Literally!

Our little family!

I carried a pumpkin!

Jackson was too busy watching the helicopter flying over to be bothered with such nonsense like taking a picture!

Jackson and Nana in the petting zoo

Nana, Tata, and Jackson

What a fun day!

New Recipes and Such

So Jackson's sick. Again. I picked him up from the church nursery yesterday and noticed that he didn't look like he was feeling well. They told me that he kept wanting to lay down and take a nap. Y'all, he NEVER does that! When I felt him he did feel a touch warm and when we got home his temperature was 102. It immediately came down after ibuprofen, but we can't seem to shake that last little bit of fever.

So he's with my Mom today. I'm hoping that he's feeling better because he's acting fine, he just has a very slight fever. I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for this afternoon, but I may end up cancelling it if my Mom thinks he's doing okay.

And guess what? It's gotten cold here! We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday and had a wonderful time. I'll post pictures soon! Jackson loved it, and despite the cold, we all had a wonderful time. So say a little prayer for our little man that he's feeling better soon. I'll keep you posted!

And check out Cheese Grits and Jesus. I posted a recipe for Cheese Grits this morning that will knock your socks off! Have a great Monday!

Tales From The Daddy Side

Jeremy overheard Jackson saying the Pledge of Allegiance the other day. We knew he knew the Pledge to the Christian flag, but this was new to us. After hearing all about how cute he sounded when Jeremy heard it, and much begging, pleading and bribery, I finally got to hear it for myself last night:

I pwedge Allegiance to the Christian Flag of the United States of America, and to the Publix for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for frogs.

Isn’t that about the cutest thing ever….

And Jeremy and Jackson were getting ready for school yesterday morning when Jackson spotted our thermometer on our bedside table. He started playing with it, and when Jeremy spotted him he told him that he couldn’t play with our real thermometer, that he needed to play with the one from his doctor kit.

Jeremy then put the thermometer on top of our television in our bedroom so Jackson couldn’t reach it. Jackson said, “I can get it” and dumped our laundry basket out, drug it over to the TV, flipped it over, stood on it, and got the thermometer down.

Not to be outsmarted by a three year old, Jeremy then walked into the kitchen and put the thermometer on top of the refrigerator. Jackson said, “I can still get it” and grabbed the laundry basket, climbed on top, and of course was nowhere near able to reach the thermometer.

Jackson was not deterred. He then pulled one of our kitchen chairs to the refrigerator and tried again. Still not tall enough.

Not giving up, Jackson then walked into the bathroom, picked up his step stool, walked back into the kitchen and put it on top of the kitchen chair. He then climbed on top of the stool on top of the chair and easily reached the thermometer. He looked back at Jeremy and said, “I told you I could get it!”

We are so gonna have our hands full with this kid….

I'll Take Bubble Wrap for $400, Alex!

Remember when Jeremy broke his elbow back in August? And do you remember what happened when Jeremy got cleared from his orthopedic for his broken elbow? He ended up dislocating his knee the.very.next.day.

So Jeremy got cleared from the orthopedic on Monday from his dislocated knee. I told Jeremy that I needed to wrap him in bubble wrap on Tuesday so that we don’t end up repeating the cycle.

He didn’t see the humor.

So we made it past Tuesday with no incidents. It seemed like Jeremy had broken the curse, but his safety record was almost broken last night. Literally.

Mom and Dad recently got a new TV for their living room. They offered us their old TV because it’s a lot bigger than the one we have. So we gladly took them up on their offer and last night after church Jeremy and Dad worked on moving the TV to our house. I had hand bell practice at church so it was just Jeremy, Jackson and Dad at our house.

Dad and Jeremy got the TV into our entertainment center and were in the middle of hooking up our cable and what not when Jeremy had to run into the kitchen to get something.

Apparently while Jeremy and Dad had been busy in the living room, Jackson was busy himself. Jeremy had accidentally left open the cabinet below our kitchen sink, the one with all the cleaning supplies in it. So while Dad and Jeremy were working, Jackson had decided to take it upon himself to hose our linoleum kitchen floor down with Orange Clean Degreaser.

Does anyone see where this is going?

When Jeremy walked into the kitchen he stepped right onto the “degreased” part of the floor and fell hard, not once, not twice, but THREE times! Luckily, he he didn't break anything, other than his pride, but seeing as how our luck has been, it wouldn’t have shocked me at all if he had ended up in traction. Dad left shortly after that and when I got home I walked into the door just in time to see Jackson bust his tail. Apparently degreaser on the bottom of tennis shoes doesn’t bode well for anyone, especially in Wade’s World. Luckily, Jackson was also fine. I'm hoping that Jackson hasn't inherited all this falling down business his Daddy is so good at!

And if you'll excuse me, I’m going to check out prices on rolls of bubble wrap, just to cover all our bases. And our booties.

Happy Anniversary!!

Jeremy and I want to wish his parents a Happy 32nd Anniversary! We love y'all and hope you have an amazing day!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Last night we went with my family to the State Fair. Jackson had a blast! It was Jackson's first time to ride the rides by himself. We were sure that we were going to have a meltdown as soon as he was strapped in and the ride started moving, but he LOVED everything. In fact, he cried the entire way home because he wanted to ride more rides! Enjoy the pictures!

Checking out the farm animals

Jackson loved the chickens

and he couldn't understand why he couldn't ride the tractor!

Mom's picture of Jackson won Third Place!

Another picture of Mom's

My Sunflower picture. It didn't win, but I still love it!

Jackson LOVED feeding the goats at the petting zoo...

and the goats LOVED him!

Such a little man!

We rode the carousel...

which is always fun!

And Jackson rode the Nemo ride All By Himself!

He had so much fun!

He went off-roading in a jeep....

and drove like a champ!

Check out that "10 and 2" driving style!

And Jackson and Tata went into the fun house...

and caused a hilarious avalanche of kids as they were coming out!

Jackson's favorite ride was the motorcycles!

He's almost ready for a Harley!

Nana and Jackson

Kellyn and I capped off the evening with roasted corn. Yum!!!

And the whole evening was a success despite a couple of clowns who run Wade's World!