Jackson's loot

We decided to just do the neighborhood trick-or-treat thing this year. I think Jackson really enjoyed himself. He did pretty good on the whole candy thing. Too bad we only let him have about 5 pieces a day....maybe....if he eats his meals. Phillip and I don't really eat much candy. Between Halloween and all the other holidays where Jackson gets candy, we always end up throwing candy away after we've had it for a while. Anyway, here are some pics.

What to be for Halloween.....

Jackson has lots of costumes. He has red and black Spiderman, Raphael (The Ninja Turtle), Batman, Darth Vader, doctor, SWAT team officer. I think that's it, but I could be missing something. He has been planning on being Raphael but now he says he's going to be Darth Vader. I need to try to throw some kind of costume together for myself. I have a clown wig and clown makeup (thanks to Rachel). I'm not sure where the nose is and I don't really have any clown clothes. Maybe I'll wear one of Jackson's Spiderman masks with the clown wig. So anyway, I'll probably be posting some ridiculous pictures later.

Worst School Picture Ever

Ok, maybe it's not the worst school picture ever, but it's certainly Jackson's worst school picture ever.

Here is Jackson's kindergarten picture. Lame. I'm glad I didn't order some big package deal. I just bought the "Photo Adventure CD" which was not real cheap. The CD came with a bunk of games and junk on it, but I'm not thinking it works on a Mac. I don't know. Anyway, I don't think we'll be getting any of these printed.

Kroger tour tomorrow morning

Mikey is on WIC because he is a "foster child." I hate calling him that, but unfortunately he still is. Anyway, I have to go to silly little training classes every two or three months to learn about proper nutrition and infant care and that kind of garbage. Tomorrow I will be joining the Brazoria County WIC folks and other women and children who are on WIC at Kroger for a tour. We will be learning about how to choose healthy foods for our families. In particular, we will be learning about saturated fats. Sweet! I am just so excited and cannot wait! I would much rather just go to one of their silly little training classes at the office, but they do training at 5:00 p.m. and Phillip is not home from work at that time. And I would rather not have to take both kids. So anyway, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow. Everyday there is something to look forward to.

Cute little Jackson

I paid Jackson $3.00 yesterday to let me take some pictures of him. It was really too sunny and the sun was way too reflective off of his little white face. But a few of them turned out kind of cute. He really doesn't like to pose for pictures and he was ready to leave after about 5 minutes. I like the mud all over his shoes in the first picture.

White balance mishap

Jackson put some stickers on his face and I wanted to take a picture of it. I did not color correct either of these pictures. I upped the contrast a little, but that's it. In the first picture I had the white balance on my camera set to the fluorescent light setting and I got this really cool blue effect....totally by accident. The second picture the white balance was just on auto. Everything else is exactly the same except for the white balance. I was really surprised at the difference. I think the first one is way cool and kinda freaky.

Jackson Chalk Collage

It is after midnight. And for the last hour I've been taking several not terribly interesting pictures of Jackson and turning them into something cool. At least I think it's cool. I think he'll think it's cool.

New haircut

I decided to get my hair cut today. And I got it pretty short. I like it.

Tina Fey Visits Sesame Street

Tina Fey from 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live helps Elmo get excited about reading on Sesame Street. Mikey and I are watching it right now. Here is a TV Guide Interview with Fey about her appearance on Sesame Street in case you care.

Napkin Predicament Revisited

On Thursday evening last week, Jackson and I took an hour or so and worked on several napkins together. I decided if the kid wants colored on napkins then he can color them his own dang self. I used the last one today and so we need to sit down and do some more. Here is a sample of Jackson's napkin art. It's kind of blurry, but you get the picture. He drew all four Ninja Turtles with the first letter of their names above their heads. And also a tree. Isn't that nice? By the way, Cyndi, the sticker thing is a great idea.

Halloween Babies

I took this picture the other day of some friends' babies. Let's not talk about the identities of any of these babies. Because it's possible there might be one who is not supposed to be posted on-line. But, they're all in disguise, right? Aren't they cute?

The Napkin Predicament

The first or second week of school I started writing and drawing stuff on Jackson's napkins for his lunch. I just stared doing it to make him feel a little more at home while he was at school. Well, now he has come to expect it and looks forward to what surprise will be on his napkin every day. But I'm tired of writing and drawing on his napkins. We're one month into his first school year and I've gotten myself into a situation I don't want to be in. Every morning I spend entirely too much time contemplating and carrying out my lunch napkin plan. And what makes it worse is that he's so appreciative of the whole thing. And he tells me that I'm "the best drawer" in the world. I don't feel like I can quit doing it now because he'll be disappointed. I told him this morning that I really didn't have time to draw on his napkin and that I didn't have any good ideas. And he said something like, "I don't care what you draw. Just draw anything and I'll like it." UHHHH!! How do you argue with that? I think next Tuesday evening (date night) Phillip and I need to have a napkin drawing party and draw pictures and stuff on about 100 napkins so I can just grab a pre-drawn napkin and stuff it in his lunch box. Like it's not enough that the kid is so picky that I have to make him the same exact lunch every day, but now I'm stuck drawing on his dang napkin. I do realize, of course, that I created this situation. And just in case you've never tried it, it's not all that easy to color a picture on a napkin. And what makes it worse is that the last napkins I bought were cheapo crappy napkins that tear really easily. Man, I don't know what I'm going to do.

Pumpkin Patch 2007 Attempt #1

We went to the Pumpkin Patch this evening to get a few pictures and let Jackson run around like a fool. It was 7:00 when we got around to getting over there so the pictures turned out less than great. But that's okay, we've got several more weeks to get some better ones. Anyway, I thought I would post a few here anyway. I got some pretty cute ones of Mikey, but I can only post one where you can't see his face. So dumb, I'll be glad when I don't have to worry about that anymore. Can you even imagine my frustration with not being able to post pictures of my kid online?? Anyway, here are some pictures.






We tried to get some of the boys together, but Jackson was not being very cooperative. Neither was Mikey, but that goes without saying. Jackson's idea of cooperating is sitting still and staring off into space. Here are some Jackson faces that I cropped out of some pictures so you can see how goofy he is. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

Things that make me feel happy

I saw a woman on a t.v. show recommending that you take note of the things every day that bring happiness to your life. I don't really see myself starting a "happiness journal" and jotting something down every day. But just because, I thought I would list some things that regularly bring me happiness. A lot of times I'm too busy or distracted to take notice of these things. Maybe writing some things down will help me to pay more attention.

• The smell of my kids' hair, whether clean or dirty
  
• Our old creaky wood floors
• Snuggling up with a fleece blanket when my feet are cold...and my feet are always cold
• How Phillip's hands are somehow always warm regardless of the temperature in the room
  
• Watching my kids sleep
• My bed (daily statement: "I love Bed.")
• Reading a book while dirty dishes are in the sink (and not feeling guilty about it)
  
• Coffee, anytime, anywhere, hot, cold, frozen, just not black
  
• Watching Phillip play with the kids
• Honest conversation
• Getting a new haircut, which I really need to do by the way
• Singing in the car and not caring who sees me
• Trying to take a cute picture of a baby who never stops moving
  

Reading Acts

This week I started reading the book of Acts. There's some crazy stuff in there. I honestly don't know if I've ever read much of that book before. Most of it so far sounds vaguely familiar but that's about it. Really, I haven't ever taken the time to read much of the New Testament. I've read lots of bits and pieces here and there, but never in such a way to get "the big picture." The Old Testament has always interested me more. Anyway, it just kind of occurred to me lately that I need to educate myself more on Jesus' life. I know the main stuff about his life and what he did. But I don't know much about the people he entrusted his ministry to. And I don't have a decent grasp of the chronology of all that stuff. So, that's my plan for the next few months or whatever. To really read and hopefully remember some of that stuff. You just never know when an opportunity might arise to impress someone with your Biblical knowledge. For those few readers who don't get jokes, that was a joke.

A Chill-Out Day

Jackson has been begging to stay home from school ever since it started. Today he got his wish thanks to a fever during the night. This morning he seems to be feeling absolutely fine but I sure don't want to get any kids in his class sick. So today will be a day of snacking on gold fish, watching lame kid shows, and just taking it easy. I really hope he doesn't get any sicker because the folks are supposed to be taking him camping this weekend.

Elementary School Lunch

I took Jackson lunch today and ate with him at school. There's this traffic light thing in the cafeteria. If the kids are getting too loud, the light goes to red and an alarm sounds. Then they're supposed to be quiet until the light goes back to green or yellow. That dang alarm must have gone off five or six times in the thirty minutes we were there. And I didn't even think things were that loud when it went off in the first place. You would think that lunch and recess would be the two places where they can just relax and socialize with their friends. Whatever, I guess they need to learn some kind of self-control. I got to meet a few of the kiddos in Jackson's class. And I got to see one little dude mix his applesauce and his catchup and eat it. He added a few green beans too, just for an added bonus. It's kind of cool to be able to put some faces with the names that he talks about all the time. There's one little girl named Chloe and she is such a cutie. She's got a couple of loose teeth and was having a heck of a time trying to eat her apple. I was really surprised at how many kids eat the school lunch. I would think that most kindergarteners would bring their lunches. I guess Jackson's just kind of high maintenance. Oh well, his lunch probably costs less than a buck a day, about half of what the school lunch costs.