Late-Night Legos

Jackson has been saving his allowance for a couple of weeks, as well as taking on extra chores (like cleaning up outside after Jasper! ew!), so he could afford a big Lego Coast Guard helicopter and crane set that he's had his eye on.

Yesterday, taking into consideration the rough morning he had at the orthodontist (he was SO brave!), Daddy matched the money he'd saved and came home with Jackson's prize.

Keep in mind that Anthony gets home around 7. So Jacks didn't have much time with his Legos before it was bed time.

At 10:30, right before I went to bed last night, I went upstairs to check on the boys as usual. Strangely, Jackson's bedroom door was closed. It's always open so he can see the light from the hall. I double-checked with Anthony that he hadn't closed it for some reason, and then went back up to see what was going on.

As I pushed the door open, Jacks was right there behind it, looking guilty and said, "OK good night!" I asked him what he was doing and he walked me over to the bed, where he pulled back the covers to reveal the entire contents of his new giant Lego kit spilled into a pile. He was attempting to put together his Legos in the dark.

Some kids read under the covers with a flashlight. Not our boy. He's all about the Legos. And he was up at 5 this morning to get it done before school.

It's perfect.

State Fair 2008

Anthony came home from a long business trip on Wednesday at lunch time and didn't have to go in to work that afternoon. So we let the younger boys nap, grabbed Jacks from school and headed down to Fair Park!

As soon as we walked in, the most immediate mission was FOOD! So we picked up a corn dog or two. Then Jacks played a game where he had to toss a ball into a bucket two times in a row, and he won a big plush dog! He was so proud, especially because Anthony tried to play right after Jacks did and he couldn't do it.

Next, it was time to check out the rides. Bumper cars, little boats, a caterpillar rollercoaster, and the log flume. They chose to do all those, rather then the big ferris wheel, the Texas Star. They'd been talking about the ferris wheel all week, so I was really surprised they passed on it. But they were seduced by all the lights and sounds of the kiddie rides right in front of them. :)

That last picture was taken about 2 seconds before the ride started and about 4 seconds before Cody completely freaked out. It was a pretty tame ride but it did go around in circles and the cars bumped up and down. After this, the bumper cars (which he enjoyed at first but then looked like he was going to hurl) and the Monkey Maze (where he kept bumping into walls), he refused to go on anything else. Poor guy, I think he was very overwhelmed by all the crowds and noise and lights and excitement, and then the motion of the rides just set him off even more. We did get him on the carousel at the end of the night, though.

So, it was time for something completely calm, involving just sitting as still as you can: face painting!

Jacks was SO proud of his snake face. He kept trying to walk around with his eyes closed to give everyone the full effect. We had so many people tell him he'd scared them and looked ready for Halloween!

Of course, we didn't figure in the fact that Jacks had Picture Day at school on Thursday. Boy, it was NOT pretty trying to get all that green off his face. He accidentally snorted soap up his nose in the process, so I think it will be a while before he gets his face painted that extensively again. Hopefully, we got enough of it off that he won't look like he has a black eye or is related to The Incredbile Hulk in his first grade class picture. :)

Meanwhile, Luke made friends with a giant pretzel. Anthony also gave him some lemonade in his sippy cup, so the little man was in heaven. Anyone who tried to take a bite of his pretzel was taking his life in his hands, for sure. Do YOU want to mess with him?


Then, it was off to the Age of Steam train museum where we could climb in and on all sorts of old trains. These pictures don't actually have much of the trains in them, but how could I focus on the trains when my subjects were so handsome in all their painted glory?

And finally, we hit the auto show. As soon as we walked in, Cody RAN right over to a red, Nissan GTR (according to Anthony, the coolest car ever) up on a platform, chanting "cool cars, cool cars!" He was entranced for a long while and ended up bringing home a poster to hang on his wall. Then he climbed inside an updated version of Anthony's old Z and "drove" us wherever we wanted to go.


On our way out, we stopped by Big Tex. Jacks and Cody thought it was pretty cool to see a cowboy that huge, but Luke was NOT amused. That giant man was moving and talking, and he was about 90 times bigger than anyone Luke had ever seen before. Can't really blame him for being a bit unsure.

Per Cody's request, we rode the Skyway back across the park to our car. He called it the Gondola (like the one we rode in Vail) and it was the one thing he wanted to do the whole time. So how could we refuse? And then we took a quick spin on the carousel on our way out.

We had such a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, we got in for $4 because we brought cans of food on a Wednesday, and it was the middle of the week so the crowds were minimal. We ate enough fried food that all of us can only eat broccoli for the next month, but it was worth it.

We can't wait to go back next year. And next year, we're definitely riding the ferris wheel. :)

We 3 Kings of Swing

Finally! I found a park with baby swings right next to the big kid swings, and I can get them all lined up and push them at the same time! We had so much fun here. We had it all to ourselves, the weather was beautiful, and the kids just had a blast.

Jacks was pushing Luke in this one, and Luke was just cackling with glee. Aren't big brothers the greatest?

My Cup Runneth Over

As a mother, like everyone else, I have days where I wonder, “Why me?” Where I try to discern what I ever did to deserve the “joys” rained down upon me by my 3 sons, maniacal demons in little boys’ clothing.

Today was NOT one of those days. Today I truly enjoyed every second with them. Today they made me proud and awed and overwhelmed with the enormity of it all. Today my cup runneth over. Today is why I love my job.

We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, really. Anthony’s been out of town for 4 days, so you’d think the bloom would definitely be off the rose and we’d be at each other’s throats.

Instead, we read books and did homework. We went to dinner and played at the park. I was told how beautiful I was and had to figure out a way for all 3 boys to sit next to me at the table because they all wanted to be “by Mama.” (Well, Luke’s was a silent vote, but I took the liberty of assuming he’d want to be by the person who was most likely to actually give him food.) We counted bed bugs and tried to quantify just how much we loved each other. (“up to the sky and down again” SIX whole times!!!)

I mean, how could it get any better than that?

May all mommies be blessed with this kind of day. It makes it all worth it.

Return of the NumNum Bandit

Shhhh. Be vewy vewy quiet. Don't tell Jackson that Mama just sneaked me a piece of his cookie.

Well, wait a minute...I'm not sure if I like this. Do I? Better try another bite, just to be sure.

Ok, yep yep, I remember now. I DO like it. I DO, I DO!!

Uh oh, is that a camera?

Luke the Intrepid

In addition to loving the park last weekend, Luke discovered a new love yesterday: the mall play area. He had crawled around a few before, but never strayed too far from me and always seemed a little overwhelmed.

Well, Monday afternoon, it was a brand new Luke. Luke-at-the-Mall 2.0. He tore around that play area at warp speed. I'm surprised he didn't leave little bits of the carpet smoking in his wake.
He climbed up and over and around and through.And occasionally, the "down" part of the climbing was a little rougher than he might have liked.

But even multiple face-plants didn't faze him in the slightest. He just picked himself up and kept going.

I'm sure it didn't hurt that he had two of the handsomest and most helpful big brothers on the planet to help him navigate the twists and turns, and to make the bumps in the road a little less scary.

Fun at the Park

Hasn't this weather been just beautiful? We took advantage and spent an afternoon playing at the park.

Cody could not get enough of the swings. His sense of equilibrium is still such that if he swings too long or too high, he starts to feel sick. So he very carefully instructs whoever is pushing him, "Not TOO high, just right." :)

I expected Luke wouldn't be satisified with sitting in his stroller throughout our playtime, but I was surprised at just how comfortable he made himself ...on the grass, in the gravel, he loved it all!Keep this cooler weather coming! We're in heaven!