Finger JELLO

Jackson decided that one of his goals of the weekend was to teach me how to make "Finger Jello". At school this week his teacher had let each of the students assist her in making Jello. Somewhere along the way the class titled the Jello: Finger Jello. With this classroom demonstration under his belt, Jackson saw himself as the Jello expert and decided that we too should make Finger Jello. He started out by describing that Finger Jello is just a small amount of Jello that can be eaten with your fingers, no spoon required. When I asked him how we would make this "Finger Jello" he said that any "old bottle or cup would work". We decided to use clean cups for our first try but he was so excited to tell me exactly how to make it. (He did not think that the directions on the back of the box were correct). Somehow we were able to make the infamous Primrose finger Jello following at little of box directions and a little Jackson directions. I guess Jello is hard to mess up.

The Beckmanns Come to Visit

Nick and Mary Beckmann came this weekend for a visit. Nick and Joe became friends while attending University of Missouri at Rolla and Nick was the best man at our wedding. The Beckmanns have been married for a little over a year. This was Mary's first visit to Alabama and I was a little nervous about having to disprove all the preconceptions of Alabama that she might have developed.

Joe wanted to start our big tour with a trip to Redstone Arsenal; this would not of been my first pick of scenic locations, however we did have a little fun during the tour. We toured an Apache

helicopter and when Joe inspected it further it was unlocked. The boys had a great time playing in the helicopter until security passed us. Thanks to Nick, we were not discovered.

Next we were off to a quick tour of downtown then to shopping. Mary and I enjoyed a little girl time at Bridge Street before hitting Mellow Mushroom for a little pizza.

While Jackson and Charlie napped, Joe and Nick wanted to introduce Mary to the movie Dazed and Confused; I found it a little disturbing that the guys could quote it almost line for line.

After Jackson and Charlie's nap, we headed to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center to see the Star Wars exhibit. We had been meaning to take Jackson for some time and saw their visit as an opportune time.

Jackson was really excited to see the model of General

Grievous, one of his favorite characters, and to make a levitating ship out of magnets.

I was interested to see what I called the Yeti from Empire Strikes Back because I remember just how scared I was when I watched it . Jackson seemed unfazed by the scary monster, maybe he felt the glass would protect him.

We had a great visit with the Beckmanns and I hope that I was able to dispel some common misconceptions about Alabamians, I guess I started with a huge advantage: she knew Joe and I were not related.

The Preschool Rumor Mill

At the beginning of each school year, Jackson and Charlie's daycare promotes their little students as well. This year Jackson started Preschool 2 and Charlie has transitioned to Early Preschool. Around the breakfast table this morning, Jackson, who remembers being in Early Preschool himself, wondered what class he would be in when Charlie started Preschool 2. Joe explained that when Charlie was moved to Preschool 2, Jackson would be going to the big school and starting kindergarten. Jackson's eyes doubled in size and he declared, "I don't want to go to kindergarten!" When we asked him why he said that the "Bullies in kindergarten would try to make him smoke." I don't know where he got the idea that kindergarten bullies were smokers and preyed on unsuspecting peers, but if that is the rumor about kindergarten I can't wait to see what 1st grade has in store for him.

Scooter Man Coming Through

Today was Jackson's first tour of the neighborhood with his new scooter. For his birthday, Jackson decided that he wanted a scooter. Since our local Toys R Us is located in a sketchy area of town, I decided that with free shipping we would just order on line. We looked at several different models of scooters and when Jackson saw this Spider-man scooter he yelled "That one"! So "that one" it was and when it came in I had to laugh. The scooter is rated for 18 months and older. While not only being huge, it plays different superhero voices and songs. I was a little nervous for him to open the extra large scooter but when he did he loved it. Jackson was so proud of his jumbo scooter that he told Charlie he could ride too because his scooter had "room for two".

We started out in our full Spider-man gear which included helmet, scooter, and a pair of shorts that were a little too big which he deemed "scooter riding shorts"(In full gear he looked like an X-Games competitor). Even Gari May made the group of spectators for the scooter's maiden voyage. Jackson was so confident of his scooter abilities that at one point he told Gari she had to get out of the way because "Scooter Man was coming through!"

While on the trip, Jackson took full advantage of the musical

offerings of the scooter and would take

intermittent dance breaks (especially on the hills).

I am betting that even though Scooter Man's clothing style might be featured on X-Games, I seriously doubt his dance moves will.

Superhero Time!!!

In celebration of the boy's birthdays this year we decided to have a joint party with the theme of Superheros. Jackson and Charlie could not settle on just one superhero to be honored, so we decided that all superheros were welcome.

After Incredible Hulk cake and Spider-man and Batman

cupcakes, I think that most parents were happy about the inclusion of the Spider-man jumper to work off some of the sugar buzz.

With the chance of rain turning into a reality; we had to move the pinata indoors. Joe volunteered to hold the pinata while each child took a turn.We soon came to the conclusion that the pinata was going to be a little harder to break into than expected so the blindfold was put aside and the kids swung away. After about four rounds of kids Joe took a knife to it and helped the situation.

Even with all the Superhero festivities, Jackson could not resist showing off his light-saber skills to his friends and possibly recruit some future Jedi's.

After everyone left, the boys decided to try the Spiderman jumper wet and had a blast. Nothing like a Spider-man slip and slide to complete your Superhero Day.

Happy Birthday Jackson!!

Jackson turned 4 today. He has been so excited about his upcoming birthday and had a running list of all the things that he would like for gifts on the big day. He made sure that we were aware that he really liked the Transformers and anything Star Wars. Jackson was so excited to start the day opening gifts and cards. He opened the gifts from Grandma, Joe's mom, first. When he opened the Transformer Grandma had sent he looked at Joe and proclaimed, "See, I told you Grandma would know!" I guess when Joe caught him earlier in the week trying to open his presents Grandma had sent, Jackson told him that Grandma knew exactly what he wanted.

After presents, Jackson and I went to Target armed with his new billfold filled with money that Grandma had sent to go get some bad guys, the Decepticons in Transformer world. I could tell that Jackson felt really big to be able to pick out his toys, Megatron, Ravage, and General Grievous (Star Wars), and pay for them himself out of his new wallet.

One trip to Target and a Happy Meal later, we headed to watch Despicable Me in 3D. Jackson really enjoyed the movie and said that his favorite part was when the "bad guy turned good".

We ended our day the way any birthday should, with cake.

Reading back though this blog entry, I realize how far I have come in my knowledge of boy toys, i.e. Transformers, Decepticons, and all things Star Wars. This being said, I still have some things to learn. The transformer Grandma sent took 1 move to transform, the Optimus Prime I bought took 26. I guess we will chalk that up to experience and Grandma "Knows"!

Nashville Zoo

Joe and I have come to the conclusion that we have visited most of the zoos in the surrounding area and somehow Nashville has eluded us; we decided to remedy this today. With so many zoos under our belt at times we feel like zoo officiants and I would say the Nashville Zoo was a bit different than most we have visited. The habitats were much larger and at times this made it difficult to view the animals because it was definitely a hunt. Also with the larger habitats the walk between them was arduous in the heat.

The boys did enjoy the reptile house and the alligator habitat even though Jackson was frightened that Joe would get too close and an alligator would get them both.

The main attraction for Jackson was the Jungle Gym, which was the largest playground I have ever seen; one of the slides was so large that Joe said he was even scared going down it.

I think that it is safe to say that Jackson's favorite saying of the day was, "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" I think that the common theme of Joe and my thoughts were it is too hot to be at the zoo and Charlie really needs to take a nap!

Who Needs AAA?

A first happened to me yesterday; I had a flat tire. I know that this is not a common occurrence and like most people I was caught quite unprepared. I had decided that I would try to change the tire myself; however two big obstacles stood in my way: I could not figure out where on my van Honda had hidden the spare tire and it was 99 degrees outside. I decided that reinforcements needed to be called.
After Joe's arrival and a quick trip to Sears,we had a new tire.


Jackson was excited for the opportunity to change his first tire and even got Charlie in on the action. I was very proud of Jackson's use of the "speed wrench" and decided that one good thing about having boys: I have the start to my very own pit crew!

Blanket, I Have Been Looking All Over For You

In May, Jackson and Joe took a trip to Osceola to visit with Joe's family. Upon return, we realized that two items had been left in Missouri: Joe's suit and Jackson's blanket. Joe and I thought that the missing blanket was not a big deal and dismissed it until our next trip to visit family.

With Jackson's birthday next week, Joe's mom sent a care package including gifts and the missing blanket. Now keep in mind that Jackson has not once mentioned this blanket but when the blanket was pulled out of the box he yelled "Blanket, I have been looking all over for you!!" He ran around the house with it for about 30 minutes and at bedtime he was happy to snuggle up with the returned treasure.

This morning he was insistent that he should take the blanket to school for nap time. When I dropped him off his teacher commented, "Jackson, you found your blanket. We try to give him a blanket every day at nap but he says that it is not HIS blanket."

I am so glad that Jackson and his blanket are reunited, and feel a little bad that he has been secretly looking and missing the blanket for 3 months and I didn't even know.