A Conversation with Jackson

Tonight as I finished reading Harry Potter to Jackson and was tucking him in bed we had this conversation.

Jackson: Mom, can I make my own hypnotizing gun?

Mom: Well yeah I guess, but I don't think it's going to work.

Jackson: I want to hypnotize pigeons so they'll do what I want.

Mom: (through much laughter) What do you want them to do?

Jackson: Umm, get me ice cream.

Mom: Oh yeah? Where are they going to get the money?

Jackson: From the bank I guess.

Mom: What, you think pigeons have their own bank account?

Jackson: What's a bank account?

I want you all to know I am cracking up laughing as I write this. I love kids! My life would be incredibly boring and dull without them.

Portrait of Luke

I meant to do this on Luke's 4th birthday which was March 17 but as you can see...I'm a slacker.

What can be said about Luke. He loves all things boy yet will play anything his big sister can come up with, including house and princess. He is the defender of his siblings and will really let you have it if you hurt one of them. Every time I mentioned that the weather is really nice today he asks if we can go camping. He is lovingly known in the family as "Lukey" and introduces himself as such. About a week ago Savanna came running up the stairs and said in a very distressed voice, "We were playing smash Lukey and guess what?!" I love Luke and all he adds to our family. Here are a couple of recent pictures of what is happening in the life of Lukey.

4th birthday present from Grandma Quist. A Wightning McQueen mote controw caw.

1st soccer game. Luke playing defense.

Luke is on the Red team and has a blue sweatshirt underneath. Sorry about the lousy videography!

Snow Day

Will the madness ever end?!?!?!? Actually we all had a great time with our snow storm on March 8. Yes, even me. Here are a few pics and videos to document the event.

This was taken out our back door, looking out onto the deck. Now that's a lot of snow!

Delete

I wish I could declutter my life the way I declutter my email inbox. I just received that dreaded message that my inbox was nearing capacity. So, says I, I guess it's time to clean it out. So I proceed to go to the oldest emails and begin to delete. Some pages I decide to keep one or two, other pages I get the joy of clicking one box and deleting the whole page. I went from 130 messages to 36 what a great feeling. Then I think to myself, "why can't my life be that easy?" Every so often my house could flash a bright red warning, Your house is at 78% capacity. Then I could go around all the clutter gathering areas of the house, look at a piece of mail decide whether I want to keep it, if not say "delete" and it's gone, if so, say "save" and it disappears somewhere that doesn't clutter up my house until I need it again. I really have no problem throwing stuff away. My problem lies in not taking care of it the moment it touches my hands. I guess you'd call it procrastination. Now I know a lot of you very organized people are thinking, "quit whining and get a file cabinet." Well, I have one and a recycling bin but it's not the same and not as much fun. Besides, your email box probably never "nears capacity" either.

You Made My Day

I normally am not a big fan of Valentines Day. I expect very little, I give very little. Today has changed my opinion thanks to the planning of my incredibly, wonderful, and good looking husband. Below are pictures of my surprise this morning.

Mark got up extra early this morning (a huge sacrifice) to literally clean the entire house! That's right ladies, I woke up to a clean kitchen, living room and basement. Leaving me free to fill my day with the things I want to do and none of the guilt of, "I really should be cleaning." The above message was left for me by my Jackson.
I found this lovely poster filled with my favorite treats. Below are taped two packets of wild flower seeds. These roses were on the kitchen table.

Here is an interpretation of the poster, each kid took a line: Mom, You are a "Jolly Rancher"! You have "Smarties" in your pants! (that's a Jacksonism) I love you "Now&Later"! (Something in Luke language) & "Kissables". (Liam) "Crunch". Naptime mom "Take 5"! We have very few "Dollars"! All of us "Runts" here in "Peanutopolis" may drive you "nuts" but we love you very much!

To finish off my perfect day Mark and I are going out to dinner tonight and then coming home to watch our favorite show, Lost!
Wow, my family's great! I love them so much. Thanks guys for really making my day!

MINE!!!!!

So who appointed me referee? Is that in the job description? If so, I got no job training! I am so tired of having to decide who gets "the toy", why is this my decision? Ok, here's the senario...said toy is laying innocently on the floor. No one has noticed it for some time now. Child A picks it up and begins to quietly play. Child B to whom the toy technically belongs enters the room and notices Child A and you know what hits the fan! So, as a loving parent, what do I do? Yes, the toy is Child B's but Child B hadn't touched the toy in eons and should learn to share. I tend to lean in favor of Child A but what about ownership? I DON'T KNOW AND I'M SICK OF IT!!!!!! Please someone come to my aid and give me some ingenious way to be fair and consistent. PLEASE!

I've Been Tagged

This is for Amy and Robin, sorry it took so long.

I've Been Tagged!
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: That would be January 1998, Mark and I were dating, I was living in Cincinnati doing and internship for graduate school (which I never finished). Teaching gospel doctrine and working at the Cincinnati Zoo. Wait a minute! This is all sounding very familiar, I guess I took a 10 year break in my life and now I'm picking up where I left off.

5 things on my to-do list today:

1. Finally do this post
2. Take a nap
3. Go to my last animal handling training at the zoo.
4. Do the dishes
5. Fold the laundry

Snacks I enjoy:

1. Hot Chocolate and Graham crackers
2. Salted almonds (with or without chocolate)
3. Artichoke dip
4. Chips and homemade salsa

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Pay off our debt
2. Buy the farm of my dreams
3. Make sure my parents and in laws could retire comfortably
4. Take Jackson to the "heart of Africa"
5. Make sure my friends and family had what they needed

3 of my bad habits:

1. Procrastination
2. Saying things I later regret
3. Clutter

5 places I have lived:

1. Slidell, LA
2. St. Cloud, FL
3. Provo, UT
4. Cincinnati, OH
5. Bronx, NY

5 jobs I have had:

1. Farm hand in an orange grove
2. Early AM janitorial at the BYU Tanner Bldg
3. Cincinnati Zoo, Misc. teaching jobs
4. Wheeler Historic Farm Camp Counselor
5. Naturalist for Cincinnati Parks

5 things people don't know about me:

1. Played soccer as a kid
2. I went to a Milli Vanilli concert in high school
3. I was stung by a Man o War while snorkeling in the Keys
4. I always got teased for being so pale
5. Sorry, that's about all I've got. I'm pretty much an open book.

I tag David, Sara Craven and Julie.