My Totally Cute Family

Zach is always laughing and teasing his sister! I thought this picture captured it perfectly!

My three boys. . .aren't I a lucky gal?

We could seriously be twins!!

We HAD to do a BYU picture! Our blood does run pretty blue.

I had to share a few of these pictures that Kim took. They turned out sooooooo cute!
Thanks Kim.

A Twilight Test

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I was hoping to be an Alice, but Esme is good too. Take the quiz to find out what your are. I really want to have a girl's night out and go to Twilight when it hits the theaters, if you are interested let me know!!

Oh No He Di'nt

Say the title of this blog in your best feisty Jerry Springer voice for it to make sense!! Last night crazy Jackson was up to his old stunts yet again. At dusk (it is important that you remember this!), Zachary came inside without his glasses on. Dan asked him where his glasses were and Zach replied that Jackson had been playing with them and threw them over the fence (Why Zach was letting his three year old destructive brother play with them remains a mystery!). Dan nor I believed that a three year old could actually get glasses over the fence, so we immediately started searching the back yard. On hands and knees we had every child skirting the lawn. Next we moved on to plants, bushes, trees, the grill, and so on. It was getting darker and darker, and very hard to see. After I took a few deep breaths I went over to Jackson and asked him where the glasses had been thrown. In his proudest of voices he said, "Mom, I threw Zach's glasses over the fence." A few minutes later Dan was trudging through the empty field behind our house; meanwhile I had been in the house grabbing lamps and extension cords. Dan and I were preparing for a long night of searching. As Dan searched, I began illuminating the backyard as best I could with lamps, which really helped because within 5 minutes Dan found the glasses. . .and yes, the boys were grounded.

Seriously, I can't be the only one with a crazy child!! I would love to hear your crazy kid stories!!

Zapped

It seems like so many of my posts are about Jackson, but once again he had a funny thing happen to him. Our church is right next to a farm. The farmer owns a lot of sheep, and often when the weather is nice on Sundays the nursery kids take a walk to the fence where the sheep are. To keep the sheep from wandering off there is an electric wire that runs across the little fence. Every time the nursery kids take a walk to see the sheep, I hear their teacher tell them to be careful not to touch the wire, and every Sunday there is at least one child who touches it . . .yesterday was Jackson's lucky day. He has been warned countless times, but Jackson only hears what he wants to hear. He got zapped by the wire and seemed stunned for about an hour after church. Most parents might feel some sympathy for their child, but Dan and I had a hard time not laughing. . .maybe, just maybe being zapped is the only way to get through to our strong willed little Jack!! The most amazing thing was that he was great the rest of the day. He obeyed, he had no melt-downs, and he was actually pleasant to hang out with. Dan and I are toying with the idea of getting him one of those collars they make for dogs that zap them when they cross a certain wire. (Merry Christmas Jackson! Look what Santa got you!) We also like the idea of a stun gun. For some reason I have a strange feeling Social Services might get called . . .maybe we should just take a walk to the farmers fence just to scare him.

Jackson had a fun field trip today to Linder Farm's Pumpkin Patch. He had a great time and picked a pretty good sized pumpkin. He has a lot of little friends, and is quite a good kid when he wants to be.

Last but not least, my kids were a little sad this weekend to hear that Grandma Dinger's dog, Aussie, was put to sleep this weekend. I was really worried about how Maddie would take the news, but after a quiet moment in her room, she seemed okay. This morning Zach and Maddie were up a little early. Zach jumped into Maddie's warm bed until I was ready to get them dressed. I over heard Maddie telling Zach that Aussie would be well taken care of by President Hinckley and "probably Joseph Smith." They both seemed comforted and moved on to talk about other important 8 year old and 5 year old stuff, (like Lilo and Stitch, and which Polly Pocket would make the best bad guy. . .Obama and McCain didn't make the cut).

I forgot to mention that we got our family pictures taken this weekend by my good friend Kim Hodson. I am super excited to see them, and will post them on my blog when I get them. Thanks Kim, I can't wait to see them!!

What Would We Do Without Jack?

Most of you know how obsessed our family is about BYU (mostly Dan!). Zach goes around the house chanting B-Y-U-U-U. Well, to make a long story sort of short, Jackson likes to "get under our skin" and tease as much as possible. Much to Dan's chagrin, he is now chanting "B-S-U-U-U!" A few days ago we were getting ready to go for a family walk. Jackson points to the BYU flag we have hanging up outside and says, "Mom, we need a BSU flag too." Dan hears my conversation and tells Jackson, "Jackson, BSU is naughty; we won't be putting up a BSU flag." (Leave it to Dan to brainwash our children!) Jackson screams "BSU is not naughty dad, I want a BSU flag!" Dan and Jackson argue back and forth for a few moments until Jackson starts bawling. (I found it rather humorous that my husband and my three year old were fighting over something so silly! What was even funnier, was that both of them were getting pretty angry with one another!)Needless to say, Jackson now chants "B-S-U" every time Dan mentions BYU, and Zachary runs to Dan's rescue and shouts "B-Y-U" to over power Jackson, so Maddie comes to Jackson's rescue, and my house just gets super noisy!!!
In other news-- Jackson has to have his tonsils out in three weeks. He has had a constant cold for over nine months and his tonsils looks pretty bad, so it is scheduled for November 11th. I will be happy that he will be feeling better, but I hear the recovery is not very fun.
Jackson was very proud of his Pop-Tart/Smartee concoction so I had to put it on my blog. He actually ate it!! He is crazy, but we love him.

Maddie and Zach are doing great. They love school, and are really excited for Halloween. Maddie quit cheer leading this past month because she wanted to try new things. She wants to start piano lessons, so we are hoping to get her started after Christmas. I guess that is all, it seems like I haven't written a post in quite some time.

Jury Duty, No School, and Movie Night

Today has been a crazy day!!! I have been on jury duty all week. Dan and I thought I had a pretty high number of 377, but by Tuesday night they were already in the high 200's. Most of you would probably be glad to serve on a jury; I however, know that it will be a wasted day when they realize my husband is a prosecutor for Ada county and kick me off every jury panel. It is hardly worth my time when I know I am going to be sent home. Plus, my kids had a short week of school so it was just my luck to have my number come up on the first day of their vacation. Luckily I was a "standby" juror and had to call in this morning to see if they still needed me. After waiting around until 10:00 a.m. at home by the phone, I finally received the call that my case had settled and I was no longer needed for the rest of the week. Hooray! I just happened to get a lucky number because only numbers in the 300's were on standby, the rest had to show up. Last I checked, they were calling numbers in the 600's this morning. For once luck was on my side. So, the kids and I went to lunch and then went to the mall and had a very fun but tiring day.

Tonight, some friends of ours (thanks Petersons) invited us to an outside movie night. It was so much fun. When it got dark, we sat around and watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks." My kids had a blast! Maddie and Zach thought it was the funnest thing we have done in a long time. They have been waiting for almost and entire year to actually see this movie. Jackson went home early to get to bed, but the other two stayed up until the end. So many families came. It was so nice to socialize, and the weather actually cooperated! Thanks Kami and Dave! That was a great idea!