Crazy Bingo

I thought I'd seen it all. Then I went to BINGO night at an elementary school. Should be fun, right? No one taking it too seriously, right? Wrong. In typical Jackson family style, Ben and I are sitting at the table playing Bingo. Playing 8 cards of Bingo. Because Charles is chasing Lily (it was his turn) and Sofia was playing with a friend. Ben decided to bale. He'd just finished dinner and wanted to get up and move around, so now it is just me playing 8 cards of Bingo. (2 per family member in case you're not getting the math.) And I won! Ben is excited, he collects his prize, and the guy behind me throws a fit. An honest to goodness, "that woman is a cheater!" fit. And he just keeps on going. Through the next three games. And then to anyone who will listen to him. Frankly, it was ticking me off!!!! I looked around the room and I was not the only person playing cards for MIA family members. What do you think? Did I cheat? Am I missing the spirit of the evening? I offered my cards to my friend at our table. She refused to take them lest she get beat up in the parking lot on the way out if she'd won.

worst blogger ever?

I think the only person worse at blogging than me, is me. I can claim that because this is not my first time at the blogging rodeo so to speak. But enough of that because, really, who cares? It's been 9 months. Oh crap, 10 months. And a lot has happened, so lets just skip ahead. Ben turns 6 in 2 weeks!I absolutely cannot believe it. I also can't believe how many Lego sets he's asking for. He has ordered a red velvet cake with swedish fish on top. I love my boy. He stayed home today with a fever and a cough and I hope he's better by friday so he can go to the hockey game with his grandpa and go to hockey practice on saturday! Sofia started ballet and loves it. She is also still loving preschool. She spent most of last week sick and did a good job of passing her germs around. She's been helping me out so much at home. So today she had a well-deserved manicure and pedicure. I'll give a dollar to anyone who can guess the colors she picked! Lily is almost 15 months old!! She's a climber, a runner and a barbie lover! I am still in love with my blue-eyed beauty. She is amazing!! Life is fun and full. I'm currently tackling tons of craft projects that I have been collecting materials for. Oh, and I started worrying a book. And I'm trying to take more pictures so I can save for our Hawaii trip this summer. Which means the kids won this year. No amount of hawaiian french toast can equal a trip to hawaii.

Barf is gross

Enough said.

A cover for the SI Swimsuit Issue

She is so cute it drives me crazy. I could eat her up... even covered in sunscreen.

We enjoyed Memorial Day with a trip to Carlsbad to visit with Grandma and Papa and visit the pool. The kids had a blast doing cannonballs and creating a synchronized swimming routine to wow Grandma. The best part was the grand finale, complete with spitting water, spinning in a circle and doing "jazz hands." We completed the day with burritos from Berto's and VG donuts. And the maple bars were still warm. mmmmmmmm....

Our Summer Wish List

A few weeks ago, Benjamin, Sofia, and I (the brains behind the operation) started thinking of things we really wanted to do this Summer. Thank you Groupon for starting the whole idea with a deal that we decided to pass on. But really, we kept getting all of these emails for discounted outings and one thing led to another. We should come up with ways to fill our Summer. And I decided, we should come up with ways to fill our Summer getting to know our community better. So here it is, our summer wish list:

Movie morning at the mall
Ortega Falls
Lake Skinner splash pad
Hockey at the sports park in Temecula
pool with Grandma & Papa
Beach day (with Bertos and VG)
Make homemade ice cream
Make homemade ice cream in the ice cream ball
Get the slushy maker they advertise on Nickelodeon
Play water balloon games
Slip-n-slide
Learn to swim without floaties
Go to a drive-in movie
Make lemonade from scratch
Buy a coconut and drink from it
Eat Hawaiian french toast
Make Hawaii pancakes
(The last three are in lieu of a trip to Hawaii)
Go fishing with Grandpa
Go to the temple and see the seals in La Jolla
Go to see Taylor at the rodeo in July
Dinosaur museum

I'm sure this list will grow more, since it did this weekend. We are excited to find fun things to do closer to home. We still love Cardiff, but we are loving Menifee and are looking forward to getting to know it better!

I guess it's not insomnia

I can't call it insomnia because it's just barely 10:15. But it's that feeling that I better get my tush in bed since the countdown has begun for Lil' waking up. She rises sometime between 6 and 6:45 in the morning, so the countdown goes something like this... "if I want to get 8 hours of sleep, I better be in by 10. If I want to get 7 hours of sleep I should go to bed at 11." Soooo. I am sitting here, the boys in the family tucked in safely (I assume) at Lake Perris. And I am tired. My eyes hurt. And I am not guaranteed 8 hours of sleep at this point, and though I am depressed, I feel like I might as well stay up until 11 and get 7 hours, because I like round numbers like that.

I'll leave you for the night with a cute story. Ben's friend Brent was not going to go to the Father & Sons campout, but THANKFULLY, he was able to go. When Ben heard the news, he and Brent did a hug and jump in circles move that was quite splendid and shouted out, "We're going to Perris!" Only, really, the way they said it, they were going to Paris. One day, I will be as excited to go to Perris, California! Good night. Keep your fingers crossed that all three girlies sleep well without the men here to protect us and snore us to sleep.

A rant and a dirty little secret

First the rant...

I used to LOVE dogs. My first dog in my childhood was as perfect as a dog can get, aside from the digging, the daily escaping and the hip dysplacia(which I'm sure I spelled wrong). My Mom's dog turned me off of dogs. Sorry Mom. Then I thought, well, maybe it's just THIS particular dog - who spent an entire lifetime not toilet trained and experienced that "time of the month" all over my bed and chewed and ate the contents of the litter box, and, and, and. But then I was around more and more dogs and well, now I'm just turned off in general. Dogs smell. And I could forgive the smell if they were toilet trained and didn't bark. And for some reason, I moved into a neighborhood and a neighborhood blossomed around me that has TONS of dogs. Loud dogs. That bark incessantly and wake up my baby. And forgive me, but it is crazy hot here during the day and if the climate is cool at night and I want to have my windows open and a fan blowing, I shouldn't have to hear your dogs at all hours of the night - especially you guy across the street who has at least 3 dogs! Also, the screech owls can stop mating any day now. The end.

And a dirty little secret...

Ben likes Barbie. I should have known a few years ago when his giant Wayne Gretzky action figure was giving skating lessons to Barbie. The following conversation actually took place in this very loft on Monday:

Ben: (whiny voice) I want to pick the show!

Sofia: You picked last time, it's my pick. I want Nemo.

Ben: Are you sure you don't want Barbie?

Sofia: OK, Barbie.

Ben: The one where she goes to Paris.

At this point I look at Ben and ask, "are you serious?" To which he replies, "I like the dogs."

And then today in the bath the two kiddos are singing songs from "Barbie and the Perfect Christmas." Hmmmmmm...

She has blessed us with Grace

How do I write about Lily without sounding puffed-up or prideful??

Always alert, but mellow

Charles and I were married almost 13 years ago! Can you believe it? I hardly can. Together, we were two complimentary ice cream flavors. I like to believe we were my favorite Bubby's combo... chocolate hazelut(me) and pistachio(charles). We were good together, but we wanted kids. So desperately. We waited, and waited, and tried and tried and visited too many doctors and I gave myself too many shots in my abdomen and then we prepared for IVF. And then, on our anniversary weekend 6 years ago we found out a baby was on the way. Ben arrived and then all too quickly, Sofia joined the mix helping us to create our sundae that frankly, had too many nuts! I wondered, prayed and then prayed some more. Perhaps Sofia came so quickly because it was the only way. Maybe two was all that we could get, and I would have been happy with that because I already got double my wish. And then, Lily came.

Lily amid the chaos. They ADORE her!

Throughout my entire pregnancy, I almost never felt Lily move. At 20 weeks, I broke down. My poor Bishop came over and asked how things were and I just started crying. I think at that point I became a psycho relief society president, but after a sweet blessing I realized I needed to take more time to get to know Lily, and I have always liked what I found. I hardly felt Lily because Lily has and is just happy to go along with the ride. She tends to not make waves, she is happy to watch her crazy brother and sister. She'll play in her high chair with a spoon for 20 minutes while I make breakfast. And she makes us all melt. Hence, Lily is the hot fudge on top of our nutty sundae.

Our nutty, melty sundae of a family.

If I have to confess a weakness in this angel it is that she pulls hair. But I will take it. A million times to get to have Lily in my arms and be able to give her hugs and cuddles and kisses. I am forever grateful that she has shared her Grace with us all.

Guess what size shoes I just bought for this cutie?

Size 1!!! Yes, she just turned 4! Isn't she the cutest thing ever? I am in love with her freckled nose.

What's in a name

If you've been around this family for long, you might remember back in the day that both Benjamin and Sofia had their very own blogs. They posted endearing comments like, "what is this slop my Mom is trying to feed me?" and, "you'll never believe what happened to me at the doctor today!" Like I said endearing, and charming, and frankly, it was a lot of work. Poor Sofia had second-child syndrome bad. I was just too tired to type her remarks, so we decided a family blog would be better. But then everyone had a blog, and I mean everyone! And Jackson is a common name. So we were trying to think of a suitable blog name, and while I think it's cute (not really) that we're the Jackson 5, we weren't at the time, and we knew we might not always be just 5. So many names were discussed and tossed, and finally, we decided to settle on a tribute to the awesome red minivan we had just acquired. And by awesome, I mean, I NEVER wanted a minivan. I wanted a gremlin. Then, when I realized that was stoopid, I decided a suburban was more my cup of tea. BUT, the reason we got the van was to hold people and not have to spend $150 to fill the gas tank. (Which we did spend filling the truck one fateful Saturday). So now I am the self-proclaimed hottie in the red van. Which I think I rock. This is where you just nod your head and say, "yup Hails, you make that van look good.... and no, it doesn't smell like there is fast food under your seats."

Nipples

Come on over to the Jackson house. I'll give you a bowl of nipples. Ya know, cuz nothing curbs an appetite like a bowl of nipples. Orange nipples.

Of course I meant "Cheese Nips!" Get your mind out of the gutter. There is never a dull moment with Sofia!

Little bit of sugar, LOTS of spice!

Sugar and spice... lots of spice and spunk and everything that makes life fun. Living with Sofia is living by the seat of your pants. I love this girl! She makes everything great. And her big brother thinks so too. Rewind about a month ago. Ben was sick with an ear infection. My sweet, sweet friend comes up from Temecula to take Sofia so that Lily and I can take Ben to urgent care. On our way to the doctor, Ben says to me, "Mom, I miss Fia." "Why do you miss her honey, she's only been gone about ten minutes." "Fia makes everything fun." And that's it. Fia makes everything fun... and funny.

I've had a full two days to think about what I could say about Fia. She is the child that found a sharpie and wrote all over everything and let Ben write all over her. She has spilled glitter all over the house, covered the bathroom in toothpaste, eaten a toilet "sausage," and taken an enormous #2 behind an ice cream store. She has been a part of the funniest things I've ever seen and the most embarrassing parenting moments ever! And I love her to death for it.

At 4, Sofia is a pro at: winking, rolling her eyes, crossing her eyes, putting her hands on her hips and sarcastically muttering, "seriously," waking up Lily the moment she goes down for a nap, giving awesome cuddles and hugs, and randomly telling me she loves me. She hates to clean up ANYTHING and insists all tasks are too hard, she loves to write, draw and color and is learning to read. She still sings off-key, but she is doing so much better than she used to, and she hates it when the singers get the words wrong (she makes up and changes the words to just about every song.) She is my pickiest eater, but she loves salsa and pretty much all Mexican food. She has cheerleader moves and facial expressions - Aunt Alicia would be proud. She will be THE girl to know in High School... and it scares me.

This isn't a new picture, but it speaks volumes about my little girl who just couldn't wait to be a part of this world and give Ben a run for his money.

Our Great Dane

I was thinking today about my kids. Surprising, right? Not really considering I am absorbed in a world where a ring from a vending machine can grant super-powers, and where my five year old is attempting to save $45,000 to buy Noisy Boy. But what I was thinking is that even though my kids are surrounded by people that know them and love them, the person who knows them BEST, is me. Pretty cool.

One of my favorite people in the entire world is my Benjamin. He is so often misunderstood, and I don't help that since our relationship is sometimes bipolar. He is the first miracle I was ever a witness to, and a part of. He is the thorn in my side and he is one of my very best friends. He comforts me; he'll rub my back or my shoulder and he's not afraid to cuddle his mommy.

I joke with some friends that Ben is like a great dane. To say he is big is kind of an understatement. At 5 years old, he is 47 and a half inches tall. To put that in perspective, the height marker for the 100th percentile for his age is 46 inches. We were at Chuck E. Cheese last week and Ben was taller than a 7 year old. He wears size 2 shoes. Technically, he could probably wear a size 1, but if I buy a size 1, it'll be too small in a month or so. Last week the kids made Mother's Day cards at preschool. Ben's hand print cutouts didn't fit in the envelope... everyone else's did.

So my boy is big. And I love it. But I hate it. The pediatrician told me at his 4-year check up that it would make other adults, especially, expect Ben to behave like a child of his size, so a five or six year old. See, the thing about Ben that gets me every time is his temper. My temper. The difference is that I had a 27 year head start at learning to control it. And other adults, and me, have a hard time with Ben's temper. The thing that also comes with the temper are the tantrums. And a 50 pound five year old is hard to wrestle with. But I digress. MY boy is big and beautiful.

His shortcomings are my shortcomings, so I am automatically endeared to him. We are both vulnerable in the same ways, so it's hard for me to share here some of things he struggles with, because we both do. Ben takes most everything personally. If you accidentally knock over his drink at dinner, it must have been a personal attack. I am not so sensitive, but watch out if I see you whispering to someone... I will automatically think that something dastardly is going on and that I am the victim. Ben is the same way. I love that he cares so much, but I also wish that we both could be happy being ourselves and not care what other people think. Along with being sensitive to what people do to him, Ben is sensitive on behalf of other people. He is defensive about the people he loves, and I've learned especially that means his sisters. (Though he'll only tell you he loves Lily, he is tender about his Fia too)

Benjamin is passionate. He gets discouraged when things aren't easy for him. He has more patience learning physical things. He learned to inline skate in less than a week. He runs fast, jumps high, likes scoring goals, making baskets and being the goalie. He gets sweaty. He has a killer smile, but he usually looks serious when he's playing sports. He is a natural athlete. I had to tell him that he would never be able to sign autographs if he didn't learn to write his name. We've put numbers on jerseys to help him learn.

He loves everything boyish... Nerf guns, sports, sticks, cars, monster trucks, motorcycles, robots, dinosaurs, Legos, riding his bike and scooter and building blocks. But, he also likes music, dancing, looking for shells at the beach and cooking.

I am in love with my boy. I feel more than privileged to get to help guide him and teach him even during those times when I am frustrated with him.

I'm calling a "do over"

I've been inspired to start blogging again, and since in the past I've been really quite horrible at it, I am simply calling elementary school playground "do over". That's it. The past is the past and there is some line from The Lion King about it, but my kids don't particularly care for that flick, so I can't quote it. Someone somewhere knows what I'm talking about.

We're bad bloggers!

What can I say? I guess I should say that it isn't really a "we" issue with the blogging.... it's a "me" issue. I don't particularly know where all of my time goes, but between laundry and trying to tame the kiddos and keep the house somewhat clean and keep up with my new calling and help with preschool, there isn't much time left over for even changing my facebook status, so the blog goes by the wayside.

Life is good, but always busy. Ben and Sofia are growing like weeds. Ben alone has grown three inches in the past 7 months - we only know because we all cheered the day he hit 40 inches and could go on Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. Sofia is talking more and more and some days that's a bad thing. She has a tendency to punish Ben and that leads to more arguements between the two. When they get along they are as cute as can be - it just doesn't usually last too long.

Charles is busy with work and trying to do some side jobs since there is so much uncertainty in the job market lately. I am the new Relief Society President in my ward, so I think that pretty much sums up what my life is about lately.

We are tring hard to keep our perspective and enjoy life as we live it. We hope you're all well too!

It's Like Cooking a Frog...

I hear that when you're trying to cook a frog the key is to put them in a pot of cold water, then turn on the heat. The frogs aclimate to the water as it warms and before they know it, they're dead from the heat. My question is, who tries to intentionally cook a frog? Yuk. But the purpose of this lovely metaphor is to illustrate the weather in Menifee. It has been surprisingly cool for Summer apart from the scorching 106 we had one day in July, but the temps get to about the low 90s by late afternoon and so lately I feel like a frog. It gets NICE at night - high 60s, low 70s, so we keep the windows open and the fans on and we actually have to sleep with blankets because it gets chilly, but by about 3:00 I feel like I was put in a cold pot and the water is slowly heating up around me. The breeze we get is nice, but sometimes I wonder if I should just go outside and come back in so the house feels cool again. It's like an Arizona swimming pool that has a Jacuzzi I think for that purpose alone.

The reason for talking about the heat is because it is the reason for a disastrous day at the ER last week. Everyone, but me, had diarrhea. Gross, I know. Thank goodness Ben can make it to the potty like a champ. We have no idea where it came from, possibly something in the water at swim lessons... no idea, really. So Sofia, had it all day Wednesday last week and started puking that night. I know, I know, but there is a point. So she woke up Thursday puking too and because of the heat I am concerned she might become dehydrated. The doctor's office isn't open and she's already puked three or four times and she retches every time she drinks anything, even water. So I call the 24-hour nurse line and they tell me I need to take her to the ER. Good news, a little pill made the vomitting stop and she was STARVING and thirsty. The bad news, it took 5 hours to get the pill. We got to the ER at 10 and made it home just before 5. Thank goodness Grandma and Papa came up to entertain Ben and thank goodness Fia was so mellow at the hospital because it was horrible. I am so glad our little girl is healthy and the sickness seems to have passed for everyone and glad I avoided it.

Swimming lessons were great. Sofia and I missed the last class because she was sick, so I missed the day I had determined would be picture day. We're going to the pool next weekend though, so I'll get some pictures of the awesome pool we go to. Benjamin starts preschool in just over a week with our first meeting next week. He is so excited, he wants to be on the varsity football team.

Life is great and we're having lots of fun. We're off to Chuck E. Cheese tonight and then we leave first thing tomorrow for a camping adventure! Yippee!

Updates long overdue...

First and foremost, here is a current picture of all of us, since it has been ages since we've updated pictures...



Life has been busy, it always is, and I always say that, but it's the truth, so there it is. The kiddos both start swimming lessons tonight and they run for 2 weeks, every Mon-Thur from 5:30-6, so our evenings will be a bit of a mess. The kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the pool and the water though, so it should be fun and I know I'll rest a little easier when I know they both have learned some pool safety and swimming skills.

We've also been busy at the house painting and cleaning and furnishing. Craigslist has become our number one furniture shopping resource and so far it has paid off. We FINALLY have seating downstairs, which means yes, we finally have furniture downstairs. Don't laugh, we've learned another couple we used to know in Cardiff just moved up here and they have the same problem we do - too much house and not enough furniture. :) I'll work on taking some pictures so you can see our furni finds.

We also survived our first Sofia haircut. Ben and I were playing hockey in the loft when she comes out of the bathroom with scissors in hand complete with hair in-between the blades. We fixed it and it all went surprisingly well. She talks about it all of the time, so she still isn't over it, but we lived through it.

Benjamin is officially potty-trained and we rejoice that when we finally put our minds to it it was easier than we thought it would be. He makes us laugh every day with the silly things he says and does. He constantly turns his simple stories into songs that he cracks up singing and his laughter is contagious. He dreams that one day he will wake up to find that it has snowed ice cream and in a perfect world he would get to live at a sports park and play baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey everyday. He also likes to skateboard and he is a daredevil.

Sofia is still a girly-girl but also a bit of a tomboy. She tells us every morning that she dreamed about soccer but she loves play Ariel and sing - which is the most incredible thing ever. I had no idea that a child could be so out of tune, but she is. She also loves Dora the Explorer and wearing chapstick. She'll walk around the house with her hands on her hips and when she isn't the sweetest thing ever she is a ball of complete attitude. She is the sweet cuddly one and I wonder what I would ever have done without her.



Life is good, as you can see, busy and good. We love all of family and friends, especially the old friends we still get to see and the new friends that make our new home more comfortable.

** A BIG thank you to Carrie Elton for taking our pictures! If you ever need family pics for anything and you live in Utah, get in touch with Carrie!**

Sportacus Saving the Day!

Most of you have probably never heard of Lazy Town. I had never heard of Lazy Town and thought it was strictly BBC, but lo and behold, it was on Nick Jr. for a while and it has given Ben an answer to the perfect superhero - one who plays sports and owns every piece of sporting equipment there is and uses it to save kids who are in trouble. Here is our little sportacus.



It's acutally really cute when Sofia climbs somewhere and yells, "Sportacus, Help!" and Ben sometimes comes to her rescue. (Mostly he runs the other way)

Why, Why and Why?

You know how most kids hear something like, "pick up that toy," and ask, "Why?" then you answer and you hear, "Why?" and you keep hearing "Why?" as the response to everything that you've said and you start to question the intelligence of the little beast asking you. I have one of those kids now. In true toddler fashion, Benjamin's favorite question has become "Why?" - but like the smarty-pants that he is, his ABSOLUTE favorite question is, "Why, Why and Why?" It's like deep down he knows where the conversation is headed and just to make it more aggravating he asks why up front. It flusters me, honestly. Like my first repsonse would never fully answer his burning need to KNOW why his toys have to be put away, why he can't sleep with 3 or 4 baseball bats in his bed, why ice cream is not a good breakfast food and why it is unsafe to climb the banisters. However I will also say that besides policing his sister, this is really the only bad thing Benjamin does lately. He still doesn't understand that he doesn't NEED a hockey stick in every color, but for now he is willing to simply add things to his Christmas list and for that I am grateful.

Sofia is at the streaking stage that Ben was at last Summer. I guess I should have known that it was coming, but no one else had even heard of a kid ripping his own diaper off whenever he pooped, so I thought Ben was going to be the lone exception. I was wrong. So Sofia drops trow whenever she poops and it's gotten us thinking that we may have found another use for duct tape cuz really it's gross and we just had the carpets cleaned. She is a fighter and won't let Ben push her around which is a good thing, I guess, but it leads to LOTS of arguments where Sofia is yelling, "No Ben!" and pointing at him and Ben is shrieking and telling me that Sofia is saying a bad word. Yes, he thinks "no" is a bad word. It's frustrating, but then funny, so I guess every cloud really does have a silver lining.

Charles is working from home and thanks to a donated desk, he is no longer operating off of two saw horses and a sheet of MDF. I have almost finished unpacking the kids' stuff, Sofia's room is painted, her curtains are up and we are starting to hang things on the wall. I still have two boxes full of clothes in our bedroom that don't have anywhere to go because I can't figure out where my dresser will fit. Charles is helping to draw up plans to put some storage in the closet which will solve that problem. I am LOVING the upstairs laundry room because I used to not like taking the laundry downstairs and the kids ask to take a bath everyday because they say, "there is a pool in here!" (They are referring to the tub in the master bathroom.) I will post a picture of the outside of the house and will not bother you with the inside since there isn't any furniture downstairs and the pictures I have of the kids' rooms are stricly "before" pictures.

There isn't much else going on. We've spent the last two weekends back down in San Diego sharing with our friends some amazing times in their lives with a birthday, a baby blessing and a wedding. We're gearing up for what people up here call "the hot part of the year." Which we are told starts around Memorial Day and lasts until Thanksgiving. A Dad at the park told Charles the hottest he's seen it get is 113 in the summer - he claimed it "wasn't that bad." I will be breaking out the kiddie pool again and soaking, I think. Here are some pics to keep you entertained...


You've gotta love Yo Gabba Gabba for teaching kids to make a funny face!



It wouldn't be Easter without a bucket on your head!




Out new home. We LOVE guests!

Praises to Chuck E. Cheese!

A huge thank you to Chuck E. Cheese!!! I was a little nervous that Ben wanted his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, but it ended up being perfect. Since we're in the process of moving we needed a location away from home and this was AWESOME! The food was better than I remembered - not great, but better than I was expecting. The kids had a BLAST playing and we didn't have to set up or clean up a thing. We are so glad that there is CEC not too far from the new house!