Apparently...

Tonight I put Everett in his crib to go to bed. I wasn't even down the stairs before he was calling for me. He never does this, so I went upstairs to see what was the trouble. When I got in his room, he said, "Apparently, I have to go potty." Funny words from the mouth of a 2 year old. I have so much summer blogging to catch up on. I'll do so in a couple of weeks when school starts! Love to you all!

Cooper's Bloody Foot

So Cooper came in from riding his bike today with his foot completely covered in blood. Apparently, he opened a scab off his ankle and then watched the blood drip down his foot. When he came in, he told me that it didn't hurt, but that he thought we'd better wipe the blood off his ankle, because it can burn through your skin, and then your muscles, and then your bones until you know what you'd be then--the Holy Ghost!

Terrible Twos Arrival!

That's right. For the last couple of weeks, Everett has been grumpy while his 2 year old molars came in, and they brought bad behavior with them. Take today. When Ev woke up, he was upset because he had a poopy diaper. When I took it off, he got mad because he wanted the poopy diaper back on. When I tried to put a new diaper on him, he refused because he wanted to put his pee pee in the potty. I agreed and took him downstairs with nothing on but a T-shirt.

During breakfast I didn't make his bagel right, and when I served him a bowl of peaches, he had a screaming fit because he wanted the spoon I gave to Cooper (which, by the way, was identical to his own.) Cooper, the little peacemaker, gave his spoon to the two year old. "Here Ev! You can have mine!" Everett broke into an even bigger fit. When asked why he was upset, he said that he didn't want Cooper to be nice to him.

After breakfast, Ev said he needed to go potty, so I took him to the bathroom and stood him on his stool in front of the potty. He had a fit because he didn't want to pee pee in the potty, he wanted to pee pee on the rug! When I told him no, he simply refused to get his pee pee in the potty. Finally, he waited for me to move or be distracted and he got off the stool and peed on the rug, staring straight at me with that "ha, ha, ha!" look. He got in big trouble.

After the disciplining of the pee pee on the rug, I got in the shower. While in the shower, Ev came and left a poop on the rug in front of my shower! Can you believe it? I mean, that is serious cognitive ability! When I got out of the shower, he was hiding, because he knew he was in trouble. He actually did it on purpose.

Later in the day, he got a poop in the potty, and so he got a popsicle. He took the popsicle outside and put it in the sun. He didn't even lick it. He said he wanted it to melt. So I let it happen. Then, when he came outside and it was a puddle, of course, he had a humongous fit! Goodness gracious.

While I was reading a book to Cooper and Ev today, Cooper was trying to turn a page, and Ev wanted Cooper to only turn the pages when Ev said it was OK. Well, he hadn't said it was OK, so he was really upset when Coop turned the page. It was a fight that almost ended up in a ripped book. When I told Cooper that we need to be really patient with Ev because he's just learning, Cooper said, "I know, but it's just no fun Mom!"

Later tonight, when he was praying, he said, "Please bless Sammi and Scotti and Cooper to sleep really well in their sleeping bags tonight!" Then he looked at me and started laughing like he was the funniest thing ever because "they are really sleeping in their beds mommy!" He's just such a character.

Phareses in town!

Oooh man, we have had a fun week with our dear friends the Phareses. We have missed our Pennsylvania friends so much since leaving them last year. The minute these guys walked in the door it seemed like we were never apart. It was fun to have the kids have a sleepover--5 kids in one bedroom! We loved going to Lake Sylvia with them and kayaking and swimming. We also went to Seattle to Pike Place Market and to the Aquarium where we got to pet Sea Cucumbers and all sort of other tidal life! They also had a giant octopus that fascinated us all. I laughed at myself though, because this day in the city was stressful for me--keeping the kids together, not losing anyone. It ended in me driving home in traffic and realizing that maybe I have become a country bunkin! We spent another beautiful day hiking, swimming, biking, and exploring at Lake Sylvia and then went to the Quinault Rainforest and spent a day and a night in a cabin there on the lake. Wow, it was fun. The Phareses are such good people.

I'm starting to realize that visiting me is not quite what I had imagined. I imagined myself serving up smoothies before bed, delivering delicious dinners and creative breakfasts to my guests. I imagined so much fun in the outdoors that people would get tired of it in the end. I'm realizing that the reality is that anyone who comes to visit me ends up helping ME a lot. I can't help it. I try to have it all together to serve the guests, but ultimately, they end up helping me out a lot. Just too many needs around the Jackson household I guess. If you plan to come visit me, and I certainly hope you do, keep this in mind. It's just the way things are at the Jacksons in this stage of our lives! (I hope when you come, you actually enjoy spending a little time helping and playing with the kiddos anyway!)

Yesterday we went to our friends' house for dinner and they brought out the 4-wheelers. I thought my kids were going to just die. They were so excited about them! They each got to ride for their first time on a 4-wheeler. They thought it was so fun, even though they were only driving 10 miles an hour. One "fabulous" thing about living in the country: everyone has a 4-wheeler. (Now Grant and I have to figure out how to keep our kids safe with all these vehicles around!) Love to you all!

Oh yeah--the above pictures: 1. Coop on his first 4-wheeler! (Don't worry, he didn't ride it alone!), 2. and 3. all the kids on our hike at Lake Quinault, 4. Sammi, Scotti, Cooper, and Zoe on the world's largest piggy bank at Pike Place Market, 5. Sammi and the peonies we bought at Pike Place Market, 6. Sammi and Zoe at Lake Sylvia.

Sammi's and Scotti's Dance Recital

Sammi and Scotti had their dance recital last night. They are such good dancers. They knew the entire dance and have such great rhythm. On the way to the recital, they were really excited and were chanting, "We love to dance! We love to dance!" Then, they started saying, "If you love to dance, raise your hand" or "kick your feet" or "wiggle your hips!" They are so funny. They loved it. Their dance was called "Bugga Boo" and they were supposed to be bugs. Scotti had a great attitude about his costume. He thought it was really dumb, but said that it was worth it to be able to dance. I loved watching them and was so proud.

Beckstrands are comin' to town!

Oh man! We had such a fun couple of days with our cousins this week! My brother Jon and his family came to visit us. We had a fabulous adventure to Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Factory outside of Shelton, WA. It was a fabulous little ice cream factory that some people were running out of their barn. They have the best flavors and certainly the best ice cream I have ever tasted. We came home with about 30 flavors of ice cream and had an ice cream pot luck where we all got to try each flavor. It was fabulous and I recommend it to all who live close by. The kids loved camping out in the yard, and you could not get Matt and Scotti to stop playing sports in the yard. The two were so happy that I hardly even talked to either one the entire time. The next day we spent a fun day at Lake Sylvia hiking and then kayaking and playing in the lake. These are some of our favorite people. Lauren, Ali, Matt, Andrew, Jon, Trina. Oh man. They are welcome back anytime. They are all just such great people. Grant and I will be so happy if our children demonstrate any likeness to the Beckstrand kids. These pictures are us outside of the ice cream factory, and at our ice cream pot luck at my house. Trina took all the pictures. I'll post more when I get them from her. She takes such great pictures.

No Training Wheels for Sammi!

Sammi learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels this week. She was so proud, but her excitement couldn't possibly match Grant's excitement! That is one of his favorite parenting experiences. Now, she is cruising all over the place.