Jackson is 7!

Where has SEVEN years gone?
I blinked and now I have a little man.

Nonna and Poppa sent birthday balloons :) 

This pic was taken before he got on the bus the morning of his birthday.
Crazy bed head.
crusty eyes.
sweet little smile :) 

He requested an ANGRY BIRDS birthday this year.
So I took cupcakes to his class on his birthday...
no, I did NOT make them.
thank you Albertson's for your help this year!

Easy, homemade birthday invitation :)

We had a big crawfish boil party on Saturday and he invited all of his friends.
It was a beautiful day for some crawfish and backyard soccer.
Isn't that cake cute?
I took a pic to Albertson's that I printed off the internet and they did so good!
Good job, bakery cake decorator ladies! 

Blue icing...
better than black icing??

Doesn't matter..he is one happy seven year old. 

L to R:
Lily, Hayes, Jackson, Ryan, Charlie, Zach, Lane and Chloe 

after cake it was pinata beating time!
My friend, Nikki, was getting everyone in line so no fights would break out! 

Jackson getting prepped by Dalton. 

The person on the other end of the rope was his Daddy...being tricky... 

Lily taking a whack at it. 

After it was broken open, candy went flying everywhere.
This one collected his goods and went into a quiet corner of the yard and began devouring his.
Started with chocolate of course...
just like his mamma :) 

This is a horrible pic :(
It was a looooooong day.
My face tells it all.
I was super sun burnt from being at Charlie's soccer game in the morning and then Jackson's baseball evaluations for two hours in the afternoon.
Sans sunscreen :(
and I'm a sunscreen girl! 

Happy Birthday to our sweet Jackson!

You are loved by many.

You are funny and giggle alot!
You're food tastes are expanding and you are eating lots more of a variety of foods than you used to.
[This makes Mom very happy]
You love school and are very smart.
Learning comes very easy for you!
You are super independent and shy.

You love your baby sister and are so gentle and loving with her  :)
You love wii and computer games and iphone games...
You are an amazing reader!
You love baseball and going to the beach.
You love to watch Animal Planet.
[No more Nick Jr!]
and River Monsters....

I can't wait to see all of the ways you grow and mature this year!
I love you :)

Charlie is 4!

My sweet Charlie turned 4 on August 30.
He requested a pizza party at Mellow Mushroom!
How fun!
How easy! 

A pizza party requires a pizza cake.
I found some cute ideas online and this is the result.
Super cute! 

He had a mouth full of pizza so of course when he went to blow out his candles,
well, you can guess what happened...

Our handsome four year old!

Opening presents!

Grandma and Georgia were at the other end of the table talking to each other :)

Can't go wrong with some monster trucks!

Charlie got a special delivery on his birthday from his Nonna and Papa.
He was so excited that they were ALL for him!

Enjoying a healthy bowl of Cocoa Puffs for his birthday breakfast....

So excited that he turned 4...finally.

Getting ready to go to school on his birthday with his "4" shirt on.
The boys love wearing their number on their birthday :)

This child is super lovable.
He is always happy.
If he's not, a quick tickle session [or food] will set him straight again.
He loves to play t-ball, shoot his bow and arrow and play football with his big brother.
He loves smoothies and pizza and fruit.

He's a cuddler.  Very touchy feely.
He tells me he loves me at least 10 times a day :)  [lucky me!!]
His favorite movie right now is Rio.
He loves to play Angry Birds.
He loves to sing and hum.
I will catch him humming a song we sang in church and it makes me smile.

Charlie is notorious for his funny stories.
I could start his own blog full of "Charlie stories"
I forget them so quickly :(
Here's one from today:
Me:  "how was school today?"
Charlie:  "good"
Me:  "What did you do?"
Charlie:  "Well, we played a game on the playground."
Me:  "oh.  What kind of game?"
Charlie:  "I was the dad.  Collins was the baby.  Addison was the mom and Zara was the dog."
Me:  [my mind is wondering which way this story is going to go...so I ask:
         "Well, what happened?"
Charlie:  "The mom and the dog were sleeping together."
Me:  "You were the dad.  What were you doing?"
Charlie:  "I went to work mom."

hahahahaha.  I called James and told him his story.  Of course, he laughed.  "teaching him early!  Daddies go to work!"

He's so funny.
He's so busy.
We love you so much, Charlie Warley!

Jackson's 6th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Jackson!

Jackson had a very busy week with lots of visitors!

His Nonna came to see him the week of his actual birthday.

Jackson wanted to go to the Hibachi for his birthday dinner.

[Can someone explain to me how to make pics I take on my phone appear bigger when I upload them to iphoto??]

...and I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

He dressed himself...

and ate everything on his plate and his Nonna's plate.

He loves Hibachi!

[I do too!]

Look at that belly!

That pic was out of order, but we're going to just go with it...hey, at least I'm blogging!

We came home from dinner and got quick baths and ate some yummy birthday cake.

My mom looks scared?

Who needs a fork?!

I asked Jackson if he wanted to bring a special snack for his classroom the day of his birthday and he said he wanted cupcakes and oreos.

I researched some recipes and found Oreo Cupcakes.

Sorry I don't have a pic I took, but here's one from the website.

My mom and I made them after the boys went to bed Tuesday night.

They were so yum.

--------------------------

We saw my mom off on Thursday and Friday afternoon another shipment of visitors arrived for the weekend.

I think Jackson is loved :)

We decided with all these fun visitors in town we should have a CRAWFISH BOIL!

Grandma Reeger enjoyed hers!

Another tiny pic that I can't seem to make larger...

These crawfish were huge!

We ended up boiling about 115 pounds!

James did a great job!

We put all kinds of yummy vegetables in our boil.

Sausage, corn, artichokes, mushrooms [my personal fav] and potatoes...

we did have some leftovers.

But surprisingly, most of it got eaten!

Thank you to everyone who came and pitched in.

It was the perfect night for a boil.

Let's do it again soon :)

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The Weekend!

Friday afternoon James' mom, Jo Ann and Zach came to visit for the weekend and so did my Dad.

I was browsing the internet to find something fun for us to all do Saturday morning and thought taking everyone to a gator ranch would be just the thing.

Insta-Gator Ranch was only 4 or 5 miles down the road from us too!

We loaded up and scheduled the 11 am tour.

Our tour guide letting all the kids touch the alligator.

They're actually very soft.

Charlie needing to keep his distance in the safe arms of Granddaddy.

One of the pools of alligators just waiting to get bigger so they could release them back into the wild. We got to watch them eat a live mouse.

Exciting stuff I tell ya..

This guy wanted me to take his picture with his alligator. He was an employee and I seriously think he came straight off the set of The Water Boy or Swamp People.....haha

He was soaked with alligator water by the time he was done. He had so much fun. Everytime a baby would swim by, he'd drop the one he had in his hand and snatch the next one up.

This one was a little apprehensive...

Notice the biting of the lip, like, um, yeah, I'm ready to go home and watch nick jr. and eat some goldfish mom....

He was man handling this babies!

It was so funny to watch him.

Future Insta-Gator employee perhaps!

Jackson, Dad, Zach, Me and Charlie.

At the end of the tour and ready for some lunch!

This was a fun experience for the kids.

Very informational.

I think I now know everything there is to know now about the Louisiana alligator

And I think I've already forgotten....

--------------------------------

This year Jackson wanted his birthday party at the bowling alley.

Ok!

That's easy enough :)

What an easy birthday party this was this year!

We showed up with a cake from the grocery store and we've got an instant party on our hands!

I'm gonna have to do this more often.

The kids had fun......so did the grown ups. They were bowling in the next lane over :)

waiting for the balls to return...

Grandma Reeger and Me

Blowing out his birthday cake.

He said he wanted a Bowling Cake this year.

I opted out of making his cake this year....and I'm glad I did.

What a long week!

Grandma Reeger was in town visiting Richard and Dana's new baby so she got to join in on the festivities! I hate that it's a blurry pic!

A group picture but we're missing some kids! It's hard to get everyone together at once...

Jackson had so much fun at his bowling party.

We had such a busy week celebrating his birthday.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Jackson who is getting so big everyday. Not only with the funny things he says but his demeanor is changing.

The temper tantrums are starting to subside [whew!] and he's becoming a more socially interactive person. He's always be so shy around other people.

Jackson loves working outside with his Daddy.

Jackson loves to ride his scooter and boss his little brother around....

He loves to play baseball.

He loves school!

His teacher, Ms. Wolfe, told me on Tuesday that her and all the other Kindergarten teachers have a nickname for Jackson. Apparently, he's known as "The Ladies Man" on the playground. Ha! She said, "Jackson's always got at least 8 girls chasing him around the playground and he just loves it."

His favorite foods are pizza, asparagus, corn, meatballs and chicken nuggets. His favorite snacks are graham crackers with peanut butter and the occasional Menchie's fro yo :)

Love you big boy :)