Category Archives: Jackson

I love three day weekends.

So much TIME, you know? I feel like there is never enough of it, and then a 3 day weekend comes with perfect weather and family activities, and everything seems just right.

Saturday was gorgeous in Phoenix! A “cold front” had moved in, and brought our temperatures down into the low 80’s, which is unheard of at the end of May. We took advantage and worked on our deprived, forgotten backyard. We played in the pool and had a picnic lunch on our patio. We soaked up the sun, enjoyed the cool breeze, and took delight in the time we had.

For Memorial Day, we went down to Tucson to spend the day at Nana and Jerry’s house! We went swimming, spent time playing with cousins and family, enjoyed a delicious BBQ dinner, and had such a wonderful time. London at one point declared that it was, “her best day ever.”

We had such a great time, and now we are in countdown mode for our much anticipated, week-long vacation in San Diego! Less than 3 weeks…

I have two types of perfect days.

There are perfect days that are perfect because I have no responsibilities (read: for some reason, my children aren’t with me). Don’t get me wrong; I adore my children. I do. But, in order to keep adoring them, I have to have a few perfect days without them. Usually they are with my husband, and they involve things like sleeping, reading, talking, walking, eating without cutting up food, eating hot food, eating my own food, not sharing my food, shopping for things that I need, not having a diaper in my purse, getting in and out of the car in 3 seconds flat, actually going inside a Starbucks rather than the drive-thru…you get the point.

Then there are the perfect days that are full of responsibility and cut up food and diapers and drive-thrus…the perfect days that are about our family. Friday was that kind of perfect day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we decided to go to the pool. Yep. It’s the beginning of April. It’s 95 outside. The days of constant wet swimsuits and towels in the dryer have started. I could not be happier about it.

It was perfect. The water is still heated from the winter, the temperatures aren’t scorching yet, and school isn’t out, so the pool isn’t busy. No lines, no crowds…just warm water, warm weather, the sweet smell of coconut sunscreen in the air and happy squeals from my children.

Perfect.

After the pool, we drove with the windows down to the nearest Rubios and sat outside, munching on food that reminded us of the beach and sea breezes. We went home, laid the kids down for naps, and took a nap ourselves.

I got a pedicure. I’ll spare you the picture, but a perfect day almost always includes a pedicure.

Then, we dyed Easter eggs.

I went with something new this year. I had seen a blogger do a post on dying your eggs with Kool-Aid instead of vinegar. I liked the idea of not stinking up my house (on a perfect day, stink house is not allowed), so I gave it a whirl. My house smelled of sugar, and the colors were vibrant and pretty. The only thing I noticed is that you have to wait until the eggs dry before you really handle them, or the color will wipe off. Other than that, it was fantastic, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to vinegar based dye!

Another tip I had seen (I can’t find my original pin to post for you) was to use whisks to hold your eggs while they are being colored. GENIUS! I mean, it was absolutely fantastic. Using whisks means that even your little ones can get in on the fun…Brooklyn loved dipping it in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out…you get the point. Aren’t the colors fabulous? Kool-Aid, ya’ll. It’s wicked awesome.

While I wouldn’t always put such an intense, time-consuming, possible tantrum-causing activity on a perfect day schedule…this made it the kid’s perfect day.

And when everyone around you, from 1-35, feels just as perfectly perfect as you do…then you know it’s a perfect day.

New Years Day brought us beautiful weather. Phoenix was hit with our “winter” early this year, and it seems as though we’ve been hovering in the 50s/60s for quite awhile. Desert folk don’t do very well for very long at temperatures that low, so when the 80 degree day popped up in our forecast, we took full advantage! We picked up pizza, packed up drinks and a blanket, and headed to the park to enjoy the warm evening. It was such a gorgeous evening, and I didn’t have to do dishes!

Great fun was had by all, but we are ready for cooler weather for just a bit! We only get to wear our sweaters and coats for such a short period of time, so we like to get as much use out of them as we can. We’d like to take the kids up north for a snow day, so hopefully winter will find us again soon!

Our children are 5.5, almost 3, and 16 months. While Brooklyn wasn’t super into it just yet, this was the first year that both Jackson and London were simply thrilled with everything the season is about! It was so much fun to countdown the “days until Jesus’ birthday”
with such gusto every morning. Jackson would change the days of our advent tree religiously and with the zeal of a child who has finally figured out that there is a day in the year where presents, food, family, and joy are
present in everything.
The festivities began for us the Friday before Christmas. Nana and Jerry came to our house for supper, and with them brought a huge box of gifts for the children. To say it was awesome would be an understatement; the gifts were fabulous and absolutely perfect for them! Jackson got a human anatomy set which he has named “Gray” after Gray’s Anatomy, London got a princess dress up box full of outfits and treasures, and Brooklyn got an elephant ball popper and musical instruments. The kids had a blast, and we all loved watching them enjoy everything so much!

On Christmas Eve, we headed to my parents house south of Tucson. We spent the day there with lots of my family, including my brother Bill and his wife Chasity. Bill had been deployed overseas and just came home a little before Thanksgiving, so it was good to see him! We had a traditional Swedish dinner, opened (more) gifts, and headed home.

Christmas morning!!!!! The kids were on cloud 9. Jackson, of course, woke up before the girls did. I anticipated this and had purchased new iPad games for him to play while he waited for his sisters to wake up. Once London woke up, they did stockings while I prepared our breakfast of pancakes and bacon (yum!). Brooklyn woke up and joined us for breakfast, and then to the tree we went!!! The children were just beside themselves with excitement, and we were blessed to be able to give them gifts that we knew they wanted. London got a singing Rapunzel doll and a doctor’s kit, which she has yet to put down. It is so fun to be able to do such wonderful things for them!
Greg and Jackson ended up with some sort of flu virus, so that put a bit of a damper on the day. 😦 Poor guys!
So, on to next year! Jackson started the countdown the day after Christmas! 🙂 We hope you enjoyed the holiday season with your family! Praise be to God for giving us cause to celebrate!