Early to Bed...

Extremely Early to Rise!!! Why is it that in the summer, when you're supposed to sleep in a little, my children insist on rising as early as the sun. For those of you who don't know what time that is, let me fill you in: 6:00. That is WAY too early for me!!!

(I told them to pretend they were asleep for the picture, so, naturally, Sydney closed her eyes and starting yelling, "Cheese!!!")

I am not a morning person, nor have I ever claimed to be, nor do I ever want to be. I enjoy laying in bed for as long as possible. But, starting at 6-6:30 Nash begins to squawk which leads to Sydney's waking too. Trace usually stammers down stairs around 7 or so and is the last one to enter my bed and start in on me with the, "I'm hungry, I want breakfast now" crap. I hold them off as long as possible until I can't listen to it one more time then lovingly holler "FINE!" I stumble out of bed and pour their favorite sugar-coated cereals. Lately, every morning, Trace announces that he wants what I'm having for breakfast. I have no idea why...maybe I should start eating nasty Grape Nuts...that'll slow him down, in more ways than one.

***Some of you might be thinking, now that I'm getting up so early I should use the extra time to shower...I don't think so, I actually use it to BLOG and Blogstalk.

sPILLED mILK

My dear daughter, Sydney, has an amazing talent for spilling things. If it were an Olympic sport, she would take the Gold. She currently holds the record for consecutive number of spills for a two year-old.

You name it, she's spilled it...I'm not talking just liquids either. She's SPILLED an entire box of Rice Krispies, bowls of cereal, a full container of Nesquick (the powder is REALLY fun to clean up!) snack baggies (this one is particularly tricky), full plates of dinner, and of course, most of her drinks. (Not surprisingly, she's never spilled a bowl of ice cream).

One morning a few months ago I woke up to Sydney drinking from a cup without a lid. "Why would you do this?" I asked Tyler. He knows she's no where near graduating to the coveted lidless cup. But he didn't care, he figured he'd be gone by the time the spill occurred. And he was.

This morning, a new scenario: Sydney is drinking out of her cup-with-a-lid, while eating her cereal with a minimal amount of milk. Trace was eating his breakfast too, with his open-aired drink of OJ. And then, whaddya know? Trace knocks over his juice! Sydney congratulated him on his effort to take her Gold, but quickly reminded him that he was going to have to do much better than that!

An Ode to "White and Nerdy"

Cameron and Erin White
BFF

Many of you know, or have heard about, our bestest good friends, Cam and Erin. I have decided to dedicate an entire post to them, because I love them so. Here goes...

We met Cam and Erin about 8 years ago at the good ole Willowbrook Condominiums where we all resided at the time. It was a couple's match made in heaven. After our first "date" we quickly discovered that we had tons in common...

Tyler and Cameron are one in the same. People have often mistaken them for brothers. When we tell them they're not, they don't believe us.

They are both loud, funny, out-going, opinionated, passionate and hungry.

Erin and I fall on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Although we are both VERY witty, we are also quiet, (until you get to know us), laid back, organized, from the east coast, and we both have three brothers--one older and two younger.

Since we've known the Whites, we've been on numerous trips together...Hawaii, California, Myrtle Beach, Vegas, and Chicago. We've played thousands of games of UNO, gone on many, many trips to St. George, and been to almost every family event of each others (birthdays, blessings, Red Bashes).

Here's how I would sum up an awesome day with the Whites:

Cameron insultating Tyler on how to eat his cheese sandwich and wondering how he gets around while Coach Tyler is making fun of Erin driving her car that she might sell you for six or eight hundred dollars singing "I'm like a bird"... and I'm wondering what happened to the bacon in the fridge...maybe those stupid trees ate it!

The next generation of the Jackson/Whites...

Thanks for a fun day today, Erin!

We love you guys!


PS...Cam, go easy on the comments, and keep it clean.

Guilty

I just ate 4 very large Caramel Brownies. They were good. Thanks, Judy. The bad part is, I have to squeeze in to my bathing suit tomorrow. Ouch.

A very wise over-eater once told me, "Anyone can eat when they're hungry. It takes true dedication to eat when you're full."

I dedicate those brownies to larger love handles. YES!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the Best Two Dads Ever!
We love you both!

Trace's Father's Day Reflections:
"I like Daddy to get me breakfast."
"I love to play with Daddy."

Sydney's (prompted) Father's Day Reflections:
" I love when Daddy reads me stories. "

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me...

Paige or Sydney?

I'm sure it's hard to guess with the fake 70's foliage in the background!

Since it's my birthday today, I would like everyone to take a brief moment and share five things that you love about me. Please limit it to ONLY five seeing as how I might not have time to read all of them, because I'm going to be very, very busy today.

Doing what, you might ask?

Well, here's how I think it's all going to transpire. Unfortunately, Tyler has to work all day but has graciously volunteered to take Trace and Sydney with him (he's bringing the goodness of sweet corn to all of Utah County). This leaves me with only one infant who I'm sure is going to enjoy watching his momma get pampered. I'm planning a pedicure, manicure, and some other enjoyment that will involve eating large amounts of caramel brownies (my mom-in-law makes the BEST caramel brownies, so I request them every year for my annual birth reminder--I can't wait!).

A big thank you to the movie, Madagascar, for teaching my children this beautiful version of happy birthday!

PS--If you still can't think of FIVE things, feel free to write down five things you love about yourself. Negative comments will be removed immediately by the author!!!!

The Babysitter

I am a big believer in free labor. As you can see here, Trace is an amazing babysitter at the tender age of four. He actually does get paid, though, in memories.

What's that smell?

If anyone reading this has three kids under the age of four, you can relate. The rest of you will judge me, but I don't care.

Today, I have come out of denial and embraced the fact that I do not shower on a daily basis anymore. It's gross, I know, but true. I wish I had the pleasure of a hot, uninterrupted daily shower. When I do have the rare occasion to clean up, I get to shower with a friend, or two, who always make sure that I'm tripping over them as I'm trying to get soap out of their eyes. So, showers have become quite an inconvenience for me lately, and are, therefore, sporadic.

And what's more, I'd rather have an extra 10 minutes of sleep than a freshly washed head of hair.

I'll leave you disgusted readers and Tyler with this one promise: I will shower once a week, whether I need it or not.

The Trip Blog that never ends...

Here's the rest of our trip highlights in the order they transpired:

Day one:
Re-cooped from our 2 am arrival and lack of sleep.

Day two:
Beach and pool day (I think I've already posted enough pictures of that)

Day three:
Strawberry picking! One of my favorite things to do when I'm home...this time was no exception. We went to Pungo, and the picking party got a little carried away. After "time's up" there were 47 POUNDS of strawberries! Yikes. Sydney did little to contribute to the effort. After she picked about 3 strawberries, she suspected it was too much like work and decided to hang out in the car with Grandma and sleeping Nash. Uncle Jon helped Trace and it was a fun time. The not so fun part: washing the berries.

Day Four:
Ray and Jen's crew arrived late on Friday. So, we took the entire circus to the zoo. We packed EVERYone into Weezie's mini, and Ray Ray drove. Then the stinky animal fun began! Trace & Syd's favorite part? "Feeding" the animals. Aunt Jen held her hand out, Trace & Syd put their food in her hand, and the animals feasted! Thanks for wiping out animal hunger guys!


Day Five:
Church and naps...no noteworthy pictures are available because we were too rushed to get there on time. I must say, it's probably a first for the Jackson clan (being on time that is).

Day Six:
The Great Wolf Lodge. If anyone is looking for a great place to take the family, this is it! It has an indoor water park and pools outside. Trace had a blast riding all the water slides with his dad, and Sydney enjoyed the shallow pools. She wouldn't even think about going on a slide after her first and last incident left her with wet hair!
We didn't get any pics inside the park, but here's some of the family "howling" as we were leaving the Great Lodge.

Day Seven:
Busch Gardens. The highlight of the day, once again, was Trace's first roller coaster ride. I am one proud momma! Here are some more shots...

Utah, I'd like to introduce...

you to my favorite things I can only get while in Virginia (or other Southeastern states). Here they are in no particular order:

1. Wise Cheez Doodles--love, love, love them. Sorry, Chester Cheeto, you don't even come close to the puffiness of Wise.
2. Cindy's Homemade 18 layer Cake--Bet you didn't know a cake could have this many layers. And, here's a hint, don't try to make your own, just go to the random gas station near the Outer Banks and BUY one!
3. Pickled Okra--I happen to love ANYTHING pickled, but okra, mmmm buddy it is good, good, good. I know my Utah friends are thinking I'm speaking in some kind of foreign dialect. Well, I am. It's called red neck. I will settle for the store bought kind or Ray's homemade version which is very delicious. Pictured below is me and Jon pickling okra last summer...
4. Cheerwine! This is a yummy soda that everyone should have the chance to taste. It falls on the Dr. Pepper/Mr. Pibb spectrum, but this one's the best! As I was looking for a picture of it on the internet, I discovered that there's an entire BLOG devoted to this cherry flavored "pop." http://randomactsofsampling.blogspot.com/
5. Panera Bread Company. This sandwich/bread shop is one of my favorite places for lunch when I'm home. Sadly, I didn't have time to eat there, but there's always next time.

BLOG ADDENDUM:::Tyler's favorite place to eat while in Hickville--the Waffle House. It just doesn't get any greaser, uh I mean, better than that!