Happy Birthday Jackson!

Jackson is 3!! I can't believe it. We are so lucky to have him in our family. He is getting over the tantrum phase (for the most part) and is learning to love his sister. They are beginning to be good playmates, hug each other often, and even share! This is a big accomplishment and makes me happy to see! His nursery leaders tell us often what a joy Jackson is, how polite and helpful he is in the nursery....and we know! We tell him all the time just how special he is!He is learning fast. Brian is teaching him the mountain names of the ones that surround our valley...he has cascade down really well! His letters are coming along great, he recognized the big letter 'M' on the McDonald's sign this week, and then asked, "Where's the D?"

This year, he was SO excited about his birthday. He knew something special was coming up just for him. Because he was so excited, I made a paper chain-link countdown. He loved tearing off a paper chain each morning and counting how many days were left. I don't know how he learned about birthday parties and what's included, but he wanted an ice cream cake, balloons, and a pinata. So that's what we did! We looked at cake pictures online and he loved one with a bulldozer, so we modified it a bit and ended up with this fun ice cream cake with a bulldozer topper.

We had a dump-truck pinata (he got the pinata idea out of a skippyjon jones book we read at bedtime), and of course...lots of balloons! He was a happy boy!

He wasn't anticipating gifts from people, he thought everyone was coming over to look at his bulldozer cake, so it was a surprise for him to be able to open presents just for him. He was so excited and couldn't decide what to play with first. He'd spend a few minutes playing with his new car wash, then move to the sit and spin, then hit a few balls on the baseball stand, work on his name puzzle, blow bubbles, and then do it all again (his sprinkler toy will have to wait until it gets warmer).

Thank you to all who came and shared the celebration with us!

Feeding Ducks

We went to the park yesterday to watch the ducks. It was a great sunny day. I didn't bring any bread this time because I thought they'd be fed full by the time we got there. But it turned out they were hungry. Jackson decided to collect pieces of mulch and rocks to try and feed them with. He soon found out the ducks were not interested in his "food" and complained by saying, "They're not eating it mom!" I told him they were smart ducks.
I noticed some pieces of dried crusty bread lying on the ground and I gave them to Jackson, and the ducks loved it. So we spent some time scavenging for food people dropped around the pond. A man noticed what we were doing and shared some pieces of bread with us and it made Jackson's day.

Zoey saying "Cheese!" She was running a fever and not feeling well in this picture, but she was hanging in there because of the exciting ducks. She has been sick quite a bit lately, I feel so bad for her. Her weak immune system picks up everything. She has been on an antibiotic for an earache, and while medicated, picked up a viral infection. Argh!
It's spring around the pond! We found two nests, and some ducks that were squatting amid the rocks that I'm sure were sitting on eggs. We'll come back in a few weeks to see the babies swimming....they are always fun to feed!

Easter

Easter was a bit crazy this year, getting mixed in with conference and all. We had the Gray side of the family all in town, and it was fun to see everyone, and the cousins play well together. We had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday and a nice dinner on Sunday, trying to catch pieces of conference in between and around activities and cousins playing together. I wish I had more pictures of our events to share, but this was what I was able to snap amid the chaos. I liked the Easter Conference messages, they really helped make the weekend special.... but I hope Easter and conference don't collide again for a while!