Gingerbread houses

One of Jackson's good friends had a gingerbread decorating party at his house today.  His mother is beyond crafty (and very brave too!) and had 15 kiddos over at her house to decorate gingerbread houses.  She had the cutest little boxes to send them home in, and even was so sweet to send home a house, a baggie of candy and a piping bag of icing so that Grant could make a house too!  She pre-made all the houses out of graham crackers yesterday so that the kids could enjoy the actual fun part, decorating, vs the not-so-fun part of trying to get food-stuff to act like drywall and roofing material.  I'm excited because this is my LEAST favorite Christmas activity and my boys were able to enjoy it without me having to stress about royal icing!

On a side note, we attended a funeral this morning for our dear sweet Joe-Joe, Joe was Neva Dupuis's husband and as most of you know Neva is like a grandmother to Heath.  Anyway, it was the first funeral the boys have attended and I was really proud of how well they did.  Although there were some interesting questions to field, over all it was a good experience for them.  I bring this up to explain the reason why, in these pictures, my children look like they are living in two different climates.  It's 45 and overcast here today and as you can see, Grant, once dressed, does not change.  Jackson however was stripping off the "church clothes" the moment he walked in the front door.  He also is wearing the jeans under duress, he'd have preferred to match that short sleeved t-shirt with a pair of shorts.  I have no idea how he can survive like that.  His skinny little bones have no fat to warm him up!  Grant meanwhile has inherited his Nana's ability to feel cold during the hottest of moments.  He's in a turtle-neck, sweater and corduroy pants and still complaining about being too cold.

Why They CANNOT Share a Room

Up until very recently (this summer) Grant and Jackson shared a room. We bought them bunk beds and Jackson was on the top and Grant had a full sized bed underneath. It was a really great setup and freed up the other bedroom as a playroom/guest bedroom. This summer we had to separate them because of their COMPLETELY different sleep habits. Jackson is OUT at 8:00 promptly and Grant talks to himself until well after 9:00 most nights. Jackson soars with the eagles by 7:00 am and since Grant was up so late hooting with the owls he usually slept in past 8:00 a.m.

Since we've separated them, I've noticed another interesting fact that shows yet another way in which they are COMPLETE opposites. Jackson's room is the picture first. It's at it's messiest. A few drawers are open, some clothes are on the floor, shoes not in the closet, a couple of toys out. In comparison there is this.....

This is the PIT my youngest son calls home. This was done THIS AFTERNOON after school. He's a one many wrecking machine. He can't ever play with anything, put it away and start something new. All of his toys must be played with simultaneously. Thus, Batman and Bumblebee (the transformer) have been in several battles together in their Lego Star Wars space ships while Spiderman chases Captain Jack Sparrow around the K'Nex building. I think they'll be better friends if Type A Jackson doesn't have to deal with this.

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First Pony Ride

Dancing chef

Dancing Chef

Grant loves to cook, but more than that he loves to dance! In addition to the Randy Shaeffer kids songs that are on a running loop along with all the Star Wars oriented Wierd Al Yankovich stuff, he for some reason really likes hip-hop/rap music. His favorite right now is "Dynomite" by Taio Cruz. When he was 2 he use to sing...yes sing "shorty got low low low low low low low low." It's probably the Eminem phase I went through when he was inutero. Heath thought it was odd, I argued the Eminem is a "lyrical genius." I still feel that way, although I don't exactly feel like he's anyone I'd want my small fries listening to. I love the beat. Still love Mozart, but Eminem's the Hershey bar to Mozart's Godiva for me.

Anyway, the boys are getting so big. Jackson lost two front teeth in 24 hours this weekend. Grant's going to kindergarten in the fall and I'm going to be busier than ever. It's been a good summer so far. The boys have been busy; cub scout camp, VBS, Florida, art camp for Grant, science camp for boy boys this week and Lego Building camp for Grant next week. Then begins the final 3 week stretch until school begins. Too hot to even make swimming enjoyable I long to escape to the house in Ruidoso or maybe even drop in on my good friends in Boulder, CO for an extended visit. We are hermits. Huddled inside afraid of melting, not due to rain (I WISH!) but because it's 115 degrees outside. And we'll get attacked by mosquitos. How there can be mosquitos when there's been NO RAIN is beyond my comprehension.

Finally, after 3 years of constant togetherness we decided to separate the boys bedrooms. I was expecting meltdowns, and was surprised when they both seemed excited about having their own rooms. I tried this before and it did NOT work out. No one slept because they "needed to hear brother breathing." No one is happier than Grant, which is the biggest surprise of all. he kind of got the short end of the deal, it's a smaller room, and no bunk beds. He could care less. He spends HOURS every day playing by himself at his lego table or with his star wars figures. I long to kick the boys outside and tell them to play until it's dark, but I just don't have the heart to do it. Jack's playing way too many video games and watching way to much tv, and Grant's a certifiable hermit, but I make myself feel better by forcing Jack to do workbook pages and reading comprehension lessons. Grant likes the homework, he's terrified that he'll be the only kid in kindergarten who doesn't know how to read. Plus, all his assignments are in the form of games on my ipad. It's not a hardship. Jack would love to work on the ipad too, but all he wants to do is play Angry Birds. There's only so much squawking I can listen to.