winter what-nots

My kids.  They drive me crazy.  They make me laugh.  I utterly adore them.  With Jackson still Tracked Out, the freezing cold weather, and an ice storm, we have had a LOT of time together indoors.

They may be 4.5 years apart, but they certainly know how to pester each other.  Going for the full sibling experience, I guess.  One minute they are chasing and giggling... the next they take toys from each other and scream out.  Hannah is not so sure about having Jackson at home with us during the day as she definitely acts out when my attention is centered on him.

Jack is wii-obsessed.  He would happily play all day long if I let him.  I took cue from my friend and set up new parameters for his play:  However long he spends on homework or reading, he gets that same amount of time to play wii.  No more arguing and he's more motivated than ever to get school work done.  He is really impressing me with his reading abilities lately.

Caught!

Hannah has entered into a new phase I call the "stinker phase".  She is quite mischievous and active!  The girl is ALL over the place and very sneaky...  Hides my hair brush.  Sneaks candy.  I went upstairs to grab her shoes and in the 30 seconds I was gone she had climbed onto the kitchen table, grabbed and pencil and decorated my notebook.  She is testing the limits in virtually every area.  Where is my sweet, docile little thing??!  :)

For all her recent rambunctiousness, she has become the extreme snuggler.  She often leads me to a chair, tells me to sit, and gathers all her beloved objects (usually nite nite blankie, sippy cup, doll, and magnadoodle) for a lengthy snuggle time on my lap.  I love this!  However, she does have a knack for picking inopportune times - like when I'm cooking dinner or helping Jackson with homework.  Hannah gives me hugs and kisses all day long, and often tells me "lub you".  Melts my heart!

Her vocabulary has really multiplied and she will chat up a storm.  She will sit on my lap and go on and on with real words mixed with babble.  She's putting more words together: "Mommy, cups.  Juice.  Peeeez.  Yummy Yummy"  (translation: I am thirsty. Please give me yummy juice.)

doesn't she look like a stinker?

Other cute quotable moments:

Hannah calls the Chewbacca action figure, "Lion", and makes it roar.  It's a new favorite for her.

At a blended service our church had with another church that is primarily African American, Jackson said to me, "Mom, they say AMEN alot."

Jackson: "Well, I love Beauty and the Beast.  It's not a girl movie.  They do lots of cool battles."

"Fake Birthday" (aka Lego Star Wars party)

Jackson has taken to calling his small friend party the Fake Birthday since it wasn't ON the actual day.  So funny.  This year's party was very small, but memorable.  Since he is the big 6 year old, he had a lot of input into the party this year.  The theme was Lego Star Wars.

Not just Lego.  Not just Star Wars.  It had to be Lego Star Wars.  Which ended up being a very fun and easy theme to work with!

The boys went through vigorous Jedi Training with their trainer (Daddy).  We had the soundtrack playing as the young Padawans (that's SW speak for Jedi's-in-training) arrived.  They were presented with their own Light Saber (small inflatable ones that light up). In case you are wondering... 5 & 6 year-old boys LOVE love LOVE light sabers. There was quite the exuberance!
The first activity was Light Saber training (keep balloons in air as long as possible using the light saber). 
Next, they worked together to free Hans Solo from an ice prison (Hans action figure frozen in ice block).  Then, it was Blaster Training (nerf guns taking out a line of 6 bad guy action figures). 

We then took a break from training for a little present opening and refreshments of Yoda Soda, a light saber cake, ice cream and a few other snacks.  The table centerpiece was the Millennium Falcon (courtesy of daddy's childhood collection).  These young Jedi were raring to get back to training!

The Padawans then had to tackle the biggest obstacle yet -- Destroy the Death Star (ball pinata we painted silver).  Jackson was insistent that he had to have a pinata this year.  This worked perfectly with our theme.

We then lined up the boys for an Awards Ceremony where each received a Jedi Knightship certificate signed by Master Yoda himself.  They REALLY got into it and were so excited!

The remainder of time was spent playing with Star Wars action figures and ships, playing a Lego Star Wars wii game, and whopping each other with light sabers.  Hence the importance of them being inflatable.  :) 

According to Jackson, it was the "coolest birthday ever".  He was grinning from ear-to-ear the entire time.  Even Hannah loved it.  She stayed in the middle of every activity just like she was a 6 year old.