Jackson, Jackson, Jackson

Terrible two's? Never heard of them.

Terrifying three's? Ooh! Ooh! Over here! Pick me! Pick me!

We are DROWNING in the "three's." Drowning. Can't breath. Must...have...air.

Let me preface this by saying, we love Jackson. He is so loving, smart, and fun. He is also hard-headed, demanding, bossy, whiney, and a big pain in my butt! I'm his mom; I can say that. I'd like to blame a lot of Jackson's behaviors on my being at the law enforcement academy since November. According to Andy, "Jackson never acts out when you're gone." Of course he doesn't! Why would he behave for his mother?!?! Now that the academy is winding down, I'll be home everyday, and I can't handle the constant misbehavior.

When I ask Jackson to do something, he doesn't. When Jackson doesn't get his way, he throws a HUGE, MASSIVE fit. Every single time. He won't stay in time out. He is trying to weasel his way out of naps.

Any advice on how to make my three-year-old lovable again? Or should I just hold on until May when he turns four. Things HAVE to get better at four....right?

Going on an "a-venture" with his brother.

Playing with the slime he made from his "science a-speer-i-ment."

This picture was taken on the one day I said he could skip nap. Ha! I win!

Love you Jackson!

The Rocket Show

The weather has been, dare I say, "Spring-like" lately. It was so nice on Sunday; upper 50's and NO wind (a windless day is rare in Oklahoma). We decided to grab some snacks and head to the park to shoot off a rocket. Building and blasting off rockets has become a new favorite past-time for our family, but we've been struggling to find a windless day. I also made a video of the actual rocket launching, which I'll upload if I ever figure out how.

Juice box and granola bar? Check! Bring on the rocket show!

Daddy and Ethan setting up the launch pad.

(Who loves shorts in February? Andy does!)

My little rocket scientist in between launches.

BLAST OFF!

Baby it's Cold Outside

I think winter may have finally made it's way to Oklahoma. It's in the 30's and it snowed (only 1/2 an inch, but it counts)! Winter should be gone by tomorrow when temperatures return to the 50's and 60's. I do love the mild winters in Oklahoma, but when 1/2 an inch of snow falls, Oklahomans act like it's Armageddon. I saw more car accidents on my drive to school than I saw after three feet of snow fell in one day in Maine. The boys were hoping for a snow day like neighboring Tulsa, but Broken Arrow stood strong and decided 1/2" was not a justifiable amount for a snow day. Despite the "cold," we're still enforcing the play-outside-as-much-as-you-can rule.

A quick play in the snow before school this morning.

Most of it has melted now.

RollerBoys

Last weekend, since there was no football on (besides the boring ProBowl), we decided to go rollerskating. Grandma Vicki loves rollerskating, and we figured it would be a fun outing. Fun? Sort of. Crowded? YES. Have I mentioned, my husband and sons SUCK in crowds? Because they do. Jackson got his skates on; realized how tricky it was going to be; and immediately asked to leave. Ethan, too, was frustrated by the fact that he wasn't automatically awesome at skating, but he didn't give up quite so easily; and once he got his hands on a skate mate, he was good to go. Andy, Vicki, and I had fun when we weren't keeping small children from falling. I think every child in Broken Arrow had an urge to go skating this day. In the end, we had fun, but next time we go, let's hope there are a lot less people there.

All fun and games until they wanted to move.

This is the only picture I could get of Jack.

Ethan was MUCH happier once he got a skate mate. I forgot to mention, skate mates were available at a ratio of about one skate mate to every 459 kids. They were like GOLD. I had to nearly fight other moms for this one.