he knows of a muffin man

when jackson first started watching shrek one, then two, then three, he became obsessed with asking me if i knew who the muffin man was. 

then he began asking everyone else.

in march i gave an update... but he hadn't met the muffin man yet...

he finally did in los angleles a few weeks ago.

he was so giddy and happy.

he said he was expecting drury lane to be further away 

and the muffin man to be bigger.

jack update:
::things i'm loving about jackson lately::

1. while watching dennis the menace together, he commented a few times when dennis was up to no good, "mom, that isn't very nice of him. he should go on timeout." or "that is a potty word."... ahhh, all this effort is working... however, he did laugh throughout most of it.

2. he loves to play outside with his cousins/friends. he smells like a schweaty puppy at the end of everyday. 

{pictures courtesy of my sis elise}


3. when he came home from a playdate with his friend jane looking like this...

his expression when i first saw him was unforgettable.

4. how he squeezes my hand three times whenever he can. i love that he picked up on that.  {i.love.you.}

5. we were at nordstrom the other day and the pianist was playing the theme song from WALLE by louie armstrong, so he sat down next to him to listen until he was done. 

6. often he asks me awkwardly in front of someone we are with, "do you love me or _________ more?" 

7. how much he loves to shop.  more than me.

8. he thinks jesus plays wii.  i come downstairs to find him playing wii tennis. he says, "mom, jesus is playing with me. cool huh?" i am not sure what to tell him at this point. i think it's just a bearded character but i love his faith.

9. climbs and hides anywhere and everywhere. it's fun until he finds too good of a place to hide that takes me longer than it should to find him. walmart is a big place.

10. his patience while i tied his first real tie. it took me ten minutes to get it together. so unlike my past record time when i did it often.  it's amazing how rusty three and half years of non-tie, tying can make you.


11. he was explaining a description of one of his friends he plays with up in san francisco and says, "she has curly hair and googley eyes that sometimes look different ways!" 

12. jack: "mom, how old you have?"
me: "26"
"oh. this whole time long i thought you were four."

13. on our walk in newport, there was a house being fumigated and was persistently asking me if we could go jump in it.
...no jack, that isn't a bounce house.

14. he takes his shirt off any chance he gets.

15. he randomly will tell me he loves me. it makes me feel so stinkin' special.

16. how he has three cowlicks in his hair. i do hair and he would have three.

17. when we saw the movie TRON together he was the loudest there blurting out, "oh man, i love this movie!...oh i love this!... oh the lights!... i want a motorcycle!...can i do that!...oh no way!"... obvs he  was very into it and paid little attention to my whispers in his ear to quiet his excitement. 

18. we were going to noey's bowling party, and on the gift we were giving her had a group of disney princesses on it.  he says, "mom, how come the little mermaid isn't on here?" m: "well, she didn't make the cut." j: oh. i like princesses but not all their toys. they are weird."

19. how i find him somehow melted against my body in the morning.  he crawls into bed sometime around 5 am and fits perfectly next to me.  i need to read a book about what age this needs to stop but i don't want it to.  i love it.

{he is on the plane here. that would be awkward if i put one of us spooning on here. get real}

20. how much he loves fun. 

jackson's prayers these days...

a smidgen of jack's prayer tonight:

{i recorded it since i finally figured out how to use the voice recorder on my phone}

ummm....

thank you for this night,

thank you for my momma and thank you for my daddy,

thank you for micah and that we sawed him,

thank you for the choo choo train my friend Will left at my house,

thank you for pets,

thank you for people not wanting to be like satan because when they do, they are mean and throw rocks at other people,

thank you for my toys on the ceiling still,

thank you for the white people letting the black people sit on the bus, {picture below}

thank you for my light up shoes,

thank you for the scriptures,

ummm...

thank you for my mom's phone charging up fast so i can play with it,

thank you for this morning so i could take a bath,

uhhh ummm,

thank you also for my mommy taking me to get ice cream sometimes,

thank you for bones,

thank you for my heart being in my head,

thank you for jesus making this earth,

thank you for my baby brother isaac in heaven,

thank you for healthy food to make me grow tall like uncle mitch,

thank you for today...

{when he came home from preschool, he is always excited to show me what he painted or crafted. he handed this one to me + he told me all about how white people use to be mean to black people and didn't let them do things. he talked about martin luther king, jr. and how he freed the black people. he then carried onto having me touch the paint of his hands and said we need to always be nice to the black people.}

so, i'm thinking he learned something new today! :)  

i love being a mom. these are such cute 

moments i never want to forget.

date night with my boo

the other night jackson and i went on a date. 

lots of hand holding, talking about everything, witty comments, squeezing the hand three times, kisses and such.

we first had to return some things at the mall.

of course the train table fished him in.

pottery barn...

they had this tool set that was so cool. he played with it for fifteen minutes.

then we got hungry, so we had some dinner at nordstrom cafe.

the lady at the counter loved jack and hooked 'a brotha up with lots of fruit and cookies.

we stopped by a few more stores and then tried to make a movie but it was too late.

so we thought our plan B sounded like fun...

you know when kids mix like every flavor of soda? 

well this one decided to mix his tarts with chocolates...

took one bite and couldn't bare the thought of taking another.

{pictures by jack}

 the suns were playing
so we watched jack's favorite team for a bit.

he is always such a great date.


i look forward to our next date...
tuesday night to the movies!
xo xo xo

our time in mesa, arizona

we were in mesa, arizona for twenty-four hours together.

we kept busy doing things like throwing oranges against the concrete walls, eating oranges like they were becoming extinct,   skipped rocks like we were by a river, piggy-back rides galore and we went to my {hands down} very favorite place... PITA JUNGLE. it has my heart. i ate more than my stomach wanted but i knew it would be years until my mouth would have such pleasure. i am craving it now...

the next day, one of my dear dear friends rachael harris, who i met when we all lived in san francisco, who is from mesa; she took jackson and i out on the town. 

after lunch at this fun mexican place downtown where we met another friend of mine, ashley, we went to the skatepark with our boys. i wish i still had my old blog from when i lived in SF because i have the cutest pictures of duke and jackson as drooling, sweaty babies together.  now they are tall, strapping boys.  rach now has another cutie, named boss who made me want to take him home with me.  

we got the boys ready and let them play outside for hours.  duke knew how to tear up the bowls.  boss was super cute showing me how he jumps on his board. jackson tried new things on the board. they played hard for hours. nothing is better than watching boys enjoy a sport  they love.

it was so nice to catch up with a friend that has been a part of a chapter of your past and reunite.  she is so great and i loved our time together. my next step is finding an open denistry office her husband can take over so they can live closer. i'm so selfish.

after we went to the airport. we were in the security check-in line and jack had way too much energy. the lady behind us tapped me on the shoulder and said, "i have to say you have the most pose and carry a calmness about you that is rare among mothers." that was so sweet of her to say, as i felt like i had no control over my sugar-filled, DS-playing four-year-old who knows all the drills the TSA expect.  

we flew home and were greeted by my sweet family. it has been so nice to be home and back to reality. having jackson back with me is amazing. he keeps running up to me to melt into me. i love having him home and try to relish every second possible.