Jackson's New Room

In August it was time for the nursery to come down and Jackson could not wait. He was getting what was the nursery and having his very own room. I thought I would have it done by the first day of school. That did not happen but two weeks later the walls were painted and he had his bed.

Jackson got to move into his room and he was so happy about it. Logan moved in with Larson. Larson moved to the top bunk and that has excited him right up until now.

It took a couple more months to finish Jackson's bedroom. For his birthday week, he would come home from school and I would have another part of it. The big item and coolest was his couch under the loft bed. So Jackson had a great birthday week with many surprises.

Now, I deal with Larson saying, its not fair. I want a room like Jacksons. Sometimes Jackson lets him spend the night on the couch that folds out into a bed.

Jackson loves his room and I am really happy with the way that it turned out.

Jackson's first tackle jersey. He even gave it his very own signature.

At night there is a light that just makes the wall mural glow. Very cool!

The shelves on the right hold his lego creations.

So now, Larson asks, "what grade will I be in when Jackson leaves for college?"

Larson you may want his room but you would miss him terribly.

Jackson's 11th Birthday

Turning 11

Jackson is a really simple guy when it comes to his birthday. He just wants to be with his family, eat his cake, and throw in some presents of course.

Do you want a theme Jackson?

I guess basketball would be fine.

Ok, then a little basketball theme it is.

Jackson being the good big brother that he is.

What makes Jackson special:

We all know he is smart and has added many skills and accomplishments this year to support that.

Is discovering what it means to be a dedicated person whether you are building a Lego set or going to state to try and win another DI competition.

So compassionate.

Incredible brother!!!

Getting kind of clever and funny most of the time.

Advid reader.

Such a nice young man. We can always see glimpses of the man he will become and that makes our hearts happy.

Larson, well, being Larson

It's not very big but this is it. This is the specialty cake that Jackson always gets on his birthday.

Uncle Chris and the boys

Jackson's big birthday gift was that we finished his new bedroom. (post to follow)

Besides that he got allot of other good presents. One of his favorites was his new iron man watch. He has alarms set on it to remind him of many different things through out the day.

It cracks me up at just the fact that he has a watch on his arm makes him look even that much older.

Another favorite was a 4 ft Kinex dual roller coaster that has a motor. NOW what do I do with the thing? Different than legos but he still got it built in less than 3 days,

The best part about Jackson (for me anyway) is that he loves his Mama!

Happy 11th Birthday Jackson.

Larson's 7th Birthday

Larson is 7

(and in his own words: The King of Birthdays)

Unless the kids birthdays are on a Saturday or Sunday, their actual party is on a different day than their birthday. This benefits them as I am a celebrate on the actual day type of person. So sometimes the celebration can go on for up to 6 days. Here is Larson with his letters and presents.

He got to open one before school.

Larson kept me busy. I brought him lunch and ate with him and then had to quickly go pick up Logan from speech and then return with Larson's birthday treat. The school has a rule that no birthday treats until the afternoon.

He loved having his friends help pass out his treats (which of course were doughnuts).

Mrs. Jeffcoat led the class in singing a very original birthday song to Larson.

For dinner, I made tacos for Larson and then some cookie cake.

Then Larson was able to open his family presents!

This was a fun filled day for Larson but he was already counting days and hours until his friend party on Saturday.

Its kind of funny because he is not the biggest Star Wars fan in the world.

So why would I do a Star Wars party? It went something like this. He wanted a Lego party and the one at the Lego store is pretty boring. I could have been real creative but just wasnt feeling the Lego vibes. The boys love all of their Lego Wii games and one was Star Wars and that is where it came from.

Younger version of Jackson.

Our baby Darth

The party planners

By the look of things, Yoda did not get his way about something.

The set up for the party was not too easy. There hasnt been a party for me outside when the wind hasnt been ripping. At least I have learned from experience now and I dont even try to get the decorations up.

The party started with the boys building their own spaceships.

Next was the training course. Once completed, they got their Jedi robes.

After a game of defend your planet, they finally got their much anticipated light sabers.

In full training classes with Jedi Jackson leading the way.

You would think that this would get way crazy with light sabers in boys hands but this was the least crazy part of the entire party.

(I will say that I have never ever had a party that was so crazy and out of control)

The 11 boys that were there screamed louder than any girls I have ever had at a party.

Larson was so into everything and was just happy.

3 different times he came to me with a hug and a big thank you during the party.

Thats why I do this. Certainly not so I can have Moms drop their out of control boys at my house and have me entertain them for 2 hours. This was all about Larson and hopefully he will outgrow the friend parties sooner than later but I dont have much hope for that with Larson.

After they completed their training, they were ready to take on Darth Vader himself. I have to admit that Tom is the biggest sport in the world when it comes to our kids birthday parties.

So we had Darth Vader in our garage filled with fog and the Imperial March song playing. I opened the garage and the fog came rolling out then there was Darth Vader standing there. Seriously, the kids could not contain themselves. I tried to keep it as organized as possible. Each Jedi took a turn fighting Vader.

Hands down, best part of the party.

Yoda Soda was a huge hit

The kids had pizza and cupcakes. We finished off the party with this most awesome pinata. The boys were so wild that I wouldnt let them use the plastic pinata bat. They could only use their foam light sabers. Larson the best boy at the party of course got to use the bat and tear into the candy.

Larson loved his party!

(I loved that he loved his party but I also loved when the parents came to take all those little Jedis back to their own planets)

Larson at age 7:

You are getting taller and skinnier.

Your love for everything in life continues.

You have learned how to whistle and think you are pretty cool.

You do great in school and Quest.

Very confident

incredible manners

A great big brother and I have to say great little brother too.

starting soccer for the first time

A great testimony

You are such a joy to be around.

You are my easy one.

We love you very much!

Happy birthday Larson

Destination Imagination

This is Team Never Stop.

I had heard of DI before but was not really too interested with the time commitment and another thing on our plate. Jessica called and said that they had a team and would like to invite Jackson to be on it. We accepted and it all began.

Logan, Brendon, Fischer, Erik, Sydney, Jack, Jackson

The team worked for 4 months together with the Wunschs as their coaches.

They have to learn to build with wood, glue under strict guidelines. The building team built a structure that held over 400 lbs. The 2nd place team came in at 200 lbs, half of our teams weight.

Another part of this team is learning how to work together and very quickly. There is no adult input whatsoever. 100% kids all the way.

They are given a bag with a prop and guidelines to put together a skit. The skit must have all of the elements given to them. They have 2 minutes to put it together and 4 minutes to perform.

Think about 7 kids with 7 individual brains. This was a skill that took them 4 months to master.

Here is a small picture of them at the actual competition. Jackson was the mad chemist standing behind Logan. He loved acting this out and even did a small explosion.

It was a very long day for the team and coaches. At the end they made the decision to not hang around for a couple more hours to see the awards ceremony.

You see, I dont think that anyone assumed much more than a good job done team, we are very proud of you.

The next morning, we found out that Team Never Stop won 1st place out of 81 teams. We were all so very excited and maybe a little (surprised- but we wont tell Jackson that)

So DI took on a whole other level. First things first, they got their medals and team meeting to get organized for the state competition.

Jackson was such a lucky boy that Jessica thought to call and ask him to be on the team. He has loved everything about this DI team. Loved all the meetings and competition day, he said it was the best day ever.

They were the heroes at school on Monday when they announced the results. Everyone congratulating them. The 1st trophy and plaque in the case for River Ridge Elementary.

Now it is back to practices. They leave for the state competition on April 1st in Lubbock, Texas. The school is paying for everything: charter bus, hotel, and food. This is so crazy!!! So Jackson will be leaving school that Friday and going to Lubbock on his own (I mean without Mom and Dad). He is so excited and can not wait.

We are so proud of Jackson and what an amazing experience for him.

GOOD LUCK TEAM NEVER STOP!

(Jackson was the one to come up with the team name)

Sock Hop #2

As a kindergartener, Larson attended his first sock hop. He loved everything about it and will be one of my favorite memories of him that night. So of course, he was not going to miss the event this year. I knew that I would be on a date with a certain 6 year old that night.

One handsome date I must say and I was looking forward to this time with Larson.

Our school does such a good job with all their extra curriculur efforts. Bringing in these old cars was over the top for the kids. I thought it was pretty cool too!

He just dances the night away. He is so social and all his friends wanted to dance with him. I really had a great night with Larson.

I'm sure as each year passes he will lose a little of that enthusiasm for the sock hop. I had to drag Jackson as a 4th grader and did not even attempt to bring him as a 5th grader.

Larson is at a perfect age to enjoy all the things in life and not worry about how cool he is. I do have to say though, he is a very cool kid.