Thanksgiving 2017

 Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

 I don't know which family picture is better, so you get all three!

 We had a packed day that began at 8ish with the Erickson family turkey trot-we managed to bring down a bike for Karianna and for JD, and rollerblades for me and Jordan. I ended up rollerblading the full 6 miles, which was actually really easy, JD and Jordan switched off with the bike and rollerblades (JD biked 4 miles, Jordan 2), and Karianna switched off with Elizabeth and Makayla with running and the bike (she ended up running 2 miles). It was all super impressive, and I love this family tradition!

After the bike ride, we met up with Jared's family at Falcon Hill park, which was great fun.  We headed back to Grandma Erickson's house thereafter to change and get ready for Thanksgiving lunch.  its always fun to see all the cousins together. James had a very unfortunate accident, effectively ruining my mom's bath mats and all of his clothes, so Jared headed back to STV with all the kids while I stayed in Mesa to do black Friday shopping with Becca and Eric.  It was a busy day, but a fun one, and I didn't work a lick!

Jackson's 3rd Birthday!

And then he was three!  Jackson is growing up far too quickly-I'm so thankful at times like this that my babies stay babies for a long time.  Jackson grows leaps and bounds every day and we are so grateful for his crazy, wild, loving spirit.  He very poignantly expressed his desire for a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate chips, so i accommodated with what would end up being a truly sinful cake. 

 This is what typically happens when you ask Jackson to smile on cue, lol!

 Just saying silly things to make him laugh is a better recipe for a good picture. ;)

 Hugs from some siblings as they took turns complimenting Jackson...

 Excellent reactions to opening presents!

 I added these Minion gummies to his cake, which absolutely delighted him!

 My favorite picture!

November Tidbits

A funny conversation between Jackson and James:

Obviously, some parental intervention is necessary right now, but Jared and I are cracking up over this repetitious argument between the boys:

James: Don't say another word to me!
Jackson: Don't bug me!
James: Don't say another word to me! 
Jackson: Don't bug me!
James: You're annoying me!
Jackson: No, you annoy ME!

Ha ha! And like the good parent I am, I am posting this on FB before I go mediate. Love these silly brothers to pieces!

A New Routine:

I am grateful for early bedtimes. Mostly because we just implemented a new routine in our house: everyone goes to bed at 6pm. The only way to adjust that is if you earn minutes by doing your jobs properly (read: thoroughly, and in a manner that passes mom-inspection). Bad attitudes make the jobs you have done null and void. Best part about it is I just sit back and observe rather than get after kids to do a better job, because end of the day, if they don't want to, that's fine-the bedtime stands.

Sara is Awesome:

Um. I have an awesome 7 year old. She has free time on the computer right now, and of her own free will and accord, she googled James Madison and came up to show me a whole page of facts she wrote down as she was reading about him. Um. How amazing is that????? I asked her why she picked James Madison, and she said she has just been learning a lot about presidents in class and wanted to learn more about them. She's doing George Washington next. Um....this is just unbelievably cool.

 Rachel Turkey Trots with WGU:

A New President:

Well, we didn't think it was going to happen, but Donald Trump is our new President.  I am proud to say I voted, and bore my sticker proudly!  

The next day this happened....

Today deserved a little happiness and joy as many of us feel a huge weight when considering the future of our country. What better way to accomplish that purpose than to spend the morning with your children decorating for Christmas? Makes a lot of sense to me--so that's what we did this morning. Twinkle lights always make me happy.

Pokemon

A while back, JD left his most valuable pokemon cards in his pocket, and they went through the wash-completely destroyed.  He learned a valuable lesson, and after finding a pretty great lot of Mega cards on Ebay, I told him he could earn money through chores as a way to pay for them.  he finally reached his goal today, and was so happy when he finally got to open them!  

Thanksgiving Pumpkin

This is our Thanksgiving pumpkin.  We started a new tradition this year where we fill up this pumpkin with things we are thankful for.  We actually started this mid-October and write a few things every night.  The kids have been enjoying doing this, and it has made for a nice conversation starter before dinner.  This pumpkin is a beast-I usually have terrible luck with pumpkins rotting, and this guy seems like he could go on forever.

PS.  This pumpkin, that I bought the second week of October lasted until the third week of December when i finally threw it out-not because it was smelling, rotting, or getting soft-just because I didn't have anywhere to really put it! I was so impressed, and yes, we filled the whole thing up.

SCORPION!!!

 You know, this is probably my least favorite thing about living out here, second only to traffic and construction.  These guys plain old freak me out, especially with littles in the house. Luckily, Jared has no fear about picking these guys up and tossing them in a jar to die. Last summer we had four of these guys....I'm nervous to see how many we get this summer.

Did you notice that I can't even say what these are?  ;)