Long time comin...

Happy Birthday Jackson!!

We had a birthday party for Jackson on the 13th and I've been meaning to get on here and post pictures from it, but life has been a little crazy, as always. His actual birthday was on the 21st and we made sure we did a little something, just the 4 of us, to celebrate it. Happy Birthday just happens to be one of his favorite songs and he's been singing it for about a month. I wish I had newborn, 1 year and 2 year pictures to post on here along with his birthday pictures, but they are all on CD and it's too late for me to have the willpower to go through all of them right now. If you really want to see some, check out my facebook. They make me cry. I can't believe my baby is already 3 years old. Seems like only yesterday I found out I was pregnant...sniff... anyways, enjoy the following overload of pictures. Love you all.

Fishing pole and hat from Grandpa

Have I told you Jackson loves broccoli? It's one of his favorite foods. Aunt Krissy, Uncle Jake, and Cousins Brayden and Kira gave him this adorable outfit, the following gun and spinners and an awesome little ball that you can see in the picture of him eating his pre-birthday cupcake below.

The gun has been used to "shoot" people and is now in permanant time out whereas the spinners are being used as great chew toys by both boys :)

The awesome pool we got him for his birthday and it didn't cost an arm and leg. Plus, both boys love it and have a ton of fun playing with it. Thank goodness we have a battery operated pump so I don't pass out from trying to blow it up.

Yummy pre-birthday cupcakes! PS Cupcakes are much easier to send with people than slices of cake and you can decorate them so cute! :)

Have a great month everyone!

I Know...

Yeah, I'm a slacker. Sorry all. I've been trying to avoid the computer in hopes of actually getting something done, but I'm not sure how succesful I've been. Whatever I manage to do quickly comes undone around here. Example, last night I cleaned and vacuumed before dinner so that it would be nice and clean when Jeff got home and before I went to my game night with the girls. Before breakfast this morning, it already looked like a hurracane had blown though our tiny living room. Our kitchen only stays clean from one meal to the next and I honestly don't feel like I have the time to clean it up every single time I make a meal. As soon as the boys are done eating it's time to play and I feel like a constant referee making sure no one is getting hurt or is hurting someone else. When I finally feel like I can breathe again, I'm starving and have to go and make myself something to eat as well before I faint of low blood sugar or something. While I'm eating, I've got 2 boys trying to take my drink, steal my food or just sit on my lap and poke at whatever I'm eating or me(Owen is facinated with 'beeping' noses and poking eyes while saying 'eye'). Naptime is the one and only time it is actually quiet around here and it's usually when I'm finally able to get some lunch(2 hours after the boys) and sit for a few minutes before the chaos starts up all over again. Also during naptime, I have to decide what I need to get done before my attention is once again demanded, like clean the living room (again), do as many dishes as I can, pull out one of my many sewing projects for a few unbothered minutes of peacful sewing, or do absolutly nothing. Today, I obviously chose do nothing. I ate my leftover meatloaf and am now devoting my time and attention to this blog. Lets just hope Jackson takes a longer nap than yesterdays which only lasted 20 minutes. Ugh.

The last couple weeks have been chaos on top of the usual chaos, and that is the other reason I haven't posted for a while. All of last week I was feverishly working on making some bean bag chairs so that we could play our new wii in comfort instead of the akwardness we've been playing in. I was hoping to be done by Thursday or Friday but quickly realised that wasn't going to happen when I had to undo and redo many of the seams I'd worked so hard to finish. The first chair ended up being more like a lovesak and was way too big for the small amount of space we have, so I had to rework the entire pattern and make it much smaller, but not too small. Jeff's butt needs to fit comfortably and have a bit of back support as well. Lining 1 is done, filled and currently the boys favorite toy. Lining 2, cover 1 and cover 2 are all in varying stages of doneness and hiding in my sewing closet, waiting for me to have the willpower to pull them back out and finish them. I hate putting unfinished projects away because I either forget about them or I move on to something new and never finish them. I can't tell you how many unfinished projects I have in the closet, but I know there are several. The boys hate it when I sew and that is part of the reason I don't do it as often as I'd like to. Jeff complains that I make a huge mess with thread, but really that's the boys getting into the ziplock bag I've pinned to the wall as my makeshift sewing garbage bag. He also complains that when I'm sewing I lose track of time, but that is only beause I want to get as close to being done as I can before my poor project is condemned to the closet once again. My house turns into a mess, my back aches, the boys(all 3) grouch and moan and complain and I feel like it's not worth it. Someday I will have a sewing room with a lock so I can leave things where they are and not have to put anything I'm working on away and I can shut the door so no body bothers anything and not have to worry about someone climbing on a chair and changing all the settings on my machine when my back is turned. Oh and not have to worry about little people crawling under the table and playing with the foot pedel when I'm trying to line something up before I start sewing. I'm lucky I still have all my fingers.

Anyways, I started this blog to keep in touch with friends and family, but it seems to have turned into my personal venting place with a few family updates thrown in and a few random pictures. I'll try to do better, but for now naptime is over and the babies are calling. Until next time, make sure your projects are easily finished and keep the kiddos away from the machines. Love you all!

~Melissa