SHOW AND TELL day?

O.K. here's a quick Jackson (sweet as honey) story. Jackson's preschool does Show and Tell on Fridays. Every MWF as we're getting ready for preschool he'll ask me if today is Chauntel day:) What could be cuter. I smile and laugh every time. I don't think it will ever get old. I'm sure he'll figure it out soon.

Jackson's OBSESSIONS

Jackson has so many OBSESSIONS. It's so amazing to watch his intErests change into new interests (OBSESSIONS) For instance, Jeremy is so good at teaching the kids about history. At every holiday, he likes to teach the kids why we celebrate. Like 4th of July, Christmas of course, Martin Luther King Day, etc.... Well on Sept. 11th Jeremy taught the kids why we remember 9-11 and what happened that day. Now Jackson is obsessed with 9-11. He watches footage on Youtube of the twin towers attacks and takes all his air planes and runs them into things to knock them down. He keeps talking to me about how sad it is and how people died in the air planes and in the towers. It's a little unnerving. He had a air port look out tower that he keep flying all his planes into and wants me to watch over and over as he tries to knock the top off of it.

This is definitly the strangest obsession so far. We thought his hot air balloon and tornado obsessions were funny and a little strange but this takes the cake.




A few days ago I found him reading a book (with his tag reader) to all his sisters webkins and stuffed animals. Isn't this cute?

SoCcEr SeAsOn

I love watching soccer. It's so much more exciting than watching baseball. Jackson and Isaac had their first soccer games of the season. Isaac played one season of soccer a few years ago, when he was 4. So this has been a very new experience for him. His first practice was really rough, but the next two practices and the game today were amazing. He's doing soooo good. Jeremy and I just want the kids to be involved in something that challenges them, makes them feel part of a team, gives them exercise, and confidence. I'm really hoping this will be fun for Isaac. He was so excited after his game, because he SCORED A GOAL, kicked the ball right in a boys face, and kicked the ball at a kids feet and made him do a complete flip in the air. He can't wait for his next game.

The great thing about soccer compared to baseball is all the games are on Saturday, instead of on a school night late at night. He doesn't focus well at night.

I can't even begin to explain the joy Jackson gives us. He is so happy and always ready for anything. He scored THREE goals (the first goal of the game and season), and almost TWO more. He was such a hustler. And so FAST. We're used to him racing Isaac and being so upset that he can't beat Isaac in a race (and of course Isaac won't ever let him win) But with kids his own age, he was so quick!

For those of you who don't know yet, here's a picture of Jackson with his nice, new cast. Here is also a picture of Makayla just because she is so darn cute.
A week ago Saturday, Jackson came into the house crying saying that he hurt his arm. He usually will cry for a bit, then run off to go play again pretty soon. I called Chauntel about 10 minutes after he hurt himself, and he was still crying. When I got home about 20 minutes later, he was wrapped up in his blankie on the couch, still upset about his arm. When I asked him what happened, his lip curled up and his eyes welled with tears as he tried to tell me how he "missed the slide". My heart broke for him as I could still tell he was in a great deal of pain. I still didn't understand how he could "miss the slide" in the backyard, but that's the story. He stayed on the couch, curled up for another 20 minutes when I checked on him again. When I asked him if it hurt, he said it didn't.

*****SIDE STORY*******

Because of all of the surgeries Jackson has had, anytime you ask him if something hurts, he will ALWAYS say no. He is always afraid that if something hurts, another surgery is imminent. Even with his last surgery on his spinal cord, every time the nurses would ask if he was in pain, he would always say no - to which they were always surprised. They would ask 3 or 4 times with the same response, then would finally give him something for pain, because "something has got to be hurting".

SOOOO - when I asked if his arm hurt again later, he said no (with his lip curling again and eyes welling with tears), but this time it was turning purple from his thumb down to his arm. I knew something was probably broken, so . . . off to the ER again. We were just there 2 weeks ago with Isaac with his Concussion episode from Wal Mart - that's another story.
We actually went to the Urgent Care down the street (the same one we've been to several times: stitches, sickness, etc.) and they confirmed the news: Jackson had officially broken his arm. They wrapped it up in a temporary cast and the orthopedic last Tuesday put a permanent cast on it. Jackson picked his current favorite color green and was very brave and took it like a man. During this time also, he is fighting a severe sinus infection that he has had for seemingly months. This round of antibiotics seems to be helping a bit. He sees a Urologist in a few weeks to see why he still can't control his bladder (that we thought his spinal cord surgery was supposed to fix), and his neurosurgeon and pediatrician wants to "go ahead with" more reconstruction surgery on his face.
Jackson is a champion to us. He is completely unaware of trials in his life. They haven't been as bad as others may go through and we have been blessed to bear them all. None of this slows him down. although his cast is on his right arm, he now just uses his left one. Jackson's mission in life is to have fun and make sure all those around him are happy too. Just recently (another blog post sometime) Makayla was very upset over something and Jackson was just smiling and rubbing her back to comfort her. He just wants everyone to be happy. We love him for that. The kids are EXTREMELY sweet on him and he is what brings such joy to our family.
Chauntel and I feel as though the Lord has blessed us so much in our life. Our children bring us such joy and concern. They truly are our greatest source of joy, outside of each other.