Just Jack

He can count to 10 in English and Spanish

He loves to wear hats and sunglasses. But mostly hats.

When we put him to bed, he will keep saying "I love you" as we walk out of the room. We respond with "I love you, too" and just keep repeating until we have walked far enough away that he can't hear us anymore.

He likes to repeat everything Ellie says, immediately after she says it.

He loves, loves, loves to color.

He also likes reading books, playing with Legos, throwing/kicking balls, and teasing his sister.

He stills calls cars and trucks "beep-beeps."

The threat of time-out can usually cut short a tantrum and bring out some serious sweetness. "O-tay, Mommy. I sorry. I love you."

*Had to add this cute little story from this morning: Jack walked up to Ellie and hit her with a ball he was holding. I told him "no hitting" so he turned to the wall and hit it in defiance. I then asked him if he needed to go to time-out. He turned to Ellie and said in his sweet, high-pitched voice, "I sorry, Ellie." Then he turned to the wall and said, "I sorry, wall." Both Ellie and the wall got his head-hugs, as well.

This will never be a food blog

In the month of December, I gained ten pounds. Ten. Who does that? So, with the start of the new year, along with millions of others, Tom and I have decided to eat more healthy. We all know that "eat more healthy" means diet, right? So, last night I made grilled balsamic marinated chicken that I had marinated overnight. It was delicious. And I made a spinach caprese salad. I have never bought fresh mozzarella or fresh basil before. I actually had to Google how to chop fresh basil. How did people cook before the internet? Anyway, I was pretty proud of my little salad. So proud, in fact, that I became one of those people who takes pictures of their food.

I have also recruited a few teacher friends to walk laps around the school with me. I think I have enough people recruited that I should have a walking partner every day. I remember when I was in high school and I would see the older teachers walking around school in their dress clothes and running shoes. And now I have become one of them. I am not sure how I feel about that.

Weekend recap: Farewell to 2011 edition

Happy (almost) New Year! Everyone is outside lighting fireworks, but Jack and I are inside watching Sesame Street because he burned his hand on this sparkler:

I thought I would take advantage of the free time to do one final blog entry for 2011. I noticed on the side bar in my archives that the number of blog posts has dwindled considerably each year. I wish I could wax poetic about something profound to end the year, but I have nothing. Looks like it's just going to be a weekend recap!

Yesterday, I took the kids to the zoo. Ellie immediately asked if there were elevators at the zoo. When I responded in the negative, she became much more excited about the trip. Tom had to stay home to wait for our new TV to be delivered (a new TV! After 10 years of the same old one, we finally got a fancy, flat screen thanks to some generous Christmas monies from our parents). We met up with Daniel and Sabrina and some friends and spent a good 4 hours checking out the animals. The kids had fun imitating the animals they saw.

Their favorite was petting the goats at the Children's Zoo. There weren't many goats in the enclosure this year. Seems like they used to have a lot more goats along with an assortment of other animals. Oh well, the kids didn't notice as they happily brushed every goat they could find. After the zoo, we went over to Tara's house to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. Usually, Ellie insists on helping blow out the candles, but this year she had company. All in all, it was a fun night.

Aside from the little sparkler incident, we ended the year on a high note. 2011 has been good to us. Here's to an even better 2012!

A funny thing happened at the museum today

Today, Ellie managed to get her elbow stuck in the elevator of the Children's Museum. Not in the door or anything, but in the rail that most people just hold onto with their hand (if they even touch it at all). Let me just start from the beginning...

Our friend Alex gave us a few family passes to the Houston Children's Museum. I thought it would be a fun thing to do with the family over our break. The day started out promising enough. The kids had fun driving an ambulance,

shopping,

surfing,

and even rock climbing.

Unfortunately, too many days of late nights and no naps were getting to Jack and we decided to make an early retreat. We boarded the elevator to go up one simple floor. As we were exiting, I hear Ellie scream, "I'm stuck!" I look back and see that her elbow is wedged between the rail and the wall. No big deal, right? What goes in, must go out? One would think. But no amount of pushing and pulling would free that elbow. The entire time, Ellie is screaming and crying hysterically. A museum employee decides that we need to remove the rail. I was all, no, no, I am sure we can pull her loose. Still no luck. At this point, Ellie's screams have drawn a crowd of concerned parents. Tom and I are trying unsuccessfully to fight back laughter while our small child is screaming at the top of her lungs. I consider taking a picture, but decide against it since all those people are watching and it might make me look too callous. Then, another employee runs and gets a bottle of dish soap which they pour down Ellie's arm. It does the trick and she pops free, but still keeps crying and screaming. They take her to their little medical area and give her an ice pack while filling out an incident report. Finally, we are free to go...back down the elevator, which causes more screaming from Ellie because she doesn't want to ride in the elevator ever again. Tom decides he will distract her by pretending his hand is stuck in the rail and he can't pull it loose. By this point, Ellie is hysterical and convinced that the elevator is out to destroy her entire family. I make matters worse by having her pose for a picture right outside the museum. I am sure there are more loving and caring parents out there, but you'd be hard-pressed to find them.

The obligatory Christmas recap

Christmas Eve:I love Christmas Eve. I love watching the grandkids act out the story of Jesus's birth (at first I wrote "act out Jesus's birth," but that just sounds like we had some small child reenact a labor scene...gross). My dad always narrates and my brother is always the donkey and now that I am old, I always get to be a spectator. I remember as a child, the part of Mary was always the coveted role, but Ellie just wanted to be an angel. Jack was supposed to be holding the star of Bethlehem, but he was removed from his star-holding duties after attempting to impale the baby Jesus (played by his tiny cousin Krew). After getting the religious stuff out of the way, my dad then told his Pack for Santa's Back story. Another story that has been told every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. Jesus's birth and Santa's Pack have always gone hand in hand. The kids were riveted. We also continued the tradition of eating Jesus's birthday cake and Mark once again was a party pooper and refused to let us sing Happy Birthday. Not that I didn't try.My parents had just returned from a Disney Cruise/trip to Disney World with my oldest brother and his family. They decided they would buy a gift for all 21 grandkids at Disney World. I imagine they spent their entire time at Disney World shopping. But the grandkids were so excited with their gifts.

We ended the night by having the kids open their Christmas pajamas and attempting to photograph them in all their cuddly cuteness.

Christmas Day:

I woke the kids up at 6:30am on Christmas Day. Yeah, that's right, I WOKE THEM UP! Tom thought I was being ridiculous, but I wanted them to have plenty of time to open and play with their gifts before going to church. It worked like a charm.After church, we went over to my Mother-in-Law's house where the living room was completely full of gifts. We ate a delicious meal to build up our strength for all that unwrapping. It was crazy, I was unwrapping gifts like a mad-woman and then promptly shoving them in a large, black, trash bag.

So, when we got home that night and I was going through and sorting them, I kept discovering all kinds of neat stuff I had missed the first time around. It was like Christmas times 2. Anyway the kids had fun destroying my MIL's house. Jack even managed to pull a curtain rod down on his head, giving himself a black eye. I am pretty sure my mother-in-law takes great pleasure in buying my kids the noisiest toys available.

Christmas Day After:

We went to my father-in-law's house for one final day of celebrating. We filled up on yummy fajitas and watched the kids play.

It was fun visiting, but it was right during Jack's nap-time and towards the end he started to have a meltdown. His sister teasing him didn't help.

Sorry about the marks on your window, Tom!

I love Christmas. Three days filled with my three favorite things: food, family, and fun (not necessarily in that order)!