Flag Football

Tonight Jackson had his first flag football practice. Football has never been a thought for me that Jackson would play. I love to watch football, but I don't think I will be a fan of my son playing it. I know it's flag football and there will be no tackling, but with my luck he is going to fall in love with it and it will be his new passion. Oh boy!

Todd took Jackson to practice and I followed about 15 minutes behind. Jackson was a bit nervous  about practice since it was the first one and the first time playing football (organized). When Jackson gets nervous he tends to get a bit clingy to me, so Todd and I decided it would be better if I wasn't there when it got started.

When Aubrin and I got there Jackson was doing great. Listening very carefully not to miss a beat of what the coach was telling him. They ran a bunch of drills and then played a quick game. After practice Jackson said that he really liked it. As he handed me his mouth guard, I had to question him because half of one of the sides was GONE! I said, "Buddy, what happened to your mouth guard? Did you eat it, spit it out?!?" Hmmm, sure hope the poor guy doesn't get a bellyache. Next lesson: how to wear a mouth guard without eating half of it! Can't wait for his first game next week!

$0.25 Golf Balls

 This summer Jackson started selling golf balls. He started selling them with the girls across the street, but they lost interest and Jackson continued to sell on his own. He and Todd would go out a few nights a week after the course was closed and look for balls around the ponds. They were usually pretty successful bringing home at least 20 balls each time. My dad volunteers as a ranger at a course once a week so he would find balls and bring them to Jackson as well. As the summer has gone on, Jackson has gotten pretty serious about his business. He would have Todd find out when the outings were and he would  make sure to have all the balls washed and sorted for that morning. Aubrin and I have become very good at washing golf balls with a tooth brush. Jackson would then sort them by brand. Because we live next to the golf path, it has been easy for Jackson to pull his table and stock of balls right up to the edge of the path. I was amazed at how many golfers stopped and bought quite a few balls. Jackson isn't sure how to make change yet, so each ball was $0.25. Most people would buy 4 and just give him a dollar or would tell him to keep the change. The grand total for the summer has been ...$243!!!! That is a lot of money for a little guy! We asked him what he wanted to buy with his money. His response was, " I would love to have a mini fridge in my room so I can keep my juice, water and Gatorade in it. That way I don't have to come downstairs when I'm thirst." I told him that he could not have a mini fridge in his room until he goes away to college. I wasn't even going to consider it. Then he said, " Well, if I can make more money, do you think you could be a stay at home mom? I would give you all my money!" As I'm tearing up, " Oh honey, that is so sweet of you, but I'm not sure that $243 is going to keep me home and us all eating!" I love his big heart! So he settled on putting half in his savings account and the other half in his piggy bank at home. He already has a plan for next summer... sell basket of balls...we shall see!

Jackson's Birthday...still celebrating

It seems that Jackson's birthday celebration went on and on and on this year. First we celebrated at  the lake, then he had his first friend party and then we celebrated with the Miller's...Jackson got a lot of birthday love this year.
Jackson really wanted to have friends over this year for a birthday party. He invited 6 kids and all six kids were able to come. Of course Jackson knew his "boy" buddies, but he also really wanted to invite Ashley. He and Ashley play so nice together, but he was nervous about her being the only girl.  thought this was interesting seeing that this has never been an issue or topic of discussion. Todd and I assured him that inviting Ashley would be fine and that he should because they are such good friends. So he did and I'm thinking he is really happy that he did.Jackson had a sports theme birthday. He really wanted to have it at the high school baseball field, but it made me very nervous when thinking about weather. So we had it at the house. The kids were all dropped off at noon. We planned a few fun activities for the kids....
An obstacle course and water balloon toss...



A wiffle ball game...

Water balloon pinata...



 
We had lunch and sang "Happy Birthday"...

Opened presents

 

 and played on the water slide.


All of the parents came back at 3:00 to pick up their kids. It was a great party, but wow, Todd and I were really tired.
After the party we changed our clothes and headed down to the Tigers game. We wanted to take the kids to one last Tigers game for the summer. We had really great seats and great weather.

A few days later we headed to the Miller's for a pool party birthday celebration. Jackson and Emma shared the day to celebrate their birthdays. Emma's birthday was not until the following week, but with going  back to school and every one's busy schedule we had one party! Next year we will have to add another celebration on that day... Scott and Katie had their baby on Jackson's actual birthday!!!! Luke Richard was born on August 15th! We were so excited to meet him!
Emma had to leave for soccer early, so we sand happy birthday to her and did presents. After we sand to Jackson and did his presents. Jackson was so excited to get new Lego's, a golf hat and especially his new air hockey table for grandma and papa! The kids all had a great time swimming in the pool and spending the last days of summer together.



So as Jackson's celebrations came to an end, I still can't believe that he is six. How blessed our family has been for the past six years to have such a wonderful little boy be part of our every day. Happy Birthday sweet boy.

A Night with the Tigers

 Jackson had an absolute fantastic night at the ballpark. Although, I'm not sure if he truly understands how lucky he is that he had this opportunity. Caryn works for Hudsonville Ice Cream, and Comerica Park is one of her accounts. She gets some pretty great perks. For Jackson's birthday present she took him ( and Todd) to spend an evening at Comerica Park where he had the chance to meet many of the Tigers, Al Kaline, Tigers staff... it was a fundraiser for Children's Hospital.

Jackson also had the chance to spend time on the field, in the dugout and locker room. Here a few pictures of Jackson and the people he met:

 

                                                                            Al Kaline

 

                                                                        Cabrera
 
                           Santiago


                        Cabrera
 
                                     Austin Jackson
 
                    Max Scherzer

Jackson for some reason really liked Don Kelly. I think it's because he liked how he wore his pants high so you could see his socks during the game. Jackson started doing the same thing with his pants for his games and telling Todd and I, "Tonight I am going to look like Don Kelly." Jackson had the chance to sit and talk to Dave Dombrowski, the general manager for the Tigers. The first thing Jackson asked was, "When are you bringing Don Kelly back?" Todd said everyone had a bit of a chuckle about it. 


                                                                                                 

 

It was also a great night because grandma, papa, Uncle Scott, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Colleen were there too! After the meet and greet, they had fireworks for everyone to see. Jackson and Todd got home around 11:30pm. He was so tired, but he was so excited to share his night with me. Thank you so much Caryn for such a memorable night for our little guy.

Higgin's Lake

Last week we spent the whole week at Higgin's Lake with my family. My mom and dad rented a house on the lake for us all to spend the week together. It was such a wonderful and generous treat from my parents. On Friday morning we got in the car and off we went- with what I felt like our whole house packed in the van with us. Right before we got there, my mom texted me and said she and my dad arrived and there were eight bed rooms instead of five. Although with five bed rooms we would have been perfectly fine, eight meant we could spread out a bit more! When we got there we unpacked, looked around and made ourselves at home. The house was nice, definitely a cottage, but very nice. It was straight out of the seventies, but no worries of sitting on furniture with wet bathing suits to ruin anything. It was just perfect for the week. Erin and her family was not getting there until Saturday so we got the first pick of bedrooms:) We took two of the rooms upstairs. Jackson and Aubrin were excited to share a room. It had two beds, but they were excited to bunk together for the week. The weather was not great when we got there, cool and a little rain. So we went to an outlet mall near by and did a little back to school shopping.
That evening when we got back grandma and grandpa decided to give Jack part of his birthday present early- a new fishing pole! Of course we had to head out right away and try it out. He was so thrilled.
The next day was cool as well, but it was sunny. Erin, Jayson and the kids came in the afternoon. All of the cousins were excited to see each other and I was equally excited to see my sister. It had been too long! That night we had a fire and made smores.
The next day Aunt Connie and Uncle Phil came. It is always so nice to spend time with them. Erin  and I spent so much time with them when we were little girls and even as we have grown up they have continued to have a special role in our lives.
We decided that it would be fun to rent a boat for the week. Todd was on a mission, so he went and rented a pontoon boat. It was so much fun for the kids to take rides around the lake, take it to the sunken islands go fishing early in the morning and even get pulled over! That's right, Todd got pulled over driving the boat. We were out one afternoon and Jackson was thrilled that he saw the police in the police boat. Then all of the sudden the police boat turned around, turned its light on and pulled up next to Todd. Jayson was not sitting in the correct spot on the boat, so they pulled Todd over. It was something to laugh about for the rest of the week.
Todd, Jackson and grandpa got up early two mornings and went fishing. My dad had never caught a fish before and not really the "fisherman" type, but Jackson asked him to go, so of course he did. My dad ended up catching his first fish...EVER! Jackson was thrilled he could be there to help grandpa reel it in. I think grandpa was equally as thrilled that he did it with Jackson.
The kids all had a great week playing on the beach, collecting rocks and just playing together. The four of them don't usually have that much time together, so to have a full week was the best!
On Wednesday it was Jackson's 6th birthday.  I'm not sure how our little guy turned 6, but he was up and excited to start his day. It started with a 7:00am fishing trip and continued with a great day in the water, on the boat and also the brave little guy jumped off a high dive on the middle of the lake. He said he would do it if, dad, grandpa, and Uncle Jayson did it. He was pretty proud of himself.
Of course Jackson wanted steak for dinner, so we made all of his favorites. After dinner we opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Jackson got the second part of his gift from grandma and grandpa- his own tackle box filled with everything he needs. Uncle Phile and Aunt Connie got him a few great lures and Erin and Jayson bought him clothes for school and an ANT FARM!!!! Oh boy!
Todd and I gave Jackson a few gifts throughout the day. He loved his Lego police station. After cake and ice cream I got out a surprise for everyone. I brought wish lanterns to celebrate our big guy. The kids colored theirs, but each couple got one and they had to write a birthday wish for Jackson on it and then a wish for themselves as well. Once it got dark went to the end of the dock and set them off. Of course Jackson's didn't make it all the way up and ended in the water, but at least it got a little lift off. All of the other lit the night sky beautifully.
My mom and dad had a great time spending time with all of the kids. It was interesting to watch... my kids never really have to share my parents attention because its only the two of them. Erin's kids never need to share attention either because when my parents go to Chicago it's just the two kids as well. I think my parents were both very tired at the end of the week. Everyone wanted A LOT of grandma and grandpa love!
On Thursday, our last full day there, it rained all day. It was cold out as well. So we had an indoor day of fun and trying to stay busy. There is not much to to in the area with kids when it rains. So we played a lot of games, watched a movie, took a walk in the rain and stated to pack up to leave the next morning.

Friday morning checkout was at 10:00am. So we got up, ate breakfast and packed the car up. It sounds silly to say, but I was so sad to leave. I loved having the week with my parents, with Erin and her family and making new memories together. I can't remember the last time I spend that much time with my sister. I got to play with Will and Emerson everyday and we all had a week where we didn't have to worry about anything. Thank you mom and dad for such a wonderful and memorable week.