Friday, August 27, 2010

"Saw-knee"

Jackson's cutest word right now is "sorry", which he pronounces "saw-knee". The letter R is hard to say, so he adapted the word for himself. It really does melt my heart everytime he says it. He always says it in a really sweet, little sad voice.
A few weeks ago, he got very good at saying it when I walked into the family room and found my carpet colored blue. (notice the blue hands in the picture below) As soon as I walked into the room, Jackson put his head down and started to cry. He knew he was in trouble. He avoided eye contact with me for about 30 minutes while I scrubbed the carpet and calmly, but sternly explained that we never color anything but paper. He kept crying and refusing to look at me and finally told me he wanted a nap. So I took him into his room and kissed him goodnight. As I was closing the door, I heard his timid little voice say, "Mommy. Saw-knee. Wuv you." You can't be mad after that.
And thank you Sol-U-Mel, because the carpet is fine now. What will I do when my supply runs out?

I have a "job"

I started my new job in June and spent the summer working. It was... well... a lot of work, but it was also a lot of play. My job includes office work, on-call shifts, and even a few Excel spreadsheets (yay!). But it also includes the aspect that can best be described as "party-planning". I get to host events for the apartment community and it's a lot of fun. Here's a couple of pictures from the events this summer.
We had a water play day with giant, inflatable water slides and a picnic.
Jackson enjoyed the watermelon the most. I saw him eat at least 6 slices, which doesn't include all the pieces he must have snuck while I was distracted.
Getting ready to go down the big slide together. I'm not sure how I ended up doing this while Tyler stayed dry the entire time. This picture makes me love my camera. Look at the water droplets frozen in the air. Love it.
And this is Jackson modeling for me while I photograph the "bug treats" that we made for a toddler activity. I did this event myself and learned one important thing... it was way too much sugar for toddlers. Next year I want to include more bug-shaped fruit and vegetable items.
Bug treats

Summarizing Summer

I have received several complaints lately about my lack of blogging. We've just been enjoying our summer too much. But today, Jackson and I had to put our jackets on to play outside, and I realized that fall is approaching, so I better wrap up the summer stuff, which of course leads to a giant post with a bunch of random pictures from our summer. Enjoy.
The hat is too big, but did you notice the Space Needle in the background? This was taken at Alki Beach, a beautiful place that we didn't discover until the end of the summer. It will be at the top of our list next year.
Jackson actually really enjoys sight-seeing.
Taken at Gas Works Park. This is a view of the other side of the Space Needle. Sorry for all the boring tourist information. I've decided to have our blog printed into a book (or several books), so I'm trying to include more of the informative details, but its kind of boring for our readers who are just here to see cute pictures of Jackson. I don't know why he likes being thrown in the air like that, but he does.
Jackson spotted a plane. Look at that smile :)
Watching Daddy rock climb. It was a beautiful place up in the mountains in Snoqualmie Pass. I've really learned to appreciate escaping from the city once in a while. It makes me miss Idaho.
Jackson's facial expression: "Oh, come on, Mom. Why am I wearing an apron?"
Mom: "That's what happens when you go to an all girl birthday party."
Sticks are some of Jackson's favorite toys, and they are free every where you go. Now I understand why my dad used to complain when he built us a big swing-set and we played in the pile of dirt instead.
Rock climbing with Daddy, which we did a lot this summer. Don't worry, they aren't very high.
See.
I suppose it was inevitable, but Jackson has taken a liking to golf.
And of course, the big change this summer: Jackson became a 2-year-old, which includes a big boy bed. (And by "big boy bed", I mean a queen size bed) He sprawls out, loves it, and if you ask, he'll describe it as "Soff an comfy", which is what he says every morning when I ask how he slept.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Seattle Seahawks

We figured it was time for the Boyd family to attend their first pro football game. We got a sweet deal on some pre-season tickets against the Green Bay Packers, which has been Tyler's favorite team for a really long time. Of course, the parking cost as much as one of the tickets and was over a mile from the stadium, but we had a blast and it was all worth it.
This is a cell phone picture. We'd tried to take a group shot of all 3 of us with the DSLR. It didn't really work.
Jackson got really tired but refused to sleep even though the game went until 10:30pm. He also commented several times that it was "too loud". I agreed.
And here are the boys after church the following day. I think it wore us all out.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Triathlon

Today, Tyler completed his first triathlon. It was on Whidbey Island (beautiful!). We had a great day and couldn't be more proud of him!
Getting ready to leave for the race... 5am
Taking the ferry to Whidbey Island. It was a cloudy day, but still quite pleasant.
Getting ready to start. He doesn't even look nervous.
Tyler's wave taking off in the water. He's somewhere in there. Coming out of the water. He completed the swim way faster than we expected. We were so excited for him.
This was the cheering squad. The twins' dad, Mike, did the triathlon with Tyler. It was awesome to have Kirsten with me all morning during the race too.
Tyler looks so happy because he is just about to finish the biking leg of the race. He said that was definately the hardest part. It turns out Whidbey Island is a very hilly place.
Running to the finish line.
After the race. Doesn't he look great? :)
This triathlon was a 1/2 mile swim, 19.5 mile bike ride, and 3.8 mile run. Tyler did it in 2 hours and 4 minutes. He's amazing!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

25 Things You Never Knew You Never Knew

My friend Lara challenged me to do this post. I don't usually do these, but I was in a mood today. So here it is: 25 Things You Didn't Know About Me... 1. When I was way too young, my Dad let me watch Nightmares On Elm Street. For several years I would get sick to my stomach as soon as it started to get dark each night. At one point, my family moved to a street called Elmore. I was convinced it would be even worse than the movies because it's "more" than "Elm" street. 2. I lie about how many boys I've kissed in my life, even to myself. I think it ended up somewhere between 15 and 20, but I like to tell myself it was closer to 10. 3. I secretly hoped Jackson would be a girl until the exact moment when I saw the ultrasound and found out he was a boy. Then I remember thinking, "Why did I want a girl? Boys are so much cooler!" 4. I don't like running, but I pretend like I do and I go running all the time. 5. I'm a math geek. My favorite computer game is called Microsoft Office Excel. My dad taught me the game when I was 10, and I've loved it ever since. 6. Even though I've never made it past chapter 2 on a book I've tried to write, I still like to think that someday I'll finish one and get it published. 7. I had a pet iguana named Calvin (after Calvin and Hobbes). 8. I think the proudest moment of my Dad's life was the end of my 9th grade year, when I was awarded "Captain of the Cheerleading Squad" and "Math Student of the Year" on the same day. 9. I'm 100% Team Jacob. If I wasn't happily married to the love of my life, I'd have Taylor Lautner posters all over my house. Edward's a pansy. 10. My first dirtbike was a TTR 125. I started riding because I thought it would impress boys (and it did, I'm pretty sure that's why my husband married me) but I found out that I actually really enjoy riding, especially if I sing sappy love songs as loud as I can while I ride a gorgeous Idaho mountain trail. 11. I love proofreading things. Love it! Sometimes I proofread the labels on my shampoo bottles just for fun. 12. As an adult, I'm terrified of making new friends. When I moved to Seattle, I invited my neighbor over to decorate cookies because I didn't know how adults were supposed to make friends. I've gotten a little better at it since then, although the cookie-decorating neighbor and I are still very close :) 13. I consider cooking to be my current favorite hobby. My dream is to have a beautiful kitchen, a ridiculously large grocery budget, and host big dinner parties at least once a week. 14. I rarely go more than 2 hours without eating something, unless I'm asleep. 15. The thing I miss most about my childhood and teen years is dancing. Sometimes during Jackson's nap I dance in my living room and pretend like there's an audience. 16. I'm guilty of spider cruelty. They can die slow painful deaths and I hardly even care. 17. I'm career-obsessed. Although I love it, being a stay-at-home mom is really hard on me. I dream about a fancy office in downtown Seattle, and I get sad when we drive through downtown in the evening and I see some of the office lights still on. 18. I never like my hair. It doesn't matter what I do with it or how it's cut, I don't like it. 19. I'm fascinated by adoption. I love reading stories and blogs. I think adoptive parents are amazing and inspiring. 20. I don't like fish. I try, but I just don't. 21. I had a secret crush on my husband in highschool. I didn't have the guts to make a move. I also accidentally saw him buck naked at Lake Powell when I was 16 :) 22. When I grow up, I want to be like my sister. She's only 16 right now, but she's more mature than me in a lot of ways. (*This one needs to be amended. Apparently my sister is 17. This is what happens when you live 700 miles away from your family!) 23. I screen phone calls... a lot. 24. My favorite movie is The Italian Job. Although I've looked it up on Amazon at least twenty times and it only costs about $5 these days, I still don't own a copy. Which leads to my final one... 25. I'm a cheapskate. I'm completely, over-the-top, obnoxiously frugal in a bad way.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Turning Two

On Friday, July 3oth Jackson turned two years old. However, it was three weeks ago on a Tuesday that he really became a 2-year-old. I can remember the day because I woke up to screaming and nothing has been the same ever since. Temper tantrums, demanding independance, and continuous disobedience. But he's still cute and talking better than ever, so I guess we'll take it. We enjoyed the birthday celebrations, which lasted several weeks due to the timing and arrival of the multiple birthday packages from grandparents and great-grandparents.
The cars from Grandma Hawkins... Notice how they are perfectly lined up. That's his favorite thing to do with them.
He started to get excited every time another big box was delivered. He's going to be disappointed in the future when we start getting normal non-birthday packages again. One of the towels from Great-Grandma Boyd
The cake... Nemo of course
How many toddlers can you fit in a swimming pool?
Singing and blowing out the candles. As soon as the candles were out, Jackson stuck his finger right in the middle of the cake.
Cleaning up after cake and swimming