Jackson-ism

Tonight while at Grammy and Papa's...

Jackson went off to the bathrom.  I was talking with Donnie and Kay and we were laughing about something.  From the bathroom, Jackson yells:

Stop telling your silly stories!!  I'm con-sen-trating!!!

To which we laughed hysterically...

Before long Jackson yells again: okay, you can tell your silly stories again.  I'm through con-sen-trating!

All in a days work of being mommy to a little boy!  

Sew Bored...

I've had a hankerin' lately to get out the ol' sewing machine and try *again* to learn to sew.  I've attempted several times in my life, and have yet to feel comfortable with it.

My Grandma tried to teach me a thing or two when I was a kid.  We would spend a week with her in the summer and I would ask her to 'teach me to sew'.  I remember sewing hankies for my Grandpa.  She tried teaching me a few other things, but she mostly did the work.

I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas right after Chris and I got married.  I started trying to sew bags.  They were cute.  But it took me a L-O-N-G time.  Our friend Norma came over and taught me how to cut and piece quilt squares, and I made bags out of those.  Norma is a perfectionist, so I learned to perfectly pin, sew seams, and piece squares together.  If I messed up or strayed a little away from 'perfect'...she made me rip it out and start over.  So, I quickly bored of sewing squares together.

Mom used to let me help and I remember pulling elastic through fabric and ironing seams.  b-o-r-i-n-g.

So, when I started thinking about pulling the ol' sewing machine out again, I decided to take a sewing class and see what I could do...I signed up for a class at Hancocks, and arrived at 10:00 last Saturday morning...but no one was there to teach my class!  After feeling very confused and forgotten, I decided to try a different sewing shop for my class.  I found another and I'm enrolled for later in July.

Which brings me to tonight.  I found myself a little bored after the threat of rain cancelled my nightly walk.  I kept thinking about sewing and thinking that surely I could find something cute (and easy) to sew for Katie.  I started reading some sewing blogs and finally came across one that had some easy, cute little patterns.  I downloaded it, printed it, and started to work...

First, I gathered my supplies.  I searched through some 5-year-old fabric that I had from buying up lots of pieces when I was making those bags...

I remembered that you have to wash the fabric first.  So, while it was washing and drying...I got out the ol' manual, for a refresher in threading the machine and loading the bobbin.  Got that done.  Without incident.  Which is a pretty big feat.

Then, it was time for a little de-stressing. (remember, threading that needle and dealing with the bobbin have typically been a stressful and often times project-ending task for me)!  So, I ate some ice cream.  And waited for the fabric to finish in the dryer...

I set up a make-shift ironing board on the end of my kitchen counter.  I *hate* ironing.  So much that I NEVER get out the ironing board.  I decided that if I eliminated the ironing board, I might have less stress in this project.  So, I put a dish towel down over a hand-towel and voila!! I had an ironing board for my iron that was right next to my workstation!

I measured and cut, pinned, and pressed.  Finally...I was ready to sew that first seam...

Almost done!  It's only been a little over an hour...and the pattern promised to be finished in an hour!!  This is quite an accomplishment.  Grandma and I once made a "3-hour" pattern of shorts...in about 3 days.  So, I was expecting nothing less than an all-nighter when I started this project at 10:15 p.m.

So, finishing at 11:45...bonus!!

Since my model is asleep, I will post another "finished" product in the morning...when Ms. Katie is awake!  I also wonder if a few finishing touches might be in order...

All in all, though, I am pleased, excited, proud, ecstatic, and super-pumped at the end-result of my boredom tonight!! 

Jackson-ism

Grandma just told me this story:

Yesterday, Jackson and Logan were playing on PBSkids.org.  The topic of the story on the computer was x-ray...

Jackson: Logan, do you know what x-rays are?  It what your Mommy does at work!

#1: I had no idea Jackson knew what an x-ray was!
#2: I REALLY had no idea that he knew what Staci did at work! 
#3: I also am surprised at his ability to put together and explain that to Logan, and by telling him "your mommy" rather than "Aunt 'Daci"...

Quite a series of complex thoughts and processing.  What an incredible mind that guy has!!

Katie-ese

Katie started playing with her baby doll today!  It is SO cute!  She holds the baby to her shoulder and pats it and says "Baaa-Beee" 

Then, she covers the baby up with a blanket. 

I'm kind of amazed at how kids just know how to play with gender-specific toys.  I didn't teach Katie to choose the baby, or to pat it, or to cover it up.  She just knew how.

I never taught Jackson to line up cars for a race, or to crash them into things, or to make "vroom-vroom" noises.  He just knew how.

Amazing.  Just amazing.

Airshow

We went to the Airshow at Tinker today.  Jackson has been soooo excited all week!  He loves any vehicle, and has been playing with his airplanes a lot this week, to get ready for the airshow.  He woke up this morning and got dressed immediately (which he NEVER does.)  He chose his camouflage shirt "because it is what the soldiers in the airforce wear."  He also chose a hat to wear to the airshow.  The one he chose was his #88 Dale Earnhart, Jr NASCAR hat.  I didn't realize until we got to Tinker that it was, specifically, the Air National Guard hat.  This boy doesn't miss a THING!!!

Check out his salute.  I LOVE when he does that.  He picked this up all on his own over two years ago and is very respectful of military, the flag, patriotic holidays, etc.

Uncle Jeremy's plane.  Jackson was so pumped to be able to see it, stand by it, inspect it.  You can't tell, but he is continuously making plane noises while looking at the plane!

Sitting in Uncle Jeremy's seat.  He was "flying the plane" and "bringing it in for a landing" ("it's gonna be a bumpy ride, folks")

Well, Jackson and I had a wonderful time.  It was hot.  Super hot.  But, Jack didn't even seem to notice.  (I did.)  Anyway, I mentioned to Grandma later on that they should consider moving the airshow to October.  It would be much cooler then.  She said "well, I kind of think it's a Father's Day kind of thing."  Oh.  Hadn't thought of that.  But, now that I consider it, Jackson and Chris would have had a BLAST.  Even more fun that I had.  So, I feel a little sad that Jackson missed that opportunity with his Daddy, but I am also glad that we had the opportunity together, and am grateful to Uncle Jeremy who took us with him on Father's Day weekend when he was showing his own son "his plane"...

Happy Father's Day, we love you Daddy!  And PaPa.  And Grandpa.  And Uncle Jeremy.  And Uncle Jason.  Thanks for stepping in for us cause Daddy can't!!

OKC Flood

So, Chris' dad commented to me yesterday at church "Can you believe we're gonna have 12 inches of rain tomorrow?"  To which I responded "Seriously, Donnie, did they REALLY say 12 inches???"  I honestly didn't believe him and truly didn't even consider we'd get any rain...much less a FOOT of rain!

So, imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and turned on the news...Flooding in OKC!!  I was scheduled to be at a workshop this morning and they called before 8:00 to postpone and eventually called to cancel!

Now, here on the south side of town and in Moore we only got about 5" of rain.  And we didn't have any flooding.  But, on the north side of town and in Edmond...wow, they truly got a FOOT of rain!  And the flooding was serious!  We watched water rescues on the TV and it was similar to a snow day, in which all we did was watch the continuous news coverage of the outrageous weather! 

And Jackson, true to form, had to re-inact the news broadcasts.  He immediately set to work re-creating scenes and situations.  Before we knew it, he had water rescues going around the living room.  He had semi trucks on their sides in the kitchen.  He had firemen going door to door checking on people.  It was just amazing.

But the funniest thing was his "preparedness".  (Now, mind you, his Grandma is a very "weather aware" person and has probably passed on some of this ultra-preparedness...

Jackson's only understanding of "being prepared" is getting ready to go outside in the snow (of which we had a LOT this winter), and getting ready to go to the storm cellar during potential tornadic activity (of which we, also, had alot this spring).  So, understandably, this is the get-up that Jackson came up with to "be prepared" for a flood.

And, finally, Jackson built an airboat so he could help rescue this girl on TV.  He did this all on his own.  It was a pretty accurate replica of the real airboats they were using!

Safety Town

I enrolled Jackson in Safety Town, at the Norman mall.  We have always seen the cute little buildings in the back parking lot of the mall and I always wondered what they were for.  Grandma saw in the paper that "Safety Town" was enrolling for summer sessions, and it sounded like something Jackson would enjoy.

Safety Town has been in place, sponsored by the Sooner Fashion Mall since the 1970s.  The Norman Police Department and the Traffic Safety Division help to put it on.  There are a number of other community sponsors, and it is a very successful and popular program.

Jackson learned about street safety, bike safety, stranger safety, learned that policemen, firemen, and paramedics are our friends and helpers.  He seemed to come home with a wealth of knowledge!  They even had a cute little graduation ceremony on the last day. 

One very wonderful part of Safety Town is bike safety.  I wasn't sure how this would go, since we had yet to be able to get Jackson to pedal his bike continuously.  He had, thusfar, only been able to pedal one revolution (or less) before declaring that "the bike was broken" or "it hurt his legs" or "this isn't fun, let's do something else."

So, I wondered how this part of Safety Town would go.  But, the occupational therapist in me knew that being around peers, being pushed by unknown adults without any threat of failure...it might just all work out.  And what do you know??  It did!!  He started out slow, and required pushes from the staff all around the course.  But, by the end of the week, he was pedaling that bike and was SO proud of himself.  (so was Mama)!!  So, Safety Town was a huge success in my book!

And, Miss Katie waited patiently in her stroller while Jackson graduated from Safety Town and demonstrated his new-found biking skills!