Our middle man, Jackson, is all boy. Actually, ALL of my boys are all boy. But Jackson is ALL BOY.
He's rough. He's wild. He's impulsive. He's a mess. He's funny. He's cute. He knows it.
We've wondered for some time if martial arts might be a good sport for him, since the field touts the teaching of focus, respect, and self-control. In January, we asked JMan if he would like to skip baseball this Spring and try Jiu Jitsu instead.
He was on board as soon as he realized he would have a "costume like karate people".
That would be a uniform, and it's called a Gi (gee).
Rick told Jackson to "show the camera a move", and this is what we got:
That's not exactly a Jiu Jitsu skill. And neither is this:
But we are pleased with what he's learning. After only two months, he's gained three stripes on his belt for the skills he's gained. Take down is his favorite move so far. He's also getting stronger. He can give us 10 properly formed push ups now, which is a big improvement over the zero he could do before.
We would love to see him really succeed in this sport. Who knows? Maybe he'll even compete at some point. If nothing else, he'll be able to defend himself if/when the need arises.
In other news, he recently lost his fifth tooth and his two front teeth are finally peeking through the gums.
Cute little toothless stinker, he is.
I better be careful what I call him. He might be able to take me down soon.
He's All That
Lil Ron Washington Takes on the Oscars
While many Americans are watching actors and actresses receive their Oscars, I'd rather talk about my actor, Lil Ron Washington.
A local station (KTXA Channel 21) called a couple of weeks ago and asked if Liam would be available to make a promo commercial for their Friday night Rangers' show.
After I said he could participate, the producer's next question was, "More importantly, what does his hair look like right now?" Liam's hair was needing a shave at the time, so we were in business.
Shaved head + glasses + Rangers' shirt + mustache = Lil Ron Washington
The taping took place at Studios 121, which is a very nice studio. I'm not exactly experienced in studios, but it was a pleasant experience, nonetheless.
The producer had our specific studio painted in red/white/blue stripes. 
Before beginning the official taping, Liam ran around and made himself quite at home. It might have been the stripes that made him delusional. But if you'll spend two minutes staring at those stripes, you, too, might feel the need to run around like a wild animal.
Originally, Liam wasn't expected to have any lines, but once he made it clear that shyness wasn't going to be an issue, the producer gave him some lines to try.
His lines were: I believe in Ron Washington. I believe in the Texas Rangers. I believe in spring training. I believe in KTXA 21.
Sometimes he sat.
Sometimes he stood with his hands on his hips.
But no matter what he was told to do, he looked the part. And, yes, my boy deserves an Oscar.
Once the producer called it a wrap, Liam began doing cart wheels for fun. Around and around and around he went.
So the camera was turned on to catch my child's antics. And I followed his flips with my camera until I became dizzy.
See...
Whoa! I feel a bit of vertigo just remembering it.
Of course, I asked for our picture to be taken before we left.
(I wish I had stood up straight. I don't know why I sometimes feel the need to bend over in photos with my kids. One of these days, my boys will tower over me, so I need to learn to stand tall and proud while I can.)
Anyway, Jackson was with us, since he had been sick the day before. He was perfectly fine within a few hours, but I follow the 24-hour school rule to the T (or is it tee?).
Liam's commercial should begin airing locally next week. The producer spent last week in Arizona with the Rangers, and he'll be splicing the tape to put the two Rons together. Channel 21 may use different clips throughout the baseball season as well.
Baseball season is upon us, and we're excited!
Dragging Out the 6 Year Old's Birthday
Well, hello. I'm the slacker blogger that belongs here. Life has just been getting in the way of blogging lately, and I'm actually surprised to see myself writing right now. I think I'm only here because my legs are SCREAMING at me to sit down.
I thought I was all hot stuff on the treadmill this morning: "Oh, yea, I can push myself just another notch faster today. I'm feelin' great. I'm gettin' back in my workout groove. In fact, I'll just run an extra mile today. No problemo."
Two hours later, my legs are kill.ing me!
A nice, relaxing, sitting down activity must be in order.
So, my little G turned six earlier this month during the ice storm that crippled our neighborhood for several days. Once the ice melted, we had the grandparents over for a family dinner.
Garrett asked for an Aggie helmet cake, and who am I to disappoint our biggest fan?
Why, yes, I made it myself!
And if you believe that I could create something so incredibly cute and realistic, I have beach-front property to sell you.
No, if that job were left to me, I would have made a sheet cake and plopped Garrett's real Aggie helmet on top of it and called it a day.
Instead, we called on our favorite babysitter, Jayden, to do the honors. And she did a fantabulous job!
The little Aggie got his first nice bat from Daddy.
No cheap bat will do for this 6 year old who practices with his big brother's 8 year old team.
After opening gifts, the boys asked to play Markio Kart on the Wii, and Rick thought it would be fun to see his dad play with them.
Look out! The surgeon is at the wheel!
And then, he handed it over to my mom.
Mom, Rick had the camera. Shoot all arrows and complaints at him.
Before I knew it, all 4 grandparents had taken over the Wii.
The boys thought it was hilarious to see them play, but they were quick to get those wheels back as soon as the elderly decided they better get on home and to bed.
Garrett was able to drag his birthday out an extra day with school treats once classes resumed. I stopped by with brownies and found him at the front of his class like this:
Yes, he's wearing a birthday crown upside down over his eyes while his classmates sing to him. Unlike his wild brother, he doesn't know quite what to do with all of the attention on him, so he just didn't look until he could sit down with his brownie.
I'm still trying to get used to this idea of having two six year olds in the house. My babies are no longer babies or even little boys, for that matter. But at least G still has all Chiclet teeth in tact. He keeps asking me when he'll lose his first tooth.
Between you and me, I hope NEVER!
Funnies
When Rick brought home pizza for dinner last night, Garrett ran through the house yelling, "MOMMY! YOU DON'T HAVE TO COOK TONIGHT! YEA!"
(For the record, he was NOT celebrating because he didn't have to EAT my cooking. Garrett likes MOST of my cooking. He was merely excited for me, knowing that I thoroughly enjoy a break from cooking. He's a boy after my own heart.)
While running errands today, Jackson spotted numerous birds around a pond. He asked, "Mommy, is that an army of birds?"
(No, that would be a flock, but you can call it an army. It makes me laugh.)
After shaving Liam's head to look like Lil Ron Washington this morning, I asked him why he liked being Lil Ron. He said, "Because I like being on tv."
(Well, okay then.)
(Liam was invited to be in a commercial as Lil Ron Washington. I'll be back to share photos.)
More Snow!
The weather forecasters predicted another inch of snow by Friday morning. But when I couldn't sleep at 3am because of the light, THE LIGHT, entering our bedroom windows, I knew they were only partially right. We actually received more like 5 inches on top of the ice from earlier in the week.
Five inches aren't impressive to my Colorado friends, but our state shuts down for a mere inch. Since Texas drivers don't know how to handle the white stuff, Rick stayed home with us.
After breakfast, we layered up and went out to play. Even Winston.
Our Boston Terrier definitely isn't from Boston. After a few minutes of romping in the snow, he ran for the house.
But not Liam. He LOVES the snow. That's my boy!
Garrett likes it for about ten minutes.
The Toothless Wonder was happy, too, at first.
After a walk around the block, Garrett and Jackson were both in tears. "I'm coooold!"
Yes, snow is cold, boys. Liam, Daddy and I will go skiing in Colorado without you next year.
Yeteryear: Garrett's First Days
In honor of my baby's birf-day , I took a stroll through my February 2005 folder.
Within twenty minutes of Garrett's birth, I was allowed to take him to the nursery and stay with him through all of the poking and prodding that is supposedly necessary right after birth.
I never took my hands off of him, and I cried happy tears over him. The nurses probably thought I was crazy.
You can see his eldest birth brother's face in the forefront of that picture. To this day, he loves Garrett.
After the mean nurses were satisfied with the amount of tears they caused, they left me alone to bathe and feed my baby.
Those were very special moments for G and me. I'll treasure those memories forever.
Once the hospital found an empty room for us, Daddy could admire his Groundhog.
We were in OKC for about a week while our paperwork was completed. We got our little Aggie out of Sooner country asap.
Once we got home to CO, if G wasn't in our arms, he was napping on the couch like so:
Actually, it wasn't often that he slept. Ahem. This child has never required much sleep.
And anyway, he wasn't safe on the couch unless his 22 month old brother was occupied.
My sweet Liam wasn't too excited about sharing his mommy in the early days of brotherhood, but he loved to watch tv in Garrett's car seat.
Six years later, what would I tell myself? "Oh, honey, the Lord is about to rock your world with a move to TX and a third boy, but hang in there. You will survive."
My Baby is Six
Yesterday was a very important day. My baby turned 6.
Excuse me while I grab a tissue.
We began the day with cinnamon rolls from a can on paper plates in our pj's and with bedheads. Only the best for Garrett.
Later in the day, he helped me slave away in the kitchen over cupcakes.
It's a tradition for my boys to help bake their own birthday cakes. They love to help and don't yet know about child labor laws.
He asked for chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles. Daddy criticized with his mouth full of cupcake, "This would taste better if it were vanilla cake with chocolate icing." To which Garrett replied, "Well, it's not your birf-day."
I can't think of a smooth transition here, so I'll just jump right in and say that the boys haven't been to school since Monday because of icy roads. It seems like half the country is frozen, and we are certainly no exception this time. We only have about two inches of snow, but it rained just before the snowfall, which left our roads ready for ice skates. School has already been canceled for tomorrow, and more snow is expected in the morning. I'm so glad the Farmer's Almanac was correct in the prediction of a dry, warm winter in north Texas.
So what on earth does a mother do with wild boys stuck indoors for days on end?
We get ready for the 100th day of school, although it may not occur until June at this rate.
Each of my boys' teachers wanted the boys to wear 100 something-or-other for the big day, which was supposed to be tomorrow.
We decided to stamp a hat and t-shirts.
We've also drowned ourselves in hot chocolate.
Of course, we've also played games, watched movies, built forts, read books, wrestled, and so forth and so on.
Naturally, we've done all of this in our pj's. In fact, I probably need to do some laundry to ensure that we have enough pajamas to get us through the next snow storm.
But first, someone is begging to play.
If you're stuck indoors and need some reading material, feel free to read Garrett's adoption story on my right sidebar.
