In Which Jackson Turns 4

Today the temperature crossed the 30 degree mark—we wanted to have a picnic! Not really, but I asked Jackson if he wanted to, and he said no because the wind would blow it all away.

Jackson’s birthday celebrations really started on Tuesday. That’s when Grandma and Grandpa Merritt’s birthday package arrived. There were some treats and paper plates with Thomas on them. I never knew paper products were so wonderful.

Wednesday was Jackson’s birthday. Brian was able to take most of the day off. We spent the morning playing the Wii, watched a movie in the afternoon and played with Thomas trains in between. We met some friends at McDonald’s (Jackson’s choice) for dinner and ice cream. He had a great day and was spoiled rotten.

Saturday was the big birthday party. I can’t think of how it could have gone better, except maybe fewer squealing little kidsJ. I made tickets for each kid, and I hole-punched the tickets at six different stations. I think having it organized like that helped to keep the kids focused. Grant loved the parachute (an old sheet). The kids waved it around and bounced a ball around. He was a little short, but it didn’t stop him. If you ask Jackson what his favorite part was, he would say the “smashing station” or the piñata. We let all the kids take a turn starting with the youngest and by the time we got to the oldest kid, there might have been one hole in it, but it was very small. So we let Jackson have another chance and he managed to break it open.

After the party and naps, we took the boys sledding for the first time. Jackson loved it until he went down the big hill with dad and got sprayed pretty bad with snow. Grant, on the other hand, pretty much hated every minute of it. I eventually just took him to the car because I was tired of holding him. He finally found happiness in opening and closing the sliding door on the van with the power button.