Birthday

This is awful, but I just realized I never got Jackson's birthday party posted! August was a NUTTY month - moving and all really did us in! I say that as I'm looking at some boxes that still need unpacking - ugh.

So Jackson is crazy about Purdue - especially Purdue Pete. In fact, this past Sunday his Sunday school teachers told John that the only song Jackson wanted to sing in SS was the Purdue fight song (by the way - he knows the entire song by heart, along with the National Anthem, God Bless America, and any other song that might be played at a PU game). Ahem...needless to say, we had a talk about this little "obsession"...

All that to say, this year the party theme was a no-brainer. It was so much fun.

Here he is doing Purdue Pete. It's hilarious how well he can impersonate him.

Jackson's birthday is one day after Grandpa Sprunger's. We actually had the party on Grandpa Sprunger's birthday this year.

Yummy!

Jackson also loves construction, so Daren & Marie nailed the gift with a CAT excavator or bulldozer (I can't remember which type of heavy equipment it is exactly - though Jackson could tell you, guaranteed).

Birthday morning - and the celebrations continue...:)

Trying out some of his lawn care equipment. :) 

Fall

We had a super fun Halloween. The weather was iffy, but it held out perfectly for the kids to do some quick trick-o-treating.

Jackson had a little Halloween party at his school. So cute - they set up different rooms to be different "homes" so they could practice trick-o-treating and most importantly, saying "thank you!" In the same building that his preschool is in, there was a large class being held in the auditorium, so they did a parade in the class. I guess the kids were a huge hit. :) It had to have been ADORABLE.

All ready for trick-o-treating!

We joined up with the Gudemans and walked their neighborhood. They have so many young families in their neighborhood. It was perfect and fun for everyone! Kids had a blast, and the adults got some good talks in while walking! It was great!

How stinkin' adorable!?

Cute little beggars :)

So this will sound crazy to most but we did this with Abigail. It was a huge success so we did it with Jackson as well. And frankly, we will probably do it with #3 because it went great with Jackson as well! We had a paci going away party with our friends (did it at small group actually because frankly they are our closest friends - and Jackson's closest friends!). I let him pick out the theme of the cake and all. We got a huge bouquet of balloons (because it takes a ton to get a paci in the air - who knew!?), and sent the paci to another baby in need. Jackson is REALLY hoping that God sent the paci to our baby in Ethiopia...not sure but God is great! Actually, Jackson kept telling us to call God to tell Him to give his paci to our baby in Ethiopia. We kept explaining that we don't call God we pray and just talk to God. I don't know why the request for the paci required a phone call in his mind...

Ready for send off!

The poor kid - I forgot to feed him dinner before small group so he was just hungry. Really all he wanted to do was eat popcorn. Look at him chowing. :)

Bye bye friend!

You might think he is crying over the paci but really he is crying because he had to send away the cars balloon and the spiderman balloon. I had gotten a bunch of just plain balloons - hoping they would get the paci in the air. I promised him he could keep the cars and spiderman balloon, but they were needed to get the paci in the air. I promised him I would get him new ones which actually I don't think I ever did! How awful is that!?

So we were scared to death how he would do at night - we seriously hate sleep deprivation in our home (which frankly is why we have waited so long to get rid of the dumb thing). Well, he did awesome. Didn't say one word - fell asleep right away and slept through the night!!!! What!? We were blown away. He did wake up QUITE early that whole week and didn't nap (which I expected), but he did great. What a champ. Why can't I break bad habits like that!? 

Happenings...

So a lot has happened since I blogged last! We've since moved to a different home. One of the elements to this new home was the lot - much larger and nice and flat for sports, entertaining, etc. With the increase in acreage we quickly decided we needed a bigger mower and needed to do it ourselves. This has THRILLED Jackson. He loves to ride with John while he mows.

Today John and Jackson went to the PU football game with Joe and Sam. They had a great time. Quickly after Joe and Sam left John and Jackson started mowing to try and get it done before it rained. John texted me a picture that took me by surprise so I had to go and take some pictures for myself. :)

Tuckered out!

The very last night the kids were in our old home we had a pizza/movie night. So sweet. We were all soooo sentimental over this move! So many wonderful memories in that house. It makes me choke up all over again seeing this picture.

For Jackson's birthday we geared him up with lawn care equipment of his own. He loves it. :)

Abigail is playing soccer on Saturdays right now. She is quite the little soccer player this year! :) The first game she did great. She got a goal at the end and it was fun. Then, the next game she got 6 goals! It was crazy. Her father was so pumped! :) He literally gets excited for Saturday soccer games now. It's so funny. We are having a great time with it. 

After her goal... I think she only had two goals this game...what a little superstar. :)

Lawn Mower

Jackson's love for automobiles, heavy equipment, etc. definitely carries over into a love for lawn mowers (and everything about mowing the lawn, quite frankly). He loves the trimming, blowing, etc. 

We have someone come mow our lawn right now. When John comes home from work, we like to have him HOME, not outside doing more work! Although I think this will change soon...due to Jackson's LOVE for lawn mowing (and the man that mows our lawn:)). Here is Jackson watching Jordan mow. This is one of the highlights of his week! It sure makes my job easier! Jackson will go from window to window watching until the entire job is complete.

One of Jacksons favorite activities at Grandpa Sprungers is riding the lawn mower with him. Grandpa is soooo patient - they will drive around the house forever it seems! But Jackson LOVES it.