Naps

Like most kids, Jack gave up napping when he was about 3.5 years old. It was about a year ago...I remember it well...it marked the end of my ability to get much done around the house. Anyway, when we put him in preschool in September, they were able to get him back on daily naps. For a full hour and a half! What this means is he now goes to bed at 8:30pm. However, on weekends, we don't give him naps and he goes to bed at 7pm. On occasion, he just can't do without that nap, and falls asleep.

I love that he was still half awake here and knew I was taking the picture...notice the smile.


Yes, he is wearing his jammies in the late afternoon (from the night before.) That's how our weekends sometimes go in the Allen house. Soon, he was out cold.

It's a rough life for a 4 year old.

Restaurants

Jack has grown up so much. He is so much calmer (notice I said "calmer" and not "calm.") As a result, we now, occasionally, take him out to restaurants. He has his preferences. He loves the "peanuts on the floor" restaurant (Logan's Roadhouse.) Mom and dad aren't crazy about the food there...but at least he can make a mess and be a little loud and no one cares. Jack also loves the "Chinese New Year Restaurant" (P.F. Chang's.) He loves to eat noodles with chopsticks! But his favorite he actually refers to by name, "Buffalo Wild Wings." I think he just loves that they have video game players you can play at your table. He is growing up so fast! Maybe someday we can actually take him someplace nice to eat...I can dream, can't I?

Let's Get This Party Started!

We finally knocked another item off of our house project list. Yes, we have been in the house for 2.5 years now and we aren't done yet, but we are getting closer. We have finished our outdoor BBQ! We saved a lot of money by doing as much of it ourselves as we could, thanks in no small part to my dad who gave up lots of his time to build the foundation, set up the gas lines and the electrical. Jack was so excited throughout the entire project.

Throughout the whole process, Jack kept begging to have his friends over for a party, but we told he had to wait until it was all done. He was more than willing to help. Here he is ready to grout the backsplash.

I think it turned out pretty spectacular.

Jack loves the compartment we let him use as a hide out. He especially likes to demonstrate for people how the water drains from the counter top cooler out to the side of the house.

The second the fridge went in, he stocked it with juice in anticipation of our first party. The weekend after it was done, he had a couple of friends over for a playdate. He kept telling me, "Let's get this party started!" It was adorable. He was so excited to serve them juice from his outdoor fridge.

All in all, a very successful party!

New Obsession

Jack is really into LEGO Ninjago these days. A couple of weeks ago, I had to go to San Francisco for work over a weekend. The day before I left, I bought Jack a LEGO Ninjago shirt that I found at Walmart and surprised him with it when I picked him up from school that day. He insisted on putting it on the second he got home. (And, he had to change his pants so that he could wear them with his jeans.) Doesn't he look happy? He wore them to school the next day (as I got on a plane to leave for California that same morning.) 2 days later, when I returned home, I found him wearing the same outfit. I guess it was a hit.

One Little Slam

I know that no one will appreciate this video as much as me, but I'm posting it anyway. It appeals to me for 3 reasons. First, Jack is obsessed with this guitar from his sisters' video game and loves to pull it out to play along with certain movies and cartoons. (Especially at the beginning of Johnny Test cartoons.) The second is that he is playing along to the Barenaked Ladies song in the Chicken Little movie. He loves this movie (so do I.) The song is called One Little Slip, but for the past year, Jack has argued with me, insisting that the lyric is one little slam. He refuses to believe anything different, even as he gets older. And, finally, he just looks so darn cute with his guitar moves.

Accident?

Jackson has already had multiple lessons on life and death, losing his guinea pig, Jerry and all of his pet worms. Well, he recently had to suffer through another loss. His beta fish is no longer with us. Apparently, while I was out of town for work, Stuart lost the fish down the drain while cleaning his tank. After several minutes of trying to get him out, Stuart felt pushing him around the blades of the garbage disposal was just cruel and he decided to just turn the disposal on and put the fish out of it's misery.

Now, I must point out that this is the second time Stuart has lost the fish down the drain, but the last time he was able to get him out without hurting him. Although, you would think that after the last time, he might have learned his lesson about putting the drain stopper in the sink BEFORE cleaning out the tank, but I guess not.

Anyway, Stuart said he was not going to tell Jack while I was gone since it was only for 2 nights and he hoped Jack wouldn't notice. Yes, Jack did notice the day I returned. Yes, Jack was sad (see sad face above.) Now, much of our nighttime prayers center around Jack telling God how much he misses his pets. My poor little boy. I hate seeing him sad. It breaks my heart.

Oh, and I am more than a little suspicious that this accident happened while I was out of town...

Cooking with Nana

We recently had a visit from Jack's Nana and Granddad. While I didn't take many pictures, I did capture an afternoon cooking lesson with Jack and his Nana. She made sticky toffee pudding with the help of Jack. He was very attentive, watching her every move.

I think he impressed her with his egg cracking skills...he has gotten pretty good at this. He was great, but of course, had to start goofing around when he realized mom was taking pictures.

The best part, of course, was licking the bowl when they were done.

It was so wonderful to see her taking the time with Jack, I know he loved every minute of it.

MARSHMALLOWS

Sometimes moderation is NOT the answer.

Especially when it comes to marshmallows. Just look at that grin!

Our New Sled

A few weeks back, my dad came over and spent a Saturday with Stuart building our new BBQ. That meant I had to find a way to keep Jack entertained so he would leave them alone so they could work. We decided to build a sled. It took the whole day and it was awesome!

We even added a flag with Jack's name on it.


At one point we were done and Papa cleverly suggested it needed a steering wheel, so we immediately made one to add to the sled.

I found some stickers for us to add as decoration.

That gave Jack the idea to add some family photos to it.

He had a blast with his sled.

At some point, he grabbed his blanket and took his clothes off to enjoy his sled "Jack style."

In the following days, he found new, creative additions for his sled. Here he took a water toy and added a weapon to it. Boys.

The only problem was, he wanted to take his sled to the snow. We had to talk him out of that one. It has provided lots of fun over the past few weeks. Just yesterday, we added a window to it. I love doing projects with Jack.