Phew.

Thank goodness for "The Incredibles." And Uncle Brad.

Cinco de Mayo

This past weekend, we went down to Birmingham to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Also to celebrate cousins Christie and Eric who are getting married in August. They aren't ALREADY cousins, Christie is just marrying my husband's cousin, I like to go on and include her. We ARE from Alabama.

Henry was convinced before we arrived that cousin Wil was a real baseball player, not a fake one like Mommy and Daddy. Henry got this idea from a photo he saw of Wil when he was 7 years old. Wil is now about 23 or so.

Regardless, Henry stayed convinced and immediately starting bossing Wil around and made him play t-ball for hours.

Here's Uncle Brad helping Henry set up the tee for the 300th time:



And Wil pitching it back:



Then Henry hitting it again, calling out to Wil, "Make me a bicycle, clown!" as Brad and Beth roll in the grass laughing. Except in this one, Brad is standing:



Poor Wil, getting called a clown and chasing all the woofle balls:



Since it was a party, we all put on our party clothes and listened to salsa music before the guests arrived.



Yikes.



This is so fun!



How does this thing work?



My eyelashes are holding up this thing! and what is wrong with my brother?

After Dinner Party

Some of our good friends are leaving the University of Evansville so, appropriately, a "Roast" was organized to tease the poor guy. After the Roast date was set, the planners decided to ask Brian to be the emcee for the event. They must have found out he was a youth director in seminary.







Brian brought his guitar home from work and gracefully laid down some chords and lyrics about our friend to Poison's tune of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." Henry thought it was the greatest, Svea clapped along, and I went and permed, sprayed and bleached my hair.

All Star Svea (and Henry)

Last week Svea decided to intermittently participate at All Star Sports.
Henry decided to whole-heartedly participate at Svea's All Star Sports. Mismatched, wrong-feet shoes and all:






I think he's doing the cabbage patch here. And Svea's trying to jump.

Picnic Table Puzzle

Cool new picnic table Brian built!!

Some Serious Password Changing

Has just occurred in this house.
Love,
The Real Real Real Real iMollie

An Amendment to My Earlier Post

Okay, I have had the chance to calm down a bit, and reflect more on what the University of Alabama means to me and my family. One of the things I didn't consider when I was writing the post below was how much my own life has been inspired by Bear Bryant, and now Nick Saban. Both of these men have a huge impact on the way I mother my children. Also, when I was mistakenly and egregiously mentioning that other landgrant school, I forgot to mention that Alabama has 12 national titles. Auburn was given the Golf Digest national championship a few years ago.

While I am excited that my sister--I mean my sister-in-law--has received the dubious honor of cheering for a hopeless cause, I do grow ever more concerned that my children will grow up confused. Luckily, my loving, supportive, athletic, arithmetically-gifted husband will continue to show them the pre-game video from the Tuscaloosa Jumbotron on a daily basis. We can only hope for the best.

In case I come back on the blog and say something crazy like "It was my husband writing that" or "That wasn't me" please just remember that this post is actually me. It is definitely not my husband using my blog for his own propaganda about Alabama football.

Signed,
Definitely the real iMollie

Waaaaarrrrr Tide!

Aunt Brooke is an Auburn Cheerleader! Congratulations!!!



Brooke is third from the left.


Brooke and Aubie



Brooke and Trent, the BF. Awwwww.

I want to be clear about the inconsistencies in our house. Any of you from around Alabama, the actual state on the map, is most likely aware of the rivalry between the University of Alabama and Auburn University. The tension in this rivalry hits every speck of the spectrum, and our house is no different EVEN THOUGH we live in Indiana and I don't care about football (only Friday Night Lights).

So, just to be clear, I want to outline some history:

People in my family (the Jacksons) who went to Auburn University:
Maternal grandfather
Maternal grandmother
Maternal uncle (not sure if he finished)
Mom
Paternal grandfather
Dad
Aunt (kinda)

Jacksons who root for Auburn:
ALL

Jacksons who went to U of Alabama:
none.

People in Brian's family who went to Auburn, or are big fans of Auburn:
Everyone he is related to in Selma, about 15 people maybe?
Paternal aunt and her family (5 in all)

Ericksons who went to U of AL:
none


HOWEVER, Brian still grew up with season tickets to the ALABAMA games, our children have an Alabama fan-mania outfit in every size beginning with newborn-3 months, we purchase a special ESPN Game Plan to watch every game in the fall, we have a huge AL flag for the front of our house, Henry knows the fight song, Svea says Roll Tide regularly, and Henry still forces us to call him "John Parker" whenever he sees fit.

What?

No wonder the entire fall season gives me a headache. These allegiances make no sense.

What I Think May Be...

...Svea and Henry's favorite part of Jonesville, VA:

BSC Alumni Party

This past weekend was Brian's 10-year anniversary celebrating his graduation from college at Birmingham-Southern.
It was so hectic I thought we were there for 9 days and the only time I whipped out the camera was when they were bouncing around the Wacky World.







Brian and I did get to go out both Friday and Saturday night (sans children) which was a major special treat. Friday night we got to talk with Liz, the Kyzer, and her husband John Wilson so we felt a little famous at the end of it all.

We also found out that our friend Ginny Phillips has a book coming out in February so you can look forward to promotion of that also.

All in all, we got to reconnect with old friends, laugh a lot, celebrate Service Learning at BSC and my dad's involvement and amazing tenure there.
We are tired, but really happy.

One of My Favorites From the Weekend

Svea found Papa's protective earphones in the basement the other morning. She probably couldn't hear a word I was saying...and loved it.

Last Week All Star

Last week at All Star Sports, the sport of the day was Flag Football.
We spent all week talking about how to pull flags instead of decking the other kids. Turned out, we probably didn't need to worry too much because Henry was on some other planet the whole session.

He did love running in circles:



And learning to run through the cones:



And waiting in line with his teammates:



However, that would be him rolling on the floor there on the far left. Hugging his ball:



And this sweet girl was helping him with his hat after she helped him put his shoes back on for the 8th time that morning:



So THIS is the "flag" they speak of:



Henry, performing the "Shake Your Furry Tail" song and dance before running around like a maniac trying to pull off other people's flags. Except he wouldn't pull anyone's off. He just got close to them, and then sat down.



I was way more tired than he was by the end.

Busy Saturday

This past Saturday was very busy in Evansville.

First there was Bike Race at UE:


which we have been looking forward to since last year. You would too, especially if you're a fan of "Breaking Away." Or the Tour de France.
Most of the teams are sororities and fraternities, then there are a few clubs, but they are all equipped with pit crews that do the "throwing" and "catching" of the bikes when changing racers. It lasts most of the day and there's free food and loud music - lots of fun. We went in the morning, came home for lunch and naps, then went back.

There were also 3 soccer games in the field next to the bike track.

Henry picked out his white team attire, Cubs helmet and "new" shoes. Then immediately found a football.




Svea observed.



We came home dirty with mild tan lines, already looking forward to next year's race.

Svea and the Dandelion

Sprucin' It Up in the Backyard

Svea helping to water the tomatoes:



And now the mint:



The new plant stand and plant boxes that Brian made!



While Svea watered, Henry batted:



Just passing the afternoon...

Spring Fever

Spring fever has hit us along with our allergies, and the yard looks great for all of our suffering actually.
Here's the pile of debris that I pulled out of our 18 azalea bushes:



While pruning and cleaning, I saw this:



and tried to clip around it without exposing the eggs too much. I really hope they make it...



Here's a view from inside the house of the mom keeping the eggs warm.



I'm totally getting old if I care about birds and flowers. Seriously.

Another (not so) All Star Moment

We found out on Monday at Henry's All Star Sports Class that there was one for Svea's age on Wednesdays...so we signed her up.
However, this Wednesday turned out to be the day that NONE of the participants in the class wanted to play. At least it wasn't just Svea who cried and wanted me to hold her the whole time we were hopping, jumping, crawling, singing, dancing in a circle.

The theme that day was soccer, just like Henry's class, and here's where the soccer equipment sat:



while the other children cried or wandered aimlessly through the gym.
So the wise teacher pulled out this:



and most of the kids enjoyed it. Not Svea. This is what she did when she let me put her down:



Henry, however, had the best 45 minutes of his day.
In fact, it was Henry and the teacher participating in most all of the activities. She thanked me for bringing him at the end.



Maybe Svea will warm up next week...for 20-month-old flag football. Stay tuned...