Jackson's School Picture - Kindergarten 2009

Just look at how cute he is. I mean, really! I know as his Mother, I'm horribly biased, but can you blame me?! Just look at his eyes! "Lady-Killers", I call them.

He's grown soo much since last year! I can't believe my Little Man will be turning six years old in just a few short months...(sigh) Where does the time go??

FROM PAGEANTS TO PRECINCTS:

FROM PAGEANTS TO PRECINCTS:

FORMER MISS TEXAS TEEN USA

NAMED DAIELL CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR

FOR STATE SENATE DISTRICT 7

(Houston) - Jeff Daiell, a candidate for the 2010 Libertarian nomination for Governor of Texas, has appointed Christie Cole-Pearson his campaign coordinator in State Senate District 7.

Now employed with Gulf Interstate Engineering, a Top 100 petroleum pipeline design and engineering firm, Ms. Pearson was Miss Texas Teen USA in 1998. She is married; she and her husband Jack have one son, Jackson Alexander.

Ms. Pearson is the founder of Luggage For Kids, a non-profit that provides donated luggage to Children's Protective Service. She also hosts quarterly blood drives at her workplace.

Ms. Pearson's responsibilities will include seeking volunteers within the district, arranging campaign events (including speaking engagements), and serving as the campaign's contact person within the district.

Accepting the position, Ms. Pearson said, "The Jeff Daiell campaign will provide a vehicle for voters who respect civil liberties and who know that compassion requires 'Sunsetting' the statutes, regulations, and agencies that either burden the less fortunate or make it difficult for the private sector to relieve suffering. I look forward to competing with other State Senate District coordinators in making District 7 Jeff's best district on General Election Day, 2010 -- and I have experience with competition!"

Daiell added, "This is further evidence that the Jeff Daiell campaign will set a new standard in organization and infrastructure for Texas Libertarian campaigns."

Those wishing more information on the campaign can visit its website, www.JeffDaiell.com.

Happy Hooky-Day!

On Tuesday the 4th of August, we decided to play Hooky...

That's right, I told my boss that I wouldn't be coming in, Jack took his regularly scheduled day off, and we kept Jackson out of his last day of Summer Camp at his school so we could have one last "Hoo-Rah" as a family before Jackson started Kindergarten.

We told Jackson that we were going to take him to Splashtown, but before we went to the water park, HE got to decide where we ate for breakfast, since it was his special day. So he chose IHOP because that is his favorite restaurant in the whole wide world!

It was so funny to watch him eat his pancakes too! People watching him must have thought we starved him or something because after he so delicately poured each and every one of the syrups displayed on the table (there was at least six of them) on to his pancakes, he literally inhaled them! He had strawberry syrup from his lips to his ears!

Jackson was a little bummed because usually IHOP has someone there making balloon creatures, and today that person must have not been working. After we finished our meals, we practically had to roll ourselves out to the truck. We ate like kings!


Splashtown is such a fun place to go during the week in the Summer-time. We are lucky that we live so close, maybe 30 minutes (if that!) from the water park.

We were smart and printed our tickets from home so that we could bypass the ticket stand at the front of the park and just we just went right in. This method makes things so much easier for everyone, and you get to start having fun just as soon as you get your personal items in your locker! We all put on our 45 block sunscreen, and we were ready to get wet!

(Click on the picture to enlarge map of the Rides and Slides)

Jackson now meets the height requirement of 48 inches to get on the rides/slides. For a five year-old little boy, he's pretty darn big! The first slide we went on was called the Texas Free fall! It's five stories of heart pounding, side by side free falling excitement. Daddy went first, then Jackson, then me, and let me just say, OH MY GOODNESS! Jack and I both screamed...but not Jackson. No, he was either very brave, or too scared to scream! I think maybe it was a mix of the two. This slide was one of Jackson's favorites!

Then, we swam into the Wild Wave Pool. It's about a half-million gallons of water and every 30 minutes or so waves surge through the pool just like at the beach, only without the seaweed! It's great fun for the family, and is really nice for kids of all ages. They also have life vests available for free!

The Blue Lagoon Activity Pool, Tree House Island, and the Guadalupe River (Lazy River) were also a lot of fun. Jackson was swimming underwater all by himself in the Lazy River and he also hitched a ride on Daddy's back a few times. Tree House Island is a three-story play area with climbing nets, slippery slides, and a huge 1,000 gallon bucket that tips over periodically and blasts water over anyone and everyone who is standing below!

We also went on the Rip Qurl (I have no idea why it is spelled that way!) and Big Spin, both of which remind me of toilet bowls being flushed, Space Rapids, and the Tornado.
I have to admit, the Tornado was a pretty great ride! We rode in a quad-raft, and I was lucky enough to be in the position that made me face backwards pretty much the entire time, and it was scary! The ride begins on a platform set 75 feet in the air, then riders are set in motion down a 132 foot long tunnel and thrown into the giant open-ended funnel splashing back and forth on 5,000 gallons of swirling water. I seriously thought we were going to fall out of our raft because we went up so far on the sides of the funnel!

I really enjoyed taking the day off to spend with my husband and soon-to-be Kindergartner and our 'Family Fun Day' certainly was a lot of fun, but after four hours at Splashtown standing in long lines with the sun beating down on us in 107 degree heat (with the heat index), we were spent!
Jackson passed out pretty much once his seat belt was fastened, and I sat in the passengers seat looking back at his sweet little sleepy, sun-kissed face. Jack and I reminisced about how little he used to be, and how there are times now that when he moves a certain way, or when we catch a glimpse of his profile, it takes us back to the day he was born!

There are times when it makes me sad to think about how fast the years have gone by, especially knowing that I can never get that time back, but more often than not it makes me happy to see how much he's grown over the years. He's turned out to be quite the charmer - he's very intelligent and also very handsome.


We are all very excited for Jackson to start Kindergarten and I will post very soon to tell all about his First Day!

Our Busy Weekend

I will start with yesterday, and work my way back through the weekend. I am most proud of this one anyway!

Jackson can now ride a bike without training wheels!!!

I was milling around the house picking up and folding laundry (towels) in the living room yesterday after I came from from the Bridal Extravaganza when Jackson returned from the movies with Mimi and Pappy - they went to go watch G-Force. Jackson said the movie was "really awesome!". Jackson asked if it was okay if he rode his bike in our cul-de-sac while I finished the towels, and I said that would be fine. I started to go outside to help him open up the garage door, but he insisted that he didn't need my help, and that he could do it all by himself. Jackson waited for me to get completely inside the house before he opened the garage door to bring his tricycle out.

I had just about finished the towels when he comes back into the house telling me that I NEEDED to come outside right away and watch him because he could ride without using his training wheels. To be honest, I thought he meant that he finally found his balance on his bike and didn't need the assistance of his training wheels...boy was I wrong.

I go outside, not to find his tricycle, but rather his BIG bike that looks like a dirt bike that we were saving for him for when he got a bit bigger. The bike is easily 40 pounds, and he wants to show me that he can ride it. (It was then that I realized why he insisted on him getting his bike out by himself.) My heart must have been beating 90 to nothing as I was steadying the bike for him. Once he got situated, he began pedaling and made two circles around our cul-de-sac, and then went straight to the last mailbox without falling at all!

Giant tears filled in my eyes, and I ran over to him telling him that he was the Coolest Boy I knew, and how happy and proud of him I was! We ran inside and got Daddy so he could see too! Jack was so proud of him, and he went straight out to remove the training wheels off of his other bikes so we could put the other heavy bike up. I think it's too much bike for Jackson to be safe on...especially since he's just figured out how to ride without training wheels.

We are soo happy for him! He said that he's going to practice every single day until he doesn't have to wear his safety pads...I told him that it's going to take a lot of practice before that happens.

(I just wanted to note that once he came out and told me that he could ride, I immediately put his pads and helmet on. He fussed and whined and cried until Daddy, yes Daddy, said that he didn't need to use them. We explained that they protected him in case he fell, and he still insisted that he didn't want or need them, so he took everything off except for his elbow pads.)

Congratulations Jackson! You're getting to be such a BIG BOY!!!

The Bridal Extravaganza - July 2009

On July 25th and 26th, I was a model in the Bridal Extravaganza for Ventura's Bridal. I'm the second from the left. There were several fashion shows over the weekend for different bridal shops and designers. The gowns that I got to model were so beautiful! MUCH more expensive than my own wedding gown cost! My Mother came with me to help out backstage, and I was so happy that she was there. It's not very often that she and I get to do something together - just the two of us.

I got five blisters on my feet the very first day (Saturday) because Mom and I didn't know where to park, so of course we chose the parking lot furthest away from where we actually needed to be. By the time we walked to the Convention Center, I was limping (and complaining). I had to suck it up for the show, and if I do say so my self, I did pretty well. I didn't trip, or wince in agony while on stage. When I got home that night, I could barely move!

The next morning, I drained my blisters, and they felt a million times better!!! I could actually walk again! For the Sunday show, Mom and I certainly learned our lesson and parked right across the street of the Convention Center. This time, our fashion show was earlier, so we were able to find a close spot in the parking garage. The Ventura fashion show was a HUGE hit! The crowd was really into the models, the dresses, and the music!

I had forgotten how much I loved the runway from my old modeling days... It was a really good feeling. I did, however, get tangled up in one of the wedding gowns..my last one to be exact. The changing area backstage is so chaotic that we don't typically get to see what we are putting on next...we just grab and go. I didn't pay attention to the length of my train, and when I made a full turn in the middle of the runway, the train wrapped all the way around my feet! Some women in the audience gasped and their eyes were HUGE! I guess they really thought I was going to fall! I didn't though (THANK GOD!). As a matter of fact, I walked right out of my little predicament. It took about three good steps, and then my feet were free, and the train was trailing off like it was supposed to behind me, and I played it off so well! When I got to the end of the runway, I grabbed the side of the train and fanned it out so that the audience could see how pretty the back was. It got lots of "Oooh's" and "Ahhh's". When I walked back up the runway, I made another full turn in the center, sort of to make up for my first mishap, and it was perfect! The audience cheered loudly, and I very coyly looked over my shoulder, gave a wink, and exited the stage!

After the show was over, the owner of the store gave me a very nice hand-written note thanking me, and telling me how much she and the audience liked my performance, and she asked if I would like to be a permanent member of the "Ventura's Bridal Dream Team".

Going to the Mall for Earrings, Hair Combs, and Trampolines?? Oh My!

I had to run to the mall this weekend to grab some last minute items for the upcoming fashion show for the Bridal Extravaganza. While we were there, Jackson and I saw this set up in one of the wings in our mall. It's some kind of "Euro-Bounce" thing. They hook you up to a harness that it attached to bungee cords. They raise the cords, and then you begin jumping - higher, and higher, and higher until it makes every 'rider' squeal like a girl! It was very funny!

I told Jackson to do a back-flip, and he told me that he didn't know how so I explained that he needed to tilt his head back and look behind him, and then swing his legs over his head. He nailed it the second time he tried! In all, he did five back flips, and one flip going forward. The man working the trampoline told me that front flips are much more difficult to do than back flips, and he was impressed that Jackson was able to do it!

It was so nice that this was set up in the mall when we went. I normally don't go shopping at the mall, but it was nice for me to be able to go to a few shops, and then let Jackson do his thing. Then I was able to go to a few more of my stores, and then we went to get some cookies. Breaking up shopping trips like this makes it so much easier when little ones are with you, especially when they don't like "long stores". Helps to keep every one's sanity, that's for sure!

Jackson Lost His First Tooth!

Jackson lost his first tooth yesterday at school. We put his tooth under his pillow, and the Tooth Fairy came while he was fast asleep. When he woke up this morning, he saw that his tooth was gone, and there was a crisp two-dollar bill where his baby tooth used to be, and it was covered with glitter!!

I have to say that I am pretty disappointed in how he came to lose it. He forced it loose. Yup. Just kept pushing and pushing until it was wiggly. All of his friends have been or are losing their teeth, and he wanted to lose his teeth as well.

Here is a brief timeline of how long it took for his tooth to come out:

Last Thursday after his bath he says to me, "Momma, come feel my tooth! It's getting loose!" I felt it with my finger, and really tried to make it wiggle, but it wasn't ready. I didn't think anymore about it after I told Jackson to leave it alone, and it would get loose when it was ready to.
The next day, he left with my parents to go to San Antonio for a week. They went to Sea World, and also to a drive-through petting zoo. When they got back to Houston on Friday, my parents took him to Space Center Houston. By the time I picked him up Friday night, seven and a half days later mind you from the first "I have a loose tooth, Momma!"...his tooth was making sucking noises when he touched it with his tongue!

His teeth now looked to funny to me. His wiggly, bottom incisor was cocked over to almost a 35 degree angle, and it made it appear that he already lost a tooth!

I took him to school yesterday, and when Jackson would talk, his tooth would move back and forth and impair his ability to speak clearly. It was the cutest thing! When I picked him up after work, I was greeted by the happiest, most proud little boy holding up a Ziploc baggie with a teeny-tiny tooth inside. He was grinning from ear to ear!

Now, THAT'S talent!

Now, I know that I am horribly biased as a Mother, but I must say that I am so impressed by Jackson's talent. He has such a great imagination!

Just check out the tower he made! Have you ever seen anything like this? And the swirling turnpike...these are just wooden train tracks that he attached to his top drawer in his dresser. The entire thing is suspended by one simple attachment (his drawer) and somehow, the weight of itself didn't bring the whole thing crashing down! You can even see the two tiny rail cars he has positioned on the top of the track, ready to take off. Oh-ya...it worked, too!

I swear, if he doesn't grow up to be a politician or an engineer...

Jackson is taking Piano Lessons!

Jackson had his first piano lesson this weekend, and he LOVED it!. We enrolled him in the Suzuki Music Academy here in Houston, and he will have four half hour private lessons a month.

We have been waiting to put him in lessons for years now. To be honest, other than Jackson's apparent love for music, the biggest reason we put him in lessons is because Jack's mother, Evelyn (May God rest her soul), wanted more than anything for Jackson to learn how to play the piano, and in the end that became her last wish. After she passed, we inherited her piano. Jackson has always loved to pick at the keys, and create his own songs to put on 'shows' for anyone who will listen. I have to admit that it is actually quite soothing to listen to him play. He doesn't just bang at the keys, as a matter of fact, he never did. He is very meticulous and deliberate when he plays - and is very much a perfectionist.

My Mother came with us to his first lesson, and she and I both wanted to stay in the room to observe. I could tell that our presence was distracting Jackson's focus from his instructor, so I suggested that Mom and I leave the room. We waited in the lobby for about 20 minutes. After his lesson was over, he came skipping down the hallway with a HUGE smile plastered to his face! He was so excited, and said that he had a lot of fun learning the keys.

His instructor is Mariblanca De Pujadas, and she has quite the resume! Apparently, she was a child prodigy at the age of two, and began performing as a soloist, touring several countries in South America before the age of five!!! She studied with many prestigious master teachers, and eventually did her post-graduate work at Julliard School of Music in New York. She has over 35 years of teaching experience, and her students have been winners in many competitions and have also performed as soloists with symphony orchestras.

During the private lessons, students of an early age are taught the value of reading music, understanding note values and music theory to be able to understand the structure of music. Also, the student develops strong rhythmic skills as well as good sight reading skills. As the young student advances, he is introduced to the basics of music by learning scales, arpeggios and cadences for the development of technique and musicianship. Ear training is also emphasized as its an important tool to learn to recognize musical tones, chords and rhythmic dictation among other valuable things.

I am going to the store this afternoon to try and get "Key Cards" that identify each of the white keys on the piano so it will make it easier for Jackson to learn each key. If not, I'm not opposed to getting little stick-on letters to label each key, lol!