The Candy Corn Caper

We have a mystery on our hands . . . there is a Candy Corn Bandit loose at Jackson's school!  Jackson came home a couple of weeks ago and told me that candy corns were stolen from every classroom in the school!  He was very excited!  He told me that they went on a hunt for the bandit, but much to his disappointment, the bandit eluded them.  I really can't do this story justice, except to just give a play by play of my conversation with Jackson, so . . .

Jackson: There is a Candy Corn Bandit taking candy from the classrooms.  He took ours today
Mommy: Really!  Wow!
Jackson: The teacher says we can build a trap and bring it to school if we want, but we don't have to.
Mommy:  So, she asked you guys to make a trap?
Jackson: No, we went on a hunt for the Candy Corn Bandit, but we didn't catch him, so I asked if I could make a trap and bring it to school.
Mommy: Soooo, this was your idea?! (With an amused smile on my lips)
Jackson: Yeah, I drew a picture of the trap today, see!  (As he proudly displays his blueprint) . . . I'm gonna need a box.

I took several pictures of him with his blueprint, but . . . well I don't think this choice needs explanation.

Mommy: Ok.  How big are we thinking this Candy Corn Bandit is?  Like, elf sized?
Jackson: No, I think it's a person.
Mommy: (with some hesitation) Sooooo, you need a man-sized box?!
Jackson: Yes.  Well, it might be a kid, but I'm going to need a big box.
Mommy: How about we clarify with your teacher how big she thinks this bandit is and then we'll build the trap this weekend.

I was cracking up on the inside during this entire conversation!  I love that he was so excited about this and I love that he planned it out.  We asked his teacher the next morning what her thoughts on the bandit's size were.  She agreed that the bandit was about elf-sized and she was just as enthused a I was to let Jackson follow through on his plan and set up his trap in the classroom on Monday morning.  I love that his teacher was supportive of this endeavor to allow my child to learn in a way that is meaningful to him!

So, after school on Friday, we headed for Hobby Lobby.  Jackson had planned a pretty basic trap.  He wanted a box to fall on the Bandit when triggered, but he needed help with some of the details, like how to hang it from the ceiling of the classroom.  I told him I would help him figure that part out.  His classroom has the ceiling tiles that will push up, so I suggested an over the door wreath hanger to hang from the ceiling and run the string through.

With supplies in hand, we started working on the trap.  I made Jackson figure out how to make the trap.  I helped, but he had to give me instructions and he had to help me figure out how to change things when they didn't work.  We went through a couple of different scenarios to find a way to weight the box and set the trap, but finally SUCCESS!  We caught Jackson in it a couple of times!

Jackson asked me to get in the box to see if a "big person" would fit.

It wouldn't capture a "big person," but Jackson fits!  . . . Then everyone had to try it

Gage

Kynlee

Jackson and Gage (this picture cracks me up every time)

Brooklyn

Westin

Now to start the trap making.  Jackson marked where he wanted his holes and how many he wanted.  He tried several tools to make holes, but ended up with a hammer and screw driver.  In my opinion, the hammer was overkill, but who am I to get between a boy and his tools!

Stringing twine through the holes

The box is ready and everyone is so excited!

Now to create a weight.  Candy corns were not heavy enough, so this was Jackson's second attempt.

We finished it off with candy corns as bait.

This did not work . . . still not heavy enough.

Next step, a bigger container and a hand weight.  We cover it with LOTS of candy corn.  Good think I bought the big bag!

Success!!  The trap is set . . . but will it catch a thief?

YES!  Yes it will!  Action shot of box falling on Jackson as he "steals" the candy corn!

With the trap ready, we got EVERYONE up early Monday morning so we could get to school before the first bell and set up the trap for the Candy Corn Bandit.

Trap is all set up in Jackson's classroom!

Did it work?  Well, the bandit tripped the trap, but he managed to get away, but not before he left some footprints, orange sparkles and scattered some Candy Corns making a mess in the classroom.  Jackson came home very excited, but his immediate response, "The footprints were very small.  I need to build a smaller trap!"

We didn't end up building a smaller trap, but Jackson did set some traps in his room at home and left a note for the bandit requesting a note in return.  He was thrilled when he received a note!

Do you see the string across the open door?  There is also some Candy Corn bait on the night stand.

Sweet boy sleeping soundly and waiting for a note from the Candy Corn Bandit!

The Candy Corn bandit gave us several days of fun and gave Jackson an opportunity to be creative and learn from the fun!  He is convinced that the Bandit is a large Candy Corn with arms and legs.  He still wants to catch him and eat him!  We enjoyed every second of this experiment!  We are so blessed to have such a fun teacher who encourages her students to get creative and test their ideas!

Slip 'N' Slide

The weather is getting a little too cool for your traditional slip 'n' slide fun, but that doesn't stop Jackson!  Jackson has found an alternative or two.  Typically this involves some slippery socks and my kitchen floor.  He takes off running at full speed and slides across the floor . . . think Tom Cruise from Risky Business, but with pants and no sunglasses.  He's not really concerned with the fact that I don't think this is the best plan, it's too fun to worry about getting hurt!

Wednesday night however, a unique sliding opportunity presented itself to Jackson in the form of a puddle on the kitchen floor. . . I'd like to preface this story by saying that I was not home.  I was watching Gone With the Wind on the big screen with some friends, so the story that follows took place on Daddy's watch.  Here is how the story was told to me . . .

It was Thursday morning, Jackson was getting ready for school and Kynlee came into the living room:

Mommy: You need a bath today.
Jackson: I took a bath last night.
Mommy: I was talking to Kynlee, the little kids need a bath today. (Pause) Why did you take a bath, you had one the night before, you didn't have to take one until tonight.
Jackson: Oh right.  Well, actually I needed a bath.
Mommy: Why?
Jackson: Well there was a puddle of water in the kitchen and I was sliding through it a bunch
Mommy: (Looking and feeling a little confused)
Jackson: I thought it was water, but really Westin had peed in his pants.  While I was sliding, Westin brought Daddy in to show him he had peed right there . . . and I fell down in it a few times while I was sliding.
Mommy: Good call on the bath, little man!

To say I was laughing would be an understatement.  I mean don't get me wrong, it's totally disgusting and gross, but A) I wasn't here to deal with it and B) let's face it, it's hysterical!!

I still can't believe that Clint did not tell me this story himself when I came home Wednesday night.  I came in and asked if the kids were good and all he said was, "Yeah, they were mostly good."  I would have been busting to tell Clint if it had been reversed.  I'm still laughing about it today!

The Monster Mash

Jackson requested a Halloween themed birthday party this year . . . so of course we pulled out the tricks and treats and had a party!  Granna, Poppo, Mamaw, Aunt Jessica, Uncle Brian, Aunt Kiki, Uncle Jacob and Aujehl were all able to make it, as well as several sweet little friends.  We shipped the babies off to Aunt Kiki's with a babysitter so Jackson could enjoy a big boy only party!!  The kids had a great time, but I learned that if you have more than two boys between 4 and 5 years old in a room . . . it turns into one GIANT wrestling match.  Seriously, every activity for the first 45 minutes to an hour turned into a wrestling match.  Fortunately, the one girl that came was a little late and missed Wrestle Mania!

We'll just hit the highlights, but we had an awesome time!  There was mummy wrapping, a spider web maze, "smoking" witches brew and Monster cupcake decorating!  The boys had a blast and honestly so did I!  I love birthdays.  There's no need to gush on and on like I did with Jackson's birthday post, so on to the pictures of our Frighteningly good time!

Granna's Monster cupcakes, these were the examples for later!

All the sweet goodies to make our ghouls

The spread, witches brew and all.  I'm not sure I got any pictures of our "Mummy dogs" but they were really cute too!

Granna's handy work.  Cantaloupe Jack 'O Lanterns on our fruit tray.

The spiderweb maze.  At the end of every string was a small prize, this took quite a while for the kiddos (and adults) to get through!

Mummy wrapping

Our finished Mummies

The "Monster Mash" where all the wrappings broke free!  After this was over, we played "Stuff the ghost and the boys put all the trash in a white trash bag which we hung up as our ghost!

Aunt Kiki, the candy corn!

Wrestling!

Spider Web maze in action!

Jackson

Decorating cupcakes

Jackson with his finished cupcake!

Caleb with his "monster"

Jantzen's sweet treat!

Jace's creepy cupcake!

Not sure which is sweeter, Kate or her cupcake!!

John . . . well, his cupcake was awesome, but it was also ALL over him!  I kept finding icing on him, even on his back.  Still not sure how he did this!

Close up of the Birthday Boy's cupcake.  Note that is symmetrical, as is everything that Jackson creates.  I loved his cupcake!

Mommy and Daddy have him a big boy bike for his birthday!

Learning to cruise!

 I could have posted a zillion more pictures!  We had the best time (did I already say that ;-)  Love this boy and so glad he has amazing friends and family to celebrate with!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Annual picture in his Texas Tech shirt!  5 years old!!

I think we may have experienced the best birthday EVER at our home today!!  We had a great day with our big guy!  I really can't believe it's already been 5 years!  I don't know why 5 seems like such a milestone, but it really does to me.  Maybe because I sort of feel like he is really exiting the "baby" stage and entering true boyhood  (sniff).  Seriously, I'm struggling with this!  I sobbed the first day of school this year because Jackson would be going to kindergarten NEXT YEAR (this can't be normal).  I feel like it has passed me by and I find myself wondering if I have lived it to the fullest.  If I have enjoyed it and cherished the way I should.  If I have done enough to let him know how special he is.  And if I have left the best impression possible on him during his youngest and most impressionable years . . . I'm sure the answers to the "ifs" is not a complete affirmative, but I hope and pray that there is more "yes" than "no" to these questions over the last 5 years.  I'm not sure it would ever seem like enough . . . Okay, now that I'm tearing up, onto the amazing 5th birthday that we shared with our VERY special little man today!

So far, I have been with Jackson on all his birthdays, not at work, but actually spending the day with him.  This year it fell on a workday, but Clint and I decided that since this was his last birthday before starting big boy school, we'd take the afternoon off from work and spend some Mommy, Daddy, Jackson time together!  We considered taking the entire day, but Jackson wanted to take cupcakes to his class at daycare, so we sent him for the morning.

He started his day off with a cupcake (it is his birthday after all).  Then headed to school with cupcakes to share with his friends.  We picked him up this afternoon and the fun really started!

Breakfast cupcake

Cupcakes for his class . . . he picked out the shorts to "go" with the shirt.  He's a very "independent dresser" these days!

First stop: Chuck E Cheese (is it sad that I almost couldn't type this without also typing "where a kid can be a kid"  advertising works people, the jingle will now be stuck in my head for the rest of the night and probably yours too, sorry).  He can't eat pizza, but he LOVES to play the games there. He's saving tickets for a big prize.  We played Skeeball (which, by the way, I rock at . . . I hit the 100,000 five times in one game and got the ticket bonus for being over 450,000 points.  I always say that I don't have any talents, but maybe Skeeball is it!)  We played racing games, and ball throwing games and stop the light in the right spot games and whatever else they have there . . . Jackson had a ball.  He LOVED the racing games, you would have thought he was racing a real car/boat.

Daddy and Jackson playing games

TICKETS!!

 Next stop: Bowling!  Aunt Kiki joined for a little bit to play a game.  Jackson had a great time and was TOTALLY wound up!  Daddy won both games.  Jackson came in second the first time and Mommy came in second the second time.  Mommy had a chance to beat daddy in the second game, but not wanting to break my losing streak and in true to me fashion, I choked on the last frame and Clint beat me by ONE points!!!  Oh well, I have to let  him be better than me at something ;-) (love you honey!).  Jackson cracked us up with his sideways run and bowl.  It was the same everytime and it was hysterical!  Aunt Kiki did all kinds of "trick" shots that Jackson found amusing!  A good time was had by all!

Birthday love from Aunt Kiki

The starting stance

Mommy and Jackson (I think this is the only picture of the two of us from his birthday)

Clint felt the need to document the fact that I choked at the end of the second game!

After bowling . . . Snow cones at the one and only Bahama Bucks (BEST. SNOW CONES. EVER!) and little bit of the "Ring Game" on their "porch".  Can we say sugar high or what!  Oh yeah and I forgot to mention that Daddy let him have one of the left over cupcakes from school in addition to the one he ate with his class!!

After a quick stop at the McDonald's drive thru for a birthday dinner request, we headed home for cake with the tiny people!  We had a Frankenstein cake (I did make the cake, but I have to give credit for this super cute idea to an old co-worker of mine, Shasta, who made one for work years ago at Halloween!)  One of Jackson's very best friends and his family came over for cake and the birthday song!  What a perfect end to a perfect day (we'll pretend it ended there and not mention the meltdown that happened before bed, I think it can safely be blamed on too much sugar and a day of total indulgence in whatever this sweet little boy wanted . . . probably Mommy and Daddy's fault, but totally worth it for all the sweet memories and smiles we had earlier in the day!)

Frankenstein and his brother!!

The birthday boy with Mommy and Daddy (and all the little monsters, or most anyway!)

John and Jackson =BFF's (are you allowed to put that label on boys?)

Showing off his birthday present from the babies

Aaaahhhh!  If only all days could be so much fun! 

Before I finish this most special birthday post, I'd like to take a minute to say how proud I am of this little man.  Jackson has grown into quite the young man over the last year.  He is kind to his brothers and sisters, he is becoming a better listener and he has such a good heart.  Yes, he's still stubborn and strong-willed and he still tries to get away with anything and everything he can . . . that's just being a boy . . . but when it really counts, he has a good, strong character and a loving heart for his family and friends and while I definitely think that the "concept" of God is still a little overwhelming for him (heck, it's a little overwhelming for me sometimes), I'm so proud to see that relationship forming and growing.  It's amazing to watch a child accept the idea of God as it is given to him, because he simply has the faith of a child.  Don't you wish we could all harness that childlike faith!  I love that Jackson still bestows the random and unsolicited "I love yous" through the day.  These moments sometimes get me through the roughest of days in this crazy life we live.  My other favorite words that I hear (though not as often as he gets bigger) are "Momma, can we snuggle?"  Sometimes this may be a ploy to stay awake just a little longer, but I don't even care! 

I was reminded recently of how good Jackson is.  It was a reminder from a complete stranger, but sometimes we need those.  While I love him with all my heart and soul, I often find myself getting frustrated and irritated over things that are simply a little boy trying to discover what the boundaries are and also wanting to see what the world has to offer.  Sometimes, I need to be reminded that he's not always naughty, that he doesn't always push my buttons and that under it all, he is such a good kid . . . This stranger met me on an airplane last month.  When I turned to my sister and brother (who were sitting  behind me) and said something about "my kids," the woman, who had no children of her own, but was a very proud aunt, asked me how many kids I had . . . well, of course the next question was "how old are they?"  From there of course the inevitable conversation regarding our unique family ensued.  Interestingly enough though, she asked me more about Jackson than the others.  She asked many questions, but the one that sticks out was when she asked how Jackson "handled it" when the babies all came home.  I recounted a story that I have told countless times and always with fondness . . . about how he would not stay at the house while we picked up the babies and insisted that he was "going to the hospital to get MY babies!!"  How he waited for us patiently in the waiting room and as soon as we walked out of the NICU with the first two (only two went home at a time), he ran to us, kissed each one and then turned, put a hand on each infant carrier and "helped" us carry the babies to the car.  It's one of my favorite pictures of all time!!  This same scene was basically repeated 2 days later when the other two came home.  A story that made me smile, brought a look of true awe and amazement to this stranger's face.  Her response, "Wow, he has such a good heart.  What an amazing kid.  You can't teach that kind of love."  She was so right.  Even now, it brings tears to my eyes.  Sometimes, we need these little reminders in our lives.  Jackson is such a special little guy and while it is supposed to be my job to help him grow into the person he is to become, I am so blessed by how he and each of my kids are helping me become something more than I already was!  I love you Jackson Hacker, I can't believe how lucky I am that you are a part of our family!

Next up . . . our spooktacular Halloween Birthday extravaganza!