Sweet Sebastian

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
~James Baldwin


I've posted a lot about the busy life of Jackson lately. The quiet side of the dynamic duo is our Sebastian. He's silent but powerful! During Jackson's soccer game on Saturday, Sebas was practicing his first love...Soccer. He's got a mean left foot that can really score some goals someday!

You never know what he's in to. Today I came out of the computer room to find him doing this...

Reading one of my books and chowing down on an apple. Such a grown up boy in a teeny tiny frame!

Oh Brother!

The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose. ~Garrison Keillor

Jackson's First Day of School

I am so proud...I didn't cry! I'm thinking the summer camp experience helped us all! Jackson and I walked to school this morning. This is something I have dreamed about since literally the day he was born. I remember my first day of school with Mom walking me and Julia with my Mork & Mindy lunchbox. We are blessed to live close enough to the school that we can walk. I don't think I could bear putting him on a bus yet.

Along the walk he talked with Cito on the phone. He kept saying how he has to see Jackson's new school shoes. He also said that Cito has to hurry with school or he's going to miss it. Last night he talked about how in 13 years he'll be finished and can be Felipe's roomate in college. (For those who don't know, Felipe's my 19-year-old nephew!)

And now...for some pictures:

Look, he's already learned something!! There was a 2nd grader in line before us to take a picture by the marque. Jackson was inspired by the sour look on the child's face and decided to do the same.

Of course, that didn't last long with Mom behind the camera!

Here he is in the hallway outside his room. They were all lined up ready to get inside! Luckily, he already knows 3 or 4 children in his class through church, Y Soccer and YMCA Summer camp. He's off to a great start.

Cool Christian Camper of the Week

Last Friday was very eventful in the Stevens House. Jackson has been asking questions randomly for a few months about Jesus, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, etc. We have just simply answered the questions and gone on. On Friday we casually were talking about God and I came across a tract I had picked up some time ago. It was called Simple Steps to God and it was written by Billy Graham. He was very receptive to all of the information and then simply said, how do I accept Jesus? Awesome! We prayed we hugged and everything made him "feel so good."

About 30 minutes later I took him to summer camp and stuck around for the weekly assembly where they do a song, make announcements and say who the Cool Camper of the Week was. As you can probably guess, Jackson was announced the Cool Camper. He was absolutely over the moon!

Staycation Day 5 - The Mutha of All Tents

Imagine Bryan's surprise when he got home from work and found the living room covered in blankets and fabric. We decided to build a tent from the top of the 8 ft. entertainment center down. All Bryan could say was, "Wow, you had a very productive day, huh?" Our tent was so fancy it had the flat panel TV incorporated in the design.

Our staycation was very nice. I wish every week was like this one. Spending time with the boys is awesome and I love every bit of it. Last night Jackson let me rock and sing him to sleep. I haven't been able to do that in years and I don't think he realized how much that meant to me. I was able to tell him different times in his first year that I sang different songs to him. From singing Great is Thy Faithfulness after immunizations, to Sweet Baby James and St. Jude's Comet when he was 6 weeks old to Lida Rose every day of his first year, I was able to relive those songs again. It was great because after I finished one he would ask me for another. Finally he didn't ask anymore and I realized it was because he was asleep. Sweet Jackson fell asleep to my singing instead of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber, thank God for the little things!