A Very Merry Christmas

We enjoyed lots of snow on Christmas Eve. Jackson had a blast playing in it.



We took advantage of it that evening and drove around our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights before going to bed.



Christmas morning.

A new sweater that Jackson's great grandmother (Nana) sent him.

Jackson admiring his new tunnel.

G and Dada with the grand kids.

And Laine had a special box to open at the end from his niece and nephew. In it there was a message to go outside to receive his special gift....A BRAND NEW PORSCHE BOXSTER!!! Here we are posing with our beautiful new car. Thank you so much Kaley and Brooks!

Day after Christmas - Jackson enjoying all of his new goodies.

New table, chairs, and Legos.

A new trike. And guess what - he's already trying to stand on the pedals as we push him. A few times he's even attempted to stand on the seat while being pushed. This child does NOT follow the rules! It will be no time before he's pedaling himself, I'm sure.

If only this dust buster actually cleaned my carpets...

We thought this was funny - as Jackson was sitting in the tub playing Laine saw the lid that had this picture on it. Very fitting.

I hope each of you had a Merry Christmas with special family and friends. We are off to Houston to see most of my family. Pictures from that trip coming soon...

What Did We Do Yesterday?

First, we went to see Santa. As you can see, he was not a huge fan. We keep talking about Santa in line and watched him and I thought he would pull it off - but nope, he wasn't having any of that. Once we got home and he would look at the picture he would say Santa and ho ho ho.



Then we took a walk before the weather turned cold. We have this problem of Jackson wanting to stand up in the stroller. It is a constant battle. Yesterday we heard the trash truck and Jackson loves BIG TRUCKS so we decided to follow it. For a full 30 minutes he sat in the stroller and watched the truck. He must have said big truck about 100 times. We were far enough behind that I was still able to get in a good walk while Jackson was entertained.



Once the trash truck was gone, it was back to this battle... He will pop his little head up with the biggest smile like he knows how cute he his. Laine and I have to turn our heads so we don't smile and then we have to tell him to "sit down!"



Once that battle was over Jackson decided he wanted to walk the rest of the way. He kept saying "shoes, shoes" since I didn't put any on him. I didn't think he'd be walking. I just love having the time to slow down and not be in such a hurry. Love those kinds of days!




Lastly, we celebrated the birthday of the best father and husband in the entire world. We love you so much!!!!! We celebrated with a pizza from Pizza Hut! Life is exciting these days, huh? Actually that's about all we could handle. Laine's been working a lot and been sick too. We've all had pretty bad colds, pink eye (Jackson and Laine), and a stomach bug (Jackson and Dana.) Does this passing illnesses back and forth ever end?

Genius!

Jackson and I needed to pick up a few things at Market Street the other day and I noticed these carts for kids. Jackson had a blast pushing it around. I'm sure they are meant for kids a little older to shop along with mom but I just couldn't resist. He LOVED it and was so excited. This is just pure genius on the store's part - great way to get moms in there to shop.

I May Be Partial...

but I think this little guy is pretty darn cute!!!




This is his fall school picture. It's not a great copy but I thought they turned out pretty well. How they got him to sit still and tilt his head so cute is a mystery to us!

Getting Into the Holiday Spirit

We had another visit from Grandpa this week. Jackson enjoyed reading his bedtime book with him.




This weekend we had our annual December friend weekend. It was so much fun. Here are all of the boys (and Kaitlynn) watching t.v. while the girls talked and finished getting dinner ready.




Kid's table.




Ready to exchange presents...




Jackson mesmerized by the snow globe.




This picture just cracked me up because he's just like a man patting his belly.




Before we left we had to get a picture with Santa.

The next day we took the kids to Going Bonkers and then we all went to lunch. After that we put the kids down for a nap and the boys stayed with the kids while the three of us went to the mall. I think we were able to talk more in those few hours than we have in two years. It was absolutely wonderful!

We had such a great weekend with our best friends in the whole wide world. I love these guys so much.

But...some very, very special people were missing this year. Amanda, Jerry, and Alex - I cannot tell you how much you were missed. Though we had a great time it wasn't the same without you guys. How I wish Amanda was with us Friday night as we prepared dinner and Saturday at the mall. I love you, girl!


Saturday night G and Dada came over again to watch Jackson so we could go to Laine's work party. It was wonderful to have another night out together.

And we finished the weekend by finally decorating our tree! I just need to get some beautiful ribbon to top it off. I am going to attempt a bow for the top and then wrap the tree with it. Those who know me know I have absolutely no creative genes but I'm going to figure this out and make it look pretty!

Have a great week!

Weekend Fun

We had lots of fun this weekend. We met the Webb's for dinner on Friday night. I wish I could have seen a video recording of the 4 adults trying to keep 3 very active boys contained in our booth at California Pizza Kitchen. How different eating out is these days!

Jackson basically played all day Saturday and Sunday, despite a yucky cold and cough.



Pushing daddy on his John Deere ATV

Jackson loves to put the cardboard from a roll of papertowels on his hand and run around whacking stuff.

Merry Christmas! Finally taking a break from non stop running around!

Thank you G and Dada for babysitting so that we could go to our Bible class Christmas party. It was nice to get away and eat without having to wrestle a certain little boy.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wonder if this is why both of us are sick right now???


We had our monthly dinner with the Webb's the other night. Aren't they cute all sitting together at the "kid's table?"


Jackson and Daddy spent Thanksgiving at G and Dada's house. I'm sure Jackson didn't get spoiled at all...


I asked Laine to try to get some good pictures of the cousins. Apparently Jackson wanted to get down to play.

This one is a little better. They fixed his hair with gel.

Jackson and Dada having an important conversation.

Meanwhile, I was visiting this sweet little angel!!!

Mommy with baby Alex.

Could this hair be any more PERFECT?!?!

Now a family of three.

We are blessed! Happy Thanksgiving!

Why It's Important To

put a bib on your toddler...

On another note, Jackson made this precious hat at school this week. I decided to get a picture before it gets destroyed...

About 20 seconds after the above picture, the destruction began... notice the legs are missing.

And now it's off the head...

Once this was done, he was onto his daily ritual of running around the house messing it up as much as humanly possible. Oh the joys of having a toddler! :-)

We are so excited that Jackson's cousin should be coming soon... Courtney is waiting for a room for induction this afternoon. She thought she'd get in this morning but they had some people get in before her so she can't do anything but wait right now (she can't even eat!)