Happy 4th Birthday, Jackson!

Our baby turned 4 today. Four years old! Do I really have a 4 year-old? I do, and he is oh so precious. Sure, you are stubborn, you test our patience, aggravate us at times, tire us with your everlasting energy and never ending questions. But, then again, you are 4....and I treasure all of those qualities even if they do make me crazy sometimes :) You have the sweetest little voice, always say please and thank you, are so very smart, love your little brother, are fascinated with trains, can memorize anything and seldom forget, are so kind and loving, and have brought us so much joy these past 4 years. We love you so much, Jackson!
Ok, enough of the mushy stuff. Since we had Jackson's party a few weeks ago, we celebrated his actual birthday today with just family. Kikye and D (grandma and uncle) picked him up early this morning and treated him to a special birthday breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. Then it was off to have our annual birthday portrait made...I don't think this child can take a bad picture. And next we headed down to Monkey Joe's for some jumping fun! Here are some pics..what I could get, anyway ;)

Luke was happy to just hang out in this truck...until I put quarters in it and it started moving, that is...then came tears.

A blue Icee to cool down

Check out the redness of the face

This video pretty much sums up each of the boys feelings regarding Monkey Joe's

Tuckered out on the ride home :)

We ended the day with Jackson's favorite meal (spaghetti) and a Family Movie Night. We laid out our sleeping bags, turned out all the lights, cozied up by the Christmas tree with our popcorn and M&Ms, and watched the magic of The Polar Express with our self-professed "train guy". What a special day...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKSON!!!

All Aboard!

We're back! November was a rough month for us...to say the least. So, taking a blogging hiatus was much needed for survival around here. But now we are healthy, somewhat sane, and hopefully back to more frequent updates :)
On Sunday, we celebrated Jackson's 4th birthday (which is on the 22nd) with a Thomas the Train party. As you know, I love to plan and throw a party with a theme. Our plans were a little shaken due to the nasty weather on Sunday, but we just moved everything indoors and ended up having a great time anyway. Brad's parents were nice enough to take the boys for the weekend so Brad and I could work hard transforming the house into a train wonderland. I made some giant trains out of cardboard boxes to hold the presents, and we used all the electrical tape in Macon to make tracks down the driveway (ruined b/c of the rain) and all through the house to the different stations...tattoos, cookie decorating, face painting (attempted by mommy), and the jumpy thing (which, thankfully, fits inside the garage). We had trains and tracks set up everywhere for decoration, and I think a good time was had by all. Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate this special little boy! Here are some pictures...

If you made it to the end, the new picture in the header is our Christmas card (thank you, Natalie)...which will hopefully go out this week :) I lost all of my CC addressess when our computer died this summer...so if you were on the list, or weren't and want to be...please give me your address :)

*This does not apply to family or to those that have already sent us a card :)

for now...

not too much to blog about right now

not at all due to a lack of things going on in our busy livestrying to slow downtrying to take breathstrying not to become overwhelmed, as i so easily dotrying to enjoy the moments as they happen, and savor them while they do...each and every little mundane momenttrying to look to the future, without losing the presentso i may be absent for a whilefor now...there's this
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Funny cat

Alfie is such a funny cat. He loves to snuggle, loves to watch squirrels from the deck, loves to blow air from his nose inside your ear...I could go on and on. He is just a lovey, special little kitty. He likes to sleep in the sink...
His favorite toy is a furry octopus thing...

And he LOVES to play fetch :)

Halloween fun

I wish my children were more into the pumpkin carving thing. I think after this year, Brad and I have made the decision that next year we're just going to carve the pumpkins when they go to bed :) They LOVE picking them out...but carving, digging out the seeds, etc., they could care less. So basically they just become an obstacle to Brad and I carving the pumpkins. They ran around, yelled...Luke kept throwing pumpkins like it was the shot put, we got buzzed by bikes as they went whizzing by...meanwhile we're dealing with knives here, people! So, here's what we ended up with...

Jackson's, MommyDaddy's, Luke's

Yes, the nose on Jackson's is a little large. But when your carving table gets rammed at full speed repeatedly by a 3 year-old on a big wheel, you do the best you can :)Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story
We live on a dead end street, so the extent of trick or treating in the neighborhood was to walk down to Mrs. June and Mr. Darrel's house...our Macon grandparents :)

Waiting...

Luke wanted immediate gratification
Then, as the rain started down, we got in the car and headed over to Ridge Ave, which is THE place for trick-or-treating in Macon.
In true Jackson fashion, he was overly excited about each and every piece of candy he received :)
Trying to stay dry...
Jackson chatting it up with another Buzz Lightyear...and Luke trying to score himself a princess (who is waaaayyy too old for you, young man)
The aftermath...

Apparently it tastes better when you let it drip out of your mouth and then suck it off of your arm