Thoughts from Jackson

Preface: Jackson loves all things geography...maps, globes, facts, state capitals, etc. For Christmas he received this electronic touch and learn map that teaches you all sorts of things about the states. We keep it in the car, and he just fills his little head with facts as we travel down the road (which we do often).
This conversation took place on Christmas day as we were headed from one celebration to the next.

Jackson: "Uh oh. Mommy and Daddy?"
M&D: "Yes. What's wrong?"
Jackson: "We better be careful when we move to Nashville."
M&D: "Why's that?"
Jackson: "Because there are smoky mountains in Tennessee."
M&D: (chuckling to ourselves) "Ok. Why would we need to be careful?"
Jackson: "Because smoke is not good for you."

He just kills me with his cuteness sometimes :)

Happy Birthday Jackson!

My baby turned 5 today! There are two things that are making me feel old lately...1) When people see that I am pregnant, ask, "Is this your first?", and I reply with, "No, my 3rd." (Yikes)

and 2) I have a 5 year old.

Am I really old enough to be a mother of 3 and have a 5 year old? I guess so :) We celebrated today as a family, but had his party this past weekend. I'm not really sure where he came up with this, but Jackson was determined to have a bowling party at the bowling alley. Has he ever even been to a bowling alley? No. So, where he got the idea is beyond me. But, I must say...it turned out to be one of the best parties. I was a little leary of having to relinquish my party planning (since the bowling alley allows you to bring cake and ice cream, and that's about it)...but, I also realized that at this point in my life and pregnancy, I didn't really need to take on one more thing. But don't worry...it didn't stop me from getting a little creative with the theme ;)

My favorite part?....making bowling jerseys for all his little party guests :) ...back of the jersey

The cake...made out of cupcakes.

Jackson thinks it is so cool that he has his very own bowling pin now.

Party favors

Heavy ball!

My little guys

Putting on his bowling shoes...too cute!

My little bowler

I think Luke thought it was his party...he LOVED bowling!

Jackson and his 2 best buddies

Enjoying some pizza

Only my little 5 year old would ask for a globe for his birthday. He was so proud :)

A group shot of "Jackson's Pin Pals"
This video cracks me up. It is a very accurate representation of what happened any time someone was up to bowl....the entire team ventured out with the bowler to cheer him or her on. It was hysterical.

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us!

Happy 5th Birthday, Jackson!

You are one special little (big) boy :)

*I'm not sure why there are 2 copies of the video...but I fear that deleting one will make them both go away and I am way too tired to wait for it to upload again :)

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Luke's 1st UGA game

Luke got to go to this first UGA game this season...a big milestone for any Dennis child. In Dennis family tradition (dating back to Daddy's first game) everyone gets a cake to commemorate the special occasion. What a cutie!
Even though it was FREEZING, we enjoyed lots of football...
...and cornhole.

Jackson was ready to cheer on the Dawgs.
The boys best friend, Catch, came by to tailgate with us
They had a blast playing football, and an impromtu game of ring around the rosie :)

Sporting some eye black (or red)
Chief and Kikye with their boys.
Cute little bulldog :)

Best buds
"Ok, Dad. I'm ready for you to carry me down the hill to the stadium. Can you see ok?"
That's better. (What a handsome husband I have!)
Jackson and his Chief. Why does my 4 year old look like he's 8? Maybe it's the #....
The fam.

Luke wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be looking at.
"Wrong way, Luke"
Keep trying...

(doesn't he look like Wall E in this pic?)
There you go!
Had to see Hairy Dawg
Enjoying a sucker in front of the hedges.

Two tired and cold boys back at the tailgate watching a movie.
We had such a great time! Can't believe the next time we'll be doing this, it will be for a little girl in a UGA cheerleading outfit :)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Halloween Week Fun!

We had such a busy Halloween this year. And the kids had a blast! The boys (along with some suggestion help by Mommy) decided they wanted to be Tom & Jerry this year for Halloween. They LOVE Tom & Jerry...in fact, a little too much. That show is quite violent, and we have since had to eliminate it from our viewing schedule as the boys have all but tried to hit each other over the head with frying pans, if you know what I mean. But, we had decided on the costumes long ago, and stuck with them. I was not pleased with the store bought costumes I was finding, so I decided to make them. My mom made our costumes every year, so I figured I better start living up to her standards ;) I was quite pleased with how they turned out...

Last year, all the girls in my bible study had a group portrait made of our kids in their costumes. It was crazy, fun, and turned out cute, so we decided to give it a shot again this year. If only you could see video footage of what all it took to finally get this shot. Hilarious. But I think having all 16 kids looking in the general direction of the camera is pretty impressiveOn Friday, Jackson's class dressed up as their favorite "letter person". Jackson chose to go as Mr. B, Beautiful Buttons. He was very proud of the shirt he helped me make :) My cute little Tom & Jerry They LOVED their little skeleton flashlights that Chief and Kikye got them.
Our annual first stop...Mrs. June and Mr. Darrell's house next door. Look at those cute little tails!On Sunday, we went to the Trunk or Treat/Fall Festival at the boys' school. It was great! Jackson experienced spin art for the first time, and quickly added it to his Birthday/Christmas list :)

*that does NOT mean that everyone should get that for him...it's already been claimed :)
The highlight was probably getting to ride the mini Thomas train around the parking lot.
Doesn't Tom look happy?

They had to have a snow cone after all that jumping in the bouncy.
A little video with clips from the week's activities

We are taking the boys to the UGA game this Saturday. It's a big day, because this is Luke's first game. So check back next week!

(to see Jackson's first game, click here)

Busy, busy, busy

Time to play catch up! We've been quite busy, so I thought I would just post a quick re-cap with some pictures so that I don't get behind. Here's what we've been up to the past few weeks.

We spent our annual "Day out with Thomas", which is always a big hit for my Junior Engineers. Thanks Chief and Kikye for treating us to a day of fun!

Pumpkin time! (We finally wised up and decided to spare ourselves from the self-inflicted torture of trying to obtain a decent picture at the pumpkin patch)

My little boy who does NOT like to get messy. One time in the goop, and he was done.

Carving with Daddy...a surgeon in the making :)

The boys wanted a train carving...shocking, I know.

Our annual Halloween cookie baking extravaganza! Makes a HUGE mess...but our Halloween tradition, and so fun to bake with my little boy. (And if you're worrying about Luke being left out...he gets to join in next year :))

A little sneak peak at our Halloween costumes :) And you're missing the best part (the tails), so be sure to check back after Halloween :)

And now for an update on our little girl. I'm not sure who is more excited about her arrival...Brad and I, or the boys. She's still in the womb, and this little girl is doted on, shopped for, and talked about more than any of us who are actually living in this house. So last week, when we hit the 100 days away mark, Jackson and I decided to make a chain to countdown her arrival. Jackson is very big on time and how much longer we have to wait for things, so we are often making chains, countdown calendars, etc. I let him pick the colors, he helped me cut all the strips, tape them together, and voila....

And every morning, Jackson can hardly wait to tear off a ring, mark through the old number and replace it with one less.

It makes us all exctied.

And it makes Mommy think of her long to do list, and become nervous. I am so ready to meet this precious daughter of mine...to see what color her hair and eyes will be, who in our family she will look like, dress her in all the precious clothes I have found for her.

But practically, are we ready? No. There is still so much to do, and so much to get before her arrival. And I know there are still 3 more months, but those 3 months are already filled with lots of other 'to dos', and thinking about how I'm going to fit them all in makes me anxious. But it will get done.

And I will enjoy every minute of it :)