Its been awhile...

... which is SO not like me! But since we bought our new blackberry's (which you couldn't beat the buy one get one free deal at verizon!) I haven't been sitting at the computer as much (which is a good thing?!?!?!). We have been our usual busy selves right now, but I am thinking that is never going to change. I guess I should back track a bit....
For Easter I had to sing at all 3 services at church so it was a very busy morning. Then we headed up to Conroe to see the family and have a casual lunch and Easter egg hunt with all the boy cousins. YES...all the cousins after myself and my eldest cousin Kandace are boys...totaling in 8 boys under the age of 20!!! (Do you think we need some pink??). Jackson LOVED finding eggs this year, he was able to do 3 egg hunts so you can imagine the load of unnecessary candy we had at our house. My mom also moved back from Norway for good during this time which was exciting.




The weekend after Easter was spent at car dealerships looking for a new family car. NO we are not having a baby yet but we are thinking for the future. With Rick not needing a truck anymore for work and with the amazing deals out there right now we felt it was a good time. My requirements were leather, blue tooth and key less access....so we got a Ford Edge! God's blessings continue to pour out for us and we feel so fortunate! We love our new car!!
The last weekend in April was filled with a garage sale (yes, I feel like we have become the garage sale junkies) and 2 birthday parties. Also, 3 friends gave birth to babies this last week!! Its for sure babyville around here!!
This week has been a little less eventful (minus the dinner for 50 at church while we watched the movie Fire Proof which was AMAZING), Jackson's allergies are in full ROAR right now which caused him to have a nasty cough this last week and with all this swine flu craziness going around we have decided to lay low. I don't personally think that it would kill us or anything crazy like that but I DO NOT want to even get the flu around here!!!! I hope April was great for each of you and I hope that you all celebrated the rejoicing day of Our Risen Savior, who died for us so that we can live!!

Where does time go.....

.... I feel like my days are zipping past me so fast lately. Not to say that we live this extremely exciting life or anything but there seems to be something on the calendar every day. Some days I feel as if I don't even stop to take a breath, why is that? Is it necessary? Yesterday, I was talking with my mom on the web cam and Jackson fell asleep during our conversation so I took a picture of us before I put him in his crib....

.....there will be a day that Jackson will no longer fall asleep in my arms, let alone fit in my arms comfortably (he almost doesn't already). Its moments like this though that make me stop and think, what's the rush? Why don't we stop and enjoy every minute of our God given lives? We are often all so much in the fast lane that we forget to embrace the little moments that really count. Jackson, before we know it, will be a grown man married with a family of his own. It will be an exciting time of life, I pray that God will allow me to witness it! But right now I am going to embrace these little moments in life. I also pray that each of you will take five minutes out of your day to stop and take a breath.

Future Chef??

... probably not but Jackson sure does love to "help" out in the kitchen when mommy cooks. He actually is a good listener so helping out doesn't usually end in a disaster! We had a playgroup pizza making party which was a perfect day for Jackson! The little kits for the pizza's from a local restaurant came with dough, cheese, sauce, 2 toppings of your choice (we picked pepperoni and artichokes) and a cute wooden rolling pin all for $6 dollars!!! The pizza was big enough to feed Jackson and I with a slice left over.

stretching the dough

adding the cheese

adding the toppings

I will throw anything...

....and by anything I mean ANYTHING!! You have heard 16,000 times that Jackson LOVES to play ball. If there is not an actual "ball" in sight...he will make do with something similar. When we are outside without any balls he ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS runs to our neighbors lawn (Drew and Kim, who love Jackson dearly) and pick the berries off one of their bushes and throw them as far as he can. He would do this for hours if he could. On this day I got some great shots with my new camera of him throwing his "balls".... Make shift balls!


Nice Throw!



I got you!

When your child is quiet...

... it can mean an array of things.

1) the most wonderful is, the blissful quietness of a sleeping baby
2) you've got a child that loves to read books by themselves
3) the curiosity of a child leads them to do things they know they shouldn't

Now, I have experienced all three of these, but on this day of course it had to be the last. I hadn't heard a peep from Jackson in roughly 5 minutes. So I searched the house up and down calling his name....no answers. Now Jackson has this new thing where he will hide but when you call his name he says "I hiding". On this day I didn't even get an "I hiding" response. SO, the not so cool calm and collected side of me starts to panic. Are the doors locked...yes...are all the serious cabinets with dangerous stuff in them still closed.....yes. WHERE ON EARTH (or in this house) could my child be?!?!?!?! Then I heard something, something coming from a place I failed to look.... our linen closet!!! I open the door to find this....





















He's got vaseline in the closet with him...






















smearing it all over his face....
















.... who me?!?!?!

My Top 8 in 2008..

( I stole this idea from my friend Sam and I think I am going to make it a ritual!) In no particular order....

1. That Rick still has a job in the state of our economy (for those of you who don't know he is in residential home building).
2. Disney World trip
3. Jackson turning 2 (holy geez!)
4. My new camera
5. California trips
6. Getting an awesome part time job while Jackson is at school
7. Having the best family in the whole wide world!
8. Finding more friends in our area

Christmas...

I love the season of Christmas! I love the reason we celebrate, the smells, the decorations and yummy food! I get so sad when its time to take down all the decorations and my house looks naked!
Of course we started off the Christmas festivities on Christmas eve by going to church. Then we went and had dinner at a local Chinese restaurant which was a tad different from our usual but thats perfectly okay! Christmas morning we woke up at 9am (or I should say we woke up when Jackson did) and ate a yummy breakfast my mom had prepared and then opened gifts. Jackson is at a great age for Christmas this year, although he still doesn't get the whole Santa thing but he will I am sure next year. Then we headed up to my cousin's house to have an early dinner and celebrate with my mom's side of the family. We played the game "rock band" for a good portion of the time which was a ton of fun. We were home by 7pm and were able to just relax and watch some Christmas movies.

I don't like that I live far from half of my family, but I especially don't like it around holidays. It makes me sad that I can't magically get everyone together to celebrate every holiday. You would think I would be used to it by now coming from a split family but I am just a sucker when it comes to trying to make a holiday a win win situation for all! I hope each of you had a joyous holiday with your family and celebrated the true meaning of Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!!