Daddy's BIG day

Mike turned the big 4-0 on the 18th.  On the 17th, also St Patricks Day, I threw him a party at a local park to celebrate.  It was a beautiful, fun day to celebrate such an awesome man!  Of course, I am horrible at taking pictures so I only captured a few... and none with the birthday boy.  Trust me, he was there and he was celebrated!  :)  I was a bit preoccupied greeting the friends that floated in and checking on Jackson, who was really sick that day. 

Happy Birthday, Mike!!  Love you so much!

Made all 90 of those cupcake toppers!

You can't see from this angle, but I made these mason jars filled with "dirt" (crushed oreos) for some centerpieces.  A little ribbing never hurt anyone. 

Hannah's first haircut

Two months shy of her third birthday, I finally took Hannah to get her first haircut.  It took a year before the hair ever grew... and then I was sad to cut off those cute little curls on the end.  But the time had come...

I took her to Snip Its.  It was the ONLY place that Jackson would tolerate when he was a toddler.  I was not sure how she would do - but there should not have been any worry.  Who wouldn't love it... toys galore in the waiting area, Movies, books, lollipops, prizes, animal crackers, balloons...  And, I discovered for girls they will even do little braids and bows.  Hannah LOVED every minute and can't wait to go back.  She was beaming the entire time her hair was getting cut.  So girly!

"Ta Da!!"

Can you find me?

We went to Kid's Night at one of the new mexican restaurants in town, where they offered face painting.  Most kids picked a small picture on thier cheek or hand.  Not my boy.  He saw this picture on the face paint box and picked this one.  15 minutes later we had this...

The One and Only

Jackson got his wish... snow.  It wasn't a lot at all, but it was enough for a few good sled runs, snowball fight and a pitiful snowman with "neighbor" (aka Jen) all before school that morning (we had a 2 hour delay).  This was the one and only snowfall we had this winter.

Today at the doctors...

Dr:  Jackson, we have to give you a booster shot today.
Jackson:  That's ok.  I'm brave and they don't scare me.
Dr:  Mmmm.  I thought so.  Ok, pick your biggest, strongest arm for the shot.
Jackson:  Uh... well, they are both REALLY strong. 

....and upon getting the shot he did not wince, complain, flinch, cry or anything.

Nurse:  Wow.  You are really one of the bravest kids I have seen about getting shots.
Jackson:  Well, if you cry like a baby when you get shots - that just means that the shot will whip ya.
Nurse:  oh.  I see.
Me:  (laughing)
Oh, he cracks me up.  Super proud of my courageous son.  Ain't no shot gonna whip my boy!

Lego Party

I wasn’t a bit surprised when Jackson decided he wanted his birthday party to be Lego themed.  Legos are by far his favorite past time.  We were able to come up with some fun Lego-themed games and activities that worked great these 6-7 year old boys!  (Thank you, dear internet, for a wealth of ideas!)

The house was covered in every nook with Jackson’s own lego creations as a decoration.  I made a HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign with lego font.  Everything was red, yellow and blue.

Activities included:  Guess how many legos are in the vase, lego Pictionary (they had to build what was on a card and everyone got try to guess what it was), a lego relay, building their own lego racer and seeing whose would go the furthest and who can build the tallest tower in 90 seconds.  Lego Heaven!

The party favors were the little lego man boxes with the Racers inside.  They were a big hit.

This was my first attempt at a fondant cake… don’t look too closely! But, to Jackson and the boys it was perfect and that is all that mattered. (Oreos made the little lego knob tops). Jackson chose all the lego men to go on top and hold the candles.

Lego Racers getting ready to race

It was such a fun day!!

Christmas celebrating in Tennessee

Family.  That word means more to me this year than ever.  It's been a hard autumn and winter so far for our family... 3 cancer diagnoses in 2 weeks time... Loss of a friend.  Not the fun, fluffy stuff usually highlighted on this blog.  But, God's hand has never been felt more strongly.  He is so good.  And we cling to Him even harder through it all.

I COULD NOT WAIT to get to Tennessee this year and see my family.  The time together was wonderful and much too short!  Great food, fun presents, good conversations and the cousins laughing and playing together.  Hannah was enthralled with her cousin Elle and followed her around everywhere.

my beautiful mom and me

Jackson and cousin Elle

Sweet Emerson!

Tyson, Amanda, Mike, myself, Jackson, Hannah, Elle and Emerson went to the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge.  It was fun to show Jackson some of the history of the Manhattan Project and how both of my grandfathers (his great grandfathers) worked for labs that produced the Atomic Bombs.  Jackson and Elle really enjoyed the hands-on science stuff.  But the highlight was this "hair raising show".  Elle was first in the crowd to volunteer to touch the machine (Van de Graaff generator), and Hannah followed right after.  Amanda and Emerson did not have such an enjoyable experience as they both got a little shocked.  Fun memories... Tyson and I did this with our cousins many, many years ago.

the bearded brother at Big Ed's Pizzeria, our favorite

Hooray for more presents.  Aunt Kaye knows how to spoil them rotten!

Emerson cracked us up!  She climbed into this box and posed like a doll.  She didn't want to come out!

The clan

Hannah didn't take her eyes off of Elle... can you see a pattern?

Christmas day 2011

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, which makes for some hectic times for a pastor's family. We enjoyed a little time together early before church as a family. First up was the reading of Scripture on the birth of our Savior. I won't lie... the kids didn't pay much attention. It was early and they were crazy excited. But, it sets a tone and a reminder for why we celebrate. We had many activities and lessons in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The first present openned was the Jesus figurine from their nativity set. They placed it in the manger and Hannah said, "Jesus is born!".

reading from Luke 2 (shirt courtesy of our neice Jenny!)

Then it was on to a few presents and stockings...

don't let the sleepy bed-head fool ya... he's one happy boy with some new ninjago, beyblade, imaginext, etc.

Hannah's new princess dress up set

After a few presents and yummy Orange french toast and sausage breakfast, we headed to church. First time in ages all four of us rode together since Daddy usually leaves very early to prep.

on the infamous train at church

Jack and cousin Ethan

Cousin mug shot

Granddaddy and Hannah

Love this picture of my Christmas angels!

GrandDee and Hannah

Later that afternoon, we went to Grandmother's for some celebrating with her, Matt's family and Karen's family.

Grandmother and Hannah in their matching red and white.

Super excited about a Hero Factory figure!

Following that gathering we came home, rested a little and then packed for our big trip to Tennessee. It was a wonderful Christmas day!

Birthday morning

For Jackson's 7th Birthday he requested Monkey Bread (with candles) for breakfast and instead of cake he asked for Chocolate Chess Pie with "Happy Birthday" written in green icing. Love that boy! :)

For the usual tradition we had a small family gathering that morning to celebrate him before more family gatherings that evening to celebrate Christmas. I am often asked if he minds having a birthday so close to Christmas, and I can honestly say at this point he doesn't seem to mind one bit! The presents just seems to keep coming with every family member we see for weeks. Who wouldn't love that?