Our Little Celebrity

Jackson was in the newspaper today! http://www.news-journal.com/featr/content/features/stories/2009/05/26/05262009_pythias_bikes.html

Simple prayers...

"Dear Lord,
Thank you for this day. Please let Pawpaw feel better. Thank you for Mommy & Daddy. Let's have another great day tomorrow!
Amen. "

from his precious lips to God's ever-hearing all-knowing ears

Where's Waldo?

Jackson is a HUGE Waldo fan. I love that he can sit for long periods of time, entertained simply by the mission of finding one goofy guy among millions of distractions. He gets so tickled by some of the things in the pictures, and he has an admirable sense of pride when he is able to solve a particularly difficult page. The point to telling you all of this is: I want to give him a "Waldo" birthday party in May! He'll really think it's cool and I will be able to avoid a super-hero theme party for at least one more year. WIN- WIN! Birthdays are a big deal at our house, and I want the party to be fabulous! I would love to hear any cute, original ideas you might have to help me pull this off. Put on your red & white thinking caps and let me hear what you've got! (THANKS IN ADVANCE).

Yummy recipes to recommend

I've been going through a bit of a cooking spell (this happens rarely and doesn't last long). I have tried a couple of new things that I feel I have a moral obligation to share... they are THAT good. Last night, I made Bacon Cheese Chicken with Garlic Cream Sauce that I found on the Sunday Baker's blog. Click here to see the recipe and photos that will make you get in your car and head to the store for the ingredients. Honestly, I want to make this sauce to go with everything I cook from now on. Delicious!

I served the chicken with linguine and Paula Deen's roasted baby carrots. We never eat carrots, but I wanted to try something different. Jon and I both enjoyed the change. I found the carrot recipe in this cookbook. I've had the book for awhile, but never made anything out of it...UNTIL... a friend talked me into making the Lemon Blossoms. They are my new favorite dessert! Tart and sweet...yum!!

Ok, now that that's out of the way, I've gotta go pop a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner tonight.

Sorry I'm late...

Well, I did it again... When I get out of blogging mode, it's really hard for me to get going again. I have lots of Christmas pictures to post, so here goes nothing...



We had a wonderful Christmas. We got to see many family members and spend time with friends.

I decided not to put up both trees this year, but I made a few decorative changes to our main tree.

I put extra effort into my giftwrap this year (with a bit of help from Jon).

Jackson can never have a relaxed smile in a posed photo. What a cheese ball!

Jon's gingerbread creation won second place in the annual contest.

Jackson assisted in making a variation of last year's Rudolph cookies for his class party.


On Christmas Eve, Jackson (finally) fell asleep using his favorite new stuffed penguin from Papa Mitch and Mama Lane as a pillow.

Santa brought him exactly what he asked for!!

I love this picture of Jon, Jackson and Drew trying to figure out all of Jackson's new Transformers.

Jackson giving Drew lessons on the new DS.

Jackson's very own PILE of gifts at Neane and Big Daddy's house.

It seems like we are still catching up from the holidays. Things are busy as usual around here. Jackson still has not finished all of his thank-you notes. (I really wish I had made him finish before school started back! It's a long slow process with him). Jon's band has been playing once or twice a month, and business is good for him at work. I've been working one or two days most weeks for a little change of pace.

Jon's grandfather has been very sick in the hospital since last Thursday. We finally got a good report today, and he seems to be on his way back. Praise God!

Jon was able to do some duck hunting in Arkansas with friends this weekend. I entertained my friend, April and her daughter Sarabeth while Jon was hunting. We had a lot of fun visiting and playing with the kids. I posted some pictures of Sarabeth on my photography blog.

I'm going to try to get back to picking up my camera and posting regularly. Stay tuned!

Honey DOES!

Amazing things happen at our house when Jon's honey do list includes electrical tasks.LET THERE BE PENDANT LIGHTS!

We found these lights for a great price at Lowe's and I knew they were perfect for our kitchen. With free labor, it turned out to be a big bang for our buck! You know I love a thrifty project. The finished result is just lovely, if I do say so. Jon likes to be technical, so he still plans to put the new lights on their own switch. Not sure when that will happen, since I'm not exactly a "paying" customer.

My husband rocks!

Happy December!!

A few years ago, we started a new Advent tradition in our family. I began collecting children's Christmas books and wrapping them like gifts on December 1st. Jackson gets to open one each night to read during the countdown to Christmas. He really looks forward to it, and gets so excited about some of the books he has forgotten about throughout the year. This year, he even picked out the wrapping paper at the store, although I'm still shocked that he chose shiny red and gold over a colorful and playful Santa print. This "new" tradition of ours really helps to get us in the spirit!

P.S. In the beginning, I didn't have enough books to last the entire Advent season. I wrapped the ten or so books that I had, then re-wrapped the favorites after they were read the first time.

Playing Catch-up

Well, I knew it wouldn't take long before I started procrastinating on the blog again. It's been a busy couple of weeks, but I'm ready to catch up now.



We had a great Thanksgiving with famiy and friends. Our camping trip was cancelled due to wet weather, but it all worked out nicely. It's nice to get back into the "routine" after a long holiday weekend!

I'm planning to post more tidbits throughout this week, then get back on a regular blog-posting schedule.

I've posted new family portraits for my BFF, Shannon here. I have two more photo shoots scheduled for this week, too!

A week without pictures

It was a busy week in our lives. I didn't get the camera out at all, unfortunately.

Jon and I have been battling cold-like symptoms.

I worked two jobs Tuesday & Wednesday.

Had an election night get-together. I misplaced my usual recipe, so I made this baked potato soup, which turned out very yummy.

Procrastinating the painting of my bedroom and the organizing of my closet...Maybe this week?

Bought Jackson's main Christmas present.

Jon's band rehearsed on Thursday evening while I started packing for the weekend.

Have been praying a lot for close friends and my uncle Roger, all in various stages of cancer.

Had a wonderful weekend with friends on a camping/ hunting trip.

Brushing up on my knitting after almost a year without practice- love to knit in the cold weather months!

Jackson got a flu shot today. Jon made chicken fried deer steak for dinner. We spent the evening watching Kung Fu Panda together.

The week that lasted a month...

So, last week was a seriously long one! Started out with Jackson staying awake most of Sunday night. He stayed home from school on Monday due to lack of sleep. We stayed in our pj's all day long. He rested and played on the computer.

Jon and I refinished our soon-to-be, new hand-me-down KING sized bed on Tuesday. It was my first time applying wood stain and I loved it. Can't wait to find something else to stain! (I'll post a picture when we get it all put together).

Jackson continued to have trouble staying asleep throughout the week. On Thursday, I called the doctor out of sleep-deprived desperation. The things I was worried about were all ruled out, and we came to the conclusion that Jackson is freakishly scared of a Goosebumps character he saw on a television commercial. We came up with a special prayer that he now says everynight, asking God to make sure Grandpa Chuck and Mammaw will watch over him while he sleeps. He has done MUCH better- still waking once or twice, but going back to sleep. Thank you Mammaw & Grandpa Chuck!!!

On Friday, I went with Jackson on the first grade field trip to the zoo. (I won't be posting photos of the kids since the school name is on the shirts & I don't have the other parents' permission). It was a wonderful day to visit our fine zoo.

Can you believe the color? I had to stop and take a deep breath.

After the zoo, Jack and I both napped for awhile. When daddy got home, it was pumpkin carving time.

Then we all got into costume for a ride around the neighborhood in our brand-new toy with good friends.

Jackson aka"Ironman" had a blast trick-or-treating his way around the neighborhood and over to his grandmother's house, where we spent the rest of the evening eating chili dogs and treats.

Saturday was the last of the fall festivals and an evening with friends. Sunday was church, mexican food, and football.

Here's to another great week and a little more sleep!

Edited to add: I almost forgot this week's favorite project! I had an OLD flea market cabinet holding my cookbooks in a corner of my dining area. It was great in my old house, but never quite worked for me here. So, I took this Target bookcase out of my craft/music/game room and accessorized it. I love the result- especially my transplanted parsley that is actually really enjoying being indoors. Gotta love a free project!

brain exercise

I know there's nothing I can do about the diminishing state of my brain cells, but I decided to start working crosswords to make myself feel smarter. I am really, really bad at them, but I'm determined to conquer! In my quest, I found these highly addictive little games. My gift to you:

quick-cross & up&down words

Enjoy!

A Week in the Life

Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, people are always asking me how I spend my days. I'm going to document my time here in a weekly post complete with pictures. I got the idea here. I'm going to leave out the lazy, unproductive stuff, but you can figure in several hours of mindless tivo catching up from my comfy side of the bed.

Jon's been super busy at work. I think he needs a vacation.

Jackson's doing well in school. He's finally getting the hang of spelling tests, I think. His daily homework takes about 30 to 45 minutes- depending on how focused he is. We found a new motivational tool for him this week when Jon broke down and bought him his first set of Pokemon cards. I was really hoping we could somehow miraculously skip that strange rite of passage. No luck. He loves them.

Made polka dot pumpkins to finish off my Halloween decor. Got the idea here. I don't want to fool anyone into thinking that I have any fabulous original ideas or anything:-).

Moved my ferns into the house and replanted my urns. Jon and I also did a lot of work in the front flower beds.

Still have pansies to plant & I should really paint those faded shutters. I love fall!

Hung some fabulous new artwork.

Cooked two nights this week- spaghetti & meat loaf. Had lots of leftovers.

Spent $580 at the dentist on Monday.

Worked a contract job on Tuesday & took Jackson to a musical- Planet Funk.

Wished my mom a happy 52nd birthday on Thursday. Had lunch at a fabulous chinese bistro I've never been to.

Went to a costume party on Saturday. I have decided not to post those pictures. They are much too scary.


Posted on my blog for the first time in four months. What a week!

Jackson quote

Before I forget, I have to share my new favorite Jackson quote (said while I was cleaning his ears with a q-tip): "Man, I wish I had another ear cause this feels great!".

Time flies when you're having fun!

Wow! It's fall and I haven't blogged all summer. I'm sure the three people who used to read have stopped checking in by now. We had a fun-filled summer and have had a great start to the school year. I plan to post a bunch of photos soon. I also have something else up my sleeve... if there's anyone out there... stay tuned!

For a fun time...

Sons of the Republic is playing at Bennie's Bar in Longview this Saturday at 9:00.

Summer School

We're into our second week of summer break here. Before the school year ended, I had such awesome plans for Jackson's "educational" summer. We were going to:

1. Work on phonics and reading
2. Polish up addition skills and move on to subtraction
3. Improve writing skills
4. Make frequent trips to the library
5. Limit video game and tv time

So far, this is what Jackson has learned:

1. how to breathe through a scuba regulator
2. that he loves to skinny dip
3. it's much more fun to be thrown or pushed down the slip n slide than to do the work yourself
4. nothing fun happens in this house before 10am

He has done one math worksheet, which he aced. I'm not giving up, but I need to get a move on!

Look on the bright side...

I've been messing around with the blog. I'm trying to make it a place that I will be motivated to come often. I put some thought into the title...didn't want anything too generic or goofy. I came up with this one because I think it pretty much sums up my attitude about most things in life. It will remind me to be optimistic, and maybe it will work for you too.

P.S. I'm trying to teach myself how to make a new {photo} header for the blog in PSE. If anyone out there has any pointers, I would be deeply grateful!

China Part 2

So, we're in the car today running errands when we had this quotable conversation:

jackson: ya know what? (I hear this about 253 times a day)
me: what Jack? (I say this about 253 times a day)
jackson: Ironman has rocket boots
me: cool
jackson: yeah, really cool
me: I think I would like a pair of rocket boots
jackson: me too! I'd fly straight to New York City and get a big New York pizza! Then I'd fly to China and get a Chinese dinner for you and dad
me: VERY COOL!

NOTE: this ended up being a very long (mostly one-sided) conversation in which Jackson tried to decide if it would be possible for him and his dad to build a pair of rocket boots

Trip to China

Jackson is constantly suprising me by some of the things he says. I thought it would be amusing to you too:

jackson- "mommy, I want to go to China"
me- "really? me too!"
jackson- "yeah, but I don't like their food"... "or their english"

I rated this one as his "quote of the week". Right above the one where he yells (at a church swim party in front of our pastor, several kids & their parents), "Mom, can I go skinny diving again?"

Kindergarten Graduate

We're enjoying our first official Summer Monday. Jackson is so happy that school's out, which suprised me a bit. He loved Kindergarten and never once complained about going to school. He had perfect attendance the entire school year.

Today dad took us to lunch and we spent most of the afternoon being lazy. Tonight's movie night. Dad & Jack are going to see Iron Man while mom and the girlfriends check out Sex in the City! Now that the pace has slowed considerably around here, I'm going to make an effort to keep this thing updated.