Box Tops

Our school collects Box Tops (the pink 'tickets' on many things) and receives money to purchase items for the school. We've been able to purchase computers and other much-needed items for our kids. If you aren't already clipping them for others, I would gladly take any you have. They're on ziploc, betty crocker, general mills cereal, yogurts and juices, kleenex, toilet paper, etc. Thanks!

"Sure did!"

Shane is taking classes 2 nights a week now so I have more time in the car with Jackson than usual. I was asking him the other day how his day was, what he did, learned, etc. I looked back and he was laughing. I asked him what was funny. He said "I tooted! 1 tooted, 2 tooted, 3 tooted" as he counted on his fingers. I said "You tooted?" and he said "I sure did!" I laughed so hard. He now says that for everything. I sure did and I sure do are his new favorite sayings. It's so funny.

Day at the Zoo

We got to spend an awesome day at the zoo as a family over break. We have a membership and go several times a year, but this one was the most fun so far. Jackson had such a blast feeding the ducks, saw more animals than he's seen in one trip before, and the weather was perfect. Radio Disney was there too so he climbed a pile of snow and got to throw some. He wasn't that fond of it-he doesn't get to see it often enough.

Love this age!

I'm absolutely loving the age Jackson is at (2 months and he'll be 3). I never thought I'd say that after listening to many people talk about the terrible 2's. It's not all perfect, but I love everything that Jackson is learning. I'm amazed that he can completely spell and recognize his name, LOVES TO COUNT, and wants to do everything himself.

Last night after church, I asked Jackson what he did at church. He told me "God fixed the eyes". I thought that he was talking about his eyes being fixed since he's been getting a lot in his eyes recently for some reason. When we got home, I saw his paper from class about God healing the blind man's eyes and it all made sense. Just as Theresa shared, it's encouraging how our church is ministering to our son. Our time with him is limited and precious and I'm grateful for all the teachers who have shown such patience and are teaching him about God's love for us.

Shane usually takes him to the sitter each morning because I have to be at work earlier. This morning, I actually had the chance to take him myself and it was a blast. He was in the back seat sining into a purple sand bucket and laughing the whole way. We prayed for his day, our sitter, and the other kids and it was awesome. I love watching him pray. He kept telling me to close my eyes (but obviously I couldn't do that while driving).

One last thing, Jackson loves collecting change and putting it in his bank. He found $1 in my purse and I told him he could put it in his bank. He cried because he did NOT want that in there. Only coins should be there. I wish change was all I still needed!

Christmas

Christmas was so fun this year for our family in that it was the first one in our own house and Jackson had a better understanding of what was going on. We didn't travel for the first time in several years, which ended up being nice considering the weather our country was experiencing. It was special because Shane's parents and grandmother were able to join us. She has never been here before so it was really great to show her what life is like here for us. Even though none of my family members were here in person, I got to see them all on Christmas day with our webcam. I talked to NY (my parents, grandparents, and sister & family), Alabama (my brother and new fiance), and Alaska (my sister & family). It was awesome to 'see' them all. Jackson loved seeing all his cousins and other grandparents.

Jackson knew how to open presents this year, but it took an incredibly long time. Everything he opened he wanted to play with and wasn't interested in opening something else. We finally got through it and he was on stimulus overload. :)

According to Jackson, every Christmas tree should have a star on the top and he loved lighting ours up every day. He knew it was Jesus' birthday we were celebrating, but it threw him off when we told him it was also Grandpa's birthday. That was hard to understand. I'm looking forward to each future Christmas and his growing understanding of the reasons for the celebration.

I know there are a lot of pictures but we had a lot of fun over our break!

January 2, 2009

I finally have a blog! I love reading everyone else's and hearing the awesome things that are going on in my friends' lives so I decided to finally start my own. I thought it'd be fitting to begin with the new year so here we are. I'm so excited to see what God will do in our family this year. Jackson is getting so big! He can spell his name, loves to sing the ABC's, count, and best of all, pray. Twice this week while being disciplined or going down for a nap, I didn't pray and he cried until we did. I'm grateful for his reminders and appreciate God using the scriptures and teachings we use with Jackson to convict my own heart. Every time I say "All the way, right away, and with a happy heart" to him, I know I should be saying the same thing to myself.

New Year's Eve was really fun. We hung out at our friends' house and we all made it until 12:00. At 12:01, a switch went on and Jackson broke down. We've been trying to catch up on sleep since that point. We tried taking pictures of our family, and as you can see, never were able to get both boys with eyes open and smiling! Oh well.