Pig SOOOOIIIEE, anyway.

Despite a heartbreaking loss, we are still proud of our Hogs!

A Lot In Common!

I know I'll be in big trouble for this when they get older...and honestly, I just don't care.  Who doesn't love a cute baby tooshy?  

Jackson - on left.  Ethan on right.  Both at 15 mos old.  Precious.

funny guy

jackson loves to have fun.  he loves to be silly.  and i love him. :)

 

Shh...don't tell daddy!

If you ask Jackson who his best friend is - he will 9 out of 10 times tell you "Holiday."  He loves our sweet neighbor Holiday - who is a year and 3 mos older than him... He's convinced that his best friend is "supposed" to be a girl.  Well, when playing with Holiday, we are obligated to try out her toys!  And in this case with Jackson - Holiday's big sister's roller skates!!!  And Ethan - well, doesn't he look so cute on a pink scooter!?

Thanksgiving Dinner

This year for Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to my aunt's house in Kingston.  We were there last year and it worked out so well with the kiddos, so I was glad we were there again!  Jackson was delighted to find his two favorite cousins - Brookelyn and Mason and loads of toys - including a Thomas.  :-)

 

Ethan was a little overwhelmed with the walls of death - I mean, mounted deers, bears and even a real Razorback.  :)  He actually did not want to be anywhere near them, but he did want to keep his eyes on them... and point. 

Ethan was excited to see his Mimi....

Lately, I've noticed Ethan developing quite a liking for my dad.  I find this perculiar since Jackson was quite the opposite until he got to be about 2 1/2 or so... My dad has a loud voice - but Ethan doesn't seem to mind at all.  He ran to my dad as soon as he walked in the room with his arms stretched out.  I almost shed a tear.. That's pretty special. 

This year we had a few additional members of our family join us!  Baby Hadley is our new addition this year - and he's 6 mos old now.  His grandpa (my uncle) is pretty proud!

 

My TWO grandmas were there! 

(My mom's mom - Betty on left and my dad's mom - Imajean on right.  Interesting tidbit - they are BOTH twins.)

 

While Mason and Jackson stirred up trouble...  Ethan was seeing what all he could get into!  At 16 mos old, this one can climb!

My Aunt Becky gave Jackson a bowl full of.... nothing else but... whipped cream.  Yep.  Jackson thought he was in Heaven.  Needless to say, he does NOT get this at home.  Oh well, it's Thanksgiving.  :) He was excited to show off his empty bowl.  Ha.

 

I wish I could've gotten a LOT more pictures of our family.  It seems I spend a lot of time behind the camera, which I love... but this Thanksgiving, I just wanted to visit.  So that's what I did.  We had 32-33 (we couldn't get the count right) family members at Thanksgiving dinner... and that's a lot to be thankful for!!

Laser Up!

On Sunday, we were invited to play outdoor laser tag to celebrate our friend Brandon's birthday!  Ryan and I are BIG laser tag fans - we play every chance we get!  This group was EXTREMELY fun and we dominated!  SUCH fun - we played for 2 hours and we were sore after! I can't wait to do it again!

Thanksgiving... Reminiscing and Thanks.

On LEFT: Jackson, Thanksgiving 2009. (18 mos)

On RIGHT:  Ethan, Thanksgiving 2011 (16 mos)

 Love these little turkeys!  

We give abundant thanks for these sweet smiles.

A Parent's Prayer

My aunt gave me this tiny piece of paper a few weeks ago.  I've had it by my sink in my bathroom, trying to read it as often as I could.  I decided it may be beneficial to everyone so I'm sharing!  I love everything this "prayer" represents...  I often need reminded how extremely blessed I am and to not let the little things become big things. 



A Parent's Prayer
Heavenly Father, make me a better parent.  Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say and to answer their questions kindly.
Keep me from interrupting or contradicting.
Help me to be courteous to them as I expect them to be to me.
Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule.
May I never punish them out of anger or spite or to show my power.
Help me, Dear Lord, to demonstrate by all that I say and do that honesty and a good integrity DO produce happiness.
Reduce the meanness in me and when I am out of sorts, help me to hold my tongue.
May I be ever mindful that my children are merely children and that I should not expect them to have the maturity and judgement of adults.
Let me not rob them of the opportunity to do things for themselves or to make their own decisions.
Help me to grant them all reasonable requests and give me the courage to deny them them the privileges that I think may be harmful.
Help me to be fair and just and kind, O Lord, so that I will earn their love and respect and they will want to imitate me.  This is a supreme compliment.  Amen.

A Journey...

If you are someone I talk to often, you probably already know that Ryan and I are embarking on a journey today.  A 90 day journey that some call "P90X" - an extreme series of workouts that lasts for 90 days.  I am a extrmely excited, very anxious and quite confident that we will be able to push through and complete this journey.  Most people I've talked to know how difficult it is - many people have tried, but few that I've talked to have finished the full 90 days.  I am blogging this in an effort to FORCE myself not to quit.  Ryan and I start this morning... 500am.  We'll have Mondays off - but that's it.  I've been informed I'll be more sore than I've ever been in my life for about 10 days.  Then, I've been told that I'll have more energy and enthusiasm than I've also ever had in my life.  It's going to be intense, and I cannot wait! Wish us luck!

Noah's Party!

Yesterday, we went to our friend Noah's 4th birthday party!  It was at Boingo Bounce and J was stoked.  He loves that place - we spent a LOT of time there this summer because he could run around and bounce on the big bouncy houses and Ethan had the freedom to run around too.. so it was really nice when it was hot outside.  Happy Birthday Noah and thanks for inviting us to your party!

We were also thrilled to see our friend Cole - who we have missed!!

 Jackson - who doesn't seem to want to eat healthy food anymore - never passes up "junk" food.  :)  And I couldn't help but post this picture of this ADORABLE little Noel - who is growing up way too fast!  5 months and counting... sweet boy.

Eden's 3rd Birthday!

Last year when our sweet neighbor Eden turned 2, she had a petting zoo come to our backyard.  It was a total HIT with everyone, so her momma Heather decided to do it again!  Jackson was elated to find out Eden would have all those animals in her backyard again this year... so off we went.  We took our little animal crazy baby - Ethan - and he was actually very curious - from afar.  He wasn't too sure about touching any of the animals.  Rather, he just stared at them... and stared... and stared... and then wanted back to Daddy.  I think he really enjoyed seeing the cow up close though...

Here's the birthday girl reminding J that he's using WAY too much food for the animals.  HELLO!  :)   I love when she puts him in his place!

 

Jackson and Ben... and dancing.

 Uh-OH - who is allowing these 3 year olds babysit the animals!? 

Me, Heather and Em.  Man, I look short here.

 Ethan LOVED this toy.  He would climb in, sit down, stand up, climb out, shut the door.  Repeat.  For about 30 minutes.  

I probably need to get him one of these.  :)

 

Heath and Austin, Ethan and Ryan.  Austin and Ethan are 2 mos apart... So precious.

Happy Birthday Princess Eden!  We love you!