Father-Son Fishing Trip!

So I've asked Ryan to type up this post for awhile now, but he hasn't found the time to, so I'm going to since the pictures are SO cute!  Jackson and Ryan along with Ben and Jim were invited to go fishing with Cole and his daddy Rhonald.  Jackson has been fishing one other time with Ryan and just loved it.  He calls every fish "Nemo fish" and it's pretty cute.  So off they went last Saturday morning.  Jackson was pumped up because it was a fun fishing trip with his favorite person in the world - Daddy - and Ben and Cole!   And the best part - Ethan didn't get to go!  LOL.  He felt pretty big.  I don't think there was many fish caught, but a good time was definitely had by the boys and the daddies.  :-)

The Three Musketeers.... And Rhonald.

Poppie would be so proud!  Jackson just reached in and grabbed a minnow!

a change of hair.

I finally did it.  I've only cut my hair one time before this - in 2005.  Other than that, I've had the exact same hair for all my life.  After 2 kids and finally feeling like a real grown up, I decided I wanted a change - a change of hair, that is.  So I called the one - the only one - I would trust w/ this great feat.... Julie at Metropolis.  I knew that Julie was expecting, so back in March - I emailed her and asked when she planned on going on maternity leave.  I wanted to wait til the last minute to do this because of a few reasons.  1. When I'm not feeling that great about my weight, I like to hide behind long hair.  I still have 6 pounds of baby weight to lose, but I waited as long as I could.  2. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a spontaneous decision.  It's taken me a LONG time to grow my hair out this long and I didn't want to have regrets. 3. Lastly, I'm donating to Locks of Love. So I wanted to try to give them at least 12 inches instead of the minimum of 10 - so I needed as much time as possible to grow it out.   So June 9 was the day scheduled and here we are. 

So here are the "before" pictures..... 

  

 I told her I wanted 12 full inches cut off!  YAY!!!

 All chopped off!  Thanks Julie!!

So off to Locks of Love they go!

 AFTER:   

My ipod doesn't take the best quality pictures.... more to come!

I LOVE it and it feels so light on my neck... I may actually start fixing my hair more often!!! 

WOOHOO!

Our four-wheeled friends.

It's official now.  All of the kiddos on the block have Power Wheels.  We have quite a range of vehicles too.  J has his F-150.  Ben has his kickin John Deere tractor.  Eden and Carlie are rocking the Barbie Jeep.  Now, Holiday has the Cadillac Escalade.

Check these big kids out!

 

I am in love with this picture of Jackson and Holiday!  

Headline looks like it should read: boy meets girl.

A taste of Sicily

Our friend Patrick has been telling us for years that he was someday going to make Ryan and I a TRUE Sicilian meal... His father and grandmother taught him and so he's quite experienced in this culinary field.  :)  

So today was the day!! He gave us a list of stuff to get - off we went to get what we could from WalMart but he had to get the rest from his local place...

 Patrick - preparing the many many different types of cheeses.

 Appetizers!

 Cheese is the heaviest ingredient - everything has cheese in it!

 The final product!  Baked Ziti with meatballs and his special sauce that had to be cooked and "set" overnight and gnocchi w/ "cardinal" sauce.   All I can say is one word:  YUM.  I took the picture after I had already dug in so it's not that pretty.. .but trust me on the food - SUPER yummy.

 Gotta love the "shoveling food in my mouth" shot and "mouth full of food" shot.  :-)  Good thing Patrick and Ryan are good sports!

Thanks Patrick for coming over and cooking for us!  I'm ready for Round 2!  :-)

My busy boy.

So this picture is actually very accurate.  <Wish I knew how I took it!> Jackson is the busiest person I know.  He never stops moving, talking, running, playing and inquiring.  I can barely keep up with him.  Lately, he's been really showing some personality.  He is so loving - especially with his daddy.  He absolutely loves to play and never ever gets tired.  He can go for hours at a time.  He is ridiculously smart (and I know every mom says that about her kid) but he asks very interesting questions - he remembers everything - he is in love with puzzles and letters - he's been trying to write his letters now - I could just go on and on.  He's just growing up so fast and I love watching it all happen.  He could do a few things better - he has a major temper that springs up a little faster than I'd like, and he is REALLY rough w/ his baby brother despite the 100 times a day I say "Be Gentle!"  But for the most part, I pretty much have the sweetest, craziest, most fun and busiest kid on the planet.  :)

Playdate at Cole's House!

On Friday, my friend Jenny invited us all over for a playdate at her house in his AWESOME backyard.  Jackson was beyond excited about it!  I was so proud of him because he was VERY interested in the water, unlike last year when it was such a struggle to even get him to GO in the water, let alone let any water touch his face... this year - totally different child!  He just had a BLAST!

Jackson, Ben and Cole - chilling w/ some cheez-its.  This pic was taken right before Ben decided to eat the entire bowl of cheez-it's all by himself.  :)

 

Jackson, Eden and Cole - notice Ben missing?  He's working on those cheez-it's.  :)

 Ethan slept most of the time since sweet Jenny had a pack n play she allowed me to use!  When he woke up, he was ready to get busy and play too... fortunately, his buddy Lily Kate was there for him to love on1

 And love, they do.

 Among other things.  :)

 Emily was a trooper out there in that heat.  I remember feeling so hot when I was 9 mos pregnant - but she kept such a happy face... and isn't she such a beautiful mommy!?

 Popsicle time!  They look like hungry little puppies!

Thanks Jenny for having us!

this is exactly what you think it is.

awh, the fun of having a 3 year old.  it's all about learning lessons.  let's just say, after this incident- i think he learned the lesson.  :-)  mommy wasn't too happy.

First Steps!

Yesterday, when Ryan came home from work, Ethan and J happily greeted him at the door just as they always do.... Ryan and I were sitting on the floor w/ the boys talking... and Hobbes walks by and casually rubs up against Ethan who was standing there holding onto the couch.... So Ethan took two steps toward Hobbes, turned to get closer to him and plopped onto the ground!  He really doesn't even realize he took steps, but I'm so excited that Ryan got to see his first steps too!!!  Very exciting!  Ethan is just over 10 mos old... Jackson was 9 1/2 mos old when he took his first steps.  I definitely don't consider this "walking" but if he is like Jackson, it's a matter of 2 weeks before he's comfortably walking now.  Very exciting.

Traveling Boys

Just like his big brother, Ethan has proven to be a GREAT traveler.  So far in his tiny little 10 month life, he's been to Little Rock, Dallas and Milwaukee - all via car.  He usually sleeps almost the whole way... after about 2.5 hrs, we stop, let him stretch his little legs, get a diaper change and maybe eat and he's good to go!  J has always been the same way!  Since Ryan and I both love to travel, we are very fortunate to have good travelers.  I love these pics of Ethan that I took on our drive home from Dallas on Monday.  Of course, I only had my handheld camera so the quality isn't as good, but the subject is.  :)

Thanks Grandma Betty!!

Before we left for Little Rock last week, my mom drove up to drop off Jackson's birthday gift from Grandma Betty (my grandma - Jackson's great grandma).  She had found some Thomas fabric at a store in Harrison and decided to surprise J w/ a Thomas pillow.  Needless to say, he was SOOOOO excited!  He now makes sure that when he sleeps, Mr. Bear sleeps right next to him on the Thomas Pillow.  Too cute.  Thanks grandma!