Photo #229 Fun times!

I'm really too tired to blog right now, but it has been a while and I had some fun photos to post.

Jackson has been noticing the fact that we don't have snow at home.  We can't complain since it has been around 70 degrees most days.  So, we flew to Papa and Reen's house.  (Next year, Christmas in New Mexico. It's freezing up here!)

After a few days of just cold (no snow) God finally sprinkled on the white stuff.  The kids were, and still are, SOOOOOO excited for the snow.  Don't frown on me because my kids don't have snow pants on.  I couldn't bring myself to buy them for just a few days.  But we did get warm winter coats, hats, and mittens.  They had a blast and I always enjoy watching them play.

Photo #228 Glorious Day!

So, today was a big day!  It was the day of our church Christmas musical!  I was SOOOOOO excited for every minute of it.

It started off with singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and Away in a Manger.  Then, it was time for my preschool choir to take over.  They had two songs to sing, Wasn't That a Mighty Day and Behold That Star.  Aside from Jackson knocking the girl next to him in the head and a couple diva moments from some others, it was spectacular performance.  Of course, all of those moments just warm our hearts and put smiles on everyone's faces (well, everyone except the ones getting knocked in the head).

Finally came the big production.  I was suppose to be singing in the choir but, having been without a voice for the past five days, that just wasn't happening.  Part of me was disappointed, but most of me was happy to get the chance to just sit back, listen, and worship.  

Each and every song was beautiful, but one song just gets me every time.  Casting Crowns has a song titled Glorious Day.  The soloists and the choir sang it beautifully, but in my head, all I could hear were my two and four year old children sitting in the back seat of the van and singing (and shouting) the words, "Living, He loved me.  Dying, He saved me.  Buried, He carried my sins far away.  Rising, He justified freely forever.  One day He's coming.  Oh, glorious day!  Oh, glorious day!"  There will never be a more beautiful sound.  In moments like that, I think to myself, "This must be how God feels when we sing for Him."  And if that is how He feels, I hope I get to sing to Him forever.

Photo #227 Round and round and round it goes!

Yesterday, I was thrilled to have our new washer and dryer delivered.  I can honestly say I have never, until now, been excited to do laundry.  I'm still looking forward to the day that my "Rosie" ( housekeeper robot) can fold and put away my laundry for me.

I wasn't the only one in the house excited for our new gadgets!  Jackson is MORE than happy to help me put the clothes in the washer, move them to the dryer, and take them out of the dryer.  Unfortunately, that is where his helping hand seems to end (for now).

And thank you, LG, for putting child locks on the buttons!  I couldn't have had my new machines more than 30 minutes (hadn't even used them yet) and Jackson was telling ME what buttons turned it on and made it go.  I wouldn't have been so worried, except that he was right!

This morning, I caught a few photos of my big helper.  I could get use to this.  :)

Photo #226 Christmas Party!!!

This is a little bit delayed, but this past weekend was our churches kids Christmas party!  Wow, was I not ready for this!  I have never seen so many crafts in one place at one time!  It was fantastic!  Even Molly got in on all of the action.

I had signed up to take photos of the event, so it was nice that Jason could be there for part of it.  Otherwise, the church would have gotten a hundred photos of Jackson and Molly.

What a blessing our church events have been to me and I hope to others.  It is always excited for me to see people I have met outside of church (and I know don't attend our church) at these events.  This time, I ran into another mom from Molly's "Mommy and Me" gymnastics class.

Now, let me see if I can get the kids list of crafts complete: gingerbread man ornament, jingle bell necklace and bracelet, bookmark, cookie decorated, popsicle stick star of David, paper nativity scene, photo frame, angel ornament, candy train, real gingerbread ornaments, and the got to tie a couple knots in a blanket for our local "COPE" organization.  And I'm pretty sure that was only about half of the activities available to them!  There was also Christmas Bingo, Oreo cookie stacking contests, tree ornaments, mitten ornaments, and probably more that I didn't even see.  Oh!  Not to mention all of the delicious food!  All in all, another wonderful event.

Photo #225 "Can I help, Mommy?"

"Can I help, Mommy?" is music to my ears.  And I have been hearing it from Jackson.  Usually it involves cooking, which really shouldn't surprise me.  :)  Today, he decided he wanted peanut butter and jelly for lunch and he was going to make it himself.  Much to my delight, Molly joined right in!  Molly pulled up and chair and Jackson got a step stool.  Molly got the peanut butter.  Jackson got the jelly.  Mommy got the bread and plastic knives.  A little of this.  A little of that.  Vuala!  Lunch!  They made their own sandwiches and everyone was so proud!  I could get use to this.  :)

Photo #224 Christmas Cuties!

This evening, Jackson had his school Christmas program.  I was all revved up for the show.  I got great seats.  Forth row center.  I planned to have Jason on camcorder duty and I would have my camera.  As I rushed out the door and drove to the show, I had the nagging feeling something was going to go wrong.  Boy was I right!  As we sat waiting for the show to begin, Jason turned on the camcorder (which I had checked at home) only to find the battery dead.  Super.  Thankfully, I had a friend sitting across the aisle from us who was planning to record her own son and agree to record Jackson's portion of the show as well.

Smooth sailing?  I think not.  So, we saw the kids come in and sit together and I had the perfect line of sight to get a photo of Jackson.  Ready, aim....... no memory card.  Seriously?  Yeah.  Seriously.  I left my camera's memory card in my computer at home.  "Valerie?  Ya mind taking some photos, too?"

So, photos will be posted, as well as a video, just as soon as they get emailed to me.  In the mean time, I did take some photos of the kids just after we got home from the show.

Enjoy!

Photo #223 Cozy Molly!!!

This afternoon, we headed out to walmart and Molly got a new hat and mittens.  She has been wearing them around the house since we got home.

Photo #222 It's Been Too Long (Part 2)

AND here are more photos.  As crazy busy as some of the time was, we really had a fantastic visit.  Uncle Matt and Aunt Irene even got to help with our Christmas decorations!  (i.e. Matt made sure Jason didn't fall off the roof).  We are all looking forward to Christmas and the chance to visit with more family!

Photo #221 It's Been Too Long

I realize it has been a whole ELEVEN days since I blogged.  That is called Thanksgiving!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  Thank you for asking.  :)  Jason's brother, Matt, and his wife, Irene, came to visit for the entire week!  It was so nice to get some good quality time with Irene and the kids were crazy about her.

We also had Jackson's birthday party while they were here.

Instead of posting several different blogs, I'm just going to attach a million photos to this one!  Enjoy!