our christmas story.

jackson's list.

every year we await the announcement of Jackson's Christmas Wish List
and we are never disappointed.

~when jackson was 3, he wanted a whale. yes, a whale. (santa obliged and gave him "the smallest baby whale on the planet")

when jackson was 4, he wanted hooks and ropes to climb mountains with and a magic wand.

when jackson was 5, he wanted a "toy maker machine" and more ropes and hooks to climb mountains with.

jackson is now 6 and here is his list:

1. an invisible blanket ( like the kind on Harry Potter that makes you invisible when you put it on you)

2. a machine that turns fake money into real money (don't we all)

3. a bed made out of candy ( he says, "that way if i want some candy in the night, i don't even have to get up.")

4. and more hooks and ropes to climb mountains with.... of course.

i am sure santa is going to have a lot of fun getting you everything on your list...

hot cocoa and little minds.

we are all enjoying the start of the holiday season. decorations, giving, family, stories, hot chocolate and sweets... we aren't going to let a day in december slip by with out some sort of Christmas cheer. here is the 4th day of Christmas.

my feet are not showing for good reason.... trust me.

my children definitely are not lacking in the imagination department...

advent caldendar.

it started out as this ... (a $5 advent calendar from Costs Plus)added some white spray paint... and some decorative paper.

and wa-lah.downloaded the numbers from here.

the tree.

the first day of the advent calendar said.... "decorate the tree," so we did just that.

Merry Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas!!

(Just a tad late)

{our Christmas card photo}

It's always just a little depressing when Christmas is over. All of the craziness, fun, festivities that require so much preparation are all over in one glorious day... Christmas. Our children are what make Christmas so wonderful, seeing the joy on their faces nearly brings me to tears!

Christmas morning... waiting to go downstairs to see what Santa brought them. Who's ready?

Kate was thrilled to get the blutifol (beautiful) kitchen that she asked Santa for...


Jackson had no doubt Santa would come through and get him a rope with some hooks...
what more could a little boy want?


Taylor got a way to cool purple bike that she couldn't wait to go ride around the neighborhood. (wearing her new leg warmers of course)

And we were all very excited for the new Family Wii that we have been enjoying immensely!

Christmas Sunday

Look at these beauties on the
Sunday before Christmas.
My mom made the girls these adorable skirts (amazing, I know!) and we got Jackson's suit at H & M.

deck the halls

Here's how we have decked the halls this Christmas season....

Greatest day ever

My kids don't count down to Christmas, they count down to the ever so famous

Annual Grandkid Christmas Sleepover
This year was no exeption and they were sure to tell me that this was the
"greatest day ever!"


The Tradition

Girls visit Grami & Grandpa and go to the Nutcracker



Boys go Bowling


They each get a present: Girls collect snowglobes; Boys collect Nutcrackers


They wake up to hot waffles and then make gingerbread houses and watch Christmas movies.


Kate can't wait til' she's old enough for this world famous sleepover.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!!

don't mean to brag, but...

My son's a genius.

Let me tell you how I know this:

Jackson has been telling us that all he wants for Christmas is a rope. He has told us this for a couple months now. He actually wants two ropes, one with a hook on the end, and one plain rope, so that he can climb tall mountains. I decided that this can't be ALL he wants for Christmas so I told him to think really hard about something he might want. A couple days later he came up to me and this is how the dialog went:

Jackson: Mom! I figured out what I want for Christmas, and it's only 1 thing, and its all I want.

Mom: Jackson, that's great that your were able to think of just 1 thing, what is it?

Jackson: A TOY MAKER MACHINE!

Mom: A what?

Jackson: A TOY MAKER MACHINE! All you have to do is push a button and say what toy you want and you can get it.

Mom:Wow, where do they have "Toy Maker Machines."

Jackson: Santa makes them... remember he can make anything mom?! And I know I'll get it because I am just asking for 1 thing.

Bet you wish your child was this smart...

sparkle...

After 2 years in the garage, I changed "JOY" from

Country...

To Not Country....

Another thing out of the garage... won't Chad be pleased:)