For Aunt Sandy...

We found Santa's Hat!

December Fun

Happy Holidays from the Jackson 4!

Click Here for a good laugh!

Sweetie!

I am Thankful For...

My beautiful boys...
Silly grins...

Sweet smiles...

And catching moments like this...

To all my family, friends, and fellow bloggers out there...

Have a Happy & Blessed Thanksgiving!

Acorns!

I have a new addiction: Pinterest!
It is definitely a time-zapper, but the site has led me to lots of fun new crafts, decorating tips, recipes...you name it!
I recently found a fun Thanksgiving Treat that I tried out last night:

All you need to make your own little acorns:
Nutter Butter minis - I found them in the dollar section @ Target
Mini chocolate chips
Hershey's kisses
Melt half the bag of chips & use the melted chocolate as your "glue" to stick the kiss & mini chip to the cookie.
Super Simple & Super Cute!

Fall Leaves

This weekend was the perfect time for playing in the leaves.
All 3 of my guys got in on the fun!
Garrett enjoyed kicking the leaves...
...and running through them!
Always the protective big brother...

4 Months

Look who turned 4 months on 11-11-11!

Mission: Organization

Having two boys under the age of 3 has made me come to the realization that in order to maintain my own sanity, I must eliminate as much chaos in my life as possible. One of the main sources of chaos for me is the lack of organization within my home space.
Not long ago I opened up the door to my beloved craft room to find it filled to the brim with STUFF. I literally could not make my way from one side of the room to the other without having to step over piles that have accumulated over the past 3 years. I decided that my first step toward my goal would be to clean this room and turn it into a useable space again. I took a day off work and spent 4 hours rummaging through the contents of the room, getting rid of stuff I didn't need, piling together stuff to donate, and organizing the items I wanted to keep. I documented the process with my camera...but, honestly, I'm too embarrassed to show you the "before" pictures! So, following are the after shots!
What I love is that not every space of every shelf is filled...there's room to grow. There is even an armoire that used to be in Garrett's room, and is now mostly empty! Hard to believe that I was able to eliminate most of the clutter!
There is even space for Garrett's desk! Now he has a place to sit and be creative while I work on my own projects.
This weekend I started on the second step toward my goal, which is to clean and organize all of the closets in our home. I started with the kitchen pantry. I decided to create an information station on the back side of the pantry door. I put up a bulletin board to hold misc. notes, coupons, grocery lists, etc. I also added a wipe-off calendar board that I use to plan out meals for the month (which is also a sanity-saver). In the empty spaces I added some hooks for aprons, bags, and other misc. items to hang.
Sharing my goals with my readers is my way of hopefully inspiring you to take on your own chaos-causers. It's amazing how tackling projects around the house really makes a difference in my attitude. (That craft room has been weighing on me for years! I'm so glad to have my creative space back!)

Next step: Reorganizing my bedroom closet & installing a new hanging system (my current system conveniently crashed to the floor last week in the middle of the night!)

First of November

Reece is so cool he's gotta wear shades!
At the craft show we went to last month I came across this cute, crochet bear hat. The vendor didn't have Reece's size, but I was able to special order one via etsy! Too cute not to get a pic of to share!
Reece has really started to play. He loves toys that crinkle, rattle, and are easy to grasp. Garrett introduced Reece to his first tractor toy!
Do these 2 pictures look familiar?
(November, 2011)

(November, 2009)Reece & Daddy's Boots!
Sweet guys...

Fire Station Visit

Last weekend Garrett & Daddy went on an outing to the local Fire Station. Garrett was given the grand tour of the fire station including the kitchen that smelled like popcorn, the lounge, and the sleeping quarters (where I was told they had blue and green pillows). And then Fire Fighter Doug took Garrett to the garage where he was able to climb on the big, red fire truck! There was also a red "gator", an ambulance, and a yellow fire truck, which Garrett likes to talk about most.
While chasing Garrett around the station, Daddy did get a chance to snap a few pictures of the outing:

Inside the ambulance
Fire Fighter Doug showing Garrett the fire truck.
Here comes Fire Fighter Garrett!
Garrett's checking over every detail of the fire truck.

Jumparoo!

Reece is getting stronger every day, and has often been attempting to pull himself up to a sitting position. So last weekend, we decided it was time to get out the jumparoo. He absolutely loves it! It didn't take him long to figure out that if he wiggles a little, the motion activates music and animal sounds.
As you can see, the new contraption tuckers him out!

Halloween Parade

Today was a big day at daycare...the Halloween Parade!
Garrett dressed up as his favorite Toy Story character, Woody.
From his hat to his boots, he's pretty stinkin' cute!Garrett's class, the Jungle Room! His buddy, Conner (on the far right) was Buzz...a fun coincidence!
The parade - all the kids (except Reece's room) paraded around the block together.
While Garrett was out & about, Reece stayed back where it was warm & cozy with his friends - and teacher, Karen!
Garrett & Mama - God Bless Cowboys!

Crafts & Some Cute Li'l Pumpkins

Check out my friend, Darci's blog for fun pics of our crafting weekend! Included are pics of Reece & his buddy, Adelyn!

Good Morning

Reece has really been more expressive and smiley lately. He definitely makes the early morning routine go a lot smoother when he flashes me his beautiful, toothless grin!

(Aunt Sandy - Reece loves to snuggle next to Mr. Frog!)

People always comment on how bright-eyed Reece is...My response is that he's always on the lookout for the kissing bandit! Look out Reece!

Reece - 3 months

Look who's 3 months old!
Check out those thighs!!! Love it!

He melts my heart...

Today on the drive to daycare:
Garrett: (singing) "A B C D...la la la..."
Me: "You make me smile, buddy...I love you"
Garrett: "I love you too, mama!"

My first I love you! (that was totally clearly spoken and not prompted)
What a terrific start to a Monday!

Random

Remember the day that the annual Christmas catalog came in the mail...and how exciting it was to flip through the pages to pick out your favorite toys? I recently got to re-live this experience through watching Garrett as he spent at least 30 minutes, carefully going over each and every page of the Mills Fleet Farm toy book the other day. He tended to ponder the green tractor and Tonka truck pages the most...
This picture says it all...
Rock Chalk boys!

Applefest 2011

Today our family made a trip to the local apple orchard/pumpkin patch for the yearly Applefest celebration. Our favorite part of the outing was riding in a wagon pulled by a tractor pulled to and from the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin for each of the boys.
Garrett enjoyed both running around the pumpkin patch and watching the tractors come and go dropping off and picking up loads of passengers. (Truth be told, he was much more interested in the tractors this time around!) If you take a look at our Applefest 2010 visit (click here), you'll see how much our little guy has grown!

On the hunt!
Will it be this one?
Or maybe this one?
This is it!
Now that we have found Garrett's pumpkin, he & Daddy are looking for Reece's perfect pumpkin...
This one doesn't look too bad!
The final selections being weighed on the pumpkin scale...

Here comes our ride!
Garrett loved the wagon ride. We sat right up in front in the seat closest to the tractor, of course.
After the pumpkin patch we stopped for a drink. Garrett got his own pumpkin sipper full of apple cider!
Look how tall I am!!
In case you're wondering, Reece was there too. He spent most of the outing looking like this...

On to the play area to check out the wooden train...
The look of a happy boy...