Friends

Before school started back, Jackson got to spend the day with his friend, Nicholas.  They aren't at the same school this year, but Jackson talks about him all the time.  It had been a while since they had seen each other, so it was nice they were able to spend so much time together.

Jackson had been asking to see Nic for a while and he had also been wanting to go back to the Children's Museum, so we combined the two!

Katherine tagged along as well!  Little TV chef!

Fishermen

 Katherine loves playing tea party.

 Katherine discussing the boys with Mrs. Jill.

 Another tea party.

 Our boy.

He's gotten so big.

Nic and Jackson.

These two love playing with each other.

Basketball Game!

Jackson had his first basketball game this morning!

As expected, he was pretty timid when we got there. 

They warmed up before the game and Jackson went after the ball a few times.

  

Once they came out for the game,

Jackson was obviously not excited about being there.

He was less than enthusiastic when he was put into the game.  Sometime after 'halftime' we started wondering if Katherine was upsetting him.  He brought home a toy lizard from school yesterday and has been obsessed with it since.  Katherine was playing with it during the game and apparently Jackson noticed.  Zach managed to get the lizard away from her and showed Jackson he had it.  Jackson completely changed.  He started running around and thankfully started acting happier!

Jackson's teammate was throwing the ball in to him and it ended up knocking Jackson in the face.  I just happened to be taking pictures at that moment and caught this blurry picture right after it hit him.  He fell to the ground and once his coach helped him up, he brushed it off and went back to playing.

  

Jackson did pretty good dribbling!  Most of them dribble a couple of times, pick the ball up and run, and somewhere in there remember to start dribbling again (a couple of players are actually pretty good at dribbling).  They were cute to watch!

We're excited to see how he progresses each week!

Here is a video just before the end of the game.  He is like me and the least aggressive person, but at this point he had perked up and we were relieved he was acting happy, more into the game, running some, and not frowning!

Better Late Than Never

I'm finally getting around to pictures of our Christmas Eve and Christmas!  Better late than never, right?  A few nights before Christmas, I asked Jackson and Katherine to sit in front of the tree for a picture.  Jackson was more than happy to oblige, which is completely unusual.  Turns out, he thought as soon as a picture was taken, we would open presents.  Poor fella, but he did smile and look at the camera.

Jackson on Christmas Eve.  

This time, once the picture was taken, he got to start tearing into presents.

 

Katherine turned into a pro at unwrapping presents this year.

  A Switch & Go Dino!

 Katherine got some lip gloss.

I can't wait to snap a picture when the roles are reversed and she putting it on Daddy.

 Trying to eat her lip gloss.

 Santa Claus made good on Jackson's wishes.  He wanted a blue monster truck and the red Switch & Go Dino!  Katherine got an Easy Bake Oven that we need to test out!

 Grandma and Grandpa came over on Christmas Eve and Grammy and Grandpa drove down on Christmas morning with a carload of more presents!

We're still trying to find a place for all of the new toys, 

and it's safe to say we had a wonderful Christmas!

Braggadocio

I intended on finishing up posting Christmas pictures tonight, but I'll have to save that for tomorrow.  I need to brag a little!  Jackson came home today with his second "Great Work" sticker this week!  Zach asked him why he received it, and he replied he got it for the day's Best Handwriting!  This from someone who just about refused to hold a pencil in August!  We are so proud of him!  He is proud also . . . he's made us keep his stickers and put them on his pajamas at night!

{The sticker he received earlier in the week was for Best Rester--I think he actually slept during rest time!  We were happy about the first one, but even more so about today's!}

Round 1

A few nameless individuals have given me friendly reminders recently that the blog has not been updated even though Christmas has come and gone.  Not to mention we have welcomed a new year.  In effort to appease the masses, here is a brief recap of the last few weeks.  ("Brief" as in this is only 3 or 4 events that pictures were taken ... I'm leaving out field trips, school parties, doctor visits, everyday life ... you get the idea.)

Two weeks before Christmas, Grammy and Grandpa made the trek to watch Jackson in his school program.  (He is 4th standing from the left in a red button-up.)  For the first time in a program and in front of an audience, Jackson sang!  We could definitely see his mouth moving and he joined in a lot of the hand movements!

 Typical Katherine.

She was into everything while Jackson performed.

 A family picture following the program.

Jackson's Christmas program was on a Tuesday evening, and the next day once Jackson was out of school, we headed to Alabama for an early Christmas.  We made a fun and nostalgic stop at the carousel. 

 After the carousel ride, we stopped by the depot.

This was a little slice of Heaven for Jackson.

 Christmas dinner

 Finally opening presents!

 Katherine had not napped all day and had a bath before dinner and presents.  Following her bath, she insisted on wearing her pajamas rather than her dress.  She's the boss around these parts.

Jackson, Emma, and Katherine received these flashlights and they were a huge hit!

 The chocolate was a huge hit with Katherine as well.

 Jackson annihilated Austin at arm wrestling.

 I think this was the only picture I was able to get of all 3 together.

As usual, we had a wonderful Christmas in Alabama and Jackson was not pleased when it was time to head home, but we had some more celebrating to do.  We got home on Saturday, and Grammy had a big birthday to celebrate on Sunday!

 Jackson has been after me for a while to buy these candles, so I finally did.  I figured Grammy didn't really want all those traditional candles representing her age, so this was a good compromise.  Besides, I would have run out of money buying candles had I used one candle for each year.

There you have it--just a glimpse of what we had going on 2 weeks before Christmas!  Maybe before the month is over, I can include our Christmas.  In all seriousness, we had a fun week that helped us get even more excited for the weeks to come!