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!

A Little Trim

Katherine had her first haircut today!  It was actually more of a trim, 

but it will go down as her first official cut!  

Here are a few before pictures . . .

 Some days her hair curls and looks extremely cute.

Other days, no matter what I try, it looks like she just rolled out of bed.

 When we arrived at the salon, I asked her if she wanted to sit in the chair, 

and she said, "Yes."  It really was that easy.  I couldn't have asked her to do better.

 She only had a little trim to help even the length and it only took a few minutes.

 The after . . .

 She wasn't happy with me once we made it home.  Once she calmed down, I was able to get a quick shot of the back.  Not much difference, but maybe her hair will start to thicken.  Our baby is getting too big.

Pass the Ball

Jackson had his first basketball practice tonight!

We missed out on t-ball this year (tryouts are in February and I didn't even think about baseball until March).  Each time I asked him if he wanted to play soccer this fall, he said no, he wanted to play basketball.  Thankfully, he was just old enough to be on a team.

 

The goal is really high, but he was able to make a few! 

 A little practice dribbling while pushing his way to the goal!

His first game is almost a month away and

we are excited to see what all he learns!

Starting the Month Off Right

We're doing what we can to enjoy the Christmas season, so today we headed to a parade.  It was extremely foggy on the drive in this morning and even started to sprinkle just before we found a parking space, but we found the perfect spot to stand (under an overhang, just to make sure we didn't melt in case it started pouring) and enjoy the parade!

 I'm not sure what these characters are, but it got Jackson excited!

And it didn't hurt that they were throwing candy. By the end of the parade, we had collected just as much candy as we did at Halloween.

 

 Look Katherine!  There's Hello Kitty, and Donald Duck  . . .

AND Mickey and Minnie!

REALLY???

LOOK . . . it really is them!!

 

  

 Jackson was pretty excited about Mickey and Minnie also, but then a big Coke truck came around the corner and he was infatuated.  He probably thought they were going to throw him a bunch of Coke.

 Finally, the Big Man himself.  I didn't get a picture of Jackson and Katherine, but they really were in awe of him.  They were waving and kept staring at him as long as they could see him after he passed by!

Now, we just need to sit in his lap so he'll know what's on 2 important people's lists.  Since we don't have a good track record seeing Santa up close and personal, I'm keeping my fingers crossed all goes smoothly this year!