Skating In December

After Christmas we had a few really nice, warm days.  It was time to learn how to skate for Taryn and time to see if we remembered how for Tyson. 

Oh this girl is the purple princess.  She actually didn't do half bad for her first time on skates.  She never fell, but that is because we held on to one hand the whole time.

What a sweet picture of brother and sister.

Taryn decided after an hour of holding our hands to skate, that she might be able to do it by herself.  It was so awesome to see her be so brave and try it on her own.

Oh yeah, here he comes.  The kid figured out the way to skate on his roller blades.  He was flying around the tennis courts.

A few days later the rain and snow came and we couldn't skate outside.  Bummer!!!  Luckily for us they have an indoor skating rink 15 minutes away.  Taryn really liked the smooth skating rink floor.

Tyson was trying to race everyone around the rink.  He was wobbly the first 20 minutes but then he figured it out and was off like a rocket.  He wanted to race us.  After we had been at the rink for about 2 hours they had actual races for the different age groups.  Tyson was thrilled!  He was beat by this really fast little kid, but he was okay beating everyone else.

This girl skated by herself.  She loves her skates she got for Christmas.  Yeah for mom and dad!  We got her something she wanted and likes.

There she goes.  We had such a blast roller skating.  It has become my new favorite thing to do.  I cannot wait to bring the kids again.  They loved it and they were active.  Yes!!!  The new year is going to be great!

Preschool Christmas Time

On the last day of preschool, before winter break, the kids had a special visitor from the North Pole.  Santa came and gave each of the kids a book for Christmas.

Taryn was so excited to see Santa and to let him know that she had been a good girl all year.  She also informed the man of what she wanted for Christmas.  It changes daily.

She was so proud to show off her book that Santa had given her.

These are all the kids at the preschool.

And here all most of Taryn's teachers.  The high school girls loved their necklases and gave lots of hugs to Taryn, thanking her for them.  It brought a smile to my face and my heart swelled with happiness.  I love to make others smile and I taught that special lesson to Taryn today.  She wanted to know what we were going to give them next.  

Preschool is out till February, while a new set of high school kids are trained to teach.  Taryn is excited for the long break but said she will miss all of her friends.  So cute!

The Nativity

Back a few weeks ago we had the Thompson's over for dinner and cookie making.  After the festivities at our house, we took them with us to the church where the Farragut ward was putting on a Nativity program for all to come and enjoy.

They had nativity scenes from around the world that people had donated for the program. After a little 15 minute program, full of the Christmas story and singing, we were able to go into the children's area for crafts and dress up.

Ella, Tyson and Taryn were loving the whole dress up scene.  They would try on the different outfits of the people in the Nativity and then want pictures.

My little wise man.  Tyson is a crack up.  He always has some play or idea or scene to show us.

The two wisemen and Mary.  Taryn just wanted to play Mary and hold the baby.  That is my little mother hen.

Xander, Tyson, Ella, and Taryn all wearing their angel craft on their heads.  Xander didn't want to dress up no matter how much we all coaxed him.  Oh well.  The others had fun.  It was a nice time to hang out and enjoy our Savior all at the same time.

It's Christmas, It's Christmas

It's here, it's here!!!  It is FINALLY here! The kids were so excited to get up and see Christmas.  They almost fell down the stairs. 

This girl is in heaven.  She is now the proud owner of sparkly pink shoes.

More Camo for the collection.

Pretty dress from Grandma Jackson.  Love the hair Missy Moo!

It was an all out chaotic frenzy.  We tried to keep order but after 30 minutes that went out of the window.

The "Frozen" dress from Grandma T.  Now she is in heaven.

New shirts, just what this kid needed.  He even asked for them.  He is growing so fast that the shirts we got him in August don't fit.  

The dress is on, with that bed hair and all.

Now we are ready for the ball.  Taryn loved dressing up like Elsa and having the doll who looked just like her.  So pretty!

We even have the hair.  The outfit is complete!

Needless to say, Christmas was a hit at the Jackson's house.

Christmas dinner. And finally a picture of me.  I don't take pictures of me when I just roll out of bed to open presents.  I take pictures of everyone else. 

That night, with both kids in their new pajamas, they wanted a bowl of cereal before bed.  Love them.  Those are my kids!  It was such a good day of Christmas!  We played and played with our gifts and just had wonderful family time.  

The Newest Member of The Jackson Family

Welcome our first ever puppy!  It was an early Christmas present to the kids.  We wanted to give it to them on Christmas Day, but this cute little guy came available today and we had to take him or leave him.  Vaughn and I have been going back and forth between getting a dog and not getting a dog for months.  We both grew up with dogs, but we both lived on ranches where the dogs were outside, not inside.  So we have been searching the shelters, which was a new experience for us (neither of us have ever adopted a dog), looking for a dog that would suit us.  We found some German Shepherd puppies last week at the shelter but we didn't want to get them right then.  We wanted to wait till it was closer to Christmas.

  Today after school, we had the kids at home and we went to the bigger shelter to just look again.  They had lots of puppies but not anything that jumped out at us and said, "take me home."  We then asked at the front desk if their other shelter had any puppies.  They told us they had one shepherd puppy. We decided to quickly go and see it.  When we got there we found this cute little puppy that we just fell in love with, but...he was already being held for another person.  We told the lady that we were wanting the dog and if the other person bailed out, to call us and we would come and get him.

   So the rest of the afternoon we waited around and took around treats to our friends.  Around 5pm we got a call from the shelter saying we had a puppy if we wanted him.  Vaughn, I and the kids drove to the shelter and the kids figured it out.  They were jumping all around, so excited to be getting a dog. We couldn't get the paperwork done fast enough for them.

Now we have this cute little puppy, who still doesn't have a name, cause we can't agree on one.  Ha ha

Look at his big paws.  He is going to be a good sized dog.  I am glad, because when Vaughn goes to work I will have a protector.   

Taryn is in heaven.  She couldn't get enough of this dog.  She was playing with it and running around and acting like a new little mother.  Tyson, on the other hand, was a little apprehensive about the dog.  He has been scared of dogs since he was little.  We hope that having his own dog will change all of that.  It is time to go to bed and put the dog in its crate.  Only time will tell us how this night will go...hopefully well.

Christmas Choir

My little performer was at it again. Tyson was asked to sing in the children's choir of our stake at the stake Christmas Devotional.  He is a good singer and was so happy someone noticed and asked him to sing.  Vaughn and Taryn went to support him.  I was home sick!  I have been sick for days.  I have been in bed for two of those days.  Not fun!

Vaughn recorded Tyson singing and he did such a good job.  He sang his little heart out.  He is going to be just like mamma!  Loving the spotlight!

Why? Why Do I Do This To Myself?

By the looks of the mess one might ask themselves why I torture myself with last minute ideas.  Taryn had suggested that she wanted to do something for the high school girls that help teach at her preschool.  I figured, why not! Little did I know that there were 30 girls helping out!  Holy cow!  What can I do that is cost efficient and fun for 30 girls? Washer necklaces!  Triumph!

I was making necklaces for days. My kitchen looked like my whole craft closet exploded all over the place.

But here are the end results.  They turned out so cute!  And when Taryn gave each individual girl a present wrapped in a cute little bag, they all hugged her and thanked her.  You would have thought she was Santa.  My heart was full and I was glad that I spent all that time making them.  I love to brighten up someone's day and today Taryn felt what that was like!  Awesome day!

Christmas Recital

It was our first recital since starting piano.  Tyson has practiced and practiced for weeks on his two pieces.  He played Jingle Bells and Oh Come All Ye Faithful. He played them flawlessly.  I was such a proud momma!  Tyson was all smiles each time he finished his piece.  He even stood up and gave a bow.  What a performer!

On a side note: I was sicker than I could be, but still went to support my boy.  

Now Christmas Can Begin!

It has been 4 days, but it finally all came together tonight.  We have be trying to get the tree put up and decorated for four days.  The first day it took forever just to put it all together.  We had a hard time fluffing it up from being in a box all year long.

Next, it took two days just to do the lights.  The first night we put the lights on and then half didn't work.  The next day I bought some lights, brought them home, put them on the tree and guess what?  They were the new LED lights and are so much WHITER than my other ones that they looked funny.  ARG!

Then I remembered that the kids' tree has lights that match my big tree's lights.  So I had to disassemble their entire tree just to get the lights.  I then put the LED lights on their tree and reassembled it, and headed back to my tree.  The lights only go around 3/4 of my tree on the bottom but the part of the tree that you never see, which is up against the wall, is the part without the lights.  After that fiasco, I went to bed. 

Today, I finally finished my tree.  I love the deco mesh that I used in it.  And as always, I love my Santa tree.  Christmas has officially begun at the Jackson household!

Both Bottom Teeth Are Gone!

Taryn's other bottom tooth was so loose today.  She could move it sideways and almost push it out of her mouth and she still wouldn't let us touch it.  She kept saying,"It SO isn't ready."  To which we would tell her that it was SO ready!  

Finally, this evening after FHE, I told her we were pulling it out.  She ran from me, and I chased after her up the stairs and then down them.  It took Vaughn and I both to hold her down and pry her mouth open.  But once I got my fingers in there, I pulled her tooth out before she realized it.  Ha ha ha.  After that she was so proud of herself.  Toothless girl!  Looks like the tooth fairy better be finding some more money.  

5K, Thanksgiving Dinner & Black Friday

Ever since Ragnar, I have had the running bug.  I am not so extreme to where I am going to run the Boston Marathon, but I do want to run some lower races.  I told my mom we were going to run in the Hot To Trot 5K run on Thnaksgiving Day.  We had to be at the starting line by 6:30 am.  Here we are ready to run!

The kids and Vaughn were our cheering section.  We were ready. Bring on the race!

My cheerleaders.  I love these two.  They make me feel like I can do anything.

Mom and I were at the beginning of the start line and when they said, "GO" I took off. (This was mostly due to the fact that it was 20 degrees outside. YIKES!  Can you say cold!)  I told my mom that I was going to run as fast as I could to see what place I could get. I ran well the first two miles, but then my IT band on my knee started to act up and I had to slow down.  I was not happy to let people pass me.  As I rounded the road to the finish line I pushed as hard as I dared and ran across the finish line. My family was at the 10K finish line and missed me!  Bummer.  Oh well, we were all there to see my mom run across the finish line.  Mom finished 6th in her age group and I finished 8th in mine out of 195 people.  I ran an 8.09 mile.  Wow!  That is the fastest I have ever run.  It was awesome!

After running the race, it was breakfast at The Waffle House.  That is my favorite place to eat breakfast. They have the best waffles and grits. Then we had a good rest for a few hours.  That felt great!  The kids watched the MACY'S Day Thanksgiving Parade.  They loved it.  Then it was time to cook and get ready for Thanksgiving dinner with the Curlees and Schultz's.  We made yams, yummy, veggies and a deep fried turkey.  (It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.)

After a delicious meal with our friends, mom and I headed for some Black Friday shopping.  We camped out at JCPenny's for 1 hour and 30 minutes, to be the tenth person through the door.  We were in and out in 30 minutes headed to Target.

Target was about 40 minutes on account that their check out line was long, however it moved quite fast.  Kohl's is a store I wish we wouldn't have gone to, even though we got killer deals.  We stood in line for an hour to check out!  Arg!! Thank goodness the mall was much nicer.  We had us some early breakfast at Subway and shopped until 2:30 am.  We came home and slept.  I felt good about all the money we saved.  I love Black Friday shopping!  Wahoo!!!

Frozen & The Wrapping Begins

Since we have shopped and shopped, I decided it was time to have some R&R.  We took the whole family to the new Disney show Frozen.  It was a cute cartoon.  It ended totally different than myself or the kids thought it would, but the ending was perfectly fitting for the show.  

Once the little darlings were in bed, it was time to wrap and wrap and wrap.  Grandma T had to get all her presents wrapped before she left.  I wrapped a few of what I had, and then helped her finish.  It took several hours, but we got it done.  I seriously dislike wrapping.  No wonder my MomaD made us older grand kids wrap everyone else's gifts.  She didn't like to wrap either.  That must be where I get it from.  I just want to say, close your eyes and then open them, and there is their gift.  What a Scrooge I am.