Action Jackson is at it again.....

Well, Jack has finally decided that it was time to move on from the army crawl. He has now improvised so that he can climb short heights. Today, I caught him kneeling 4 times as he tried to pull himself up. Yay!! This is good since he is getting a little hefty to be lugging along on my hip for any length of time. Hopefully we'll be moving on to cruising soon. Then, I'll be lamenting the days when he wasn't so mobile...(yet another example of the grass is always greener). Above is a video clip that Brian took the other day of Jack crawling up onto the wrapping paper box and then flipping himself off of it as he tries to get down. It doesn't seem to slow him down at all. Take note also of Kaylyn trying to steal the spotlight. This is an hourly occurrence at our house. It seems that it is eternally "her turn"!

Say cheese, or pizza, or smile, or whatever works......

Well, we got Kaylyn by herself and Jack by himself and got great pictures. Then, Jack got grumpy and wouldn't take pictures with his sister. So, on to the family pics. Click here for more photos.

Santa Claus - Part Two

Well, Jack was a good sport with Santa too. He gave Santa Claus a 45 second stare-down. Next thing you know, Jack laid his head down on Santa's tummy and just hung out while we waited for the photographer to finish up with her last customer. When it was showtime Jack smiled while I played a little peek-a-boo behind the curtain with him. I will post about today's family portrait session after dinner.

Santa Claus - Part One

Kaylyn and I went to the mall today to see Santa Claus and do a little Christmas shopping. Kaylyn was the perfect model. She placed herself in the pose above (including her hands) without any coaching from me or anyone else. She told Santa what she wanted for Christmas and politely said thank you after she was done taking her picture. I was so proud! Brian and I are taking Jack to see Santa tomorrow while Kaylyn is in school, so check back for his picture later. We will also be trying out a new place for our annual Christmas pictures. We have an appointment at Portrait Innovations in Sugar Land tomorrow. I will post those pictures later as well.

Nothing to say...just cute pictures!

Just goofing off one day and put Jack on the snail with his cowboy hat. Love the facial expressions and just wanted to share.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How lovely are your branches?

Well, the holidays are upon us and we're coming to the end of another year. This time Kaylyn is definitely excited about all that the holidays will bring. I got her a set of My Little Pony mini-ornaments to hang on the tree. She moves them around everyday. She loves to see Christmas lights and is anticipating visiting Santa Claus next week. We also learned that she will be in her school's Christmas Pageant next week. Jack is just going with the flow. He doesn't seem very interested in the Christmas tree, but maybe that's because Brian put up a HUGE gate around it! It kind of takes away from the effect of it all. Well, here's wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday. We will be taking new family portraits this week. I will post those as soon as I can. For now, click here to see the rest of the tree decorating pics.

Catching up on birthdays, Mickey Mouse, and turkey....

Well, I've fallen behind on my blogging, so I will attempt to catch everyone up.

I recently turned 35 years old on November 9th. I think I'm finally starting to feel it. I guess 2 kids will do that to you. I celebrated on my actual birthday by going out to eat with my parents, sister and kids since Brian had to work. We went to BJ's Restaurant and Brewpub. The food was yummy as usual. Kaylyn ate more than anyone else at the table. She also enjoyed her own personal ice cream sundae for dessert. On Monday (Nov.10) Brian took me and the kids to Pappasito's Cantina(my favorite place to eat) and we had fajitas for dinner.

On Wednesday (Nov. 12), we went to see Disney on Ice - Disneyland Adventures. Kaylyn loved it, especially whenever Mickey & Minnie were on the ice. Kaylyn came home with a new Cinderella toy, Disney on Ice Mickey ears, and an Incredibles light-up wrist band. After that adventure, I left the next day to drive to South Padre for a forensics conference on child abuse. I was a little disappointed in the conference, there wasn't a lot of information presented that I didn't already know. On top of that, I picked up a monster cold while I was there. I'm still fighting it off now.

Yesterday was a nice day. Kaylyn's school had a Thanksgiving luncheon where family members were invited to join their children for a turkey lunch. Nia made a special surprise appearance and we all got to eat an early Thanksgiving meal. The food was delicious and Kaylyn seemed to have a good time. She had such a good time that she wasn't ready to go home with us after lunch. She insisted on staying for nap time. She took me back to her classroom and said "I have to take a nap now mommy, I'll see you later." (huh???) Well, Brian and I decided to take Jack to Garden Ridge and do some Christmas shopping while Kaylyn took her nap. In fact, she was still asleep when I arrived to pick her up at 2 pm. She sure does love her school!

Halloween Adventures

Halloween was a busy, fun-packed day for Kaylyn. It started off with a costume party at school. She was one of three mermaids in her class, although she was the only one with a crown. Her teacher said that she had a blast. We picked her up at 2pm and went home to relax for a bit. Kaylyn and Jack spent the afternoon playing at the house. We headed over to my parents house about 6:30pm. My dad had fixed steak and potatoes for dinner...yummy! After dinner, we all went trick-or-treating. Kaylyn was sweet as could be. She would always take one extra piece of candy and tell everyone "This is for Jack" and then place the candy in his bucket. She also told everyone "thank you and happy Halloween!" (with a little coaching). Check out our pictures here.

Fun in Lufkin

Well, the family had fun in Lufkin while I was stuck in Houston working. Kaylyn and Jack got to visit Nia, Papa, and Uncle Scott. They stayed very busy playing with their new toys and swinging on the back porch. They even squeezed in a trip to the zoo! I'm so glad they all had fun. Check out more pictures from their visit here.

A Taste of Success

Well, I did it! I managed to scrapbook my first set of pages in 3 years. I put together 7 pages total of our recent trip to the zoo. I am so excited. I hope that I can manage to continue squeezing in pages here and there. Next on my list is pumpkins, fall, and Halloween. I've decided that I am not even going to attempt to do past events yet. I will just concentrate on current events and hopefully that will keep me from feeling overwhelmed. Here is a sample of some pages that I did. Hope you like them!