Thursday, May 22, 2014

So....This happened?!?

It seems like yesterday that Jackson was
going for his Kindergarten interview....

and now...

This Big Man has GRADUATED!!


Last Monday evening, Jackson and his Kindergarten class
put on a program for all of the parents, friends and family.


We are so proud of how well Jackson has done this year.
He's learned a lot, grown a lot and changed so much 
over this last year.




He got to walk in with Carolyn...
They have know each other since birth.
She and her family go to church with us and she was born
just 2 weeks after Jackson.


Jackson and his Kindergarten class all ready to go!


He was so cute sitting up on stage.
He did very well and followed along and sang out loud.



At one point though, he let out a BIG yawn...
doing all of that singing was a lot of hard work!


Almost done...Getting his diploma from Mr. Adams


After the program we all headed in for a reception.
Suzanne's Bakery made us a yummy cake and we had 
popcorn and cotton candy to go along with their circus theme.



Jackson had lots of friends and family there to 
watch him graduate. 

Now school is officially out for summer!
Austin was finished yesterday and we all got sleep late this morning.

June is already filling up with lots of fun
summer camps for the boys....
soccer camp...
baseball camp....
Youth group camp....
Boy Scout camp...

And then in July...someone  gets his Driver's Permit....
YIKES!

Lots of summer plans...
Lots of organizing...
Lots of cleaning....



Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Johnny Appleseed Day

Kindergarten is in full swing!

The first fun celebration the kids have had 
was to celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day.


Johnny came to visit and ready them a story.


He even hung around and had his photo taken with the kids!
He gave each child an apple as a treat.


Jackson kept saying he didn't want an apple because he 
didn't like apples...I think he ate 4 that day along with all
kinds of different apple treats!


The kids had lots of fun making home made applesauce
and it made their classroom smell sooo good!


One of the fun things the kids did was to make a 
Thank You card for Johnny coming to see them.
They made an apple tree out of their hands and then
made apples with their thumb prints and their name
to say "thanks"

They had so much fun dressing up and doing all of the fun
activities that Mrs. Hall had planned for them.

Monday, October 28, 2013

All About Jackson

Whew....

We have been running in a whirlwind around here lately...

Time for a little catch up!

A few weeks ago, it was Jackson's 
All About Me week at school.

The kids get to have a bulletin board in their classroom decorated
all week with photos and things that tell all about them
and then on Friday it's their All About Me Day.
They get to have a special snack and do 
whatever activity they want...
crafts or games...


I had gone the Friday before and set up his board.
We had photos of him as a baby,
Halloween photos, vacation photos,
family photos, birthday photos,
Auburn photos and just having fun photos.

I thought his little board turned out really cute.
All decked out in orange and blue!




We all dressed in Auburn colors for his all about me day
and had lots of fun telling his class all about the pictures we
choose to put on his board.


Jackson's favorite treats are Lemonade Popsicles and
ice cream, so we had both on hand and let the kids choose 
which treat they would like to have. 


Then we were off to do Jackson's favorite thing at school.
Playing on the Playground!

All the kids had fun outside and it was a beautiful day to 
be outside playing!

Scott had been out of town that week and flew back in at lunch and made it
to school just in time to start Jackson's All About Me...
he was so excited to see Scott!

It was a lot of fun and Jackson had fun telling his friends all
about the things that make him special.

At the end of the day, Jackson's treat from Mrs. Hall was
to take home their class mascot, Boomer.


Boomer went every where with us that weekend.
We took photos of all the fun things that he and Jackson did
and wrote in Boomer's special journal that
keeps track of everything that Boomer does with all of the
kids.  It's going to be fun to read all about Boomer's adventures 
at the end of the year.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out
"All About Jackson"


Friday, September 13, 2013

Austin's Diamond in the Rough


Today we got Austin a car...
he's only 14...and it's a good thing...

cause it's gonna need a little help!



For a while now, Austin has been talking to Scott about getting a 
classic car and the two of them fixing it up.


And a wonderful one popped up.
A '66 Mustang...



Today we had it hauled to the house.
Hauled because that is the only way we could get it here!



The guy from the wrecker service made it look 
easy peasy....


And just like that it was loaded up and ready to go.


And then it was home.


They have a lot of work ahead of them, but,
I think it is going to be a great project for the two of them.


And Austin can't wait to see how their project
turns out.

The only problem with this new little project is that we have 
now run out of garage space!  Scott's truck moved upstairs and the 
Mustang now lives downstairs with the 'Vette.
Someone had to move outside.
And with winter coming,  Scott was gracious and let me
stay in the garage.

We may have another project pop up before this is all said and done.
It will be in the form of another garage out in the back yard!

We'll keep you up to date with their progress.
Hopefully they will have it running and ready to go
by the time he turns 16!

Grandparents Day 2013

Today we celebrated Grandparent's Day
at Jackson's school.


Mama and Papa came over and had lunch with Jackson...
Austin is too big for Grandparent lunch...I guess they think that 
High School kids don't want to have lunch with their Grandparent's.


After lunch we headed back to their classroom and listened to a
special song they learned about how special our Grandparents are and then
they sang us their Months of the Year song and also they sang a song
where they have learned to count to 10 in Spanish.


After the performance they had a special gift for their Grandparents 
with a sweet poem and their hand prints on it.



This was a cute little poster they had hanging outside their door 
about all of the fun things they do with their Grandparents.

Today was lots of fun and we were so happy that 
Mama and Papa could come and share this special
day with Jackson.  We sure missed Nana and Grandpa being here...






Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Back to School!

Both boys started to school last week.

Austin started 9th grade and Jackson
is a big Kindergarten boy now!!

On Tuesday night, the kids had orientation.
Austin went to grab his schedule and we took all
of Jackson's supplies in and checked out his room.


He was so excited and couldn't wait to get 
to his room.


Mrs. Hall has her room decorated in a circus theme 
and everything looks amazing.


She was introducing them to their class mascot,
Boomer,  he will actually get to come home with
the children and they will get to write in a journal
what they and Boomer do while he is visiting
their house.


I have always taken Austin's picture on the front porch
every first day of school.  Last year he wouldn't
let me take it...this year I told him that
there would be a photo taken and there would NOT
be an argument or I would take my camera and
follow him down the hall at school and take it there!

Needless to say, he was on the porch, first call, smiling and
I was happy I had my first day picture!


I walked in with Jackson on the first day to help him
get situated and of course, snap a few dozen photos!

After I took this photo, Jackson turned around and said 
"if you don't stop taking my picture I am going to walk off 
and go into Kindergarten by myself!"


Mrs. Hall was excited...it is her first day of Kindergarten, too!
She has taught sixth grade at the school for several years,
but switched to Kindergarten this year.


Coloring before school started for the day


Outside in the hall, the kids have a place to hang their work
and the sign above reads "Welcome to the Greatest Class on Earth!"

I can't wait to see what wonderful things this year brings for Jackson.
It has been so much fun hearing about his day...
who made him laugh...all of the new rules...(that thankfully he seems to 
be following!)...new challenges and new adventures!


I left after their class headed out to chapel.
All of the Mom's looked like the paparazzi out in the hallway...
snapping that one last photo of their babies before they headed 
on their way.

Here's to a GREAT school year for both of the boys!

Monday, July 8, 2013

I'm Still Here...

I think!
WOW
We have been so busy since school has been out but at
the same time we have not gotten a thing done!

Austin has been to camp twice and I 
think most of his summer running is over!

On Sunday, June 30th we took him
to Camp Boxwell in Lebanon, Tennessee for 
Boy Scout Camp.


Loading up the car before church...he was so 
excited that I was taking his picture every step of the way!


We met the rest of his troop and drove up to Boxwell
and dropped him off for the week.


They were getting all of their gear together and meeting
"Mongoose" their site manager for the week.


We followed them down to camp.
He was even MORE excited that I kept taking photos...
hee hee hee...He only thought he was getting rid of 
me for the week!
Jackson had fun checking out their tent and seeing where we
were sending his big brother off to for the week.


We decided to stay and watch the boys take their swimming 
test.  Each boy has to jump in and swim certain distances
to see if they are a non-swimmer, beginning swimmer or full swimmer.


Austin had told us before he waked to the docks that
he was not going to try the swim test and just be a 
non-swimmer this week.  We tried to talk him into
trying, but we were not getting very far...
but he jumped in and did the entire test!
Full Swimmer for the week!
Whoo Hoo!



We watched until he got his arm band with the other
boys and then Scott, Jackson and I headed home.

We returned back on Friday, July 5th to pick him up!
I was so happy to see my little camper!
We decided against staying for the closing campfire.

It had been raining for two days straight and there
was more rain on the way.


Austin had a lot of fun, but was ready to come home
at the same time!  He told us stories all the way home about 
what happened this year at camp.
Great summer memories made indeed!