Fantastic to be Four

On Thursday, April 12,

Jackson turned Four!!

Today we celebrated with a 

party with a few of our friends and family.

Four orange balloons for each

fabulous year he's been here.

Lots of wonderful presents waiting to be opened.

Our delicious cake from Suzanne's.

Jackson's special request...

an orange car with black wheels.

I know he's too big for a "smash" cake,

but I thought it would be better for him to 

have a "spit" cake...

Last year he spit all over the cake trying to blow out the candles,

so this year he had his own cake to blow candles out on,

and we had a spit free cake to enjoy!

Jackson and his friends.

Caleb and Carolyn.

These three are all within

a few months of each other

in age and so sweet.

Jackson was ready to open his presents!

He got a cool new scooter from

Aunt Ann, Uncle Jeff, Julie and Chris,

and this awesome helmet to keep him safe.

He was really not wanting to stop with the present 

opening to have his picture made...

Jackson's book from Mrs. Deborah had a special

surprise on each page...

a dollar for each year he's been around.

He thought this was a pretty cool book!

Then it was time for CAKE!!!

A quick picture with his little cake 

and me...

After singing "Happy Birthday"...

to which he became completely embarrassed!

He crawled out of his chair and into my arms

while everyone sang.

But then he was ready to blow out his 

candles and eat some cake!

For some reason he thought it was so 

much fun to lick the icing off the bottom of 

the candles.  I'm not sure why this was

so exciting, but the smile on his face tells it all.

While he didn't smash it,

he did take a big ol' bite out of the side.

But then it was time to play outside for a little while.

We had the most beautiful day!

It was warm and sunny.

A perfect day for a celebration!

He even took Carolyn for a ride...

Jackson really enjoyed his party and spending

time with his family and friends.

It was a Fantastic day

to celebrate being FOUR!!!!

A Visit from Peter Cottontail

The boys woke up to a few little surprises

on Sunday morning.

Jackson woke up on his own for a change

and was in a very good mood.

He's a lot like his Momma...

Wake up on my own = Happy Me...

Being woke up before I'm ready = GRUMPY!

They both checked out their goodies

and then flashed a quick smile for me.

Jackson was excited to see what all was in his bucket

and was eager to show off all of his loot.

After church, we headed to Russellville to visit with

Scott's Mom and Dad for the afternoon.

Jackson loves his cousin Julie and wants her

by his side all the time.

Every time we would turn around he would say

"Hey Jewee, wanna pway"

(he's still working on those l's)

It was a beautiful day outside and we were able to spend

a lot of time out on the porch and playing in the yard.

A sweet moment with Mama and Jackson's bubbles.

Jackson just loves to be outside and add bubbles to the mix and

you have got it made!

Concentrating very hard on making the perfect bubble.

Those big ol' sunglasses make him look a little like a 

mad scientist...which may be right.

A quiet moment with Papa in the yard.

Blowing bubbles, of course.

Mama's flowers are getting so pretty...

now if we can just keep the boys

and their football out of them, we'll be doing good!

Mama and Papa wanted a picture of the grands out

by her well...

The big kids were good...but Jackson was another story.

When we got them all in position

I just started snapping away.

While looking at the photos on the computer,

I just had to laugh.

The three oldest stayed in the same position, same expression..

But, Jackson's little head bobbed around and twisted and moved all over the place!

I was able to get a good shot of the four of them...

Austin 12

Jackson 3

Julie 15

and 

Chris 12

They are all growing up so fast...

Hope everyone was able to spend time with their family

this beautiful weekend!

We had a wonderful time!

Positive Thoughts on Pollen

The pollen around here has been

crazy off the charts!

But it is nice to see that there is a beautiful side to pollen...

Before we left for mom's I had shown you a picture of my

Azalea bush out back... 

When we returned...she was in full bloom!

My hosta had just stuck their little tops out of the ground...

And now they are in desperate need 

of some thinning out!

WOW!

We also brought home a couple of plants from

mom's that we have transplanted in our yard.

This is a little Hibiscus that we have planted in the back yard.

I shouldn't say "little" because last year mom said it was

HUGE and had flowers the size of dinner plates.

We'll see if I can keep it alive!

We also are trying to transplant some Peonies.

This plant was my Grandmothers

and I hope I am able to keep it alive.

Mom assured me that she has moved them around 

and around in Missouri and they have always survived,

so I am hoping that my black thumb does not do it in.

I like having plants that have a little sentimental value.

There are a few buds just waiting...

I can't wait to see it bloom.

I can't wait to put out a few more plants in my pots on the deck,

but I am waiting to make sure we do not have one last cold snap.

It has been in the 80's lately but a little cooler air is in

our forecast, so better to be a little patient

than to have to replant later.

Branson Railway

My Grandparents always lived in Missouri

and when I was growing up, we would always

go for a visit every summer.

Now that my parents have moved back,

the tradition of traveling to Missouri has continued.

When we would travel when I was young,

we would always spend a few days with

my Dad's Mom, then travel to Mom's mother's house

and stay for a day and then take her with us to 

spend a few days with my Aunt and Uncle.

Now, our trips to Missouri are much different.

We usually stay at Mom's house the entire time

with day trips to visit extended family.

But the time spent at Mom's is packed with adventure!

My Mother wants us to do every attraction,

shopping excursion, and tourist thing there is...

The boys are never at a loss of something to see.

This last trip, Mom wanted to go on the train ride out of Branson

so we made our plans and we were off!

We headed out on a Wednesday morning and arrived in Branson

just in time to make the 11:30 train ride.

A few weeks ago, Branson was hit by a tornado and I told

Scott, the scene around town was way to familiar.

Windows boarded up and blue tarps covering 

so many roofs.

We enjoyed our train ride through the beautiful Ozark countryside.

We went over several wooden bridges...

and through a couple of tunnels.

Mom just loved the mile long tunnel...

Not really... about half

way through she said 

"did you know I was claustrophobic?"

Umm... it's a little late to tell me now!

She was very happy when we came out on the other side.

We were able to ride the entire trip in one of the 

observation cars where you sat above the train in a glass domed car.

I kept trying to take a picture of Nana and Jackson on the ride

 but Jackson would not look at me.

Nana said "I'll give you a quarter"...

then there were smiles all around!

She was so happy with all of his smiles that she gave him a dollar

instead!  He thought that was the greatest thing.

The rest of the train ride every time I would pick up my camera

he would look and flash a smile.  Grandpa was getting cracked up

at him smiling for cash!

His smiles earned him another dollar and he was 

one very happy boy!

We all enjoyed the relaxing train ride.

Definitely a must do if you ever visit

Branson, Missouri.

Oh, and after the ride,

we hit up the outlet mall.

Oh, yes, we did!

Just Fishin'

Last week we ran up to see Mom and Dad for a few days.

Austin had his Spring Break but Scott had some important

meetings that were dictating when we left and how long we could stay,

so this trip was short and sweet...

One thing the boys wanted to do was to go fishing...

We spent one afternoon over at my 

Aunt and Uncle's farm and the boys

got in a little fishing.

Jackson enjoyed sitting on the bank with Scott

and waited patiently for a bite....

and waited....and waited....

and then got tired and waited while Austin held his pole...

but, he kept on waiting....

But there were only a couple of bites and nothing

big enough to keep.

But he sure had a lot of fun trying.

Jackson just loves to be outside...

he doesn't care what he's doing,

just as long as he is outside.

He also had a lot of fun playing with the dogs.

My Aunt and Uncle have two of the fattest Blue Healers 

you have ever seen.

I don't think they could actually heard cattle if their life

depended on it!

Both the boys ended the day loving on the dogs.

There is always something to do on the farm.