Fabulous to be FIVE

OK....

first of all I have to say...

How in the word is Jackson 5 already???

It really just seems like yesterday that we 

brought this little bundle of joy home from the hospital.

He is just growing and growing more every day...

All signed up to start Kindergarten in August

(sniff, sniff)

A birthday is not complete without balloons around the house.

Jackson was having lots of fun with

Uncle Jeff...this was a shot of Jackson getting

a pony ride...and Uncle Jeff getting his lower

body work out...lifting that 40 lbs. with you calves is 

not an easy task!

Then it was time to have some cake!

Jackson has never like having "Happy Birthday" sung to him.

Every time he acts very shy and turns his head away.

We had a little cake for Jackson...we call it his "Spit Cake".

He's too big for a smash cake, but have you ever watched a 

small child blow out their candles???

yuck...so the spit cake has become a regular at our house.

Clean cake for the adults and spit cake for Jackson.

Here was the cake for our guests...

Jackson wanted a Fire Truck cake.

It was delicious!

The happy little birthday boy and his Nana.

Jackson loved eating his yummy cake from Suzanne's.

Caleb, Jackson and Carolyn...

These friends have helped Jackson

celebrate his birthday every year...

I decided to loose my mind it would be fun to have

a Pinata... I did this once with Austin and it 

ended with three adult men trying to beat the thing open

with a 9 Iron to get it open...no joke!

But we tried it again and the kids tried and tried to

get it open and it was beginning to look like a 

repeat of Austin's...

But then we called in the Big Guns!

Jason stepped up to the plate to try a swing at it...

he carefully lined up his target....

And made complete contact!

HOME RUN!!!

He was able to knock a hole in the side,

but all of the toys and candy didn't fall out.

Which left it open enough that the little ones could hit 

and watch the candy fall out!

They were all so excited.

Then it was time to enjoy the beautiful day outside.

One of Jackson's birthday presents was a kite.

There was just enough wind to get it to fly a little.

Jackson was so cute watching his kite and concentrating on keeping 

it up in the air.

It was a wonderful day with family and friends

helping our little one turn

FIVE!

Spring Break Rewind...

Oh My!

We have been busy lately!

I guess I need to post a few rewinds to catch us up to today...

Austin had Spring Break a few weeks ago and we headed to 

Pigeon Forge with some of our friends for a relaxing week

in the mountains.

Usually you try to go somewhere warm

for Spring Break...

We found snow...

We woke up to snow on our first morning there.

It was so pretty.

The snowflakes were so big and fluffy...

There was a light dusting on the ground and on the cars,

but the roads were clear so the girls were off

to do what we love best...

SHOP!!!

The little hoot owl thought it was too cold,

but we decided to be brave...

we could pile our shopping bags over us to keep us warm!

The next morning we woke up

to even more snow!

It was so beautiful and relaxing.

The trees always look so pretty with snow

sitting on the branches.

The cars were a little more covered but the roads

were clear as could be.

After seeing the snow in the mountains,

I feel the need for a flocked Christmas Tree!

Just Beautiful...

While some went shopping again the next day,

Scott and I drove the boys through Cades Cove...

Now...if you know me, I don't like driving through

the mountains...winding roads...curves...up and down...

BARF!

Once we got there and I got over my nausea...

it was amazing!

The deer were all over the place and 

were right up by the road to give us a show.

They were in every open field and around every corner...

The streams were so pretty with the snow on the banks.

Jackson was so excited to see the snow...

and throw a GIANT snowball at 

Austin and Dad!

The icicles were forming on the old buildings through the drive.

And the trees were draped in snow...

By the time we headed back to the cabin,

the sun was coming out.

Just as quickly as it fell...

it was gone again.

One more fun thing we did was visit the Titanic exhibit.

Austin is a BIG history buff and loves things like this, so this

was an activity that he requested we do on vacation.

You were not allowed to take photos inside so these

are the only shots we got...

a view from the parking lot...

And a couple from the road.

It was very interesting.

They gave each of us an actual passenger name when we

walked in and it told you the name, age, a brief history of 

the person and if they were a 1st, 2nd or 3rd class passenger.

You also found out at the end of the museum if 

you lived or died.

At one point you could step off of the steering room and 

feel an actual iceberg and they also had water that was the actual

temperature of the ocean when the ship went down...

talk about COLD!

It was very interesting and Austin had a lot of fun learning

about the details of the ship and how it was build

and how it went down.

Jackson also had a lot of fun.  We rented the little hand held

tour guides that we could listen to along the way.

The thing that was really neat about them was that 

there was a version for Austin and a version for smaller kids,

like Jackson.  They both learned a lot and we had lots of fun

as a family.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I woke up to wonderful goodies

from my three little men!

Beautiful Roses and a Balloon from Scott

I treated Austin to a heart shaped biscuit from 

Chick-fil-A this morning for breakfast

Jackson keeps asking if he can play with my balloon...

I'm happy to share with my littlest Valentine.

Sweet cards for my boys...

My beautiful hot pink roses!!

And a few days ago...I got a  very special delivery...

I was so excited!!!

It's a girly little home for my new camera!!!

Say "Hello" to Missy in Mint

from Jo Totes!!!

It's awesome!! It has a bunch of little padded dividers that

I can put in there however I want them!  

My new little camera has a new little home and

it's big enough to hold my iPad and lenses and all kinds

of stuff.  My wallet even has a little spot in there...

I LOVE IT!!!

The little men have their Valentine buckets full of goodies...

Ready and waiting until after school...

Austin has a new tuxedo t-shirt and the

regular gift on an iTunes card...

some M & M's, gum and Pac-Man band-aids.

Jackson has a new John Deere t-shirt that came 

with a new tractor toy,

pretzel Flipz, bathtub toys and a new

Thomas the Tank Engine Spin toothbrush and toothpaste...

(Santa usually always brings us new tooth brushes as well

as the Easter Bunny...at least they are responsible....

give the kids candy and then a way to avoid the cavities...)

We had a nice relaxing evening at home...

Scott grilled us some yummy steaks and then he and I

enjoyed a movie after the kids went to bed.

Perfect all around....

Look Out Kindergarten...

Here Comes 

JACKSON!!!

Last night we took Jackson

to Kindergarten Registration...

sniff, sniff...

He looks so big sitting there at the table...

Isaac (Jackson's 2nd cousin) doesn't look very thrilled to

be there...hee hee...

Jackson was also excited to see Carolyn.

She is our back door neighbor.

She and Jackson are about 3 weeks apart in age

and have grown up together...

now they are getting ready

to start Kindergarten!!

The kids had a lot of fun and we are looking forward

to a great year in Kindergarten!!!

One More Painting Project...DONE!

Let me tell you...

Scott has been a painting machine lately!

He's the best!

When we built our house 10 years ago,

I had the kitchen painted a sage green 

and have been really happy with it.

It was just showing it's age and I was

ready for a change.

Scott took everything off the walls and patched

all of the holes...

We have a clock that Scott bought me for my birthday

one year that hangs in between the windows...

we were all lost when we took the clock down!

Looking back towards the kitchen...

say goodbye to Sage Green!

And say "Hello" to Sherwin Williams

Nomadic Desert!

"Mom....I'm busy helping Dad...

I don't have time for a picture"

Ahhhh....nice clean new paint....

I am loving it already.

While he was patching walls and such, Scott

decided to move the phone jack that our electrician

plopped right on top of the edge of the counter top...you know,

where you couldn't hang a phone to hide the jack...

it just sat out there...lookin' ugly!

So, Scott moved it under the desk and

everything was hunky dory until he

realized that the only phone that worked in the house was

the one plugged directly into that line...

but a little climb up in the attic

and an afternoon of talking to him on cell phones 

from the kitchen to the attic and feeding a few wires

through the wall...

we are back in business!

I love that my husband is so handy and can figure

out how to fix just about anything.

Saves more room in the budget for shoes when

I'm not having to always call a repair man!

Moving on around and looking good!

I can't wait to start putting some of 

my things back on the walls and I am going to start 

looking for some new window treatments.

After painting all day,

we cleaned up and went to see my

niece's basketball team play in the

area tournament....

They WON!!!

Way to go Lady Red Devils!

So, three room painted lately...

now it's time to start looking for

window treatments and new accessories.

This may take a while...

we also have a couple of furniture

pieces that I would like to paint

for the Kitchen...

Always something going on....

What's going on with you?