Gymnastics Birthday Party

The kiddos went to a really fun party at ASI Gymnastics yesterday. Since it also happened to coincide with the Cowboys game, though, daddo did not make it. Here are some of the fun activities they got to do. The parachute is always a big hit.

As are the bars

The rope swing was really cool...

especially when J got to fall off into the foam pit!

There was also some trampoline action

as well as some yummy cupcakes.

All in all a fun Sunday afternoon party.

Baby News!

Guess who's going to be a big brother?! That's right, Jackson is going to be a big brother in a few months! I am 3 months along and the baby is due April 19th.

We are all so excited and cannot wait to meet the little one!

Houston trip

We took a little trip south to Houston this past weekend and really enjoyed the whole thing. We got to visit lots of friends and Uncle Andrew and had so much fun. We ate dinner at Lupe Tortilla on Friday night--two words, amazing fajitas. Seriously. Then we met Carol, one of my college roommates, and her fiance at the Armadillo Palace for some very scrumptios cheeseburgers the next day. Here's the three of us. Someone isn't being too cooperative for the camera. Who could that be?

He was much happier when we let him saddle up to the bar!

After we left the restaurant, we headed over to see Uncle Andrew's apartment. He lives right in the heart of downtown, which is superclose to the Houston Aquarium. We thought a little outing there sounded like a good idea, so we headed over that way.

One of the first things we saw inside the aquarium was this alligator. For some reason, though, Jackson was more intrigued with a group of frogs! Go figure.

He did enjoy checking out all the fish.

Getting to pet the baby sting rays was pretty cool, too.

After seeing lots of other little creatures, we came to the white tiger exhibit. So cool.

Andrew and Jackson being tigers:)

After we finished inside, it was time to head outside for more fun things. We began by taking a ride on the carousel. I was really glad my carousel was able to hold me! Wasn't too sure if they were made for adults.

Then we moved on to a cool ride on the ferris wheel. Jackson really surprised me by how brave he was with all the rides.

Right after we hopped off the ferris wheel he started asking to go ride the train!

So we took a ride on the train--the ride was fine, but the really neat part was when we stopped underneath the shark tank. That was awesome. After all our rides, it was time for the big guys to win the little guy some stuffed animals. Uncle Andrew got Jackson a monkey.

And daddy got him a tiger.

This was all well and good, but what he really wanted was a seahorse. So, Jared went over to the seahorse game and promptly won him two. Such a good dad.

This was quite a big day and the J man very quickly fell asleep holding his two new favorite friends.

Owens Spring Creek Farm

This past Friday we went to visit Owens Spring Creek Farm in Plano. It's such a neat place to take kids and we have been looking forward to going for a while. We started out by feeding some very hungry goats. For real, these goats were not shy in the least!

Jackson enjoyed this, Madison did not. I think the goats may have scared her a bit--they were a little aggressive!

After we fed the starved goats, we headed over to check out some other animals. We saw horses, turkeys, chickens and miniature ponies. The kids even found a friendly little pony that let them pet him.

While we were petting this pony, we heard the call for the hayride, so we hustled over there and got a spot. My favorite part was when Maddie spotted the ducks. She started hollering "Quack! Quack!" as loud as she could. It was pretty funny.

After the relaxing hayride, the kids decided to take a turn on the barrel ride. At first all they did was fight over who got to honk the horn...

but they settled down when it was time to listen to all the rules. Right before they took off, the man asked us, "you think she's gonna stay in?" I was sure hoping so!

They both did so good, though. Last year Jackson cried during the whole ride. This year he loved it.

And Maddie didn't try to jump out. I'd say it was a big success.

Then we went over to explore the haybales and pumpkins.

Aunt Colleen told Jackson to put his arm around Madison. You can tell how much she loved that!

This is the best I could get--at least they're both looking in the same direction:)

Neither one were too keen on our impromtu photo session and Jackson really wanted to get over to the pumpkins. Check out his surfing skills!

I don'k think Madison let go of her snack the entire hour we were there.

Our outing ended with the kids picking out their pumpkins and climbing on this really big hay bale.

It really is so fun to see your kids having fun. We can't wait to go back next year!

Why?

Some of you may remember that Jackson took a long time to start talking. We even had a speech therapist come to our house once a week for about 6 months and right after that ended he started to talk. He literally went from 9 words one week to 60 the next. After that we couldn't keep track anymore! During that frusterating 6 month time period, though, everyone liked to tell me how one day I would be wishing he would STOP talking. I would smile and nod my head in agreement, but inside I was thinking, "yeah, right--if he ever starts talking I will NEVER wish for him to stop." Well, needless to say, that day has officially come. I will now eat those words. Something I've learned children will make you do again and again.

Why, you ask? Why would I ever wish my sweet child would stop chattering so much? Well, let me give you a recap of some of our recent conversations.

Why go to Gigi's house, Mommy?
So that you can play there and I can run some errands.
Why run errands, Mommy?
Because I need to get the car inspected, buy some groceries, pick up the drycleaning--things like that. I'll be back to get you very soon, though.
Why come get me very soon?
Ah! Because I just am going to!

Here's another one. This past weekend Jared fixed our broken toilet.
Why Daddy make mess?
Because he's trying to fix the toilet and some black stuff came off the back of the toilet.
Why black stuff come off the toilet, Mommy?
Because no one ever cleans inside the toilet tank.
Why no one clean inside the toilet tank?
Because it's not necessary!

One more. We were driving by Poppy's office the other day:
Why Poppy go to work?
So that he can make some money.
Why make money?
So that he can pay for things like food, toys and his car.
We get money from machine at bank. Why Poppy not go to bank?
Daddy works so that we can have money in that machine at the bank.
Why daddy go to work, Mommy?

He really is such a little curious george and most of the time I'm happy to appease all of his questions. Sometimes, though, there's nothing wrong with a little quiet time.

Happy Birthday to...

Meme! Yesterday was our Meme's 79th birthday. We began the day by calling her and singing happy birthday. Jackson sang the whole thing and Maddie clapped for him! It was so cute. That afternoon we made her a chocolate cake. Here's Jackson enjoying some of the yummy icing.

He kept eating it and saying "really good cake, mom." I was so honored that he liked it, since he usually sticks to vanilla. We went over to my parents house for the party last night. I'm pretty sure that Jackson has a future in cleaning. The kid is really obsessed.

Instead of going outside to play, he stayed inside, up on his step-ladder and "cleaned" the walls. The rest of us went outside and enjoyed the fantastic fall weather.

The only way Meme could get a pic with J is if she came inside and stood by his ladder. Notice, the ladder has been moved to a different location. So many walls, so little time.

Today we went to another birthday celebration for my great Uncle Don. The kids were so darn cute in their outfits, we just had to take some pictures. Granted, it took about 10 shots to get this one good one, but it was so worth it.

I think I am about caked out right about now, which is hard for me to say since I have a serious love for dessert! Good thing there aren't any more birthdays this next week. Guess our trip to the State Fair will have to wait, too:)

Shelley's Three-Day Walk

Calling all friends!

My mother-in-law, Shelley, has been participating in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk for the past few years. I believe this will be her 4th time to do it in a row. She walks 60 miles in three days and raises money for breast cancer research in order to do so. So far she is almost half-way towards the required $2400 that she needs in order to participate.

Here's the link to her fundraising page, which has all the info about the race.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/DallasFtWorthEvent?px=1126725&pg=personal&fr_id=1295

If there is any way that you would be able to donate, please do so. It would be so worth it. You never know who will be affected by breast cancer. I for one am so thankful for this group--they very well may save my life some day.

This was during last year's walk--there are lots of cheering stations to go to during the three days and we like to go and cheer on Shelley and all the other walkers. It's really a cool experience to see everyone out there. There are cancer survivors (walking and cheering), and women of all ages who participate. Last year we even saw a good amount of men doing the walk, too. We are looking forward to going this year. Looks like I'll need to make a new sign, though, since Jackson decided her name should be Memaw instead of Grandma:)