My Grandmother

Some of you know that my grandmother passed away last week. She was very sick and was suffereing from dementia, so I thought that after I said my good bye, it would not be difficult to know that she died. I was wrong. I know that she is in Heaven and she is having a joyful reunion with my grandfather. I understand all of that and am comforted by it, but I miss her. This was the first Christmas in my 32 years that I did not see her for the holidays. When I told the kids that she had died I explained that she would be in Heaven with Jesus for his birthday. That is all they needed to know to be okay with it.
This entry is more for me to jot down some memories, than it is for you, but read on and embrace my memories with me.
So, I did not begin this blog entry to be sad and mournful, but to share a picture or two that would serve as a reminder of the lady that I loved and cherished. Some of the pictures I am looking through have been taken with my mom's camera, so I cannot put them up for you to see, but just know that I have fond memories and will cherish them always.
When I was younger, I remember staying with my grandparents often. When I would ask to stay with them, my mother would usually say something about not having a change of clothes for the next day. That was okay. My grandmother would put me in an old shirt and wash my clothes while I slept. Funny that my mom is the same way with my kids.
I was the only granddaughter for 13 years and was sure spoiled by her. I spent a lot of time with her after my grandfather died.
I remember her being a nervous wreck waiting for the triplets to arrive, but after they came along those babies had a power over her like none other. She could be having the worst of days when I would call. As soon as I mentioned bringing the babies over, she'd suddenly feel like a million dollars.
Even as she got older and less mobile, I could always convince her to go anywhere with the kids and I. These last few months, the kids and I continued to visit her in the nursing home. Halloween night, I got in trouble by her because I did not make it their early enough for her friends to see the kids in their costumes in the dining area. I heard about that for the next couple of visits. Their last visit to the nursing home was the Thursday before she got sick and it was for the resident's Christmas party. My mom took the kids out of school early to attend the party (now I'm sad that I didn't take off work to go). She was thrilled that they were there.
Merry Christmas, Gran! I hope that you enjoyed your first Christmas in Heaven because we certainly missed you here.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Yeah! We have our Christmas tree up!! The kids and I are so excited. For those of you that know me well, know that I love Christmas. I love everything about it- the meaning, the shopping, the cooking, the decorating, the hustle and bustle...everything! This year the kids and I convinced Chris to put up our tree on Sunday, November 16. I explained to him that after all I have my fall things out all of September, October, and November. Why in the world couldn't we start decorating for Christmas? He graciously smiled (like he does a lot when the kids and/or I try to sell him on an idea!!) and said with a sigh, "I guess." The kids and I were quite surprised because I had prepared them to accept No for an answer.
The past several years we have hosted my family for Thanksgiving and I have felt like I owed it to them to keep the fall things up until we had at least cleaned up the Thanksgiving dishes, but this year my sis-in-law is hosting T-giving at her house.
So starting tonight we will have visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads...
Let the festivities begin.

Right of Passage

Today was an awesome day for my husband and son. Chris is a hunter. He starts looking forward to deer season late August, early September. He cleans his gun, sights it in, starts feeding the deer (I refer to it as luring poor unsuspecting creatures, but it does put dinner on the table!). Each year since Ty has understood that Chris was going, he has asked to go. Chris has taken him just to watch the deer, but Mommy has always said you are just not big enough yet. You have to be seven. Four years ago seven seemed like a big kid. Each year he has asked me how many more years until he is seven. Well, now he is seven and I had no choice but to let him go (Chris and Tyler held me to this). Tyler took what we are referring to as a 'personal day' from school and went to the deer stand with Chris. For those of you who are unfamiliar with deer season, this was opening weekend. We are calling it a personal day instead of playing hookie because I told him that I knew where he was and he would not be in trouble for missing school HOWEVER if he played hookie, then I would not know where he was and to anticipate trouble when I found out (not IF, but WHEN). I went on to use this as a teachable moment that because Mommy is a teacher and because technology allows it, I will ALWAYS know what is happening at school.
Okay, back to my story. Sorry I tend to digress.
The boys ended up shooting a deer. Ty was pumped. Chris was pumped. They were even using the same gun that Chris used to shoot his first deer when he was around Tyler's age. It was an awesome day of bonding for the two most important men in my life. I hope that this was the first of many trips to come.
I did send my camera, but someone (someone who is 33, male, and mentioned in this story)forgot to take it with him. Hopefully there will be another trip and I can take pictures of the 2 of them together.

Jackson Update

We have been very busy in the Jackson household. We have been winding down our fall sports. Tyler sadly finished baseball this weekend. He is an incredible little player and is very versatile. Of course, for those of you who know Chris, it makes his heart happy that he loves to play catcher!
Kaydee played her last soccer game 2 weeks ago- she is shaping up to be an aggressive goalie.
Kin will continue gymnastics (they collect our money year round)!
Halloween was very successful. As always we stopped by to let the grandparents (and great grandparents) see how cute we were! Then we headed to the Fall Festival out at Morgan's Point and collected more candy than any 3 kids should be allowed to have!

Cousins

While this is not the latest thing to happen in our family, I thought that I'd practice posting pictures. On our way home from Wichita Falls a few weeks ago we stopped in Burleson to have dinner with cousins. Here is a group shot.

October Already?

Well, hello! I laugh as I look at the one and only post that I have ever posted. This summer I was quite excited to setup a blogger account and get started. Here it is Ocotber and I have not done anything with it. This is where I should promise to do better, but really I cannot make that promise.

We are off to a busy school year. The triplets have started second grade and are really enjoying themselves. They are definitely coming into their own personalities-- well, they've always had their own unique personalities, but now you can really see the people they are becoming.

KinElise is the first born and she is an amazing kid. She has a quirky sense of humor and always has a defense lined up. I am trying to be a good mother because I might need her to defend me in a court of law one day. She loves to read, make things, and watch John and Kate + 8 with her mother. She also has a God given ability in gymnastics.

Kaydee is technically our middle child (and Kin reminds her often that they may be triplets, but she is the older sister)! She is a nurturing, loving child who wants to please. She loves to read, play soccer, and sleep! Kaydee is my cuddler and God has given her the spiritual gift of encouragement.

Tyler is the baby and the only boy! He is a bright child with an incredible heart for people. Tyler is incredibly athletic and enjoys all things BOY! Ty spends a lot of time with his mom, sisters, and grandmothers; we tell him we are training him to be an awesome husband one day. God has gifted Tyler athletically and he has an amazing attitude about it!

I'm New At This!

Well, most of our friends are way ahead of me on this blogging business! I have enjoyed keeping up with them and looking at pictures on their family blogs, sooo I decided that my first summer project would be to create a Jackson Blog!
Stay posted...I will get pictures on it soon!