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Chris' Family

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------------------SHE DID IT!

Pictures from Brandi

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.....................No words necessary...

MY LITTLE BROWN HEADED DAUGHTER

Check out her sassy new hair cut!


I am happy to announce that my daughter chose a bike ride with Mommy and Daddy over spending the night at Nana's. For those of you who know my child, you know that this is a big deal. I am looking forward to spending 18 hours with her by herself. The first thing we did was go for a bike ride- we rode almost 3 miles and she kept up with zero complaining. Tomorrow she wants to go for breakfast (she gets up by 6am or 6:30am) and we will see what the rest of the day brings!

Here's to you Davis!

Davis, we tried to call yesterday, but I know that you were busy celebrating. I mean 7 is a big one after all.
Pretend that we are with you instead of staring at you in a picture...
Here it goes...
uummm, hhmmm, okay, we were clearing our throats. Now we are ready.
Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Davis. Happy Birthday to you.

Well really we sang Happy birthday to you. Cha, cha, cha. Happy Birthday to you. Cha, cha, cha. Happy Birthday dear Davis. Happy Birthday to you.


Aunt Brandi stopped everyone before we sang about you living in a zoo. Love you!

I love my husband!

I love my husband for many reasons but here are 3:

**Being silly with Kayden
**In case you are wondering, those are mustaches.


**Enjoying Ty at the Rangers vs. Yankees game.


**Watching Kinsey tumble

WOW! I feel blessed that our children have Chris for a dad. He is a wonderful father and I am often amazed watching him interact with our children. He works hard and long hours, but still tries to find time and energy for them when he gets home.

Me: What is your favorite thing about Daddy?
Kin: "He does silly things with us." As proven by the above mustache photo

Ty: "He throws the baseball with me and even the football."

Kay: "I like it when he brushes my hair every night."
We love you Daddy.
I love you Chris.

Creamy Chicken and Pasta Bake

I prepared this recipe last week for my family and they LOVED it! Thought I would share it with all of you- it came from kraftfoods.com

What You Need!

1-1/2 cups multigrain rotini pasta, uncooked

1 small bunch broccoli, cut into florets (about 3 cups)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, cubed

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It!

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli for the last 3 min.

MEANWHILE, heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. or until no longer pink, stirring frequently. Stir in broth; simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done. Add cream cheese; cook and stir on low heat 1 min. or until cream cheese is melted. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella.

DRAIN pasta and broccoli. Add to chicken mixture; mix lightly. Spoon into 8-inch sq. baking dish; cover.

BAKE 15 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake, uncovered, 3 min. or until melted. Let stand 5 min.

Family Pictures

Shout out to Kelly Hosch for taking our family photos. She is teasing me by posting just 2 on FB for me to look at and wonder about the rest. I cannot wait to see them all- she only took 740 shots on Sunday. No wonder she enjoyed a glass of wine in the kiddie pool on Sunday afternoon!

Super Saturday!

Some of you know that I have had a rough few weeks at school and that things at home have been crazy busy! Well, let me tell you about today...today was a day that I was reminded of how blessed I really am.
Kinsey is an early riser. Last night I asked her to please let me sleep until it was 8 something...well, she woke up and played quietly and did not come in my room until 8:01am. Thank you, Kin! She and her brother got up and played outside while it was still cool out. Kayden joined us. Nema came over and joined us outside.
Because we had a busy afternoon, I made KKT promise that if we went to the pool they would come home and rest in their bed with a book.
Nana joined us for a pool party at our neighborhood pool. All 3 kids played and got along.
They stayed true to their word when we got home- they even took a real nap! We got up and headed to Ty's baseball game. I got to watch Ty and his team (who are in 2nd place) beat the undefeated 1st place team. The game went into 2 innings of overtime! They won 12-11!!
We headed straight from the game to Kin's gym recital. She can back handspring like no body's business!
Kayden did not have anything going on today, but I cannot leave her out! She was a good sport following her brother and sister around today with minimal complaint!
Thank you God for reminding me of the blessings that I am surrounded by!

Flippin' Kinsey

Here is Kinsey at her last gym class for the spring season. She gets a week off and then starts the summer session. Sorry for the 'sideways' video- I was trying to watch and video at the same time. **I just had to add this thought from Kin- she was watching me upload video and update the blog. She said, "I think that it is cool that you can just put movies of me on the computer so everyone can see what I can do." Well, dear, I think that it is cool as well! The coolest part of it is that they make it easy enough that even I can do it!

Lesson Learned

I certainly enjoy reading all of the blogs that end something like this ...and they lived happily ever after... THE END. Most of the time my blog has a happy story or a picture of one or all of my beautiful, smart, clever children, but not today.
This is the short but not so sweet story that occurred about 2am in the Jackson house.
I also need to tell you that for those of you holding out on a dog (Staci and Beth) that you are smart. We have a new puppy, Roxy. Roxy awoke around 1:45 this morning with that I'm hungry and I need a diaper change cry-- or at least open the door and let me outside. I had just settled her back in when I look up to see my sweet little brunette standing over me. Mommy, I don't feel good. I immediately thought back to her dinner of grilled onions and peppers on a tortilla filled with pico, salsa and guacamole and assumed I knew why she did not feel so well. I say, "Honey, lay right here," as I patted the bed next to me. That sure seemed easier than making a pallet in the floor at 2:15am. I'll spare you the details. After it was over and the sheets were changed, I made a mental note to self ... next time make a pallet.

Happy Birthday, KK&T!

Tyler
Kinsey and Kayden

NOW! Look how far we have come! I always get emotional on the kids birthday because it is a reminder that time is quickly passing by. I want to remember each moment and I feel out of control that I cannot stop them from growing up. I want to protect them from as much as possible for as long as possible.They are great kids and I treasure the fact that they belong to us.

More Baseball!

Thank you Dudleys' for the Baylor tix! The kids, okay- the boys, enjoyed it. The weather was perfect for a day at the park!

My All Star

By the title you might think I was talking about my incredibly talented son who loves baseball more than most things in his life, but last night my all star was my dear husband. Now I have heard that he was quite the ball player in his high school days and he continues to play church league softball like there are agents in the stands waiting to sign the next Josh Hamilton. Last night I was going to snap a quick picture to post to the blog for fun. I started playing around with the camera and hit the video button as he was up to bat and what do you know...A HOMERUN! So here it is for your viewing pleasure. This video is exclusive to the Jackson channel because ESPN has not had time to review the footage and schedule an interview.

Great Wolf Lodge

Sliding (over and over and over and...)
and over and over

and over again!
Bryce had a blast! Trynt had fun, but he was done with fun at this point.


Storytime near the fireplace.


We took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. The best part of my trip was watching the kids have so much fun. There are a lot of neat things to do. If you have not been, it is a neat place to go. (My advice is to watch for special pricing and deals online.)

Fast and Furious February

Well, February is almost gone. Things are busy at the Jackson home and soon to get busier. Soccer begins tonight and baseball in another week or two.
February Overview:
Kin was baptized earlier this month, so that was a real celebration for us.
KinElise was chosen as Star Student for the month of January. Kay had been chosen before Christmas. If you know our Kinsey, you know that Star Student is a MAJOR accomplishment. S.L. I know that you will read this and appreciate she has her Aunt Staci's gift of words and sense of humor ; )
I've had Chris busy painting the kitchen a nice green color- I will post pictures when he finishes.
All of us have been sick at one point this month. I am ready to be well and have our normal routine back. We've missed school, church, and various practices. My mom and mother-in-law have been helpful with either taking care of the sick one or helping shuttle while I was sick.

We are looking forward to the spring and the consistent warm weather. We pass the pool in the neighborhood several times a week and the kids have started asking when we can go swimming. Soon! Summer will be here soon! For now, we are looking forward to spring because we want to plant several things in the yard. After we moved in last year there was no time to do it before summer hit.
This weekend we are heading to Great Wolf Lodge. We are all looking forward to it.

Boring Post

Sorry that I have not posted lately. I have a sister-in-law that is amazing with words and has something clever to say about almost everything. Her blog is entertaining and insightful. I read it often and think that she should pursue a job as a columnist among other things.
Here you will only find boring stories and updates about our wonderful, but boring life. My kids say funny things, but by the time I get to the computer I have forgotten what they said or what they were talking about when they said it.
Kinsey did accept Christ last week and we were thrilled for her.
I feel like I am getting old quickly because I keep saying is it January 15th already? January 25th already? It's not the 28th...is it? I have lost an entire month!

Is it really 2009?

Happy New Year! We are winding down Christmas vacation and gearing up for school to start back up tomorrow. Our vacation began on a sad note, but we have been able to end it with some much needed rest and relaxation. The kids have had lots of time to play with their things and I have had time to UN-decorate our house and put things back in place. I am always so excited to put up our Christmas decorations in November, but am equally glad to have our house back to normal. I look around and it looks dull and empty after the glitter and dazzle of the holiday decorations.
We all had a very Merry Christmas. As usual, the kids got more than they know what to do with, but this year they got several things we can all enjoy. A Wii, board games, books...
I have had to remind Chris (on several occasions) that the Wii belongs to the children. I think that he is having as much fun with it as they are. All 3 kids got several games that can be played without wanting to poke your eyes out!Bye-bye Hi Ho Cherry O! Fairwell CandyLand! Good riddance Ants in the Pants! While I think these are all great games for you to play with your children, I am excited that my time with them is over. We have gotten to play games like Uno and Yahtzee!