Zipper Un-zipped & Funny Boys

This morning I went in to Zane & Zander's rooms to get them and found everything as usual....

2 cute boys clinging onto their blankies and pacifiers

(because bedtime is the only time they can have them).

Upon further inspection though, I saw this....

I don't know how he did it. The top was still zipped but everything below the zipper was not....


Later in the day, Zaney was sportin' the old man look. You know when they wear shorts with dark socks pulled up to their knees?

I assure you he didn't go out in public like that! He went out looking normal, then we came home and I took their jeans and shoes off for their nap. After he woke up he found his Gator Crocs (which he LOVES) and kept saying "oosh, oosh" (which is his word for shoes). I had to put them on him so he would stop with the constant verbage. Thus creating the little old man look. I think he sports it way better than most though!

And finally, just had to throw these pictures in here to show Zander's latest trick to make us laugh. He's always doing something to make himself the center of attention. This week while we are eating, he makes this face and keeps doing it until everyone is looking at him and laughing...

Christmas Morning '09

Christmas Eve. They're all in pj's and getting ready for bed.

Of all mornings for Zane and Zander to sleep in, they chose Christmas morning. They are normally awake before 7:00 but not on this day. Eli and Emma Kate were of course awake, and Eli was BEGGING me to wake the little boys up. I finally caved in to the pressure at 7:15 and off to the stockings we went!

After digging in the stockings and playing with their contents, we went to see what had been left under the tree. The big kids were excited to find iPods while Zane and Zander bee-lined for the 2 Cozy Coupes that had been left for them.

Emma Kate was also anxious to check the plate of goodies, milk and notes they had left out for Santa. He ate all the snacks, drank all the milk and wrote notes back to both Eli and Emma Kate.

Here are some of their favorite things from the morning:

Eli immediately had fun with this headlamp that was in his stocking....

Checking out their new iPod nanos....

Emma Kate loved the Nail Art Studio....

which came with toe separators and a nail dryer...

Zane loved the Elmo phone (which says his name) and his Gator Crocs that were both in his stocking....

as well as his Cozy Coupe....

This was the 3rd time we had opened presents so Zander was starting to get the hang of it....

He enjoyed the books in his stocking....

and his Cozy Coupe!

Philip received his big present the day before Christmas. He was messing around on the laptop when he heard a noise. He looked up at me (with camera in my hand)....

The noise continued so he followed the sound....

Upon opening the bag he found a new Blackberry Storm 2....

and he immediately began playing!

Lake McCoy

As is tradition, we were at my parents house for Christmas. While the neighborhood we live in on the other side of the state was getting snow, it was nothing but rain at the McCoy's. Christmas Eve morning we woke up to a "lake" in their front yard.....

The rain continued all through the day and night on Christmas Eve. (I think Santa may have used a boat to get up to the house). We didn't venture out on Christmas Eve but we had to get out on Christmas Day to go do Christmas with the Coomer's. Here we are in my car heading out my parents driveway...

There is a ditch that runs through this property and I was just praying our wheels would stay on the pavement and that we wouldn't take a Christmas Day dip.

We made it out onto the highway and here's a grainy picture (taken with my cell phone) of the front view....(all of that water is their yard which means it should be grass!)

They had a set of 4 Christmas light displays set up. You can click on the picture above and see only 1 of them in the top left. That is a golf flag. The golfing Santa and the reindeer who was Santa's caddy had fallen over in all the water. And the 4th display - a cute snowman in a golf cart went MIA in all the water. Let my parents know if you see a snowman floating in a golf cart somewhere!

PawPaw

Philip's grandfather, L.C. Jackson, passed away Tuesday December 22nd at the age of 85. I had the privilege of knowing him for 13 years. The PawPaw I have such fond memories of looked like this....

Such a jolly full-of-life man! He and Memaw were faithful church members with a special interest in the Children's Home in Paragould. For many years they would drive up to Paragould from their home in Texarkana for Homecoming Weekend to deliver all the cans of change their church had collected for the Children's Home.

PawPaw wasn't afraid to tell a person what was on his mind, whether he knew that person or not. He's been known to tell family members they are getting big (i.e. gaining weight) or that they need to cut their hair.

Philip told me about PawPaw driving down a one way street going the wrong way one time. When the passengers in the vehicle brought it to his attention he said "They can get out of my way." (or something to that affect)

Unfortunately several things led to the detioration of his health over the past 10 years. He's been in a wheelchair, partially paralyzed on one side of his body and had to be moved to a rehab center during the past year.

In June I took this picture of my kids with him and Memaw. I'm so thankful I will have it to show Zane and Zander when they get older since they will not remember him.

When talking to Eli and Emma Kate this week about PawPaw's death, they both commented that even though they were sad, they were glad that he would be able to walk and that his entire body would work right in heaven.

We love you and will miss you PawPaw.

Jackson Grandkids

Sunday afternoon we got together with Philip's family for Christmas. Philip's parents drove up to NWA where 7 of their 8 grandkids live. The other grandchild lives down in Texarkana with them, so they brought him up for the fun too.

Anytime we have all 8 of them together, we always try to get a group shot. Its usually not a great picture. Someone seems to always be not looking, not smiling, something. This time it was my Zaney who was the picture-crasher. He wanted NO PART of this!

My children are so very blessed to have 4 grandparents that are still living, love them unconditionally and truly enjoy spending time with their grandchildren. Philip's dad is no exception. He has such a good heart and loves his grandchildren....

Christmas Cards Past and Present

I love getting Christmas cards every year from friends and family. I especially love receiving Christmas cards that include pictures! I also love sending picture cards! Every year since we've had children, I have sent out a picture Christmas card. With the exception of one year, I have copies of all the Christmas cards we've sent since Eli has been born. So for preservation sake, I'm posting each of those here:

2000. Eli was 6 weeks old in this classy Walmart photo!

2001 is the one card I don't have but this is the picture that was on the card.








2002

2003 (this is the year Emma Kate was born and the year we moved to Florida...hence the sago palm in the left corner)

2004

2005

2006

2007 (pregnant with Zane and Zander)

2008

2009

Laundry Love

It has become almost impossible to do any laundry while Zane and Zander are awake.

The first problem comes with these baskets.... These are Eli and Emma Kate's laundry baskets that go back and forth from the laundry room to their rooms. They are supposed to either be empty as in the picture above or full of clean laundry and ready to be put away as in the picture below....

When the boys see the baskets in the laundry room, they want to get in them. So if the baskets are full of clean clothes (as in picture above), they will take the clothes out....

Then they will climb in them. There are 2 baskets and 2 boys so that shouldn't be a problem, right? Wrong. They both prefer the blue tote. Do they already know "pink is for girls and blue is for boys?" Doubtful.

But you can see in the picture below that they are both trying to squeeze into the same basket. Zaney is getting squished and he doesn't like it....

The other laundry problem happens to actually be pretty cute. Zander wants to help load the laundry into the washing machine. The problem lies in that he always wants to load the towels. Doesn't matter if I'm washing lights, darks or colors, he wants to put towels in....

Look at the determination on his face in the pictures below. He's on a mission!

More towels....

Zane will occasionally put a few things in but he mainly just stands around and tries to shut the door. He's a little OCD like that....

On a side note completely unrelated to Zane and Zander in the laundry room is the issue I have with ironing. I just never get around to doing it. My good mom usually spends half her time ironing when she comes for a visit. When she leaves, my ironing pile looks like this....

When she hasn't been here in a long while, my ironing pile looks like this....

That picture was taken about a week ago. So dear mom, if you are reading this, it is a subtle hint that it might be time for a visit soon!!!!!