Life & Science Museum

Last Friday was Jackson's first official day of Spring Break. Well, technically it was a teacher workday & Spring Break started Monday, but who's counting!? As our first big hoorah of the week, we headed out to the Life & Science Museum in Durham with Mema & Grandad. I've been wanting to go there for years and never have. So Mema convinced me it was going to happen this year! So, Spring Break it was!

There was so many fun things to see and I had my camera handy to capture as much fun as possible :) Right off the bat, we headed out to see the "dinosaurs" and Eli was especially taken with them! Pretty surprising to me, considering the fact that he is our more fearful "quirky" child.
And there was a fun fossil dig area that got Jackson into the spirit of the day! Mostly, because he found a sharks tooth right off the bat!Eli found some little shells that he was thrilled with!

Hi, Mema!!
I personally loved all the beautiful flowers I was able to snap pictures of! These tulips were the first to catch my eye, just before getting on the train ride!

The train ride was fun too & there were mirrors down the trail which provided me the opportunity to snap a picture of us zooming by!But there were beautiful flowers everywhere!



When we went to the butterfly house (aka "the bug house" as Mema calls it!) and I have to admit it was probably my favorite spot of the day. At first, I was caught between being horrified at some things....But I tried to get over my cringe instinct & just be mezmerized by the uniqueness of so many of the insects.
Once inside the actual butterfly sanctuary, the real fun began! They were everywhere! And the boys & I were in heaven! Eli enjoyed identifying the ones that Jackson & I would spot!


After the butterfly house (or was it before? I truly can't remember), but either way- the boys got to steer some boats using the sails and the wind... They patiently waited for 2 boats to free up & I was so proud of their patience. When it was their turn... they got right to business....


I think they would've stayed here the rest of the day! But there was so much more fun stuff to squeeze in! They got to experience learning about how seed pods spread with a cool conveyor belt that used a magnetic "pod" & would pull them to the top before they would drift off the top & travel across the area...And we got to spot a bear, wolves, lemur, owl, and many farm animals while we were there too! Mema even taught the boys about animal skat... (aka "dookie"- her words, not mine! And I thought the boys were going to die laughing to hear Mema use that word to tell them what skat was!)

And Grandad gave me a mini photo lesson. I kept getting this shot when I would take a picture of the waterfall. I was stopping the action of the waterfall... losing the beauty of the fall...
I wasn't thinking, because when he told me to drop my shutter speed to slow down the action & blur it, it made total sense! And here is the new & improved shot! Perfect!

We ran out of time at the end of the day so we had to whiz through the indoor stuff which was disappointing. But we did get to see a space module (that Jackson was freaked out would leave the building if Eli pushed any buttons & made it clear he was NOT to touch any of them!)
Eli was able to find Earth after a LOT of spinning of this nifty gadget...
And Jackson was SO impressed with this tornado! He really thought his Daddy would love it too (& he is right... he would have!)
Thanks Mema & Grandad for a great day together! It isn't often that we get some one on one time with you all & it was great! We love you! Don't the smiles say it all?

EIGHT.

Yep, you guessed it. This guy:

Yes, my quiet, sweet, little Jackson is turning EIGHT today.

This seriously seems too soon. The age of 8 is old. Too old to be a kid of mine, right? Hmmm. I guess it will take some getting used to. Seems like just yesterday we were rushing BACK to the hospital for him to come barreling out (well, not quite) within 45 minutes of arrival!

What a sweet little thing he was but as we were discussing in the last day or so... He came out with a foreshadowing of what was to come. He was immediately tenacious, stubborn, & predictable (well maybe the walking at 8 months old wasn't so predictable!) And he was also the cutest, chubbiest, thing I have ever laid eyes on. I had no idea how much my heart could really hold until that day 8 years ago!

In honor of his big day, I have compiled a list of his top 10 favorite things right now. (And that might also be because I am going on a scrap retreat in a few weeks & want to do a page about that! Planning ahead!)

These are in no specific order... just whenever they came to mind!

1-Harry Potter - anything & everything HP is a big deal around here these days!
2- chewing gum - he chews 2-3 pieces at a time if we don't stop him first!
3- football - he will kick/throw a football for hours at a time & right by himself
4- paper airplanes- oh, the paper & the staples, & the tape he uses to get them just right!
5- legos- these are still among the most played with toys around our house.
6- reading nonfiction- Jackson always checks out books from the school library that are on real subjects - like the army & wildlife & weapons. One of his favorite things to do at night is read a Children's Dictionary Nanny got him last year!
7-computers- Jackson has become a computer whiz lately & knows how to maneuver around to the sites he is allowed to go to! And he is teaching his little brother, too! He specifically loves Google Maps! :)
8-Popcorn- he asks for it everyday for an afternoon snack, pops it in the microwave & "cooks" it all by himself. (And makes a huge mess while eating it!)
9- Camouflage- these days anything camo is cool to him.
10-Bow & arrow- He got a bow & arrow after Christmas so he could shoot with his Daddy & yeah, he pretty much thinks he's the coolest kid in town, now! He loves to shoot it!

Jackson,

We are so proud of the strong-willed, smart, creative & kind hearted kid that you are. I love our little chats (when you finally decide to open up!) and love hearing all about the things you love to read about... from insects & civil war weapons, to the capitol of Paris (which is France, you told me one random day!). You are so bright & I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us while we watch you grow even more. Happy Birthday!!

Love,

Mama

Oooah, Oooah, Shoot that Arrow!

Back in the beginning of January, Jeff & Malissa came up for a day to hang with us. Jackson was very excited and had called Jeffery the day before to find out exactly what time he would be arriving. He was also excited to tell Jeff that his Daddy had gotten him a bow & arrow. And yep, you guessed it, he wanted Uncle Jeff to bring his bow with him so they could all shoot together. Once they arrived, the nagging began! :) He was ready to go! Here are some photos once they finally got to it!


Randy's proud face once he hit the bulls-eye. His bow needs to be re-adjusted so it is way off when he shoots. BUT, he was a perfect shot with Jeff's!
Ready, Set, GO!

The holidays! A recap!

Well, Christmas 2011 has past & the New Year has come! Happy 2012! I hope this year has a lot of fun things in store for us all!

I know I am behind on the good ole blog, but it always gets a little crazy during the holidays & then afterwards I am just plum wiped out! So, I am just now getting around to it!

You already know that we do a lot of traveling but I really didn't take an overabundance of photos this year (decent ones, anyway!). I am still learning on the DSLR & haven't had a lot of time to work with it, so what little bit I had learned, I had to re-learn. Ugh! But I refuse to be an "auto" shooter. I WILL master this camera! So, I have been a little overwhelmed in that department (& to add confusion to the mix, I also got Photoshop Elements Software for Christmas & WHOA, that will be a huge learning curve.) My biggest deficit is in the area of shooting indoors without the use of my flash. I borrowed a fixed 50mm lens from my brother in law which is helping some but it was an adjustment since the aperture goes all the way down to 1.8! Sweet!

So now that I have given all my caveats, here is a Christmas holiday recap in photos! First Christmas outing was to Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream. Nanny came up for the day in early December to take the grandkids (& their mama's!) to this show. It was fantastic! I think Rebecca & I loved it even more than the kids!
A scene from Tiana's Place in the Princess & the Frog...
The gorgeous horse & carriage from Cinderella... this was beautiful!
The lanterns lifting in the Tangled scene! Seriously, I teared up! It was great!

Second stop for the holidays was to Mikes Farm for the holiday hayride/lights show (& did I mention YUMMY dinner?) I only had my cell with me, so i didn't get but a few pictures, but my favorite one was this one with me & my Grandaddy! Is he handsome or what?Third stop? Over to Jen & Brian's for Christmas with my mama, aunt, & cousins! We draw names here & it's always a hoot trying to figure out who had who.... Rebecca got some fabulous running gear (something to keep her ears warm!)
Sitting in Daddy's lap! This kid never tires of a lap!
Jackson opening his gift.... he got a beyblade stadium he had been wanting forever & was thrilled!
And Sara Beth took to "little" Ed this year! I think she is missing her Daddy!

Fourth Stop... Christmas with Grandaddy & Grandma Tee... We at least spend the night for this trip, so we get a little more bang for our gas buck! ;) We exchanged gifts with our cousins here as well as with the Grandparents. Jackson was THRILLED (& very surprised) with his new Wii Game (Lego Harry Potter!)
This kid couldn't be ANY cuter if you ask me!
The boys cousin, Jonathon... lookin' all cool in his flat bill hat. Tell me again why this is a trend??
Zack came along for the trip too & wasn't so sure he appreciated being out in the cold! He whimpered every time I would go out on the porch & desperately wanted some attention. But, he survived!
Kayla brought along her violin & yes, Randy picked it up & was able to bust out a song in a just a few short minutes! Some people just have more talent than I can even imagine!
And speaking of Kayla, Oh, my... She is officially 15 since Nov 2, & that means that she gets to drive. SCARY! I snapped a couple shots of her pulling up driving my brother's truck!
I really don't like that she is already 15. Just sayin'.
The hit of the visit at Grandaddy's though ended up being the walkie talkies that they got each set of kids. Seriously, these things were no joke. They had a 2 mile radius in the country! (5 mile in the city!) And come to find out, the kids were able to all get on the same channel & use them all together. How cool!?
The next day we came home & had our own little Christmas at home. We have never had a chance to do this but because some of Randy's extended family wasn't coming in for Christmas this year, we combined both of Randy's family get togethers into one & so we had a free evening on Christmas Eve! The kids were shocked, but excited when we said we were going to open presents after dinner!


Ready, Set...... GO!


Christmas morning & Santa has been here! The big guy in red left Jackson a Lego kit to build a HUGE Hogwarts Castle (from Harry Potter). He left Eli the Leap Pad that he was certain that Santa wouldn't be able to find. But Santa pulled through, no doubt without the help of some elves!
Zack didn't get left out, either. He got a new frog to toss around & some new tennis balls.
Eli wasted no time getting to work on the Leap Pad !
And Daddy even got in on some LeapPad learning fun!
Christmas night, we headed over to Randy's Grandma Evan's house for Christmas with his whole family. As is tradition... the guys jammed out.
This guy looks good with a guitar... if you ask me, anyway! ;)
After a yummy dinner by this fantastic cook....

We got to open even MORE presents! Aunt Debbie is so sweet because even though she wasn't going to be there this year, she sent money for us to pick out a gift for each of the boys. So Debbie (I know you are reading this!), Jackson got a great watch that he has worn EVERYDAY since!
And Eli got 2 books! He loves books (especially the Llama Llama series) and the other title, I thought we could all benefit from! (Don't Squeal Unless it's a Big Deal). THANK YOU!
Trying to get a few decent pictures.... here's one of Jeremy & Marie...
And one of Mema & a lap full of trouble!
Whew! If you made it to the end of that marathon post, then kudos to you! We had a Very Merry & busy Christmas & hope you all had a safe holiday with family & friends.