Our not so spooky Halloween pics

Life has been so busy the last couple months that I haven't had a chance to blog, but I finally almost have it under control.  Hopefully I will be able to catch everyone up in the next couple weeks.  But I thought I would jump back in with our Halloween pictures from this year. 

Sawyer decided to be a pirate this year (of all things) and what a cute pirate she was.  We only went through 5 stores, 3 magazines, and about 20 websites before she finally decided what she wanted to be.  And keeping up with normal Sawyer tradition, we had to have all the accessories to go along with our pirate costume because what would a pirate be if she didn't accessorize.  We had a sword, a cute pirate hat with a bow on it, skull and crossbone tights, a skull and crossbone ring (we figured we could pass this on to Uncle Nate when we are done), and some adorable skull and crossbone earrings.  So, here is the final costume complete with a name that her Daddy gave her - Sawyer of the seven seas.

Roman was a dinosaur this year.  He had asked to be a dinosaur since last Halloween when he was a monkey.  I found the cutest dinosaur costume for him and he loved it ---- that is until he found out they made Spiderman costumes.  Then all he talked about was being Spiderman.  In the end I finally convinced him to be the dinosaur and he was the cutest dinosaur EVER!  He wore his costume all day to school, to our church fall festival, and to PawPaw's church where they had trunk or treat. 

This was the first Halloween that both the kids really participated and enjoyed trick or treating and playing games at the church.  Now if we could just get rid of all the candy we will be doing good.

Out of the mouths of babes

Today Sawyer came in and sat with me on the couch.  She acted very sweet and snuggled in as if she was ready for a good nap.  Boy was I wrong.  I told her to be still so I could get an eyelash out of the corner of her eye so it wouldn't go into her eye.  When I had successfully extracted the eyelash she asked if I had gotten it out.  I replied "Of course, your mommy is Superwoman."  She laughed and said "No you aren't."  So I said "Well, then I am Wonder woman." She giggled again and then with a straight face and a serious look she says "Mommy, you aren't Superwoman or Wonder woman, you are old woman." 

Don't they always say children speak the truth, well that is one truth I really didn't want to hear.

The Joys of Working at Home

So working from home is truly a blessing and I am so thankful, but some days all I can say is "will this day ever end?"  Today is definitely one of those days.  While I am on one of my conference calls (my third of the day to be exact) my children decided to "break bread" (literally) on my bed.  As I was listening intently to my call and the kids were playing, little did I know that there was a master plan going on right under my nose.  The kids were laughing and running back and forth between their rooms and my room, which is a common occurrence in our everyday lives.  It was only when I got up (with my phone and headphones still attached to my head) to check on them that I saw an empty Publix bread bag laying in the floor of the foyer.  I must have looked like one of those wild eyed, wild haired women in a mad dash toward my bedroom.  When I got to the door and looked in what I saw horrified me. I saw cans of corn, bottles of vitamin water, bananas (luckily they had their peels still on), a full loaf of bread unopened, and an entire package of Publix dinner rolls broken into crumbs all over my unmade bed.  So after the initial shock wore off, my eyes retracted in my head, and my hair laid back down, I began to delegate. 

The mess is now cleaned, my blood pressure has returned to normal, and the kids are now watching Scooby Doo in the living room with me so I can keep a close eye on them.  We can chalk this up to lessons learned and from now on I will be following the kids up and down the hallway like a little puppy dog (with a phone in hand and headset on head). 

First day of preschool 2010

Today was the first day of preschool for both of the kids and what an exciting day it was for all of us.  The kids have new teachers and new rooms with new toys.  Momma was also very excited because she thought she was finally going to have some quiet work and errand time, but little did she realize that today was also an early release day. Someone in our county needs to have their head examined.  Who in the world creates a schedule where kids are out of school on Monday, go back on Tuesday and then get out early on Wednesday? That is like torture for parents, especially the ones whose kids only go to school three days a week. 

Enough of that, on the bright side I did get to run errands without buckling and unbuckling two kids in carseats at every stop I made and waiting until their little legs could climb down out of the vehicle. I can accomplish twice as much without the kids as I can with them and boy did I try to take advantage of that today. I love having my children with me, but boy can I knock out a to-do list quick without them in tow.

After their big two hour first day at school, we had a lunch date with our special friends Andria, Chloe, Emma, and soon to be baby Allie. What special friendships have been formed with them since our first year in preschool and now it seems like we have known them forever.

So, here's to a great year in preschool.  To my little Buckaroo and my little Monkey, I hope your school year is filled with many laughs, much learning, and special memories to last a lifetime.

Here we go..

I have been wanting (and needing) to start a blog for quite a while now.  We have so many people asking how the kids are and what is new with us, so I thought I should just put all these little tidbits in one location.  Not to mention, it will help me to remember and journalize all the adorable things the kids do daily that I will probably forget as my age keeps increasing. 

So I guess I should start with the basics.  We are the Jackson family of four.  Kevin (Daddy) and Brooke (Momma) are the ring leaders in this circus we call life.  I work from home as an Instructional Designer and Kevin is a technical analyst at a local Naval Base.  Our oldest Sawyer (aka Drama Queen) is 4 going on 14.  Roman (aka Sports Machine) is 3 and is not often seen without a golf club or bat in his hand.  As you can see, life is full of interesting moments with a 4 and 3 year old running around all day (especially when you throw drama, bats, and clubs in the mix).

Now, to catch you up on what is current in our life.  Work definitely keeps Kevin and I busy, but the kids keep us even busier.  Sawyer is cheering for the first time this year.  She is a natural and I must hear no less than 100 cheers a day at home (many of which I have to participate in).  Roman, well he would love to play football or teeball but he just wasn't old enough this year, although he is bigger than many of the boys Sawyer cheers for.  The good news is that since we have mastered potty training in preparation for returning to preschool, he will get to play teeball in the spring (and yes, we did bribe him). 

Ok, so as not to overwhelm you with too much at once, I will call it a first day.  I hope you guys enjoy reading about the happenings in our life and I hope something will touch your life the way all of you have touched ours.