Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! It's been a hectic month. Tom finished his marching band season, and they got 6th at Grand Nationals - congratulations! We're so glad to have Tom back at home at night. We've been taking advantage of the nice weather (up until this week, that is) by playing outside. Jackson absolutely loves playing with bubbles.

For Thanksgiving, we went to Stillwater first. Unfortunately, my dad got sick, and we ended up eating at Johnnie and Casey's house. I think we might have started a new tradition, though - Bad Brad's catering was wonderful! Jenna's house looked beautiful. It was all decorated for Christmas so that their family could celebrate before Casey left for Iraq. We had such a good time together. Casey let Jackson wear his cowboy hat, but as you can see, Johnnie liked it too!

Mom made the cutest ornaments. She re-created Jackson's look with the diapers, dinosaur feet, and cowboy hat perfectly while holding his makeshift "sword" tree. It makes me smile whenever I look at it. You are so talented, Mom! We all got a laugh at the grandkids ornaments - here's a pic of them:

After our celebration at Jenna's house, we drove to Moore to celebrate with the McGillen's on Thanksgiving Day. Soon after we got there, Jackson was already asking where the cats were at. The entire visit he'd look for the cats. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner, and their family friend Al joined us for dinner. Jackson couldn't wait to eat - here he is practicing his balancing act:

Al and Jackson got along great. Jackson kept chasing Al and everyone in his dinosaur feet. So cute! Al gave Jackson a gift right before he left - a dollar bill! Jackson had us stick it in his jeans pocket, and he'd get it out to look at it. In fact, after we got home, Jackson would come to us asking where his dollar was. Thank you, Al!

We also helped decorate their Christmas tree while we were there. Jackson was really good at it. Here's a couple of pictures and videos while decorating:

Lately, Jackson LOVES his sunglasses. He has to have them on when we go to school or get in the car...whether it's 7am or 5:30 pm. Usually it's almost dark outside when he wears them, but it doesn't seem to matter. The glasses are a little big for him, though, and they often slip down, which upsets him quite a bit. He tends to stretch them out and then let go, so the glasses smack him on the side of the face. Usually, we just have to say "kiss it" when he cries, and he'll kiss his finger and then touch his finger to his hurt area. Works like a charm! He does need some smaller glasses, though. Maybe Santa will bring them to you!

For our daycare's Christmas basket, we bought a small bookbag to include in the gifts. When we were in the store, Jackson LOVED the bag, and I ended up getting him one, too. We fill it full of books, and he likes to wear it around the house. Here he is getting ready for school. I can already see how he's going to look on his official first day of school picture!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Jackson still loves wearing things on his head. Here he is with his latest hat - I'm sure he'll start a fashion trend with this one.

Jackson has learned so much in this past month. He can sing the ABC's (ok, so it's missing a few letters) and can count on his own to 12. With a little prodding, he can count to twenty! We really like to play ball with the whole family. Jackson will tell us who to throw it to - "To me, Jackson!" or "To me, Mommy!" (that means throw it to mommy, not Jackson). Everything right now is "To me!"

Jackson is still singing songs to us. His version of the Jackson song is greatly shortened. Now it basically consists of "I love Mommy (or whomever it's about). .....Small! It's the thought that counts, right?

By the way - Congratulations on your retirement, Dad! We are proud of you and all of that you have accomplished in your career. Enjoy your month off before you go back to the working world. And don't worry mom - we have plenty of space here if you need a break! We love you both!