Is it Christmas yet?

Every day Jackson asks me this question! He is really enjoying all of our Christmas "traditions". I love all of the traditions we used to do when we were growing up, and we decided we needed to start some with Jackson, too. Our first tradition is borrowed from my parents. Whenever we decorated our tree, it was a fancy affair with sparkling grape juice, fancy glasses and fancy crackers, meats and cheeses.

Jackson really seemed to enjoy it, especially the fancy glasses! We brought out his little table and his special Buzz Lightyear chair, which he loved.

And then Jackson decided that he was going to be a flashlight. Yes, a flashlight. I'm not too sure where that came from. But he's a handsome flashlight, isn't he?

Jackson had a ball clicking glasses with everyone saying "Cheers" before every drink. It's a miracle that our plastic glasses stayed intact throughout the evening!

Finally it was time to bring out the ornaments. I don't know if Jackson enjoyed hearing about every single ornament and the story behind it, but I sure loved seeing them all again! Here is Jackson with his 1st year ornament (baby bird in an egg - takes after his "Old Bird").

All of his favorite ornaments (which just happened to be either his ornaments or ornaments that had him on it) were placed front and center.

At school, Jackson has been learning about matching. So I guess it should be no surprise that ALL of the OSU ornaments ended up together in the same area (sometimes on the same branch!).

To top off the night, Jackson decided he needed to be a superhero, too. Here he is pretending to take pictures like mommy.

Our 2nd tradition was started was "Elf on a Shelf". Jackson named our Elf "Santa Elf" (also known as "Sister Elf"). I can't imagine where he got his talent for naming things.....does Blackie or Whitey ring a bell, Dad?? The elf flies every night to the North Pole to tell Santa how well Jackson did that day, and then the elf flies back to our house and lands in a different spot every morning. The first thing Jackson wants to do each morning is find Santa Elf. He makes a big production when he finds it. I can't tell if he really believes or if he's just humoring me. :) Tom and I have had fun finding spots for it to land each morning. We haven't forgotten yet, though we are starting to run out of spaces!

I was particularly proud of this one - it was really hard to balance! One morning after finding Santa perched on a ledge, Jackson decided he wanted to be the Elf, too. Here is his version - looks almost like the real thing!

On another note, Jackson also has a new name. I was trying to get Jackson to stop wandering away, and I said "Jackson William McGillen, please come here now!" Jackson looked over at me with those big eyes and said "Hey, I'm not Willy McGilley!" and then started cracking up hysterically. Hard to get mad at him when he does that! If you ever talk to him on the phone now, ask to speak to Willy McGilley. I love hearing him say it!

Family Ornaments

I love our family traditions, especially the ones around Christmas. We always look forward to Thanksgiving to see what Mom has made for our annual Christmas ornaments out of clay. As you scroll through the pictures, you can see this joy in our faces as we open our special ornaments - they make me smile. I can't imagine how much time it takes to make all of those since our family has grown since we first started this....she now has to bring them all down in a plastic tub! Thank you for making these for us, Mom. They are so wonderful and personal. I love how our Christmas trees are stories of our lives, and it's so much fun to relive those stories each year as we decorate our tree.

Reese was the first to open her gift. Mom made Reese a little girl who looked just like her with her pink cowboy boots, boa, purse, earrings, dress and hat. Looks like it was made especially for a little girl who loves to dress up!
Mom made Jackson a Buzz Lightyear ornament - of course! He loved playing with it. It was the first ornament he put on the tree this year (and it was directly eye level so that he can look at it every day).
For Casey, she made him a Bronze Star. We're proud of you, Casey! She also made an ornament for Reese and Casey that was a little girl holding a Curious George book in front of a TV/Computer that had Casey on the screen. They would do Skype on the computer so that they could see and talk to each other while he was away, and he also recorded himself reading Curious George so that Reese could listen and read along while she watched him on the TV. What a great ornament idea, Mom!
Mom and I had the same idea (unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of Mom opening her ornament). I made her Elphaba, the Wicked Witch from "Wicked". The timing was perfect, because Jenna opened hers up next and found.....Elphaba! Great minds think alike. She also made Jenna a giraffe with a bandage wrapped around its throat. I really don't know how you come up with these, Mom. They are so clever and fitting!
Mom made Tom two ornaments this year, too. The first was a black and white "Zo" in honor of Broken Arrow's marching band show this year. The 2nd ornament was Jackson (with his hat on backwards) holding his baby doll Charlie. Attached to the ornament was Jackson's comment "It's ok, Charlie. Daddy's here. You're safe." So sweet. Jackson has a wonderful role model - we know that's where he heard it!
My first ornament was a snowman with her new camera - I really love taking pictures now, which is such a departure from before! So fitting for an ornament. My second one was hilarious in honor of my great mom moments as described in my previous blog posts. It was Jackson riding a tricycle (with a helmet) with open Easter Eggs in the back. Ha ha!!
For Dad, she made him a replica of his retirement party table decorations as well as my Dad's new truck (complete with Jackson and Reese in the back playing together). Happy 1 Yr Retirement, Dad!
Here's a grouping of all of them together. Thank you so much, Mom. They are so special. We are so impressed by your many talents!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas holiday! We had such a wonderful time and enjoyed being with family. On Tuesday, we headed over to Stillwater for our Christmas with the Caldwells before going to the McGillen's on Christmas day. The snow storm messed up our scheduled a little bit, but it all worked out! Here's a brief recap of our holiday. I've also added a Christmas photo album for more pics.

On our Christmas Eve (actually, two days before Christmas), we all went bowling. Jackson really liked the shoes...and seemed very impressed that Gramma had her own ball, shoes AND locker. Can't compete against that!

On Jackson's first turn, he ran out in his lane....past the foul line. Ernie warned us that if he did that many more times, he couldn't bowl. Between that and keeping Jackson away from the ball return, I was nervous the whole time! Jackson learned quickly and seemed to have a lot of fun. I love watching Dad and Jackson bowl together - they're so focused!

Thank goodness for bumpers! Jackson did pretty well for his first time out, though we were a little nervous that the ball would stop and get stuck on the way down to the pins.

Jenna took Reese bowling, too. Is this even legal? Check the rule book, mom!

Christmas (Eve) morning at the Caldwell's. Merry Christmas! It started out with the traditional Christmas morning dance to "I Want a Hippopotamus". I don't know if you can see it in the video, but I love Jackson's dinosaur feet with his pajamas. Great for marching to the music!

Santa outdid himself once again. I have a new appreciation for Santa and the elves with the train table. I believe I heard the word "payback" once or twice... We had such a good day opening presents.

The kids took a nap during Christmas dinner. It was very relaxing but a little strange to be eating without having to worry about cutting up food, keeping them from throwing it on the floor, etc. Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful meal(s)!

This is a good look for you, Tom.

You're never too young to get lottery tickets in your stocking!

Tom and I were the big winners this year - $4 and a free ticket. Whoo hoo! You'd be surprised at the level of competition with the tickets between everyone. Johnnie was a little upset this year that Santa gave her the "Lucky 7's" instead of the "Electric 8's"....and wouldn't you know, the 8's had a winner! Christmas stockings just wouldn't be the same without lottery tickets.

You know you're going to share those, right Dad?

Here we are after the Christmas excitement. Tom seems tuckered out and enjoying Reese's new bean bag. Dad is furiously working on his Sudoku puzzle in our Sudoku competition between Dad, Jenna and myself. Jenna is so good. She skunked me bad - 13-5. I'm ready for a rematch, though. The McGillen's gave me a mammoth book of sudoku's....and I've been practicing all break. Anytime you're ready, Johnnie....

Does Jackson have the Cook big toe with a mind of its own? Here they are checking it out. Jackson seems a little perplexed by the whole conversation.

It was a white Christmas this year! It started snowing on Christmas Eve (sleet first, then heavy flakes). Stillwater got at least 7"!

Jackson liked the idea of snow...until he actually touched it. Tom showed Jackson how to sled on the little hill in the backyard.

Reese spent pretty much the entire time riding in the sled on her back not moving at all. We think she liked it, but we're not entirely sure.

Here are some videos of Jackson and Reese (and Tom and Dad) playing in the snow. Jackson only liked it if he didn't have to touch the snow. I think Reese does a pretty good impersonation of a snow angel statue.

Christmas in Moore got a little bit of a later start than we anticipated due to the snow and ice. Thankfully, the streets had been cleared pretty well (thank you to those who spent their Christmas day(s) sanding and clearing them for everyone!) and the trip to OKC was relatively uneventful. As soon as we got to the McGillen's house, Jackson zoomed in on the singing fish...which they had hidden in hopes that Jackson would have forgotten about it!

Jackson decided he wasn't going to let the fish show him up, so he sang a few of his own for the crowd - you just can't beat an abbreviated Jingle Bells and ABC's for some holiday spirit! (sorry, the videos are a little dark)

After a few songs and catching up, it was time to see what Santa had brought everyone.

After some practice, Jackson really got the hang of opening presents. The day after Christmas, he kept asking "Presents? Open?"

I think Jackson secretly wants glasses of his own. Before leaving for school in the mornings, we usually need to get his sunglasses for him to wear in the car. I found my first pair of glasses from junior high - I think they're 1/2 as big as my entire face (no, there won't be a photo of those). I think Jackson wanted those, too. For now, Mr. Potato Head's will have to suffice:

More Cars! He also got a Mack truck carrying case. He carries Mack all around the house...we even have to bring him when Jackson gets a diaper change. Have we mentioned Jackson loves Cars?

Linda made a great Lightening McQueen cap (and hat) for Jackson. He loves running around the house with a cape flying behind him.

Jackson got a baby doll that eats, drinks and wets her diaper...we thought it would come in handy for potty training. Jackson loves it way more than I thought he would. He likes feeding it and changing the doll's diaper. He thinks it's hilarious when the baby sits on the potty chair!

Dancing to the Christmas tunes:

Like I mentioned earlier, we're trying to get Jackson ready for potty training. We thought getting big boy underwear in the Toy Story and Thomas themes might help entice him. Unfortunately, I don't think Jackson quite understands the point of underwear yet...

Like I said earlier, Santa outdid himself. Jackson ended up with so many toys - a train table, easel and art supplies, a small kitchen, playdoh, lots of Cars, baby doll, walkie talkies, flashlights, books, Leapfrog, a cool billebo, basketball hoop, dress-up clothes and hats and more. Thank you, Santa!!