Now is it Christmas Day yet??

Jackson has been so excited for Christmas. I think every single day (and multiple times a day) for the last two weeks he has asked, "Is it Christmas day?". After Jackson's nap one Saturday, I told him that we were going to go see Santa in Mommy's building (he loves that place!). He gasped in surprise and said "I need to write him a letter!" While I was getting ready, he drew Santa three pictures and even signed his name! Looking at one of the pictures, I thought he drew a picture of Santa because it looked like he had a mustache and beard. So I said "Oh look, you drew Santa! He'll love it!" Jackson looked at me and said "Mom, that's not Santa, that's a pumpkin." Oh.....right.

Jackson gripped tightly to those drawings the entire way downtown. Every once in a while he'd look down at the drawings and just smile proudly. It made my heart melt. It was so windy walking into the building, and Jackson just kept gripping tighter and tighter. He held them the entire time while we waited for Santa (almost 30 minutes!). When it was his turn, he walked up so fast and gave the pictures to Santa so quickly that I barely had time to turn on the camera! Sorry for the blurry shot.

I was hoping that I could get the pictures back to keep, but I couldn't get the assistants attention. :( On the bright side, Jackson wasn't scared at all of Santa this year! He told Santa he wanted a bike....a motorcycle bike.

Jackson loves dressing up right now, and his Woody pajamas are at the top of the list, especially when we let him wear his Woody hat and boot slippers. Here he is looking at his Buzz Lightyear ornament.

Finding Sister Elf each day has been such a fun game. Now he's starting to talk to the Elf a bit during the day.

The Friday before Christmas, Jackson's daycare had their Christmas program. I can't believe it, but we forgot the camera!! Thankfully, my friends took some pictures as did my Dad (who also shot some video). This program was priceless. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. When Jackson's class came out, you could Jackson was a little nervous. He kept looking around for us. When he finally saw us, he called each one of us out by name excitedly as we were all there to see him. Right before they started singing, Jackson took a couple of really deep breaths, as if he was trying to calm his nerves. So sweet. The pictures below are from "Feliz Navidad".

The video is priceless and has a little bit from all of the songs. I absolutely love how animated and excited he was. You could tell he really knew the words and the motions. I think I've watched this video 50 times already!

After the Christmas program, we headed to Dry Gulch to go to the Christmas Train. We had never been there before. It was really impressive! It's like a little Western town all decked out in Christmas lights.

As soon as we got there, we went to go see Santa. They have the best operation there - we were able to walk right up in Santa's personal room, and Santa gave Jackson all the time he wanted to talk to him. Jackson just stood there for a while holding and rubbing Santa's hands. And he again asked for a motorcycle bike...and a boat (None of which were on the original list).

After a quick dinner (and a fast drive by Tom to get the camera for us - thanks, Tom!!), we stood in line for the Christmas train, which was a small trolley car on train tracks that told the story of Jesus. I really could have done without all of the reenactments. When we got to the point where Jesus was on the cross, Jackson turned away and just kept saying "I'm not scared. I'm not scared." A little too graphic for young kids, in my opinion. All night long Jackson clung tightly to Papa and Pama.

I think all of the workers were actually volunteers from the Church on the Move. They were all dressed in old-timey costumes.

After the train ride, we rode the Carousel. Jackson picked the tiger and named it Sally (EVERYTHING he rides he names Sally. Maybe he gets that from Grandma Petrie, as my mom says she always wanted to be called Sally, too.) I love their faces in this picture as they are both roaring together.

Before we left, it was time for a quick coffee/hot chocolate break, and a cinnamon roll to go. Yummy! Jackson still couldn't get enough of Papa and was making faces with Papa the entire time in line. Thanks for making the long trip to go with us, Mom and Dad! We had fun.

While we were out Christmas shopping, Jackson latched on to a few necklaces that he just had to try on. As soon as we got home, he had to wear all of the ones that we got (which he now thinks are his) as well as many of mine. New fashion statement, I think.

Then he had to get back to business and write yet another letter to Santa.

In preparation for Jackson's Christmas party at his daycare, we were writing notes to all of his wonderful teachers. This year, Jackson also drew them a picture and signed his name. They were so cute that I had to capture them for posterity:

At his Christmas party, they played Musical Chairs. I didn't even know Jackson knew how to play that game! When they started playing, everyone stood up and walked around the chairs....except Jackson. He knew the best way to get a chair was not to leave it!! Nash's brother, Cooper also was playing, and he would save Jackson a chair beside him. Unfortunately, Jackson didn't always realize it!

To kick off the Christmas vacation, we took a trip down to look at the Christmas lights on the Rhema campus. So cool! It was like you set foot in a magical world. Everything was lit up and some of the displays were timed with the Christmas music playing in the background. We'll be making this part of our Christmas traditions!

We all really liked the bridge covered in Christmas lights. In front of us, there was a group of about 10 people, and one of the couple got engaged right in front of us. Congrats! It was a little awkward since the bridge got really backed up, but it certainly will be memorable. I hope they got better pictures on the bridge than I did. It would be a shame if their pictures ended up like the one I took below! I don't know quite what happened with this picture, but it makes me laugh hysterically each time I look at it. Tom turned into a hillbilly, and Jackson turned into either goth or phantom of the opera!

Fortunately, here is a better one of the faces that I love!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had such a fun time with family. Several more posts to come shortly to share our time together.

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!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's hard to believe the holidays are already here! On Wednesday, we drove to Moore to celebrate Thanksgiving with the McGillens. We had picked Jackson up during his naptime, thinking he would sleep in the car. Nope! He had a 45 minute nap that day and did surprisingly well! On Wednesday night, after dinner, we headed out to a local park so that Jackson could run off some of his extra energy. We all had fun pretending to be Buzz, Woody and Zurg!

Linda made some cute cupcakes that looked like turkeys (made with frosting and candy corn). We discovered Jackson REALLY likes candy corn! Wish I had got a picture of them. They were cute.

Here we are for our Thankgiving feast!

While we were resting before dessert (an extremely yummy pumpkin pie - I need the recipe!), Jackson decided he needed to do a little work on his phone. I love how he calls this "his" phone. He is so good at playing on the iTouch! I also love how he has just settled into a comfy spot in the chair - make yourself at home, Jackson!
Earlier that morning, we were going through all of the Black Friday ads. The Walmart Toy add caught Jackson's eye. He looks so serious!
While we were at the McGillens, we helped them put up and decorate their Christmas tree. Jackson liked hanging the ornaments, though he kept wanting to put them on the lights rather than the branches. We can also tell at school they are doing a lot of matching. All of the red ornaments had to go on the red lights, green ornaments on the green lights, etc. I wonder where he got all of those organizational skills, Tom??
Once he covered the bottom half, we brought out the step stool (he calls it his "climber").
Hmmm, where should this go?
Ta daa!!! I can't tell you how many pictures of this we took. I love Jackson's face in this one - it's like he's copying Tom and trying to figure out if he did it right!
On Friday, we all go together at my parents house. This picture is pure Jenna!!
Reese decided to help me and mom butter the bread...
...only we forgot to tell her that you're supposed to wait to eat it until you cook it in the oven!
Happy Thanksgiving! We started a new tradition this year - delicious crab cakes! They were yummy. Can't wait for next year! Mom brought out Grandma's Thanksgiving decorations. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them and Grandma's salt and pepper dispenser!
I hope everyone had a fun and family-filled Thanksgiving. I know we did! We have so much to be thankful for this year. What a wonderful day!

On Tuesday night, Broken Arrow hosted their send-off performance of "Zo". I was so thankful that we were on the "VIP" list as there were over 5000 people in attendance for the 15-minute show. Quite amazing! The show is based upon The Wizard of Oz. Love the music and all of the visuals! For Grand Nationals, they even had some of the alternates dress up and act like flying monkeys. It was all very impressive and lots of fun to watch.

Broken Arrow goes on for Finals at Grand Nationals tonight at 9:15 EST - about 10 minutes from now. Keeping our fingers crossed that they have a great show! They placed 2nd in Finals and also won High Visual, Fan Favorite and Espirit de Corps (nicest band). Great job!

Jackson was excited to see Grandma and Grandad. They had just come back from a trip to Florida. They brought Jackson a stuffed Shamu, which Jackson now calls "Shampoo". We like to put Shamu on his head and say "Hey Jackson, you've got Shampoo in your hair!"

Because we were able to get in early, we got to watch rehearsal. Quite amazing. Very different from anything I'm used to! Here is the drum solo with the color guard dancing in front of them. The drum solo was so cool!

Jackson was so sad not to get to play with JP (who was up in the press box). He stuck out his lower lip and then started waving to him. So pitiful.

After rehearsal was over and the students were getting into their uniforms for the performance, Tom took Jackson on the field. Jackson absolutely loves getting to play the drums. He's just barely tall enough to see over some of the instruments.

After knocking out a few tunes, Tom took Jackson for his first bike ride. The color guard rode out on the bikes during the show, even in between the band members in the drill! At the end of the show, some of the tuba and trumpets exited the field playing "We're off to see the Wizard" while riding the bike. Wow!

Jackson was so good while we were waiting. He sat there so patiently waiting for the show to start.

Found a video of the band's show on YouTube - check it out!

Jackson likes to cook, especially anything involving pouring. Tom and Jackson are making blueberry muffins to have with our yummy vegetable soup. Tom was so sweet this week. I was feeling under the weather, and one morning, I woke up at 6am to find that Tom had already picked up the house, made veggie soup and was going to the store to pick up a few things we needed before work. Thank you, Tom! You're the best.

Patiently waiting for the muffins to be ready ...

Now that Jackson has realized that he can reach almost anything with this stool, he uses it a lot. He's also decided that Woody and Buzz needed a step stool, too!

Have a great week!