Mason Get's Glasses

Mason failed the eye exam at school this year so we needed to take him to the eye doctor. Well, sure enough he needed glasses! (what did we expect with both Jon and I with terrible vision!)He got his glasses two weeks ago and we just love them! Many people have told him that they love his glasses, you look just like you dad, and my friend told him that he even looked "Smoken" in them! All these comments have helped him get used to the idea of having glasses. His cousin Jefferson (5 yr) even said to his mom on SuperBowl Sunday. "Mom can I get some glasses like Mason at the Dollar Store?" He is being very responsible and protective of them and eventually wants to get contacts someday!

Morgan's Babysitting Memories!
Yesterday Morgan was babysitting while Jon went hometeaching and I was at choir practice. I came home to find out that Maddie had thrown up while she was napping! Morgan got her out of her crib, stripped the sheets, stripped off Maddie's clothes, cleaned up the carpet, took the laundry downstairs, and put Madelyn in the bath tub. She was still in the tub when I arrived home. Morgan said that she washed her body, but not her hair because it had throw up in it. I thought to myself, hey she did a pretty good job for an eleven year old!!!

Nursery Memories!
These pictures are from when Brinley and Carter graduated from Nursery and when Maddie started Nursery. Carter was in town for their last day of Nursery on December 31, 2006. Their teacher (Jewell Mayberry) made them these cute graduation caps. She also wrote this poem: I'll be a Sunbeam!
I'll be a Sunbeam starting next week,
I've been to primary and had a peek,
At what goes on there, and what the big kids do,
And I want to be a part of it too.
I'm too grown up for Nursery now!
But while I have been here, I have learned how,
To share and play and stay in my chair,
So I will sit quietly while I am there,
"Jesus wants me for a sunbeam," so I will obey,
I'm off to sunbeams, I'm on my way!
She was a great teacher, and Brinley misses her!
She still is a little nervous about Sunbeams, but is getting better each week. Maddie's first day of Nursery was 2-11-07. She did really well! We have been visiting for the past 2 weeks to help her get used to it. She was a little sad at first and had to be held, but then once snack time came she got right to the table and enjoyed every minute of it! On the way home from church Morgan said "Mom I can't believe that Maddie is in nursery already!" , " it seems like you just had her, pretty soon she'll be in college!" WOW that is scary to think about, but we got a long ways until that happens so I'll enjoy every minute of these sweet little spirits that we were blessed to have!

Maddie's 18 Months!
I can't believe that she is already this old! Our sweet little surprise baby is growing up way too fast! She has recovered from her little foot accident and is walking everywhere. She just loves to walk from room to room, turn around, and try to walk away from us when we are chasing her. She is still wobbly and crawls occasionally.
She is such a doll! Everyone still loves to fight over her: who's going to get her from her crib, who wants to play with her, and especially who wants to give her the most kisses. She loves everyone in our family and Michelle at the kids club at the gym and that's about it! She is very shy and sometimes it's hard to get her to smile. The smile in this picture was pushing it!

Maddie's Favorites:

Favorite Book: Mostly our small board books

Favorite Movie: Baby Signing Times!!! She does enjoy opening up all the DVD cases and playing with several movies also!

Favorite Food: Not sure if she has one, but she does like rice dishes and pasta

Favorite snack: Anything that is sweet!

Favorite song: Baby Signing Times music

Favorite Activity: Playing with any and all siblings, getting into their stuff, making a mess everywhere she goes, climbing on top of B/B hutch in their room, playing dress-ups, getting into mom's make-up bag, walking to daddy when he gets home from work and giving him a big hug!

Things she dislikes: Shoes, diaper changes, nose wipes, & getting her hair done! (although she is getting better at sitting still!)

Words at 18 months: stop, mine, dad, dog, mama, & lots of babbling

Weight 26 lbs, wears 18-24 months, shoe size ?

Here are my layouts that I have done this year. I duplicated some of these for my album also. These picture are kind of dark. I will have to play with my new camera some more! The two page layout with all the buttons I did without going to the scrapbook store. That's a big deal for me. I ususally think or want to go buy some new cool items for layouts, but I used stuff I already had at home! Yeah! These are also my first 12x12 pages. I have finally converted!

Brinley's Birthday!!!
Well I am about a week late on her birthday post but I thought that it was still ok because it's within the same month! Brinley had a fun 4th birthday. She wanted bacon, cold cereal, and square cheese (American slices) for breakfast. She opened her presents from the family during breakfast. She got some items for our new kitchen, a new ballet outfit, and these cream sparkly shoes that she has been asking for. She then went to Build a Bear with grandma Jackson where she picked out this Hello Kitty. She named her Princess Birthday Kitty. I have never taken my kids to Build a Bear so she thought it was great! For her birthday dinner she wanted to go to Red Robin (I think her older siblings helped her decide). I think she had fun there, but she was more interested in the game that lets you try to grab a stuffed animal with this big claw, then eating her dinner! I really think she only ate two bites! She kept on bugging Jon for a dollar so she could win the stuffed animal. Finally, Jon took her to the game and actually won a stuffed dog. Oh yeah, more stuffed animals! Today, a week later she invited two friends to goto JJ Jump. It's a place that has several air powered jumping structures. They are like the ones that people rent for parties for example blow up castles, and slides. It was super fun and the girls loved it. I was bummed because my battery pack to my camera died while we were there so no pictures!
Some fun facts about Brinley at age four. She only weighs 27 pounds only 1 pound more than Maddie. Size two pants still fall off of her (I'm glad that most pants now have the adjustable waist), although I have started to buy her size 3 because she is getting too tall for size 2. She is still pretty whinny at times. She still should take naps but only does about once a week because she has school and ballet. She started taking gymnastics this past fall but freaked out because she got a new male, russian teacher. So we are now trying ballet with a "girl teacher". She still adores Mason and wants him to sleep in her bed every night. Sometimes we cave in and they have a great time together. If he says no, she then asks for someone else. She loves to play dress-ups, pollys, and babies. She is a pack rat and I will constantly find little purses or gift bags full of all her little treasures. She's obsessed with bandaids and always thinks she needs to have one on somewhere. She is constantly telling me that she loves me and always wants to give me several kisses and hugs any time I leave or she leaves for school. Her favorite bedtime songs are " I love to see the temple", "I am a child of God", and "Where is Thumpkin". She loves any and every book we own. Her favorite Movies are Barbie Nutcracker, any Barney, and The Incredibles. Her Best Friend is Kennedy Lake. We are so grateful for our sweet little Brinley who is such a joy with those dark brown eyes and that blonde hair!

Monday January 22,2007
Snow Week!

On January 11 we had a snow day. That was the first of more to come. The forcasters said that it might snow and it actually did this time. The kids of course went crazy with excitement. They enjoyed every minute of it. It stuck around all weekend because it was really cold for a few days after it snowed. On monday was a holiday (Martin Luther King). The next morning Brooklyn said it's snowing mom. I said yeah right! Well it was snowing and continued to snow all morning and into the afternoon. We got about four inches and we had a ball playing in it. We went sledding, walked all over the neighborhood visiting friends, and of course snow ball fights. On Wednesday it was still pretty cold and nothing had melted so we had another no school day and played more in the snow! We are now on day number 3 of all the kids at home. This day we played with cousins all afternoon in and out of the snow. By now the snow was starting to melt, but there were definately some areas that were slick and had some snow. By Thursday I thought for sure there will be school, but "no"one more day of no school. By now I was kind of going crazy with everyone at home, having a wet, dirty floor, and no set schedule! Plus the fact that it was Brinley's birthday and I had to have the house spotless to be shown! By Friday I was ready to have everyone goto school. I was planning on taking Brinley and two of her friends to an indoor bouncing structure. Madelyn somehow hurt her foot and we had to take her to the doctor instead. We thought that she may have sprained or broken something in her right leg/foot. The x-rays showed nothing and there has been no swelling or bruising. So it's still a mystery what happened, and today is the first day that she has taken a few steps. She has regressed on her walking abilites. She was 90% walking and only about 10% crawling, we are now the opposite. She is making slow progress though. Needless to say it was a busy, crazy, and a very non-scheduled week!

Monday January 22, 2007
Favorite Birthday Present
The older I get my birthday seems to become less exciting. I think it is because I am so surprised that another year has flown by! This year I got some great presents, and one of them was a full set of nails from my sister-in-law Temple. I got other fun things from my family and friends, but this was my favorite present. She has been doing my nails for the past ten years. She has taken a break from doing anyone's nails including hers for the past eight months. She just thought it would be too much with the new baby. So when she said that she wanted to give that to me for my birthday, I was so excited. She did them on Saturday afternoon, so I could have my nails looking pretty for my actual birthday on Sunday! Thanks Temple I love them!

Jon Takes Nic's Class!
Jon has been working out at one of the clubs I teach at pretty frequently for the past three months. I have been very proud of him and he has been really dedicated! Last Thursday I had to sub for my friend at 5:30 am. I asked Jon if he wanted to come and do the class. The class is a power sculpting class called 24 Lift (I teach at 24 Hour Fitness). He came to class that Morning and loved it. I did have to give him a hard time because this was the first class that he has ever attended of mine. I have been teaching for 15 years! So he then came with me on Saturday morning to my normal class that I teach. He was definately sore last weekend. He is so cute. He just loves this class. He is really enjoying working out. We again went on Thursday morning togther. This morning I went to go teach and he stayed home to make sure the house was ready for our showings. He was so sad to miss class and said "Tell the Gang hi for me and tell them I'll be back next week! Way to go Honey!!!

Listing Our Home!
We put our house on the market last Friday. I have had a busy week needless to say! I had two showings last weekend, one on Tuesday, and three today! Do you know how hard it is to keep a house spotless with five kiddos? I do have to say that I have actually accomplished a lot this week. I even scrapbooked five pages! Everyone in the family has helped out tons this week with keeping the house clean. Brooklyn especially has rocked!!! On Tuesday she swept the whole kitchen and entry way (including sweeping under rugs), cleaned her room, and straightened up the bonus room all by herself, without being asked! And she is only six! Hopefully it won't take too long to sell.

Christmas Eve Day
Our day started off with going to church at 9 a.m. I had to be there early to practice one last time with the choir. I left strick instructions to Jon to make sure he took pictures of the kids in their christmas outfits. One last time of wearing the dresses! I got my $'s worth two years! We then spent the afternoon wrapping presents, decorating cookies for Santa, and reading about the birth of our Savior. That evening we went to Grandma Jackson's for dinner. We especially enjoyed opening one gift, new pajamas! When we got home the kids were not tired at all. They were so excited to all sleep together. They finally crashed at about 11 pm. I couldn't resist this photo of them all sleeping on the floor together!

Mason's Birthday
Mason's birthday this year was packed full of excitement. I feel like he gets jipped out of having a fun birthday due to the time of year (three days before christmas)! When I was buying one of his presents the cashier at Target said "I can't believe people have babies this time of the year." I told her that sometimes things are not planned. This year Mason didn't have a friend birthday party but he partied with the family. It started with a big breakfast in bed which included one of his favorite foods, BACON. He went to Big Al's bowling alley/arcade for a school friends birthday party. I picked him up at 1:30p.m. We came home to recoup for about an hour and we were off to the Ice Rink to go ice skating. Brooklyn, Morgan, Mason and I all went ice skating for two hours! He loved it and the kids did great! We then headed home for pizza, pop, bacon salad (he specifically asked to have bacon in his green salad), and brownie sundaes. Jon took him to see a movie at 8 pm, and then a not so quick game of pool at grandpa Jackson's. He didn't get home until 11:30 pm. Mason had a jam packed day of fun, what a birthday!

Not ready for Christmas!
I am still not quite ready! I didn't even do Brinley's and Brooklyn's hair for the past two days! This week has been crazy with entertaining kids! Morgan and Mason said at the beginning of the week. Mom we can go swimming, to a movie, ice skating and bowling! I said " Do you think I am made of money?" I did take them swimming after I taught on Monday. On Tuesday they had playdates with friends. Wednesday we all went to see Charlottes Web. On Friday we went Ice Skating for Mason's birthday. So that is why I am not ready for Christmas yet. I have one last thing to buy today. I then need to do ALL my wrapping, start and finish a small sewing project for part a present, mop my sick floor, and fold about 10 loads of laundry! I do work great under pressure, and it will get done!

Who Needs Walking?

When you are child number five why walk? Myself or one of her sibblings loves to carry and hold her constantly. She can walk when she wants to, she has to be in a good mood. This picture was taken a couple weeks ago. She was being so silly. B and B would say "Madelyn stand up." She would just stand there and then take a few steps. About two months ago Jon's comments were "Nic we need to practice with her!" How do you make a then 15 month old walk. Well I am happy to report that she is making progress. Her longest stretch is about 10 steps. She still can crawl faster and/or all she needs to do is beg to someone and then we'll pick her up. Some of her first words are mine, stop, mama, and hot. Monique said of course child number five would say mine and stop pretty early! Just two days ago Morgan said "Mom I just love Maddie what would we do without her?" I said I know she is suppose to be in our family!

Christmas Programs

Both Brooklyn and Brinley had small programs at their school for the holiday season. Brinley's was first and she seemed excited to go and sing. When we got ready to go she was hysterical. I was going to have Morgan baby sit everyone but Brinley because Jon was still out of town on business. Well she really wanted Mason to come to her program. So Mason was crying because he didn't want to go and Brinley was crying because she wanted Mason to come. It was a cute program with the Christmas story, lots of songs, and even Santa. Brinley was not wanting to participate in the singing though. Yes, my kid was the one on the front row picking her nose! Nice! Oh Brinley. She is at this funky stage in her life when she wants us to do everything for her. Turn on every light, set her on the toliet, and help her get dressed. She is almost four! Brooklyn's Kindergarten small program was cute. Her teacher is great! Always having cute parties, making fun crafts, and being so sweet!

Garden Pumpkins!
I took these pictures about a month ago and forgot to post them. I wanted to remember all the pumpkins that we got from our garden. This was our first time growing them this summer. Everyone was so excited to see them grow and change into their beautiful colors. We didn't want to carve them too early because they mold very fast in the NW. So the day before Halloween was a Monday this year and also Morgan's Birthday. We were busy doing her birthday festivities that we didn't have time to carve them. So what's the purpose of carving them after Halloween? The kids were sad especially Brinley! But we were able to enjoy our beautiful pumpkins throughout the month of November and have them for our Thanksgiving decorations !

Today Is A New Day!
Well my bummer weekend turned into a bummer Monday! It started when I got in the car with the three little girls to go teach my class at 930 am. My car battery was dead! I was a little stressed because of the time 910 am, but I quickly loaded everyone plus two carseats into Jon's car. (He is still out of town) For some reason his car battery was dead also! Now I was stressed! My next door neighbor was gone. (I was thinking that I could just borrow her car since she already has carseats in her van) My other neighbor wasn't answering her phone. I then called the gym and told them the situation. My neighbor pulled up shortly and ended up jumping the big suburban in the pouring rain. I quickly drove to the gym and taught the rest of my class. I was only 20 minutes late! My monday continued to be busy with carpools to school and volunteering in Mason's class. At Brooklyn's ballet class she had a small nutcracker dance that they had prepared for all the parents. I dropped her off at 3:45 and then was planning on going to the bank and returning to see her dance. Well I don't know what I was thinking but I thought her class got over at 4:45 but it really got done at 4:30. So I am just trying to kill time until I went back to her class. I walk in with Maddie and everyone is getting their coats on and getting ready to leave. I said to Brooklyn "Did you already do your dance?" and she said yes mom. I said to my friend Tammy "Doesn't class get over at 4:45?" She said no 4:30. Now how long have they been going to this class? Since September!!! Well I lost it and I started to cry right there in her Ballet class. My friend and her husband I think felt really bad for me and were asking what they could do. I explained how my day had been and that they caught me at a weak moment. But I am happy to report that Today is A New Day and we'll put our smiles on and enjoy what Tuesday has to offer!

Oh What A Day!

This past few days have been crazy without Jon being in town. I was going to take the kids to the movie last night, but when I got there I realized that I had looked at the wrong day. The times of the movies changed for the weekend. M/M and B/B were excited to see Santa Claus 3! We left the theaters with Brinley crying, Morgan pouting and me being upset with everything! We ended up going home and watching a Christmas movie that I had recorded. Saturday was going to be a better day (I thought). I had to run some errands in the afternoon. One of them included looking for something to go with this dress that I bought last weekend. Don't you hate it when you can't find what you are looking for? I went all over the mall, Kohls, Target, and even Walmart! I was frusturated and upset about that plus the fact that there were millions of people everywhere I went today. The holiday shopping season is in full force! I finally made it home to Morgan upset because we couldn't go to the park because by now it was almost dark! I was planning on going to a holiday ornament exchange. Well I ended up being 45 minutes late. Everyone had cereal for dinner except for Morgan. (The joys of not cooking when the husband is out of town) Mason and Maddie were taking a bath. They were playing and having a great time for about 15 minutes. Mason was blowing bubbles in the water when I noticed a floatie (from Madelyn). She has never pooped in the tub before! I was screaming! I immediately had everyone exit the poopy water. I told Mason to go take another shower in my bathroom and brush his teeth! That was a sign that I should stay home tonight and not go to the ornament exchange. I went for about an hour, and came home to happy kids. Although someone gave Madelyn a milk sippy cup without a stopper! So I found drips of milk through the kitchen, up the stairs, down the hall and finally into the bonus room! Now I am recording this so I won't forget how crazy my life sometimes is. I just wrote my to do list, and I am feeling very behind! " Oh what a Day"it has been!

Hunting For Our Tree!
We went and cut down our Christmas Tree last weekend. The weather was a little cold but no rain. The kids had a great time picking it out, helping cut it down, and then drinking hot cocoa. On the way home Jon said "Wasn't that fun?" "Or would you rather blow the dust off a box that I get out of the attic and then we put up the tree?" I have been talking about getting a fake tree, but I guess he is not quite ready for that. I was shocked when Mom and Dad finally broke down last year a got a fake tree. I don't know many people that get real trees anymore. The Jackson Five will continue the real tree tradition. We now have it up and all decorated. We put the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations last night while blasting the Christmas music. Now all we have to do is the outside lights. We'll see if that happens. Jon is very nervous to get on the roof, and our neighbors usually put up our lights. Morgan said that he should do it this weekend. It would be a good surprise for me when I get home on Sunday!

Morgan and I got up early on Friday morning to do some shopping. We were first going to Fred Meyer for their half price sock sale. Well, I woke up LATE! We were suppose to get up at 5 am, but I rolled out a bed at 6:20 am. When I woke up Morgan she said "Mom what if they run out of socks?" I am happy to report that Freddies didn't run out of socks. We were gone for 4 hours of fun and crazy shopping, which included Morgan getting her ears pierced!

November Snow Storm?
When the forcasters talk about snow in the NW you never know if you should believe them or not. Well this time there were right. It snowed on and off on Monday and into the evening. The kids had a great time playing in it, having a snowball fight with dad, and sliding down the neighbors driveway. It was a perfect family night activity! Maddie watched from the window but then got really jealous. I bundled her and myself up and we joined in the fun for a little while. Morgan's comment was the best. When she saw it starting to snow she said "I am so excited we are going to have a white Christmas!" (It will be long gone by then) The snow didn't melt yet and it snowed into Tuesday, the kids even started school late so they were able to enjoy it a little longer this morning.