Jackson's Birthday Cake

Jackson is waiting for Daddy to bring the birthday cake. Can you tell he is SO excited? He could hardly wait! What a precious little boy!

Mommy, Daddy , Jase and Gracie are singing Happy Birthday to Jackson! He has come a long way. Do you remember Jackson's 3rd Birthday? He cried as we sang Happy Birthday. I guess he thought, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!". Ha! Ha!

Jackson made his wish - actually he said that he had several wishes, and now he's blowing out the candles. It turned out to be a great day! Our little family had so much fun celebrating Jack Jack's birthday!

Happy Birthday to Jackson!

Jackson wanted to go to Build-A-Bear this year for his birthday. Of course Gracie was all for it - Jase was not quite sure. He is getting to the age that "coolness" is an unspoken issue. He thought that he might be too old to participate. You will see in the pictures that he got over that very quickly. Once he saw what fun Jackson and Gracie were having, he decided to join in on the fun! Jackson chose a Siberian Husky for his animal. He and Daddy named him Spike. Gracie decided on a pink leopard that she named Raisen - all on her own. Jase just picked out some new clothes and shoes for Rocky, a Build-A-Bear that he got on his sixth birthday. The kiddos had so much fun stuffing, bathing, brushing and dressing their animals. It was a really fun afternoon for our family.

Thoughts from My Thankful Heart

Here I sit, the day before Thanksgiving thinking of so many things that I have to be thankful for. The Lord has blessed me with far more than I deserve. As I reflect on these things, I have a few that I would love to share with you.

First - My Heavenly Father, who died on the cross so that I may live. The same one who loves me unconditionally regardless of all of my short comings. The one that sustains me and meets my every need. I'm thankful for you Lord.

I am thankful for the people that the Lord has placed in my life. Where do I begin? My Jason - The love of my life! God must have saved His very best for me! Jason is the most unselfish and giving person I know. He works so hard to provide for our family so that I can be a stay at home mom to our three wonderful children. Jason loves me still, even after he knows every little flaw and every big mistake that I have ever made in my entire life. He gets me. We are forever soul mates. I love the way that he loves our children. He is so gentle as he guides and directs them throughout their daily lives. He loves Jesus and he sets a great example for our children. Thank you Lord for my Jason.

My next three blessing are the little people in my life. My little angels - Jase, Jackson and Gracie. Wow - three close to perfect,(in mom's eyes) healthy children. I am thankful for the pure joy that they bring into my life everyday. I "at-door" (as Jackson says) each of them. They each add something special to my life. I love them dearly. They know that I am their biggest fan and they are mine! Thank you Father, for their little lives.

My parents - Oh my - I am thankful for how much they love me. My Daddy used to tell me as a child that I would never know much he and Mom loved me until I had children of my own. I never could really understand what he was talking about until now. Today, I am sure of what he was referring to all those years ago. My parents are two of my Thanksgiving blessings.

Friends - What would I do without friends? I have been blessed with a few really dear friends. These are the people who come to my rescue when I need to be rescued. A few are near - one far away, but all are close to my heart. Thanks Lord for these special people.

Next, I am so thankful for our home. The Lord blessed us this year with a new home. So much more than I deserve. Yet, it was still provided. Not only were we blessed with a new home, but some new furniture too! I heart my home and I am so grateful.

Lastly, my health. I have struggled this year with some health issues, but I remain thankful that the Lord provides me with what I need to get through each day. I have constant discomfort in my foot but things could be so much worse. Over the past few weeks, I have experienced God's perfect grace. Things are not at 100%, but there is definite improvement. I am so thankful for relief from some of the pain.

I could go on and on, but I will stop here. I have so much to be thankful for.
The following is my personal Thanksgiving prayer.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for all of my blessings. I have more blessings than I could possibly list. So many of which I don't even deserve. But because you love me, you have given to and provided for me. Please bless all of the special people in my life during this Thanksgiving holiday. I love them all, but you love them more. I pray protection over their lives. Keep them all safe so they may continue to be a part of my life. Thank you for giving your perfect life for my imperfect one. I will be forever grateful.

Amen

Thanksgiving Feast @ Granger Elementary

This past Friday, Granger hosted a Thanksgiving Feast for the students and their families. Jason, Gracie and I went to "the brudders' school" (as Gracie calls it) and enjoyed lunch with them. The tables in the cafeteria were nicely decorated with tablecloths, fall leaves and confetti. It was very festive. And the food was good too! We shared a table with our dear friends Miss Christy and Katie. We had lots of fun! This is our little family minus one. Jackson had already gone back to his classroom. Christy saw me across the cafeteria trying to take pics of everyone and she came and offered to take a picture of us together. Thanks Christy! Gracie had already put her sweater on - she was done with Thanksgiving dinner! She was ready to go home!

Jase is getting down to business. Yum-O! Gracie is tearing up the table decorations! OOPS! Gracie had already eaten. She ate during Jackson's lunch time -which happens to be @ 10:15! No wonder Jack Jack is starving when he gets home from school everyday!

This is our little friend Katie. She is in Kindergarten with Jackson. However, she is in a different class. Her class made Indian hats to wear to the Thanksgiving Feast! Katie is one of Grace Girl's most favorite people. Jackson thinks she's cool too!

A Proud Mom and her Granger Wrangler! Sister is trying to sneak herself in the picture too! She LOVES the camera! I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Ha! She's always welcome in my pictures!

Here is Gracie and silly Jackson. He will hardly sit still long enough for me to take a picture of him. When I do catch him being still - he is being silly! Ha! I love his silliness! Gracie is eating her turkey and dressing. Guess what Jackson chose for his Thanksgiving meal? A State Fair corn dog! Ha! I guess he is trying to support his Daddy!

Here's Jase and his Dad. I love this picture! Aren't they handsome? Jase always loves it when his Mom and Dad come to his school for special events and/or activities. I wonder how much longer it will be that way? He is almost ten! WOW! That's so hard for me to believe. At what age is it no longer cool for your Mom and Dad to be seen? Oh how I dread that day! So I'll just enjoy being seen as long as he lets me. Then I'll just hide behind some other kid's mom. Ha! Ha! Just kidding!

Sleeping Beauty

Shhh... Sleeping Beauty is dreaming! Daytime naps are such a rarity around our house. Naps are so rare, I thought I would grab some snapshots of what taking a nap actually looks like. Ha! Ha! I guess Gracie is "resting up" for when Jase and Jackson get home from school.

Look at Gracie's little hiney in the air. She still sleeps just like she did as an infant. As I wipe away tears - I can whole-heartedly say that I miss those days. Where has time gone?

Christine Fox Photography

We went to Bear Creek Park a few weeks ago hoping to capture some pictures of our family and kiddos. Thank goodness our photographer (a close friend) had SO much patience with our Jackson. Ha! As you all know Jackson, he marches to the beat of his own drum. I love him for that! Of course Jase was so cooperative and Gracie was really into the "photo shoot"! She loves to have her picture taken. It was a windy afternoon - but somehow Christy (the photographer) captured some wonderful pictures of our family. Thank you, Christy! I made this slide show with a few of my favorites! Aren't our children growing? Jason and I are so proud of them! Hope you enjoy seeing the pictures as much as we did!

Our First Halloween in Saratoga

These are our little trick or treaters! Of course, Jase was a baseball player, Jackson was Superman and Grace girl was Snow White. This year was Gracie's first year to trick or treat. We have always gone to our church for their Annual Light up the Night. This year we decided to do something a little different. We all had a blast and it gave us an opportunity to meet some of our new neighbors.

Our friends - Jack, Patrick and Katie

These are some of our special friends. Jack (Indiana Jones) is one of Jase's best friends. Jackson likes him a lot too! Jackson is also friends with Jack's brother Patrick (the astronaut). And Little Sister Katie is one of Gracie's most favorite people. We have awesome friends! We also like them because their last name is Fox! (my maiden name and Jackson's middle name)

Is that you Ms. Ethreidge?

We think that this is Ms. Ethridge. She is the principal at Granger Elementary. Granger is where the boys attend school. Ms. Ethridge is our neighbor. The boys usually freak when they see her at our house. They (mostly Jackson) think that they must be in some sort of trouble. They can't imagine Ms. Ethridge having a life outside of school!

Daddy's Little Princess

Please let me introduce to you to our Little Princess! This year for Halloween all she really cared about was being a princess. She LOVES all of the princess, but as of late Snow White is her very favorite! Instead of having 7 dwarfs that care for her, she has 2 brothers and a Daddy that adore her.