broken ornaments

Jackson has only broken one ornament so far, but he's come very close to breaking several others. 

I knew this Christmas would be difficult for him.  He's only 15 months old, and so a Christmas tree looks like a huge tree full of shiny new toys.  

We even took extra precautions and put the tree and decorations up while he was in bed, so he wouldn't see us handling things.  

That didn't seem to work.

What's really frustrating is that he doesn't lay a finger on any of my mom's two Christmas trees!!!

Actually that shouldn't surprise me.  He is always more obedient and happier at Nana's house.  

I think that he thinks Nana's house is where he really lives, and that our house is the babysitters.

Anyway, hopefully that one ornament will be the only broken one this year.  Luckily it had no sentimental value, just a shiny red ball ornament.  He probably thought it was literally a ball and chucked it across the room.  I didn't see it, I only heard it shatter from the other room.  

I sort of remember having to deal with grabby baby hands with my other two kiddos, but Jackson is so much more destructive than they ever were.  

Hopefully our Christmas decor will survive this Christmas!! 

Enjoy the pics!!

 Don't let that innocent face fool you!!

 Grabby hands

 Family Tree

 Abigail's tree in her room.

Austin's tree in his room.

I stopped blogging for 19 days

Can you believe that?  

I haven't posted since November 10th.  

It's taking every ounce of energy I have to blog right now.  I don't know why.

I think it's like anything, the longer you go without something the less you want it.

I KNOW that I LOVE blogging and don't want to stop, but my heart just isn't in it right now.  

I've stayed caught up on reading all the fabulous blogs that I follow.  I just don't feel very inspired to sit down and type up a post of my own.  

I'M NOT GIVING UP!!!

This is my attempt to get back in the blogosphere.

I could post about my Thanksgiving, which was a good time, but I think we are all tired of reading those.  I'm gonna skip it and move on to now.  I'm gonna break all the rules and NOT play catch up on what I've missed.  

I think this picture is hilarious.  

He is eating noodles...like a dog.  

I don't know why, but all of a sudden he has started eating like this occasionally.  

Forget using hands, just bend over and stick your face in the food.  

It works just as good!! 

LOL!!!!

 

Thankful Day 10 & experimental cooking

It may sound simple, but I'm thankful for the food in our pantry.  Having plenty of food to eat is something I believe we all take for granted.  So many people around the world are starving and unsure of where their next meal will come from.  I think we would be surprised how many of our neighbors are in that exact situation.  So often we think that it's only the tribes in Africa, but there are starving men, women, and children in every city in America.  

I did a little experimental cooking last night and surprisingly it turned out well.  I crushed up some ritz crackers and mixed them up with a packet of ranch dressing mix.  Then I took my Tilapia, dunked them in vegetable oil and then coated them with the ranch cracker mix.  Then I baked them for about 20 minutes.  They were delicious. 

I almost forgot to take a picture of the final product, so all I have is this piece with a big chunk missing.  Brent was in the process of finishing off the last piece when I took this picture.

I'll probably be absent for a while. 

 I'm heading out of town for a couple of days for a Math conference.  

Have a Great Weekend!!

Thankful Day 9

Today I'm thankful for mine and my families health.  Too often I take this for granted.  We are all very healthy, besides your occasional cold or stomach bug.  No one in my family is seriously ill!  So many families deal with deadly disease on a daily basis.

My worst nightmare would be for my child to get cancer or some other crippling disease, but it could happen.

God never guaranteed our lives to be perfect. 

 He never promised us perfect health.  

He did however, promise us that he would never leave us or forsake us.  

He will walk with us through every obstacle and trial. 

I pray every day for my kids to stay healthy and happy.  A while back I watched a Louie Giglio video called Prayer Remix.  It was awesome.  It really opened my eyes to how I had been praying and how I should be praying.  

One of the things he mentioned was how we always pray for God to "watch over us and protect us".  Not that it's a bad prayer, but if we really want God to use us, then we have to be ready and willing to get hurt or broken in the process. 

The way I'm explaining it, is not doing it justice.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.  Louie is a funny guy and easy to listen to, but most importantly everything he teaches and talks about is founded in scripture.

I'm extremely encouraged and motivated by people who deal with disease and death in their families, yet still keep positive and trust in the Lord.  Their lives are glorifying God and that is ultimately what's important.

Anyway.....

I got a little off topic for a second there.  I'm going to try harder to remember and appreciate how blessed I am to be healthy and have a family without any serious illness. 

Thankful Day 8

I'm proud of myself for keeping up with my Thankful posts, but I have a busy week next week so I might get a bit behind.  I'm heading to Shreveport for a Math conference! 

I'm not super excited about it.  It's not that I don't want to go learn about ways to teach Math, it's just that for me to leave behind three kids with busy schedules, is not an easy task. 

We can't really rely on Brent because he can be called to work at any moment, so thank goodness for my Mommy!!

My mom is going to take over the task of feeding, bathing, dressing, chauffeuring, tucking in, disciplining, and everything else that comes along with 3 kiddos. 

I know I've already posted about being thankful for family, but my mom deserves an individual shout out.



 

Thanks Mom!!  I couldn't do it without you!

I'm also linking up for Thankful Thursdays!!

go check it out and link up!!!

Thankful Day 7

I'm thankful for the blood of Jesus!

I was singing the song when I typed that. Lol

If you are new here, you can read my previous post about my faith by clicking here.

Thankful Day 5 & 6

Another obvious one....

Day 5

Family

I know how blessed I am to have such loving, supportive, and fun family!!

I couldn't ask for better parents, siblings, inlaws, nieces or nephew!

Below is just a modge podge of family pictures that I felt captured our family's personality!!

There are some family members pictures not included, because there basically aren't pictures of them in existence! 

Love my Family!!

Day 6

I'm thankful that after today the election will be over. 

 I'm even more thankful that no matter who is elected president, God will still be KING!!

Thankful Day 4

You probably saw this coming...

I soooo thankful for this guy!

It's hard to believe we've been married for nine years and together for thirteen. 

We started "dating" when I we were 15 and it stuck!

I couldn't ask for better husband, father, best friend, and leader of this family!

I'm surprised and thankful, that my crazy ways haven't driven him off!

Thankful day 2 & 3 plus Halloween Pics

I'm continuing with my plan to blog about one thing I am thankful for each day.  I need to play a little catch up today!

Day 2 & 3

These two faces!!

Abigail

I am thankful for my Abba Dabba (Abigail)!!  She is a constant entertainment.  You never know what is going to come flying out of her mouth next! Our lives would be pretty boring without her.  Although she is going through a semi bad attitude phase in her life right now, I still really enjoy just hanging out and talking to her.

I do sometimes feel guilty that I am so distracted by her two, more needy, brothers and can't spend as much quality time with her as I would like.  Something I need to work on for the future!

Austin

I am also so thankful for my Bubba (Austin).  From the age of 18 months to about 3.5 he was a grumpy fellow and not always easy to be around, but in the past year he has really matured and is happy 95% of the time.  He is turning into a little ball of sunshine.  Everyone is always telling me how happy he seems.  He is loving school and has learned so much in just 3 short months. 

And below you will get an idea of how fun our Halloween was this year!! 

 I can't believe it's November already!

Abigail was a spider countess. 

She wanted to be something scary this year.

Obviously Austin was Iron Man!

And Jack Jack was Captain America! 

The hat did not stay on long.

My niece Audrie!

We went to Sonic and ate 50 cent corn dogs!  We've done this for the past couple of years. 

It's starting to become a tradition!

The whole gang! Well the whole Louisiana gang anyway!

Trick or Treating



The goods!

A month of being Thankful!!



My plan for November is to try and blog every day (or two) about something I am thankful for in my life! 

I'm already a day behind right off the start, but I'll catch up.

I figured since I have this super cute picture waiting to be shared, I would start with this little guy!

I am so thankful for my little Jack Jack!  He is constantly making us laugh and smile!

He is hard headed and stubborn, but I wouldn't have him any other way!



How you doin?



What are you thankful for today??