Milestones

From dictionary.com:

milestone
n.
1. A stone marker set up on a roadside to indicate the distance in miles from a given point.
2. An important event, as in a person's career, the history of a nation, or the advancement of knowledge in a field; a turning point.


My car passed a milestone this week. Yep, she's over 90,000 miles old now and still going strong. It got me thinking though about milestones in life. You know, the things that leave a mark, show growth, create a turning point. Wikipedia says: Milestones are constructed to reassure travellers that the proper path is being followed, and to indicate either distance travelled or the remaining distance to a destination.

Some of my milestones:
Becoming a mother
Learning to stand up for myself
Realizing my parents are people with dreams too
Understanding that grace should be given as readily as it is received
Marrying the man of my dreams
Singing my first solo
Forgiving the deepest of hurts
Acknowledging that God really does loves me that much
Learning to let go

I am consistently reminded of the remaining distance to my destination. I know I've got a long way to go, but it's about the journey, right?

What are some of your milestones?

My time in St. Louis

My sister and her husband haven't been away for a weekend by themselves since they had children. They needed it - and deserved it! So they used an airline voucher to fly me up there to take care of the kids so they could have a much needed getaway. What a weekend!! I had a ball and I'm tired. I don't know how she does it every day of her life. She's my hero. You should check out her blog for great stories and perspective on the kids: The Blue Hutch

Their family is celebrating Easter every day with a different activity. Our activity for Friday was making sheep - for all we like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned his own way, but the Lord has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6

I also brought, from Memom and Pop, the new Mrs. Patty Cake video. It might be one word, I don't know. Anyway, the kids loved it. I think we watched it every day.

The girls are very sweet with each other. Little is such a great big sister and KB returns the sentiment. She is not being held against her will here.

The youngest, KB, is 18 months old and SO cute! She's into everything which kept me on my toes. She's trying so hard to talk and in her little mind, I'm sure she makes complete sense! We took a spin around the kitchen in the laundry-mobile.



The weather was beautiful Friday, rainy and cold Saturday, and Sunday morning the kids woke up to snow!! Kinda reminds me of Birmingham weather!


The kids love to color. I do too, so it was fun to join in! Here we are coloring our animal face masks. Each has their own unique style. It's fun to watch.

And here is Little showing off her cat face. She was so excited about it and referred to it throughout the weekend. She also added more colors to it as the weekend went on.

I was a bit nervous about bathing all three kids, but Becky suggested doing them in shifts throughout the day. Great idea! Then I could just focus on one at a time! I just thought this was too cute of a picture.

Bubba is fervently coloring here while KB has emptied his book basket and insisted on walking around with it on her head. Of course, once I said, "Wheeeeere's KB?" the game was on.

The kids did well without their parents around. They didn't cry for them or ask repeatedly when they were coming home. But they did miss them. The reunion was a happy one.

We had made a Welcome Home sign with crayons, markers, and stickers. It greeted mom and dad as they walked through the door.

I had such a fun time. I love those kids so much. It's weird how you can love someone else's children almost as much as you love yours.

My boys were glad to have me back as I was glad to be back. After NC and now MO, I'm glad to be home for a while - with my 9 year old! :-)

Our Time in NC

We headed up to Cary/Raleigh, NC last Wednesday to spend some time with Brice's brother, Corey, and his family. Corey graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary and completed all other qualifications to become an official PCA Teaching Elder (Pastor). Sunday night he was ordained and installed. Our childhood pastor, Dr. Barker, flew up to preach the service. It was great to hear him again! Congratulations, Rev. Jackson!

While we were there, we did a few other fun things . We love some miniature golf and taking fun pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera on this trip so the phone is all we had.

I know this picture is a bit small and hard to read, but it was taken just to prove the scores of this momentous game: Cole 41, Anna 42, Brice 43. Oh yeah!

The weather was gorgeous while we were there so we took lots of walks, including a long hike around Lake Pine. Check out all the little turtles!

Another fun thing we did was go to Duke University for an afternoon. What a gorgeous campus! Brice has always been a Duke fan so it was really great for him to get to see where it all began. We bought school spirit paraphernalia:

Then we headed over to the famous basketball stadium, Cameron, with high hopes!

Unfortunately, every single door to the building was locked - yes we checked every one!

But Duke does have a beautiful on-campus garden with a few lakes, numerous flowers/plants, and great photo opps!

On the drive back home, we stopped in Greenville to play at a great adventureland place - arcade, mini golf, bumper boats, batting cages, etc. - even a mini bowling alley!

The facility has a Johnny Rockets inside - apparently a new one! A member of their corporate team asked if we would like to have a free lunch so the crew could practice. Hmm . . . ok! So we all got free burgers, fries, and samples of their milkshakes. Then one of the managers came over and gave us a free chocolate sundae (he liked us). The staff had choreographed dances and really got into it! It was a wonderful surprise!

Then we continued the drive home. Brice wanted to watch a movie on his laptop but the sun was too bright to see the screen. His solution:

Yes, he and the computer are tucked under his jacket. Other than having to come up for fresh air every half hour, it worked pretty well.

It was another very enjoyable trip by the Jacksons. And as always, we are glad to be home!!

Just found this photo

A few months ago, Cole's school had a multi-cultural celebration where the 3rd-5th graders performed. Every year they pick a couple of countries that are represented in the heritage of kids in the student body. This year the focus was on Spain and Mexico. The kids sang, played instruments, and danced. It was so fun to watch! I don't think I blogged about it at the time.

Well here is our little performer playing an instrument that I can't pronounce, much less spell, without Cole's help. He was so serious about his job and did great!

(cell phone picture - hence the quality)

Quail anyone?

Ever had quail? I hadn't before our Valentine's feast. It's so good!! Doesn't it look pretty?

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks two years that I've been Mrs. Jackson. Definitely two of the best years of my life. I've grown a ton and have become more comfortable with who I am, just being me. Brice is such a leader and great example for me - and for Cole.

So here's to you, baby, and another great year together!

I tried!

My husband loves red velvet cake, it's his favorite. We went to the flea market this past weekend and saw a table of cakes with a fresh red velvet for $25 - not really a flea market price! We walked on. Then Wednesday he texted me something about a red velvet cake, so I got an idea - surprise him with one for dessert that night! I had already planned to cook some chicken & noodles and, get this, fried green tomatoes!

So after work I headed to a local bakery, but they didn't have any left. Then I remembered how good Publix's cakes are. I drove to Publix #1, but they didn't have any either. Customer service called another store and they did have one. So I headed to Publix #2 to get the little $6 red velvet cake.

On my way home to get started with cooking, Brice called me and reminded me that we were going to meet some friends for dinner because it is one's birthday this week. Man! Well, there went my dinner and cake surprise. So I kept the cake wrapped in its grocery bag and put it in the frig for Thursday.

We went to O'Carrs for dinner that night. After everyone finished eating, Courtney unveiled the cake she had made for her husband's birthday. Yep, you guessed it - red velvet! I couldn't believe it. All my effort to get Brice a red velvet cake and he had a piece coming to him all along!

Last night we did end up having the dinner I planned to cook, including the cake. Definitely wasn't as good as Courtney's fresh homemade version!

Oh, and happy birthday Geoffrey! We hope you have a great day!!

Anyone Between 30 and 50 Will Get This

My Tulips

I love flowers! My dear friend, Heather, came from Texas to visit family this weekend. She and her sweet 3-year-old stayed with us while they were in town. I came home to find beautiful tulips on my kitchen table. She even went for the color of the flowers I had in my wedding! So precious of you, Heather. Thank you!

Macie likes them too! You can see the flower on the far right has lost several petals as well as some chew marks on the leaf below it! Oh well, at least she stuck with that one and didn't trash the whole display!

The Ending of an Era

Years ago, my brother taught me a game called Settlers of Catan. I was overwhelmed by it and didn't play it again . . . until I met Brice.

Brice started talking about this game that he used to play with his friends and his dad until wee hours of the morning. As he described the game, I realized it was the same one my brother had taught me. But since Brice loved it, I thought I'd give it another try. After a couple of games, I was hooked! So Brice and his dad and I play a few games every Sunday night -sometimes with our friend, Mac, when he's in town. We play with the same old game they've had for years.

Last night, that all changed. In one swift, yet slow motion, move, Brice's drink spilled all over the game board in the middle of our first game of the evening. The cardboard pieces quickly began drinking up every bit of liquid as it spread from piece to piece. We tried to pat them dry, but the damage was done and there was no chance of recovery. So we said good-bye to our old faithful friend:

And hello to our new one:

That's right, we could not be deterred! David immediately left for Barnes & Noble to get us a new game. And the game goes on!

On a side note, I found a dice version of the game that can be played with 2 or more people. Now Brice and I can get our Settlers fix between Sundays! :-)

If you wanna play, come on over!!

Seasons in Alabama

This is a tricky time of year in Alabama. The weather changes drastically every few days so you have to keep both seasons of clothes handy. We had beautiful 60's temperatures last week. And today is March 1. So naturally, what did I wake up to this morning?

Beautiful, isn't it? Now those of you reading this from Kentucky and Missouri can laugh all you want - but you've both lived in Alabama and know this was a big deal! For the next few hours, it poured down!

Macie was quite curious about the white blanket covering everything outside her house. She was glued to the windows!

Cole wasn't with us this morning, so we didn't get out and play in it - although I'm told he did! We stayed in, drank coffee, and watched a movie. It is now mid-afternoon and this is the view from my house:

Beautiful, isn't it?

And the forecast for next weekend? High of 74.