Top 5

We play a little game called Top 5 here at the Jackson's. Randomly, one may say, "Top 5 vacations - go!" Then we all share our top 5 vacations. Vacations can be substituted with TV shows, flowers, candy bars, anything that comes to mind.

The other night we sat down with pen and paper and 6 categories. We all listed out our favorites then shared them with each other. Check out some of our top 5s, you may learn something about us!

School Classes/Subjects
Brice: 1. Anatomy 2. Astronomy 3. US History
4. Foundations of Education 5. Improvisational Drama

Anna: 1. Drama 2. Music 3. Math 4. Psychology 5. Management

Cole: 1. Reading Workshop 2. Reading 3. Math 4. Writing 5. Science

Possible Pets
Brice: 1. Cat 2. Labrador 3. Chinchila 4. Seahorse 5. Rock

Anna: 1. Dog 2. Cat 3. Bird 4. Bunny 5. Fish

Cole: 1. Cat 2. Dog 3. Fish 4. Hamster 5. Fish
(what happened to my child?)

Ice Cream Flavors
Brice: 1. Cotton Candy 2. Sweet Cream/Fruit 3. Chocolate with
Peanut Butter 4. Cookies & Cream 5. Moose Tracks

Anna: 1. Chocolate Chip 2. Moose Tracks 3. Oreo
4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 5. Vanilla w/ chocolate sauce

Cole: 1. Sherbert 2. Vanilla 3. Chocolate 4. Strawberry 5. Grape (?)

I can tell Cole is like me in that he likes to make lists. He loved doing this!

My Birthday

Wednesday evening we celebrated my birthday with my parents. My sweet mother cooked a roast and a few of my favorite sides - delicious! And for dessert, an Oreo ice cream cake from Bruster's!!

It was VERY good!

Shiner Boy liked it too!

Then came the presents! Doesn't matter how old you get, presents are always fun! Here I am opening my frig calendar - so excited to get this. You can read about it on Sis's blog.

But wait, the night's not over yet! We are a family who loves to play games. So commenced hours of fun and laughter.

Yes, that's really what we look like when we play games.
It was a very fun evening - thanks Mom and Dad!

Thursday was my actual birthday. I had the day off work which was so nice. The day was filled with fun phone calls and text messages. Lots of smiles. Brice gave me a couple gifts that night (after baseball and class).

We celebrated with Brice's parents on Friday night at my favorite "special occasion" restaurant: The Melting Pot. I've blogged about it before, so I'll spare you the details here. It was a great meal and a fun time.

It was so fun to spread the joy out over three days! Thanks everybody!!

One good bruise deserves another

I didn't want Cole to feel alone, so I joined the injured list too.

I was hanging some curtains in the dining room, standing on a chair. As I stepped down from the chair, my leg scraped the corner of the dining room table. Um, ouch.

Three Cheers for Brice!

My husband is in massage therapy school. He just finished up his first "term" which covered the entire art of Swedish Massage (the most common massage given). He had his written final last Saturday and the practical on Sunday.

He got an A!

He is also taking Anatomy which is divided into 4 major sections. Last night he had his big test on the 2nd section.

He got an A+!

(there were bonus questions)

Congratulations, honey!

Hip, hip, hooray!

Hip, hip, hooray!

Hip, hip, hooray!

Fall Ball

Cole is a natural athlete - he did NOT get those genes from me! He loves playing soccer and basketball but has always wanted to try baseball. So we signed him up for Fall Ball. It's a good time to teach him the fundamentals where it's not too competitive yet. Here he is at registration:

Very excited!!

As the first practice drew near, he began to get a little nervous. He knew he'd be one of the youngest on the team and probably the only one who hadn't played before. The coach knew this too and was very encouraging. They started out catching balls that the coach batted to the infield. A grounder rolled to Cole and as he scooped it up, it bounced up right into his eye! He recoiled immediately and the tears started. Great! My nervous, intimidated little boy got popped in the eye during the first exercise of his first practice ever!!

Ladies and gentlemen, Cole's first black eye:

He sat out with an icepack for about half an hour. I was debating on what to do. Should I make him get back out there or not push him on his first day? Brice arrived as the boys began batting and encouraged Cole into getting out there and hitting a few balls. The coach was glad to see him return. After batting, pitching, and running, the coach said that if he had had Cole when he was little, he'd be a super star! He said he was impressed with his abilities having never played before. I'm so proud of him!!

So he made it through the first night and isn't scared to go back on Thursday!

And he can't wait to go to school tomorrow and show off his shiner!

Before School Started

Cole's summer was filled with various camps and Bible schools. He definitely had fun. But the last week and a half he had to tag along with Brice or me as we went to work. Most days he was with me:

He was wonderful! He had books to read, movies to watch, video games to play, math & logic problems, and a daily tournament of Uno:

Even Honey came to visit one day:

One day Cole and I went to work with Brice to help him get his room ready for the first day of school. We laminated and put up posters:

Even Cole helped. He and I moved over 100 text books from shelves to floor. Then he filled each of these pouches with calculators and remotes:

When his work was finished, he had some time to chill: (he's watching a movie)

It was a fun day. I got to feed my teacher fantasy and use my organizational skills - yeah, I do have some.

After tagging along with mom and dad for over a week, I think Cole was READY to go back to school!

Me in Pictures

My sister did this on her blog having found it on someone else's so I'm spreading it along. The idea is to answer with pictures. Very fun. Try it on your blog!

1. Your age on your next birthday.

2. A place you would like to travel.

3. Your favorite place.

4. Your favorite object

5. Your favorite food.

6. Your favorite animal.

7. Your favorite color.

8. The town where you were born.

9. The town where you live now.

10. The name of a past pet.

11. Name of a past love.

12. Best Friend's Nickname

13. Your screen name.

14. Your first name.

15. Your middle name.

16. Your last name.

17. Bad Habit

18. Your First Job

19. Name of your grandmother.

20. College Major

Back to School!

My boys went back to school today. Brice is now a math teacher and Cole is now a 3rd grader!

Don't let the silence of reading typed words fool you - I'm VERY excited!!!

Pictures to come . . .

That Darn Cat!

Remember this cute thing?

Yeah, well, she's not just cute. She had a parasite which led to her vomiting in various places around my house. After a night at the vet's she came home with medicine and began peeing in various places around my house - including my couches and my bed! Another trip to the vet showed that she has a horrible urinary tract infection. More medicine. She should be finished with that medicine next week.

Here's the part that really gets me!

My husband left this morning for a wedding in NC and won't be back until Sunday evening. My mother graciously agreed to keep my little one for a couple days. I have been planning and looking forward to a little get-away weekend for just me! I found an inexpensive motel with a lake nearby, perfect for walking, reading, sleeping, or watching TV if I want. (sigh)

But that darn cat has to get medicine every morning and every night! So I'm not going to a motel this weekend. I'm not going to walk around a lake. I'm not going to escape the list of things to do that is ever growing in my head as I look around my house. I'm going to stay home and medicate the cat.

Feel free to call.

VBS Wrap Up

Thursday night: Jesus gives us the power to live forever.
This was "Salvation Night." The exercise we did was beautiful. We talked about sin and whether we would take the punishment for someone else's. Then the kids invisibly wrote one of their sins on a sad-face sticker. There were three crosses on the wall and they had to stick their "sin" to the two outer crosses. We talked about why the middle cross had no sin. They I told them about the two criminals hanging on either side, covered with sin. Each criminal made a choice, and when the 2nd one chose to believe, his sin was transferred to Jesus (I moved the stickers onto the middle cross). It was a great visual for the kids. I told them how we are all criminals because we've broken God's law and have a choice to make too. Which criminal are you?

Friday night: Jesus gives us the power to tell others.
Tonight we talked about evangelism and Pentecost. One of our church members is German so I had her come in and start speaking to the kids in German, setting the scene for a communication problem. I had the kids make up their own language to see the difficulty in talking when no one can understand you. Then we turned on fans and the red and orange streamers blew in the wind. All of a sudden, our German visitor could speak English! I told the story of the disciples at Pentecost and how we are all charged to tell others of God's love, even in our actions.

It was such a fun week! I loved how the activities helped the kids to experience the Bible stories and not just hear them. Hats off to the curriculum writers!