More Christmas Fun!

Jackson at lights at the zoo
Jackson with "lipstick" on - he took his red crayon and colored his lips
My friend's little girl and Jackson at the preschool program
Jackson, my step-dad and a giant gorilla that one of his friends put in his truck
BJ and Lucy chilling out after Christmas with BJ's family

Christmas 2007 round-up

Whew. This Christmas season has been busier than any I remember from the past. Earlier this month, we went to the Toledo Zoo to see the Christmas lights. It was gorgeous!! Jackson had a great time. Before we went to the zoo, we went to Abuelo's in Maumee where my sister is a waitress. She wasn't working that night but she met us there for dinner.

Jackson had his preschool Christmas program on the 20th. OMG, he was so cute I almost couldn't stand it. :) They did a Bible verse, a couple poems and a couple songs. I have to admit, I got a little teary-eyed watching him. I couldn't believe that was my tiny boy up there. He did such a great job.

Christmas was fun this year, too. We started out with Christmas on the 22nd at my step-dad's, followed by BJ's side at our house the next day, then at my mom's the day after that, and then we had our's on Christmas Day. I was almost Christmased out!

I'm on vacation until January 2, but have hardly had any R&R. Tomorrow I am getting my hair done and getting a massage. I'm so looking forward to that!

Jackson Looks More Like Me!

What Crappy Christmas Gift are You?

You Are Socks!

Cozy and warm... but easily lost. You make a good puppet.

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

Poopin' ain't easy

Jackson did not want to go to bed tonight and said he had to go to the bathroom. I noticed it was awfully quiet and I go in the bathroom and find this. :) He was sound asleep. Thank goodness my toilet was clean. haha!

This is why I am thankful ...

This is Jackson before his Thankgiving Feast at preschool. Lori was kind enough to lend us the vest AND take the picture :)

Jackson makes me so thankful every day. I can't imagine my life without him - he truly is a blessing. He's not just my son, he's my best friend.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! (ok, Lori and Stacey since you are the only ones who read my blog) :)

I've been neglectful ...

... of my blog and I feel guilty. I haven't blogged in almost a month! I know that the two or three of you who read my blog must be dying to know what is happening in my life. haha!!

Actually, not much is going on. I went on a big shopping trip last weekend with my sister-in-law and got almost all my Christmas shopping done. I'll still go the day after Thanksgiving though, that's my favorite day to shop. :)

Other than that, I went to another Lifehouse concert on Oct. 29 and got to meet the band again. They totally remembered me (thanks to my friend, Jolene) and the lead singer even smiled and winked at us while he was on stage. Swoon. We had trick or treat -- Jackson was Scooby Doo. We had a great time and he got way too much candy!

And we recently took Jackson to see The Wiggles. He loved it and it was so sweet to see him dancing and singing the songs. I feel so fortunate that we were able to take him.

Well, that's a short wrap-up of what we've been up to!

I took the Blogging Quiz

So, I saw the link off of Lori's blog and according to the quiz:

Congratulations! You have a life!You have a blog, too, but you'd never let that get in the way of your real life. Good for you. How I envy you.

Take the quiz!

http://quibblo.com/quiz/7icTjZ/The-Mom-Blogger-Quiz?view_quiz=1

Wordless Wednesday

I have a hard time being "wordless" :)

This is me with the guy who plays Brad Carlton on Young and the Restless. He was at Giant Eagle's Grand Opening.

When I used to work at the farm, I always had hair nets in my pocket. I used to like to put them on Maddie.

We had this picture taken at The Picture People.

BJ almost got kissed by a buffalo at African Wildlife Safari this summer.

Jackson looking at fish when we went to the zoo this past Spring.

Lifehouse Concert

On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to go to the Lifehouse concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland with my friend, Jolene, and her mom. We had an amazing time. We were front row, center! At one point the lead singer, Jason, grabbed my hand!

After the concert we ran into some people from Q104 and they told us where the tour bus was. There was about 2o people hanging out back there. When we walked up, Bryce (picture #1) was like "Hi Jolene" and he remembered me from the Lunch with Lifehouse. Jolene is a big fan and has been to a ton of their concerts. They all autographed our ticket stubs, too. It was awesome!! I got my picture with Rick the drummer (last photo), Ben the touring guitarist (third picture) and Bryce and Jason. The last two are on my cell phone yet, but the one with Jason didn't turn out.

I'm really excited because Jolene wants to take me to the Toledo show on Oct. 29 as an early birthday present. That is, as long as Lori will watch Jackson again :)

I'll try to post some video soon, too. It was freakin' awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ologies

MOUTHOLOGY
Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A. Ranch -- is there any other dressing? :)

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A: Burger King

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A. BW-3's or Olive Garden

Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. usually 20% if it's good service (i agree)

Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
A. Hmmm...that's a tough one. I don't think there is anything. Except chocolate.

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. either pepperoni-mushroom or hawaiian

Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. butter or cinnamon/sugar or jelly

TECHNOLOGY
Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. a picture of jackson with the cake i made him for his first day of preschool

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. two

BIOLOGY
Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. Right

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. children and my gallbladder

Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?
A. a year or two ago

Q. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A. oooh, boxes here the other day at work

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. yes -- a drunk guy picked me up, turned me upside down and started spinning, when he put me down i fell and smashed my head on a juke box. I was also in a skiing accident and got knocked out for a few minutes.

BULL[CRAP]OLOGY
Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A. nope.

Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A. Rita Phalange or Princess Consuela BananaHammock

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A. blues

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. I'm sure at some point I have

Q. Have you ever saved someone's life?
A. no

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. yes

DAREOLOGY
Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. I did that already. All it took was a whole lotta alcohol :)

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A. No wayQ. Would you never blog again for $50,000?A. No!! Duh, of course!

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. Wow, that's a tough call. Depends on what my financial situation is.

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. No

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A. Absolutely Not.

DUMBOLOGY
Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: Lint

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: Loved it!

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: both

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: Stand? Isn't a shower for standing and a bath for sitting? (yeah, i agree)

Q: Could you live with roommates?
A: I have before!

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A: I did have 3 until our puppy chewed the one pair up!

Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A: i've never done anything to have a run-in, but i dealt with them about 4 years ago

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: Super Mom and Marketing Woman Extraordinaire

Q: Who is number 1 on your top 8?A: LifehouseLASTOLOGYQ: Friend you talked to?
A: Jolene

Q: Last person who called you?
A: A lady from work who is on vacation

Q: Person you hugged?
A: Jackson

FAVORITOLOGY
Q: Number?
A: 5

Q: Season?
A: fall

CURRENTOLOGY
Q: Missing someone?
A: For sure

Q: Mood?
A: Tired

Q: Listening to?
A: Everyone at work typing and working (like I should be doing)

Q: Watching?
A. Me type this

Q: Worrying about?
A. Where should I start?

RANDOMOLOGY
Q: First place you went this morning?
A: Babysitter's to drop off Jackson

Q: What can you not wait to do?
A. go to the pumpkin patch (oooh, good one, Mel). I also can't wait to go home.

Q: What's the last movie you saw?
A. we watched idiocracy (again!) this past weekend -- OMG, I want to see that! I DVR'd it. I can't remember the last thing I watched.

Q: Do you smile often?
A: i think i do

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: Sometimes too friendly!

What's my name meme?

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)Twinkums Accord (don't ask about the cat's name -- haha!)
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)Acru
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Turtle
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Leigh Lima
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)Crual
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Red Fountain Coke
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Mel Harry Marion (I have three)
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, & favorite candy)Sweet Pea Watchamacallit
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )Rae Michael
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Clevenger Chicago
12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Fall Tulip
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)Strawberry Shirtie
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Toast Cherry Blossom
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Internet Surfing Thunderstorm Tour

So what's Your Name..

Play along and let me know so I can come by and read it.

Menu Plan Monday

Yeah, I've joined the masses and decided to upload my menu. We menu plan each Sunday before we get our groceries.

Monday -- Beefy Mac, green beans, rolls, left over apple crisp for dessert

Tuesday -- Grilled chicken, rice, blueberry muffins

Wednesday -- Salsbury Steak, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots

Thursday -- BBQ pork loin, au gratin potatoes, applesauce

Friday -- the boys will be having fish and I'm having a huge baked potato that I got at Quarry Hill (I mean, it is football size)

Ashland County Fair

We went to the Ashland County fair last Thursday (Sept. 20) and had the best time. It's such a nice fair and the best part is that there was hardly anyone there! Jackson didn't have to wait to ride the rides and we were able to see the animals. At the end of the day, we got an elephant ear and some deep fried Oreos. Deeeelicious! Jackson and I rode the Scrambler and I almost threw up -- there is not a picture of that on here :) Do check out that picture of the rabbit -- it was freakin' HUGE!! They grow 'em big in Ashland! I almost forgot to mention that they had an elephant show, that was super cool!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

On Sunday, my little boy turned 3 -- where have the years gone? It seems like it was only a few short months ago that we were bringing him home from the hospital. He's such an amazing little boy, I just can't believe how much he's learning and changing every day.

Saturday was his party and Sunday we went to Chuck E. Cheese. Tomorrow he gets to take a treat to preschool for his b-day. I made Kiddie Trail Mix and am sending apple juice, too.

We got Jackson a train table (pictured above) and he got so many great gifts. And, he just had a blast with all the kids that were at his party.

The last picture is of him Saturday night -- he was so tired that I think he fell asleep before he hit the pillow. He did want covered up with all his blankets -- including the Spider Man bath towel my grandma got him for his birthday. haha!

Jackson's First Day of School!

Ugh, today was the day I've been dreading for months: Jackson's first day of preschool. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7 a.m. this morning he said "I go to school today?" And then proceeded to tell me that he wanted to ride the bus, even after I told him mommy took the day off work so I could take him. "No," he said. "I will ride the bus!" Apparently, the school bus must be like the Ritz Carlton and my simple Honda Accord is a Motel 6.

I took some pictures this morning at home and then it was off to school. He's going to Maple City Christian Preschool at the Alliance Church. I think everyone I know up here has sent their kids to that preschool. We got there a little early, so he got to play in the gym with the other kids. So far, so good -- no tears, and I'm talking about me.

Then, as we walk down the hall towards his classroom, I feel myself getting choked up. With each step, the more tears that well up in my tired eyes. We hung his new book bag ("It's gotta big tractor on it, Mom!") on his hook and put his name tag around his neck.

We enter the classroom and he's off like a cannon. I just kind of stand there for a second, then tell him good-bye. He's too busy playing and just kinda waves and says "bye". No hug. No kiss. I walked out to my car, almost feeling like I had lost a body part. I felt like I was missing something. I felt lost.

I went to Wal-mart and blew $50 on scrapbooking stuff. I don't scrapbook, but feel like I should. Maybe this will give me motivation. Then, I bought a pair of shoes at Payless, then went to the Dollar Tree and bought more scrapbooking stuff.

When I picked Jackson up, he talked about how fun school was. I asked him where he wanted to go for his special lunch and he chose the "pizza house", which is actually Pizza Hut to him. He was so tired he couldn't even keep his eyes open and was being very loud and rude. Needless to say, i packed up our pizza and he came home and took a loooong nap.

I just can't get over how "big boy" Jackson is becoming. I can't believe that in a little over a week, he'll be 3! He's learning so much -- he knows his ABC's, can count to 20, knows his shapes and colors and is starting to recognize the formation of some words (like Fox when I have that station on TV). I'm so excited about the person he's becoming, but I still yearn for the days when he was tiny and relied on me more.

And as the Tinman said, "Now I know I have a heart because I can feel it breaking."

O-H! I-O!

This past Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to the Ohio State-Youngstown game. It was the first OSU football game I had been to -- I've been to Hineygate, but never a game. Our seats were right above where the players came out. it was freakin' awesome. The cheerleaders got half the stadium to say "O-H" and then the other half echoed "I-O". Amazing. The alumni band was there, so we got to see them perform, as well. They did the script Ohio along with the marching band.

Around the middle of the third quarter we went over to Hineygate -- for those who don't know what that is, it's a big ole party at the Holiday Inn. There's a big movie screen set up outside and there's drinking, drinking and more drinking while people watch the game on the screen. I felt old there. But, it didn't prevent me from getting a slight buzz :)

Then we had dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube -- deeeeelicious! We got to sit on the patio to eat and two Lambroughinis showed up, then a Farrari and a Miata. As we were leaving, we passed three more Lambroughinis!!! BJ was in heaven.