Merry Christmas!!!

I posted these pictures backwards, sorry. It's been a while since my last post, we've been bust bees lately. I was sick twice since Thanksgving and in between I was finishing up Chrismas shopping and in the boys' classrooms quite a bit with the holiday parties and planning etc. Here are a few pictures of the last couple weeks:
this was our disaster area after Christmas morning! the house is still a mess, but it'll have to wait until later this week!

We all got some great stuff from Santa and the boys had a great time opening up all their goodies... Maddox got a scooter he's been wanting since Jackson has one and so does their neighbor friend, Jackson got a big boy bike... the one he has been riding he's had for 2 years and has really out grown it!

Here's the tree after Santa stopped in!!!

On Christmas Eve my mom, eric, aunt dyan, carlos, cousins, grandma sandy, michael, and our friends Kendall and Adam came for lunch and to visit...here are the boys opening gifts that day:

The week before school let out, the boys had holiday parties at school, I went in and helped with Jackson's and then checked him out and we headed over to catch Maddox's little program he had, they sang a few holiday songs and had some sweet treats for everyone to enjoy while we were there....poor Maddox felt awful and left early with us when it was over, I took his temperature when we got home and he had a fever! I guess he caught what I had earlier in the week.

I made these super cute cupcakes and took in to Jackson's class party- aren't they adorable!?!?

Hope you all had a fabulous and restful holiday!!!! See you in the New Year!

Family Pictures

It's that time of year again!!! My family dreads it mostly (well Adam and Jackson do) but it's not so bad!!!! Besides... look at their cute faces

Just a little preview of a few of my favs! Hope you are having a good week!

Regarding the Pumpkins:

None of you guys voted because you "couldn't choose just one" so I believe at last count we had two tied..... pick one so we can have a winner!!!!!!! (for those of you that did choose one, thanks!)

Such a good big brother!

As much as I miss my babies not being "babies" anymore, and as much as they drive me nutty (a good portion of the time!) , I also love watching them grow into little people. Jackson is such a big boy now, he's like a real live person! Some of the things the both of them sy are so hilarious and and cute sometimes. But more recently I've watched Jackson grow up SO much. He is SUCH a good big brother, the things he does for Maddox are so sweet, like helping him buckle his pants, finding his shoes for him, sharing a toy or candy, pulling him in the wagon around the cul-de-sac... the other day I called Jackson in from the neighbor's house playing (maddox had already come home) and I looked out the window to see jackson struggling to pull both of their bikes up the hill. I asked him why he had both bikes and he said, "well Maddy forgot his when he left." I thought it was so thoughtful when could have simply left it for him to go get. A recent conversation between them went like this:
Maddox: "Jacknen, you my brudder Jacknen?"
Jackson: " Yeah Maddy, I your brudder"
Maddox: "okay Jacknen"

They are so funny, and Jackson is a good sport for putting up with Maddox; lately he's been quite the whiner!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Last night was our 7th Annual Pumpkin Carving! The jack-o-lanterns are below...we had nine this year (11 including the boys' little ones)! It's one of my family's favorite things to do! We started around 4pm and finished up around 10. Ofcourse we stopped here and there to enjoy all the yummy food we had too!

This year we went hard core and got shirts made!

Here's the group shot... which one is YOUR favorite????

Where did September go?????

Apparently we were busy, since I've been MIA in the blog world, although I don't remember much of what we were doing. So here are a few pieces of what I DO remember... The second weekend in September our transformer box in our cul-de-sac went bad. I noticed around 5pm that it seemed warm in our house, so I checked the thermostat and it read 78 (which is warm for us, we keep it 72-74) Then I walked over to one of our vents and noticed it was blowing but it wasnt cold...so I sent Adam out to look at the AC unit (which is brand new) and while he was out checking on that I noticed all of the lights in our house were really dim. So I told Adam to come look at all the lights thinking it was an electrical problem and then he noticed our mete was blank and so were all our neighbors'. Then I called our electric company, the lady was nice and said she'd dispatch someone right away but couldnt give me a time frame. It was 5:30 by then and our house was only getting warmer.... 5 HOURS later they showed up! And they brought the WHOLE crew, so we sat in the driveway and watched. The trucks were so loud (they brought 4 of them) they woke the boys up, so they watched too. I took pictures.

The next weekend was Adam's birthday... we woke up at 5am to sit in line at the annual REI sale, it was FOREVER considering they didnt open til 10am...I fell asleep. BUT Adam did get some great stuff for his birthday and with the birthday money that was sent to him. Thanks Grandma Hiliger, Grandma Sandy, Anna, and Maryellen!! Here's Adam with his birthday cupcake for breakfast!!! Then the next week was Jackson's birthday, he had school that day so he got to eat his birthday cupcake before school ofcourse and then open a couple of his gifts from us, he got Rio the movie, and some new undies (boxers like a big boy he says) and we also got him the new LeapPad game system which he loves and has not put down! I like it too because it's all educational games. Then I checked him out early to go have a birthday lunch, and then Adam came home early and we all went to see The Lion King at the theatre. Afterward we had dinner with some friends and a fire with S'mores on the deck!

SIX years old!!!!!

In other news, the temperatures have dropped quite a bit her and it's been lovely. I turned the heat on for the first time yesterday and it smelled so good, I love the way the furnace smells for the first time each year! We've also been enjoying the chilly mornings in our slippers on the trampoline, fires on the back deck in the evenings roasting marshmallows, and ofcourse...

...Fall decorations!!! I love the colors of fall, I bought some beautiful, HUGE Mums for my front stoop and they just look so Fall-ish :) That's about all we've had going on. I am room mom for both Maddox's and Jackson's classrooms so that keeps me busy atleast 1-2 days a week, usually once a week I'll spend cleaning up around the house and doing laundry (it never ends), and I also joined the gym back in August so I spend a couple hours there 3-4 days a week too. I really thought I'd be bored when the boys went to school, but the day flies by! Sorry I was gone so long, we have the Ellijay Apple Festival this weekend that we are excited for, so check back soon... I promise I won't be so long next time!

Until then, we'll be enjoying the WONDERFUL weather, I hope you are too!

First day of school!

Last Monday was the boys' first day of school...BOTH of them! Jackson started kindergarten and Maddox started Pre-K. I can't believe how fast the time has gone! So from now on I am on my own during the day until a little after 2:00! Here are a few snapshots of the boys saying goodbye and getting dropped off. (sorry for the picture quality on some of them, I used my camera phone) Jackson in his classroom (above), he looked a littel nervous! He is loving it though, he just said today that he loved his new school!

This was in the parking lot at Jackson's school, we dropped him off first.

Next, we took Maddox- here he is in front of his cubby.

Jackson again getting settled into class, and below Maddox all ready to go!!

Photo Dump!!!

One of these days I will be better at updating and posting to this blog; without going in spurts and randomly posting a month here and there....but today is not that day. So here's some pictures to catch you up on what we've been up to. It's been one BUSY summer! They say pictures say 1000 words...so let's just hope these do!!! Jackson learned to ride without training wheels and Maddox had a pretty "rad" pirate party in the beginning of July...

We left the week after Maddox's party (the 12th I think) and stayed up at Lake Arrowhead for a week....I took my camera but didnt take any pictures while I was there!

Last week we headed down to the beach for one last hurrah before school starts- it was super last minute (like we decided the night before) and loads of fun....the kids bombed Adam with water balloons...

....and we played on the beach

Maddox caught a crab

And Jackson got a tan!

He Drives me CRAZY.....

...is in time out more than my kids, stinks up my house, and has ruined my hardwood floors. But at the end of the day after he's done being a bad boy, he lays at my feet and cuddles. Despite being a pain in my rear- he has such a sweet heart. And I love him. Besides LOOK how handsome he is!!!! How could I not!?!?!?!?!?