Oh Tannenbaum

I think that everyone has one thing that they are really obsessed about. Mine is really quirky. I'm obsessed with Christmas tree lights. I can't get enough. It's taken me two days to get the lights on my tree. Every year I buy more lights. Regan thought that our tree was growing because this year I have bought so many more lights along with the ones from last year. Our tree is fake. I think that I've probably spent over $100 dollars on stupid Christmas lights yesterday alone! I went back to the store 4 times, for more lights just yesterday and still had to have Scott stop at the store on his way home! We even blew out a fuse last night! I have to get a couple more extension cords, I think.

I totally know where this came from. When I was a kids there was a house down the street from our Cabrosa house. Every year at Christmas time I loved to drive by their house at night because I thought they had the most magical tree of lights in their front window. Since then I've tried to get that same tree in my window. I'm sure if I were to see that tree now, I'd probably be totally underwhelmed. I'm sure that my memory of it was much better than the real tree, but I think that this year my tree has finally matched my memory. I think I have roughly 4500 lights on my tree. I KNOW! Scott just laughs, my kids think it's great and even Zoey says WHOA when the lights are on. Of course, she said that when I plugged in every strand, but I choose to interpret it my way! I'll try taking a picture of it tonight after I get the plugs all worked out so we don't blow another fuse. Although, lights on the tree never look as good in a picture as they do live, so if you live in the area drive by my house instead, it's much better in person!

Anaheim Ducks

On Friday the 23rd Glenn took the boys to see the Anaheim Ducks play against the Phoenix Coyotes. We had 4 seats on the glass and 4 seats 4 rows up. Here are some pictures of the game.



The Ducks lost in a shoot out 4-3.

Thanksgiving: Easy Style

This year we decided not to do the traditional Thanksgiving and go to Disneyland instead. Grandma, Grandpa, and the McCusker's (my sister and her family) went with us. We had a great time. The crowd wasn't too bad and by nine, we were pretty much walking on everthing. The kids didn't even have to get out of the boat on Splash Mountain to ride it again!



Just a cute picture of Zoey and me. Well, at least of Zoey. I think we were on It's a Small World.

Scott, Regan, Hali and Porter in front of the Christmas tree on main street.

Got to love those self portraits!

Ever wonder what Space Mountain looks like when the lights are on? Wonder no longer. While on the ride, I guess two trains got too close together and the ride automatically shut down. They had to manually release the brakes on each train in order to start the ride again. So they had to turn the lights on and go from train to train. Everyone got quite an eyeful and then got to ride again.

My Dad got this BRILLIANT idea to buy everyone a silly hat and then take a goofy family picuture. He spent over $300 dollars on stupid hats that he wanted us to wear the rest of the night. We roped some woman into taking the picture and then my dad promptly gave her his hat! Excuse me? We all have to wear these things and you don't? I don't think so.

I couldn't even begin to name everyone in the order that they sit without getting a brain hernia, so I'll just name everyone in the picture in order of family. Jordan Law, Lynne Law, Glen McCusker, April McCusker, Elyse M, Carson M, Max M, Ian M, Avery M, Camden M, Caelum M, Scott Jackson, Nikki Jackson, Regan J, Hali J, Porter J, and Zoey J. Whew!

Hali and Camden sitting in the teacup outside of the Mad Hatter shop.

Zoey in my silly hat. She just sat there looking so cute!

I Love Blogging

I love blogging because it can be done anywhere! I'm here at my parent's house in California, sitting at my dad's computer. YEAH! I guess I'm feeling some blog withdrawl.

Our little sickness turned into a family affair. First Zoey, then Porter, Scott, Regan and finally me all before we left for the sunny state. We were praying so hard that Hali would be bypassed. She was fine until about 4 am on the day we were going to Disneyland. Luckily, the bug didn't last long and she did ok. She just didn't eat anything while we were there. We were a little worried when she threw up just as we got into the Disneyland parking lot, but that seemed to be the end of it. We didn't go on any roller coasters, so we could keep her stomach settled.

We are going to go to Disneyland again tomorrow (yes, we know that it is Thanksgiving tomorrow) with my parents and April's family and hit all the good rides then. I have to say I was surprised at how many people were there yesterday! Hello! Is no one in school? She says, convienently forgetting she took her own children out. It seemed like there were people everywhere, but the lines weren't very long. It was pretty strange. I'm hoping that there won't be many there tomorrow. We'll see.

Well, we just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! And Dave and Nat we got your text! Congrats!!!!

Ugh!

This is my second day in a row cleaning Porter and Zoey's bedding. Zoey somehow caught a bug and started throwing up on Sunday. Yesterday Porter caught it. So I've spent my week cleaning up puke. Sounds fun, huh? I'm just praying that no one else catches it! We are leaving on Sunday to go to California for Thanksgiving. And we are taking the kids to Disneyland while we are there! I really can't get sick!!! And since we are taking the girls out of school for three days and Scott is taking vacation time, no one else can get sick, too. UGH!! I guess I should be thankful that it's happening this week and not while we are at Grandma's house.

Porter is turning out to be a typical sick man. He's Horrible! He thinks that if he runs away from the toilet or the bowl that he won't throw up. So I have to physically restrain him so that I'm not cleaning it up off the floor. So far I've been successful on everything except his bed. Hence, the bed cleaning fest. I'm going to be so sick of laundry by the time we leave for our vacation. And then you come home and do it all over. I'm so glad that I have a washing machine and dryer. Can you imagine doing laundry in the old days with a tub? No thanks! I'm very grateful for my modern conveniences. And now I'm just rambling. I think I'm trying to put off any housework. It's one of those days, when you just don't want to do anything. Maybe I can get away with just surfing the internet all day. Then again, I have 2 sick children. sigh. At least I have next week to look forward to! YEAH!

I Love My Son redux.

Porter really doesn't do these things on purpose. He's not a mean kid. He just has a LOT of energy and he's really curious. I'm just waiting for him to really calm down. Maybe when he starts pre-school he'll have a better outlet for that energy, but in the mean time this is my life.

This would be the box of baking soda that I keep in the fridge. I was upstairs giving Zoey a bath and came downstairs to find this. He was probably looking for a fruit cup or yogurt and thought, "What's this?" I'm sure he didn't mean to dump it all over the floor. And if you look up in the top corner, he tried to clean it up! He opened up the pantry and got out my little sweeper broom and dust pan! And the white thing is one of those Swiffer Duster things. I guess he's seen me clean up enough of his messes that he knows what to do!

Happy Birthday Hali!

Hali's 7th birthday was on Friday. We told her she could go anywhere she wanted for dinner. I really need to stop doing that. She picked Chuck E. Cheeses. YUCK! Have you ever had their pizza? But the kids had a great time, so I guess it was worth it.

Hali got a pink Nintendo DS and a fashion designer game. Regan plays with the game more than Hali. Which if you really know my girls, is really shocking!

They had this really cool booth that you could pose for a picture and a drawing of the picture would come out.

Regan and Hali being goofy with their "ticket" prizes.

This is Hali with her birthday cake. She didn't have a friend party this year (we only have parties on even numbered birthdays), but we had family over on Sunday night.

Did Any of You Catch Oprah Yesterday?

I sure did. I never get to watch Oprah! The tv's usually on Spongebob or something like that. But I made sure to watch Oprah, yesterday. Why you ask? BECAUSE THE OSMOND'S WERE ON!!!!! I'm sure my kids thought I was nuts. I was dancing and clapping, laughing and even tearing up, when they talked about the death of their dad and eternal families. It was so sweet.

So, of course, after the show I HAD to go on itunes and buy me some Osmond songs. Scott is sure I'm totally off my rocker. He did not have the privilage of having a red 8 track tape to dance in the living room to! How sad for him. So now I'm rockin' One Bad Apple. This is so beneath Scott, I LOVE IT! Pure torture! Hey, he's bigger and stronger in the tickling department, so I have to take what I can get. Now I just have to get the kids to sing Puppy Love all the time and I'll win this round, at least!! (Cue evil laugh).

A New Tradition

A couple of weeks ago, we had our ward Super Saturday. One of the classes was about Birthday Party themes. They also did a section on Birthday traditions. The one I liked the best was this. You select a door in your house(It has the be the same door every time)and on a family members birthday you decorate it. You can keep it decorated for however long you want. I just thought it was cute and easy! So Hali's birthday is today and we thought we'd start the tradition. Regan and I made signs and we put up streamers. I forgot the balloons! Sorry, Hali! I'm still working out the bugs!

Hali in front of the Birthday Door. It was really early in the morning, that's why she's looking a little possessed.

The Blogging Sickness

Blogging changes a person. I think it's a lot like Scrapbooking. You take lots of pictures. About everything. Your camera is your best friend. I suppose that's good in a way, my kids will have tons of pictures. And we will have TONS of incriminating evidence to show future sons and daughter-in-laws! But I think a little cruelty comes out in the quest for a good picture. Case in point. Here is another Zoey asleep in the high chair pose.

I must point out that Scott took these pictures, so the blogging disease is spreading to him, too. This is what we let happen in our quest for the perfect blog post.

It's a sickness, people! Don't Start!

I Love My Son.

I remind myself everyday that I love my son, so that he will live to see Christmas, let alone his 4th birthday. I went upstairs to get dressed today and this is what I came back to:

That would be an entire box of Corn Flakes. The white pieces are felt things that belong to this book I bought for Church, that Porter loves. It's only supposed to come out on Sunday. We don't really eat Corn Flakes. I just use them on casseroles. They only come in HUGE boxes, so a box will last me for about a year. Well, they would if Porter could manage to stay OUT OF THEM! He has this strange obsession with them. He doesn't eat them, he just plays with them. I find the box out more times than I'd like, but this is the first time he's dumped them. Unfortunately, I have a hard time disciplining him. I mostly laugh. This time I really tried to scowl, but a really big snort slipped out and then I was done. I guess if I didn't laugh at him, he probably would be dead.


He even put Corn Flakes in the pocket of the book that holds the felt pieces!

Sweet Babies

Yesterday we went to the baby blessing of Scott's cousins new babies. She had twins about three months ago. The great thing was, I got to enjoy babies and NOT WANT ONE! It was very free-ing. They were so sweet and great to hold, but I didn't want them to be mine. So great.

Brock Wade Jackson

India Marsha Jackson

A Personal Narrative by Regan Jackson

Last week was Parent Teacher conferences. The first thing out of Regan's teacher's mouth was, "You have an incredibly, intelligent, child." Yes, I do. And she didn't get it from me. So her teacher shows me this paper that Regan wrote in class and said that she made a copy for herself because she couldn't believe it came out of a 4th grader! So I thought I'd share this story with all of you, because it really is good.

"Regan!" called my dad, Scott. "What?" I asked. Then Scott replied, "It's time for the hike." That news didn't excite me at all. My bum still hurt from the crash the other day(She crashed on her bike). So I sadly said good-by to Betty and Jack(They were the puppies that belonged to the farm near where we were staying). And then, we were off. After a few minutes, we arrived at the trail parking lot. We met up with my cousins at the head of the trail. While walking, we saw a sign that read: Very Hard Trail Ahead! But we didn't care. While hiking all the kids complained, including me. Me and my family lagged behind. When we finally got to our destination, I stopped in my tracks and gaped open mouthed in awe! It was beautiful. There was a lake with a mud colored log right through the middle of it. Right above the lake was a crystal waterfall running into the emerald green lake. It was so beautiful, that when we left, I was sad. While hiking down I learned going down was harder than up. About halfway along the trail, my mom, Nikki(written with hearts over the "i"'s), said, "If you guys make it all the way down, we'll have ice cream!" That got me going! Finally, we were in the car eating ice cream. Yum!

Obviously, the parentheses are my comments! And I fixed the spelling, but other than that, it's word for word. I would have saved myself the typing, but our scanner is busted. Porter decided to see if it was anything like a trampoline. Thanks, bud. It doesn't even look remotely like a tramp. Who knows what makes his mind work.

Regan can't figure out why everyone is making such a big deal about her "stupid paper". It's because you have a great vocabulary for 4th grade, babe.

Trick or Treat!

I just had to get a picture of the candy haul. Hello! And that's not even all of it! I couldn't fit it all in the bowl! And I even gave some out!!! It seems like we didn't have as many trick or treaters this year. I was giving out candy by the handful. Maybe that's why we got so much back. Everyone was giving out handfuls, too!




Hali's Dance School had a Trunk or Treat on Tuesday night. I think the kids had more fun manning the Trunk than walking around. I know we are so boring, no trunk decorations.