New York August 2007

Mom and I took our annual trip to New York to see her parents and sibling, and my cousins. It is always nice to see them all. I want Jackson and Aurora to remember their Great Grandparents so I want to go out there once a year as long as I can. Jackson remember Great Great Grandma still, and we've got picture of him with her as well as Aurora with her, so that is cool. Anyway, here are a progression of pictures starting on our way to New York and then ending at home and then at Kiki's house.

This first picture is right inside the New York border looking over the Chautauqua Lake. There is this amazing rest stop that looks out over the lake. It is beautiful! I took Jackson in to go potty and when we came out I took this picture of mom and Auri enjoying the fresh air. After we checked into the hotel, we went to My Grandparent's house. Shortly after we got there my cousin Katie got there and took Jackson for a walk down the path along the side of a corn field behind their house. I decided that I would take Auri out there too and took some pictures. The pictures of Jackson with Katie were blurry, so I didn't put them up, but here a really cute one of Aurora running back to me after wandering down the path a little bit.Once we met with Katie and Jackson, she and I walked together and Aurora joined Jackson. This is one of MANY adorable pictures of the two of them walking the path together.

Perfection!!!Jackson showing me a cob of corn on the stock.Katie took this picture of us, we were looking at some little apples on this tree. I was trying to get Auri to grab one, but she just kept pulling away from them.This is my cousin Michael (Katie's brother) He and I are only about three and a half weeks apart in age. That is his new truck that Auri is sitting on. I guess I'd rather be on a Chevy than in it.Okay, Uncle Wayne (my uncle) decided to drive his tractor over so Jackson could have a ride on it. What a great uncle! This is a picture or Auri, thinking that she is driving it. Check out her legs, she was kicking so fast they are blurry. She was having a great time!Here is Jackson's tractor ride with Uncle Wayne. They went for a long ride down the path and back. They were gone for a good time. When they got back, Jackson had a look of satisfaction on his face that said everything. He really had a good time! Okay, next we lined everyone up for a photo opp. It isn't very often that all five of the kids are together at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I got a slew of pictures, but this one is the best one (I think) because they are all smiling. And they are in order of age starting from (our) left to right). Aren't they cute?Okay, can you get any better than this? I can't even tell you how many times they kissed while we were there. I hope Aaron and I are still in love when we are 83 and 78!! Oh yeah, Grandpa's birthday was the next day, so we were about to have a little party for him!This was Tuesday (Grandpa's birthday). We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's before heading back to Ohio. This was one of the gadgets that Grandma had for the kids to enjoy. The bird chirped and moved, they watched it for quite a while.This one is a picture of Aurora talking to Grandpa. She wasn't sure of him at first, but by the time we came home, she was fine with him. Saying good bye to Great Grandma. I didn't get pictures of Jackson hugging his great-grandparents because he went too fast, but Auri took her time. And as you can see Mimi helped her so Grandma wouldn't have to bend down.The hug for Great Grandpa!This is after we got home. Aaron's dad's birthday was on August 10th and instead of getting him a card we decided to make these posters to put on his door and surprise him when he got home from work. The one on top I did, and Jackson did the one on the bottom (all by himself) and then the next picture is one that I did for the inside door so that when he opened the screen door he could be surprised again with yet another poster. It was a success!!!Okay, the last picture for today. Jackson and Aurora and I went to Kiki's house after posting the signs on "Grandpa's" door (that is what Jackson has decided to call Chet, Aaron's dad). Anyway, it was bedtime for Isaiah and Isaac so we all went to pray with them before bed. This is the best picture I got of them. It was adorable to see them all praying at the same time.

I hope you have all enjoyed my pictures. Have a wonderful day!!!

-Kristen

More Fun Pictures from Jackson's B-Day Party!!

My Tom Boy!!!

My Precious Princess!!!

Kissing Her BooBoo!!! Touchdown!!!!
Practicing her Winks!
I don't need to say anything, she's gorgeous!

Are You Kidding Me?

Well, it is official, Jackson has been 4 for a whole week now. It isn't going to go away, so I might as well not prolong the pictures any longer. I just can't believe how fast these last four years have gone by. It just amazes me! Well here we go...

We started our day with Jackson waking me up at 6:51am saying, "Hey mommy, mommy!" "What honey?" "I'm FOUR!" Whispering the whole time, but clearly excited, and then he proceded to shove his four fingers in my face to make sure I could see them. I replied, "I know honey, Happy Birthday!" He then said he was going to tell daddy, and went over to the other side of the bed to try. It took a little longer to get daddy to wake up, but after saying "Daddy" at least five times, he finally was able to give the same information and do the same gesture with his hand, holding up only four fingers and shoving them in Aaron's face. Aaron proceded to say happy birthday and then Jackson and I went downstairs. He had a big day ahead of him, but I wanted to start his day with a present that he could use right away. Here he is, opening a new battery operated Superman Toothbrush and big boy Superman Toothpaste.

Then it was time to get Jackson and Aurora dressed so they could spend the day with Kiki, Uncle Tim, Isaiah, Isaac and Esther-Faith (aka Ezzy). Tim and his dad took the boys to a Cincinnati Red's baseball game and Auri and Ezzy spent the day with Kiki and NanaDot. Visit Karin's blog to see pictures from the day in Cincinnati. http://www.hennhouse.blogspot.com/. I went on to spend my day decorating Jackson's birthday cake, making Love Cookies, wrapping presents, and decorating Jackson's cake (and cookies) for the party to be held at Mimi and Papa's house later that evening. Here are some pictures of the birthday party!...

The CakeBlowing out the Candles

A Remote Control VW Bus!!!

From Mommy and Daddy, a Lady Bug House

From Mommy, Crayola Kid Paint. He has already painted four pictures!!

Two movies from Daddy! Garfield 2 and Over the Hedge

He also got "Happy Feet" from Aurora (since when we say "Happy Feet" she will dance and tap her feet on the floor).

From Mommy and Daddy, It is a little bug holder that has magnifying glasses so he can look at bugs really close without having to get so close to them. It also came with a fake bug that he absolutely loves!!!

From Kiki and Uncle Tim (and Isaiah, Isaac, and Ezzy). The original Lincoln Logs! He loves trying to build with these. I made him the fort that is pictured on the side of the container and he played with little cars and the buildings. He loved it!

From Mommy and Daddy! We have the movie Spiderman at our house, and even without watching it he decided that he was spiderman. So one day Aaron let him watch it and now he really thinks he is spiderman. So one night I was at work and saw this mask, gloves and foot things (that are actually for the swimming pool). Luckily they were clearenced so I got them for him. He hasn't worn them in water yet, but he wears them all over the place. Even out in public sometimes. It is cute, so I let him.

Well, I hope you have all enjoyed looking at the pictures from our fun day! Have a wonderful day yourself!!!

-Kristen

Happy 4th!!!

Last week was the Forth of July and last year Aaron and I started a tradition that hopefully will last for as long as we have the kids at home. We take the kids to the Upper Arlington Parade in the morning, then we go home and the kids get their naps and then we grill out for dinner. After dinner we head to the Fireworks at Northam Park in Upper Arlington. The kids seem to really enjoy this stuff! Here they are waiting for the parade to start in their red, white & blue clothes. Aurora didn't really know what she was waiting for, she just sat there, but Jackson was ready for anything. He was very excited about the parade.

Rock OnEvery year at the parade there is a big showing of Volkwagen cars and buses. I like this picture because you can see some of them in a line all the way down the road.This bus is one of my favorites. It is in really good condition and of course, it is yellow!This is a huge blown up golden bear, we are in Upper Arlington, home of the Golden Bears. This balloon is in the parade every year and there are alumni who pull it down the road and every so often they spin it around in the road, it is pretty cool. I personally love this picture because it shows Aaron, Aurora and Jackson all looking at the same thing, it is just kind of neat! Okay, for anyone who knows me I won't have to explain why this picture is included. And let me just tell you, these horses are MASSIVE! It is like standing next to a big bus or something, they are so tall. And Beautiful!!! Okay, now on to the fireworks. The kids got these little flags at the parade in the morning, but I left them in the diaper bag so they could have them at the fireworks too. These next two pictures were taken about a half hour apart, but the seem like they should go together. Aurora has started this thing where she will spin in circles or sway back and forth and just sing. Of course she isn't saying actual words (at least not that I can understand) but she knows she is singing. It is really cute, I wish I could put a video on here because I would love to show you but you'll just have to trust me. Anyway, you can see here how she is in her own element and just enjoying singing to the world.These next three pictures show you a cool thing that happened in the sky while we were waiting for it to get dark at the fireworks. It started as just what you see in the first picture, it kind of looked like there was a building or something blocking the sun. A ton of people were taking pictures. I kept on it for a long time and once you get to the third picture you see the actual cloud that was in front of the sun that was creating this neat artwork from God. Check it out!!!
I had to include a picture of a firework. Right? I actually took a video of the grand finale, but I don't know how to put it on here for you all to see. It was a great fireworks display. Aurora stayed awake for the entire thing, (I was really suprised). She actally didn't even go to sleep on the way home either. Auri sat on Aaron's lap and Jackson sat on mine. He seems to think that the fireworks are going to get him. He kept asking me if they were still far away when they were really big. Oh the mind of a young child. Auri didn't like how bright it was. She kept trying to look and then I would see her turn her head. Poor baby!Okay, these pictures are actually from the day before the previous pictures. I have been going to my mom's house a couple times to work on a shirt for myself (I use mom's sewing machine). This trip to mom and dad's I actually remembered to take my camera. You see, there are times when the kids are there and Aurora will just follow the dog around and anytime possible she will hug her and pet her, it is really cute. I think the kids think that Dianna is their dog. So I saw that Aurora was bugging the poor dog again, so I quick grabbed my camera and snapped some photos. This first one I put in here because it looks to me like the two of them are having a conversation or something. They are looking at each other, and I just thought it was cute. The second picture is of Auri actually hugging Dianna. She loves that dog. Actually she would do the same thing to the cats if they would let her. Have a Fabulous Day!!!
-Kristen