December Adventures-part 1

December was yet another month full of fun adventures. The thing the kids were most excited about was Chris coming back on December 1st! But I believe he deserves his own post- so stay tuned!!
Brenna got a solo in the school Christmas play. She played Dolly Holiday. And she was supposed to be a cross between Dolly Parton, Ethel Murman, and Annie Oakley. What the heck??? I gave it some thought, and after reading her lines that referenced a Dolly Parton song- we just went with Dolly!
Finding costumes for things like this gives me the same anxiety as school projects...which I should tell you makes me feel the need to drink...heavily. But eventually it all came together, as it always does. And Brandi loaned us their rollers for Brenna's hair. Because Dolly must have big hair! She must also have big other things.....but I drew the line at that!
Brandi made these curlers look and sound super simple. That should have been my clue that they would be anything but simple. If it looks simple, and sounds simple...It's usually NOT simple! And these were not. There were tears and screaming. From Brenna AND me. Not my best parenting moment.

This child has SO much hair!!!

The next night I got her all gussied up and ready to go! Big hair and sparkly pants!

And just like when she did her solo at the talent show... she blew us all away. Man- this child has talent AND confidence! I love it!!! While she was singing, people were texting me from the crowd telling me how awesome she was! I was slightly glad I wasn't sitting next to Josh, since he gets nervous enough for 10 people when she performs! ha! At the talent show- I thought he was going to throw up!

Our little star had quite the crowd too! Nina, Aunt Kim, Pops, Memaw, Aunt Emily, Uncle Joey, Wyatt, Walker, Mrs. Kathy, Mrs. Jackie, Mrs. Brandi, Madison, and Maylee! As well as Mommy, Daddy and Macie! Whew! That's a lot of people!
Afterwards- we went to Fuzzys with Pops, Memaw, and the Popes to celebrate Pops' birthday! Nothing beats family time!
Walker found himself a new chew toy!

Yep- shouldn't every baby chew on pocket knife??! ha!
The next morning- yes, the very next morning- Brenna had to be at school at 6:30 to leave for UIL. She was SO excited about it that she would tell anyone that would listen that she had to be at school at 6:30 AM. I can remember the days of doing things like this. And I remember that it made me feel so important to have to be there early or late. And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
So we got up super early and got ready for her big day in Eastland!

And let me tell you- sending her off was hard! I wanted to go with her. I wanted to make her stay home and tell her she wasn't old enough to go off to Eastland for 12 hours for a competition. But alas- I got my emotions in check and went on to work wondering every minute how it was going. I did get lucky and our friend Jackie Pilgrim was with them and sent me updates on how B did! And pictures!!

She'll never know how grateful I was for her that day! And I was super excited to get the news that B had advanced to the finals!!! WOOHOO!! She worked so hard on her poem, and read it for everyone who would listen. The most special part for me was that she read the same poem that I read in 8th grade UIL- Mrs. Stein by Bill Dodds. It melted my heart to hear her read it.
And later that evening- I got the final word...she got 3rd place! I was SO very proud of our baby girl! She wanted it, she worked for it, and she did it!!! And she was still on cloud 9 when I picked her up at 7pm that night at the school! Needless to say- it was a long two days for our little star!

One Thursday we made a last minute decision to take the girls out of school early and set out on a little family fun adventure. We all needed some family time, and sometimes you just gotta take the time when you can! We started off with lunch at Papasitos, and moved on to the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan!

I love walking around in there and seeing all the decorations.
Family selfie attempt!

Thankfully a nice gentleman saw our pathetic attempt to all be in the picture and offered to take one for us!

The ICE was beautiful- as usual!

The ice slide in the middle provided endless entertainment for us all! Macie especially enjoyed watching her Daddy slide down it!

Macie watching her Daddy slide, and giggling SO loud the whole time!

After the ICE exhibit, the girls did some snow tubing.

They had a blast! And we enjoyed watching them have fun!

When we left the Gaylord, we decided to make a run by Nana and Papa's house to see them for a few minutes.

It didn't take these two long to start searching for treats in the kitchen! That's what I love about a grandparent's house... you can always find something good in the kitchen. On this day it was cookies and candy.
Nana had her tree up and it was, as always, beautiful!

Man they look so big here.

During a discussion on phones, Papa showed Brenna and Macie that not all cell phones are Iphones. This totally blew their minds!! His phone didn't have ANY games OR the internet!!

Then he taught them about phones with cords! Yall- we totally rocked their worlds with these concepts! Brenna had to see for herself how it worked.

I laughed SO hard! Important life lessons were learned that evening!
We had a great visit! It was nice to catch up and let the girls spend a little time with their great grandparents. We don't get to see Nana and Papa nearly often enough. But hugs were plentiful on our way out!

Those two armed Macie hugs are the BEST!!

Not much longer and she'll be as tall as her Nana!

We ended the evening with dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Such a great family day! And much needed. It always seems that during the holiday season, schedules get crazy and we all get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle and we just needed some time to be together. Just us.

The girls and I all 3 had Santa hat day at school on the same day!

This right here deserves being remembered...
When I was little, I always remember my Nina stapling a piece of paper to her purse strap with something written on it that she needed to remember. Very rarely did I see her that there wasn't a note stapled to her purse strap. This concept always made me laugh. As a child, I couldn't fathom why she would need to do this. Why couldn't she just remember to do the thing? Well, at 37 years old, this happened....

Yep- I stapled a note to my purse strap to remember something I needed to do. And I couldn't help but laugh! I was becoming my Nina! But I was afraid I would forget to do the thing I needed to do. And I wasn't sure what time I would get to do it, so setting an alarm on my phone wouldn't do me any good. So I resorted to the resourcefulness I learned many years ago from my grandmother! The good news? I remembered to do the thing! So this method is effective!

One Saturday, I got tickets to take the girls to have breakfast with Santa at Central Christian Church. It is sponsored by the local CASA for children, so it's for a great cause! We went last year and absolutely loved it. Santa pictures were first up on the list when we walked in. Followed by pancakes and bacon!

Oh man- I love these two so much it hurts! 

After they ate, they made the rounds at the craft tables.

Balloons!

Decorating stockings! With glitter glue.... I HATE glitter glue.

More crafts

Writing a letter to Santa!

After we left there, we NEEDED a picture for our Christmas Cards! So we went over to Holland Lake Park. Did I mention that it was like 25 degrees outside and the wind was blowing like crazy??? So as any good mom would do, I bribed them to take a decent picture. I'm not even a little ashamed. Christmas card pictures are serious business people. So I bundled them up and we set off to find the perfect spot. I would pose them, tell them to remember that pose, and then take their coats off of them while telling them to smile pretty and to not look like they were freezing! (yes- my Mom of the year trophy should be arriving any day now...) Luckily I managed to get a few good ones!

By this last one, you can certainly tell that Macie was DONE!

Thankfully we got a good one I could use and we were out of there!

On the last day of school before break, Brenna had her UIL awards assembly and Macie had her Christmas party! I was so glad to be able to be there for both!
My 3rd place champ!!!!

And my sweet first grader!

We were so excited to be out of school for Christmas break!!! They got to leave a few minutes early and come back to work with me for our faculty luncheon. They always look forward to coming to Mommy's school!
The Saturday before Christmas, we went to the Pizza Place to have lunch with Sara (or as Macie says "My Mrs. Sara") Don, Prissy and Leo. We love our Saturday Pizza Place lunches with this great group of people! And they are always so sweet to welcome us to join them. Almost every Saturday the girls ask "Can we go eat with Mrs Sara at Pizza Place?!" I'm not sure if that is sweet or pathetic! LOL! Either way, they enjoy it and so do I.
Sara and Prissy had ensured that we would be there that day, and I quickly realized why! They had gifts for the girls! And they spoiled them big time! Prissy had goody bags full of fun things for them, and Sara got them monogrammed bows! They loved it all! And then Mr. Don taught them an important life lesson....how to scratch lottery tickets!

Macie was super into it!

And I was a tad ashamed that they had never scratched lotto tickets before! Poor deprived children! But thanks to Mr. Don, they now know what Lotto tickets are and Brenna asks for them regularly!
As soon as we got home, Macie put on her new bow got to work on the coloring page that Mrs. Prissy gave her!

These ladies will never know what it means to me that they love my girls the way they do.

That evening Josh and I went to the Riley's Christmas party with Chuck, Brandi, and Steve. Jamie was at another party with some girlfriends. And Madison and Tori kept all of the little ones. Sure is nice to have a sitter just down the street!
We all had a blast eating, laughing, drinking, laughing, and being Merry! But every time we are all together it sure makes me miss the days of when we all lived in the same neighborhood.

Just missing Jamie!

LOVED Sarah's skirt! It was a tacky Christmas party, but we didn't dress up. Josh wouldn't do it, and I am more of a follower than a leader...

The guys...Minus Santa Schaef! Not sure where he was...but we snapped the picture anyway!

And before we left, we decided that a group picture was in order, and we would just hold up Jamie's picture so that she could be in it too! Steve was assigned the task of holding her picture up, and he took his job very seriously! The rest of us were the ones that couldn't quit laughing! But in our defense- when Schaef Riley is involved in a picture you can rest assured that he won't take it seriously! I'll let the pictures tell the story for themselves.

And this picture right here sums up our friendship! (notice how everyone is laughing hysterically and there's Steve....holding the picture just as he was instructed to do!)

Thanks for a great evening Riley's!!! Now- move back to our neighborhood where you belong!!!!

My Aunt Susan Rocks

Back when we were in Oklahoma for girls weekend in October, Aunt Susan got the call confirming that she had breast cancer. It was a hard thing to swallow for all of us. Our family has been hit by the C word too many times. We lost our precious Aunt Rosie to breast cancer in 2012, our Papaw to cancer in 2012, and Mom to cancer in 2015. I mean- loosing one person to the C word is too many! But knowing we had another person facing the fight- our hearts hurt. We were scared. Unfortunately we had all seen too much to NOT be scared. But as this amazing family of mine does, we put on our smiles and cheer leading suits and stepped up to the plate for our Aunt Susan.
After a long road of doctors appointments, tests, and scheduling nightmares...she got her surgery date set for the Monday after Thanksgiving. And in my heart, I knew I had to be there. I needed to be there for her. I needed to be there for Alisa. I needed to be there for Mimi. I needed to be there for ME. So with the help of my great husband and inlaws- I made it happen. And I even worked in a little something extra for ME.
Dad and Kathy were coming in on Sunday afternoon. Bit, Taron, and Nolan were coming in Sunday evening. And Alisa was coming in Saturday evening. SO- this girl beat them all there! I left on Saturday morning as soon as Josh got home from work and took myself to my Mimi's house-because Mimi time!!! I managed to score a one on one day with my Mimi. No kids allowed! haha! I can't tell you what that did for my heart. During the last almost 2 years, Mimi has provided the listening ear and open mind I needed many times. She gives advice without actually giving advice. If that makes sense at all. Adjusting to life without Mom involved many situations and trials that I didn't expect. And many times there was no one that could tell me just what I needed to hear. (or maybe I didn't want to hear what they were telling me). But there were two people who could consistently talk me down off of my ledge and help me understand and accept the "new normal". My Mimi and my Aunt Bit. They were there for me at a time when everyone else was there for me too- but thery were there for me in a different way. They never made me feel guilty, yet they helped me to see things in a new light. The only problem was that my Aunt Bit was a 14 hour car ride away. So our conversations were by phone. The 4 hour car ride to Mimi's was do-able. And it never took her long to get to the bottom of what was on my mind and heart. I have always enjoyed time with my Mimi, but over the last 2 years that time has become even more treasured. Time is a precious thing, and I treasure any amount of time I get to spend with my family.
So Mimi spent our day doing a little shopping, at my request, going out to dinner, visiting, laughing, and just being together. Best gift anyone could have given me. And by that night, Alisa had gotten in and she and Aunt Susan came to join us for a game of cards! Because CANASTA!

The only problem with this game was that Mimi and I were on the same team. I'm not used to that! My canasta game is based on a small level of knowledge and skill, and a large level of being "mean" to Taron and Mimi! But I was a good girl and was nice to her! It took concentration for sure!

Poor Alisa was SO tired! She had been traveling all day long!

I believe that Aunt Susan was a little tired too...

Or maybe she was just being "Crazy Aunt Susan". It's a title she wears well.
We ended our night a little early. Well, it was like 11pm- but that was early for the Johnson Card Clan! I'm pretty sure Alisa might have fallen asleep at the table if we had kept going much longer!
The next morning Mimi and I got up slowly, enjoyed our breakfast and coffee, and got started on preparations for dinner. And what was the most important part of dinner?

Cherry pie of course! As I watched Mimi make these pies, as I have many MANY times before, I began to wonder..How many pies have those hands made? Probably more than anyone could count. And the thing I love the most about watching her make those pies? The fact that she still gets out her trusty cookbook to do so! It's stained with cherry pie ingredients, and that only makes it more special.
Eventually (like as in about 1pm eventually) Mimi suggested that we get dressed. hhmmm. I was kind of enjoying my pajama day! But I agreed that we shouldn't probably be caught in our jommies when someone came over after NOON!
Aunt Bonnie arrived first, followed by Aunt Susan and Alisa eventually, then Dad and Kathy, and eventually Aunt Bit, Taron and Nolan (and then Uncle Dave in time for dinner!).
I introduced Aunt Bonnie to Snap Chat filters.... and laughed my tail off!

Everyone should have an Aunt Bonnie in their lives! Never a dull moment. Ever.
Many texts were exchanged through out the day about Cherry Pie and whether or not it would still be there when the Holt/Abner clan arrived. I MAY have hidden them in the laundry room to give the idea that they were in fact eaten. ha! Mimi also informed me that Taron and I could NOT eat out of the pie pan this round. She mentioned something about there being other people there and we shouldn't do that, and blah blah blah. Because honestly- I quit listening. Since when do Taron and I listen when there is pie involved?? So why would we start today??
This was the scene in the laundry room when we got caught!

We weren't scared. Much. (we WERE hiding in the laundry room though....) No worries- Mimi laughed (and maybe rolled her eyes at us..) and eventually Dad and Aunt Bit joined us and ate out of the pan....because they figured if Taron and I could get away with it, so could they!
After dinner there was mention of cards. But there were so many of us that we weren't sure how we could play cards and enjoy it. Then Alisa suggested we play spoons. I had never played spoons before.... but it's now my new favorite game!!!!
I am not sure when I have laughed so hard! I had no idea how crazy a game of spoons could get! But there were spoons flying all over that kitchen, under the table....

Fights broke out (uhhum Dad and Aunt Susan!!!)

Dad even pulled a spoon out of his own MOTHER's hand!!! Brutal I tell ya! I laughed especially hard when we had all picked up a spoon on the first or second round and Aunt Bonnie was still passing cards along! See?? I told you that everyone needs an Aunt Bonnie!
Who were the first 3 people out?

Yep- we are the cool kids!
But the laughter was still going strong as we watched everyone else!

Then Aunt Bit decided to join the cool kids club!

And then Dad's fool proof plan of just passing cards without looking proved to be less than fool PROOF! So he joined our club!

Next up to join the cool kids was Aunt Susan and Alisa!

Kathy hung in as long as she could! But eventually the desire to be a cool kid took over!

And then there were two....

And the last addition to our club was Taron!!

Which left Nolan as the spoons champ!

He's not boastful or anything....
Everyone finally wound down and found our beds for the night. I didn't say we used them...we just found them. Aunt Bit and Dad went to pick up something from the Abner's, and I could hear them in the garage...so I joined them and we visited out there until about midnight...
Then Bit and I continued our conversation until sometime around 3am! OOPS! But in our defense- we don't get to sit and visit nearly enough! So we seized the opportunity and talked until we could go no longer.... I always treasure my heart to heart talks with my Aunt Bit. She has an amazing heart, and I love that I can pour my heart out to her with no judgement. The sleep deprivation was totally worth it.
Morning came too soon- but it was so nice to be able to sit around Mimi's table with everyone and just enjoy being together. Kathy got to see why I enjoy my Mimi's kitchen table coffee time so much, and everyone enjoyed getting to know her a little better.
I sent this picture to my Aunt Susan and told her I was on my way to the hospital- but was going to swing by the Holiday Inn to check out the breakfast buffet first!

Eventually we did all manage to get dressed and head to the City to catch up with Uncle Dave and Aunt Susan. She was already prepped and ready when we got there, but we were lucky enough to get to go back and circle around her and pray over her. And I will tell you that the love we felt standing there was amazing. I felt a peace like no other, and I pray that Aunt Susan did too.
And no family moment is complete without a selfie!!!

They got her back pretty quickly and got surgery started. The rest of us hung out together in her room for the remainder of the day. Surgery took several hours. We passed the time by talking, laughing, playing on our phones, setting up our very own chicken buffet in her room, and praying for the doctors performing her surgery.
She didn't get back to her room until around 6. But we were all glad to see her! But knowing that we had a 3.5 hour trip ahead of us made Dad, Kathy and I a little anxious to get on the road. I felt so torn as I kissed her cheek while she slept. I wanted to stay there with her. I wanted to walk this road with her since I knew what lied ahead of her. But I also knew that I had to get home to my babies and Josh. It was HARD yall! But I just had to say my good byes, hide my tears, and get in my car....where I proceeded to cry most of the way home. The emotions that came flooding back while I waited for Aunt Susan's surgery to be over caught me off guard. As strange as it sounds...I longed to go back and do this again with Mom. Only because it would mean Mom was still here. And I still had more time with her. I managed to hold it together quite well- until I was in my safe place...alone in my car. Then it all came flooding over me. And I let the tears flow. Tears from missing Mom. Tears for Aunt Susan. Tears for Alisa- because I knew exactly how she felt as a daughter watching her Mama go through this. Selfish tears for me because I couldn't stay. It all flooded over me. And once I was done letting it all out- I felt better...a little.
But the best news we got of the day was that all of the lymph nodes looked clear, and we eventually found out that they were ALL in fact clear of cancer cells! HUGE PRAISE!
Now I am counting down the days until I can go back and hug her neck again!

Thanksgiving- the day after

Since we had spent most of Thanksgiving week getting the house ready to host company- I decided to take the girls for a fun afternoon the day after.
We started off with a trip to the fire station. They always want to go see Daddy at work. And it is such a long drive that we rarely make it happen. But on this day we did it!
And we got there just in time too! Time to help wash the truck!

Because little girls that go to the fire station to get treats (cookies, candy, ice cream... whatever can be found on any given day...) must earn their keep! And on this day- their prize was cookies! There is always something good to be found at the fire station! They enjoyed getting to see their daddy, and as an added bonus, he gave them each some money for our next stop...CHUCK E CHEESE! Because, yes, I had officially lost my mind.
In all honesty- I don't mind Chuck E Cheese. Really. Compared to other arcade places like Main Event, Chuck E Cheese is cheap! We don't ever eat there, so games is all it costs us. And their games are only .25 each play, as compared to 1000-1.50 at other places. So it's fairly cheap entertainment! And I'm not gonna lie....I got myself a game card too! ha!
The girls had a blast running around playing games.

And Macie Claire hit the jackpot!

Wanna know what she bought with ALL those tickets? Probably a tattoo. Or a sucker. Or a plastic ring that was long gone the next day. Oh well- it's all about the adventure, not the prize at the end!
After we left Chuck E Cheese, I told the girls they could pick our dinner destination. I told them we'd go anywhere they wanted. Well- anywhere except Chick Fil A that is. Mama's gotta draw the line somewhere. SO they picked Pappasitos! As I knew they would. My kids have good taste in food- what can I say!
I absolutely love the fact that they are old enough for us to go and do stuff like this now with no worries! I don't have to fret about getting one to the bathroom if needed or someone having a melt down. It is amazing! The freedom that ages 9 and 6 give us is a game changer! And the fact that we have great kids....that helps too! I love these two girls. And I love making these memories with them.

Thanksgiving 2016

As has been tradition the last couple years, Josh and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house. Kim had to host James' family, so Nina joined them. But the whole Jackson/Pool clan plus Dad, Kathy and Mrs. Jackie joined us for dinner at our house! Larry, Jeri, Katie and Dillon joined us for a while after dinner too! We had a FULL house!!! 26 people to be exact! But it was a blast, and we had plenty of room for all!

If only we had enough food... HOLY MOLY- there was SO MUCH FOOD!

I love watching all the groups gather to talk. You can walk through the house and everyone is deep in conversation and laughter.... and 15 minutes later, you walk through and the groups are all different! Warms my heart. Family is everything.

When the dessert options are plentiful... one might find it helpful to just sit AT the dessert table!

Oh how Josh Pool loves selfies... NOT!!

Luckily my Daddy is always a good sport!

I love this man. Always there for me, always supporting me, always encouraging me.

Poor Kathy... we really need to educate her about cherry pie! She tried to take a bite of Dad's pie to taste it, and she ALMOST drew back a bloody stub!!

This right here yall- This right here is what it is all about. Family that just enjoys being together. We are loud, slightly obnoxious to those who might not know us....and fun!!!! One thing you can count on at a Jackson family get together....laughter and fun! Both are always plentiful!

Especially when the Cowboys are on!!
The guys migrated to the fire pit on the back porch.

The girls made sure we got a picture in!

And Macie Claire made sure she got some Walker lovin!

I'd say it was a great day! Good food, great people, and many memories made!
But the Pool girls were wiped out by the time it was all said and done! I ended my day snuggling with my littlest love!

Doesn't get much sweeter than that!