A Day in the Life...

We might only be in to the 3rd week of school for Ally, the 2nd week of school for Bo and the 1st week of school for Kelsey, but we are in full swing here at the Jackson House. Usually things start off a little slower and as the school year goes on, it gets a little more demanding. After this shotgun start, I am hoping that as the year progresses, we will fall in to routine a little better and it should get easier, right??

Bo's day starts at 5:00 with a work out and I am up at 5:15 to get myself ready and to get everyone else ready for work and school. Most importantly, I have to pack lunches and pump. If there's a little extra time, I might clean a bathroom or throw in some laundry because it's the only time of day I'm not chasing kids. At 6:15, Ally wakes up and we start getting ready for school...breakfast, get dressed, hair, brush teeth, out the door with dad by 6:50 for the bus. By 7:00, my kids start showing up...first Caroline, then Asher and Max, and last Madison. By 7:30, Drew is awake and needs fed, Kelsey is up and needs breakfast and it's time to get ready for preschool. We do another round of breakfasts, getting dressed, hair, and brushing teeth. Thankfully, Caroline and Max take an early morning nap while most of this is going on. At 8:30, I load up 6 kids in to the car and drive 3 miles to preschool and drop off Asher and Kelsey. Thank goodness for carpool, because if I had to get out of the car with 6 kids and then load them all back up again, we might have to rethink this preschool thing. I get home with the 4 kids I have left at 9:15 and we eat or sleep. Drew goes down for his nap, Caroline eats breakfast, and Max takes a bottle while Madison eats snack. Drew wakes up at 10 to eat again and then we have some time to play. 11:00 starts the hour of power. At 11:00, I eat lunch. Because if I don't, I won't have time later. At 11:15, Caroline eats lunch. While she is eating I get lunch ready for all the big kids...Kelsey, Asher and Madison. This way it is ready to go when we get back from school. At 11:30, I feed Caroline a bottle and change a few diapers. At 11:40, we are out the door to carpool so I can get in line to pick up the kids. If I am much later than that, the line is atrocious. It works out well though because, while we sit and wait, I feed Drew. 11:45 is his time to eat anyhow. As soon as he is done, the kids roll out and away we go. We are home by 12:15 and Caroline and Drew go to bed immediately. Asher, Kelsey and Madison sit down to eat and I feed Max his bottle. Max gets to bed about 12:30 and then Kelsey, Asher and Madison follow suit by 12:45. That leaves 2 hours for me to get things done around here before the bus arrives with Ally and Molly. Caroline goes home and it's me and 7 kids. I feel like Snow White only my dwarfs aren't typical dwarfs. By this time of the day they are no longer Happy, Bashful and Doc. It's more like Whiny, Hungry, and Sassy. Sleepy and Grumpy stick around too. Between 4:00 and 5:00 all the kiddos that aren't mine head home and we finish out our nightly routine...homework (which is no small task in 1st grade!!), dinner, story time, and bath...but not necessarily in that order. On Thursdays, we throw dance class in to that mix. By 6:45, Ally and Kelsey are in bed and very close to snoozing. Drew and I spend a few quiet minutes together until he gets grumpy and then it's off to bathe and feed him. By 7:30, all the kiddos are soundly sleeping. And I breathe a quick sigh of relief. Only because there's still more to do...clean up the house from the day and try get dinner ready for Bo and I when he gets home from tutoring at 8:30 or 9:00. And then of course, there are the things I like to do...scrapping, embroidery, blogging, catching up with friends on Facebook and catching up on some TV. At 10:30 I head to bed after pumping one last time. And by the time I get up the stairs and changed in to PJ's, I simply fall in to bed.
My moment of clarity...we do all this because it affords me the opportunity to be at home with the kids and it allows me the chance to help others with their kids. And, while we are working hard now, it won't last forever and it will be well worth the effort down the road. There is certainly no glory in changing dirty diapers and cleaning up spit-up all day, but it's my life...and I'm happy for it!!

Kelsey's First Day of School

Our little girl went to school today. And she was so excited to be such a big girl. She talked about how she was going to be a good listener and play nice with her friends. Grandma and Grandpa Jackson came over to cheer us on as we left for school. We got to school and they opened the doors at 9:00. We dropped Asher off first. He went right in, put his bag on his peg and went to play with the toys...a complete pro!! Then, Kelsey walked us to her class...all the way at the end of the hall. She found Mrs. Pam's Ponies and ran right in to her class. We put our bag on the peg. She ran to Mrs. Tera and gave her a big hug. She ran to Mrs. Pam...waited for her to finish talking to another child (SHOCKER!!)...and then gave her a big hug as well. After that, she ran to the toy bins and pulled out the magnetic dolls that you can dress with different clothes. Bo and I had to BEG for kisses good-bye, but I guess that's better than having them pull her off our legs crying. The whole process took 10 minutes. She was such a big girl and we are so proud of her and excited for her. I can't wait to pick her up and see how her day went. Enjoy her school pictures.

I'm a Big Kid Now!!

Asher, Kelsey and Hayden are ready for school!

Sweet Girl!!

Mommy and Daddy are so proud!!

Grandma and Grandpa are excited for Kelsey too!!

Getting a drink on the way to class.

Finding our new classroom.

Putting up our bag.

Hugging Mrs. Tera.

Hugging Mrs. Pam.

Playing with the dolls.

Better Late than Never

I meant to post this yesterday, but time got away from me and it had to wait until today.

Happy Anniversary to Us!! 11 happy years and counting...

We spent the day doing our usual mom and dad stuff...Bo played with the girls at the pool. He washed both cars and then he and Stefan mowed and trimmed both yards. By 5:30, we were dressed and ready for a night out. Jackie, Stefan and the kids headed over for the night and we headed out. First we stopped at Bo's parent's house. We had some yummy munchies and chatted for a bit over a glass of wine. They got us a really nice bronzed sculpture of The Last Supper by Leonardo DaVinci. Bo and I were very interested in the picture of it that Jenny saw on her tour of Europe a few weeks ago and when they saw it in Chattanooga, they thought we would really enjoy it. As a side thought...I think Paris has a close second running to my #1 need to visit place in the world. Rome is creeping closer and closer to the top and mostly because of my desire to see the Coliseum and Michelangelo's masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel. Maybe we'll get there for our 20th. Better start saving now. Anyhow, after we left their house, we headed to dinner at PF Chang's. There was a 45 minute wait, so we relaxed at the bar with a drink and a free Ahi Tuna appetizer. By the time dinner rolled around, we were ready to eat and all the food was yummy. We had soups, a calamari appetizer, some Sweet and Sour Chicken and Mongolian Beef for dinner and miniature cakes for dessert. We left full and happy. When we got home, we chatted with Jackie and Stefan for a bit and then headed to bed. It was a great night out and fun to think about that big day 11 years ago. So much has changed. And we have so many reasons to be thankful for all that we have experienced together over these 11 years. We can't wait to see what the years ahead have in store!!

Dancing Queens

The school year is just getting started, yet I feel like we are in full swing. On top of Open House this morning at Mt. Zion, we had our first dance class of the new year. Ally is now in the first grade class and they have hour long sessions. Her new teacher is Ms. Jessica. She's very young and reminds me a lot of Ms. Leah. That should suit Ally just fine. They worked very hard today on learning dance positions and reviewing steps from last year. Kelsey is in the 4 year old class and seems to remember how things flow from last year. She went right in to class, sat on a marked spot and waited for Ms. Lizette to start class. After the success we had at pre-school this morning and the positive response from dance this afternoon, maybe here issues are with me. Due to the craziness of the first day, there aren't many pictures to share. I have one of Ally and Hannah...in the same class for the 4th year in a row now. And, I have one of Kelsey through the window on the door. I'll be sure to do a better job next week when things are less busy and get a few pictures posted of our little dancing divas. Enjoy what I have for now!!

Mt. Zion Open House

Kelsey had open house today at her school. We got to meet Ms. Pam, our teacher and her assistant, Ms. Tera. It's hard to believe our baby girl is starting school already. She seems to have grown up so much faster than Ally ever did. This should be a very interesting year for Kelsey and us. Kelsey knows as much as Ally did in pre-school, but she has no desire to show it just yet. Some of things she knows blows me away, but I am finding that she likes to keep her knowledge a secret and it only comes out when I am not around...or so she thinks. Kelsey does seem to be a little more socially immature than Ally ever was, but that could be because I am with her in most structured situations...like Sunday School or dance class. It will be very eye opening to see how she does this year falling in to the social curriculum of school...following directions, paying attention, waiting your turn, sharing, and doing "school work". Can she write her name? Yes. Will she do it for me if I ask her to? No. Baby steps...baby steps...I am sure she will grow and blossom this year in to the big girl who goes to Kindergarten next fall. Best of all...she enjoyed visiting the classroom so much that she cried when it was time to leave. Let's hope that is how we feel next Tuesday.

I'm ready to go to school!

Kelsey and Asher getting excited for school.

Talking to Ms. Pam.

Kelsey had lots of love and support at Open House!! We're so proud of you, baby!!

We Survived!!

The first week of first grade is over and Ally made it through with flying colors. She's enjoying her new teacher and her new friends. We have PE with Hannah, so that is a huge plus. Every year Michelle and I send in letters to the school requesting that Ally and Hannah be in different classes...for obvious reasons. We told Ally the reason she and Hannah won't ever be in the same class is because they don't let neighbors be in the same class. The teachers are worried that they would play too much and not do their work because they are friends. So, when Ally came home and told me they had PE together, she said "They must not know we're neighbors yet." Oh...if only she knew. We probably don't have many more years before they really figure it out. She has seen Mrs. Lussier everyday at lunch and that makes her day. Ally really misses her teacher from last year. Her highlight of the day has to be journal time. She has really turned in to a big writer (must be following in Aunt Jackie's footsteps because they sure aren't mine). And she likes it because they get to eat snack while they write in their journal. I think she thinks she is super cool to "do work and snack" at the same time. So, to celebrate the end of the first week, the parents got together at the bus stop to pick up the kids and nailed them with water balloons after they got off the bus. It was much needed relief after a long week for both the parents and the kids. Only 35 more weeks to go!! :)

Before...


Uh-oh...what's that in the sky coming at us????


It's a water balloon...a lot of them...but let's just sit here and get pounded. Why would we ever think to actually run and get out of the way?!?!?!

Watch Out First Grade!!

Our big girl started 1st grade today. 1st grade?????? What is that all about????

Today was like old hat for Ally. She woke up at 6:00, 15 minutes earlier than normal so we could take a few pictures before the bus. She ate her cereal like normal, got dressed, brushed her teeth, watched a little TV and headed to the bus stop to see all of her friends. The bus stop is growing every year. This year we had Logan, Sydney, Jack, Treyvan, Ayanna, Molly, Ally, Hannah, Eisha, Caleb, and another new boy from down the street. When you add in all the siblings...Kelsey, Madison, Hayden, and Ben...the little corner on our street is pretty crowded. It is now 7:45 and Ally should be at school, unloading her backpack at her desk and turning all of her stuff in to her teacher. There are no assistants in 1st grade, so she has to remember to do all of it by herself. She's a product of Bo and I...I think she'll be alright!!

Good luck, Ally!!! We love you and we are so proud of you!!!

Time to WAKE UP!!!

Eating Cereal and getting excited about 1st grade!!

I'm a big first grader!!

Mommy, Daddy and Kelsey are so excited for Ally.



Ally and Hannah

The Bus Stop