Brad Paisley...FINALLY!!!

Since October 29th, I had been waiting for this night. Brad Paisley was coming to concert with Darius Rucker and I had been waiting for 2 years to see him in concert. It was our Valentine’s Day date and it did not disappoint. Jarrod Nieman opened the show and it was plain to see why some his songs were not played on the radio. While catchy, some of them could be quite funny and raw. He might need to clean it up a bit if he wants a few more on the radio than he has now. Darius Rucker came out at 8:00 and played for a solid hour. He could have done the whole concert on his own. He played his new stuff like “This” and “Alright”. He played old Hootie stuff. And he even played “Purple Rain”. He left to a standing ovation from the entire arena. In 15 minutes flat, they had the stage torn down and set for Brad Paisley. He came on stage playing his tour song “Water” and professed his sorrow for the cold weather and that for the next 2 hours we should just pretend it was the summer of 2011. Bo and I looked at each other thinking there’s no way he could play for 2 hours and there’s no way we could keep up with him for 2 hours. But, sure enough, he did not stop playing until 11:10 that night. There was not one break in the music...not even to change sets and there were still songs he could have played that he never got to. Half way through the show he came to a make shift stage in the middle of the floor seats where we were and played a favorite...“Letter to Me.” We were 20 feet from him and it was definitely the highlight of the night. By the end of the show, we were completely exhausted from cheering all night long. This concert was well worth every penny spent and I would go again tomorrow given the chance. Such a great show!!

SNOW FEST 2011

For the first time since we’ve moved here, the weather men did not disappoint. They had been calling for freezing temps, ice and snow for a week and we were all excited about the potential of having a day off from school and work and playing in the fun white stuff. What we got was SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. It was a Sunday night and we had asked Bo’s parents to come and stay with us for the big snow storm so they could be there the next day to play with all of us in the snow. We put the kids to bed on time...just incase there was no snow and school was really happening the next morning. And, we waited. And waited. We played bowling on the Wii and waited some more. By 9:00 PM, there was still not one snowflake in sight. But, by 9:30, Jenny had called us and told us that the city was getting nailed and was covered in the pretty white stuff. Finally, at 10:00, the snow started falling and by 10:30 we were covered. It was coming down harder and faster than we had ever seen before. School had been cancelled, so we woke up the girls to see the snow falling and them put them back to bed. We had a busy day of playing in the snow the next day. And, that’s exactly what we did. The kids were in and out all day long...between cups of hot chocolate...to play with their friends...sledding, snow angels and snowmen were the activities of choice. By mid-afternoon we were all starting to wonder what the next morning would bring. That evening was the NCAA National Title Game between Auburn and Oregon and we were all hoping for just one more day off so we could hang out for the game and not worry about work or school the next day. By late afternoon, we had gotten our wish...school had been cancelled for the following day. The temps for the day hadn’t gotten above freezing so nothing had melted and it had continued to snow off and on all day. The game that night was fun to watch with everyone because we all knew we had the next day to relax and recover from celebrating another SEC National Title...Go Tigers!! After the game was over, all the adults headed out for some midnight sledding...so that we didn't have any children interrupting our fun. And it was quite a lot of fun. An hour had gone by in the blink of an eye. The next morning came and went with more playing in the snow with our friends. The weather was warming up and starting to melt the snow, but the concern became the freezing temps coming back over night. Would they really cancel school for a third day??? Low and behold, the dinner hour came and the schools were already canceling for tomorrow. Not enough snow had melted and what did melt was sure to be ice the next morning. Bo’s parents decided to try and get home that afternoon before the freezing temps and ice and it’s a good thing they did because they wouldn’t have gotten out the rest of the week. The weather men were right and the melting snow and refreezing each night kept us home from work and school for the entire week. Atlanta was literally shut down for a solid week. Unfortunately, the loss in pay for furlough days and not taking care of kids made for a tough month, but the week we spent with the kids playing in the snow and having family game nights was worth it. By the end of the long weekend due to the MLK holiday, the kids were ready to go back to school and talk to all their friends about what they did for the week off. Most parents were happy to send the kids back to school and get back to normal, but part of me was a little sad to see them head back to school. Maybe we’ll have just one more snow day this winter for a little extra fun. Check out the Shutterfly site for all the pictures of our fun in the snow. Here are a few of our favorites.

http://therealjacksonfive.shutterfly.com

Happy New Year!!

2011 has arrived!!! Here's to hoping 2011 will be a healthy, happy, prosperous new year for The Jackson Five and all of our friends and family. May we all be blessed with whatever comes our way this year and always.

Happy New Year!!!

Polar Plunge...

Our south Florida new year was filled with lots of fun times with the Srigleys. Aside from the day we spent at Kennedy Space Center, we spent time hanging out at the house, watching college football, playing at the park and even had our own idea of the Polar Plunge on New Year’s Eve. Every visit with them is enjoyable and each time it’s over we always start thinking about the next time we get to see them. Lots of love to the Srigleys for being great people, even better friends, fantastic hosts and fun playmates for our kids.

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Kennedy Space Center

On our trip through Florida with the Srigleys, we spent a day at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. We had been there years ago before we were married, but with the Srigley boys’ interest in Star Wars and rockets and the influence that has on our kids, we thought it would be a fun day trip while we were in town. We got up early that morning to get there when the center opened. The kids got more excited the closer we got because rockets and space ships were lining the roads to the entrance. We saw several space shuttles and quite a few rockets. But, the most impressive one was the Saturn V rockets that launched the Apollo missions to the moon. We all enjoyed the bus tour and the stops to see the launch pads where the shuttles take-off from. The coolest thing to see up close was the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where they put the solid rocket boosters and the fuel canister on the shuttle and then roll it out on the crawler to the launch pad. The building itself is HUGE and it’s amazing to think that the vehicles that transport humans into outer space are assembled in that building. Plus, there is a building just beside the VAB that controls all aspects of the launch until 7 seconds before take-off when it is then sent over to Mission Control in Houston, Texas. We also got to see a 3D Imax movie about the Hubble Telescope and that was very interesting. The work that the astronauts did on the telescope once it was in orbit to fix the lenses and create a working machine that would send images to earth from outer space is mind boggling. They practiced the mission in a huge underwater pool with a life size version of Hubble to emulate the weightlessness of space. We spent some time walking through a space shuttle model and even got to meet a real astronaut. At the end of the day we were all quite exhausted from all the fun and had great memories to fall asleep to.

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Merry White Christmas!!

Christmas was extra magical this year. From the minute Thanksgiving ended, we have been talking about Christmas and what it means to have three small children who are excited about the Christmas season and the magic of Santa Claus. We weren’t sure who would sleep less...the kids or us. The build-up this year has been more than usual. Aside from talking about Santa and thinking about Santa non-stop, we knew we were planning a trip to Florida to see the Srigley’s for New Year’s a few months ago. But, it turned in to a full week with them when plans with Tracey and Jerry fell through because of Tracey’s new job with AT&T. So, the thought of being in Florida with the Srigley boys for a whole week was super exciting to the kids. Plus, there were school parties, neighborhood parties, Secret Santa exchanges and days off from school. And then when the weathermen started predicting the possibility of snow, the excitement meter went through the roof. We went to bed on Christmas Eve with much anticipation of Santa’s arrival. Grandma and Grandpa Jackson and Aunt Jenny had spent the night with us so they could enjoy all the excitement as well. Ally came bounding in our room at 5:15 asking if she and Kelsey could play in their room for a few minutes until it was time to get up. We had told them no earlier than 6:00...so she knew they had time to kill. We asked her if Santa had come and she said she didn’t want to look until they were allowed to get up. We got up by 6:00 and the girls looked over the walkway to see that Santa had come and left a big pile of presents to open. They ran downstairs to find their new dolls and a market tote with their names on it from mommy and daddy. Drew had gotten a new, ride-on 4-wheeler with Buzz Lightyear on it from us. But, sitting beside the 4-wheeler was a brand new train table with all the tracks and tunnels and bridges set-up and ready to go. Santa had been busy at our house. We got Drew up and as soon as he looked over the edge and saw the train table, he almost jumped out of my arms to get to it. He was so excited. He slid all the way down the stairs and ran over to it as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him. Drew spent most of the morning playing with his toys as he unwrapped them. By nightfall, he still hadn’t opened everything. By 10:00, we had eaten a small breakfast and torn through all the girls gifts and family gifts. The girls loved their new dolls and were excited to play with the new things they had gotten...the Ramona and Beesus DVD, Hannah Montana CD’s, Tangled games and books, luggage and new clothes. But, hidden behind the tree wrapped in sparkly silver wrapping paper were several gifts left for the Jackson Family. When we opened them, we discovered Santa had brought us a Wii and several games and controllers to go with it. We were all so excited we had to get it out and play with it immediately. But, we couldn’t...it was time to go to Aunt Jackie and Uncle Stefan’s house. So, we piled in the car and headed over there for brunch and more gift opening and delivering. The girls were excited to hand out our presents to them and they were just as excited to get presents form them. Ally got a super cool ipod shuffle of her very own and Kelsey got her own CD player for her room. But, best of all, while we were visiting with the Blum’s, snow started falling and sticking to the ground. Kelsey had wished and prayed for snow on Christmas and she was getting her wish. She was glued to the window, watching it come down. By the time we got home for nap and lunch, the snow was really starting to fall and it looked like we might actually have enough to play in it. And, by night fall, the temps had dropped and it was sticking and accumulating. We had gone over to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson’s house to finish up our Christmas day and had to call it a night by 6:30 so that we could get home safely in the slush, ice and snow. While we were at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, we opened gifts with them. They had saved the best for last. Grandpa John had given the kids a play set for the back yard...something we have been wanting for a LONG time. And then, Grandma and Grandpa had given the girls their Christmas present. They opened up gifts with embroidered shirts in them that had glass slippers on them and Drew’s had a crown that said Prince Charming. We were heading to Disney in February!!!! Yay!!!! The kids were very excited and tried their best to be excited about such a big gift after a long, full day of fun. We know as the days get closer, we will be counting down the days until we see the big mouse. The kids went to bed as soon as we got home and we weren’t far behind them. It had been a day filed with tons of fun and excitement and we were all exhausted.

The kids spent the next day playing in the snow while we cleaned up the house for our trip to Florida. Christmas had come down faster than it went up and we were getting ready for the next part of our vacation. Enjoy all of our Christmas pics on the Shutterfly site. Here are just a few to get you started.

http://therealjacksonfive.shutterfly.com

Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier

It seems like this time of year is all about family traditions and we do not lack in any of those for the holiday season. Every year we travel to Lake Lanier for an evening of Christmas lights and fair rides. This year we got to go before Christmas. It’s usually something we do between Christmas and New Year’s Eve because the crowds tend to be smaller. But with travels to Florida this year for New Year’s Eve, we had to find a way to do it before then. We picked a Sunday night to go up there thinking it would be slower than most other nights and we were lucky that it was. The girls enjoyed the lights, but have moved past the “splendor of the lights” and just want to get to the rides. For the first time, Kelsey was big enough to ride the big rides and she had a blast doing it. Ally...our child of no fear until after she rides something...enjoyed every minute of the big rides this year as well. Drew ventured on the carousel with mommy, but didn’t enjoy the ride until the very end. We always end our night with a ride on the ponies and then it’s back to the car to get changed into jammies for the ride home.

All of the Christmas pictures are posted together on the Shutterfly site. Check there often for updates on the fun holiday happenings.

http://therealjacksonfive.shutterfly.com

Camp Meriwether American Girl Day Camp

Ally has joined Brownies this year and we got to head to Camp Meriwether for an American Girl Day Camp. Ally was excited about this because her list for Santa included an American Girl doll and because we had not done a day camp with our scout troop since we had joined Daisy Scouts a few years ago. Hannah headed to camp with us for the day. The day started early and with a long drive. Camp Meriwehter is south of Atlanta and way off the beaten path so it took about an hour and a half to get there. We spent the day doing crafts and activities that the American Girls would have done during their time period...sewing, cooking, leatherworks, horseback riding and games. It was a day packed with tons of fun. We hit a Wendy’s on the way home for dinner in the car and by the time we got home, both girls were exhausted. I’m sure we’ll be doing lots more day camps now that we’ve had a taste of all the fun they can be.

Enjoy all the pics on Shutterfly.

http://therealjacksonfive.shutterfly.com

A Visit with Santa

We headed to North Point Mall for our annual meeting with Santa Claus and the family Christmas picture. The kids were dressed in their holiday finest for the big day and they could hardly contain the excitement. This was the first year Kelsey was actually excited to see Santa and ready to tell him about the things on her wish list. Because it was a Wednesday, the line for Santa was nonexistent and we walked right up to see him. Before we got in the line, I told the girls that I knew Drew would scream and that it was ok for him to do that. Their job was to sit, smile and look at the camera for the picture. We tried to keep Drew away from looking at Santa while the girls got to his lap and talked with him about their wishes. Once the photographer was ready, I casually backed up to Santa and dropped Drew in his lap. For a minute, I thought we might actually get a good picture. But, one turn of his head and it was over. He saw this big man in a red suit with a hairy face holding him and the screams went full force...which is the picture you see below...a classic. After he was whisked to safety, the girls continued their conversation with Santa because no one was around to be next. We had a nice chat with Santa about the importance of sleigh bells and then we were on our way. We took some time to do some shopping and had lunch at the food court. It was a fantastic and magical morning to start off our holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving has come again. And, again, we spent more time eating than taking pictures. This year we had dinner at the Blum’s house with Bo’s parents and Aunt Jenny. It was the most low key Thanksgiving I can remember having in years. But, I know our turn is coming for Christmas. Jackie put together a FABULOUS meal with appetizers of shrimp, brushetta, a relish tray and veggies. Dinner included the required turkey with plenty of sausage stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots and an italian style green bean alfredo casserole. We had yummy pumpkin pie and brownies for dessert and we all had to be rolled home by the end of the evening. Thanksgiving is, by far, one of the yummiest days of the year for our family.

Weekend with the Gators!!

Last year we headed down to Gainesville in hopes of seeing Tim Tebow play in UF’s only perfect season and for his last season as a Gator. Unfortunately Alabama ruined those plans in the SEC game, but it was a great trip back to our old stomping grounds. So, we decided it would be a fun trip to make again this year. We headed to the Appalachian State game, and after the season we’ve been having, we were a bit nervous about the outcome of the game. We walked up and down University Avenue and peeked in the shops. We walked around the stadium and took pictures of all the monuments and statues that had been put up since we left. The game was a blast. Thankfully, the Gators pulled through for a win on Senior Day and what ended up being Urban Meyer’s last game in the swamp (he just made his announcement about retiring...for the 2nd year in a row...due to health reasons and to focus on his family). We had a blast at The Swamp after the game and then headed back to the hotel. When we got home to the kids the next day, they were happy to see us and covered us with hugs and kisses. It always so nice to visit our old favorites, but it’s always better to come home to that!!

Visit the Shutterfly site for all the pictures from the weekend.

http://therealjacksonfive.shutterfly.com