Merry Christmas

Logistically and financially, it will be difficult for us to send out Christmas cards to all of our friends and family this year, let alone to send gifts to you all, so to show our love and appreciation to you for all that you do, we share with you a little slideshow of some of the highlights from this past year narrated by Emmaline and Glenn.

Little sister and big sisters

Mystery girl has a name

I'm not sure if Sara is in agreement on this, but I had a more difficult time deciding on a name for this girl than I did for the others. For one thing, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue the "E" name tradition. But I didn't want her to feel like an outsider as the only Jackson girl without an "E" name. So, after considering several, Sara and I finally settled upon the name Evelyn Grace Jackson. I think Sara is going to call her Evie, though she has been calling her Elise quite a bit.

Baby Jackson version 4.0

No name yet (Sara and I are still "discussing" that detail).
Baby was born at 10:22pm on Sunday October 12. She was 7 lbs 10 oz, 21 in.
Sara is fine. She had an epidural this time, and it apparently worked well for her; I think she is looking great post-partum.

A Hair Raising Experience

O.K., I have been meaning to post these pictures for months now but life, being pregnant, kids starting school , but,but, but...... You get the idea. So now it is 4 am. and what better thing to do when you can't sleep than to Blog! Actually my sister in-law Jody motivated me to finally add this post. She also recently ventured into the world of "LITTLE GIRL'S HAIR CUTS".
I suppose boy hair cuts could be much more exciting, especially when brothers cut their own hair, and maybe that is what gave Glenn the idea. I'll explain.
Prior to our fourth of July adventure in Tennessee, Eden and Mommy had a big girl day at a Salon together and both of us got some fun, short, sassy, summer hair styles cut. Emmaline, who has almost always loved her long hair, immediately felt left out and insisted on her hair being cut as well.
SOOOO, while in Tennessee we asked Aunt Lisa if she we be so kind to help us out and cut Emmy's hair. This was with the understanding that Lisa has a bit of hair cutting experience. During the conversation Glenn insisted that he also had experience and would be happy to help out. I of course was nerveouse because Glenn's hair cuts usually consisted of using clippers.
Well, mischiff was afoot one evening when Lisa and I stepped out to run some errands. When we returned this is what we found. I believe that Glenn said he was "Layering".









TA DA! It actually turned out pretty good. Aunt lisa stepped in just in time to help even out a few stray hairs in the back, but overall impressive! Who knew? Emmaline's smile sais it all. She loves her Big Girl hair cut and she loves her goofy Dad. I love her goofy Dad too.

Runaway Secret Garden

Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the mutant-carrot-man.
I hope it's not something with the water.

First fish

I wanted to do something fun with the family for Labor Day. I called up a friend and planned a fishing trip at his pond. The trouble was we had no fishing poles, so I stopped by an outpost of the Walton Empire and picked up a couple of cheapie rods & reels. Sara and I managed to keep the whole thing a surprise, even up to the moment when we arrived at the pond.
The day was hot, but the fish (at least the bluegill) were biting. In fact, the first fish we caught was on an empty hook. Emmy and Eden each reeled in a small fish. We all had fun, and we all got sunburned.

Blueberry Bliss AND PICKLES?

We were all being entertained by our resident artists, Elise and Ruth, until someone noticed the Pickles!

There is nothing better than a giant pickle after you eat blueberries, RIGHT? Well that was what the kids thought. As we were checking out and paying for our 5 lbs. of Blueberries the kids noticed a basket of cucumbers with a FREE sign on it. O.K., so they weren't actually pickled but they all thoroughly enjoyed the cukes. The other customers were amazed at what good little eaters we had. Honestly, the parents were pretty amazed too. After all, when was the last time you witnessed a bunch of children mostly under the age of 5 eating a raw green vegetable?

Blueberry Bliss

Oops , there go the blueberries!

Day 2 of our Independence day get away we literally "Tasted Tennessee". Will suggested we go Blueberry picking at a near by farm. All I have to say is YUM, YUM,YUM! As for the kids, they didn't say much at all. They were to busy eating. We picked about 7 pounds, ate one pound and spilled one pound.

Oh Say, Can You See Any Fireworks?

Our first taste of Tennessee night life was watching the Nashville Fourth of July fireworks display. Apparently, we heard later, that this display was voted #2 in the nation for best Fourth of July show. Here Eden and Emmaline are trying to decide which spot would be most advantages to watch the fireworks. They chose a spot next to the capitol building which you can see in the background. Thank you Aunt Lisa for a fun night out!

Thanks also needs to be extended to Uncle Will who kindly put the little ones to bed for us so that we could get away with the big girls. Upon returning home to the Ashby place Will reported that Elise and cousin Ruth did their best to go to sleep until they realized that the appartment was somewhat void of adults. After coming to the conclusion that they were left to themselves Elise confidently announced to Ruth, "No Mammas, NoPappas!"The two girls then ran out of their room only to be surprised to find Uncle Will holding down the fort.

This is our gang just before we left to watch fireworks.

Girlie number 4

Sara had another ultrasound. I was able to be there and add my radiology skills for the interpretation of the images. Yes, I do believe we have another girl on the way. Any suggestions for names?

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I wasn't sure if the RSS feed would capture the comments as well as the posts, so I am testing out a protocol to allow me to automatically email a notification to friends/family when something new is added to the blog. Please let me know if you received the notification.
Glenn

Emmy's Dance Recital

Emmy loves dancing, cooking, dress-up, etc.
She had a great time with her dance class this year, which culminated in this performance to Hit the Road Jack.

Emmy's Birthday

Yes, this posting is quite after the fact.
Initially, Emmy wanted to have her birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese's, like Eden did. We somehow talked her into having a party at Going Bonkers. It was cheaper than the Mouse, and the kids had lots of fun.

Girls' new doll house

This is an image of the girls playing with their doll house on Christmas morning. My friend Bryon helped me build it and delivered it Christmas morning.
The girls and I have plans on painting the exterior, wallpapering the inside, and other fun fix-ups.