happy birthday baby boy!

i have to admit...i have always wanted a baby boy. however, i was scared when i found out that i was pregnant with one because i am so used to girls i did not know if i would know what to do with a boy. and then came jackson. what a perfect addition to our family! the first time i saw him on the ultrasound screen i fell in love with him. he warms my heart and brings joy to our family every single day! we had a small party for him today to celebrate his first birthday. colin grilled fajitas and baked him two different cakes (after all, we didn't know if he would like chocolate or vanilla better). watching him eat his cake was something i will never forget! he had two big pieces - one of each flavor - and loved them both...big surprise!

and a happy birthday to grandpa mac, too! we love you and are thankful for you!

christmas at the pmf

what a wonderful Christmas we had this year! it was so nice to just hang out with family, play games, eat, and be in God's creation. colin had some time off work and school, so it was especially relaxing. an added blessing this year was that oma came up to the ranch to spend Christmas. the kids love having both grandmas there. i am so thankful that everyone gets along so well and really likes each other. some of my favorite pics...

opening presents

jackson and me on the zip line!

oma went rabbit hunting with us.

on pmf mountain

twas a good day today

although it did not feel like Christmas outside (75 degrees), we gave the girls their Christmas present early this year. colin and i like it as much as they do!

also...my sweet husband decorated the outside of the house so beautifully this year. we have had several neighbors comment on how they always look forward to seeing what he is going to do differently each Christmas.

one other note. here is a pic of one of my favorite volleyball teams (minus jenny and wes). we didn't fair as well in the tinsel time tournament as we did in league play, but we had lots of fun. one of the funnest parts was watching everyone trying to move about normally at church on sunday!

you can tell by the way i use my walk...

my baby boy is growing up too fast!

desperate times

we have sunk to an all new low at our house. i took this photo just a few minutes after i caught jackson opening the kitchen garbage can and eating a piece of leftover sonic burger. does the boy look like i starve him?

thanksgiving

we went to my mother-in-law's house for thanksgiving this year. it has been too long since we were there. no offense to anyone who has ever cooked for me...but my mother-in-law is the best cook on the planet. (mom-YOU make the best popcorn!) she made a delicious thanksgiving dinner and some yummy gumbo while we were there. we also went out to eat at a place with live alligators. it was a very nice, relaxing week playing games, catching frogs, doing a craft and hanging out with family.

the girls decorated the cake

my little crocodile hunter

all of oma's grandkiddos

last day of school...before thanksgiving break, that is

i don't know about yall, but i am so ready for thanksgiving this year. i have taken a week off of cooking to celebrate. my girls were also very excited to be free from homework for a while and to eat some of oma's cooking. here are some pics from the last day of school.

school's out!

we love fall!

i think fall is quickly becoming my favorite season (now that we live in fort worth). as houstonians the climate did not encourage the leaves to turn such beautiful colors. we are blessed to live in a neighborhood with so many trees. the above pic is from my unraked yard. who wants to rake up such beauty?

thanks reagan!

does anyone think jackson looks like chuckie in this pic?

harvestfest

every year our church has trunk or treat, games, hayride and food for folks in our church and community. this year was loads of fun. thanks to uncle rex, aunt leanne, granny and grandpa mac for coming and making it even more fun.

before the harvestfest, uncle rex and jackson took pictures with their cruz azul hats from mexico.

pre-harvestfest with the neighbors...

who is the mexican pirate??

hayride!

boo at the zoo

on halloween i sponsored reese's class field trip to the fw zoo. although we got off to a rough start, it was a beautiful day. by rough start i mean...i introduced myself to the kids in my group and asked one of the boys his name. he replied, "you don't need to know my name." as i prayed to Jesus for patience, i assured this young man that no fun would be had that day until his attitude had vanished. he completely changed his attitude after our heart to heart and we had a really fun day. here are some pics!

here is my crew (plus jackson)

this is a gorgeous red oak that i look forward to seeing change colors each year

the orangutans kept us very entertained. this one walked out looking like a ghost (on halloween) then walked around like he was a king . we even saw two orangutans kiss! the kiddos thought it was so funny!

may the force be with you!

we went to a fun halloween party on saturday night. i know i am biased, but i have never seen two more handsome jedi knights! reese was dressed as lucy from narnia and mackenzie was nastia liukin. i was a lame cowgirl dressed in my usual western attire. there are pictures roaming about the internet of me with a very large belly. no, i am not pregnant. apparently i just need to run more frequently.

my favorite little guy

okay so maybe he's not that little, but i was dressing jackson for our run this morning and i couldn't resist posting a pic of him. how cute is he all bundled up?! i also added a pic of him helping daddy get the car into the garage. as you can tell by his attire, it was taken earlier in the week before the cold front blew in.

its that time of year

each year we go as a family to an aggie football game. yesterday we took the kiddos to see the aggies play kansas state. as a pre-game tradition, we went to gattiland and ate 'all you can eat' pizza and 'all you can drink' slurpees. i am proud to say that the errington family did our best to completely consume the entire supply of cola and cherry slurpees that gattis had to offer. our family total was 12 slurpees. not surprisingly, i put away more than the rest of my crew (4). i have been training for this all of my life. although the score was not what we would have liked at the end, the game was fun and the kids were great! please note: jackson was marooned out before his mid-day blowout. i had to go purchase him a new outfit.

jackson's freshman wildcat

jackson was great! he seemed to enjoy the band most of all.

the girls wanted to go play on the field after the game

crazy hair day

the girls had crazy hair day at their school yesterday. i was so proud of both of them for being bold with their hair-dos. mackenzie said her teachers all commented that they kept thinking she was raising her hand.

vampire baby

anyone else think this is weird? should i be concerned that jackson recently bit my neck? i'm starting to feel woozy....

family weekend at laity lodge

we had a great time at my old stompin' grounds this weekend. several families from grace baptist church went to family camp in the hill country. it is really one of the most beautiful places i've seen. we hiked to circle bluff, swam, fished, square danced, climbed the alpine tower (all except jackson) did crafts and ate some wonderful food.

this is the view from circle bluff.

mackenzie and jackson in their western wear

reese wore this hat almost all weekend

fishing with friends

colin wasn't coming home until late tonight so my girlfriend lori and i took our kiddos to french lake to do some fishing. only a few fish were caught, but that is mostly because half of our party was chasing the ducks, riding scooters and playing with the fish in the bucket.

here is a pic of the gang

the night did not end without a little drama from the errington family. reese fell in as she was releasing the fish we caught.

visitors

we have had company for about a week and a half, so there has not been much time to blog or take pictures. oma came in for about a week due to hurricane ike and i only took one photo. paw paw also came in for a visit just for fun. with the grandparents in, i finally had time to get a hair cut, have a pedicure and a golf date with colin. we were all sad to see oma and paw paw head home. before paw paw left, we got a picture or two in the front yard.

my big girl

reese has been asking to get her ears pierced for a while now. since the day was a bit rainy and boring, i thought it would be the perfect day. here is a pic of the support group that took her to the mall (minus me).

she was so brave and we were all proud of her. afterwards i treated her to a great american cookie and a free chick-fil-a sample nugget!