BINKY FREE!

Here at the Jackman house, we have been trying to get rid of all the "baby" stuff. Mason has been doing pretty good at using a "big boy" cup and trying to use the potty! The big problem was getting rid of the Binky! He only gets the Binky at nap time and bed time, but lately he was waking up in the middle of the night screaming because he lost it! At that point, we knew it was time to get rid of it!

Ryan and I came up with a plan to put all the Bink's in a bag and have Santa come and take them away and leave presents. Mason wasn't too sure that he excited about that, but he went along with it!

About 1 week before Christmas, Mason woke up screaming for the last time. I was tired of it, so I came up with a new plan!

That night, I got a pair of scissors and cut the Bink tip off! When it was time for bed, I give it to Mason and this is how it went over!

M..."Fix it!"

Me..."I can't! Your big boy sharp teeth broke it!"

M..."Fix it!"
I took him into the bathroom and stood him on the counter, and showed him his "fangs" and told him that his big teeth broke a hole in his Bink!

He didn't believe it, so I went and cut one in half and the other completely off! I give them to him to use, but he didn't like them so he threw them away!

Since that night, he hasn't asked about his Bink's and he is so proud of himself! He tells everyone that his "shark" teeth broke his Bink's and he is now a big boy!

Mason's big "fang" teeth that broke his Bink's!
His top "fangs"!

Binky cut in half!

Bink cut partially so that Mason can't suck on it!

NOW WE JUST NEED TO WORK ON THE POTTY TRAINING!

Church Fire!

On December 23rd at about 6:00 am, I received a call from my Mom! She sounded kind of panicked and she said that the United Methodist Church was on fire!

Nine and a half years ago, Ryan and I were married in that church! When we were making plans, we decided we should be married in a church (even though neither of us are religious). On our search for the perfect spot we decided to go with the Methodist Church. There were beautiful stained glass windows and it was very small and quaint! Another "selling" point, was the fact that my aunt and cousin were married there-it seems to be a family "tradition" now!

When I went to my parents my heart began to race and tears came to my eyes. I didn't think it would hit me like that, but it is very sad to think the place where Ryan and I were married is no longer there! Whenever we would drive by we would tell the boys "That's where Mommy and Daddy got married!"

The back of the church!
The front where the bell was! I am going to miss hearing the bell ring every Sunday morning!

The back where all the meetings happen and where I got dressed for the big day!

From the street! It did 2 million dollars worth of damage!

I took this picture from my bedroom window! When I first looked out, we could see flames in the smoke!

Snow...still!

Day II of the big freeze!

Today Alyssa and Brandon came over, so we all decided to go out and play! It took us about 15 minutes to get dress in our warm clothes, but we were excited. We headed over to our great neighbors house to use their driveway again! We had so much fun.

Brandon going down the "mountain"!


Alyssa trying to stop before she ran into me!

"Jacob, remember you are only allowed one broken bone a year!"

Jacob and Alyssa racing down the driveway! I think it was a tie!

Ready to go outside. Bring on the snow!

Jacob and Alyssa stayed outside for about 2 hours! The little ones got too cold and went in after about 30 minutes!

Everyone look at me!




Brandon didn't like it so much! He was so bundled up, he could barely move!

Mason loved it! I think he would have stayed out there all night if we let him!

They have already cancelled school for tomorrow! More snow is coming and we are very excited! I think this is just an early start to Christmas break! I wish it would stick around until Christmas so we could have a white Christmas! We will see though.

Snow during the day light!

This morning, the boys and I woke up bright and early to go outside and play! After a nice filling breakfast of pancakes, we bundled up! Can you say Randy from Christmas Story? The wind is blowing pretty hard here, so we all had on two lays, plus our snow suits! Mason could barely put his arms down, but it was still fun!

They boys catching piggy back rides down the neighbors driveway!

Our house was so pretty this morning with all the fresh powder and ice! I hope the weather people are right and we get more! I love being held captive in my house with the "men" that I love! (It also gives me an excuse to clean it too!)

Snow 2008

Last night when we went to bed, we were excited with the idea that we would wake up to snow in the front yard! Ya right! There was a light dusting in the grass but that was it! After about two hours, it warmed up enough and what we did have melted off.

At about 3 pm, the "blizzard" as Jacob calls it started. In about 2 hours we had about 1 inch. It hasn't stopped since.

Our backyard fire pit! There is a total of 2 1/2 inches now!
Our front yard when the snow first started!

The house looks so good with all the snow and Christmas lights.

Jacob's school was cancelled for tomorrow and he is really excited about playing in it!

Family Pictures!

We went an got our family pictures taken at Sears. We always get them done before Christmas, so this year was not going to be any different! The girl who did them did an excellent job. She worked really well with Mason and he really cooperated!

Me and Ryan, I can't believe we have been together for 9 years now! I love you honey!
Jacob, age 8 and Mason age 2!

They were laughing so hard at the photographer! I think this is my all time favorite of them together!

Me and my babies! Notice Jacob's black cast!

This is how the "boys" always are! Dog piling on Daddy!

The Jackman family!

Leavenworth, WA!

It has been a crazy week, but here we go! We left on November 16th bright an early for Leavenworth, Washington! It was going to be the Jackman family's first "long" car ride, and potentially the last! We pack everything in the back of the van and off we went! I made sure to pack lots of snacks, movies and games for the boys to play with; trying to eliminate all the "Are we there yet?" questions!

The boys did really well. Mason even seemed to have a fun ride up there. He gets car sick, so we tried to plan the least "curvy" route! We made it there in about 6 hours and still had a lot of daylight to kill, so we decided to go downtown and see some shops! The town is so beautiful! They really take great care and pride in their buildings.

We had been warned before leaving, that Leavenworth is not really a child friendly town, but we didn't listen! They were right! There is a lot of shopping, and very little for the kids to do!

We had a fun time visiting a local petting zoo, twice, in the neighboring town of Peshastan and the park that was just below our resort.

I think the Jackman family can cross off Leavenworth for places we have been, and probably will not go back to-until the boys are out of the house!

On Friday morning we loaded everyone up in the car and off we went at 7 am. Mason didn't have anything but a cup of milk to eat, but we thought he would be fine! About an hour into our ride, Jacob started yelling "He is puking!" It was awful! We pulled off, cleaned as much as we could and off we went again!

We were never so happy to see Oregon traffic in our lives- I think we are airplane type of people!