Happy Birthday

My little man Jackson turned 7 years old today!!!  I can not believe he is already 7!!! 
My sweet Jackson,
You are such a precious young man.  You are so thoughtful - always checking on mommy and making sure she is ok.  Whenever you have money, you always buy your sister a gift.  You are so helpful with chores around the house.  I love to listen to you read.  I love to listen to you pray.  I love your imagination.  I love your passion for super heroes.  I love the way you admire your daddy.  I am so thankful that 7 years ago, God gave daddy and mommy His most precious gift - YOU - and He has entrusted us to raise you and train you in the way you should go.  You amaze me everyday with your strength...I can not imagine all the emotions you deal with having daddy gone so much.  Your smile melts me, as do your hugs.  I am so glad your my son!

I love you Jackson,
Mommy


 Below are some pictures taken throughout the day...

We are so blessed that Jason is here on R&R for Jackson's birthday!  We decided to go ahead and give him his present so daddy could Jackson's reaction.  A skateboard!  yay!  He was so shocked!

So happy to finally get a skateboard...I wonder how long till he is covered in boo-boos

For dinner, Jackson chose our favorite local mexican restaurant.  He said he wanted to go there so he could wear the sombrero.  :)

So happy!

quick little family photo:

Jackson and Meme

Group shot:

another group shot:

My favorite 3 people ever:

This picture melts. my. heart.:

and here we are: just 4 crows:

We are still soaking up our time with Jason.  R&R is winding down, and I am not ready to send Jason back...but I know I have to.  So for now, I am back to enjoying my family while we are still complete.  ;)

1st Day of 1st grade!

It is back to school time for us!  I can not believe how quickly summer went.  I also can not believe I have a 1st grader!  wow!! Below our some pictures from his 1st day of 1st grade yesterday.
Jackson in his classroom ready to start the day:

Daddy and Jackson before we left the house for school.  Jason is still home on R&R and I am so glad he did not miss Jackson's 1st day of school (he has missed enough already this past year) - (photo courtesy of Madeline):

Jackson and Madeline:

Jackson and me:

Jackson putting his book bag up:

Jackson had a great first day!  He said it was the best ever :)  I love all the excitement over the first day of school - the madness of car rider line not so much, but that will work itself out soon ;)

The homework has already begun - the teacher told us we would have homework, but I did not realize how much we would have.  It's a lot of reading - good thing Jackson likes to read. 

R&R Welcome Home

We are currently in the midst of R&R!  I have not gotten on the computer much at all because honestly we are just trying to soak up as much time as possible right now.  (It's amazing how quickly time is going)  I am very behind on blogging and on reading blogs, but I am sure everyone can understand :)    I do plan to get caught up, but not until Jason returns to the 'stan.

I had a few extra minutes right now while J is having some one on one time with the kids so I wanted to share some pictures from our R&R Welcome Home.

The kids showing off their signs.  My very sweet friend helped the kids make these signs.  They got a lot of compliments on their signs.

The kids and I waiting on daddy to arrive at the airport:

The kids and Granna (my mother in law):

The kids with Pops and Granna (my in laws):

Madeline and Jackson waiting as patiently as possible behind the yellow line for daddy to come up the escalator:

Madeline pointing to show Jackson which direction daddy would be coming from:

As soon as I spotted Jason, the kids took off running!  Jack got their first and you can see in the bottom of the picture that Madeline was running as fast as her little legs would take her to get to her daddy.  At this point my heart is racing so fast and the butterflies in my stomach are indescribable.  The moment you see your husband for the first time after many months apart is like no other.  The excitement, the happiness, the relief of seeing them finally in person, the way their hug feels, their smell, the real life person - not a phone, to feel their kiss - not just see it over a weak skype signal...it is so amazing!  Sorry, got off track - back to the picture of the kids running after daddy:

Jack jumps into Jason's arms and Madeline is almost there:

They both got daddy!!!  As Jack and Madi wrapped their arms around daddy, the entire waiting area in the airport began clapping.  The clapping lasted through the whole time we were all hugging Jason.  It was so amazing to hear the clapping and people saying "welcome home"  (great, I am crying again just thinking about it)

This picture melts my heart:

My 3 most favorite people in the world:

My little family:

Jason with his parents:

The Welcome Home crew:

After we left the airport, we stopped for lunch then headed home.  Their was a small group waiting at the house to welcome Jason home:

As you know from the previous post, I surprised Jason with a motorcycle.  When we pulled into the driveway, I gave him an envelope with the title and bill of sale to the bike and as he opened the envelope and read it, I opened the garage door:

Look at that happy face:

Checking out the new ride:

Fits perfectly!:

Looks so good on that bike!:

The kids posing with daddy's new addition:

So happy I was able to pull off the biggest surprise ever!  But even more happy to have the love of my life at home!:

Well, I am back to spending time with my man.  I will be back soon (=