Sometimes You Have to Keep a Secret!

Sometimes you just have to keep a secret ~ which means....shhhhh, its a secret ~ so I never could post pictures of something I was working on ~ because it was a secret, a surprise, a gift!

I made our #1 grandson a cross stitch quilt, so I decided to make his little brother one also ~

Katie holding the gift ~ cross stitched front & hand quilted

adorable baby more concerned with his empty tummy than Grandma's picture!

And what will be made for Little Mac (my name for Jennifer & Allens baby) ~ haha, I can't tell, its a surprise!  And, I will need to wait

Awesome Time

We've been in St. Louis this week at the "Family Economics Conference" put on by Generations with a Vision ~ Kevin Swanson.  We have heard incredible speakers, bought some great books, been inspired to at the very least come up with our 5 year plan for our family.  We've got lots of praying to do, lots of plans to discuss, and things to implement. And yes, Amy's future does include cupcakes!

Today would have been Greg's graduation day from Mississippi State University with his Masters Degree in Engineering.  He gave up the ceremony for us to be at the conference.  This morning he did find out that his status had gone from student to graduate.  Greg worked very hard for this advanced degree while working full time, putting 2 kids through college, helping with our homeschool, 2 childrens weddings, and several mission trips to Honduras & Haiti.  I am very proud of him for this accomplishment.  And very appreciative that he gave up his moment of fame at graduation to bring us to the conference.

BUT, he did get to walk across a stage tonight.  There was a Historical Trivia contest and by some miracle....we came in 2nd of all the families there.  The top 5 families went up on stage to compete for the grand prize......we didn't win it.  But had a lot of fun!

And of course a highlight of the week was seeing this little guy ~

He liked his birthday gifts we brought (he will be 1 next month) and he has turned into quite the little ham......posing and smiling for the camera!  Amy got him to make vrooom noises tonight while playing with his toy airplane and had him kissing a toy stuffed lion that Will brought him.  She tried to teach him how to quack with his rubber duckie and we are taking his ca ca ca sounds as quacks! He enthusiastically eats his dinner and snacks & loves waving hi & bye!

We are headed home tomorrow and ready to sleep in our own beds.

Happy Graduation Day Gregory!  We love you and are proud of you!

 

Happy 6 months!

A very Happy 6 month birthday greeting to our little grandson!

Robert is a little love, and very sweet, special baby to us!

Our first grandchild!

These pictures were taken Thanksgiving Weekend!

Simple Fun

Last weekend was simple & fun.

We drove to St. Louis & visited with Katie, Bryant, & Robert.

We got to see and tour a house they have put a bid on.

Greg got to offer little tidbits of house advice here and there.

We ate lunch out, went to the woodcraft store, Michaels (never been in a 2 story Michaels mega store ~ lots of girlie fun walking around with my 2 girls), and Whole Foods.

And there was lots of....

Grandboy Fun ~

playing with Grandpa!

Grandma's feeding me a bottle cause Mommy went to take her Algebra midterm!

His onesie says...Grandmas Little Peanut!

Bryant, Robert & Katie in front of the house!

Grandpa was showing Robert the climbing tree!

Grandma is giving me a bath...and I really liked the warm water!

Robert visits Mississippi for the 1st Time!

Grandma loves me! 

Uncle Rob & nephew Robert

Grandboy #1 (and only) is visiting for a couple of days with his Mommy &Daddy.  This is his first visit to Grandma & Grandpa Jacksons house!

He is a big boy now at 2 months old....

Naptime on Grandma's bed!

HI!

Hey look...I can stick my tongue out! 

So thats where the flashing light is coming from...Auntie Amy has the camera!

Chillin' with Grandpa

Helping my Uncles watch football ~ I don't what all the excitement is about!

Napping with Grandma ~ she is playing backgammon on the kindle~

Its Picture Time!

Hi Grandma!

Ohhhh, theres Mimi!

But Auntie Amy ~ I like my snarly face expression

Precious Gift from God

Beautiful Mommy & Baby

Little Bit is one month old now!

just chillin' with grandma!

3 Generations ~ Great Grandmother, grand daughter & great grandson

PROUD grandpa

Auntie Amy & Grandpa "fighting" over Robert

Fantastic Friday

Highlights of our day...

*seeing Amy & Will after them being at Street Reach all week
*going out with the Street Reach team this morning & watching our kids demonstrate Christs love to these inner city children
*seeing how much being here affected all our youth girls and watching them cry because they had to leave and go home ~ Amy included
*a wonderful Mexican meal with Greg, Will & Amy for lunch
*a relaxing time in the hotel room....just being together
*going to Greg & Wills "toy" store ~ a woodworking store in Memphis
*visiting with some family up here
*seeing Robert, Katie & Bryant ~~~~~hugging and kissing my little grandboy
*eating barbeque sandwiches for dinner, Greg smoked the meat and we brought it up here
*visiting with Katie ~ I miss our talks
*watching Robert be adored by his aunts & uncles & great grandmother (pictures coming later)
*eating Katie's yummy chocolate chip cake for dessert
*watching Amy aka the baby whisperer charm little Robert!

Tomorrow morning, we are meeting for breakfast at IHOP and then visiting all morning, eating lunch, and heading for home.

We've taken 100's of pictures today...most of street reach this morning.
I think mine would be ready to come back after a few good nights sleep...oh who am I kidding ~ they didn't want to leave this morning.  Sleep isn't important if you are doing something you love!

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

New Pictures

Onesies don't lie!

catchin' some sun!

Happy 3 week Birthday to our dear little Robert!

And thanks bunches to him Mommy for keeping Grandma supplied with pictures!

Oh, you KNOW you wanted to see more baby pictures!

We staged our own photo shoot tonight....

many with pinterest inspired ideas ~ of course we think our baby is what makes the pics so cute!

Grandma & Grandpa cradling their first grandchild

3 generations....Katie, Robert & Greg

kisses for the baby

See now aren't you glad you saw these? (If not...I don't want to know!)

We had fun....Robert, maybe not so much!  He especially hated having his foot painted and then put on the cross stitch picture and canvas~! His rt. footprint on the cross stitch is a little smeared ~ he was over the "fun" by then.  My goal is to have a cross stitch for every grandchild and put their footprints on it.  His name and birthdate will be added!

this is the "secret" baby quilt I've been hinting about...its cross stitched and then hand quilted.

lots of love in every stitch from Grandma to Robert!

Now, its bedtime.  The grandson is exhausted and so are his parents!

Good night!