Jackson's 1st Birthday

So, it's officially. My baby is one. My baby! The youngest! He's a year old!  Seriously.  I didn't go as all out as I did with Grayson's Barnyard Birthday - mainly because Jack turned one and I want to save all the more fun over the top parties for when he's older.
The theme for his party was Rockets and Robots. It was super cute! We celebrated Jack's birthday on his actual birthday (which was a Wednesday) since we just invited close family and friends.

Here's the cake. It was super cute and super yummy! The one and the stars are all chocolate and the cake itself was lemon/apricot nectar flavored. It was sooo good!!!

The food spread. I also had pizzas since we did the party right at dinner time on a weeknight.  The labels say "Nuts and Bolts" and "Chocolate Computer Chip Cookies"

He loved everyone singing to him!

Opening presents with Mom.

Grayson playing with his Big Brother present from Jackson

He had such an awesome birthday!!

Family Valentine's Day 2011

Just a few pictures of us enjoying our Valentine's Day as a family. The weather was warmer, so we took full advantage and went for a walk around the lake.

Snow and more snow!

Oh, how we enjoyed those 50 degree days a week or so ago!  On Monday morning, I started out to work around 6:30 as usual and the snow had just started. By 11:00, we had more than 4 inches already. My boss decided to close early (thank goodness) and we accumulated right at 8 inches by the end of the day! Since the weather had been rainy the few days before the snow, the highway department was unable to treat roadways for freezing and snow. There were multiple wrecks just about everywhere and even snowplows were having trouble getting where they needed to be because of the traffic being at a standstill due to some accidents.
Yesterday was a pretty calm day, and the roads weren't bad once they were cleared off.  We even headed over to the in-laws to meet up with Sarah and her boys to play.

Cameron, Grayson and Cadin playing on the snowy trampoline.

Today, the forecast called for a few flurries. A few flurries actually ended up totaling  at least 4 more inches of snow for us on top of the 8 we got Monday!

This is what our road looked like at 2pm today:

Behind our house:

Today was not a good day to get outside and play. The temperature hovered in the teens and the wind was pretty strong.  To keep everyone occupied and warm, Chris played some of his old cds, and he and the boys danced around.

Grayson dancing to Reel Big Fish in his underwear. 

Resting together in the glider.

This picture makes me smile every time!

Jack giving kisses

Grayson hamming it up

We love the snow; it's pretty and all that, but this family is really ready for spring!!

Playing Outside in January!

We got lucky around here and finally broke the horrible freezing weather streak we've been having. Today the temperature got up in the 50's! We took advantage of the sunshine and got outside!

Grayson riding his tricycle. I think it's time we move up to a bike.

He went down "the hill" and lifted his feet off the pedals and took his hands off the handlebars! Total Evel Knievel!

He told me to "wait right here." He was going to chase the dogs. 

 I'm not sure what he was telling me here. But he was really into it!

 Grayson and Harvey. They are best buddies. Harvey's tongue looks huge!

   

I only got two decent pictures of Jackson. I was too busy trying to keep him from shoving leaves into his mouth.

Busy bees

Wow! I have been so busy so far this year! My new position as Public Relations Coordinator has kept me on my toes!  I'm in the middle of planning 2 events for work and a couple of events that aren't work related at all. One of them being Jack's 1st birthday party! I can't believe he's almost a year old!
Last night, we all sat in the floor and he walked back and forth between Chris and I. I was too in the moment to get the camera out, but I'm sure there will be more opportunities soon!


And now, with out further ado. The moment you've been waiting for! Here are a few pictures so you can get your fix of my adorable kiddos.

Grayson helping Granna make muffins

Taste tester

He got caught!! Haha!

Jack having a meal of "real" spaghetti. He loved it!

Back to the real world

Christmas proved to be an amazing time for us as a family this year.  We had already taken all of our Christmas decorations down, but they hadn't been put away yet. Today, we got it all out of the house and up for the year.  It was alot of work, and I don't know how or why people would want to put up 4 or 5 Christmas trees! Too much to take down! Yuck!
This week the Ragsdales went back to normal life.  I went back to work (where I got a promotion! Can I just throw that in there? Woohoo!) and Grayson goes back to school tomorrow.  It's kinda nice to get back into a normal routine.
Today was spent cleaning: steaming the carpets, mopping the floors, laundry, all while corralling the boys and dogs and keeping everyone entertained.  Needless to say it is now 9 o'clock and the boys have been in bed for an hour - and no one has gotten up at all.  :) Ahhh.....relaxation....
And now for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the boys taking their very first bath together tonight.

Cutie Pie Grayson

Playing with one of his many bath-tub instruments he got for Christmas

He needed a bath

I love this. Brothers.

Sweet Baby Jack - dirty, but still sweet