The Good Piston Seats...Thanks Doug!

Doug, the guy that works here at Lake Village who always gets us the Piston tickets, came through again. He got us tickets to see the Pistons vs The Clippers on Friday night and the best part is, we were in the lower, nicer seats. It was great to be down lower and actually see the faces of the players instead of looking at the jumbo tron.

My mom has never been to an NBA game and we made sure she had a great time. It was even dollar hot dogs night and they were pretty good.Taryn got to sit in her own seat and loves every minute of the game. She only cried when they did the opening fireworks and then she settled right down and watched the game.

Our friend Doug was also there with his wife and family, (I forgot to get a picture of him). He is the nicest guy around. Thanks for the tickets Doug! The game was great and would have been a wonderful time, but they lost which put Tyson in a foul mood. He hates it when they loose. Oh well, the rest of us still had a good time.

Chuck E Cheese with Grandma T

Tyson's favorite thing about having someone come and visit is the fact that he gets to go to Chuck E Cheese. We had been putting this off all week long and finally we realized that it was Saturday and we hadn't gone yet, so we packed up the kids and headed to the Cheese's place.
Chuck E Cheese was packed on Saturday. We found one of a few open booths in the party area where the big robotic singing animals are housed. The place was noisy with kids and music and Taryn was elated. She stood in the booth, staring at the robotic singing animals and danced along with their music. I just sat and laughed and laughed. Tyson had hooked Grandma T into taking him around to all the games while Taryn and I waited for the pizza to arrive.
In the "Kiddie Korner" there were a few rides Taryn could enjoy, and enjoy them she did.We put her on this motion ride with Tyson and the second it started to move around, she wanted OFF!
Tyson had a blast playing games and riding the rides with Taryn. Grandma T and I just chased the two of them around and got our exercise for the year...

The Week With Grandma T.

This past week we didn't waste a second while Grandma T was here. We jammed packed our days with fun and exciting things. Tyson and Grandma T played lots of games. He taught her how to shoot his Nerf guns.

The kids loved to be with Grandma T. Taryn even went to her, which was surprising since she won't let anyone hold her but me and sometimes Vaughn. My mom had the charm I guess, because Taryn went to her the second we got home from the airport.While my mom was here she got to see Tyson's first primary program, and attend his school's Grandparent's day celebration. They all just happen to fall on the week that she was here. It was cool! When we found out that Tyson's school was having the Grandparents day I figured we would skip it since both sets of grandparents are far away, but lo and behold it fell right when my mom was out here. So on Tuesday Tyson and my mom spent the morning at his school. My mom even won a prize for being the grandparent that traveled the farthest. We played lots of games with Grandma T and did lots of crafty things. Thanks mom for coming out to visit us for a week. Oh how we wish it would last longer.

Thanksgiving & The Black Friday Sales.

Happy Thanksgiving. (Yes, I know this is about 3 days late. I am beginning to see a pattern with me and blogging late after events. Oh well, at least I get it done.) Anyhow, we spent Thanksgiving here in Auburn Hills, MI. We were fortunate enough to have my mom come out and see us this past week. It was great to have her here, not only for the kids but also we got her wonderful stuffing, rolls and pie for Thanksgiving. Yummy! We bought us a turkey fryer last year and decided to fry another one this year. We plugged it full of BBQ marinade and prepared to fry the bird.Here is my fry daddy chef, Vaughn, getting ready to dip the bird in the fryer. The rising steam is from the turkey cooking in the fryer. The anticipation was great in the Jackson house hold as the bird cooked and we prepared the rest of the feast.She is done!! Now most people who have never seen a turkey fried would think that we burned the bird, not quite. This is how it is supposed to look and then you peel off the outer skin to get down to the juicy meat underneath.Taryn banged on the glass doors, screaming to be let out with the boys. (Sorry sweetheart, but you would have burns when you tipped the fryer over.)Doesn't it look good. YUMMY!!! (I am ready for another one.)

The table was set so nicely by Tyson and Grandma T and we ate, and ate and ate. I am still stuffed and it is three days later. The food was mouthwatering. Thanks mom for making all the good fixings. After our meal, we all took a nap and then got up and ate some more and watched football. It was the perfect Thanksgiving day.

BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING
Vaughn and I decided that since my mom was here we would take advantage of the situation and go shopping very, very early on Friday for all the sales. We wanted a GPS navigational system this year and Walmart had them on sale for $59. We also wanted several other items for family, but this would require us getting up very early. 3:30 a.m. the alarm went off and we got up. We left my mom and the kiddos asleep and drove to Walmart. We got there around 4:00 a.m. and the parking lot was filled. When we arrived inside people already had their carts heaping with stuff. I figured that we wouldn't get anything we wanted, luckily I was wrong. We got the GPS, after standing in line for 2 hours, and we even got everything else we wanted too. I was elated!!! We then drove back to Babies R Us and picked up a few things for Taryn, on sale as well. I was amazed at our good luck, we never get that lucky.

We came home around 6:30, ate breakfast, freshened up and then mom, Taryn and I went to Kohl's for their sale, while Vaughn and Tyson slept. I made a killing there as well. I couldn't believe our fortune. My mom saved over $400.00 and I saved about $50.00 on my purchases. So COOL! I will hit those sales again. I have only 2 more gifts to buy and I am done Christmas shopping. I am never ready for Christmas this early, but this year is a first. Yeah for black Friday sales!

The Effects of Sleep

My kiddos and their sleeping habits are quite comical. Tyson can start out the night in the perfect state, but by morning he has somehow managed to not only twist himself up in the covers, but he is usually not "right side up". He is upside down, half-on half-off the bed, skeewampus and otherwise all over the place. I never know what I will see when I go in to wake him up.

Then there is this girl. What can I say? She woke up the other morning, looking like she had stuck her little hand in the electric outlet. The hair was straight in the air. And the funny thing is, when I attempted to "fix" her hair for the day, it wouldn't lay down.
This little blondie didn't get her mama's hair, she got her dad's straight blond hair that won't do anything or hold any kind of a barrette in it. And believe me I have tried all the barrettes known to man and none stay in her fine hair. I hope that by the time she matures she gets some of my natural curl in her hair.

Student of the Month

My little super star! Tyson was awarded the student of the month in his school today. He was so proud of himself. He got to be recognized for his efforts at the school assembly, had hit picture put up by the school office and got this cool flag that we had to hang up above his bed. I am so happy for him. He is on cloud nine!!! Way to go buddy!

What Is This?

For the past 4 days I have been so sick. It all started on Sunday when we came home from church. My voice started to "go out" and by Monday morning I had NO VOICE. Not even a squeak. Then Taryn started to feel crummy. In my mind I am thinking, "Oh great! We have the H1N1 flu." Luckily that was not the case. By Tuesday night, I broke down and let Vaughn give me a shot. I HATE SHOTS!!! I am a big baby when it comes to needles. Always have been! Today I feel and look like I have been shot and hit and run over by a bus. UGH! Taryn is faring about the same. Luckily Vaughn and Tyson got their H1N1 shots and should be ok and neither one of them are sick, knock on wood. I haven't felt this bad for a while.
On another note, Vaughn started interviewing for residency programs and for the next 3 months he has a interview about every week, sometimes 2 a week. This is good. It means the prospects of us getting into a residency program are promising. Lots of prayer and hard work and this should pay off.