Saunders Family To Go

Pumpkin Farm

2006-10-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

Fall is here on the eastern shore! The weather has been beautiful - lots of fall color and enough sunshine to enjoy it. Today we visited a pumpkin farm hoping to get some pictures of little J in among the pumpkins. Well, he had a great time, but wasn't really interested in the pumpkins. He was thrilled with the barn and barnyard. He fearlessly fed the goats and cows, and talked to the sheep and rabbits. He ran back and forth to all the pens, happy as can be. He cried when we had to leave - we joked with the farmers that we'd leave him there to sleep in the sheep pen, and Jackson said, through a face full of tears, "O-kay" (imagine a very pathetic tone on that one). He was fine once we got to the van, but can't wait to tell Papa Ron, who was out of town, all about the farm. Maybe he's found a new career! Cousin Patti, I think Jackson's ready to get to work :-)

Daddy's Birthday

2006-10-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
Sorry I haven't been posting. Things here have been pretty busy - I have been loaded down with homework without much time for webposting. i haven't even been taking many pictures of jackson because i haven't had time.
but....here are a few. Daddy's birthday was last week and Jackson really wanted to help him blow out his candles, as you can see from the pictures. I'm trying to upload stuff to our other website (since i can put video on that one) but the cable line here is slower, so i'm having trouble getting stuff to load up.
have fun with these picture. we'll have more when we get the chance
:-) annmarie

Kindergym!

2006-05-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

As the school year comes to a close (or is closed already for those of us teaching college :-) the time has come to enroll Jackson in a summer activity. He won't be going to day care anymore and we wanted to keep his social skills climbing, so we signed Jackson up for a tiny tot gymnastics class. today was our trial class to see if we/he liked it. Well, see for yourself in the pictures. He loved the trampoline and the little tunnel to crawl through. He also enjoyed the sound of the sand in the hula-hoops and watching himself in the mirror as he ran across the room. We had a lot of fun. Daddy will be taking him to class, so this is also something for them to do together. I think he'll be ready for the next olympics :-P
(ps- for those of you paying attention, his shirt says "I do all my own stunts")

G3 - Great Grandma Garnet

2006-05-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Jackson finally got to meet his great grandma! We flew down a few weeks ago (sorry, i am behind on my postings) We saw lots of family - Jackson is a very popular guy :-) He did quite well with all the different people and the new sleeping arrangments. He slept in a room with Mommy & Daddy and has picked up a new habit - snoring! Well, fake snoring. Since he's too far down the hall at home to hear any snoring, we can only assume he heard us at Aunt Sharon's. Now, when we go to get him out of bed in the morning or after a nap, he flops back down on the bed and says "seep? seep?" (toddler speak for "sleep") and then fake snores. He must have gotten that from his dad ;)

The Nancy-Matt Bunny came to town!

2006-04-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

For Easter weekend, cousins Matt & Nancy came to visit. Jackson sure had a good time with them. He kept asking for them after they left. On Saturday, we went to a winery in the hill country. Of course there was Settlers, and some Mexican food too. On Sunday, Jackson looked for eggs in the back yard. He did pretty well, especially since it was 95 degrees outside! (He kept stopping for a drink of water)
I miss my cousins already
:-)

Yea, Sprinklers!

2006-04-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

Here in Texas, its hot, hot, hot already. And there's nothing better than cooling off in the water. Although we haven't gotten out the baby pool yet, Jackson made do with a timeless classic - the lawn sprinkler! of course, it would have been better if he had been in a swimsuit. Within minutes, he was drenched from head to toe but happy as can be. Just look at the pictures!

We won the race!

2006-04-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, we didn't actually win....but we won by just participating! Jackson with his mommy and daddy, and grandma and grandpa participated in San Antonio's Race for The Cure (the cure for breast cancer that is) Saturday April 1st we walked 5K with about 30,000 other people. To be fair, Jackson "strolled" for the cure. It was amazing to see so many people walking together. it was very moving to me. i hope that you get the chance to participate in something like this just to feel the power of that many people moving together toward the same goal. Very inspiring!

Jackson's Own Chair

2006-03-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

We got Jackson his own little chair because he loves the little furniture at school so much. And sure enough, he loves his little chair at home. As you can see from the picture, it has a big picture of Tigger on it and it folds out to a mini-bed. Jackson loves to fold it out and watch Toy Story at the end of the day. He just cracks me up, lounging like that. He's just too cool. :-)

Hugs

2006-03-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

The rewards of parenthood are sometimes hard to remember while your toddler is throwing a fit in the driveway....but then there are those moments that remind you of all the cliches and make you just want to gobble them up with a spoon! Jackson has discovered HUGS! and he is quite generous with them. He was so sweet with his little friend, Liam at the park (aren't the photos adorable) of course moments before they were throwing sand everywhere, but that's overshadowed by the cute hugs.

Takin' it on the chin

2006-02-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, he looks happy...but check out the whopper of a bruise on his chin. I am learning the meaning of the phrase "He's all boy" with every fearless tumble & climb, the stick & rock collections we are accumulating, and the tackling of everyone in the room. Luckily, he's still got a sweet side too. I get snuggles, little hugs and the occasional kiss. Don't let him grow up any more!!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2006-02-15T05:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, its been a while since I've posted anything. I'm way behind on my pictures. Things have been pretty busy with school - lots of papers to grade, lessons to plan, powerpoint presentations to create.
As you can see, Jackson is getting bigger (and cuter) everyday. he looks so grown up in his little jean jacket and new boots. Nana just came for a visit - she had a great time with the little cutie-pie. He is in a new classroom at his "school" now - Toddler II! They do more art projects, but its basically the same. He does eat at the little table now, not in a babyseat. They have a big round table and all the kids eat together. He loves outside playtime (its nice to live in San Antonio, where he can still play outside in the winter) At his 18month check up, the doctor said he was doing great! He's evened out on the growth chart - he's only a little above average. He says about a hundred words, but hasn't started putting them together yet. And now he has a new love - basketball! his Nana got him a little hoop while she was here and he and Daddy haven't stopped playing it. Go Spurs Go, we tell him!

Zoo Trip

2006-01-15T15:43:00.000-08:00

Today we took little Jackson on his first visit to the zoo. He really had a good time, and was exhausted by the time we left (see last photo). He seemed to like the elephants, monkeys and fish pretty well....but his favorite was the Tiny Tot play area! They have all these fake caves to crawl through and "natural areas" to explore - there was a little river, logs, a sand box and a big drum! We took these pictures in that area. I don't know if he really remembers the animals, but he sure had a good time running around and exploring :-) When we got to the car, he was asleep before we left the parking lot.
In the world of everyday life....I am getting back to work - school started last week at one school and this week at the other. That means syllabi to hand out, assignments to create and students to....well, whatever it is they do. AW is almost done at SeaWorld - just a few punchlist items and he's outta there. Soon it will be time to start rehearsals for the Xtreme sports show again, so he'll be busy managing those guys.
Jackson is doing great at his little school. He loves playing outside and saying the names of everything he can - he's got quite the vocabulary already. His latest interest is animal sounds. He knows that cows go "moo moo", ducks go "quack quack", cats go "meow", chickens have a very high pitched "bock bock", though my favorite is tigers/lions - he can't really say their names but if he sees one he roars :-)Okay, its more of a little growl, but he's trying

Musical Prodigies

2006-01-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

A mom in our playgroup took these at her house a couple months back and just emailed them to me. Aren't they adorable? Budding musicians :-) Of course, it sounded pretty bad at the time. Too many cooks, you could say. (In the pic with all three, its Liam, Jackson and Kara)

Big Foot

2006-01-04T21:07:00.000-08:00

Today we had to buy our big-foot child some new shoes. Already? You mean the kid has already outgrown his other adorable shoes? Yes, Jackson is determined to inherit Mom's high arch as well as Dad's giant feet. We thought the old shoes were getting a little tight - they were already 4 1/2 wides. So we tried to put on the size 5W tennis shoes Nana bought last time. Mommy could not cram them on his feet - the opening of the shoe was not wide enough for his big feet. (don't worry, Nana, we were able to return them) We decided to take his hard-to-fit feet up to the Stride Rite outlet where he measured in at 5 1/2 EXTRA WIDE! Jackson loved trying on the different shoes and walking around - he was cracking the store clerk up with his marching around and side stepping. We found a pair he (and Grandma & Grandpa & I) liked and he walked out of the store in them. He proceeded to dirty them up as he ran and played outside all day, but his Daddy says if he ain't dirty, he didn't play hard enough! here are some looks at the big boy in his newest shoes.

Prom Pictures

2005-12-21T21:42:00.000-08:00

St. Mary's University threw quite a fun company Christmas party....there was dinner, door prizes and a DJ for dancing (of course his microphone kept crackling, which made AW want to run up and fix it) it was a pretty good time. And there were the photos....
Do other people's companies have these pictures? Obviously, we did it and we were not forced. But I felt like we were lining up for prom photos. Aren't we too old for this? Oh well, we are cute anyway ;-)

I think I'm ready for Christmas!

2005-12-21T06:28:00.000-08:00

Hooray hooray!
I think I am finally ready for Christmas! Yesterday I finished my shopping for my hubby (this task can be tricky when you are with a baby all day)and I got the cut-out cookies frosted. I think I will make one more batch of cookies today (brownie mounds are my favorite) and then I will have my cookie tins filled to give out to my play group mommies. How are you all doing? Although the holiday crankies still tried to creep in and ruin my holiday (those bad drivers were still out there, etc) I refused to let them. I kept the Christmas carols playing on the radio and kept the Christmas spirit :-)
Of course, I'm also quite grateful that it will be 70 degrees here on Christmas. We don't do cold well - though my aunt and uncle in cleveland sent me a very funny picture of snowmen playing poker so snow might not be all bad ;-)
Merry Christmas

Holiday spirit

2005-12-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

Hidy-ho
I am trying to get into the holiday spirit, but bad drivers and annoying store clerks are trying to take the joy out of my holiday season! Today it was sprinkling....barely raining.... and most of the drivers on the highway (speed limit 70 mph) decided that they should drive 40!!! I wish I was exaggerating. I am working on decorating the rest of the house to keep my christmas cheer going. And of course there is my gorgeous baby :-) He loves the Santa hat he found in my decorations. He keeps asking me to put it on his head. (see adorable photo) If that can't bring back my joy, nothing will

Thanksgiving Weekend

2005-12-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving weekend was pretty eventful for the Saunders family. We decided at the last minute to drive down to FL and see Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Stepy (plus 1). We drove overnight - we figured that was the only way to keep our active 17 month-old in a car seat for 12 hours. it wasn't too bad (i'm saying that as the one who didn't have to do the driving. AWTony might have another opinion) Jackson had a bit of a cold or something wednesday, but seemed to get over it thanksgiving day. friday and saturday he was pretty much back to normal.
we had a great turkey dinner, prepared by Grandma Mookie. got in a good game of settlers of catan - AWTony won, or course. let the victory dance begin. On Friday we took Jackson to the city park. He had a great time crawling through the tunnel and climbing the stairs. little mister independent
Here are some photos of all the madness.
Hope all of you had a nice holiday :-)