Sorry for not posting in so long, but really there's been nothing going on around here but SICKNESS and work! Jackson and I had the stomach bug and then Tom got it! Now Jackson has some sort of bronchial thing going on where he is coughing his head off, usually followed up with a gutteral hack that sounds like he's 80. We get lots of nice looks when we're in public and he does this. :)

I am trying to finish up some jobs and then I'm not taking on any more work until after the RPR skills test in May. I want to use April to really buckle down and practice my speed. Five years off the writer has made me RUSTY. And more than that, it's just that I hesitate at high speeds and when people are talking 200 to 225 wpm, there is no room for hesitation. I have to retrain myself to write something for everything I hear and trust that my fingers remember where to go!

I love this picture after I put the texture on it because it makes it look really old-timey. I hope it prints as well as it looks right here. I hope everyone has a great weekend! The next few weeks and months are going to be hairy for me, so if I don't post for a while, I'll apologize in advance.

Today Is My Birthday!

Today is my birthday. Wow, 42! I would be really upset, except I thought I was ALREADY 42 and was turning 43. After talking to Dad several days ago, we figured out I would only be 42, so in essence I gained a year! Woo hoo! My brain is obviously the first thing going.

Tom and Jackson made me a monster truck cake yesterday and we celebrated a day early, which was fine. Jackson gave me his gift earlier in the week, THE STOMACH BUG, which I could have done without. I am still having issues with it and I've had it since Friday. Now Tom is home sick today with it. I guess it is the kind of gift that keeps on giving...in a bad way!

The cake is a red velvet cake shaped like a heart with monster trucks all over it. I had a little piece yesterday, but really haven't been able to eat much of anything since Friday. This stinks! Not the ideal way to lose weight, but I guess if that's the side effect, I can't complain.

Looks like it was HIS birthday cake, not MINE! He loved it!

Have a great day everyone! I know I will.

I also must document the fact that today Jackson discovered The Three Stooges on TV and they cracked him up! I used to love them too. I guess all kids love watching them because they're so goofy and silly! Funny to see him watching a black and white show! He asked me if this was something I watched when I was a baby. :)

Howdy!

Howdy Pardner!

I have been having some problems posting stuff on Blogger, so that is why I haven't been on here all week! Western Day is on Tuesday at Jackson's school and he has agreed to wear this little cowboy hat, be still my heart. I have always loved putting hats on him, but this is different. I thought all little boys liked to dress up like super heroes or cowboys or indians, et cetera, but Jackson has NEVER been that kind of kid. Last year on Western Day he was the only kid without a little cowboy outfit or hat on, instead he wore a checkered shirt, much like what he's wearing this year, and no hat. He was the only one without a hat on. And that's fine too, really. I just think he looks so cute in one, don't you?

Reach for the sky!

He really is the best little cowpoke I know!

I have been slammed with work, plus trying to get myself ready to take the RPR exam in May which will get me certified to go back into court reporting. Yee-haw! Note sarcasm. Not something I ever really loved doing, but it is what I initially trained to do, so I'm going to try it again!

There's really nothing going on in our lives, but at the same time, we seem sooooo busy. How can that be? Just life, I guess. Jackson will be playing soccer this spring, so that should be fun, since he throws a fit when someone takes the ball away from him. It's hard for him to understand that's the game, they're SUPPOSED to do that. But that's why Tom and I wanted him on an organized team, so he can learn how to play with others. We'll see...

More Snow! UGH!

We are getting MORE snow! Will it ever end? It is really pretty, but I'm over it. Jackson was supposed to go to school today, but I still don't trust the roads, so I kept him home. I do NOT like driving in this mess.

Mom came in this past weekend because Tom and I had made plans with some friends to go see Edwin McCain at 3rd & Lindsley. And as always, it was an awesome show! I have seen him LOTS of times and he never lets me down. :)


I am trying really hard to ignore that the Cayamo cruise (with Edwin on it) will be leaving Miami in a few weeks WITHOUT me! The lineup is really unbelievable this year. I am vowing not to let Cayamo 2011 leave port without ME! Now I have to start saving my money and hoping that the lineup next year is even HALF as good as this year!


This is the Valentine's card that I made for Jackson's grandparents and then resized for him to hand out to all of his little friends at school. I really like how it turned out and now I'm already thinking of what I can do for his birthday invitations...which isn't until September!

Front of card

Inside of card

I put this together yesterday in keeping with hoping to have enough pages done at the end of the year to do a 2010 Book. We'll see...

Jackson had his heart set on the Valentine Dalmation build-a-bear, and so me, Tom and Mom took him to Opry Mills on Saturday to buy it. The place was CROWDED! Not sure where everyone came from. Yes, I know it was Valentine's Day weekend, but I was really surprised. Anyway, Jackson was so excited to get the Dalmation "with a heart on his eye," so I asked the lady where I could find one in the store, and she said they were sold out. SOLD OUT? It's your Valentine's product. Are you kidding me? Valentine's Day was the next day, Sunday. If you can't get enough of these things in stock, then stop running your commercial...pronto! Jackson had seen the commercial just that morning and even told me I needed to go to "buildabear.com" to look at this dog! :(

I told him that I would look really hard to find a Dalmation for him. Thankfully, Tom and I went to Wal-Mart and found a little white dog with hearts all over it. It was like $5, so we saved BIG TIME there. I wasn't sure he would like it, though, since he had his heart set on the Build-A-Bear one. But he loves it! He's slept with it every night since we gave it to him! Whew. That could have gone either way. ;)

Here are pictures from Jackson's Valentine's tea. The boys could dress as kings, princes, knights or just shirt and tie. You can see what Jackson went with.

Jackson and Ms. Peggy

Here is the whole class!

My sharp-dressed man!

I had to throw this box together pretty last minute because I didn't get the memo that they needed a decorated Valentine's box! Thankfully, Ms. Peggy sent out an e-mail the day before as a reminder!

Papaw and Mamaw were in last weekend. Jackson had a great time with them. As always, I think he wore Papaw out! We had a really nice visit!

Schneider Snow Family

I have been slow with work, so I have had fun doing some digital scrapbook pages. Here are a couple that I've done.

The journaling says: "Daddy and I had great plans to build the "Schneider" family snowmen, but you were just not into it. You were bored and ready to go back inside almost as soon as we began! And so I guess you shouldn't get any credit for how great they turned out. But you sure looked cute in your snow gear, so that is worth a mention! All in all, it was another fun day playing in the snow!"

Jackson pretty much whined the whole time Tom and I were putting these snowmen together. He did throw snowballs back and forth to our neighbors long after they had already gone inside. He just wanted to have a snowball fight and didn't want to build with us!

Tom and Jackson with our finished "family."

I love this picture of him. He looks like he's posing! And we all know that is not the case.

I actually have some work to do today, but Jackson's Mother's Day Out has been cancelled due to the snow. Yep, we are getting more snow! And it is really coming down! I guess we'll be homebound again today. I got little sleep last night, so I see a nap in my near future. Jackson was up twice trying to get in bed with us, and I had to lay down with him for a few hours. Ugh!

I get my hair cut on Saturday, and I am thinking of getting it all layered up. I really don't know what else to do. It is driving me crazy the shape it's in now. I kind of like this layered cut:

I found this video while I was going through some old files on my
external hard drive. I am SOOOOOOO ready for summer and so is Jackson!

Best Snow in Seven Years!

We got the biggest snow we've had in seven years last weekend, and let me tell you, we took advantage of it and played ALL weekend! Jackson went sledding several times on Saturday and Sunday. He was loving it! He never complained about being cold or anything. Tom had bought him a blue plastic sled to use. There is a park around the corner that has a little hill that they went sledding on, and then on Saturday the neighbors were sledding down a street close to our house in kayaks. And those things would go so fast down that street! I didn't let Jackson sled in the kayaks, so he just stuck to his sled and had a ball!

He had several layers of clothes on and looked like an old pro!

Seriously, how often do I catch smiles like this? He was one happy boy!

Daddy and Jackson flying down the hill!

Jackson always closed his eyes because the he said rain would get in his eyes! I guess it was just the snow and ice spraying in his face.

This is one of my favorite pictures of all weekend. I seriously probably took 200 or more just this weekend. That's nuts! But really, it's Jackson's first time to REALLY go sledding. I think he and Tom rode a sled down our little side yard last year, but nothing like what they did this year.

And yes, that's me. After careful consideration, I decided to try it! Next year I might not be able to get my fat butt up on a sled, so this year was the year! I think we both screamed the whole way down!

I have LOTS more pictures from this weekend, but I thought I would split it up in different posts. So maybe Friday or Monday I'll have more from the weekend.

This is the second week that Tom has been out of town, and Jackson and I are encroaching on too much "together" time. He is talking back to me and mocking what I say, et cetera. I am so tired of saying the name "Jackson" and hearing the word "Momma." I know it's just because we've been kind of housebound too long, because his school was called off yesterday and the roads were pretty stinky until yesterday.

Anyway, here is a little video that makes me stop and really appreciate Jackson and reminds me that this time I have with him is fleeting. Not that I don't know that, because I do, and I feel like I am pretty good at living in the moment with him. But this author talks about the ordinary days that are spent with your children. It's a little long, but well worth it. Just watch it. You won't be sorry!

THE GIFT OF AN ORDINARY DAY