Love for Grandpa Jackson

Joe's grandfather died last night--he was 97. Surely there are beautiful reunions happening on the other side of the veil today. We love you, Grandpa.

Four Generations of Jackson men

2006

2008

(Ian really did love to be swaddled--contrary to what this picture might indicate.)

Ian, the Birth Junkie

What can I say? I love this boy!

An Unexpected Snow

We woke up this morning to a little bit more than the 2" of snow we were expecting.

This was a sleety, heavy, wet, mess-of-a-storm, so Joe decided to take the morning off....He dug us out and played with Ian all morning....Here's the result:

New Year Snipits.

We had a great time this year ringing in the New Year at First Night Chatham. It was fantastic. Here are some of the few moments we remembered to capture on *film*....or in 1's and 0's...or however you decide to define it.

This is the view I had for most of the day--looking out from under an umbrella. It was surely a rainy, rainy day on the Cape.


Each year, one of our highlights is the horse and carriage ride. The horses were beautiful and the drivers were funny. Ian had a blast....as did his parents.




Thanks to a blue moon, the tides were extra high. We went to several beaches at low tide hoping to get some horseshoe crab shells, but were unsuccessful due to raging waters.



And really...what's better than breaking out the bicycle-built-for-two?

Funny Boy and Quilting

So....tonight Joe decided to head outside after dinner to salt the driveway and chop away the ice. Knowing that Ian hadn't spent any time outside playing that day, I basically shoved them both out the door hoping that Ian would have fun and not resent me for sending him outside at 6:45 at night to do chores...in Boston...IN THE WINTER.

Turns out, he had so much fun that he and Joe decided to build a snow cave in our snow pile (contest coming soon!) while I started Season 1 of The Mentalist. (Note: There is a simple equation for The Mentalist: Monk + Psych - humor = The Mentalist. I'm still enjoying it, mind you. But I'm just sayin'.)

After the boys came in and had baths to warm up, they batted their eyes at me (after I looked at the clock and thought it'ssuretimeforbedforsomeone) and politely asked for cocoa.

But someone didn't want just cocoa. Someone wanted TWO cocoas.

{Actually, his exact words were "A PAIR of cocoas"}

And that someone was not my husband.

So I thought, mehwhatthehayit'sfridaynight, and indulged.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...I spent 12 hours yesterday making baby-boy-#2-who-still-doesn't-have-a-name a blanket. Mostly because my nesting instinct continues to threaten to swallow me whole....and because I want this child to have something homemadebyhismother that wasn't Ian's to begin with.

I spent most of my day behind that sewing machine...and because I was silly to think that making a rag quilt would be sooooooo much easier than a traditional quilt, I now have three blisters on my right hand from beginning the fray on the seams. BUT. I'm pleased with how things turned out. I can check this project off my list of things to do before I fall forward from the weight of my midsection.

(It's only been through the wash once and the dryer twice...it'll be a few more cycles before it gets as *raggy* as I'd like it to be).

Happy New Year From the Cape!

(A Cape Cod New Year wouldn't be right if Joe wasn't attacked by the Sacred Cod)