Jack Henry's 2 1/2

It's hard to believe that Jack Henry turned 2 1/2 on Sunday. He is such a sweet little boy ... but he is also ALL boy! He loves to cuddle, give hugs and kisses ... but he also loves to be wild, crazy and rough. We wouldn't change one thing about him!

He has one of the funniest personalities I've ever been around. He makes the cutest little faces and is so hard to discipline because he's so stinkin' cute.

 Look at those eyes!

He loves to take a bath, but unfortunately he hates to get out! It's a fight almost every time. 

He is still great about going to bed. He has started wanting to be rocked again, which I LOVE! 

 These cute little fits have also started, too. This was one morning before 7:15. He is pretty pitiful, isn't he?!? This boy can turn on the tears faster than anyone! And they aren't just any tears, they are HUGE crocodile tears. =)

 He loves watching Blues Clues on the Kindle. I bought the Kindle for me to read on, and I hardly get a chance to use it unless he is asleep. By that time I'm too tired to focus long enough to read! I'm starting to think we need to buy another one!

He also loves to "read" and be read to. He is also getting really good at recognizing all of his letters and saying the sound that they make. Crazy how fast he has picked things up.

Some of my favorite things that he says are:

Pease (Please)

Thank You

Sorry

MommaDaddaSissy (yes, all one word!)

Dadda play trains (or whoever he wants to play with him)

Jes (yes)

PaPad (leap pad)

Bue (Blue)

Applesauce (uses this word for yogurt and applesauce)

He has been such a blessing to our family and we can not wait to see what God does in and through him.

Back To School

It's hard to believe that Lydia is 1/2 way through Kindergarten! It is literally flying by! Seems like just yesterday we were going to her open house and looking around her classroom for the first time! We are so thankful that she loves school and learning. She has never once complained about going to school ... most days she's trying to rush us out the door before it's time! Here are a few pictures from her first week back. =)

 Jeff and I were on our way back from Mobile on Monday, so Mimi got her up, ready and to school! It was her first time to get anyone ready for school in a LONG time! She did great! =) She even had time to get a picture. ;)

 Check out these temps when they were headed to school! Eek!! They were even colder Tuesday morning when we took her ... 9*!! Crazy! 

 All bundled up with her new books she picked out with some of her Christmas money. I love that out of all the toys she could have picked, she choose 2 books. Love my little book worm!

 Practicing her words for her 1st spelling test. She was EXHAUSTED this night ... as you can see she can barely keep her head up. She wanted to go to bed at 6:00 this night, but I held her off until 6:30.

 Today was nursery rhyme day at school and she went as Mary and took her little lamb with her. =) Wish I could have been there to hear her recite Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Check. Her. Out.

Perfect score on her spelling test!

Woohoo!

She also got her report card for the 2nd quarter and did GREAT! So proud of her!

Go Daddy Bowl 2013

We were so excited that after a fun and exciting ASU football season, we found out they were headed to a bowl game! They tied as conference champs ... a 3-peat! ... and got a bowl bid from the Go Daddy Bowl for the 3rd year in a row! We were so glad that we were able to go back down this year and watch them play again. And also loved the chance to spend some time together just the 2 of us.

Howlabama Bound!

 Such a pretty day for a road trip!

 When we got to Mobile, we headed straight to the best oyster house in town, Wintzell's to hang out with other Red Wolf fans. You always know it's a good sign when you get out of the car and you hear howling! The place was packed out and we had to wait an hour and a half to eat, but it was totally worth it!

Saturday we spent most of the day just hanging out. We had lunch with some friends at another yummy place called Felix's. They have THE BEST shrimp and grits! Saturday night it was time for the parade and pep rally.

 Some friends of our's from ASU/MBSF were there and it was fun to hang out with them! The parade wasn't nearly as cold as last year, which was nice. The parade is always a fun way to get excited about the game!

 Mobile puts on a HUGE fireworks display at the end of the pep rally!

Sunday morning we went to church at the team hotel ... Loved taking a little bit of time during our vacation to worship God with others.

 The message was one I really needed to hear. I am praying that this year I can focus more on being more like Jesus and worry less with being like others around me. I'm really bad about looking at others and comparing myself to them. I always feel like I fail when it comes to being a wife and a mom when I do that. I feel like others have it all together and I feel like most days I'm doing good to just make it through the day without losing it! I know it's not healthy to do this, so I am hoping I can do better at it.

After church we headed back to Wintzell's for lunch (yes ... it's that good!) and then went and took a nap before the game. An 8:00 kick off is rough when you are used to going to bed at a decent time!

The game was AWESOME and we won with a blocked field goal in the last few seconds!! It was so fun to be there to see them win for the second year in a row!!

 Celebrating on the field!

Kind of sad that ASU football is over. Excited to see what the new coaching staff can do and to see the team in a few months at the spring game!

Go stAte!!

My mom and Jeff's mom split up watching the kids and we are SO thankful for them!! It's nice being able to leave the kids and know that they are being taken care of and having fun. We missed them a lot, but know it's good for all of us to have a little break every now and then.

 Sweet baby girl

 This little guy turned 2 1/2 while we were gone! He's turning into such a big boy.

Christmas Break Fun

Lydia's Christmas break is flying by! The first week is was full of Christmas fun, so we are trying to get in as much fun this week before Jeff and I leave for Mobile and Lydia goes back to school. Two weeks just isn't long enough. =) Here are a few pictures from the past few days ...

 Yay! Starting her first chapter book series! I might have to sneak in and read some after she goes to bed. Reading one or two chapters a night is killing me!

 Jack Henry reading Jeff's Bible study book! Think it might be a little over his head, but he's really getting into it. =)

 This girl is loving her Barbie car and house. She's got quite the Barbie collection started. If we can only keep Jack Henry from getting into everything and destroying it.

New Years Eve Fun!

 Lydia's been begging to go to The Museum of Discovery, so we surprised her with a trip. She was so excited! The kids both had a GREAT time!

 She told us after we left that her favorite part of the museum was reading. Here she is in her happy place. 

 After the museum we headed to All Aboard to eat lunch. The kids love eating there and watching the trains deliver food. It's such a fun little place. Lydia thought that Genny needed a hat to wear just like her.

 For dinner we made home made pizza! The kids both loved helping. Well ... Jack Henry loved eating the olives and pepperoni while Lydia made the pizza!

 Loved spending New Years Eve with these 3. Pizza, movie and fro-yo! Nothing else I would rather do! 

 Our last picture in 2013!

 Christmas break wouldn't be complete without a trip to eat donuts!

Lydia was so excited Eden was able to go "jump" with her one afternoon! I think both had a blast!

So glad we had some free time that we were able to spend with Lydia. It's crazy how fast she's growing up ... and how much time school takes up. I miss our care free days of doing whatever we want, whenever we want to do it! 

Rainbolt Family Christmas

We survived and made it to our last family get together! So glad my dad and Nancy came up to Searcy and we were all able to be together.

I LOVE this train that my dad made for Jack Henry! It is beautiful and something that he will play with for YEARS! The fun part will be keeping him from banging up the baseboards and finding some where to put it! ;)

Some serious concentration going on in this picture!

She loves any kind of bow you put on her head!

From the looks of this picture you would think he was mad or screaming ... but I don't think a sound was coming out of his mouth! Hah! He is so silly!

PJ's on and all is quite and peaceful ... 

I'm not sure I've ever seen them so still ...

I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I put both ...

Cute ...

And ... 

Sassy!

Hall Family Christmas

Today is the last day of family Christmas craziness!! While we love spending time with everyone, we all start to wear down after  9 get togethers! =)

Jeff and Lydia headed to Little Rock for Hall family Christmas. I decided it would be best for Jack Henry to get a good nap before our last Christmas tonight. We hated not to go and missed seeing everyone, but just felt like it was what was best for us.

She loves Christmas!

Harper and Jack Henry bonding over the Kindle. =) 

Jack Henry was excited to have more presents to open when he woke up from his nap!

This was as good of a smile as I could get out of him. He wanted Gordon out of that package ASAP! 

Yay for a new movie and new cars! This boy loves anything that goes! =)

Clay Family Craziness

What a crazy day ... 

Me and my little man!! I love this boy more than words could ever say! 

More reindeer cupcakes! Yumm!

Hanging out waiting on the line to die down before we fixed our plates.

This table was keeping us entertained while we waited! Such sweet girls and Jack Henry.

After total chaos of opening presents, we actually were able to get a picture with all of the "cousins", (except Brisco and Elle) in one picture! They aren't all looking at the same camera or smiling, but what do you expect for a bed time picture?!?

It didn't feel the same this year because Grandmother and Aunt D were both sick ... and then early afternoon mom started to feel sick so she quarantined herself to her room for the night. Missed them being in amongst the craziness! Guess we will just have to do it again!