Christmas!

This Christmas was nice and relaxing. We got together at Jesse's parents house and baked, watched movies and played football. The night before we took the boys out riding to look at all of the Christmas lights and found the Mall of Louisiana had the best. Here are a few pictures we took while we were there.

We tried everything to get them to look at the camera but nothing worked so this was the best we could get. They are still super cute!

Here is Ben showing off some of his Tae Kwon Do skills.

Jackson and I. Just realized my hat matches his shirt in this picture.

Jackson always makes these really funny faces. Right here he is looking at the enormous Christmas tree. I wonder what he is thinking?

I loved this Santa Claus with the ipod. There is also an elf with one in another display but we don't really have a good picture of him.

So Christmas was great. Ben said it was the best Christmas ever because he got all of the playstation games he wanted. Looking forward to New Years, we are having our family out for fireworks at our house. The next morning we will be leaving for Houston to see my favorite cousin John get married and spend time with my Aunt Debbie. We have missed them very much so it will be nice to see them. I also love Houston and secretly hope to live there someday.

Happy New Years from The Mallory's!

P.S. I forgot, because of all of this wonderful weather changing from hot to cold, cold to hot and hot to cold again I now have walking pnemonia. I know fun huh, it's really not as bad as it sounds but it sometimes makes my chest hurt a little and wears me out. I have heard the best thing for it is rest but I can't seem to make myself be still. There is so much stuff I want to do. Maybe today I will take a nap.

Barney REDUX

*queue the horror film shrieking

We thought we've removed such scourges from our home but Jackson managed to find some old Barney tapes... popped one in the VCR... and the rest is child addiction history.




Ben who we have sinced weened from that purple and green devil is relapsing and joining Jackson in song and dance! Just as damaging is that our thought processes have begun to include melodies about ABC's and hide and go seek! Arrrargh!

But on the plus side... I am finally learning my ABC's and how to share. :)

So this year I decided to keep things pretty simple, especially since we have all been under the weather. Since I didn't send out Christmas cards I thought I would post something here.

This year has been a very good year for the Mallory's. Thanks to my hardworking husband I was able to quit a job that I was no longer fond of and stay at home with my adorable boys. Jackson has really flourished because of this and every day he makes me smile and laugh uncontrollably. Ben also has done a lot better in school because he has mom there with cookies when he gets home and help with his homework. He is now rarely bringing home a C on any of his papers and his reading has improved a ton. He is also very good at Math which is great.

As I have been staying home I have found out that I am actually very crafty. I have redone furniture, redecorated rooms, completed a scrapbook project, and just yesterday finished two paintings for Jacksons room. (I have two more to do to complete the series and when I have them finished I will post them) I have also started a website on saving money and craftiness which really has been a lot of fun and to all of those who supported me thank you so much!

Jesse has been working extremely hard and we are just so very thankful that in times like this, when the economy is so bad, he has a steady job. We are so fortunate to have him as he can fix just about anything including our cars, which seem to not like us so much anymore. Jesse will be attending BRCC in the Spring to work towards his degree in Electrical Engineering. We know it will take awhile but no worries, you have to start somewhere.

We were sealed this year, and were so lucky to have most of you there to celebrate with us. We switched wards, which even though we loved the Baton Rouge Third Ward we love our Denham Springs Ward just as much. We have made so many wonderful friends this year and have grown even closer to our old ones. Thank you all for being a part in our lives and we hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What was supposed to be....

This weekend starting Friday was supposed to be jam packed with things to do. Here is the schedule that was supposed to happen.

• Friday: 4:30 Birthday Party,

7pm Ward Christmas Party

• Saturday: 7am-2pm Friends Graduation From Southeastern

2 pm Drop Jess and Ben Off at Moms so they can go to another birthday party

4 pm Take Jackson to Birthday Party

6pm Return to Baton Rouge for Wedding Reception.

Ok so let me put it this way, the only thing I made was the Graduation because my little Jackson is sick. He is coughing terribly and has a fever. It is so sad. I hate to have missed all of those great events but I must say I am actually a little relieved because I wasn't feeling so hot myself and neither was Jesse (even though he did go to the birthday party to teach the girls how to paint). I am hoping my little family will be well enough to go to church tomorrow, but if not we will have to stay here. We don't want to infect anyone. In all of this Ben was again at his grandparents house where he is totally healthy. Lucky.

Can You Believe It.....Snow!

It was 5:30 this morning when I looked out the window and said, "Jesse, is that snowflakes I see? Their huge." I immediatly woke Ben up so that he could see b/c surely it wouldn't stick and would be done in about an hour. Well after Jess left for work ben and I opened the blinds in my bedroom and went back to bed. We were woke an hour later by Jess calling to tell us that schools were closed for today. As he was telling me this I turned around to look out the window and it was still snowing and the ground and trees were covered. If you have been to my house you know we have a pond and woods behind our house and to see them like this was breathtaking. Jess was on his way home so I woke Jackson and bundled him and Ben up and we went outside to play and had a blast!

This is the view I had this morning as I ate breakfast at my dining room table.

Jackson getting smacked by one of Bens snowballs. His face is hilarious!

Ben and one of his huge snowballs!

My little snowbunny Jackson. He had the best time in the snow!

I hear that it might snow again tonight. Wouldn't that be fun. Just be safe!

I had the absolute funniest experience today. My mother in law and I took Jackson to Petland in Baton Rouge to see the puppies. They brought out the cutest bulldog puppy. She sat in my lap most of the time which didn't please Jackson because he wanted to see something he could get down right crazy with. So the puppy finally starts to walk around so I get up and sit on the bench next to Jackson and my mother in law, the puppy goes to a corner and behind facing us shot poo a good foot out of its behind in our direction. It even made this squishing pop sound. Mom jumped, I jumped and Jackson screamed Eeewwwww puppy! The puppy was clearly mortified because she just stood there with her head down. Of course if you know me well enough, this absolutly cracked me up. I just looked at mom and died laughing and then stood up to find someone to clean up this aweful mess. If I would have stayed on the floor all of that would have been all over me. I allready had chocolate on me from Jackson at the resteraunt. We are lucky Jess is allergic to dogs because I would have bought that puppy in an instant. When they put her back in her kennel she would look up at me and then droop her head down. Her siblings would come over and lick her face and nudge her but nothing would make her happy. I felt aweful, I had to leave quick. I am a sucker for cute flat faces. Why do you think Jackson is so spoiled?

Article on Cordell and his group.

Go here to read the article written about Cordell and his superman self!

http://timesonline.typepad.com/inside_iraq_weblog/2008/11/flying-in-iraq.html?cid=141436228#comments

Christmas Songs

I have posted on my playlist a few of my favorite Christmas songs. Some of them I have grown up listening too and others are brand new. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!