Mommy Blogger

My husband is a phenomenal writer. Like crazy good. He has written 2 books (more to come on that in the next few months!). He maintains a blog over at his business website Saxum PR (www.saxumpr.com) . This week he blogged about me and MY blog (and some of yours too!). Pretty interesting stuff! Click on over and read it if you get a chance!



http://saxumpr.com/index.php/tips-and-tricks/living-with-a-mommy-blogger/

Happy 3rd Birthday Party Jackson!

Happy 3rd birthday party to my little guy, Jackson James Stone. We had Spaghetti Eddie over to our house for the big PARTAY and he played all of his latest hits for the kiddos. THEY LOVED him. If you don't know who he is, find out! Best childrens singer EVER! We served spaghetti (of course!) and had the best time. Thank you to everyone for coming and rockin' out for Jackson's 3rd Birthday Party!

End of Summer is Near....

Seems like the end of summer is drawing near, so Jackson and I have been cramming in all sorts of "summery" things the past two weeks. We have been to the zoo, the Science Museum, gone swimming twice sometimes three times a day, lunch with friends, ice cream "just because," lake trips, bike rides, shopping (more fun for me than him), birthday parties (his!), playdates with friends, etc.

We also were so excited to have my cousin and her kiddos in town this past week. Jennifer, Abby and Sammy drove all of the way from Las Vegas to hang out with us for a couple of days. The kiddos had a blast and I so enjoyed spending time with Jennifer. Those kiddos are my babies and I can't believe they are getting so old.

Last Sunday we took the kids to Shoguns for a hibachi meal to celebrate Abby's 10th birthday. We had not taken Jackson since he was a baby so it was fun to see his reactions to the cooking that was going on in front of him. As you can see from the pictures, when the fire rose up, he would cover his sweet eyes and then peek out. Jackson is also very independant so when we go out to eat he likes to order his food from the waiter or waitress, so he ordered Sprite and Shrimp at Shoguns and I don't think I have ever seen the child eat as much as he did that night. Love giving him new experiences and eat different things. And LOVED spending time with our cousins.

We also were surprised to open up our door a week ago Friday night to see Renzi's sister Ginny standing on our doorstep! She had come into town as a surprise for Jackson's 3rd birthday party. It was so wonderfully fun to have her around all weekend. She and I got up early Saturday morning and ran around Lake Hefner (if you remember, she is doing the half marathon with me and our friend Jackie). We ran 11 miles without stopping and it took us just over an hour and a half. Only two weeks till the Half in Virginia Beach. We are ready..I think!

Last night was Jackson's meet the teacher night/ice cream social at his new preschool. We were all so excited and pulled up at 5:45 to the school parking lot where the event taking place. We pulled up and it was like a ghost town...NO ONE was there. I called my buddy Laura, whose son is going to be in Jackson's class this year and she said it was from 3:30-5 p.m., not 5:30-8 p.m. Way to go ME! Needless to say, we rolled with and drove Jackson around the school (he was especially excited about the basketball goals outside), and then went to Republic for dinner where Jackson watched every sport imaginable on the big screens there. He starts school Thursday and he is sooo excited.

So...that's what has been going on "behind the scenes," at the Stone house. What's been going on at YOUR house? How are you guys ending the summer? Leave a comment and let me know what Jackson and I just HAVE to do before school starts!

Best,

Lee Anne

Reading and Journaling

I bought a journal last year with different tabs that seperated the journal into sections. Each tab had a different title and it was really helpful in getting me to actually write in my journal. I had a tab for Prayer Requests, Scripture, Life and My boys. Anytime either one of my boys did something that was worth noting I would pick up my trusty journal and write it down. If I found a scripture I liked, I wrote it down. If something was heavy on my heart, I wrote it down. It was the perfect solution to get me to actually journal about things going on in my day to day life.

Since Isaiah died, I haven't been able to pick up a journal. I haven't even really been able to read my bible like I want to. I am a HUGE reader, but all I have been able to bring myself to read have been my US and People magazines that I faithfully have a subscription to. (I'm not ashamed! I admit it! Gossip magazines are my guilty pleasures!) I don't know why I haven't been reading much lately, but the other day I woke up and realized how much I missed reading and writing in a journal.

So, when Jackson and I woke up on Thursday and we were eating our breakfast together (he, peanut butter and jelly...don't ask, it's all I can get him to eat some days....and me coffee and cereal), he asked me "Mom, where are we going today?" I looked at my sweet boy with peanut butter in his hair and said, "Son, we are going to the library."

"Oh my gosh...really, really? Is Buzzlight Year going to be there?" Jackson asked.

"Ummm...maybe?" I replied.

So, off we went to the downtown OKC library and let me tell you. It was amazing! The Childrens Section was so big and there were so many things to see and do. The librarian was the sweetest lady and she helped Jackson get his very own library card. We played some computer games and then he and I picked out 8 books and 2 DVD's to borrow. *Side note, I will not be buying any more DVD's for Jax anymore...we will now just go to the library! You can keep them for 2 weeks and then go back and get more! He only watches something for about a week before he moves on to something else anyway!*

Before we left I went upstairs and browsed downstairs for a few books of my own to check out and found a couple that I am totally excited about. They are sitting on my nightstand right now and I can't wait to dive into them. As I was thinking about how excited I was to be reading again, I realized that I wanted to start journaling again....this time, I am going to do a "Thankful Journal." I chose this sort of journal because I feel that there are so many times in my day where I am thankful for this or thankful for that and I need to take the time to recognize these blessings in my life.

So, the point of this blog post is....Maybe this is another part of my healing. Getting back to things I like to do. Reading and Writing. Thank you God and thank you Isaiah for helping me to get back to the things that I love and for helping me to get back to me.

How did this happen?

Can you believe this little guy is going to be 3 soon? His 3rd birthday party is this weekend and I can't believe my little guy is soooooo big! *Sigh*

We got the Pictures of King Abdullah!

Actually, Houda Elyazgi, an amazing amazing young woman who works for Saxum tracked these pictures down from the Royal Photographer in Jordan so she needs to get all of the props on this one! These three pics are awesome....and in the one where Renzi is shaking the King's hand I promise I am not crying....it looks like it, but I don't remember crying! :) Enjoy!

I heart him.

Oh how I love this face!