"The days are long, but the years are fleeting."

May already? It can’t be!

Monday, May 9th, 2011

So… the blog has fallen by the wayside.  Facebook is just so EASY, that I have totally ignored this here little ol’ bloggy.  I’m going to try to do better, as I journal our big trip across the country with our seven children.  That’s right. Seven.  Yes. The answer to the question you are thinking is “yes.”  {we are in fact crazy.}

A quick catch-up on life with the Alaskan Jacksons.

We are still fostering A&O, the two children who joined our household in September of 2009.  We are in the process of adopting them, and are really looking forward to the day when we can officially call them Jacksons.  They are doing well, healthy and happy and fitting right in with the rest of the crowd.  Celina is finishing up her junior year, enjoying DRIVING, and still loves her part time job. She LOVES playing her guitar, and sometimes sits down to practice and three hours later realizes she has other things she was supposed to be doing.  :)   Sullivan still plays violin daily, loves it, and is great at it.  He’s become quite the accomplished mechanic already (at age 13) and recently removed a motor and transmission from a car by himself in…. *wait for it*….. TWO HOURS and TEN MINUTES!  I know, right?? He rocks!!  Oliver is finishing up the 4th grade, continuing guitar lessons, and nervous about his first recital tomorrow night.  He’s outside raking right now and keeping an eye on the toddlers.   Evelyn is also nervous about her first recital, and she’s playing violin for her first year. She’s the happiest child in the world, and keeps us supplied with hugs and laughter.  Remington and O (both age 2) keep us all on our toes!!  And “A” is doing great at school, excited for our trip, and really excelling with her education.  She’s a happy girl, and is easy to get along with.  We really love her.

Home school has wrapped up for the year at our house, and we are preparing for a big cross-country trip. We will drive from Alaska to Maine, south to New York, Washington DC and Virginia (and everywhere in between) and back to Alaska.  I think we’ll see seventeen new states that we haven’t already seen.  We are currently at 28 states visited…. so that will be getting pretty close to having visited all 50!

Well, dinner needs to be thrown together and I’ve got to take a couple children to the dentist…. so I’d better sign off for now. I’m going to TRY not to ignore this blog this summer… we’ll see.
Love in Christ,
Leah

| Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

In the year 2011

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

So, I haven’t completely abandoned my blog.  The truth is, when homeschoolblogger made all these changes, I couldn’t keep up!  I can’t quite figure it all out, and because of that… sort of got scared off!  It’s harder now to upload pictures, and that’s my favorite part of blogging… so… I’ve been remiss. 

LIFE IS GOOD here at the Alaskan Jacksons!  We are still happily fostering two extra children (for 16 months now) and we love, love, LOVE them!  Along with our own 5, that brings this busy household to 9 people in total.  And one dog. But, he stays outside. 

Christmas was wonderful, the children were thrilled to catch up with the rest of America and receive a Wii from grandparents. But the best part of Christmas was having a couple weeks all together without school or work.  We really made the most of every day.  We relaxed a lot, but also took time to *give*.  We made a trip to Anchorage to hand out Christmas gifts to the homeless, which was the highlight of our Christmas break… and maybe of our year.  It was a wonderful experience, made possible by the generous donations of friends and community members.  It was PERFECT.  And God orchestrated the entire thing quite obviously.

Now we’re back to school, kicking off 2011 with warmer weather, and lots of practices for our local theater show which shall be next month.  Busy, busy!  We fill each day with laughter, love, and… laundry. Hey, I’m just being honest here!! 

Oldest daughter (C-16) is driving now, so… watch out. 
Next oldest boy (S-13)  is dreaming of his permit, and drooling over his old chevy truck.  Third in line (O-10) is making improvements in the school department and enjoying being involved in theater. It’s right up his alley!  Next in line is our beautiful foster daughter (A-8) who is a gem, doing great in school, and LOVING learning about our Lord!   After her is little girl (E-7) who is still totally into princesses, mermaids, and sledding.  The two little boys (both 2, one mine, one foster-mine) are busy, busy, busy, and NAUGHTY.    Hey, I’m keepin’ it real here, people.  Have you ever had two testosterone-filled toddlers chest bumpin’ while screamin’ “MY MOMMY!” in the same room as you????  It ain’t always pretty.  BUT, it’s a lotta fun, and we wouldn’t want it any other way!

Hubby and I just celebrated 17 years of marriage and I can honestly say… are happier now than ever, more in love than when we said “I DO!” and looking forward to forever.  I’m so blessed by my sweet husband. He’s the best friend a woman could ever want, and he listens to me ramble on and on without ever complaining.   It’s true.  Yeah, you never would’ve guessed, right??  Donotanswerthat.

Well, I doubt I’ll succeed in posting a picture here, but I’ll try.  Either way, I’m going to attempt to post this new entry and call it a night.  With love from Alaska,
~L

| Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

June is {WONDERFUL!} busy!

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

It’s wonderful how busy we stay each summer day, yet it’s sort of sad how quickly the days go by.  I can’t believe it is already late June, we’ve passed the summer solstice, and we’re making plans for the 4th of July.

Our first big summer adventure was at a lake about 50 miles from home.  We rented a “public use cabin” and had a WONDERFUL time!!

It takes a lot of work, and a LOT of planning to take 9 people camping.  There were many trips to and from the van, and all of the children were SO awesome about helping!!  Here is Sully VERY loaded with stuff!!

We had a wonderful time enjoying the great outdoors.  We saw a moose swim across the lake (twice), swans, and even a few black bear.  This one mostly ignored us… until one of the children decided to ROAR at it from our side of the lake!  That got his attention!!

Our next big adventure took us to the other side of Resurrection Bay to the public use cabin in Thumb Cove.  Talk about experiencing God’s amazing creation!  WHAT BEAUTY!!

We had such a wonderful time!  We kayaked, watched seals and otters, found starfish, and just enjoyed being together in this beautiful place.

The cabin we stayed in was picture perfect, and it was tucked away in the mossy forest, like a very pleasant dream.  I loved it there!!

But the best part was spending time with my favorite people on earth! !   Especially my Hubby.  :)

It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited, and it wasn’t even nice weather!  We can’t wait to go back and hopefully experience it on a few sunny days.  :)

Alaska is so much fun this time of year.  Everything is green and new.  The wildlife is abundant, the days are long, and it’s so easy to see WHY we live here!  (ha ha! It’s not so easy in January, trust me!)

The kids have been having lots of fun in the yard, riding bikes, running through the sprinkler, playing in the sandbox, and playing games like hide-n-seek.  With so many children + the cousins, there is never a dull moment!!

Well, I’d better end this post and get back to real life.  I stay plenty busy, and I think at this moment I have a large load of socks to sort before I can find my bed again.  :)

Enjoy your summer, we sure are!
love, The Jacksons + 2.

(Leah)

| Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

So, homeschoolblogger is changing things up a bit… I think I’m going to like it, but it’ll take a little getting used to.  Part of the reason I hadn’t updated much, is that my laptop is an apple and wouldn’t work with their format, so hopefully I’ll be updating a little more often now.  :)

Things are going good here with the Alaskan Jacksons.  We’ve been enjoying  springtime in Alaska.  I’ve been really bad about posting, since I keep most of my closest acquaintances up-to-date via facebook.  :)

For now, since I’m still trying to figure out this new layout and blog setup, I’ll just post a few recent pictures from our day picnics and fun around the house.  Enjoy!

| Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »