Rachel giving Katie a pedicure

Mr. Handsome

Bathtime

Can you tell their related?

A Whole Bunch of Stuff

Jaxson is turning out to be quite the child trainer. Rachel calls her pacifier her "night-night." This is something that Jaxson started when he was a baby because he only got it at nightime, and Rachel has the same policy. Well frequently in our house you will hear Rachel screeching, Jaxson running back to their room with Rachel in hot pursuit, and Jaxson saying, "No Rachel, night-nights are only for sleeping!"

Rachel is getting close to potty training so I've gotten out the potty chair and let her sit on it to let her get familiar with the concept. I've told Jaxson that if he helps Rachel go potty that he would get a treat too. The other day he got it out for her and helped her get on, and then he asked for a treat. I told him that Rachel actually had to go potty in order for him to get anything and that I didn't think she had to go then. Jaxson said, "Why don't you just squeeze her?"

The other day Jaxson had one of the placemats rolled up and came to me and said, "I have a message from the Lord!" He unfurled it and said, "It says we should go to Reid's house today!" Thanks, Veggietales.

Along the same lines, one day at lunch he was pinching off pieces of his hotdog bun and distributing it to the rest of us. When I asked him was he was doing he told me he was doing the Lord's Supper.

He seems to be napping less and less frequently these days and one day at naptime he was talking to himself. I opened the door to tell him to be quiet and he says, "If you want me to get up it's fine with me!"

One of the big things in our house is having a happy heart, and the way you can tell if someone has a happy heart is by the smile, or lack thereof, on their face. I recently told Jaxson to do something and he expressed his displeasure with a grimace. I told to have a happy heart and he gave me this puny little smile. I told him I wanted to see a big happy heart and he said, "I'm kinda lazy."

I cooked dinner on the grill one night last week and Jaxson asked to go outside. I told him he couldn't because the grill was not and I couldn't keep an eye on him. (He had just decided to BBQ and empty box two days before) He told me that it was okay and that he "would keep an eye on hiself."

Jaxsonisms:
wormaids--mermaids
cowboy sticks--pretzels
Aggie fruit--strawberries
pharisee--pharmacy

And now for Rachel:
Rachel loves to be a little mommy to Katie and her babydolls. The other day Rachel had a doll and said, "Baby..Katie" Then she slammed it on the ground and said, "Pow!" Yikes!

And a new feature, Rachelisms!:
geps--grapes
tae bo--play dough
Shine--Shawn (it's so cute to hear her wander the house calling Shine, Shine!
shoo me--smoothie

I forgot, one more

Another Jaxsonism:

Frosted mini-wheats--Cheatin' frosts

How funny is that!?

I know, it's been awhile

Sorry it's been so long. Life has been super crazy here lately. I'll give you the short version. We found out on May 11 that Shawn was going to be accepting a new job in the Houston area, and we had to be completely moved out by the 16th because Shawn had to start training in Georgia on the 18th. So thanks to much help from Nana, Aunt AhhWahh, and PawPaw we were able to get moved off of the ranch in less than a week.

Shawn now works for a company called TruTech Inc. that specializes in animal and pest control. What's really cool about the company is that they only hire people with four year degrees in wildlife or related field. So if you need any pest control or if you have a possum in your wall, give him a call! He is really enjoying the new job and is quite good at it.

Because the move was so quick we ended up staying with my parents for a bit (thanks NaNa and Grandpa) but now we're in a house in Pearland. I do miss the solitude and the slower way of life at the ranch, but it is so wonderful to be close to family again. And it is really awesome to see my kids play with kids whose parents with whom I grew up.

Anyway, that's what's been going on in the McCreight Clan. Feel free to stop by if you're ever down this way. Oh, and here's some more Jaxsonisms:

whalenuts--walnuts
pizza bars-lasagna

The picture of Jaxson just goes to show you what happens when I put him in charge of sweeping.

I put Rachel's hair in pigtails for the first time the other day and I thought it just looked too cute! She reminded me of Cindy Loo Who. And then in the others she reminded me of Goldilocks. I put some Cheerios in a measuring cup for her and she was wandering the living room trying out each chair to see which one was best. I'm surprised she didn't try to get in the recliner, but I know she would have lost all her cheerios trying to climb up.

I've been wanting to take pictures of the wildflowers around the ranch so on Friday evening we all went for a walk and I got to practice my photography skills. As it turns out, my photography skills are not so great but we had fun anyway. I have no idea what type of plant this is I have posted, but it's definitely my favorite. If anyone knows, please tell me.

Then on Saturday we took the kids to the children's museum in Abilene and had a blast. Rachel and Jaxson each got to "drive" the ambulance, among other fun things.

Here are the kids all dressed up in their Easter attire. Easter must have really made an impression on Jaxson because as we were eating lunch yesterday (pizza and grapes) he informed me that it was his last supper. Oh and while he was eating his Easter candy he said, "I'm thinking about Jesus!"

Later on in the car he asked for the shape Bible. It's just a book with shapes in it. I was expaining this to him and that the Bible is God's Word. He is holding the shape book at this point and says, "This is my word!"

We took the kids camping on Friday night for a short little campout at Fort Griffin State Park just up the road. We all had a really good time (except for Rachel--she's apparently not the sleeping in the tent type). They had a playground and as we're setting up the tent I hear, "Diego!!" Sure enough, Jaxson told all the kids on the playground that his name was Diego and that's what they were all calling him. For those of you that don't know Diego is a cartoon character that Jaxson really likes.

Rachel was wandering around the house today calling. "Dah-eee." It's the first time she said something other than Da-Da. It was so cute that we called Dah-eee on the phone so he could hear it and she actually cooperated. Usually once you put her on the phone she won't say a word. He was so touched he actually stopped working and came home just to see her. Of course he can do that because we live on the ranch.

Silly Faces

Jaxson wanted me to take pictures of his silly faces today, and I thought it would be selfish of me to keep them to myself.

Well we have a variety of pictures here. I made beef enchiladas for dinner and Rachel is learning how to feed herself, as you can tell by her face. I think every kid has a picture like this. I know mine was oatmeal and Jaxson's involved chocolate pudding. And she pretty much tried to use the rice and beans as play-dough.

The pictures of Jaxson are from Volcano Day. He is really into volcanoes right now so we did the whole baking soda and vinegar thing. He had a lot of fun, as did Shawn and I. Afterwards Jaxson said, "I work at Volcano-land!" Oh and the volcano interrupted.

The other day I made pizza and sprinkled some oregano on top of the cheese. Jaxson saw it and said, "I don't want grass on my pizza!"

So we have a rule in our house that if Jaxson has a toy that he does not want Rachel to play with, then he needs to put it up after he's done playing with it. If he leaves it out and she finds it, she gets to play with it. Well he was playing with something of Shawn's and I told him to put it up. He said, "But he left it out where I could get it!" Nice try!

We've been dealing with the whole scared of the dark issue lately with Jaxson and we've told him that when he's scared he should pray that Jesus would keep him safe and help him to not be scared. This morning he said, "Jesus keeped me safe last night!" Just when I thought he was just so spiritual, Jaxson added, "And Batman too!"

Various Happenings

The other day Jaxson and Shawn were playing (as they so often do) and this time they were playing Hulk and Wolverine. Jaxson was the Hulk and Shawn was Wolverine, except Jaxson didn't say Wolverine, he said Wol-Marina. We love you Aunt Marina!

They kids received a foldable play tent from a friend yesterday and Jaxson and I were putting it away last night after much fun. I was trying to push it underneath Jaxson's bed but it wouldn't fit. After I unsuccessfully tried to resituate it Jaxson says, "That's as far as it's going to go, baby." I'm not sure where that came from.

Rachel has also proved to be a great communicator too. Last night I was sitting on the floor with my legs out in front of me. She came up to me, grabbed my toes, and then sat on the floor indian-style. As it turns out, she wanted me to sit indian-style so she could sit in my lap. I quickly got the hint and she was happy.

Then later on Shawn was playing with Katie and she started reaching for his Aggie ring. It was her first time to try and reach for something and of course it had to be something shiny and gold. That's my girl!

Cookie Monster

For those of you who may not know, Fig Newtons are a staple in my parents' house. Of course Jaxson became introduced to them at an early age and on one trip to the grocery store we passed by them as we were walking down the aisle and he shouted, "Grandpa cookies!" Hence, Fig Newtons are always called Grandpa Cookies now. Of course my dad brought a package of Grandpa cookies with him on their trip a few weekends ago, and here is Rachel enjoying her share of them.

The picture of Katie on top is just an update for everyone. She's getting so big!

Oh and as Jaxson was eating breakfast this morning he had to take a potty break. As he was getting down from the table he announced where he was going and said to me, "You're in charge!" It's so nice of him to delegate his authority.

Master of Semantics

Jaxson received a bucket of popcorn this past weekend from his Nana and Grandpa. You know the kind--caramel, regular, and cheese in a big tin. They were really giving it to him for the tin--John Deere themed. The popcorn inside was just a bonus. Well for some reason Jaxson calls it his Sloppy Popcorn. I'm not sure why.
Then today on the playground he was racing up the ladder saying, "You can't catch me, I'm a gingerbread house!" Except gingerbread sounded more like June-ger bread. It was cute. I told him I thought he meant gingerbread MAN but he insisted it was house.
The best for last--I buy the kids drinkable yogurt and Jaxson calls it drinking yogurt. This morning he didn't eat his breakfast, which is his choice, but nothing to eat until lunch. Later I caught him in the fridge with a bottle of the yogurt and I said, "Jaxson I told you nothing to eat until lunch." He immediately replied, "But this is drinking yogurt." I just couldn't spank him for it.

Ice, ice baby

Well we didn't get any snow, but we had plenty of ice and it was a beautiful sight. And Shawn surprised me with this hairdo for Jaxson the other night. No, we don't let him out of the house looking like that. But he does wake up each morning with hair sticking up on each side of his head so that it looks like he has horns.

Jaxsonisms:

volcanoes----avolcanoes (think avocados)

pecans-------leprechauns

garf powder--the small white thing attached to an egg yolk

I have no idea where he came up with that last one.

The girls

Here's Rachel learning how to use a spoon. I think she managed to get about half of the yogurt in her mouth. And I thought the picture of Katie captures her personality really well--very calm and laid back (most of the time).

A Good Read

Jaxson made up his first full story the other day, and I'm going to try my best to share it word for word. Does it make 100% sense? No, and I wouldn't expect it to, but it does to him and that's what counts.

"Once upon a time there was a cowboy sitting at a table at the restaurant. He was eating breakfast. It was oatmeal. He thinked something. He feeled something. He heard something roaring over the mountain. It was a tank coming down but it didn't have bullets. It shot him in the jelly!"

Here's Rachel doodling her first masterpiece. The kids sat at the table and colored this afternoon while I cooked dinner. Everyone had a great time and we even managed to keep the coloring only on the paper. This was Rachel's first experience with crayons. Some of her other interests include talking on the phone, watching and barking at the dogs (her "bark" sounds like "feff"), watching the birds, and music. She LOVES music. She even knows how to ask for it. She'll come up to me, put one finger in the air, and pretend like she's conducting an orchestra. This week we're especially enjoying Twila Paris.

The picture of Jaxson is of him showing off his haircut. He got to go to the train car on Thursday and get a haircut. He told me Mrs. Daneen gave him a nut cookie and a cream cheese cookie.

Katie has some new developments this week too. She's started smiling and cooing after her meals. I tell you it warms me to my toes!

I'm all growned up!

That's what Jaxson said right before I took these pictures of him.

This morning he said, "God maked me. He put my nose on me. He glued it." I asked him what kind of glue He used and Jaxson said it was blue glue.

Then as we were getting ready for church he asked if he could go outside. I told him no because we were going to church and I wanted him to stay clean. He said, "I don't want to stay clean right now!" Those of you who know Jaxson know that's his personal motto he seems to live by, as do most boys.

Here are some pictures to enjoy. Jaxson's building abilities have really developed here lately. His creations have gone from being simple to complex. Yes, I know he needs a haircut but his appt. isn't until Thursday. Before you roll your eyes too much about the fact that he has an appt. to get his haircut keep in mind that Ms. Daneen's shop is in a converted train car, she always has fresh cookies on Thursdays, and she only charges five dollars. You can't beat that!

Some more Jaxsonisms:

Cobbler--Toddler (Rachel's a cobbler)

Lildwife--Wildlife

Baby feeders--See the below story

I was feeding Katie the other day and Jaxson asked if he could feed her. I told him no, and that only mommies can feed babies. He asked me if it was because mommies have big ones, and I said yes, because, well it's the truth. The next day he was standing in front of the mirror with his shirt lifted up and said, "I don't have big baby feeders, just little ones."

Oh and this morning Jaxson was eating Raisin Bran and he informed me that he was being healthy right now.

Howdy Pardner!

Jaxson got a new hat and belt yesterday and I wanted to show it off. I promise he's not choking his sister. We were headed out the door to church and I only had time for one picture. He also has on new cowboy boots.

New Camera!

We decided it was time to have a camera that takes decent pictures so, thanks to Christmas money, we now have a new camera. It really is the gift that keeps on giving because now y'all can enjoy more pictures of the kiddoes. I'm feeling a little bit like Dan Quayle because I'm not sure if "kiddoes" should have that "e" or not. Anyway, here are some pictures of Jaxson, Rachel, and Katie enjoying the last day of 2008.