Keeping Up With The Jacksons

It's always a treat whenever my mom comes to visit. The kids are spoiled, TJ gets to sleep in later than normal and I get some quality time with her.

This trip was no exception. My mom came into town for Jordyn's birthday (you can read about Part 1 here). She arrived not long after I go home from work and the kids were ecstatic. She received all her hugs and flood of questions and stories pretty much the moment she walked in the door. And it didn't take long before my mom asked if we wanted Jordyn to open her gifts then or wait until the next day.

Jordyn, of course, wanted them right away. And the girl was swimming in fun gifts. From new clothes to shoes to toys, there was no shortage of oohs and ahhs out of her.

The best reaction though was over this pair of Sophia the First shoes. When I saw them in the store, I know she'd liked them and suggested the idea to my mom. My sister bought them for her and Jordyn's reaction was priceless. Of course, it wasn't caught on camera since we weren't quite expecting it. She started to shake and was almost speechless saying, "Oh. my. gosh! Sophia shoes!" and then ripped off the shoes she had on to put those on.  It was much funnier than it sounds right now.




After present time, my mom made Jordyn one of her favorite meals, Mac N Cheese and we finished off the night with games.

Saturday, we had Jordyn pick what she wanted to do. She chose bowling so off we went. We all had a great time. Jordyn even got her very first strike.









As we were leaving, the kids asked if they could play some games in the arcade for a little bit. Dylan and TJ went head-to head at some good ol' ait hockey and Jordyn won enough tickets to get a new princess crown and a big lollipop.

On our way home, we stopped and picked up some cupcakes for Jordyn and later had to say good-bye to Mimi. My mom has a new work schedule that gives her Friday and Saturday off but has working Sunday afternoon, so she headed home Saturday evening to give her a little bit of time to relax beore having to go to work.

All in all, I say Jordyn had a a great 4th birthday!

What do you do for birthdays? Do you always have parties for your kids or do you play it low key sometimes?