Tuesday Tell All Catch Up

Christmases Long Long Ago: I loved having my grandparents spend the night on Christmas Eve. Granny would sleep with me and Papa would sleep in Billy's room, putting him on the couch. They would be at our house to see what Santa left for us then pack up and go. After church we'd go to their house for dinner and gifts. After dinner we'd play games and eat dessert. Fun times!

Greatest gift: The greatest gift I gave this year was the carousel that Papaw wanted for his village which has quickly morphed into a city. Aiden picked it out for him. The greatest material gifts I recieved was from our parents: a dishwasher and a leaf sucker/blower. However the best gift I got was the picket fence smiles from my two little sweeties. I loved seeing their excitement with the gifts and who can resist the bed hair in Christmas morning pictures! They have been getting along so well lately and that is the best gift ever.

Don't Ask Me, I Just Pay the Mortgage!

Needless to say I got a good belly laugh when I found this scenario in the kitchen the other day. No one will fess up to "uniting" Pooh and the frog in this position. Aiden and Travis said they didn't do it but I am not sure if I believe that for a second.

I never would have pegged these two as a match for each other but opposites do attract, you know. I guess we all need to get a little lovin' from time to time!

Happy New Year, y'all!

The cherry on top...

both Aiden and Audrey are throwing up with a stomach flu. Travis is next in line with stomach cramps and I imagine I'll be following that road shortly. There goes our New Year's plans. On the bright side, I would rather blow noses that get puked on one more time.

Normally I am not one to complain but I really feel so much better after getting my top 7 off my chest. Every now and then you just need to let it all go. Usually I am the one who is last to take down the tree and other decorations. And I did have some wonderful times with my family and freinds this year. I guess you can't have the Norman Rockwell Christmas every year and it was my turn to have the Charlie Brown Christmas this year.

Who wants to claim it for next year?

Just call me Scrooge

Although I thoroughly enjoyed being with my family and friends, I am SO OVER the holidays! I will post pictures of the holidays tomorrow but here are the top 10 reasons I am ready to be done with December:

1. Both our cars went in the shop within a week of each other, really tightening the old pursestraps.
2. Neither of my kids are sleeping through the night. Once I get one down the other is awake. Maybe it is because the idea of Santa had them wacked out hyper all month. When the kiddos aren't sleepin ain't nobody sleepin! (Needless to say Aiden woke up while I was writing this post so I had to save it an come back.)
3. Both Aiden and Audrey have had the worst runny noses this month. I am over trying to chase Aiden down to blow his nose. Audrey on the other hand actually likes it but I don't care if I ever blow another nose again! Plus it makes them cough all night, which may be a contributing factor to the not sleeping thing.
4. When I got out my tree this year, about half of the spots where the limbs connect were broken. So our tree looked like poo since there were mostrous gaps everywhere. I wanted to throw up every time I saw that ugly thing.
5. Aiden and Audrey kept taking off the ornaments that were on the tree. Aiden would take ones he liked back to his room and Audrey would just take them off the tree to look at them, tell me "pretty," then lay them back on the tree.
6. I don't get out of school until Friday the 21st this year! What is that about?
7. I volunteered to have Christmas dinner at my house this year so that the kids could play with their new things at home(Ultimately I did't feel like lugging home all their new gear for the third night in a row). That meant that I needed to clean the house amongst all the Christmas maddness and cook the dinner.


Today Travis and I shuttled the kids off and cleaned the heck out of our house, erasing any evidence of the crazy month that has passed. The ghetto tree is waiting to be picked up and I can breathe deeply again.


Here's Aiden again...so I'll leave it at the top 7. Sorry about the complaining but now that it;s out of my system I can appreciate the goodness that is my family and our future.

As Aiden would say...

"What da world?" I can't figure out why my picture no longer fits in the title box. I didn't make any changes to the template. Any suggestions?

Sweeter than any sugarplum

This is my girl, Audrey.

This little one is 16 months going on 26 years old! Sometimes I think she acts more grown up than I. For example, when she is ready for bed, she'll turn off the TV, take my hand and guide me to the gate at the bottom of the basement stairs. "Baba. Night night" she'll tell me and be ready for bed. She'll mimic anything we say to her and it actually sounds pretty close. Our favorite thing about her language is her favorite word, "pookoo." We've discovered this word can mean many things: purple, crayon, present, and the list goes on. She also refuses to eat without a spoon and always uses "pwease" and "dank oo." What a little lady!

She loves to sing "Old MacDonald" so she'll sing "e-i-e-i-o-duck" because she always wants the duck to be named first. When any music is on while she is sitting(or even when it is dead silent), you can see her kicking her legs to the rhythm. She also does this when you hold her or when she is trying to fall asleep. It sounds funny in the monitor at night. And dancing? That girl has some rhythm! I see toe shoes in her future!

Audrey is named after my dad's mother whom I believe to be one of the kindest women I've ever known. I was so worried that this baby would be a hellion and I would always be yelling at her using my grandmother's name. That would be too weird!Luckily this Audrey is following in that Audrey's footsteps. She cannot stand to hear anyone cry, especially babies. Tonight in Target she heard a baby crying and she called out, "don't cry" and blew the baby a kiss. If she accidently head buts us while we are holding her she'll say "saawwwyy" and "ets hug." Can't get much sweeter than that. Although my grandmother hated her name I think she's so happy to have such a beautiful and gentle little girl as her namesake. Santa will definitely be good to her this year!

Audrey's wish list from Santa:
1. A doll with a doh (pacifier) or one that talks.
2. Books
3. Puzzles
4. Anything kitty cat

Someone bring me my wrist cuffs!

I always knew I was meant to do something good and this quiz solidified that answer for me! According to this scientifically proven, research based quiz I am Wonder Woman!



Take the quiz at www.thesuperheroquiz.com and see what superhero you resemble.


What about that bad side we all try to keep hidden but seems to emerge at the worst possible time? See which superhero villain fits you at www.thesuperheroquiz.com/villain. When it comes to the bad guys I most strongly resemble The Riddler.



What does it say for you? Do you think it fits?

Tuesday Tell All: The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Real or artificial tree?

Artificial for now but real once the animals are gone.

Do you like eggnog?

Yes...yummy creamy goodness!

Favorite gift received as a child?

My dollhouse which Audrey will get in a few or twenty years.

Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes and Aiden loves to arrange the people. He likes to have baby Jesus in his room but I told him the baby needs to stay with his mommy and daddy since he is only a tiny baby.

Hardest? Easiest person to buy for?

Hardest: my brother Billy. Easiest: the kids.

Favorite Christmas movie?

Twas the Night Before Christmas...you know the one with the mice and the clock.

White lights or colored lights?

Either but we have white this year.

Favorite Christmas song?

The Chipmunk Christmas Song or Baby, it's Cold Outside.

Travel for Christmas or stay home?
Traveling around the city is fine. All of our closest family is within a 20 minute drive.

Do you open presents Christmas Eve

or Christmas morning?

Christmas Eve at Cathy and Larry's house with Trav's side of the family. Christmas morning at home alone with the kids. Christmas night at my mom and dad's with my brother.

Do you tell the Christmas story?

We read the book to the kids.

Good for a giggle

Amy Ritchie sent me this video on Monday and I really needed a good laugh. On Monday, neither Aiden nor Audrey slept well, the car passed out which will put us out $400 this close to the holidays and school was wacko! Thanks Amy...enjoy everyone!



When looking for this on YouTube I found a few more like it but none that truly hold a candle to this one.

Question: If you are married, would you redo it this way and what song would you use? I totally would! Our song would be, "You're the One that I Want" from Grease, Travis' favorite guilty pleasure!

Tuesday Tell All Catch-up

I feel like I've been in the Twilight Zone! Something weird happened with our computer that wouldn't allow us to log on to any websites: no email, no blogspot, no ebay! I have no idea why it works now but I ain't askin any questions neither!

Therefore I am going to catch up as much as possible and double dip last week's and this week's Tuesday Tell All:

Last Tuesday: Season of Giving

I hate tooting my own horn so this is a toughie for me. One nice thing I've done lately is give blood at my student council's blood drive last week at school. I felt that I should donate since I was coordinating the drive and asking others to do so. I was so nervous as it was my first time. Secretly I was hoping that I would fail one of the little tests along the way: contact with blood (Aiden always gets bloody noses from digging for gold), low iron (not the case anymore...those pesky multivitamins!). No such luck. I went to get my collection bag and sat on the donor table. One guy couldn't find a good vein...my lucky day...not! He switched me to the lady he called "the vein guru" and of course there was a "pretty one" as she called it on my left arm. Darn that guru! I admit I teared up from the anticipation of the needle but I should have been crying because I was making a huge deal over nothing. It was painless and I was able to help someone without asking for anything in return. Two teachers at my school have had family members recieve transfusions in the last week. I know they didn't get my blood but I feel good for helping the cause. I plan on giving again since I am, and this is in the guru's words, "an A+ sponsor with A - blood."

Something nice that was done for me doesn't really fit as neatly into this topic but I am going to make it fit since it did give me a better outlook. Freshman year at UK I was walking to take a test in a class I dreaded, biology with Dr. Just. He was one of those professors that was bound and determined that no one get an A in his class so his tests were impossible. Scowling, I was walking across "Blanding Beach" when I heard, "You dropped something." As I looked around on the ground I realized this was impossible because everything I needed to fail that test was in my backpack. I looked up at him with a confused look. He merely pointed to my face and said, "Your smile." Of course that comment led me straight to my lost smile, along with the realization that, as much as we hate it, people do see more than we may think we are exuding. I am a pretty friendly gal but anyone who saw me on that day before my chance encounter probably didn't get that vibe. I try and give off the same energy that I like to attract, which is friendliness mixed with fun. I regret that I never saw that guy so I could thank him. BTW, I failed that biology test (and ultimately the class) but retook the course with another teacher and got a B+.


This Tuesday: O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

I don't think I'd ever want one of those department store window showpiece trees that some crave because it goes against what I think of when I think of the holidays: that is family. Here are some of my favorite ornaments and what they say.

Prewedding ornaments: Kiss, UK, WWF Wrestling, a computer, Scrabble board, ballet shoes, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. We found the fun stuff and loved just being us, embracing some of our cherished youth and finding stuff to like together.

Teacher ornaments: A large variety of ABC's, books, schoolhouses...you name it! I do like the one that reads, "Support Wildlife: Teach School."

Wedding ornaments: fancy decorator ones we received as gifts and 7,346 "Our First Christmas" ornaments. I love them all but it doesn't bother me when the fancy ones break. Each of the first Christmas ornaments is special because it shows a little about the giver. My favorites are the bride and groom snow people and the Santa riding an alligator we bought on our honeymoon in New Orleans.

Ornaments commemorating the kids: I love all the ornaments with the kids' names on them, including the ones with four of whatever that can symbolize the four of us. Of tthe kids's ornaments ornaments, my favorites are their dohs (pacifiers) on ribbon that hang on the tree. Aiden's is a blue doh and Audrey's is a UK doh, the only one she'd use for four months straight. The only thing I don't like is that I have more ornaments that have three characters not four as we need now so I don't want Audrey to get jealous one day (that is something I totally felt when it came to my older brother...he was mom's favorite :) ).

Some may not like it because it has no particular color pattern or doesn't stick to one particular style. To me, it is a representation of all of us and love.

Through Noni's eyes

When I was young I'd beg to stay at my grandmother's as long as she'd let me (sometimes it was a week over the summer!) and my kids do the same. They love to stay at either Mamaw and Papaw's or at Noni and Pop's house.

My mom was over the other day so I uploaded her camera to a disk for her since their computer is pretty much shot, and it would take me 40 minutes to get her to do it on her own anyway. I love seeing what the kids do at her house unfiltered like this. Here are some of my favorites.

Audrey's favorite thing to do at Noni's is to sit in this rocking chair. When she was a few months younger and would tip over very easily we would hide it. Wherever it was hidden she would seek it out.













This was Aiden's reaction when he was asked to sit next to his sister and give her a kiss. He is usually game for kisses (especially is you are taking his picture) but was not up for it this particular day.















Mom has also figured out how to take movies with her camera. Hers captures sound and mine doesn't...needless to say I am jealous! This first movie is too long but Audrey looks cute wearing her Chinese outfit I bought her in New York while she is bouncing on her horse.




This second video is pretty funny. You can learn two important things about Aiden from it:
1. He clearly loves playing in this car because his knees are hitting the steering wheel with every step he takes.
2. He has had his picture taken too many times.
Pop has created a spot for Aiden in the garage with his own tool bench, tool belt and tools. They could hang out there together all day!

Now that is OLD!

There are two garments that traditionally worn by our family members.

The first is the baptismal gown worn by all the children from my maternal grandmother down to Audrey (I think the count is at 45). Aiden and Audrey have both worn the gown. I need to scan Aiden's pics but here are Audrey's. She was exactly four weeks old when she was baptized by Deacon Mike Edwards at The Church of the Ascension where I have made all my sacraments (baptism, first communion, reconciliation, confirmation, marriage). She slept through the whole thing. Candace Hardy, my dear friend, and Craig Valente, Travis's cousin, are her godparents. We may need to switch godfathers now that Craig's wife is pregnant with TRIPLETS!



















The second garment is a dress that all the girls in the family have worn from my maternal grandmother down. I am going to scan the pics of me and my grandmother wearing the dress but here is it's latest model. Audrey is 16 months in the pictures. Thanks for the beautiful pics, Renee!

Thanks and No Thanks

Thanks for Brock and his silly idea to put this busted puffer ball on his head as a wig. It was the hit of the day.



Aiden's thanks (straight from his mouth): Thank you for Zack and Cody and for chips and cheese.

Audrey's thanks (if she could say them): Thank you for dohs, babas and phones.

No thanks for Bekah's trip to the Emergency room. She was hit in the eye with a ball from her cousin's pool table. Luckily she only had to get liquid stitches but it was still a downer. Especially since her birthday is today.

Happy Birthday Bekah!

Tell All Tuesday (two days late): An Attitude of Gratitde

I got the idea for Tell All Tuesdays from my friend Wendi's website. I thought it was a great idea so I am blog-lifting.

1. The things I give thanks for this Thanksgiving:

• my family
• the health of myself and family
• incredible freinds
• a job I really love
• pets that I love to hate
• all of the time I get to spend with Aiden and Audrey
• date nights with Travis
• the goofy faces in the picture below
  

2. My Thanksgiving traditions include:

• a relaxing morning
• an early dinner with Travis' side of the family
• a late dinner with my side of the family
• When Granny and Papa were still alive we'd play games after dinner and dessert. I'd like to start that tradition again once the kids are old enough to play with us (three rounds of Candy Land does not a game make).

3. The best thing about Thanksgiving for me is: spending time with family and getting to enjoy their company without the stress of gift giving. Plus all the yummy food!

4. My favorite Thanksgiving food is: stuffing.

5. The most exciting thing that ever happened at Thanksgiving was: nothing I can recall. It seems to be a pretty relaxed day. We used to love to watch Aunt Chere "sneak" food to our dog Snuggles. Mom would get so mad that she was feeding the dog the Honey Baked Ham. Also, I used to be in charge of drying the dishes when the ladies when the ladies would wash them after the meal. I loved to sneak the ones I'd dried back into the dirty pile and try to fool Granny and Chere. Sometimes they'd realize what I had done but many times it went unnoticed except for a comment like, "These holidays are all running together because I could have sworn I'd already washed this dish." Little did I realize that my prank caused me extra work too since the dished had to be dried again, too.

6. After the meal: everyone sits around the table and talks before we all help clean up the carnage. Lately Travis has been doing the dishes...not bad, huh? And Aiden likes to put the silverware back in the hutch. We'll see what Audrey does to fit in the mix since last year she snoozed in her swing through dinner. Like I mentioned earlier, I'd like for us to start playing games again soon.

7. To get ready I need to: make desserts since that always seems to be my job. I like to bake and do it better than cook. I need to make sure the kids stuff is all packed since we'll be going from Cathy's to Noni's and will be there late enough for jammys.


I am thankful for you! Happy Thanksgiving!

Aiden's friends at Friends

This year Aiden started the 4 day 4 class at Friends School. We weren't sure how it would go since the end of last year was not good. He started hating school and riding the bus for some reason. Not true this year! he loves his teachers, Mrs. Meghan (or "Mrs. Wagon" according to Aiden) and Mrs. Tricia. He has made lots of new friends and is learning so much! We would love him to be able to stay there through elementary school so I may have to take out some kids to move him up on the list. The pictures above are from his first day. He just waved me and Travis out of the room...very bittersweet!

I'm sensing an unplanned theme...

Last night after calming myself from the excitement of the So You Think You Can Dance finale (Go Sabra!) I headed to bed to read a little before I dozed off. Of course Travis was gone and the kids were asleep so it was nice and quiet.

As I reached my hand into the bathroom to turn off the light I noticed the water in the toilet was wiggling. My first reaction was I can't believe I just fixed this toilet and it is broken again...then I noticed a dark gray thing splashing in the water! Scared to death that it was a rat climbing out of the toilet I closed the door and slid my robe in front of the gap under the door to keep the animal from roaming the house.

Frozen, I shuffled down the hall as quietly as possible to not wake up the kids and called Travis from the living room, telling him he needed to get home to get the rat out of the toilet. As he scolded me for not shutting the toilet lid to avoid us getting bit by a rat I crept down the hall closer to the bedroom, breathing very heavily and hearing that creepy scary movie music echoing in my head the whole time. With Travis yelling in my ear I stood outside the bathroom door listening to the creature flop around in there. Finally I mustered up some courage; I opened the door a tiny bit and peeked in to see if the animal was still in there. Sure enough it was and it was no rat...it was a bat! I saw those little creepy pointed wings flapping in the water and slammed that door again and darted back to the living room.

How was I supposed to get that thing out of the toilet? I love animals just as much as the next person but my first instinct was to shut the lid, lay books on top, then flush the body in the morning. Realizing that was not exactly humane, I gave into my next instinct...I want my daddy! I called my parents and dad came over to save the night. The bat hooked his bat claws onto the bat-towel and dad laid the towel in the front yard. He said my uninvited guest was really tired from swimming so he'd fly away after he dried out. Needless to say every teeny creak and crack that night made me a nervous batwreck!

Good news: the bat flew away.
Bad news: the bat flew away and knows where I live!

Halloween in July Part II

Is there something in the air around us? Aiden and I were cleaning his room and in the time it took me to take a sippy cup to the kitchen he had gotten out his kangaroo Halloween costume and was ready to put it on. He was so excited to boing boing boing down to show Travis in the basement. Of course he also had to take Audrey her costume, too. I was so shocked that it still fit! She looked so cute waddling around with her ladybug antennas.

Update on Pop's Pumpkin Patch: Just when he was ready to chop up the leaves, there are two new green pumpkins waiting to ripen!

Halloween in July??

Now I have heard of Christmas in July but not Halloween! Noni found a pumpkin plant in the Target dollar bin so Pop decided that he was going to grow pumpkins for the kids this year. Little did he know that not only were they going to be ready in July but that they would take over the whole yard! Those vines attacked the grass and took over the backyard, reminiscent of Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. The picture of the "pumpkin patch" was taken after Pop decided to scale it down considerably. Luckily for their marriage the plant didn't hurt Noni's tomatoes.

The Boy Wonder and Doggiegirl!

Aiden loves his Robin Underoos and I imagine it takes Travis back to his boyhood, too. Did you ever have Underoos? Mine were Supergirl. I had originally planned on cropping his photo before I published it but if you look behind him you can see Audrey eating dog food...her newest pass time. Lately we can get her to give most of the food to Belle but she does enjoy the occasional morsel here and there. Travis can't wait until he can tell that story to her dates...when she is old enough to date...which is when we are dead.

Ever have one of these days

I was rushing to get Aiden to an appointment the other morning, got in the car with him and realized I had done this. Luckily I had a second to run in and grab the other flip flop.

Welcome Sydnie!

Here she is and she is adorable!

Sydnie Alexis was born today, 7/27/07, at 11:15ish. She is 19 inches long and weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces. you should see her blond hair...Edie said it was in a mohawk when she came out! Long fingers and toes. And don't worry...Gigi has already approved of her instep and declared she will be a dancer. Grandma Ruby is ready to take her antiquing! What a wonderful addition to our family.

Congratulations Chris and Edie!

Tough critics!

I know that hamburgers and mac & cheese isn't the most thrilling dinner but I didn't think it was THIS boring!





They both knocked out before 6:30! Anyone who knows my kids, especially Aiden, knows that this is a once in a lifetime thing. Both kiddos had been playing hard in the backyard jumping in the sprinkler and the baby pool. I am hoping it was more of the heat than the choice of menu that made them zonk out.

I am going to finish my blog for Audrey's first year on www.babyjellybeans.com this month and start using this blog as my way to document myself and my family. I have been thinking about this new format for a while but wanted to have the perfect first post. I couldn't pass this one up.