"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"

but only on stage...please stop snowing in the real world...we've had enough of the messy white stuff, thankyouverymuch. I however cannot get enough of the sweet liddle dancing snowflake in the video below...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

What in the world has Grace so "de-cited"? Why, all the fun we had over Christmas of course! But...there's something else...
Can you spot "it" in the picture??

Christmas is upon us...

And I have MANY things to blog about...so many it is overwhelming to me. Dance recitals, girl's night out at the Nutcracker ballet, birthday parties with Cinderella, school Christmas programs...is your head spinning yet? Mine sure is...but don't worry...I'll get around to it all. And I have pictures...boy howdy do I have pictures. But right now? At this very second? Blogging can wait...because I have a very cuddly, very warm, very sweet baby boy that is willing to curl up in my arms and snuggle. Lately he doesn't sit still for very long. So blogging can wait.

God Bless Texas

So...you already know that we went to Texas to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We boarded a plane at 6am on Thanksgiving day and arrived in Dallas less than 2 hours later. We were at Grandma's house by breakfast time. Flying was the best idea Earl and I have had in a long time. No more 10 hour car drive, no more wailing from the backseat "Are we there yet!?", no more stopping for bathroom breaks every 30 miles...yep, flying was fantabulous. And oh so easy with two parents to juggle kids and luggage and sippy cups. I would totally recommend flying...hands down.



The weather in Texas was beautiful, the food was plentiful, and we had three relaxing days with Earl's parents, big brother, and niece. Like I said in a previous post and as you can see from the pictures above, Grace and Sam had some SERIOUS Grandma/Paw-paw quality time (except for the small bump in the holiday "road" when Earl flushed a baby wipe down the potty and the plumber had to come...but it was fixed fairly quickly and we were back to free flushing for one and all. Potty's are an important fixture in the life of a 4 year old, esp. the day after Thanksgiving! I've never been so thankful for indoor plumbing and Grandma and Paw-paw's second working bathroom!) We didn't take many pictures...we just played and chatted and ate...mostly ate. You never starve at Grandma's house...and there is never lack of fritos and bean dip and yummy chocolate treats (including the chocolate cream pie that I think I ate 3/4's of...but that's beside the point). We did manage to whip out the camera and snap a few pics though, including pictures of these:

Singing and dancing Santa's...LOUD, obnoxious singing and dancing Santa's. You see Grandma has a problem. And it's not a small problem either. Grandma loves singing and dancing stuffed anything--dogs, cats, Santa's, gorillas...add sunglasses and it makes the experience that much better...if it has an "on/off" button attached to it, and it has the ability to drive a person mad in less than 2 minutes, Grandma loves it...and she buys one for her collection and one to send to each beloved grandchild. The three Santa's you see above are just the tippy top of the iceburg in her singing/dancing stuffed figurine choir. And Sam adores them. He esp. adores them when all three are singing and dancing at. the. same. time. Did I mention how LOUD these things are?? He played with them all weekend...endlessly...he never grew tired of their Christmas cheer. Which is very uncharacteristic of Sam...he's an on the go sort of kid, moving here and there from one minute to the next. He doesn't sit still for anything...well anything except three very LOUD singing Santa's
Grandma said she'd be more than happy to send them to us...you know, since the boy loved them so very much. I told her that was an oh so nice offer...but I wouldn't want them to get mishandled during shipping, and you know...get broken or something awful like that....
Thanks for such a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving Grandma and Paw-paw! We will see you very soon!

Real quick...before I forget...sorry no pics...

Earl is traveling...he left early yesterday morning before the kids were awake. Both questioned his absence almost as soon as they woke up. Grace was content after I told her that Daddy went on an airplane for work and that he would be back before she got home from school on Wednesday. Sam however kept asking about "dada" throughout the day. He'd look up from whatever it was that he was doing that minute--I tell you this kid is minute to minute...he never stays in one spot very long--pop out his chou-chou*, look at me questioningly, and say "da-da?"
*"chou-chou" is our family word for pacifier...rhymes with "bow"

Sometime around mid-morning on Monday, Earl called to check in...he had a few hours free and had stopped to visit Mount Vernon (the home of George Washington)...as he was talking to me, he said "Well...whaddya know, there's a camel here...hey buddy!" I replied, "A camel? At Mt. Vernon? Really? Well, watch out...they spit." Then we hung up...it was a short phone call, they mostly are when he travels...just a check-in here and there, then he either has to go back to whatever it is he was doing or the kids start beating up on each other and I have to go and go pull them off of each other. As soon as I hung up, Grace asked about the camel (she pays close attention to the conversations of grown-ups, particularly the conversations of her grown-up parents...we must be careful what we say around such little ears)..."Daddy saw a camel?...wow...cool..."
We continued our day...lunch, naps, snack, sibling WWF, laundry...and Sam continued to ask about "da-da?"...Each time he would ask I would say "He'll be back buddy, he flew on an airplane and went to work." I finally loaded the kids up and took 'em to Wal-mart...sometimes when you're flying solo at this parenting thing, it is not smart to stay in the house. Sometimes it is best to get out there and share your crazy children with the general public. As I was unloading and putting on coats and strapping in Sam to the shopping cart, little baby man looked up yet again, popped out his chou-chou, and said "da-da?" And before I could answer, big sister piped up...."SAaaaaM! Daddy flew away on an airplane to go see a camel..." Well, folks there ya go...plain and simple...I couldn't have said it better myself. And ya know what? Sam stopped asking...I guess Grace cleared up any doubt about the where-abouts of his beloved "da-da"

Today is someone's BIRTHDAY...

but shhh...act like I didn't tell you. How about I let you guess? :)

And I won't tell you how old he is either...cause he's OLD. In fact, he's 5 1/2 years older than me...sheesh! But he's really just a 12 year old little boy in a big man body (as I type this he's killing "bad guys" in some video game). And that's one of the many, many things I love about him.

He is my rock. My voice of reason. The best way I can describe our reletionship is to tell you that I make him crazy and he makes me sane. Happy Birthday Earl...I love you so good.