No place like Grandma and Grandpa's

Julia and I went over to Grandma and Grandpa's last weekend while Jordan was at a slumber party and Keith was out shopping for new kicks. It was nice to just relax at their house and let them play with Julia.


We discovered that Grandpa has a side we've never seen - he's quite good at playing with dolls!

Julia loves apples, but only when Grandma gives them to her - she won't eat them if I give them to her. It's funny because I always loved when my mom would peel an apple for me. It always tasted so much better than if I tried to do it myself.

And a bite for Grandma. The sad part is, this bite probably came straight out of Julia's mouth into Grandma's. YUCK!

I keep saying that I need to take Julia to ride a real carousel. She loves to pretend on the carousel horse at my parents' house. I think Grandma made this from an old riding toy that I used to have. If it wasn't the one I had, it was defintely made from a toy similar to mine. I used to play a record with 'Davy Crockett' and ride my little horsey. Unfortunately, I didn't have the racoon hat.


My dad found an old amish tricycle-style rocking horse that they have had in their house for years. I'm proud to say that Julia was the first kid to actually ride on it. Looks like she's having a blast. I hope the iron wheels didn't do too much damage to their wood floors.

Snow Day

Today we had a SNOW ice day.  All the schools and daycares in the area were closed because the drizzling rain we had last night froze on the streets.  My work was open of course, but I was not brave enough to get out on the roads.  Plus, I didn't have a babysitter anyway so I stayed home with the kids.  I guess I should say that I stayed home with Julia because Jordan has been out with the neighborhood kids since he got up this morning so I haven't seen him at all today.  He must be having a good time because he hasn't even come in to eat lunch!  What fun it must be to be a kid!  Keith took Julia to the doctor this morning because she has had a really bad cough for several days (again, I was too scared to drive).  The cough turned out to be 'just a cough' so she's just taking benadryl to help dry her up.  Toddlers cannot take cough medicine anymore because they were all taken off the shelf several years ago, so benadryl is the best we can get.  I hope she starts feeling better soon.  Well, it was nice to have a surprise day off, even if it happened to land in the middle of the week!

Straight A's

Jordan brought home a straight "A" report card again this term.  Not only did he make all A's, his grade improved in every subject from the last term!  We are so proud of him.  When we first got him when he was five years old, he didn't even know his alphabet.  He has come such a long way in just three short years.  It's amazing to watch him grow into such an intelligent, polite and caring determined young man.   Keep it up Jordo!  Maybe you will get a scholarship to your favorite college and save mom and dad a lot of money!

66 and Counting

My dad turned 66 last weekend and we went to their house for dinner and cake.  My dad had surgery on his foot just a couple days before his birthday so he wasn't up for going out to celebrate.  My mom made Chicken Pot Pie (yummy) and we had a chocolate turtle ice cream cake for dessert.  We had a good time.  

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Julia and Grandpa getting ready to blow out the candles.

Josh strikes a pose.

Julia enjoying a Mickey Mouse snow globe my parents have had for about 20 years.  It has been on the shelf for years, but they pull it out every time Julia comes over because she loves it. 

Jordan doing his best Macaulay Culkin while sporting Julia's hairbow.

Julia is full of giggles when she's with Grandma.

It's not Mount St. Helens, but hey . . .

Jordan had to make a volcano for a school science project. We started with an empty coke bottle and put foam around it to get the volcano shape started. Then we covered it with clay, which created a huge mess on our kitchen table that dad was pretty unhappy with. After the clay dried we realized our volcano was too pointy so we had to get more clay to create a better shape. This time I found clay that wasn't quite as messy so the second attempt wasn't as bad as the first. When the clay was finally dry we had to paint it. Jordan wanted to use spray paint that had texture in it, but he didn't like the color of that kind of paint - he just liked the texture. So we spray-painted to get the right texture and then hand painted over it to get to the finished product. I have to say, I think it turned our pretty good. $40 and a weeks worth of work gave us a pretty neat looking volcano. Jordan was very proud. He took it to school and made it erupt during science class. He wanted to keep it in the living room, but I told him that we didn't want Julia to tear it up, so we better keep it in his room. Good thing he fell for that one because a volcano doesn't really fit well with the rest of the decor in our living room!

Dumbo

There is a Dumbo ride at Walmart that Julia loves to play on. But she will only get on it if Jordan rides it with her. From the look on his face, I think he enjoys it too, though he would never admit it. One weekend Jordan was at a friends house when we went to Walmart. We put Julia on Dumbo and started the ride and she didn't want to have anything to do with it. She'll only get on it if Jordan is there to keep her safe. Last weekend when we went to Walmart we parked near the door on the opposite side of the arcade. When we started to leave she began babbling and pointing to the other door ~ She remembered the Dumbo ride! I guess we have started a tradition - every trip to Walmart ends with a Dumbo ride. When she's a little older I will have a good bargaining tool to get her to behave while we are in the store!

Jordan's Ski Goggles

We had a garage sale at my parent's house a couple months ago and it seems like we acquired more things than we got rid of. One of the many items that we took home with us is a pair of old ski goggles that my dad gave to Jordan. He wears them all the time - playing outside, doing his homework, etc. Here's a picture of him snuggled up with Julia watching TV - And of course, he's wearing his goggles!

Mommy's Little Streaker

Grandma came over to visit yesterday and she decided to give Julia a bath.  When she was trying to dry her off, Julia escaped from the towel and started running around the house.  She was giggling and running from room to room with her bare butt wiggling behind her.  It took both me and my mom to chase her down and finally get her PJs on.  Ahhh, my little streaker!

Wake Up Bubby!

Jordan fell asleep on the couch last night, so we let him stay there for the night.  This morning when Julia woke up, she couldn't stand that Jordan was still asleep so she kept poking and prodding him until he woke up.

"Whatcha doin' Bubby?"

"Bubby! Bubby! Look, I have a good book you can read!"

"Come on Bubby! WAKE UP!"

"Look Mommy! Jordan's awake!"

"Bubby's gonna read me a book.  What a great morning!"

My how he's grown

When Jamie was packing her things to move to Virginia she came across an old picture of Jordan that is absolutely adorable.  It was taken Christmas of 2005 right after we got him.  We were still living in Alabama but had come to Texas to visit my family.  We went to Brunswick Lanes, which ironically, is just around the corner from where we live now.  He looks so puffy and little in this picture - so cute!  He is wearing the scarf that my sister gave me for Christmas. I can't believe how much he has grown in just 3 years!  Just look at those chubby little cheeks! I love you so much Jordan and thank God every day for letting you be part of our family!

Dinner from 1200 miles away

Jamie made dinner for us the other night and it was absolutely delicious! "How did she do that?", you ask, "Doesn't Jamie live in Virginia?" Well, yes, Jamie lives in Virginia but amazingly she made a delicious Chicken Parmesan dinner for us over the weekend. It was actually our Christmas gift from her. It's from a place called Dream Dinners and you go there to prepare meals and then put them in your freezer to cook whenever you want. Jamie made us a bunch of meals for our Christmas gift - Chicken Marsala, Chicken Parmesan, Raspberry Stuffed french toast, etc and we tried one over the weekend. It was so easy to make - pop it in the oven just like a frozen dinner, except that it's an actual homemade meal. It was so easy that I'm afraid that it doesn't count towards my new year's resolution of cooking 3 times per week! When we run out of the dinners that Jamie made, I will definitely be going back to Dream Dinners to make some more because they are absolutely delicious! Thanks for dinner Jamie! You are a magnificent chef - and it's amazing that you did it from 1200 miles away!

A Day at the Zoo

Friday's temperature was in the 70s and we couldn't resist taking advantage of such a beautiful day.  We took the kids to the Ft  Worth zoo and we had a great time.  Heather and Kade met us there, along with about a million other people. 

Dad, Jules and Jordan stopping for a pose in front of the cheetah cages.

Jordan making his way through a life-size termite mound.

Heather and Kaden.  It looks like Kade is actually waving at me!  Hi Kaden!

Little Kade taking it all in from the comfort of his stroller.

Julia and Jordan with the elephants (Yes, the elephant in the middle is me)

Jordan and Julia taking a rest on top of a bronze baby elephant.

Jordan, Kade and Heather

Julia enjoying the giraffes from her favorite vantage point - daddy's arms.

Couldn't resist posting this picture of my little model posing in front of the amphibian house - his favorite place!  Eeek!

New Years Resolutions

Okay, the dreaded day has come that I have to start my new years resolutions. I thought there was no better way to make me accountable for keeping my promises than to post them on the blog. Feel free to remind me if you catch me skimping on them:



1.) Cook dinner at least 3 times per week. (Frozen chicken patties and french fries do not count!)

2.) Go to the gym at least 3 times per week.

3.) Cut back to one soda per week.

4.) Stop napping on the weekends. (I could get away with this when Julia was up all hours of the night, but now that she is sleeping through the night and I am getting regular sleep, it is time for me to give up my favorite pasttime - the afternoon nap!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!