Ha Ha

I read this on the internet and thought it was funny......

Are traditions just chores given to us by dead people?

A Gleam in Her Eye

As I just typed that title I laughed because I realized that's what you say when you talk about a future baby---NO, I am not (and never will be) pregnant!

Charlotte was in the bathtub with Connor and I was teaching her to not stand up. She kept doing it and then looking at me rather mischieviously. I said, "Charlotte, look at you. Standing up over and over with a gleam in your eye!" Connor grabbed her and the following conversation was:

C: Mom, I'll hold her and you get it out!
K: Get what out?
C: The gleam.
K: Connor! That's just a saying.
C: What color is it? What does it look like?

Too funny!

One more for you. The other day he said something about "Balden" eagles. I asked him what a "Balden" eagle was and he said, "You know, like a rappin' eagle like the kind wrapped in a hot dog but not the kind you eat." What????????

In Charlotte news, she is walking wonderfully. Still a little unsteady at times but definately getting faster. She is so cute at this age. I also love how she has so much hair. Other 14 month olds I see have just a thin, short layer but I can put her's in ponytails. The other day I even braided it!

The Best 17.5 Hours (and counting) Of My Life

I wrote this a couple weeks ago but am just now posting:

So we went to Jeff & Carolin's last night for New Year's. Both kids stayed up so late (9:30 & 12:30) that Charlotte just woke up and Connor is still sleeping at 9:30 a.m. Yippee!! I am milking it even more by putting Charlotte in front of her first chick flick (Thumbelina--thanks mom & dad) while she eats breakfast. She is absorbed and I feel like I am still free!

We had a great time last night. The boys played--wait, let me clarify--the boys did flying ninja moves over the couches and we didn't hear from them for 7.5 hours while the girls played Rock Band Hero with all the adults. I'm not much for Wii but it was fun. I tried all the instruments and singing. Then we moved onto a fun game called Apples to Apples and somehow that turned into trying every 80's dance move we knew in the kitchen. Yes, I know how to moonwalk thanks to Rolando Balli when I was about 10. Everyone was pretty impressed. And I must say "Good Parenting!!" to Jeff and Carolin because I was really impressed with the amount of awesome 80's music that Raelee and Jordan knew.

The three ninjas:

I can't believe I am posting this video because I do NOT look good but at least everyone else will get a good laugh. And, we hadn't even been drinking! These are the 80's dance moves we were doing (why am I the only one in the video????):

At midnight we all had a sparkling cider toast with my grandma's real crystal. We even let the kids join in until they got a little exuberant with the toasting.

It was so good to hang out with Jeff and Carolin again. It really was like old times, we were all so silly. Background for those of you who don't know: We met them when the guys had a class together in college. We were just married and they had been married about three years. When the boys graduated Jeff found a job for both of them in Charlotte, NC (hence her name). We all moved out there and even lived in the same apt. complex for a while. One memory that comes to mind--Aaron and I went into the grocery store one night and they waited outside in the car. When we came out they were leaned all the way back in their seats with their sunglasses on, playing rap music as loud as they could with the bass shaking the car, and Raelee in her baby carrier in the backseat! We just burst out laughing! And who can forget racing down the apartment parking lot in office chairs--Woohoo! We had the BEST time there. We were just fun and crazy! Two years later we all (plus one little Raelee at this point) moved back to Dallas and both ended up building homes in The Colony where we lived and had kids for the next 9.5 years. Then they moved back to Lubbock!! Now they've been back here for about 1.5 years but live about 25 min away plus Carolin is a working woman so we just don't get to hang out as much.

On a side note--In the car on the way there Connor said, "I love riding in the car and bandaids. They keep your fingers warm." I, seriously, don't know where he comes up with this stuff. I'll be so sad when he is a teenager and doesn't want to talk to us!

Anyway, you can see from all the pics and videos we had a great time.

Christmas in Lubbock

As previously mentioned in my "I love dead pigs" segment we spent Christmas in Lubbock. As I predicted Charlotte started walking. I just knew she wasn't walking because there was no room in our rental and sure enough as soon as she got to Uncle Jon and Aunt Mandy's house and had some space she took off that first day!



WARNING: This section contains Santa spoiler info.

This is the first Christmas Connor has really been excited about Santa. We showed him Santa Tracker on the internet on Christmas Eve and he completely lost it! He kept running back and forth saying "He (Santa) moved! He moved!". Then he would tell everyone "Go to bed!!!!". He was getting really frusterated with all the adults staying up. Finally we had to put him in bed with us until he fell asleep. Aaron was scratching on the wall pretending to be reindeer on the roof and Connor just about couldn't take it. Aaron pulled out his iPhone and said, "Connor, do you want to check Santa Tracker one more time?". Very upset, Connor said, "WOULD YOU PUT THAT THING AWAY AND GO TO SLEEP!!".



Nana & Papa and the kiddos.

Uncle Jon serenading Charlotte........

and later being spoiled by Aunt Mandy!




Connor with his hard hat/headlamp from Super Grandma & Super Grandpa that he can wear to "inspect" our house and Charlotte with a doll stroller she thinks is for her.

Hunter trying to feed Charlotte her first Ramen noodles.

She also got some girlie movies from Gramma & Grampa. Here she is enjoying her first chick flick--Thumbelina.

Just thought this one was cute so I had to include it. Notice Daddy's redneck steak grill in the back (In all seriousness, he learned how to make this on the Food Network and it really does cook steak just like in an expensive steakhouse).

This is Connor singing "He's still Workin' On Me". This is one of those keepers you have to get on video. Still haven't figured out how to rotate it :)

On Jan. 9 we finally got snow so the boys had fun outside.

Poor Charlotte! She was scared to go outside because Connor kept throwing snowballs at us. She's probably scarred for life and will have to live in California. The horror!!!

Now is the time if you are not my parents you probably want to check out before you are bored to death. That's right--House alert!

I had to put this one in because it shows just how bright the "Interrogation Lights" (aka flood lights) are over the garage. I told Aaron it looks like a penitentiary. Might have to change out that bulb.

Entry chandelier that I tried to include earlier but this is a better shot. It is about 3 feet tall and the glass has the look of parchment paper. It looks soft and "glowey" when it's on. We got it right before they discontinued it!

Island granite that I was "appalled" at when I first saw it. All I could see was Texas orange. Now that the backsplash, lighting, etc. is in I love it!

Aaron's big splurge was the shower. He really wanted a walk in shower (not sure what it's really called but the kind where it is really deep or takes a turn so you don't have to have any glass or a door) but the plan just didn't allow for it no matter what changes we thought of so we did some tile upgrades. Every other grout line has darker toned, shiny 1/2 x 1/2" accent tiles. He also talked me into a rainfall shower head coming down from the top. We'll try to save some water for the rest of the planet.

We've had a few "issues" (as in "Whoops. We've never built this floorplan before."). When they brought in the tub it didn't fit in the space. They only way to get it dropped in was to cut out a niche in the wall to add a 1/2 inch. I think it turned out pretty good.

When I saw this I had to take a picture. I sent an email to the builder that said, "I'm no expert but is the tub supposed to be supported by bricks and plywood and the pvc held up by small tiles?". Remarkably he said this was common practice and that it is all cemented in place. Still seems suspicious to me but alrighty.