Christmastime, Cliffs Notes-style

Wow... another month-long interruption from this blog! And how do you summarize a month's worth of life, especially when that month included Christmas and all activities-Christmas? I guess through pictures!

A visit to a Special Somebody. Jack was a little unsure but didn't need me to sit with him. And a 'first' after 5 years of visiting Santa... NO LINE!!

Christmas programs. Same day, across town, but luckily at different times. Both girls did a great job.





The Nutcracker. My favorite Christmas tradition. This year was perfect. And I realized how much older the girls have gotten when I realized at the end of the day that this year was much more fun and much less work. Chad surprised the girls by bringing Jack down and joining us in Atlanta where we spent the night in a hotel, had a special dinner out on the town, and walked around the mall enjoying the decorations.



Quick ER trip. What's a holiday without a little sick? This poor guy had ear infections on Thanksgiving, bad case of croup on Christmas and strep on New Year's. 'Tis the season!


Boy toys!! Finally, this little boy has some things to play with that aren't pink, purple, and involving dolls!


Swing-set from all the grandparents. This has proven to be the gift that keeps on giving!


Looking through these pictures, I see one similarity with all of Jack's pictures...the pacifier! I guess we need to work on breaking that habit! (or at least removing it before we take the picture!!)

Ho Ho Ho and see you soon!!

Lessons from the Parade

The girls were glued to the Macy's Parade this Thanksgiving...saw the entire thing. In the past week, I've observed a few new things, courtesy of the parade:

1. 'Good-bye' ballet slippers and tutus; 'hello' high heals and short tap-outfits. It seems that being a "Rockette" is the new desired profession.

2. "You can tell that we like Alex because when we see him, we scream and run away; that's what girls do when they see Justin Beiber." This was Aly's explanation to Caroline, when talking about the boy across the street. (courtesy of the Pepsi or Coke commercial with Justin Beiber they saw every 5 minutes.)

3. "Spider Man is my boyfriend." After the Broadway performance by the webbed-hero, Caroline has a new obsession.

4. "Boys sometimes dress up like girls." This keeps coming up after another Broadway performance with a cast of transvestites. That was a fun one to explain.

5. "When are we going to see the floats?" This is the question I kept getting during our town's very humble, simple Christmas Parade. (while sitting in the cold drizzle it took everything I had to give a positive, non-sarcastic response!)

I can't help but be in awe of the amount of information
absorbed and processed by these little minds!

P.S.-- Just finished listening to Chad's game on the radio. Have I mentioned that the Hawks are 9-0?!

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

I realized today that I am more "middle-aged" than I picture myself. Let me explain:

In high school, if I saw certain kinds of cars- mostly either pick-up trucks or little cars of the Eclipse/Probe variety- I would speed up next to them and crane my neck to see who was driving, as there was a good chance that I might know their driver.

In college, I would do the same double-take if I saw cars with certain sorority/fraternity crests on the back windshield. Again, there was a good chance that I might know the driver.

Today, I realized that I now strain to see the driver of... mini-vans! Who would have guessed 10 years ago that I would speed up in excitement to see which friend of mine may be sharing the road with me in her mini-van?!

I guess I'll still take that over looking for my friends in a stretched-out Buick!