Thanksgiving Weekend!

We had a great Thanksgiving Weekend!! The early part of the day was spent at our house. Mom, Dad Adam and his family came over as well as my Aunt and Uncle (Loreita & Randy) from Nashville. It was so nice to spend some time with them. They brought the kids their Christmas presents early....and they just loved them. Spencer received a talking parrot which he called a talking woodpecker...and named him Paul Simon... Olive fell in love with her Pooh Bear that shakes. She hugs it and bites it (her way of showing affection). So much is going on with her. She wants to learn to walk soooo bad!! She's like her brother, very OCD when she gets set on something. She can stand up all by herself, but is unable to take steps. She wants you to hold her hands and help her walk all the time (as seen below)..which is great, but it takes its toll on your back and shoulders. The second half of our Thanksgiving was spent at the Raible's. It was so nice to see Larry's Grandma Sarah, who was able to attend. We missed Sarah, Tom and Adrienne....but will see them soon.

On Saturday, Isabelle and Jenna came over to join Spencer for our First Annual Gingerbread House Making Party!! Mom and Dad came too and helped construct the houses. I think the adults had more fun than the kids. Adam and I had some good laughs over the whole thing. They all turned out great and it's a tradition I hope to continue. We also put up Christmas decorations this weekend. We have no luck with lights. Last year, we had to buy a new set of lights for the tree, and this year, we only had 1 working set. So, I refused to buy another set and decorated the tree with only one set (yes, it is dimly lit...adds ambiance). But, it came back to bite me b/c at some point yesterday, half of the lights on the tree went out. So the bottom half of the tree is light-less. I will have to go buy 2 new sets this week. In addition to this issue, Larry strung lights around one of our tall evergreens out front, only to be disappointed when he plugged it in (don't know why he didn't check them out first). One of our reindeer won't light up and the giant wreath that hangs over the garage only lights up half-way. We are a disgrace to the neighborhood. I turned all of the outside lights off until we can remedy this situation.

Spence and Olive had fun decorating the tree. We let Spence hang most of the decorations b/c he was biting at the chomp or wait...chomping at the bit to hang ornaments. Here's how it always goes.....kids get all hyped up for decorating the tree, then you pull the thing out of the box and have at least an hour of work, putting in the branches and then straightening them out to look decent, then stringing lights.....it's a long and drawn out process that should be fun, but ultimately results in frustration, then anger and then usually someone breaks something.

I'm looking forward for things to get "back to normal" and school to resume (Spence was out for the week of Thanksgiving) at least until the next holiday break.

Olive's First Word!!

Olive has officially started talking. She only has one word so far, but it's a good one!!! Poor Spence didn't have his first word until he was about 18 months, and his word was "Bob". I thought she might say "Mommy or Daddy", but no...she chose...Pancake. One of her favorite things to eat...and eating is her favorite thing to do, so I guess it makes sense. It is very cute to hear her say it...she says "pa cay" or sometimes "pa pay" or "ca cay". But, it is usally with much enthusiasm to get some pancakes!! I'm just glad she's talking...wonder what she'll say next!!

My Weekend in Gatlinburg

I spent this weekend in Gatlinburg attending a Regional Jewelry Expo. Marci and I left Friday afternoon, and I realized as we drove away..... that I have never left Spencer (or Olive for that matter). He usually leaves me and goes with Larry on some soccer trip, but I'm never the one who goes away. It was hard. But, he stayed strong long enough to help me put my bags in the car and then he broke down crying. It was a much needed break for me though.

The drive wasn't too bad and we made it there in about 4 hours. Our hotel wasn't the best. It was a Comfort Inn and was located right down the street from the convention center.....but it was one of those hotels where you enter your room from the outside. Does that mean its considered a motel? Anyway, it wasn't the most upscale place I've ever stayed.

Friday evening, Marci and I hit a few outlet stores and then had dinner. When we returned and were walking from the parking lot to the room, I heard Marci say "Oh My God". I looked up and noticed that our room door was cracked open. We both froze in horror. She, a braver woman than I, said she would go in and check it out. I stood in the parking lot, ready to run and call for help if I heard screams, or if she wasn't out in a few seconds to give me the thumbs up. She didn't find anyone and nothing was missing.....both of our laptops were in there. After checking every corner (I even checked the mini fridge), we decided that it must have been our fault. The doors there don't shut automatically (like normal HOtels) and I guess we didn't close it all the way when we left for dinner.

After a fair night's sleep at best (there was the lingering thought of "what if there is a psycho killer still hiding in here somewhere), we headed out to the convention center for the big show. We shopped for 8 hrs. straight. I was ready to give up many times, but Marci kept saying "you can do it, hang in there...one foot in front of the other", and I didn't want to let her down....but I was miserable... dying to get out of there. My left foot hurt and my back/neck/arms/legs/etc... were hurting and people kept running into me. I mean, it was crazy the amount of people who would bump into me. It was annoying the heck out of me and was really baffling.....then I realized that they were all dead tired too and were stumbling around aimlessly just like me. There weren't many "Marci's" out there who could keep on going and going..and going....I'm glad she is a tenacious shopper though...we found many good buys that hopefully can be resold for a decent profit. I also picked up some Christmas gifts too!! My biggest buy of the day was $15 smocked dresses for Olive!!!

It was nice to get home today. Spence ran out and welcomed me with a big hug....Olive acted like she didn't really know me and wouldn't let go of her Daddy to give me a hug. Of course, a few hrs. later and she's warmed up to me again. Now I have to mentally prepare for the week ahead..thankfully its only a 3 day work week!!

Hello, Fire Truck!

I had to post this. I must warn you though, if you are easily offended, you may want to stop reading here.....Ok, now for the rest of you, this is such a funny story that I hope I do it justice:

On Sunday, Mom, Spencer and I spent the day running errands and on our way home, we decided to stop and get some ice cream. Mom called the guys and they ordered some milkshakes. Spence couldn't wait and ate his ice cream at the shop, but we packed the milkshakes to take back home. We were driving my new car and maxed out the cup holders so that I had to hold my own shake in my lap.

Before going into the ice cream shop, Mom had just given spencer a mini voice recorder to play with. So, the ride home, he was practicing recording his voice. We would pass by different things and he would say "Hello trees" or "Hello Cars" and then try to play it back. The problem was that he had trouble holding the record button down long enough for it to record his whole phrase. So, when he would hit play, it would just be a quick "he".

We passed by the fire station and he said "Hello fire truck", hit play and heard "he", "Hello Fire Truck",...."he"....Hello Fire Truck!!!.... "he"....HELLO FIRE TRUCK!!!.."he"......."HELLO FIRE TRUCK"...."he".... HELLO TIRE FUCK!!!!!" Mom and I lost it, we could not stop laughing. Then he said "This thing doesn't work" "It's not worth it!!" And he threw the voice recorder up to the front seat.

My laughing came to a shrieking halt when I spilled the milkshake on the floorboard in front of me....Oh..my new Car!!....but it came out, and thankfully today my car doesn't smell like sour milk.

King Spencer

Today was the Royal Tea Party at Spencer's school. They sent home invitations a few days ago requesting royal attire ..which meant girls would all wear princess costumes, and boys would dress as usual. I thought Spence would like to dress up too though, and made him a King's outfit. Very easy and cheap. He loved it. When I picked him up this afternoon, he showed me that they had made cardboard shields at school too...so when we got home, we took part in our own Medieval sword fight...which was cut all too short because I had to go to work. Spence had soccer this afternoon and it must've worn everyone out....when I arrived home this evening, everyone was taking a nap..and still are. How nice, a few moments of quiet.

Field Trip to the Farm

Yesterday I accompanied Spence on a school field trip to a local farm. I was not looking forward to the cold weather (low 40's) or the farm itself, honestly. I didn't think Spence would enjoy himself either since last year's field trip to Henry's Ark resulted in us cutting out early and hitting the nearest McDonalds. But, I thought, maybe this year would be different, Spencer might actually have fun........ He didn't. He's just like Mama when it comes to looking at caged animals. We both equally do not derive the enjoyment that others' get from farms, zoo's or other habitats. He said his favorite part of the trip was the bus ride (first time on a school bus). But, as soon as he stepped off of the bus, he started with his "I'm hungry" routine. That carried on nearly the entire time we were there. At one point, the teachers and "farmhands" encouraged the kids to pick a pumpkin out of a field. And while all of the other children were amused and searched for the "perfect" pumpkin, Spence walked over with little enthusiasm, picked up the first one he saw and handed it to me. I guess he figured he had already found the "Great Pumpkin" last month on our trip to the pumpkin patch.

One pleasant part of the trip was that I was able to get a picture of Spence's new girlfish, Claire. A while back he came home one day and said "I kissed Claire at school today". I was shocked, but relieved that he has a healthy interest in girls (other than pretending to be one, which he does occasionally). And, he said he kissed her on the elbow, so I figured there was no harm in that. They kind of palled around together for a short while and I gleaned that little Claire (smallest girl in her class) is actually quite the socialite and full of mischief. No wonder he likes her...I guess Katie has been replaced. They ran around so much, it was tough to get a shot of them, and then Spencer wouldn't even look at the camera for me....all eyes were on Claire...

Happy Halloween !!

We had a wonderful Halloween, despite the fact that Olive spent the night before in the hospital. She is fine though, just a little croup. Spencer had a great party at his preschool and I was able to attend. The kids made crafts, played games and had a spooky snack (halloween oreos). There was also a parade of costumes and then all of the classes sang Halloween songs for the parents. It was so nice.
I had fun at work, and at the last minute decided to dress up like a witch. Some of my friends dressed up too, and Jim's costume was the best. It was an inflatable "chef-boyardee'ish" contraption. It had a built-in fan. I don't know where he found it, but it was impressive.

In the evening, we set up shop in the cul-de-sac with a fire pit, appetizers and desserts (yummy). I ate way too much. The kids were all running around, so excited and full of energy...you can just feel the magic. Bev came over with Isabelle and Jenna (Adam was indisposed with another kidney stone emergency).

It was a great night for trick-or-treating..low 70's. Olive made a short appearance early in the evening and then was off to bed by 6:30pm. She was still exhausted from the night before. They never let you rest in a hospital. Speaking of hospitals, would just like to state my disdain for the healthcare system in general, especially after Adam's dealings last night. But, good news though, after passing a 10mm stone (without any pain meds- thank you baptist east), he is out of excruciating pain and recovering nicely at home. It sucks that he missed Halloween with the kids, I guess there's always next year....