Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009 people!

After all our holiday travels, we like to spend New Year's a bit more quiet than most. There was an early evening visit to a friend's house, with homemade pizzas and store bought cake. That soiree adjourned around 9 so we could get the kids to bed. Our evening was spent quietly in front of the TV watching a $0.99 rental of Iron Man (I love Amazon Unbox and Tivo!!!). It's a great movie with a ridiculously powerful cast for what was, ostensibly, an action super hero movie. The movie was so good, we forgot to pause it at 11 so we could watch the ball drop. We didn't even notice til my mom called a bit after 11 to wish us a happy new year.

For those that haven't heard yet, my dad lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on the 18th. It was a bittersweet moment, but I was glad to see he didn't suffer. We were planning to head to Detroit for Christmas on the 23rd. Obivously, that was delayed so we could fly to and from Baltimore for the funeral. I wish the weather cooperated a bit more. Our flight back was delayed due to a ground stop at O'Hare (surprise). Lauren and Eric were both wonderful seeing as we had to sit in the plane for an hour before it was allowed to take off. It would have been better if I had remembered the DVD player, but they were still very good. The drive to Detroit was marred by downpours for most of Michigan that limited visibility to about 1/2 mile.

I'm hoping to post this on the 2nd, but the hosting company for chrispy.net is having connection issues.

Post Thanksgiving Wrap up

Thanksgiving at the condo went very well. My brother got his Vicadin, so he's doing much better now. Dinner was fantastic. My sister in law cooked the turkey, steaks, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, and crescent rolls while we went down to the inlet to walk the boardwalk and play some video games. Lauren and I had a blast playing a mini bowling game, another game where you roll 5 balls so they fall into these slots to make poker hands (she hit a full house!), and skee-ball. She loved all 3 and hated it when we had to head back. My niece, Alexis, is a riot! She would run around with a ball, throw it to someone (say Debbie), exclaim "I Trowed it to Debbie!" and repeat. Lauren got through dinner pretty well, especially with the promise and threat of dessert. Eric kept running and running until we put on the Peanut's Thanksgiving Special. As with all things TV, he stopped dead in his tracks and watched that for a while. I watched closely to see if he would undo the button of his pants, belch loudly, and fall asleep. Alas, only dad did that.

Obligatory Happy Thanksgiving Post

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope yours is as uneventful as mine. So far, we've traveled to the hospital where my brother was admitted for a kidney stone. Have you tried finding an open pharmacy on Thanksgiving morning? It's not easy. We're back at the condo now, where my sister-in-law is going to start preparing our Thanksgiving feast of steak, crab cakes, Turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, puppy chow, and other traditional Thanksgiving food items. While she cooks, we are required to vacate the premises, so we're going to get some breakfast (finally!). Then it's down to the inlet to play video games and skee-ball at Marty's Playland. Tonight, we're going to the Winterfest of Lights. We saw a sampling of it last night with Lauren. She was thrilled and cannot wait to tell her friends at school. She saw Santa Claus, Snowmen, reindeer, penguins, whales, starfish, seashells, mermaids, and octopi. So, a typical American Thanksgiving.

What?

Easter Carol

I'm dreaming of a white Easter
Just like the ones I've never known
Where the dyed eggs glisten,
and children listen
To hear hopping in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Easter
With every Easter hymn I sing
May your eggs be hardboiled and dyed
And next year can Easter be in spring?

Holiday Wrap-up

Tons of things have been happening, so let me sum up.

1. Went to Baltimore for Christmas for a week. Had a fantastic time; kids had a fantastic time; grandparents had a great time too. Airline misplaced some luggage, but we made due without them until they arrived the morning of Christmas Eve. Fortunately, no luggage was lost on the return trip. We did have to ship a bunch of presents (3 boxes of presents to be precise). To say the kids did well at Honeybear and Pop Pop's would be a bit of an understatement.
2. While in Baltimore, we picked a nice day to head to the Inner Harbor and spent some time at the National Aquarium. It was a great day and Lauren loved looking at all the fish, especially the Finding Nemo tank (it wasn't called that but it had a Blue Tang, anemone, and some clown fish, so you get the idea). One issue we did have was the ban on strollers in the aquarium. They don't allow them because there are a few escalators and revolving doors that do make it hard to use strollers. Fortunately, they do offer backpacks for free. So I spent the whole day trudging around the aquarium with Eric on my back. I especially enjoyed it when Lauren would feel neglected and wanted me to pick her up too. Carrying her did balance the weight a little, but my legs were shot by the end of the day. Yours would be too if you suddenly added 50 lbs.
3. Got home and had Grandma and Grandpa Jameyfield stop by for a visit the following day. They too are having a wonderful time with the grandkids. Grandma's days are spent mostly trapped in the playroom where drill instructor Lauren refuses to grant any kind of reprieve. It's Candyland, memory, Cariboo, dolls, and Littlest Pet Shop all day. They'd probably be playing right now, but Grandma has come down with a nasty cold that has really taken the wind out of her sails.
4. I have a new job. I'm still at OtorolaMay, but have switched to the Government and Public Safety sector. It's exciting and, quite frankly, a welcome change. My previous position was rather precarious. My current position is still a little precarious, but not nearly the to the extent it was prior to the switch.
5. Had a great new year's. Got to bed sometime around 12:01 or so. We did go to a friend's house for dinner where Lauren had a great time playing with the other kids there. The snow storm did make it a little difficult, but everyone got there and back home safe and sound.

I hope your holidays were equally as pleasant, filled with family and friends.

Happy New Year

I hope the new year finds you all happy and well, surrounded by good family, friends, and maybe a little booze.

Good and Bad

A little over 24 hours into our trip and already there has been plenty of good and bad about it.

Good: Everyone arrived in Baltimore safely
Bad: Some of our luggage has yet to arrive
Good: We have most of our clothes and no presents went missing.
Bad: The suitcase with all the kids' clothes is one of the ones missing
Good: Their Christmas clothes were in one of the pieces we do have
Bad: The car seat and the pack n play were the other 2 missing pieces
Good: American gave us a loaner car seat (seeing as leaving the airport would have been difficult)
Bad: Lauren's favorite blanket, hand made by a friend of ours, was in the bag with the car seat.
Good: The airline called to say they had 1 piece and were dropping it off.
Bad: It wasn't actually one of ours.
Good: The luggage is ready to leave O'Hare on the next flight
Bad: Almost all the flights from ORD to BWI have been canceled due to bad weather
Good: Given that, it's a miracle we got here in the first place.

We are having loads of fun with Honeybear and Pop Pop. I am thrilled that I decided to shop this year at Amazon and ship our presents. It wouldn't have been a big deal had some presents gone missing, but it still would have been annoying. Pretty soon though, we're going to run into some issues. Of all the kids' clothes, we only have Lauren's dressy outfits for Christmas Eve and Day. Eric only has 1 outfit that my mom bought last night. We're going to try to get 2 days out of it since it survived today fairly intact. I also have no T-shirts. Not really a problem except I tend to wear sweatshirts this time of year and those T-shirts are worn underneath. Looks like our Christmas shopping may not be done yet *shudder*
The most surprising thing is how well we're getting along without the Pack N Play. Eric is mobile, but at night he still tends to be immobile. We've used some suitcases and boxes to pen him in a little area with a sheet on the floor and he seems okay with that. Certainly it's not ideal, but we're not about to spent $70 or more just to make a few days more convenient.
I hope everyone's holiday is safe and happy. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We Theme Because We Can

As Heather opined, it is quite nice to be able to theme your children's halloween costumes. Here we are about ready to set off on the grand Trick-or-Treat Adventure.

 

Happy Cookie!

Father's Day was pretty nice around here. We spent a lot of time playing outside in the heat, but Lauren adored it. She was on pretty good behavior too. The highlight of the day came after a put some air in a tire that had gone flat. When I walked into the house, Lauren runs up and yells "Happy Cookie Daddy!". I was a little confused as to the greeting, but joyfully accepted the smile and hug. She then ran into the playroom where Mommy and Eric were. Mommy whispered a little something, then Lauren turned around and said "Happy Father's Day!". I was very proud. She then helped me open some presents (a Cold Stone GC and dark chocolate). I was delighted and got up to give Debbie a hug and kiss when Lauren grabbed my hand and started dragging me into the kitchen. When I spied the kitchen table, everything made sense. Pointing to the kitchen table, gleefully shouting "Happy Cookie Daddy! Happy Cookie!", Lauren introduced me to a giant chocolate chip cookie with icing.

Happy Cookie Indeed!