Carnival!

Today was the Greenbriar Carnival. I signed on as Pocket Lady, my favorite job. We knew we needed some serious fuel for the day, so we started out at Egg Harbor, a local breakfast chain whose decorating style is called "Chickens Galore!". Henry had the Itsy Bitsy Pancakes and a scrambled egg. He decided his preferred way of eating the eggs today was to dip them into applesauce. Ick. I tried to get some of the chicken decor in the background, but this photo doesn't do it justice.
After a stop back at home to shower and throw in some laundry, we made our way over to the bank where we turned in our coin cow with a total of $167.23 in change! That money is going straight to our Hawaii fund. Then we continued the fueling up at Starbucks. This is not a great photo of me or Henry, but I think it probably captures how I'm often looking at him. This is me right after saying to him "Mom didn't understand- tell me again". I know what he's saying about 97% of the time.
And then it was off to Greenbriar to don the Pocket Lady dress! What you do as Pocket Lady is, you stuff your pockets full of cheap, but wonderful crap (see next photo of Henry posing by the loot) and then you wander around the carnival, talking to the kids and taking tickets to let them reach in a pocket for a prize. It's a wonderful concept. The kids win every time!
Here are some kids counting out their tickets and examining their prizes. They may have pulled out a heart-shaped container of glittery lip gloss, or maybe a squishy glitter frog! Other big hits were the pen-bracelet (of which I owned several in the 80's) various sports cards and a gummy-candy pizza.
Henry walked around with his papa and played lots of games. Here he is doing the "potty toss" - a game I do not remember from my childhood. He also knocked down some milk bottles and threw a hoop over an alien and designed a button for himself. He passed on face painting and we made him pass on the inflatable jumping castle. He would have loved the jumping castle, but there were too many big kids in there.
Henry took all 15 of his prize tickets into the prize room and came out with this plane. He is very serious in this picture because he is serious about this plane. He has already flown it on several missions, complete with plane sounds. I believe they were all peace missions, probably delivering food, medicine and informational packets about AIDS.
Now Papa has taken Henry off for a nap. I imagine they're both asleep already. I'm about to leave for an appointment at a salon. Pete bought me a gift certificate LAST Valentine's day and I'm finally using it towards a relaxing facial. Ahhhh....

Little Giraffe!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome a wonderful new light into the world! This is little Kirin. He was born recently to Darcie and Pope. Congratulations to them and to him! Look at that smart little face! I can't wait to snuggle him.

(Apparently, in Japanese, Kirin means giraffe.)

Snowfall

We had some lovely, fluffy snowfall last night. After sitting inside and watching football for a good part of the afternoon we decided to get off our duffs and go out in the snow. While Pete and I shovelled the driveway and walk Henry worked diligently to shovel a path across the front yard. Then Pete got out Henry's sled and we went for a walk. Henry made some fresh tracks over in the field at the junior high. He found some cross-country ski tracks, deemed them "train tracks" and then we played choo-choo for a while. We had to come back when Pete's feet started getting cold (still that boy has no boots!) but Henry and I stayed out in the backyard for a bit. He gave the snowman a hug, caught a few flakes on his tongue, made some new footprints and then sat down to eat snow until I made him come in for bed. After all that we had the easiest bedtime we've probably had in a year! I can only hope tonight will go as smoothly, though hopes are low after a late evening nap and a long (dare I say "hysterical") tantrum before bed. We're calming down with a little Nemo now, but it's off to bed very soon. Wish us luck.

Negligence

Lately I've been noticing that some things in my world are not getting the fullest of my attention.

Example A:
When Henry and I went out for some fresh air today I noticed this mysterious, icky-looking mess on our back porch.
And then I found the culprit.
I always knew this stuff was dangerous. We have a few friends who (at least used to) drink Diet Coke, so we had this 2-liter left over after a party. It had just been sitting on the backporch. I kept meaning to take it to school where someone might drink it, but it just kept sitting there on the porch....until it met its demise.
Example 2:
Our poor birds had been famished until Mom came and bought us some new bird seed this weekend. We've already had to refill it once since the weekend...the little feathery guys are ravenous.
Here's Henry playing a little bit of wintery kick-ball.
Example Last:
Henry and I were weighing the pros and cons of trying out our ice skating skills on his pool. Yes...the pool has been there since the summer. Grandmothers everywhere will be pleased to know that we did not get up on the ice.

Baby, It's Cold

Franklin is a burrower. If you've ever visited, this will look familiar to you. It's been a while since he's gotten any attention on the blog, so here's his chance to shine.

We got a bit of slush and snow last night and today. After a search ("I know it's in the garage" sayeth my husband) and finally finding it in the back of Henry's closet, I set up the new inflatable igloo. I guess it's a way to have a snow fort when you don't quite get enough snow. Henry enjoyed it. Thanks to Grandpa Bill and Grandma Kathie, who gave it to him as a Christmas present.

Grammie was here this weekend too, giving me a chance to get some things done that might otherwise have fallen by the wayside...again. She also had a chance to make another snowman, or two...

I'm currently watching the Golden Globes. Lots of lovely dresses! Is the show always on MLK Jr.'s birthday? And how come no one is acknowledging him tonight? I don't know, seems like somebody should've said something.
I guess that's most of what's on my mind tonight.

Boys with trains...

Why is it that little boys love trains so much? Henry's getting trains thrown at him from all sides, and he still can't get enough! Sometimes when we drive past a train stopped on its tracks, Henry says "make it go, Mom!"

Big Baby Belly

I had the honor of attending a baby shower for Darcie and her baby belly this weekend. Torrii hosted the lovely event, with tasty treats created by a mystery (to me) woman named Rose. Here are photos of Darcie opening the blanket I knitted her. My first true project, completed! Many thanks go to Carrie for helping me finish it (those interested in knitting see the last up-close photo). Darcie seemed to like it. I hope Baby does too! The second photo is Darcie holding up a gift from my mom. The little outfit came in a Chinese take-out shaped box. The t-shirt had a fortune (A surprise will appear in my pants) and lucky numbers. The pants were just too cute for words. The third photo is of another friend of Darcie's trying out the wedding-ring-on-a-string-over-the-belly-which-way-will-it-spin gender fortune-telling trick. Does Darcie look convinced? I think the ring did both a back-and-forth and a circle. We just won't know until that baby comes! (Due date January 26th!)









































And now a note for the knitters in the group: The baby blanket is from the Big Bad Baby Blanket pattern in Stitch 'n Bitch. I started over a bajillion times and finally somehow cast on 116 stitches instead of 126, but at that point I was just going with it. I knit it up with just one strand of yarn, not double like the pattern calls for. Don't remember what the yarn is, just know that it's all cotton. Carrie taught me how to drop stitches in order to go back a few rows and fix mistakes. She also helped me knit in the ends. Thanks Carrie! We were working on it up until 1:45. The baby shower started at 2:00. Whew!

Quick Story

Henry and I were out today when Pete got home from work. Before we got home Pete took the Christmas tree down and out to the curb. When Henry and I walked into the house all that was left was a plastic bag, which had been laid down to protect the carpet, and a scattering of pine needles. Henry walked over to the spot where the tree had been. He asked "Christmas tree?" I said "yes, the tree is gone". He looked at the spot for a few more moments and then looked up at me again and asked "melted?"

New Stove!

Two days before Christmas we had a repair guy come out to check on the stove. He determined it was more expensive to repair than to replace. So the home warranty people bought us a new stove! We actually took the cash value and upgraded. The new one was supposed to arrive Wednesday morning, and then they changed it to Wednesday between 3:00 and 5:00. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't have it for the day of baking that I had planned, but figured I'd still have time to fix dinner on it that night. After a few calls to check on the status of the repair guys, including a call to cancel the delivery so that we could get Henry to bed (that call ended with the lady hanging up on Pete) they finally showed up at 7:35 PM. In the meantime I fixed fish sticks and frozen peas for dinner. But it's here, and it's large and lovely. It is currently sticking out a bit far, but through a few calls to Will it seems that we'll be able to fix that eventually. Check out that fabulous 5.2 cubic foot capacity! Too bad the cookies didn't do the stove justice. I tried a new recipe to alleviate my perpetual flat-cookie problem, but they turned out flatter than ever. Henry still enjoyed them.

Budding Artists

Chloe came to visit the other day. Our visits are always too short. Henry got a great knit hat from Melissa. He's getting to be the king of fancy hats!
I'm not wishing for them to grow up too fast, but I am so interested to see what these two do throughout their lives!

Happy New Year!!

I'll keep the narration short and let the photos do the talking...
Henry, Pete and I flew down to Memphis on Friday. It wasn't Henry's first plane trip, but it was the first time he got his own seat! It was also really the first time he knew that he was on a plane and that the plane was going "uppina sky!" Fortunately, for all of us, the trip is a short one.
Jeff picked us up at the airport and took us back to their house to wait for Amber to come home. Their house is adorable! We waited for a call from Matt and Lisa and then drove downtown to meet them for barbecue at Rendezvous. The place was great and the ribs were awesome! They even had some meatless rice and beans for Lisa.
After dinner we took a quick trip to The Peabody Hotel. We went up to the roof to see the ducks in their penthouse. It was a gorgeous night and we got a great view of the city.
The next day was Amber's birthday. Henry helped Jeff make a grasshopper pie.
Lisa and I got some knitting done in the cute family room.
Henry played a lot of "uppide down!" with Matt.
We braved the rain and went down to Sun Studios. Amber had driven Pete and I past when we visited about 5 years ago, but we had never done the tour. This photo is in the actual studio. Aside from all of the photos on the walls, I gather the place is still pretty much the way it was when Elvis, Johnny Cash, et al. recorded there.
Henry got a hipster button to go with his hipster denim jacket.
We had a late lunch at Gus's Fried Chicken. It looked like a dive, inside and out, but the place had the most amazing chicken I have ever eaten! So amazingly good. I also had my first taste of fried pickles! We washed it all down with some Budweiser out of plastic cups.
Our waiter overheard me say "birthday" and brought out a brownie with a candle in it. Several waiting patrons joined in the singing.
We got back just in time to watch the Hawks. The outcome of the game was not a happy one, but we didn't let it get us down for long. Henry helped Amber make pizza crust for dinner.
Then we sat around and played the super-fun famous-people guessing game that I learned from Cari.
December 31st was warm and lovely in Memphis. So while Lisa and Matt went to Graceland, Amber took Pete and Henry and I to the zoo. (I've seen Graceland and Henry's not quite old enough to fully enjoy it yet) The Memphis zoo has two pandas on loan from China.
There was also this adorable giraffe family.
Once home Henry napped and the rest of us took turns preparing for the evening dinner and relaxing. I enjoyed this scene of the gentlemen keeping busy in the kitchen...
...while the girls played Scrabble. Lisa kicked our butts.
We must have sat down for dinner around 8 PM. The steaks were perfect and Henry couldn't get enough of the vegan lentil loaf. Amber had made bread, eggplant and delicious green beans. Matt had us all set up with the perfect wine pairings throughout the meal. (Henry had a little La Croix while the rest of us had our pre-dinner champagne.)
About midway through dinner Henry decided it was time for jammies. He said his goodnights and went to bed.
Amber put the apple tarts in the oven...
...and snuck in some cleaning when she thought we weren't paying attention.
Finally, with the apple tarts in the oven and our bellies already full, we retired to the family room, where more wine may have been poured.
We mixed up the couples to play Cranium. At some point Jeff got fancy with a tiara and Pete put someone else's pajama pants on.
There was much documenting of the events this weekend. Keep an eye on Amber's blog, she may be updating as I type! Thanks so much to Amber and Jeff for hosting us, and to Matt and Lisa for being cool friends! Happy New Year to everyone out there!