Seeing Santa

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It's well documented here that we'd have been better off to name Jones "Kevin McAlister" for as much as he loves decorations. He loves decorations of ANY kind, but his excitement reaches a fever pitch come Christmastime.

It's the reason why we're taking him to see Dollywood all decked out on next Thursday, and it's the reason why we took him to see the Roper Mountain Holiday Lights this past Thursday.

Before eating Thanksgiving dinner with Mom and Daddy, Mom, Daddy, Jeremy, the boys, and I headed to Roper Mountain. After driving around once - Jones as enchanted as we imagined he'd be - we decided to park and take the boys to see Santa.

Let me backtrack a minute here.

Last year, the boys were CLUELESS about Santa. They called him a "Snowman" and had absolutely ZERO idea that HE was responsible for some of the toys under the tree.

As we watched Macy's Parade with my parents, though, Daddy made a big deal about Santa coming, and, as he rolled into Herald Square, I asked Jones, "Do you think he has a present in that sack for you, JoJo?" Jones answered excitedly, "I hope it's Stinky!"

So I'm assuming that, somewhere between last year and this, Jones has gone and figured out Kris Kringle.

Stinky, by the way, is a talking garbage truck that eats Matchbox cars and then dumps them out his tailgate. Where Jones learned about him is beyond me. I first heard of him when I took the boys to take Halloween pictures in the toy department at Kmart. Jones drifted toward a box on the bottom shelf, saying, "It's Stinky!" I looked at the box, and sure enough - STINKY!

But seriously. I don't recall seeing a commercial for him, and he doesn't have a cartoon, so I have NO IDEA how Stinky came to be the stuff of my son's holiday dreams.

Back to Roper Mountain...

As we got out of the car to go see Santa, I asked JOones what he was going to ask Santa for, and he quickly said, "Stinky!" Then I asked Freddie what HE was going to ask for. He looked WAY more unsure of himself and said, "A toy." He quickly changed his answer to, "JoJo's cwubhouse."

So in we went to see Santa.

There were probably 20 people in line in front of us - maybe more. Still, Santa spotted JOnes as he walked in. "I like your bowtie!" he said cheerily but gruffly. It kinda of took Jones off-guard, so he came to me with arms outstretched, saying, "Hold me! Hold me!" Of course, this caused me to worry about how he'd handle things when it actually came our turn.

But my worry was in vain (apparently, I forgot how well he handled seeing the Easter Bunny this Spring!). He did GREAT - BOTH boys did! When time came for a picture, both boys sat on Santa's lap, like they'd known him their whole lives. Then Santa said, "What do you want for Christmas?" Jones said, "Stinky!"

Santa laughed and said, "You're the first one to ask for THAT!" Freddie asked for a clubhouse.

We then waited in another line to buy what may be the cutest Santa picture EVER TAKEN, and as we pulled out of Roper Mountain, Jones waved to a lit-up Santa statue and said, "Bye, Santa!' Make sure you bring Stinky the Garbage Truck!"

The next nite, as we pulled out of Mom and Daddy's neighborhood to head back to Canton, Freddie asked from the way back of Mom's Suburban, "Pease go see Christmas lights?"

They're going to absolutely LOSE.THEIR.FLIPPING.MINDS when we go to Dollywood next week!

Barbershop Shenanigans

Jeremy's been asking for a while for me to let him take the boys to the barbershop. I haven't let him but ONLY because I assumed he'd let the barber clip them basically bald. We don't disagree on much, but the length of the boys' hair is one of the things on which we do NOT see eye to eye. I don't want their hair long on the sides and backs, but the TOPS? The tops are SO much more handsome with just a little bit of length on them, in my opinion.

Jeremy, on the other hand, would have them buzz-cut, which we may do some day. Just not yet. And CERTAINLY not when it's coming on Winter, no matter WHAT the temperature is.

But today, I was too tired - or too lazy - to take a very hairy Freddie myself, so when Jeremy asked if Freddie could go get a haircut with him, I caved and gave strict instructions that our second son should NOT get scalped.

Freddie came home, looking fantastic. He told me, "I didn't pitch one, single fit." I wanted to tell him that he's NEVER pitched a fit in the chair, but I think he was just trying to draw a line between his haircut behavior and his brother's.

I feel ya', Freddie. Duly noted.

Not long after, I checked out my Facebook page and saw this post from Zeb Smathers, who'd been at the barbershop when the boys were. I thought it was absolutely hilarious, and I LOVED the picture, too.

Thanksgiving Recap

This was probably the best Thanksgiving, since the boys were born. They're getting so much more independent, which meant that we were able to have actual adult conversations during dinner with Jeremy's family. They're also SO EXCITED about EVERY holiday now that celebrating is so much fun.

The fun started on Wednesday nite. We'd ordered a new Christmas tree, and it was delivered in the afternoon. Jones in particular was VERY curious about what was in the giant box in the middle of the den. Then my mom called, saying she and Daddy would like to come watch the Macy's Parade with the boys (which I hope they'll make a tradition; you hear that, Mom and Daddy?!?).

Seeing those two things - Jones's excitement and Mom and Daddy's plans to visit - I decided to put the tree up earlier than expected. We were going to do it Friday or Saturday. Instead, we did it after the boys were in bed on Wednesday, so they woke up to our own little coming-on-Winter wonderland.

Not long after the boys got up, Mom and Daddy showed up. They boys, of course, were THRILLED, and so was I. They appreciate the Parade way more than Jeremy does! Mom fluffed out the branches on our new tree, a job I'd saved knowing she'd be way better at it than I would. Daddy wrestled the boys ("You fink you tough?"), and we all watched the Parade.

When Santa slid into Herald Square, I asked Jones, "Do you think Santa has anything in that sack for you, Jones?" "I hope it's Stinky!" he answered. It was so cute - and totally surprising, as this time last year, Jones had NO IDEA how the Santa thing worked.

Not long after that, we headed to cousin Amy's house for our annual Thanksgiving feast with the Boone family. This year was AMAZING, because the boys were big enough for me to trust them alone in Amy's bonus room. Except for when they were eating, they stayed up there, playing with Jake's collection of Hess trucks and Chandler's cookware.

Briefly, their OTHER cousin Lila came upstairs (all of the other kids were in the basement, I guess). When she walked in, Jones very politely popped up and said, "Hey, Wawa! Happy Thanksgiving!"

I really can't say enough how AMAZING it was that the boys were big enough to be left alone. I can't remember the last time I've had an uninterrupted  conversation with Jeremy's wonderful sister and brother-in-law, so that went a long way towards putting the "Happy" in my Thanksgiving.

We then headed to Mom and Daddy's, where the boys took a little tryptophan rest before we took them to see Santa Claus. We spent the nite, so that the boys and I could go to Disney on Ice the next day. Jeremy got up and headed back to work, but the boys watched "Droopy" with Pop and Maybe. Ever since, they've randomly broken out with "You know what? I'm happy." Family tradition is what this time of year is all about, I guess!

This is Freddie Facetiming Mayme
and Pop to show them our Christmas tree
before they got here.

Freddie discovered that he can make
shapes with his hands (kinesthetic
learner, anyone?), and now Jones
does it, too!

When Santa showed up on the Parade ...

This looks like it'd have been such a good picture ...
if only.

Miss Shepherd's Baby!

tryptophan time

Happy as a Cow

Of all the many things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving season, one of them is the wonderful friendships I've been able to form in the year and a half that we've been at our new church. Having a close-by community of other stay-at-home moms has been a GAME-CHANGER for me. It's one that I prayed for - and one that I do NOT take for granted!

Yesterday, one of those moms arranged for a couple of families to go visit the Happy Cow Creamery outside Greenville. Her aunt's ex-husband started the dairy, so her cousin took us all around, and a great time was had by all. The boys were in HEAVEN. If one - or both - of them don't end up being farmers, then they've missed their calling.

The first part of our tour was to visit the baby calves. Some were as young as seven days old! The boys - especially Freddie - loved getting right up in their faces. Freddie, though, wanted to get even closer. He'd put his hand in the cows' mouths.

Then we rode in the flatbed of a tractor trailer through some woods to a big cow pasture. I joked with my friend Holly that it was like a cow safari. It really did remind me of that ride in Animal Kingdom at Disney World. While we were in the pasture, the tour guide handed one of the other kids a dried-up cow patty. When I asked Jones if he wanted to hold it, he said, "Tiggers don't like stinky!"

Of course not.

After that, we went back to where we'd started for a tasting. The boys downed both white and chocolate milk, but the best part of their day was probably playing in the porta-potty, which Jones called his "clubhouse." I'm not kidding. That may have been the highlight for them. These boys need a clubhouse to call their own, for sure.

We then left and went to Mom and Daddy's for a little while before heading back to Canton. I didn't make them take a nap, but they ended up falling asleep on the drive home, anyway, which next to NEVER happens. They must've been WORN OUT.

Oh, and for breakfast, we stopped at Bojangles; Jones called it "BingJangles."

"BingJangles" is now my favorite word.

That's all for now!

SO indicative of my boys - Jones is happy to be there,
provided he can stay at a safe distance. Freddie has
his hand in the cow's mouth.

LOVE this of my friends
and their baby boys

Oh, and I forgot to mention the part about
how a (good natured) wrestling match broke
out on the trailer ride.
What else is new?

Seeing my UK bumper sticker reminds me of this:
leaving church Sunday nite, Jones pointed at my van and said,
"Is that OUR car?" I said, "yes! And you know what that says?"
I pointed at my bumper sticker and said, "That says, 'Kentucky
Wildcats.'" Jones immediately affirmed, "That's OUR car!"
That's MY boy!