Snow Pics

I realized I never posted pictures of the crazy snow we had here last week! We had over 18 inches (possibly more up here at the house) and it came down really fast. Logan and I decided it was a bad idea to drive our van, so for three days it just sat behind our house...covered in snow. Logan and I walked to work (when we had to go) and just enjoyed being snowed in :-) Tommy really loved it, but because he doesn't have water-resistant gloves we could only let him play for about 10-15 minutes at a time. We'll have to work on that soon, because he did NOT like coming back inside!

Christmas in Ol' BV

Christmas this year was soooo much more fun! Now that Tommy is able to "get into the spirit" of things, it's fun to unwrap the gifts and see his face, and see how he reacts to what he receives. Jack did pretty good, too, and had fun holding on to some of his presents (he also tried to eat them, but without much luck).

Tommy with his alphabet magnets from the Jones'. He likes making noise!

Here's Jack with the Frog stuffed animal that the Jones' sent to him. Very soft!

This is me with my new griddle. The one we've been using for the last 3 years was left in the house by the previous owners, and was...shall we say, well used?

Tommy and his new bowling kit. He's gotten really good at setting the pins up himself and knocking them back down. He also received the Toy Story table pictured here from his mommy and daddy.

Logan and Star Trek. Oh yeah.

With these additions, I now own all 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls. I can watch them any time I want!

Jack and his pewter mug from his Grandma Rae Rae. Tommy has one like it, as well.

Tommy and Jack on Tommy's present from Santa--a "Cars" kids couch! He really likes it, although he always has it out in the "bed" form and won't let us fold it back up into the couch. Ain't they cute?

A big thanks to Uncle JJ, who was the cameraman for Christmas. We have tons more photos, but these are just some of the highlights :-)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Exciting News!

Logan has a job!

Last night he found out that he is officially being hired by the Lexington City Police Department.  He starts on Dec. 28th with preliminary stuff (getting measured for his uniform, drug tests, yet another psychological exam [there have been several]) and then on January 4th he'll start going in for "ride-alongs" with current police officers for about a week, and then...off to the academy!  As excited as I am for this job, that's the downside--he has to go away Mon-Thursday overnight to the police academy in Salem, about 45 minutes away.  So, for half the week, I'll be a single mommy!  Rough stuff.  However, after 22 weeks(!) he'll graduate, and then he has a 3 year contract with the department.

So, what does that mean for me? (aside from missing my husband terribly all week...)

We're still trying to figure everything out, but I've talked with my supervisors about going part time, or changing jobs to something that can be done from home.  I'm grateful that I work somewhere that appreciates the importance of family, because I feel a lot of support from my colleagues.  They don't want me to leave, but they want me to be able to be with my children and take care of them.  For the month of January, at least, I'll probably still be working full-time, but with the two salaries we'll be able to swing a fabulous babysitter (thanks Cami!).  Psychologically, though, I think it'll be a rough month.

Anywho, I'm VERY excited, and so is Logan.  He did fabulous on the physical tests for the position (he'll be the department record holder) and was the clear leader for the position.  We just didn't want to say anything until it was certain, because we were worried that there might be other factors that would count against him (like age, or the fact that he's from the west coast).  The people he's met so far have been great.  YAY!

In case you can't tell, I'm a little excited :-)

Girls Night Out

Last night I went to see New Moon (yes, the pop culture vampire-human-werewolf-love-triangle New Moon) in Lexington with Cami and Becca, and it was a blast!  I can't say as I'll ever own the movie, or even choose to watch it again, but the experience itself was very fun.  We were probably half of the total audience in the theatre, and when we first sat down we were giggling and whispering like pre-teens. It was fun to see the book come to life, and relive the memories of teenage angst and crying binges over boys. After the movie we told tales of heartbrake, and "lamented" the fact that we were now all married to stable, loving husbands and would never be able to relive those days.  **sigh**

It was great being able to go out and just be a girl.  Not a mommy, but a girl.  I think this should definitely become a regular outing!

Snow!

Today we had the first snow of the season! (That Logan and I were around for anyway...I think it might have snowed over Thanksgiving, but we didn't see it, so it doesn't count).  This was the first snow that Tommy played in, too.  In the past we've taken pictures of him in snow, but he's never really played before.  He went outside with Logan and Diego and had fun poking sticks into the snow. 

Diego enjoyed the "snowman" Logan made...

I was glad the snow came on a weekend!

Meeting Santa

Last night was the Buena Vista Christmas Parade, so we bundled the boys up and took them down to Magnolia Street to watch.  Tommy enjoyed it a lot more this year (he had fun pointing out the trucks and balloons) and Jack was a doll and went to sleep. After the parade we went up the school for the Open House, and had cookies and hot chocolate (yum!)

Santa was also there, so, being the dutiful parents that we are, we had our kids sit on his lap for pictures...
See for yourself.

I doubt any of these will make the cover of the Christmas card this year.

We also got a funny picture of Josh Cooper, Tommy's friend, with Santa:

Little kids are funny :-)

I wish I had a recording device

Typically, the last thing that Logan and I do at night when we put Tommy to sleep is to sing him songs. As he's gotten older, he's begun to request songs, so we sing everything from "As I Have Loved You" to "Lala song" (that's how Tommy describes "Nala's Song", or "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King). Tonight, Tommy requested "Kipper the Dog", which we took to mean the theme from the show by that name (Tommy looooooves it!). So, Logan and I sang

They call him Kipper,
Kipper the dog
The dog with the slipper
(That's Kipper)
Kipper the dog
(by the way that's a toad, not a frog)
Now he can do this
Do you think that you could?
And he can do that
(which is more than any old cat could!)
Would you like a dog, like a dog, like a dog
Like a dog like Kipper...
That's Kipper the dog
(Now THAT's a frog!)

(and yes, I'm aware that the lyrics make no sense without the illustrations to go with it, but there they are!)

Logan then asked Tommy, "Can you sing it for us? Sing Kipper the Dog!" And Tommy said,

Kipper.  Kipper the Dog. 
Slipper. Kipper.  Kipper the dog!
Not frog!
Cat!
Kipper! Kipper!!
That's a frog!
Kipper the dog!  Kipper the DOG!! KIPPER THE DOG!!!!!

By this point, Logan was on the floor, he was laughing so hard.  You have to imagine the last few "Kippers" getting louder with each saying, with an attempt at a change in pitch.  It was very funny, and very adorable! 

I'll try to get it on film sometime, but just know...it was hilarious!

Milestone #107

Jack turned over today! He's been turning on his side a lot lately, but he finally tipped all the way on to his stomach.  Yay Jack!

Sweet Moment

So, last night Logan and I decided to watch a movie...but didn't start until after 10pm.  I only lasted about a half hour, and then I was fast asleep, nice 'n comfy on the couch...

When I woke up, I found that Logan had cleaned the entire kitchen, and even started the diswasher! It all looked so beautiful!  It was nice to just crawl into bed and not have to worry about putting away the green bean casserole.

I love my husband.  He's a keeper :-)

Thanksgiving!

Happy post-Thanksgiving, everyone!

Ours was pretty fun.  We spent Wed-Saturday in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in my Aunt Kathy's beach house.  It's a good sized house, and luckily there was already a room decked out with a crib, twin bed AND queen-sized bed, so our cute little family was able to bunk together.

Mom went down on Sunday with my brother Seth and his girls (they flew in from Oregon), but since Logan was working some extra shifts for security we couldn't leave until after 11pm on Tuesday.  Since we have little kids, we thought, "Hey! Let's travel at NIGHT, so the kids will be asleep!  That way we won't have screaming babies!"  Good idea, except for one flaw: Logan and I both prefer to sleep at night, and driving in the dark doesn't really motivate us to stay awake.  It was a struggle, believe me.  And the kids both woke up for the last hour of the trip, so we got the "screaming baby" thing anyway (Tommy was actually mad for the first 15 minutes of the car ride, because he wanted us to put him back in his bed. He kept screaming "Nap! Nap!")  Ironically, the trip home on Saturday (during the day) was pretty peaceful.

The trip was really fun.  We went to the wild horse museum, climbed a light house (at least Tommy, Logan, Abrianna, Mercedes, and Papa did), went to the ocean, walked around the cutsy shops in the area, ate locally made fudge, toured the Wright Brothers monument in Kill Devil Hills, and stopped at Virginia Beach and Williamsburg (briefly) on the way home.  Lots of stuff to see and do!

While at the beach I bought a new swimsuit, which was an experience.  Finding a non-bikini swimsuit is nigh unto impossible these days.  But, I didn't budge on my standards, and after tons of stores I finally found one! (as you can probably imagine, most of the swimsuits were on sale due to the lateness of the season, so I got a pretty good deal).

Going on vacation with Tommy was interesting, because I didn't realize how "toddler-proof" our house was until we went someplace that wasn't.  For the first day I was constantly moving objects up to higher shelves, and trying to dissuade him from going places I didn't want him to go. Next time I go on vacation, I'm taking my toddler-proof door handles with me!  Overall he did pretty well, though, and he loved spending time with his cousins!

Tommy at the top of the light house we visited. He "climbed" with Daddy, Papa, Abrianna and Mercedes.

Mercedes on the staircase of the light house.

Tommy's first trip to the Atlantic Ocean! (Not the most flattering picture, but we only got a few)

Sadly, the only picture we have the proves Jack was at the beach...

Tommy adored Mercedes, and followed her around a lot.  He liked saying "Cedes!"

Abrianna and Mercedes painting a horse at the wild horse museum.