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 :-)