White Christmas

Our Christmas experience in Minnesota this year was absolutely wonderful. I even felt as though we were in a movie several times because everything was so picturesque...the beautiful log cabin, the 3 days of snow we got on Christmas eve, Christmas day & the day after Christmas, the adorable Christmas eve service at our little church, the kiddos faces while opening presents, and having family here...Derek's mom & sister, Granna & Hettie got to spend two weeks with us at Christmas. (Gramps came later over New Years) The only negative part of Christmas was not getting to see ALL our family like we normally do...so I was missing my family. But, next year we will get to resume our usual traditions after we have moved back home. Here is our Christmas experience in pictures, of course.

Making a gingerbread house with Granna & Hettie while Mom & Dad were away on vacation

Opening ONE present early on Christmas eve

Hettie with the baby boos

Granna with Dawson in their Christmas cooking aprons...Granna brought these with her & they were a BIG hit with the kids!

me & my baby girl

baking Santa's cookies Christmas eve

reading the kiddos The Night Before Christmas

The kids 'Elf on a shelf' who Dawson named 'Jingles the elf.' He landed on top of our tree, named 'Jingles the tree' his last night with us.

Christmas morning. This is the blue vase he picked for me. Weeks before this he had told me "Mom, I got you a beautiful blue vase for Christmas. But, I am not supposed to talk about it. Me & Dada are going to wrap it in spiderman wrapping paper so you won't know what it is."

Now that Dawson is learning to write in pre-school...he made his own gift tags...so cute!

SUPERDAD! Dawson's gift to Derek of course...Dawson stole it from Hettie so he could give it to him.

Andi with her three princess babies! She has barely put them down since.

She didn't really understand how the whole present thing worked. She thought she could just pick out whatever one she liked from under the tree & open it. This was when we wouldn't let her do that. (Side note: we let them stay up late the night before & then Dawson woke her up really early...so she is in desperate need of a nap here!)

Our fam running on the lake Christmas day, we played outside for hours in the snow.

Our snowy cabin on Christmas day

And...my first EVER Frosty! After finishing him, I was exhausted...I even layed down in the snow to rest for about 20 minutes enjoying the weather as it snowed all over me. It was about 30 degrees that day & it really felt warm to me...I never even wore my coat. It's funny how quickly your body adjusts to different climates.

Minnesota Moments

Since moving here, I have had a few funny/odd experiences. Here are the ones that stand out the most in my mind.

- When my Mom was visiting back in September, we ate lunch at a famous local restaurant that I had a coupon for. When we had finished eating, I tried to give my coupon the the waitress. She very quickly said "Take it to the tell" and walked away. My Mom & I were like 'hu?' It only took us a moment to realize that 'tell' was short for 'teller.' No one here uses the term 'cashier', and I have actually confused people when I have used that term.

-I have noticed one HUGE difference between Minnesota & Texas...and it is not the weather! You know how we all have 'personal space' when we are out in public? Like when you are standing in line somewhere for example. In Texas, it is a very comfortable distance that people keep from each other...it's like an unspoken rule that everyone knows about & the majority of people abide by it. (And those of you guys that really know me, know I sure do love my 'personal space.') In Minnesota, it is quite different. Cut that 'personal space' distance in at least half...and that is how close people stand to you. At first, I would ease forward a little, to get away from the person who was breathing down the back of my neck, only to find they would ease right up with me. I even had an experience where a lady kept stepping on the back of my heels while in line at the post office. No lie, she did it 7 times while she was in line behind me during a 15 minute holiday wait. Everytime I scooted up, she scooted up too...stepping on my heel in the process. It took EVERYTHING in me, not to turn around & shove her! (Visions of really shoving her...knocking down the entire line of close-standing-people like dominoes...kept me sane.) But, that is just the culture...maybe they are used to having to huddle together to keep warm! Now, when I stand in line somewhere, I have to go to my happy place & take deep breaths so I don't get overwhelmed & claustrophobic.

-Along those same lines, Minnesotans are also very touchy people. Even total strangers will reach out & lay a hand on your shoulder while talking to you. I struck up a conversation with a lady in the grocery store, and I had a hard time not cracking up laughing. Everytime she started to speak, she had to touch me in some form or fashion...like grabbing my hand or arm to emphasize something, resting her hand on my shoulder to listen to me speak, and she even gently shoved me at one point. Germophobes wouldn't last one day here.

-One night I stopped by KFC to pick up some dinner. This was the conversation that took place at the drivethru window:

KFC guy: Welcome to KFC, can I take your order?
ME: Yes, I would like the 6 piece basket...can I get that all with dark meat?
----long pause----
KFC: Did you just say...DARK...MEAT?
ME: uh...yeah...like you know, all drumsticks & thighs...not the light meat...
KFC: ...oookayyyy...just DARK MEAT...your total is blah blah blah, pull forward to the second window.

While pulling forward I was trying to figure out what was SO strange about my request. Do they not call it 'dark meat' and 'light meat' here? In Friendswood, they have never batted an eye at my dark meat requests. When I pulled forward to the window, get this, 9 different KFC employess found some reason to walk by the drivethru window to nonchalantly glance at me...you know, the crazy woman who had just requested the 'DARK MEAT.' I am still baffled by this whole scenario. I really need to find someone who can explain to me what I did wrong.

My little comedians

I have not done one of these blogs in awhile, where I just list out my kiddos (mainly Dawson's) funny comments. I keep track of all of them in my notebook until I blog about them, and since I haven't blogged about them in awhile there are QUITE A FEW! Enjoy!

Andi's funnies:

1. Andi walked up to me the other day & said "Mom, I need more toes." I looked at her with my confused face & she pointed down to her toes & said "I don't know what happened." I quickly realized that she was talking about her nail polish!

2. I walked into the kitchen the other morning after getting dressed in my pink & black 'supergirl' sweatshirt & Dawson exclaimed "MOM...are you SUPERGIRL?" Andi very quickly said "NO! Mom is NOT super!"

3. Andi has a favorite phrase that she uses all the time..."OH my dear!"

4. One night after her bath, I had just towel dried her hair when she saw her reflection in the mirror. While looking at herself wide-eyed, she exclaimed "Oh no...look at my hairstyle!"

Dawson's funnies:

1. When Papaw & Ann came to visit last September, the first thing Dawson said to Papaw when they got off the plane was "Papaw, you have taller hair."

2. One day he told me "Mama...God made strawberries yummy hu? Then after he made strawberries, he made kisses, and after that he made hearts. And if your heart stops beating, God makes it start again." (I have NO clue where this conversation came from)

3. I always ask him about his day when I pick him up from school...one day he exclaimed "I had a SUPER DOOPER day!"

4. A couple of months ago, Dawson started using Spiderman body wash...one evening after bath time, he came running up to me striking a naked superhero pose & said "MOM, do I smell like spiderman washing body?"

5. Shorty after his school year began in Minnesota, Dawson's teacher sent home a note that said he stood up in front of his class & told the differences between Texas & Minnesota. When I asked him what he said to his class, this is what he said. "Mom, I stood up like this (striking a superman-ish pose with his hands on his hips) and told my class 'Class, I'm from Texas...Amen!'"
That is NOT what happened according to his teacher, but that was Dawson's version anyway.

6. One day Dawson came flying around the corner all excited "MOM, come quick....God is talking in my video!!!" I went to see what he was talking about, and then started laughing. I then had to explain the concept of a 'narrator' to him.

7. Eating lunch with Dada one day, Dawson was asking him how long until his next birthday. Derek said "Well, we are in October right now & your birthday is not until June so..." Dawson interupted him & said "DAD!!! We are not in OCTOBER...we are in BEMIDJI!"

8. Another evening after bathtime, Dawson said to me (while rubbing his thighs) "Look Mom, I have gotten so much bigger...I have big hair on my lap now."

9. After running around the house chasing each other Dawson said "Mom, lets go rest & watch tv for a minute. Then we will have more air in our tummies & more injury (energy) again."

10. One evening the kiddos were argueing alot & Dawson hollored at me "MOM...Andi is RANIZING me!!!" I asked him "What does 'ranizing' mean?" He replied "You know, when someone ranizes you, that's what RANIZING means..." I couldn't really argue with him that is wasn't a real word because it was so funny! I mean, he even used it in a sentence & used a different tense!

11. At dinner one evening, I told Dawson to tell Derek what he learned at school that day because they had learned about Jesus' birth. Dawson had been telling me about it all day...in great detail. But, for Derek, he gave him the VERY abridged version saying "Uh, we learned about baby Jesus...and how Mary was Jesus' mommy...and how God is Jesus' baby Daddy."

12. I got on to Dawson for about the 100th time the other day "DAWSON...quit chasing your sister!!!!" He said "I am NOT chasing her...I am just FOLLOWING her...quickly."

13. Granna got the kids a knight costume & a cinderalla dress for Christmas. They spent an entire day playing in them & having a blast. Then Knight Dawson decided that Princess Andelynn needed to be rescued. Only problem was that Andi would not follow his directions at all. So, Dawson stormed off around the corner and muttered "I hate this job."

14. LAST ONE...This last Wednesday was my birthday. We had all gotten dressed to go meet Derek for lunch & I ran to the 'ladies room' right before we left. Dawson busted in on me & said "You still don't have a penis...are you going to get one for your birthday?"

Flying with two kiddos...

When I came home to Houston to visit over Thanksgiving, I had the joy of flying with both kids by myself. I know, I know...I only have TWO kids...how hard could it be? But, when you take into consideration how Andi behaves with strange places & people...it was really quite an experience. Here are the two funniest incidents that occured during our traveling. Well, they are funny now at least.

1. I traveled with my double stroller, even though poor Dawson doesn't really fit in it anymore, because we had a layover & transfer in Minneapolis both ways. You can use the stroller right up until you get on the plane & then they have it for you immediately when you get off. Now, Andi is infamous for running away from me in public places...I mean, she is CRAZY about running away from me! She does it because she knows she is not supposed to & because she knows its dangerous...and she will look back over her shoulder at me with the cutest little smirk on her face as she darts just out of my reach. So, if they are both strapped into the stroller, that means peace of mind for me navigating through a huge, strange airport. Well, we travel the first leg from Bemidji to Minneapolis & we get off the plane to find our stroller right there waiting for us...sweet! But, I physically have to let go of her to unfold the stroller, because it takes two hands (this part I had not thought through). As I am unfolding the stroller, I see a flash of red hair fly around me & turned to see her dart around the corner. Meanwhile, I am saying through clenched teeth "ANDELYNN ELIZABETH!!!! YOU GET BACK HERE....NO MA'AM!!!!!" I pick up my carry on, grab Dawson by the hand & run around the corner after her. (I am officially starting to panic now.) Where is she? Crazy woman is already on the down escalator! She is looking over her shoulder at me as she travels downward, with the smirk on her face...it is a look of amusement & serious accomplishment. Just where does she think she is going???? (Side note: Before I had children, I used to make fun of the parents who put their kids on 'leashes.' However, I realize now that that device is literally a lifesaver for children like Andi who love to run away.) So, I pick Dawson up, jog down the escalator & we catch up to her right at the bottom. I then put Dawson down, pick her up & head back up the Up escalator to where our stroller is waiting. Of course, we had to repeat this scenario when we landed in Houston. So what did I do? I squeezed her between my legs while I was opening the stroller. Ha! I think I may have given her my own smirk of amusement & accomplishment this time around.

2. The second funny incident happened while we were traveling back to Minnesota. We landed in Minneapolis & had an hour & a half layover. One of the airport employees told me about a playground for the kiddos, so we headed on over. I let them out of the stroller to play while I found a bench to sit on. I was feeling like a seasoned traveler at that moment & I was quite proud of myself...everything was totally going to plan...I was totally in control...and I was TOTALLY mistaken. I glance around to see Andi cowering under part of the playground equiptment, shaking, with that look on her face that could only mean ONE thing....she has to poop. Oh lovely, where is Dawson? I call out to him...only to find him shaking with the same look on his face. They both say almost simultaneously "Mom I gotta go poo poo." Then Andi says "My poo poos are coming out NOW!" So, I scoop her up & we all start running to the bathroom while I am trying to push the stroller one handed through the crowded airport. All the while Andi is saying over & over again for all the other travelers to hear "My poo poos are coming! My poo poos are coming!" I find a bathroom, & get both kids on a potty. The only open potties were not right next to each other...so I am standing in the middle with the stroller be-bopping back & forth between each child so they won't panic that I left them. (The stall doors wouldn't stay open of course.) All of sudden, I realize that I have a pretty large audience of older ladies totally enjoying my predicament. This was the point where I too began laughing hysterically...seriously, where are the video cameras when you need them? I think I could have just made a blockbuster hit.

Happy Halloween! (In January?)

Late as usual...but, here are our Halloween highlights!

I LOVE this picture...it is SO hard to get a good picture of both of them!

The kids at their pre-school's trunk or treat...the first snowfall made for a cold Halloween.

My little Tinkerbell

Dawson as Bumblebee

And, their official Halloween portrait! How perfect was the fall scenery across the street from our house!

Granna, Gramps & Hettie's first visit

It is January now, and Granna, Gramps & Hettie have already visited for a SECOND time, but I am just now blogging about their first visit. I hope to get caught up on the blog in the next few days...how many times have I said that! But, here are a few highlights from thier first trip up in October.

Playing at the park one cold fall day

swing!

carving pumpkins...Dawson LOVES to do this! Luckily, this year there was no gagging while taking the 'guts' out!

Hettie, Dawson & Granna with the finished pumpkin

Kissin' on my boy!

Andi's Birthday Party

Well, I am slowly catching up on my blogging...back on Oct 3rd, we celebrated baby girl's 3rd birthday. This is a picture of her 3 petite cakes. Everytime I asked her what type of cake she wanted for her birthday, she told me either Tinkerbell, Aerial or Dora...the problem was that she constantly changed her mind! So, when I saw these petite cakes that serve 2-4 people each, I knew I should get her all three, since she turned three...PERFECT! She was totally amazed by the cakes & adamantly refused to share them with anyone! So, we just waited until she went down for her nap that day before we all dug into them.

The munchkins snatching nibbles of iciing before we opened presents.

She was totally AMAZED by her singing Aerial card.

Her new Barbie mask & new 'magna glass'

Dawson with his new Transformer toy (we got him a present too so he would not get too jealous), and Andi with her new pink binoculars. She LOVES binoculars, magnifying glasses & telescopes!

Blowing out the candles!

And...the highlight of the evening...giving Andi her new Dora dvd where Andi was the star of the show! The best part was actually Dawson's reaction...he laughed so hard at Andi's cartoon character he was crying!

Watching herself on the Dora video!

I will try to post some cute videos soon...my video camera is not the easiest camera to upload videos from. Hopefully Santa will bring me a new one...and hopefully he will bring it BEFORE Christmas so I can use it ON Christmas. Hint Hint, Babe.

Sibling Love

Since Dawson started talking, at 10 months old, I don't think a single day has gone by without him saying something that causes me to crack up laughing OR causes me to just stare at him in amazement. Today was no exception. I constantly have to remind myself...he is ONLY FOUR!

The kiddos were playing wonderfully together this morning which always puts me in a great mood, because I always get soooo much more done when I am not constantly having to referee & kiss sibling-induced boo-boos. For about four hours straight, and that is a HUGE record for them, they played together without my interference at all. Well, I heard Dawson tell Andi to hold on for a minute because he needed to go to the bathroom. While he was gone, I heard Andi talking to one of her stuffed animals & I heard her use the word 'stupid.' I was in the laundry room ironing, and I raised my voice at her a little bit & told her "NO Ma'm....We DO NOT say that word. It is NOT a nice word." She immediately fell apart & began crying hysterically...she is my drama queen. Meanwhile, Dawson comes back into the room to find Andi in this state.

Dawson: "Baby girl...why are you crying? What happened?"

(Andi was too hysterical to answer, so Dawson stomped angrily over to me.)

"WHY is Andi crying????"

Me: "Dawson, it isn't a big deal. She just got in a little bit of trouble for saying 'stupid.'

Dawson: "Did you YELL at her?"

Me: "Bud, I just yelled at her a little bit..." (He interupted me & rolled his eyes.)

Dawson: "Hmph. I thought so."

(Then he walked back to Andi, sat beside her on the couch & put his arm around her.)

"It's okay Baby girl."

About 10 minutes later, they were chasing each other around the living room & I saw him shove her in the back & knock her down. She of course, began wailing. Over the screams I look at Dawson disapprovingly...

Me: "Dawson, 10 minutes ago, you were mad at me because I had yelled at her...but you just shoved her down!"

(He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly)

Dawson: "That's the way it goes Mom."

Mississippi Headwaters

The part I was the most excited about when my Mom stayed an extra week, was having 'girl time' when the kiddos were in Pre-School on Tuesday & Thursday. On Tuesday of that week, we had a wonderful adventure. We drove about an hour south to Itasca State Park to see where the Mississippi River starts. Itasca State Park is HUGE, and unbelieveably beautiful. We walked across the Mississippi River headwaters, hiked along a beautiful hiking trail, and drove the 17 mile scenic road around the entire park. (Stopping to take many pics along the way of course.)



Me & my Mama

The sign at the headwaters

My Mom crossing the Mississippi headwaters: Lake Itasca is to the left of the rocks, Mississippi river to the right.

Me sitting on a log over the Mississippi right where it starts. Just to be silly, I spat into the water. One of the other signs by the information center said that a drop of water will take approximately 90 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico. So, if all goes well, my little drop of spit will reach the Gulf around New Years!

Another pic of what the Mississippi River looks like where it begins...so small!

Here is a picture of the trail we hiked.

One of the views from the tour around the State Park: Mary Lake.

Another beautiful view around the park.

Then, after we left Itasca State Park, we headed to LaPorte, Minnesota to treat ourselves to a wine tasting at Forestedge Winery. My Mom, from LaPorte, Texas, had to take a picture with the LaPorte, MN sign!

And, a shot of the cute little winery.

What a wonderful day! It doesn't get much better than having 'girl time' with your Mama!

My Mom & Mark visit

The last weekend of September, my Mom & Mark came up for a visit. Before they came up, I convinced my Mom to stay longer than just her original weekend...so Mark flew back home after the weekend ended, and I got to have my Mom here for an additional week! I will post about her extended week with us next, but first here are some highlights while Mark was here.

Mark, Dawson & Mamaw posing in front of the Bemidji sign.
Mark & Mamaw enjoying the view at Buena Vista.

Then, we did something TOTALLY crazy while they were here...we rented a boat. Now, the reason why that was crazy was because the weather we less than favorable for taking a boat out. It was crazy windy which made the water crazy choppy & the sky was about to 'fall out' any second because a cold front was pushing through! Which also meant it was crazy cold. But, we had already paid for the boat for the day & thought 'What the heck? It will be an adventure."

This was Dawson's idea of fishing...just catch them out of the bait box! He just dove right in there...and everytime he stood up, water would just POUR out of his sleeves!


Andi & Mamaw on the pontoon boat.

Mark & Dawson

Andi helping Dada fish...the only thing we caught was a little seaweed!

And, here is a cool shot I got while on the water of the storm blowing in. The sunrays were streaking through the clouds & it looked like they were spotlights on the trees...it was a super cool sight. This was about when we realized we had pushed our luck to the limit & that is was time to head back before we got severly rained on. We raced back to the pier...we only got rained on the last minute before we docked & then immediately after we got off the boat it started hailing! We took cover in a storage shed down by the lake until Derek could bring the car around to come get us. Normally, these types of crazy situations, when the kiddos are with me, make me very stressed out. Not this time...I could not stop laughing! It was super hysterical to me for some reason...we were drenched & freezing & only got 2 hours worth of our daily boat rental...but I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure!

My Dad & Ann visit Minnesota

So, I am REALLY behind on my blogging...mainly because I am wanting to blog about the visitors we have had over the last two months, but have not found the time to do so because...there have been visitors at my house! But, we have had lots of fun with all of our guests. For this post, I am taking you guys back to mid September when my Dad & Ann came to visit. Here are some photo highlights:

Dad & Ann with the sunset at Turtle Lake

Kiddos snuggling with Papaw after putting flowers all in his hair

Here are the boys catching frogs on their hike. This was hike attempt #2...the day before, they left the house for hike attempt #1 & within 5 minutes I heard Dawson screaming outside. Apparently, a bee had flown up his shirt & stung him 3 times! (What is it with this poor kid & things that sting you? Jelly fish & mosquitos love him too!) Anyways, he was too scared of bees to try the hike again on the first day. Papaw convinced him to try the hike again the following day. Here was the funny part: Dawson only agreed to go the second time, after he had Papaw promise to BE VERY QUIET so that the bees would not hear them coming. Then, when they left, Dawson talked my Dad's ear off...in fact, I sat out on my porch after they left & I could hear Dawson just chatting away in the distance long after I couldn't see them anymore! So much for being quiet. Maybe all the chatting scared the bees away because the second hike was a success & the bees kept their distance.

Andi going for a walk with Papaw & Ann

The weekend they were visiting, was the weekend they were running the 'fall colors wagon tours.' Unfortunately, the fall colors were not really out yet because of the crazy weather. Usually the fall colors peak here around the 3rd week of September, but because their summer weather hit so late this year, the colors did not peak until mid-October. But, we all had a good time enjoying the ride & scenery anyway.

Ann & kiddos on our wagon before we took off.

And, how sweet is this? They were enjoying the sunset the night before they left to go home.