The Paul Bunyan snow fight

I absolutely LOVE these pictures! My kiddos decided on an impromptu snowfight one day while we were hanging out at the lake watching the 'Brrrmidji Polar Days' (I will blog about that next.) I just thought these pics were a perfect way to sum up our time spent here with the town icons in the background!

This pic is so fun...I love the huge snowball flying at Andi...I love her face...

Dawson trying to look innocent right before he pegs me with a snowball!

Nothing better than pegging your sister with one.

Andi just skips the innocent face & gives me the devious face before she throws her snowball at me!

What a fun & beautiful day!

The Princess & the Knight

My kiddos love dressing up in costumes. In fact, it is very rare for an entire day to go by where they haven't put on any costumes. I have already blogged about this particular dress up time, but here are the pictures to go with that story.

Here is Knight Dawson asking Princess Andelynn to dance with him at the ball.

Dancing the night away.

more dancing...

And, how sweet is this? He asked if he could kiss her hand! After this was the funny part. Dawson decided that Princess Andelynn desperately needed rescuing. He kept saying things to her like "QUICK Princess...follow me the bad guys are coming!" OR "Princess, let me take you downstairs to get you out of danger." However, the Princess's response to all of his suggestions was "NO. I don't want to." Dawson finally gave up & walked away muttering "I hate this job."

A few minutes later, this was how I found her chilling on the couch. She totally looks like a troublesome Princess doesn't she????

Princess Tea Party

Andi LOVES the princess tea party set she got for Christmas. This particular tea party, with all her Disney Princess babies, happened to be the very first tea party she orchestrated all by herself. She was so adorable tending to all her party guests! She even propped all of them up on boxes & such so that they would be tall enough at the table. I love that she happened to be wearing her absolute favorite dress on this day...makes the pics even more special.

This image cracks me up...she totally looks like a waitress tending to her table.

Pouring herself some tea too.

She of course, matched up all the appropriate dishes with the matching doll.

Then, she held all her babies hands & told them it was time to pray. So sweet!

LOST in The Lost Forty

Well, I am finally getting around to blogging about our most interesting Minnesota experience. Over the Christmas holidays, Derek had 10 days off work. On his last day of vacation, I asked him what he wanted to do. His answer: sit in the recliner & watch football all day. But, since Derek's mom & sister were still in town and could watch the kids, I really wanted to get out & do something just the two of us. I threw out two ideas: 1. Go see the movie 'The Blind Side' because he had not seen it yet, or 2. Go to The Lost Forty. The Lost Forty is something we both wanted to experience while we were here. Because of a survey error a long time ago, the area was originally said to be a lake, so the pine trees there were never logged. The trees that are there today are almost 400 years old & their trunks are supposedly the width of 3 people holding hands around the tree. You guessed it, I convinced him to go there with me.

It was a further drive out there than I realized, taking us over an hour. Because the sun was setting around 4:30 at that time, we only had an hour of daylight once we actually got there. We drove through the entrance & maybe a minute in, we realized we were in trouble. All of a sudden, we were in VERY slushy snow & our tires would not move anywhere! I immediately panicked...like severely panicked. I didn't tell Derek this at the time, but I was terrified we were going to be eaten by wild animals! We were stuck in the middle of the Chippewa National Forrest for crying out loud! Seriously, what would we have done if a bear or a mountain lion had come sniffing around the truck? It wasn't like we had the luxury of just driving away...anyway, I digress because we were obviously not eaten by anything.

This is a shot of where we originally got stuck in the snow.

Derek's 'uh oh, we're stuck in the snow face'

My 'uh oh, we're stuck in the snow face' I decided since it was so close to getting dark, I wasn't going to mess around with our rescue. So, I dialed 911. My 911 operator was in Canada & transferred me to the closest sheriff station. I told the lady sheriff that answered the phone, our entire predicament & that we needed her to send out a tow truck or snow plow or something. Her response: she began laughing hysterically. Like, for a really long time she laughed hysterically. Then I heard her say "Hey Marv, you'll never believe this...we've got some Texans...(more hysterical laughing)...that are LOST...in the LOST FORTY!!!...(more laughing)" Finally, she regained composure & said she would send out a two truck to pull us out. So, the waiting game began. While waiting, we had some funny moments. We chatted for a bit, then we just sat quietly listening to the radio. Then, while we were trying to stay warm in the truck because it was -15 degrees outside, we heard this song come one the radio "Aruba, Jamaica...ooh I wanna take ya to Bermuda, Bahama...come on pretty mama..." Derek & I cut our eyes over at each other & totally busted out laughing at the irony. Then, the next song that came on was none other than the main theme song from the movie 'The Blind Side',which of course was option 1 that we didn't do.

We sat in our original stuck position for about 30 minutes, but by then Derek was getting a little restless. He wanted to try to get us out again by himself. So, we started backing up little by little & it actually looked like we might get out for a second...when all of a sudden, the truck started sliding off the road! When we started sliding sideways, I really thought the truck was going to start rolling down the hill. I started screaming "AHHHH! STOP! STOP!!!!!" at Derek, and he started screaming "DONT SCREAM AT ME...SCREAMING DOESN'T HELP! AHHH!" Can you just picture this beautiful marital moment in your minds eye? But, the truck stopped sliding, we didn't roll over, and the tow truck driver finally arrived right before it got dark.

Here is a shot of where the truck got stuck the second time & the tow truck driver trying to figure out how to get us out of there. The tow truck drivers name was Art & he had 4 dogs inside his cab with him! Little did we know, we were about to become good friends with all 5 of them because we were about to spend the next 6 hours with all of them trying to get out of the Chippewa Forrest.

Because of the way the truck was stuck, he couldn't pull us out backward without Derek's truck slamming into the trees. So Art decided to pull us forward because he thought the road ahead made a short little loop & we could just follow his tracks in the snow to get out. WRONG! The road was not a short road...it winded up & down hills for miles & led us deeper into the Forrest. Several times, we got stuck & Art would have to hook up to us & pull us up the hill. Also, several times we BOTH got stuck and Art had to wench up to a tree at the top of the hill & slowly pull us both up the hill. We did this for hours. This was the lovely view we had the entire time.

Then, while trying to wench us both us a steep hill, the tow truck's transmission overheated & blew all of the transmission fluid out of the tail pipe. So now we were both sitting ducks. And, we were so deep into the Forrest, we had no more cell phone service! Derek & Art tried walking up to the top of the hill to see if they got any service but they didn't. We both had Verizon service & I kept picturing 'the people' from their Verizon commercials standing at the entrance of The Lost Forty going 'I ain't about to walk in there." While we were trying to decide whether to start hiking then or to wait until morning, we finally remembered that Derek's truck has onstar, but it wasn't hooked up. All three of us anxiously climb into Derek's truck and we push the button...someone answered! Hallelujah! Of course, before someone could come rescue us, they needed Derek's credit card number & a verbal agreement to be charged $20 a month for the onstar service. About 15 minutes later the onstar was working & we had formulated a plan.

For signing up, we received 30 minutes of complimentary phone calls. However, since we just signed up, the operator had to do all the phone dialing for us & she had to remain on the line during our calls as well. So, Art who was in the backseat of the truck, called a 70 year old buddy of his named Arnie. He needed Arnie to go to his house, tell his wife what was going on, go into his garage & get more transmission fluid, and then bring it out to us so that his truck would start. When Arnie hung up, the sweet onstar lady said "Wow...you guys sure are in a pickle aren't you?" Art explained that the reason he had called Arnie to help us, is because Arnie is a trapper and he knows all the forestry roads better than anyone he knows. How cool is that? I had never met a trapper before, only read about them in history books. While we were waiting for Arnie, we all took a bathroom break...all 7 of us. Art & the dogs walked in front of the trucks, and Derek & I went to the back of the trucks. Now, that was an experience I will never forget. I really doubt I will ever use the restroom again outside at night, in -20 weather, while standing in 2 feet of snow without any toilet paper.

About an hour & a half later, Arnie shows up with the fluid. He looked like he had as much energy as a rambunctious 5 year old, and you could tell that he thought being 'our rescuer' was probably the coolest thing he had ever done. Men. (I said that last word while shaking my head & rolling my eyes) I really wish I would have taken a picture of him too because was such a character. But, the fluid got the truck back up & running and all three of us finally made it to a paved road. I have never been more excited to see pavement in my life. Final time stuck in the Forrest: 6.5 hours.

This is a shot of Derek & Art in front on Art's tow truck. We stopped at a local bar called 'The hoot & hollar' to settle up. Art bought us all a round of drinks & then we hit the road for our hour trip back home. We never even got to see the cool trees.

That night before going to bed, Derek said "The next time I want to sit around all day and watch football....please, just let me sit around all day and watch football."

New Years

For New Years, Hettie & Granna were still here from Christmas...but Gramps got to fly in to celebrate the weekend with us. We had the COLDEST weather of the winter over New Years weekend. New Years Day was brutally cold, but we played outside anyway. We hiked across the lake & even went tubing at the ski resort in -24 degree weather. The day they flew back home to Houston it was -39!!!! But, it hasn't been that cold again since.

New Years Eve, playing in the snow with Granna

Andi & Hettie

The kiddos had fun with sparklers for a couple of minutes...but since it was so cold, they were ALL DONE pretty quick.

Here is a shot of Gramps, Derek & Hettie crossing the lake. The snow was so hard to walk through. A walk that looked like it should take about 5 minutes, took 30 because of how deep the snow was. Also, the -40 wind chills whipping across the lake were insane. All of our eyelashes were frozen solid!

I am on the island here, looking back toward Gramps & Derek making the final treck over.

Gramps in his retro snow boots making snow angels. (He has had these boots since his honeymoon!)

And, here is Derek & Frank on the island.

This was definitely a memorable New Years Day!

X-Rated Embarrassment

I have decided that every once in awhile I am going to blog about funny embarrassing moments that have happened to me over the years. I really have quite a few to tell, and since I love making people laugh & I love telling stories, this seems like a good plan.

My first embarrassing moment installment that I am going to tell about, is actually my most recent one. I have titled it 'X-Rated' because....it kind of is. Some of you may find yourself offended for two reasons: 1. You may be offended by what I actually did in this post. OR 2. You may be offended that I even blogged about it at all. I really hope you don't find yourself in either of those two categories, and that you are able to just laugh AT me...WITH me.

All that being said, here ya go:

When I flew home to Houston over Thanksgiving break, I accidentally showed my Dad a picture of my bare breasts. Yes, you read that correctly. NOW, let me try my hardest to explain how we got to this point. (For the rest of this blog, I am going to refer to 'breasts' as 'the girls' because it rolls off the tongue a little easier)

The kids & I stayed in Houston for two weeks, while Derek had to stay in Minnesota working. Now, this was the absolute longest we had ever been apart. Before this two week visit, the longest we had been apart since we got married was 5 days.

Right before I left Minnesota, I bought a new cell phone, one of the new Verizon Droid smart phones, with 7 customizable screens. I of course, had all 7 screens set up really cool after fiddling with it for a good week straight. Not too long after I got to Houston, I realized my new phone was possessed. It would randomly call people by itself, or send random text messages to people by itself. They tried to fix it, but ultimately just had to replace it. My replacement phone had all the standard 7 homescreens you get when you first buy the phone & I did not have the energy to customize them again right away.

Meanwhile, Derek had been pestering me for several days to send him a picture, you know, a picture of his girls. So, one evening, I finally gave in. I snapped a quick picture with my cell & sent it to him. (In retrospect, this was where I should have deleted the evidence.)

Well, the next day, my Dad invited me to lunch. While we were eating at Gringo's, my Dad asked about my new phone because he was contemplating getting one as well. I eagerly pulled my phone out to show off my new shiny cell phone that I loved. I was not even concerned about the picture because I was just going to show him to cool 7 homescreens. We were sitting in the middle of Gringo's, facing each other at the table, so I was holding my phone up where he could see it real well (and probably half of Gringo's too). Here comes the horrible part, because I forgot that one of the standard homescreens, that I had NOT customized yet, was a picture slideshow...a slideshow that puts your last photo taken at the start of the slideshow. So, right there in Gringo's, with who knows how many other people looking, I show my Dad the picture of the girls. This made for a very awkward finish to our lunch, but since we had not even received our food yet, I had to sit there in total embarrassment for about 30 more minutes! My poor Dad seemed just as embarrassed as I was. Don't worry though, I did ask his permission to blog about this prior to doing it.

So, the moral of my story is this: If you are going to take a X-Rated picture of yourself, delete it right away, and make sure it is a REALLY good one, because you never know when you might accidentally flash it to half a restaurant.

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!