"An official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and 'this thing' which tells time"

Every year, usually on Thanksgiving, my Mom & Dad give us all a new ornament. They always get one that means something special to the person receiving it. It's always fun to see what they've found each year, and this year Micky's was even better than usual. Check it out!













Who doesn't love Ralphie?!? If you've never seen A Christmas Story, don't worry, you'll get your chance! Every year they show it on TBS starting around 8:00 Christmas Eve and it plays on a loop all through Christmas Day. Now, that may annoy some of you, but not us. We're that crazy family who leaves it on that channel all day and night. Occasionally we'll mute it and turn on some Christmas music but that doesn't happen too often.
My favorite character is the mom. I love the way she protects Ralphie when she sugar coats the "fight" story to his dad, the "blue ball" (bowling ball) she gave "the Old Man" for Christmas, and I absolutely crack up every time I think about her breaking that tacky leg lamp!
Anyway~ we had our own personal "Randy" here on Wednesday night.












She's been wanting to wear her pink puffy jacket all season, but it just hasn't been cold enough! Wednesday morning I told her we were going to see the lights at the zoo that night and that she could wear her puffy jacket. Her response was, "It'll be snowing?" (Starting in September she would ask to wear that coat everyday, so I finally told her that it was only for snowy days!) So~ we got her ready to go the zoo--complete with scarf, mittens, tights under her pants-- and as I was putting her shoes on, she actually fell over (just like Randy!) and had to be helped up. I thought I would go into labor right then from all the laughter!
Lucky for us, they had "snow" at the entrance to the zoo and she had a blast getting to see all of the "bewdiful wights" at the zoo with her Daddy, Grammy, Nonnie, Nano, and Uncle Tyler. Merry Christmas!
Oh--and don't shoot your eye out! :-)

You serious Clark?

I'm quickly learning that there are indeed times when I just need to nod my head and say, "Is that right?". This is my #1 response when faced with 3 year-old logic that is extremely difficult to argue with. Those of you with kids know that they never run out of good reasons for why something should happen just the way they think it should. For example, Chloe walked in to the den about 20 minutes ago carrying a plastic golf ball and an apple--and this is the conversation that followed.

me: "Let me guess, you want to go outside and play golf and eat that apple?!?"

Chloe (looking at me as if I were crazy!): "No mom. I's just thinking that since I have this ball I should pwobabwy get a wittle puppy to play with it. And since I have this big apple, I should get a horse. 'Cause horsies wove apples."

me: "Is that right?"

Chloe: "That's what my Nina told me...... So, can we go get them?"

me: "Not today. We've got laundry to do."

That's my way of "creating a diversion"! Yes, there's plenty of laundry to be done--but I don't plan on doing it today, and Chloe happens to love playing in the hamper as I sort clothes--so she dropped the ball and apple and ran to my closet to await the fun! Trust me, I learned long ago not to question the logic of Chloe or what she says her best friend Nina said. All it leads to is 10 minutes of me saying,"that's fine" or "guess so" and Chloe trying repeatedly to convince me by saying,"uh huh, that's right" or "but, but, but..."!!! With this prego belly restricting my breathing these days, I really don't have the breath to go back and forth like that! Eventually (probably when she's 27!) I'll try to explain that if we had a little puppy or a horse, then it would be ok to ask for a ball or apple--not the other way around!

Blue Hair Convention

I made reference in my Thanksgiving post to having attended a "Blue Hair Convention." I've been asked a lot of questions about that and have finally found the time to answer them. In the "sbsturkie dictionary" a blue hair convention is defined as: any gathering of 100 or more persons wherein there are only 4 individuals, including your 3 yr old daughter, that are under the age of 65 and that have never tried to dye their hair silver--and thus end up with a nice blue shine to it--giving them blue hair. At this particular convention, the 4 individuals under the required age were myself, Chloe, my mom, and Aunt Marsha. We attended the "Christmas Show" at the Alabama Theatre in Myrtle Beach, SC.



Background: we drove to Myrtle Beach after picking Chloe up from school, spent the night, and the next day went to find a new beach house to rent. Apparently the two men who own the beach house we've stayed at for years have decided to retire to the beach--therefore, we needed a new house for our annual trip. Anyways, mom had given me fair warning that we may try to go to the show so I wasn't completely shocked when we pulled in to buy our tickets before checking in to our hotel. However, I was surprised to find the show packed later that evening. You see, there were only 10 other cars in the parking lot when we arrived 20 minutes before showtime. What I had failed to realize was that all of the tour buses that transport the "blue hairs" parked behind the theatre. So, the only cars in the parking lot with ours were those of the employees.
I don't want to sound like I'm a blue hair basher. On the contrary, some of the people I admire most fall in to this category: Sir Sean Connery, Micky's Nana, Jimmy Carter, and of course, Bea Arthur. I think I could live quite well with these people! I enjoy a good seafood buffet, love to take naps, and I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The singing and dancing were amazing, and I found myself completely lost in the show. So lost, that after about 20 minutes the glare bouncing off all of the blue/silver hair didn't bother me anymore. It's amazing what you can get used to when someones singing a mind-blowing version of "Mary Did You Know".













This was Chloe's first "big show" and she loved it--what she saw of it! Another thing that shocked me was that this show lasted from 7:30-10:15. By 9, Chloe had climbed on my mom's lap and drifted to sleep. I had no idea the blue hairs could party so late. Guess that explains all the napping!!

Big Gulp Eh?!?

This time every year there's a day that I look forward to more than any other--- and today was that day!!! Every year, one of the oral surgeons Micky refers patients to sends the most beautiful Christmas gift to us (actually just to Micky, but he knows how I love it and is sweet enough to bring it home and let me be the first to open it!).
Check it out!













Yes, please wipe the drool away from your keyboard! That is indeed 2 lbs. 13 oz. of heaven on earth :-) Lucky for me, my camera's on the fritz and Micky couldn't take a picture of me lying on the couch with my feet propped on pillows (got some nice swelling going on!) and this huge box of chocolate propped on my prego belly so that I could make myself ill eating so much chocolate that I needed a half gallon of milk to wash it down! Oh how I love Golden Chocolate Day!!!!