Happy Birthday Terrell!

For those who do not know already, Terrell is my mother-in-law. For many people that brings up images of “Everybody Loves Raymond”. Not for me. Terrell is the best mother one could ask for. We have been through many things together. She has supported me fiercely as I stumble through marriage and motherhood. One memory I have of Terrell was when she came to visit right after Sidney was born. She was looking to help out. So I thought of our shared love for cooking and asked her if she would bake a few dishes to freeze. She browsed through one of my cookbooks and off to the store we went. She seriously spent an entire day chopping, mixing and sautéing. By the end of the day, my freezer was full. As most new mothers can understand, I was VERY grateful!

Another time I recall is when she came to stay with us in California while Kevin had surgery. We spent 2 weeks at USC Medical Center leaning on each other. That was a very difficult time for all of us and having her there meant the world. It was also during that visit that Terrell and Kevin’s Aunt Sherry talked my way out of a traffic ticket. Now that was impressive.

She has taught me so much about hospitality, kindness and tradition. We are very different in many ways, but she has embraced me for who I am. She has allowed me to make mistakes along the way without watching through critical eyes. I am very lucky to have such a woman in my life. And, my girls are fortunate to have such a wonderful, loving, Grandma!!!

"Black Sunday"

As my sister and I (and Kevin) were standing in line at the absurd hour of 4:30am on Friday, we began to ponder where the term "Black Friday" came from. We were coming up with a lot of ridiculous ideas, when the lady behind us was kind enough to interject. She told us that black Friday refers to the day when retailers go from the RED to the BLACK on their accounting books.

I have a different sort of holiday on Thanksgiving. I refer to it as "Black Sunday". The day in which everyone leaves to go home. It is a very sad day! The house goes from stuffed to the gills and noisy to empty and quiet. UGH.

Speaking of Black Friday, we did score lots of loot. Most of it I cannot mention due to sworn secrecy. But, we did get ALMOST everything we wanted. The one item we did not get was a real bummer. Apparently Target had maps. We did not get one of these maps because we were not there early enough. Let me tell you, the line at Target was seriously wrapped 3/4 of the way around the building. So as Kevin ran to electronics, my sister and I watched carts full of "the item" passing by. Unbenownst to us, they had the item set up in the women's apparel department. Go Figure!

This was the first year that I decided to brave Black Friday and I must say, it was a blast. Everyone seemed to be in great spirits. I did not witness any fist fights or hair pulling. My sister does have a nice bruise on her heel from repeatedly being run into by shopping carts.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Lots of food, family and friends. Sidney is now up to 7 words. Let me see if I can remember them all: mama, dada, Emma (her dolly), banana, bye-bye, up, and Papa. Grandma is pretty bitter that Papa keeps getting first billing.

The one part of our holiday that was not quite complete was the absence of one our of "regulars". Terrell was not able to make it this year. GRRR! Her coworker decided to snatch the day off after Thanksgiving, so she had to work. The nerve:) We all really missed her. Black Friday was just not complete without her!

The scene of the crime

Here is a picture of the scene of the crime. What crime am I referrring to? The crime of the missing cherry cobbler.
When I came in from my morning walk, Kendall was bouncing off the walls. Kevin even made the comment that maybe she should have gone on a walk with me or maybe she should go run a few miles. As I was getting ready, she came into the bathroom and said "this is sticky mommy" pointing to a spot of red gooiness on her pajamas. As I leaned in for inspection, I asked her where the cherry cobbler that was on the counter had went. It was in her tummy, of course. She quickly followed with "I could not get the bagel bag open, mommy". Makes sense to me and it solved the mystery of why she had so much extra energy. Let the holidays begin!

The concept of time

My dear Kendall woke up at 5:10 am this morning. I was down having my first cup of coffee (crazy I know), when I heard this cheery voice. "Good morning...I don't wait for Hallie to come". I think what she meant was "I cannot wait for Hallie to come". Hallie is Kendall's older cousin whom she adores. This was followed by "I will watch out the window for her car". That was all she talked about all morning. My efforts to explain "not today honey, next week" were lost.

Just last night we had told her that her cousin Hallie was coming next week. Next morning, next week, it is all the same to a 2 year old.

Here is a picture taken at approximately 5:15 this morning. Don't you wish we all woke up this happy? Apparently she is very excited about Thanksgiving and family coming to visit.
One more thing to add. As Kevin was telling Kendall everyone that was coming for Thanksgiving, he accidently left Papa off the list. But no worries, Kendall quickly corrected him. "...and Papa too?" Cannot wait to see you guys!

...Twelve

Becky asked me last night about the number of teeth that Sidney has. So, what did I do when I got home? ...count them. She has twelve chompers. Beware!

We had a great time last night. We went to our friends, the Brandt's, for dinner. The Parson's were there also. Kevin said it best "Times sure have changed since three years ago." When we get together now there are 4 little rugrats running around with one more on the way (courtesy of the Parson's). The girls seemed to have a great time. This was evidenced by Kendall sleeping in until 7am. WOW! I did see a couple of flashes last night, so hopefully Kristin or Becky captured the moment. I was not thinking ahead.

Kevin and Kendall spent the morning putting the lawn furniture away.While Sidney and I cleaned up (aka: stayed warm) inside.

I am including the picture below just because I think sidney looks adorable in her little outfit. I estimate that I have at least 6 more months of dolling Sidney up before she decides that she will be picking out her own outfits:)

He's home, He's home!!!

I may just be shot for posting that picture, but I tried to get him to smile - Really! After a long string of tournaments and Guard weekends, Kevin is finally home for the weekend. It is nice to have him home. From what we are told, he can put in his retirement paperwork in a few weeks for the Guard. We hear it is quite a long process, but what would one expect from the government?

A few months ago we thought he might be staying in for awhile. The C-130's were going to be recommisioned for a new flying mission. As it turns out, that is probably going to happen but about 2 years later than we had hoped. In the meantime, Kevin has taken a temporary position in the Audio-visual department (AKA base theater). No matter how much "Oh this could be kind of cool" talks we have had, the excitement has never produced itself. Retirement is looking pretty good!

So, what did we do on a weekend with Daddy home? A whole lot of nothing (at least that is what Sidney would tell you). She stayed in her pajamas ALL day yesterday. The little cutey has started this very annoying habit of screaching. The mouth opens and it comes from the back of her throat. It is very LOUD. She does this whenever she is upset. Think nails on the chalkboard:) It has motivated Kevin and I to really start working with her on words. However as most parents of young ones know, it is not entirely up to us...

On one hand, it is really neat to see her personality emerging. She is so easygoing that it is somewhat humorous to see her stating her position. We have been trying REALLY hard not to laugh and encourage the screaching, but sometimes it is too hilarious.

Miss Kendall and I went to the mall on Friday night. We had a good time. She is very into "walking" now. So, I let her walk. She did great except for one minor incident. At one point we were walking along and out of nowhere she slid face first onto the floor - no obstacles in her way. I could hear the sharp intake of people around us. It definitely looked like it hurt. Kendall jumped up, shook her shoulders, brushed her hair from her face and said "WOOPSIE". That's my girl. She definitely takes after her Aunt Stephie in the grace department:)

What do you get when you let a toddler try to take a picture...

Pretty good for the first time - don't you think???

Pridefully Opposed - No More!

Below is my new minivan! What??? Yes, a minivan. All the years of saying "I will never own a minivan" and look what happened. I LOVE IT.

And the girls love it too...Kendall in particular thinks we are pretty cool in our new hooptie!
It has a DVD player in it, so as we were heading to Trunk or Treat last night the girls watched their new Clifford Video from Grandma T. My favorite part is the leather seats, so easy to clean. We are styling now:)

For Grandma Karen, here is a picture of Sid in her birthday outfit.