OK-ya

I have just returned from checking on the non-napper and I'm wondering what has happened to my baby girl. It's almost as if she is practicing her teenage voice before she is actually a teenager. The conversation goes like this:

"Lil, why are you up?"

"Momma, I'm not up. I'm in my bed calling for you."

"What do you need?"

"I need to go potty."

"You just went potty."

"It's poop this time."

"Come on"

"Momma (while sitting on the toilet) I told you I had to go poop."

"Yes you did. Are you done?"

"Hmmm. Not yet."

"OK."

"Momma (still on toilet) whata we gonna do when we wake up?"

"Well IF we take a good nap, then we're going to dinner with Papaw and Mamaw."

"Are you sleepy too, momma?"

"Yes...very sleepy. Done yet?"

"Hmmmm. Not yet. Is Tate sleeping?"

"Yes he's asleep."

"He's going to dinner?"

"Yes."

"Am I going to dinner?"

"Yes. If you nap. Done yet?"

"Yep. I have poop in my pants."

"Did you forget to wipe?"

"Yep."

"Let's get clean underwear."

"OK. I still go to dinner?"

"Yes. If you nap."

"I'm going to nap now (while changing underwear), k momma?"

"I think that'd be a great idea."

"I won't get up, k momma."

"OK."

"I won't yell from my bed, I promise."

"OK."

"PROMISE, MOMMA"

"I promise (walking into bedroom)."

"NO. I PROMISE, MOMMA."

"OK. You're my sweet girl. Go to sleep and we'll have fun when you wake up."

"And go to dinner?"

"Yes...go to dinner when you wake up. Night."

"Night, momma."

And now I'm thinking she's the sweetest thing in the world I say..."Remember not to get up out of bed."

To which she replies............"OK-ya" (with extra emphasis on the ya). "You don't get up either. And don't talk to me."

Just when I thought we were getting somewhere.

Christmas in July????

Severe weather swing here...70 degree weather two days after Christmas...never heard of such a thing. So we took advantage of the nice weather and let the kids run the cobwebs off...

The great thing about Mamaw and Papaw's is the many adventures we can have on the farm. We started our journey in Papaw's antique car. The kids (and the dog) love to climb up in it and pretend to go for a drive. Of course, sometimes, Papaw takes them for a drive around the yard...

We then went for a walk to the creek. The kids had fun throwing rocks and looking for turtles...

We then headed back to check in on Papaw and Daddy taking the Christmas lights down...

Tate then headed up to the old railroad tracks to haul some rocks while Lily stuck by mommy's side and picked up leaves.

And just when I think I have tuckered them out for a long afternoon nap, I hear a "Momma" from the back bedroom. I'm out!!!

Santa Times Two

The kids were very excited to see what "Santa" had brought them at Mamaw and Papaw's. Here are a few of the highlights:

Tractor Trailer Truck with Car "Hauler" as Tate Calls It

A Vacuum (Sure Wish it Really Worked Because She Seems to LIKE it!!!)

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

And last, but most certainly not least...a homemade dollhouse from Papaw

And, of course, there are the not-so-material that matter the most...

Papaw's Lap

Play Time with Mamaw

Uncle Adam & Aunt Erin Home to Visit

And yes...that is my sister-in-law finishing a quilt for Robbie's mom. I totally suck! Can't sew a thing...PATHETIC!!!

Heading North

We spent the majority of Christmas day on I-75 heading to Robbie's parents. The good part about that is the traffic was minimal. The bad part was the lack of open establishments. Fortunately we found a place with gas, Arby's and a clean bathroom. I was grateful. Robbie suggested I snap a few pics to blog about our trip (wow!!! Did I just say my husband wanted me to BLOG!!!! Progress!!!) Anyway...here goes...

Lil watching Tinkerbell for the umpteenth time. Other than the one time headphone discomfort and the foot rubbing requests about every five minutes, she was a pleasant passenger.

Tate was playing his new DS system which he loved. He was a bit more high maintenance of a traveler today because he had a hard time figuring out the game, not to mention he was afraid of the turtle on the Mario Brothers. Oh, and Wall-E's head fell off and he couldn't reach it, which meant I couldn't reach it, which meant he would mention it oh about every 35 SECONDS!!!!

Robbie "rested" for the first two hours of the trip which really wasn't too bad because I was spared of the sport talk radio. I got to groove to my "Coffeehouse Christmas" which was right up my alley. After his "rest", he got behind the wheel and talked about the joys of Christmas...no, not really...just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

And then there's me...well other than my monthly siatic issue, I was very content to listen to my Christmas music (driving) and catch up on my People magazine (passenging)...and occasionally climb over two rows of seats to get the "desired thingee" that was being requested OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER...Merry Christmas to Me and you and you and you...

Santa Clause Came to Town...

What a great morning! Not much time...need to pack up and leave for KY in an hour but wanted to post some pics of the kids and their presents this morning. This is my first Christmas that I will not see my family over the holiday, so to all my NY family...I love and miss you so much. I know where my Christmas spirit comes from (although mine is slightly sad because I have no NY Christmas cookies...you know who you are!!!!). Merry Christmas Everyone!!! I love you!!!

Guitar Hero

Bobo bought the kids a jr. version of Guitar Hero. Tate tried intently to figure it out quite unsuccessfully I might add (even the adults struggled), but I think we found the new Pat Benatar of the family...

The Night Before Christmas

and all through the house...

Bobo Squeezing the Life Out of Tate

Lily Eating Every Dessert in Sight

Baylee Playing in Lily's Dress Up

Bryce Watching the Craziness

Paul and Nonny Up To Trouble Again

Children Spreading Reindeer Food so Santa Can Find His Way

Mommy Acting Silly (AGAIN!!!)

Nonny and Lily Giving Crazy Eyes

Daddy Reading the Night Before Christmas

AND THEY CAN'T SETTLE IN FOR A LONG WINTER'S NAP...

Let Christmas Week Begin!!!

With Christmas Week, comes quite a full plate and little time for blogging...so I'm a few days behind. Like birthday month, Christmas must be celebrated in four weeks of festivities. And nothing brings me more joy than my kids sharing in the spirit of Christmas. This is by far my most favorite Christmas with the kids. They have been such an extreme joy in their excitement over every little thing. We are looking forward to the BIG day (in 36 hours!!!), but in the meantime, I'll highlight a few of the "GREATS" from the past few days.

Surprise Christmas Package arrives from Aunt Peggy and Uncle Bob in NY

Lily carrying all of her presents from NY around for 2 days

Nonny and her mullet at our faculty Christmas party

Kitchen Play with Bobo

Stay tuned for pics from our Italian feast tomorrow night...Wishing you all the best and greatest and most amazing holiday ever!!!!

Confessions of a Santa Hater...

Not quite sure why...but apparently the big guy in a red suit has made Lily's "naughty" list...

Ornament Party

We had a great time tonight at Mel's Party eating a ton of food, trying to watch movies, and accepting the chaos as it was. It might be time to finish off her basement...

Frosty the Snowman

Tonight while I was cooking dinner, I got the kids kitchen stuff out to keep them entertained while I finished. Tate came in to tell me he HAD to show me what Frosty had gotten in to. I could only imagine what "Frosty" had found...Here he is...

decorated with pots and pans...what a little creative mind this guy has...

Deck the Halls...

Robbie and I decided that we needed the weekend to get the house in order and decorate for Christmas. So...we cleared our calendar and got to work....

Here is the final product...

SIX CHRISTMAS TREES

The kids trees decorated with an ornament from each year. Last year they had Disney ornaments since we made our first trip to Disney World. For the first time, I took the kids to pick out their own ornaments. The winner???? The Empire State Building.

Why??? Because we made our first trip to NYC this summer. We didn't even visit the Empire State Building but Tate remembered that building and the trip must have made an impact because he chose that over a racecar...and then of course Lily wanted the one that Tate wanted.

Our travel tree...this tree has ornaments from all of the places we've visited. If you look very closely, there are only two ornaments on the tree: one from Keuka Lake and one from Ellijay, GA. Unfortunately, a box is still missing that contains all of the beautiful keepsakes we have collected, but I am not done looking yet.

Our family Christmas tree...this one has ornaments from everyone and everything. We were really excited to put Tate's ornaments that he made last year at school. He remembered making them and was so excited to see them on the tree. This tree has my favorite "pearl" lights...they look like little lit balls...I love them!!!

We also have a small Princess tree in the kids' bathroom and a silver evergreen tree sitting on Robbie's desk.

We have also hung the stockings by the chimney with care...why so many you ask??? Well this year we will have our four, plus Max, Nonny, my brother, Bobo, and Paul, a longtime family friends for Christmas morning...so we must have a stocking for everyone. I love my fireplace...it's one of my favorite features of this house.

The last adventure happened today when Robbie tried to hang the red "netted" lights on our bushes out front. Now...I'm not a fan of colored lights, but Tate picked them out and insisted that we put them out front. Well, after about twenty minutes of dancing around trying to untangle them, we realized that red net lights are not a fan of TEAM O'Bryan and TEAM O'Bryan is not a fan of them. So back to Hobby Lobby we go...we did manage to get over 2000 twinkle lights hanging out front. The kids and I had to go out in the front yard tonight in our PJ's to see how beautiful it looked.

I think someone loves Christmas as much as his mother...