Funny Little Creatures

As I'm drafting this on my bathroom floor my children are spitting water from their mouths onto the walls of my shower. I should care... but really, why? Who is it hurting? The water is clean - gathered straight into their mouths from the showerhead. The walls aren't getting any wetter than they would otherwise, and ultimately, they are washing their bodies, entertaining themselves and creatively pretending to be elephants trumpeting water from their trunks. Who am I to put an end to this?

My children are truly funny little creatures, though I must admit that all too often my adult-ness gets in their way. This evening at dinner their imagination once again amazed me and made me want to freeze time and enjoy these ages forever.

Just a half hour ago I was seated at the table with the boys, feasting on a fancy meal of grilled cheese sandwiches, LeSeur peas, sliced cantaloupe and (thanks for the freebies, Liz) some leftover restaurant tortilla chips. For whatever reason Parker decided he was uninterested in peas, so I scooped up a spoonful and started the airplane toward his mouth. With "Sounds of the Season" gently filling our house with Christmas cheer, I sang "Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, had a mouth full of peas!" and glided the huge spoonful into his smile with ease.

Within seconds I was responded to with "Jingle Peas! Jingle Peas! Jingle all the way!" from my other side. At this addition by Brady, Parker rolled in laughter (and gladly accepted another bite.) Our next bite came to "Oh Christmas Peas, Oh Christmas Peas, how green and little you are!" Brady came right back at me with "Frosty the snowman ate a big bowl of pea peas!" (Nah, it doesn't have to make any sense.... the creativity is perfection enough.)

After both children finished eating the majority of their given plates, they hopped down and cheerfully went away from the table while singing Jingle Bells. Once the dishes were cleaned and rinsed (unfortunately not put away because the dishwasher is full), I called for them to come to our room for a shower.

Silence. "Boys, let's go!"

Then, "Parker let's log roll all the way!"

A minute later, two little bodies - shaking with laughter - came rolling into the bathroom, bumping into walls and rolling over each other. After a few more minutes of circular rolling, they were stripped of clothing and tossed in... finding us in our current situation. They are now baby sabertooth tigers (and I'm apparently the teacher sabertooth) and according to Brady they now only speak "Spanish," though it sounds more like cats in heat than any actual language.

All that said, I must run .... Parker is now crying that Brady spit water in his eye.

See, what did I tell you? Hilarious.

Lights! Camera! Christmas!

Some of the many reasons I love living in Smyrna are the family-centered community events the city hosts throughout the year, and one of my favorites is the annual lighting of the Smyrna Christmas Tree.

High in the round-about in front of the library and community center, the city erects a gigantic metal structure covered in greenery and then fills the entire surrounding area with huge lighted figures: Santa on his sleigh with his reindeer, snowmen, carolers, angels and many more.

This Monday evening we attended the annual funfest. We bundled up with many layers, hats and gloves and headed out to watch Santa throw magic dust on the tree, making the lights come alive with sparkle and wonder.

A group of local high school band members and majorettes performed as introduction for Santa, who arrived on a white horse-driven carriage. After a few HoHoHos, Santa tossed his magical Christmas dust and lit up the night sky ... much to the delight of both young and old!

We saw many friends while out and about on the cold winter evening, reminding me once again how much I love this area. After greeting the crazy looking Rudolf, Frosty and Gingerbread Man costumed-people (Frosty's nose was literally smashed in - probably due to poor storage techniques after last year!), it was time to go home and thaw out.

We ended the evening with much anticipated and appreciated hot chocolate and cookies for some (beer and wine for others.)

Merry Christmas to and from Smyrna, Georgia!

Gobble! Gobble!

I wanted to share some great pictures from our family trip to Florida for Thanksgiving! Mom and Dad graciously hosted all four of us this time - - - Bill got to come, too!

The day before Thanksgiving we headed off to Sea World, with a little trepidation about the huge holiday crowds. (Last spring we took the boys to Sea World over "spring break" week and the park was so crowded that they literally ran out of food! We had to serve the kids ice-cream sandwiches for lunch because it was the only thing we could find.) Needless-to-say we were a little freaked out about the potential crowds, so we got up and out early and made it to the park at 9:00 on the dot!

As a Thanksgiving treat to us all, the park was the slowest we've ever seen it! We headed first to the Wild Arctic, where the attraction was magically transformed into The Polar Express. After a short viewing of the movie highlights (my kids have watched the movie at least 6 times in the past few weeks!) we headed out to explore the North Pole.

And what did we see as we rounded the corner into the beluga whale exhibit? The Big Cheese. The Main Man. Santa Claus in the flesh! We had no idea that he would be there, and the boys were thrilled to have the opportunity to impress upon him their wishes of a Space Shuttle Mission Launcher Lego thingy and Spiderman Pajamas!

In addition to the great decor around the almost deserted park, we saw the Shamu show as well as the Whale and Dolphin Show, we all rode the Shamu Express Roller Coaster 3 times, and Bill and I hit the big Kraken roller coaster twice! And as a special treat Johnny the Polar Bear was actually up and around - and hanging out within three feet of the boys' heads! This was a rare occurrence, as he's normally sleeping with his back toward us when we're there.

Since Daddy was there, the boys loved getting to bungy jump for him and show off how big and brave they are! Add in the free beer and easy to find seats in the Anheuser Busch pavilion and the trip was close to perfection! What a fabulous way to share with Bill all the things we love about Sea World!

Mom created a delicious turkey meal for us all, and we enjoyed some relaxing down time while the boys played a little golf. And to top off the trip, we headed home BEFORE the crack of dawn in order to watch Tech win over GA... adding the cherry on top of a great vacation!

How Thankful and Blessed we truly are! Enjoy the pictures!

Welcome, Norky!

It's official ... the Christmas season is truly upon us.

How do we know? It wasn't that we watched Santa Claus in the Macy's parade (which we did), or that we are listening to Christmas music full force (which we are) or that the Christmas books and movies have made it onto the daily viewing list (which they have) or EVEN that the boys met The Big Man Himself at Sea World's Polar Express and passed along their most prized wishes (which they sure did!)

We know it is Christmas because Norky has arrived! Brady has been talking about Norky, asking about Norky and adding Norky to his prayer list for several days now... waiting (impatiently) for December 1st. Who the hell is Norky you ask? Well, our Christmas Elf of course!

We first met him in 2005. Norky traditionally arrives December 1st, bringing with him his storybook, his advent box and two yummy chocolates each morning! Norky sits quietly up high - on a shelf, on a picture frame, on a ceiling light - watching the boys (and the grown-ups!) and recording in his little elf mind all the good and bad deeds of the day. Each night Norky flies home to Santa, reports on our behavior and arrives back in time for daybreak - perching himself in a new location for the day.


Norky has become such a fixture in our Christmas traditions - those fabulous happenings and memories we have begun to create with, and for, our boys. And Bill and I can feel how amazing this year will be! We have two little boys who believe with all their hearts, understand the many events and can relate the stories and songs.

We are so thrilled for Christmas this year, knowing that there is a small window of time in each family's history that opens to the magic and unquestioning belief of Santa. That window is wide open for us this year, and we plan to enjoy each and every minute of it... and share it all with you!

How else do we know it is Christmas? It snowed today! Check out Halle's hair ... Ok, so it was more like little ice pellets, but this is Georgia and we'll take it!

When an Instant Lasts an Eternity

There are moments in parenthood when life abruptly comes to a complete stand-still, and the health, happiness and sometimes even breath of your child seems to pause. I hate these moments. They are unsettling. They are terrifying. Thankfully, they are rare.

We had one of these moments yesterday evening. Bill and I make consciencious and educated decisions designed to keep our kids safe, and most of the time, we do a pretty good job. So when random acts occur that threaten the safety of our kids, I find the lack of foresight and control extremely nerve wracking.

The kids and I were all around the kitchen table. Brady was sitting on a chair doing his letter 'P' homework. I was standing at the table folding the boys' bedsheets. Parker's sheets were draped over a chair, and he was rubbing his face in the warm fabric making "hmmm" noises at the clean smell. Everything was peaceful. Everything was right.

Without warning Parker pulled too hard or just the right way on his sheets and the large wooden chair came crashing backward, completly flattening him. His head hit the ground, immediately folloewd by the chair back hitting his face. And for a split second (or an eternity!) everything stopped. There was no sound. There was no movement. There was no breath.

And then, the screaming. The little guy got smacked down hard, and the tears lasted quite a while. After a thorough review of his body, I determined he had no scratches, no blood, only a bruising mark on his upper cheek. With lots of hugs, kisses and of course Blue Blankie (thank you Chris Lee!) he settled onto the couch with some juice.

He ate some dinner. He played in the bubble tubby. He jumped naked from his bed, and he laughed when the dinosaur ate Earl Sidebottom's homework during storytime! In essense, he was perfectly fine. I, however, could not say the same. Shaken - and stirred - I said a little extra thanks during Parker's prayers when at last I tucked him in tight.

With this, I wanted to share a few awesome pix of my little jumper from Sea World last month.

Enjoy ~

Puppy (and Dolphin and Dinosaur and Insect) Love

This post is simple and sweet.

I want to relay a conversation that I unapologetically eavesdropped on yesterday morning. We were driving to school with Parker in a middle row seat and Brady and Olivia in the back row together. One note of background - Olivia http://justplummerlucky.blogspot.com/2008/09/tigress-turns-five.html and her family had been gone on vacation, so the kids had not seen each other for 10 days.

The tone was quiet and sincere... and I had to work really hard to snoop on everything they said!!

"I love your pants, Olivia. They're beautiful."

Sweet smile and turn of her head. "Thanks. Do you like my braid?"

"Yes. And I like your bow. It's pretty."

Pause. "Olivia?" No answer. "Olivia??"

"Yes?"

"I missed you when you were gone."

"I missed you, too." Pause. "Then why did you hit me?" (referring to how Brady had basically tackled her earlier as they were greeting and getting into the car)

"I was just so excited to see you I wanted to give you a big hug."

Pause. "Oh. OK."

The moment the kids rolled out of the van, I called home and recited the entire conversation into our answering machine (which Bill thought was a completely wacky message when he heard it later!)

Have a wonderfully happy day, and don't forget to tell people that you like their pants!

Stone Mountain Fun... Finally!

Alright dear readers, I have been trying to find a "free" way to upload picture slideshows, and thanks to the help of my blog-Guru sister-in-law (yeah for http://jenningsmershon.blogspot.com/) I think I have finally figured it out! Watch out... the next week will have tons of pent up pictures!


A few Sundays ago we made a family outing to Stone Mountain Park to visit the huge hunk of exposed granite and to enjoy the park's Fall Festival. While we we sadly unable to ride the skylift to the top of the mountain due to the windy weather, there were many other fun activities in store!

The boys LOVE the adventure hike area where they get to climb rope challenges, score tall mountains and sail through the air on a zip-slide!

As part of the festivities they also enjoyed a kids' music show, a funny science show, a silly circus, a goofy maze that ended in bubbles and lots of pumpkins and crafts! Perfect Day!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com