Newman!

For those of you who grew up in the Seinfeld era, you will no doubt understand my title when I tell you that the Plummer family was once again foiled by Stone Mountain!

This past Saturday, Bill and I decided to tackle SNOW Mountain - the winter fun created by making tons of fake snow, a few tube runs and a kids' snow play area. We borrowed snow pants, gloves and even a ski jacket. We double and triple layered. We tucked socks into pants, and we headed east.

As my loyal readers will remember, we were turned away from an overcrowded park last month while trying to visit the Christmas lights spectacular (we did, however, make it the following day.) So, you probably know where this going.

With Parker looking like that kid in A Christmas Story (and he really did fall and couldn't get up, AND he was wearing pink snow mittens in honor of the pink bunny suit!) we arrive to find out that our annual passes do not get us into the snow area.

Bummer. OK, how much are tickets? $60 ($100 for non-members) for a limit of two hours, i.e. probably about four tube runs. Oh, and we're sold out through Monday.

Newman!!

So after taking a picture of the boys in front of the snow that they couldn't touch, we headed off to their favorite part of the park anyway... the top of the mountain!

We ran around the mountain, leaping from rock to rock and "teetering" on the edge.

While it wasn't exactly what we had planned, it was in fact a fun afternoon!

Better Late Than Never

Having spent two hours uploading a boatload of pictures onto Blogger only to have a series of "fast fingers" delete the entire session, I have decided to simplify the post.

Christmas was spectacular - tons of family and lots of merriment!

Here are a few favorite shots and a slideshow of happy moments.

Happy, Healthy and Joyous New Year to All!!

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

Big Kid Games

As if the addition of teeny-tiny Legos and Blokus into my home weren't signs enough, tonight at dinner Brady proved to us that he is, in fact, a big kid.

He looked at Bill and said, "Daddy, Rock. Paper. Scissors!" What? Who taught him this big kid way of settling disputes and deciding winners? The answer was clear - awesome big cousins Will and Bella, of course!

And after a few pointers and modifications to his style (ex. Rock. Paper. Scissors. Throw!) he proceeded to keep playing until he was giddy with self-pride! Every day this child amazes me in some random way. Today was no exception.

Now if only we could convince him that being scissors every single time is not a good long-term strategy.

Parker, Say "Cheese!"

As we end 2008 and look forward to 2009, I want to send a huge thank you and shout-out to someone who has helped our family, particularly Parker, tremendously in 2008 - Miss Kim.

Miss Kim, a speech-language pathologist with Children's Healthcare, started working with Parker this past spring, when his much delayed vocabulary consisted of about a dozen words. Throughout the summer and fall his vocabulary expanded greatly, and he's been adding new words, sentence structures and complex verbiage on an almost daily basis. As the new words have come forth, Kim has expertly pinpointed the sounds and movements with which he has difficulty and has provided us with ways to encourage the correct use of those sounds and to promote proper articulation of words.

Kim's enthusiasm, patience and loving manner with Parker has made our experience with speech therapy such a joy. From week one Parker has willingly gone back "to play" in her office, rarely ever looking back at mom! This proves to me that he loves and trusts her - and that is priceless to me.

Kim has helped to give Parker his long-awaited voice - and thus his self confidence and independence. My appreciation for her goes well beyond making the "K" and "G" sounds... she has truly been instrumental in making Parker's future a very bright one!

I have only one question: why does Parker insist on picking Princess stickers after each session?!?

Stone Mountain, Take II

As dedicated readers are already aware, a few Saturdays ago we headed out to visit Stone Mountain Park's Christmas Festival. After being turned away due to park capacity, we ended up at Life College Lights of Life. Not to be deterred, the following afternoon we bundled up the kids again and tried Stone Mountain, Take II. This time we went a little earlier in the day, hoping to beat the light-seeking crowd to a parking spot.

Second time success! While it was VERY cold and windy, we were happy and warm while we headed to the very tip of Stone Mountain. Visibility wasn't great, but who cares? We were running around on a mountain top!

We lasted about a half hour before heading to lower elevations in hopes of thawing out.

The Christmas Festival was FANTASTIC! Literally every building wall and corner was covered with millions of lights. The entire Crossroads town area was transformed, and as the sun set and our surroundings darkened, all four of us were in awe at the sight.

We played some Christmas Put-Put!

We watched the Christmas Parade, ending with the all-important couple - Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

We also road "the Polar Express" train around the mountain, stopping on the backside of the mountain for a country telling of Christ's birth. After the train ride, it was time to head home. We walked around the front of the mountain just in time to catch the laser light show, set to Christmas music and filled with Christmas images.

As with the night before, we ended our evening warming ourselves in our kitchen (while wearing jammies, of course) drinking hot chocolate and feeling the spirit of the season fill our hearts!

The Nutcracker School

Last Saturday evening we packed bags, bundled the kids up and headed east toward Stone Mountain Park in search of their magical Christmas festival. Away we went, over the river and across 285 until Stone Mountain Parkway we came. Only to be told that the park was filled to capacity, and they were no longer letting people in for the day. What?!?! Was this a joke? We just drove 30+ minutes to find out that a state park was at capacity? Crap!

As we turned around (Bill none so pleasantly, I might add) Bill reached down below the center console and pulled out a beer from a hidden cooler! I laughed and he said, "for the ride home" and offered me one too. The kids immediately got whiny. We had to come up with Plan B... and fast!

So it was decided that we would head all the way back across 285 and over the river to a few miles north of our house. We would check out the Light of Life at Life Chiropractic College.

We had visited Life last year for their light display, though we only drove through campus without enjoying all the "splendid" activities. No avoiding them this year. The boys were bundled and ready for some outside action.

We pulled up to the activity area (and I use the word "activity" very loosely) to find a few glass windowed trailers with weird animation scenes inside. One featured an elf seemingly beheading a chicken and another showed a Santa Claus prone on his back on a table. I made the mistake of asking out loud "What is Santa doing?" and I was quickly given the answer with a huff by the man standing next me. "He's getting an adjustment." Now that was one I hadn't seen before and I swallowed my laughter as I walked on!

Lucky for us there were some scrawny ponies that needed a'riding for only 5 bucks apiece... rip off! So, the boys climbed aboard and waddled slowly around the sad little pony circle. WooHoo!

The absolute highlight of the evening was a visit with St. Nick. The boys had a chance to tell the jolly old elf (again!) that they are just dying for the Space Shuttle Mission Launcher thingy and a pair of Spiderman Jammies. We actually got a GREAT photo with Mr. Claus, and if I wasn't too lazy I'd go downstairs and scan it in for you dear readers. Maybe later.

After a full 15 minutes of activity (double that if you include standing in line to see Santa) it was time to climb back into the car and drive through campus. Life really does do a nice job with the display - complete with a water dragon emerging from a small lake! We drove along listening to carols, enjoying the lights and having a grand old time.

As we rounded one of the last corners we saw a giant set of three soldier nutcrackers lit up next to a huge "CHIROPRACTIC" earth. Brady immediately said "This is a Nutcracker School!" to which Bill and I clinked beers - more funny then he knew!

All in all, it was a wonderful Plan B!

Tinsel Time!

Ok, so we don't really use tinsel on the tree (NOT a good choice with two dogs who eat anything they can semi swallow), but we sure do love our tree with lots of glitz and shine!

Last Sunday was tree day at the Plummer house. We set out in the morning to find the perfect specimen, which was quickly and easily obtained from the authentic tree farm (uh, I mean parking lot) two minutes down Spring Road. The boys were headed to enjoy the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Children's Christmas Celebration with Nana and Grandy after lunch, so time was short, and we needed to keep things moving.

That evening after dinner we settled into the living room to add the ornaments - the REALLY old ones from Daddy's youth (heehee!), the fabulously cheesy ornaments from Mommy's childhood, the many memories gathered by Bill and me throughout our 15 years together, and the fun and cute ornaments that Brady and Parker have accumulated over their past few Christmases.

P.S. I don't know what happened to Parker's pants...

After some intial excitement Parker quickly tired of the process (probably because most of his ornaments kept falling off shortly after placement.)

Brady, however, stuck with us to the bitter end, even begging multiple times to put the star on top - and he was flatly turned down each time. That's one thing Daddy does not share.

While the garnering or decorating of the tree didn't seem to inspire me with some sort of witty blog posting, we did enjoy spending a quiet evening at home working on a fun family project.

Oh, and just so you know Michael, my stunningly artistic green and red chocolate chip Christmas cookie ornament has been awarded an honored place in front, right where it belongs! I know you're jealous....