We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Port Lavaca, Texas. There isn't much to do here, so we mostly stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house and visited and played Wii. We had a great Christmas Day and a wonderful visit and tomorrow it's up to Athens to celebrate yet another Christmas. Here are some pictures from our week:

Jack is playing Wii. He's really good.


Here's what happens when 2 teenage girls get Jack alone in the bathroom. He had a blast!

Wii is for everyone! Mamaw is almost a pro at bowling!

It was warm enough on Tuesday to go to the little park in town. We were there for about 3 minutes and Jack said he needed to sit and rest.

Jack & Uncle JJ played a little game of football.

C'mon, give me the ball!!

Jack helped Laura make gingerbread cookies. He poured in the mix and helped her stir.

Then he helped decorate them!

AND NOW FOR CHRISTMAS DAY! I was so excited about this morning. Jack is finally old enough to get excited about Santa and know what he wanted Santa to bring him. This year Jack wanted a blue tractor, Buzz and Woody (he's been watching Toy Story lately). The blue tractor is at home but Santa came through on the Buzz and Woody and they were sitting out with a new remote control airplane early this morning. When Jack woke up, I made Jarred keep him in the bedroom so I could go turn on the video camera. I got is all ready, ran back to the room and asked Jack if he was ready to go see what Santa brought. He smiled and nodded so we head out. I am expecting such joy, and excitement and shouts of, "SANTA BROUGHT ME BUZZ AND WOODY!" or something to this extent, but my little Jack walks right into the living room, looks at his toys, sits down and starts to play. No emotion at all. It's like it was no surprise that they would be there. He did get excited about them and has had a blast with them all day.

Jack, Woody & Buzz

Grandma's pretty tree with Jack's airplane in front of it.

Checking out what was in his stocking.

Opening more presents.

Jack is excited about all the presents. (He is shaking his fists.)

The after Chrismas morning mess.

Jarred is playing with Kelly's new Wii fit, working off all the Christmas goodies...

While Jason and Jordy watch from the couch. (They really did play it, too!)

Jack & Aunt Kelly.

I asked Jack if he was ready to get his picture made with the girls. He said no, he wanted his picture made by his new airplane and he wanted to show me Woody.

I did, however get a picture of Jack and the girls. Left to right is Jordan, Emily, Laura and Jaimee. He had a lot of fun with them!

And here's Jack, Uncle JJ and Aunt Kelly. He had a lot of fun with them, too!

And last, but not least, I leave you with Jack's new "face". He can make a silly face, but Uncle JJ taught him how to make a serious face... and let me tell you. IT IS SERIOUS. Here are Jack and Uncle JJ making their serious face:

Christmastime is here!

Before we headed out of town for 2 weeks, we went over to our friends' house for a little play time and gift exchange. Jack & Bailey had fun playing together and they both seemed to like their presents. On Friday we drove the long drive to Texas, spent the night at Jarred's grandmother's house and then drove the rest of the way to Port Lavaca on Saturday. We're taking it easy today, just relaxing and playing with our new Wii. We're looking forward to a fun week and Christmas!

Jack & Bailey having a pillow fight.

Giving hugs for their Christmas presents.

Trying to corall them to get their picture made together. It turned out lovely.

Playing with the exercise ball. Of course, it's more fun than the toys!

Jack said he was going to drive to Grandma's. That's good because that means Jarred and I could sleep.

On the way to Grandma's we stopped at Minute Maid park where the Astros play. We tried to find Jack an Astros shirt but the selection wasn't great.

I've decided when I get back to Knoxville, I'm going to do this to my HHR.

Jack & Daddy by the Southern Pacific Train.

On the way to Port Lavaca.

Playing Memory with Laura. Once again, I have become low man on the totem pole now that everyone else around. I'll be favorite again in a few weeks I guess. Hope your holiday week is festive!

Like Daddy

Jack said, "Look-a at me. I'm like Daddy."

Now, I don't know what goes on when I'm not around, but I don't recall seeing Jarred with a diaper on his head recently... or ever!

Laughing Jack

A few days ago, Kelly posted a video with the comment that everyone loves a laughing baby. Let's see if the same is true for a laughing 2 year old. We were playing in Jack's room yesterday and I started throwing the ball to him and trying to get it before he could. This was really funny to him for some reason. I guess sometimes it's the small things that make you happy! I'm sorry the video is dark, the lighting is not good in his room and it was late in the day. Unfortunately, I don't have any professional video or camera lights! :)

Happy 2 Weeks til Christmas!

Here are a few pictures from our rainy Wednesday. It's getting more difficult to keep Jack entertained for a whole day in the house but we manage to find fun things to do.

Like trying to make him pose for pictures.

Hiding.

Just being goofy.

This was how Jack wanted me to take his picture. He thought of this all on his own. Artsy, I think. Have a great day!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

We've got the tree up and a few decorations on the mantle. We're not putting lights on the house this year for 2 reasons- 1) we will be gone a week before Christmas until after Christmas so we didn't really want to go through the trouble (bah humbug, I know) and 2) to save energy. KUB raised our electric rates 20% in October so we sit in the dark most of the day. :)

Still, we are in the Christmas spirit. Jack is learning Christmas carols and loves the trees. We went to see Santa at a local nursery this past weekend. It was perfect- cold, snow, hot cocoa, fire in the fire pit. Santa even brought some of his reindeer. Here's a few pictures from our Christmas activities.

Except this one- Wannie sent Jack some stickers and here's what he decided to do with them.

Jack took great care in where he placed the ornaments on the tree.

Jack, Popo and Moma Jo getting ready to go see Santa and his reindeer.

These are the only "flying" reindeer as they are flown to NYC for the Macy's parade (or so we were told). The one with the big huge antlers is Blitzen, the one with the smaller antlers is Dasher and the baby's name is Cornelius. He was born this year.

Did you know they shed their antlers every year? I didn't know that.

Jack was unsure about sitting in Santa's lap despite talking about him for weeks.

He did tell him he wanted a blue tractor for Christmas. He already has one, would it be bad for Santa to find it and place it under the tree??

We are fairly convinced that this is, in fact, the real Santa since he remembered Jarred. He volunteered a lady in line behind us to take a picture of all 3 of us with Santa and Jarred politely declined. Santa's reply, "He never wanted to sit on my lap as a kid, either." I'm convinced! Hope you're all getting in the holiday spirit. We'll be seeing lots of family members so we're very excited!

I Don't Mean to Brag...

but I think Jack's pretty smart for a 2 1/2 year old. Before he was born I bought "The House that Jack Built" and in the last few months we've started to read it. He knows it almost by heart and it's really cute to hear him "read" it. The other book is called "Raindrop Plop" and it was sent to him by Dolly Parton. She started a program called the Imagination Library and when you sign your child up for it, she sends a book every month until they are 5. It became one of his favorites after reading it a few times. I'll type out the words to the book so you can see what he's saying. Enjoy!

The House that Jack Built: (you all know how it goes, it leads up to this:)

And this is the artist who first had drawn a picture of the farmer planting his corn, that kept the rooster that crowed in the morn, that waked the judge all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tattered and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with the crumpled horn, that tossed the dog, that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the cheese, that lay in the house that Jack built. (at least that's how our version goes)

Raindrop Plop:

One little raindrop dark, dark sky. Two little raindrops, clouds go by. Three little raindrops, splat, splat, splat. Four little raindrops, boots and hat. Five little raindrops, shiny red coat. Six little raindrops, bright blue boat. Seven little raindrops, plop in a cup. Eight little raindrops, umbrella up. Nine little raindrops, puddle fun. Ten little raindrops, still no sun. Too many raindrops, run, run, run!

Back in the house now, that is that. Off with the raincoat, off with the hat.

Ten little toes in a nice warm tub. Nine soapy bubbles, scrub a dub dub. Eight fluffy towels, soft and white. Seven brass buttons, shiny, bright. Six tiny marshmallows float in a cup. Five small pretzels, gobble them up. Four furry squirrels want something to eat. Three hungry birds, tweet, tweet, tweet. Two bright eyes, what do they see? Out of the window, out by the tree? Raindrops stopping one by one. No more raindrops, sun, sun sun!

I just typed out Raindrop Plop from memory- if that gives you an idea how many times we've read it. In fact, I left the original on an airplane once and had to search for another. Thanks, Ebay! Hope you enjoyed Jack's reading!

I Was There.

I love Tennessee football. It is so exciting to be a part of the game, with so many people, so many traditions and usually a lot of winning. The past few years for Tennessee have been hit or miss and this year was a big miss. We lost more than we won, and we hardly ever do that. After every game, the call-in shows had people calling in who had all the answers. "Fire the coach, it's time for change, the old ways aren't working." Well, our athletic director listened to the fans (perhaps mostly the ones who donate a lot of money), and fired our coach. Now this isn't anything new in football. Schools that have winning programs make a lot of money, and as we all know, it's all about money. Tennessee has a lot of money. We have the 2nd biggest stadium in the nation and a pretty darn good football program. What's different about this situation is that our coach is part of the tradition. He's been a part of Tennessee football for 34 years as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Not too many schools can say that. I have to say that I am sad about all of this. When you have that much invested in the program, you should be treated better than to be fired in the middle of the season. Jarred and I got to go the last game and I'm really glad I was there. It was cold and rainy but we stayed til the end. Here are some photos from the game.

The team walks from their dorm to the stadium about 2 hours before game time. The cheerleaders and mascot help entertain before they come.

Smokey, posed just for me. Thanks, Smokey.

Here's our coach, Phillip Fulmer. I really don't think it will be the same without him, but I'll give it a shot.

The team praying before the game.

Another tradition is the pregame performance by the band. They say it is a tradition "unrivaled in college football." I haven't seen many college football games other than Tennessee's but I have to say I agree. It is pretty awesome.

The Power T.

They march to the end of the field where they form a solid T, then spread apart so the football team can run through the T. It sends chills up your spine every time.

It's football time in Tennessee!

I managed to get a few good shots of a few good plays. We were not a good football team this year, but I am still a fan.

The running back is trying to flip into the endzone, but he missed.

We did have a nice long pass to a wide open receiver and here he is all alone in the endzone.

We didn't get to see this very often this year.

The whole team surrounded Fulmer at the end of the game. It was very emotional.

Then they carried him off the field.

If Coach Fulmer ever reads my blog (I'm sure he will), I want to say thanks and that I am one Vol fan who is sad to see you go.