The Accidental Boilermaker

Today was Evelyn's school Christmas party.  The whole school attended Christmas chapel together (parents were invited to chapel but Jameson and I stayed home.  I thought it was asking a lot of him to sit through chapel and then be well behaved during the classroom party).  After chapel it was the preschool's turn to shop for presents at the Christmas shop.  Evelyn bought a few items and managed to stay within her budget.  Then it was back to the classroom for a craft.  The kids made snow globes out of baby food jars using salt, glitter, and baby oil.  Once all the glitter was cleaned up, every student got two sugar cookies to decorate.   Then we walked around the church, handing out cookies to various teachers, staff, and pastors.  Here's Mrs. Smith the principal receiving her cookies. Next up was a "snowball" fight in the gym followed by one last craft - candy cane ornaments made with pipe cleaners and pony beads....

Jameson is 23 months old. He is more and more interested in coloring and painting with Evelyn. He can count as high as 14. He still enjoys story time but still doesn't really participate. He can however repeat several of the songs and rhymes at home. He is really good at bugging his sister. He pushes her, pulls her hair, and takes her toys.  With that said, they still can play very nice together. Jameson and I have volunteered at preschool enough times that now on school days Jameson asks to stay and help when we drop Evelyn off.  He can't run quite as fast as Evelyn but he's catching up. When Evelyn goes in time out, he cries "no my Evelyn." Evelyn had her first trip to the dentist today. She did great especially since I got my teeth cleaned at the same time so I wasn't with her for any of it. No cavities for either of us. After dinner we drove through the Fantasy of Lights. 

Evelyn and Nate went ice skating on Wednesday.  Evelyn had been looking forward to it all week.  Jameson and I stayed home and watched a few Christmas shows. Friday afternoon we saw Santa.  He was a very nice Santa and there were no other kids waiting, so Evelyn and Jameson got to chat for a while.  No one cried, but Jameson also didn't seem real thrilled about being left on Santa's lap.  They both asked for trains for Christmas. This morning was Evelyn's ballet recital.  It was a small recital this time with only 3 groups performing.  The 2 and 3 year olds did a very good job. Evelyn seems to continue to enjoy dance, so I think we will sign up for next session.  We're considering signing Jameson up too.  Other than swim lessons, he hasn't had the chance to participate in anything and Saturday morning dance lessons fit well in our family's schedule.  Take a bow ladies!

Our first real snow of the year!  (We got a tiny bit on Thursday but not enough to play in.) We came home from dance and got our snow clothes on right away.  Once back inside, we had hot cocoa to warm up. We went back out in the afternoon, this time to shovel and play in the front yard. Since we were outside and the kids were happy, Nate and I put up just a few Christmas decorations.

Pictures from our weekend trip to Michigan.  We had kinda hoped that maybe there would be some snow, especially at the cottage.  But instead we had warm, sunny weather which was nice in its own way. After a long car ride, a nice walk around the lake was much appreciated.  Evelyn brought her camera to take some pictures. At some point, Evelyn and Jameson decided walking and pulling the wagon was more fun than being pulled in the wagon. The weather was beautiful again on Sunday which meant more outside fun. Evelyn helped pick up sticks to burn and afterward they got to toast marshmallows. Monday morning after saying goodbye to Pat and Paul, we made our way to Hope's campus where we saw Grandpa Paul again in his office. Then we caught up with Nate's adviser Dr. Witvliet.  Evelyn and Jameson thought she was great, especially since she played along when they introduced themselves as Skippyjon Jones and Monkey. Dr. Witvliet...

Thanksgiving in Decatur.  Evelyn made a turkey hat at school so we made one for Jameson too. Mimi asked that I bring cookies so Evelyn and Jameson helped me make molasses cookies.  They also did a good job of eating them. Family picture time at Farview Park. It was so nice outside that after pictures we played at the playground. Sliding down the tube slide. A sunny selfie. Harvest bingo.  Uncle Jeremy won first and Evelyn was more than a little disappointed. Meredith and Jeremy won't be able to come back north for Christmas so we exchanged a few presents.  Jameson loved his LSU tractor trailer. Evelyn was also very excited for her camera.   Uncle Jeremy reading Cajun Night Before Christmas at bedtime. Some more family pictures. Sisters and kids Evelyn and Jameson loved playing in Grandpa's truck.

Evelyn's school had a Thanksgiving feast today.  I initially did not volunteer to help for two reasons.  One was Jameson; it's hard to volunteer and watch him at the same time.  Two was that sometimes the school doesn't make it very clear whether or not the 3-4 year old class is involved in an activity.  It wasn't until this morning when I got an email from Evelyn's teacher explaining that the preschoolers would be first to eat to get food at the feast in order to be ready for their normal 11:30 dismissal.  So I asked around if they still needed help and the general consensus was more is always better.  There were plenty of parent helpers so Jameson and I mostly hung out with Evelyn's class, taking pictures and trying to encourage the kids to eat their turkey or vegetables before their dessert.  But I mean seriously, who wants to eat turkey when you can have a turkey cupcake instead? Abe Lincoln even made an appearance.  It was...

Jameson is 22 months old.  He loves loves loves cars, trucks, trains, anything with wheels. The new favorite show at our house is Team Umizoomi but we've already watched the two seasons on Amazon. He can definitely speak in full sentences. I also overhead Jameson count to 10 by himself but if you ask him to count he sometimes needs a little help. When asked he still says his name is Monkey. Jameson loves to read and often will sneak into Evelyn's room so he can get more books before bedtime.  Since my trip, sleeping has been much better too; very little to often no tears at nap or bedtime.  He is surprisingly picky about his clothes and if given the choice would rotate through his two favorite shirts - cars and Mickey Mouse.  Curious George is still a constant playmate. He enjoys story time at the library but often sits in my lap and just observes the songs and dances. He doesn't participate quite like Evelyn did.  Picking up toys is often a chall...

Back in August Nate announced he was sending me on a trip to Baton Rouge to visit my sister and he planned it over Veterans Day weekend.  So last weekend I was in Louisiana!  I flew out early Saturday morning.  Meredith and Jeremy picked me up at the airport, we got lunch and then toured one of their favorites breweries. Once back at their apartment I got to meet Redd, their new kitty. Sunday morning we relaxed at a coffee house.  I read, Meredith worked on Christmas cards, and Jeremy studied. Then we headed to campus to see Mike VII.  The "new" Mike hadn't arrived when we drove down in May, so I was very excited to see LSU's mascot in person.  After Mike we visited the bookstore to pick out some presents to bring home. Monday morning, Meredith and I went for a run and we said hello to Mike along the way. Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans was another thing on my trip's bucket list.  We didn't ...