Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Misgivings

Before bed on Christmas Eve...

Me:  Jaden!  Can you believe Santa is coming tonight?  I wonder what he's going to bring you guys!

Jaden (dead serious):  I dunno, Mom.  I think Santa might have put me and Grant on the naughty list this year.  

Me:  Oh?

Jaden:  Yeah.  I sure hope he writes that list in pencil so if he changes his mind he could just erase us off there!


Sometimes it's so hard to keep a straight face.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Revelation

It dawned on me the other day that it was doing me no good to sit around on my duff wating for life to happen. Occasionally life does actually happen to us all I suppose, but generally it just kicks up a lot of dust as it races by leaving you with grit between your teeth. Yes, it took 33.5 years for me to figure this out. Hey, some of us are late bloomers. It all started when Jaden came home with an assignment from school. He had to pick a family tradition and tell the class about it, why he liked it, etc. Easy enough. Until I tried to come up with a few from which he could choose. I could only come up with one! Panic.

And so began my quest to chase life down and pounce on it. I'm tired of the grit in my teeth. It gets stuck in my chapstick, too. I hate that.

So, last Friday I decided it would be a neat family tradition to go to Starbucks and have hot chocolate then drive out to Ransom Canyon and see the lights. We had borrowed Grandpa Jerry's cherry red convertible VW bug earlier in the day so Matt says we should bundle up and put the top down to see the lights, too. Brilliant! This definitely has the makings of a first-rate family tradition! To top it all off, Jaden's in his PJ's (from PJ day at school) so we'll just throw that in...kinda like the cherry on top. Perfect. Now if you're a parent, you know exactly how things go when you've planned the perfect family outing. The whining started when the kids discovered we were actually going into Starbucks. "I don't wanna go in! I don't even like hot chocolate. It smells stinky in here! Yeah, what's that stinky smell? Can we just go to the drive-thru?" Growl. Determined to not let grumpy children ruin my perfect family tradition, we bought them hot chocolate anyway and I convinced them (read: threatened them) to take a few drinks so I could snap a few pics for the scrapbook. For the record, my hot chocolate was superb. Have you tried the salted carmel hot chocolate? Yum.


Jaden and Angie enjoying Starbucks hot chocolate. Doesn't he look like he's having the time of his life??









Matt wasn't grumpy. He drank his hot chocolate without any threats at all.






The kids did finally perk up when we left the 'stinky' Starbucks and headed to the canyon. One of the radio stations was playing all holiday tunes and and everybody was in a pleasant mood until we put the top down..."I don't want the roof off...it's cold! Why does HE get a hat and I don't? Can we just go to Grandma and Papa's? Why did you throw my hot chocolate in the trash?" Sigh. The lights were beautiful this year in spite of the whining (which did mostly cease once we got going). It was so fun to hear them naming off everything they saw..."Look! There's Rudolph! I see snowmen! Eeeewwww! I see Mr. and Mrs. Santa kissing!" So maybe my new little tradition wasn't quite perfect. That's okay. It's the going and doing and memory making that matters.

On the way home, the boys literally fell over and konked out. Aaahhh. Perfect at last.





Friday, December 12, 2008

The End

Thanksgiving was nice and quiet.  It was also my parents 40th anniversary.  A few days later Grant turned 4.  My amazing in-laws took us all on the Polar Express and then we had his party a couple days later at the Ice Cream Shoppe on 26th and Boston.  It was so fun!!  Each kid got a made-to-order sundae, I served ice cream cone cupcakes, and we played 'Pin the Cherry on the Sundae.'

Part 3

After the trauma (mine) of starting 1st grade, Pumpkin Days arrived.  Each year we trek off to the thriving metropolis of Floydada, TX, with our pumpkin buds, the Price Fam and other assorted  pumpkin goers.  We fill up on artery clogging fried everything and take lots of pics in the pumpkin patch.  Then it's Halloween!  This year our goblins dressed up as 'The Dread Pirate Roberts' (see The Princess Bride), and a 'Blade Ninja' (don't ask..that's what the package said it was).   

Review Part 2


The summer months also bring lots of sweat and sunblock and this year, several cases of Off.  It's all SO worth it though to watch the cutest little T-ball team in the state!

Jaden turned 6 this year and headed off to 1st grade.  It was actually harder than sending him to kindergarten.  I seriously can't believe how fast time slips by!  He's a good student even though the only parts he says he likes are PE, break, and lunch.  

Year in Review (well, 1/2 of it anyway)


Since 2008 is drawing to a close, I thought it would be fitting to review the year in the Potts household.  But then I came surging back to reality as Grant licked my hand (sometimes he's a cat) and Jaden's football grazed my ear as it flew by and bounced off the computer screen (when he's not a 1st grader, he's a professional football player).  A year's worth of memories is clearly a much too lofty goal.  It remains to be seen if the same is true for a half year...

The 4th of July is a super fun holiday for us.  It's always been our tradition to watch the parade at Lake Ransom Canyon (2nd only to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade), and for the past couple of years, the boys have helped decorate Papa Pat's jeep and actually been in the parade.  ***Insert flashback here***  Back in the earlier days of LRC, yours truly and a few other select readers out there spent many a 4th dressed in some ridiculous manner riding on floats in the grand parade.  Good times.  Wait, I don't have any readers yet.  Point is...the tradition continues and the boys have a blast!

We also spend time at Grandma and Grandpa's house on the 4th.  The boys flood their backyard every year playing in the water.  This year the flooding was caused by the  2nd cousin once removed of all water toys -- the Slip 'n' Slide!  (The water hose is actually the mother of all water toys)  


Beginnings

Once upon a time I was a reasonably savvy computer geek.  It seems, however, that pregnancy and child-rearing has destroyed that portion of my brain.  Or maybe I've just been too wrapped up in life to follow the changes in cyberspace.  Either way, I'm back in the saddle again if for no other reason than to ensure that I always know more about the technological world than my kids do.  I haven't tackled My Space just yet but am currently learning to navigate the fascinating world of Facebook and of course, Blogspot.  Wish me luck!