The Magic House!

Today, after swim class we went to the Magic House with Aunt Erin, Uncle Kevin, and Allison! First we met at McDonald's for lunch. Ollie ate his whole cheese burger and most of his fries then asked for an ice cream cone! I'm in big trouble, he is a big eater!

This thing turns and makes pretty music.

Ollie and Allison went climbing. This net and leaf thing goes up or down. It is a little crazy in there. Ollie turned around and came out and took the stairs with me while Ally kept climbing. I think he got all turned around and was worried he wouldn't be able to get back out.

Ollie loved this thing. There are a lot of wooden balls and you put them on the top and they roll all the way to the bottom - everytime they go down a step they hit a piece of metal like a xylophone and make music.

This is the whole alphabet. Every letter lifts up and there is an object in it.

This is the Jack and the Beanstalk. Ollie was excited to go see the giant!

It's just a slide though.

They had animal costumes for the kids to wear. Ollie wanted to be a bear!

There is a whole "find a clue" section. This is for older kids but Ollie loves magnifying glasses!

Ollie got all wet in the bubble area. It is kind of hard to see but Ollie made a really big bubble!

Allison did pretty well getting the bubble around her. It is hard to see in the pic but the bubble is around her feet. I did not see anyone get the bubble any higher than she did!

It came up to her thighs!

This has a magnet on top of the glass table top and every section has something different in it. Some are metal others are not so they learn what magnets pick up.

This is a sandbox with lights under it.

Here you put tennis balls in the top and they come down and ring each bell.

More playing in the sand.

Ollie was working very hard!

Huge legos!

Ollie made a big building!

Now off to the water section. Everyone gets a poncho to wear!

They have a minature grocery store. Ollie really likes avacados for some reason!

Time to pay.

Ollie is going to fix this car and put the tire on!

They even had a fishing hole!

Fixing the tires.

This is a little pretend pizza restaurant. All the kids are bringing food out to you and then when they go to get you something else someone else comes and takes everything away. They are so funny the way they play!

These balls are floating in mid air!

We had a really great time at the Magic House. I didn't realize it was so good for kids of all ages! I tried to take only one pic of each station to minimize the number of pics that I took but there were just too many stations and Ollie liked them all!

Diapers!

Have you ever seen a kid so excited about diapers? Ollie had a big box on the front porch today. The box said Home Depot on it. We were expecting diapers but weren't sure this was them since it said HD. Ollie ripped the box open and sure enough it was the diapers that Papa Toussaint ordered!

Ollie insisted on carrying them to his room all by himself! They were heavy!

Daddy had to help get them upstairs but then Ollie took them back and carried them the rest of the way to his room! He tried to put them in his closet where they belong but said "too heavy Mommy!" I helped him put them away.

Lots of Snow!

Well we got over 6 inches of snow. Ollie likes to play in it. These pics are from the other night when he went out with Maw Maw. This is before we got most of the snow.

Ollie likes to play in the snow until he gets cold and then he is DONE!

I appreciate you

Chris:



Last Sunday in church the pastor was talking about "when the honeymoon's over" and how we forget to let our friends and loved ones know that we care and that we appreciate the things they do for us. Well while I was driving home from the airport in the snow I was thinking of some things that you do that I really appreciate and thought I should let you know.



I appreciate that you:



put new windshield wipers on my car last night when you knew we going to have lots of snow.

got new tires on my car (i did not slide one time!)

clean up poop in the basement when our sewer backed up.

are such a good daddy to both of your sons.

are a wonderful husband.

pick up Ollie from school.

make dinner.

wash the clothes.

try to keep the garage clean.

can make just about anything (banister, mantle and new shelves).

can fix pretty much anything.

like to put LOTS of Christmas lights on our house.

put Ollie to bed.

go to pick up Tyler and take him home.

work so hard to support our family.

cut the grass.

support my career choices.

love my family.

like to help other people fix things they do not know how to fix.



there you go. I'm sure there are plenty of more things I could think of but our child is still crying upstairs and I should go up and check on him. Just know that even though it may seem like I do not notice all you do, but I do, and I really do love you for it!

Goodbye Mom (Maw Maw)

Well, tonight I took my Mom to the airport for CA and she will not be back until April. So here is a is the story...

I met my Mom and Erin at Culver's during my lunch hour today and then Mom dropped me back off at work. She went home to tie up some loose ends then picked Ollie up from school at 3:00 and took him to play in the snow! She is going to send me some pics so I can put them on my blog (better yet, maybe she should put them on her blog!). Anyway, her and Ollie picked me up from work at 5:30 (they had been there since 5:05, yikes!) then we were on our way to the airport in rush hour traffic and snow! Yes, it snowed and the roads were horrible! We did not go over 35 mph the whole way there. Somehow we made it by 6:05 and her plane was due to leave at 7:00. As far as I know it was on time as I tried to call her when I got home and her phone was already off. Then Ollie and I drove back home still in rush hour traffic and even more snow! It was burning hot in the car. I could not turn the defrost down any or the window would immediately ice up and we both had our coats on. Ollie finally kicked his shoes off. He was great the whole time in the car. We did not get home until 6:55 so he was in the car for at least 2 hours straight, poor buddy!

Well my sympathy for Ollie is starting to dwindle because as soon as we got home he sat in his chair to eat more dinner and he asked for a cup so I gave him his milk cup. No! I want juice. So I gave him his juice cup too (he likes to have both cups). No! I want 3 cups!! So I put some water in a 3rd cup and sat it down. NO I want 2 juice cups! Well this is just a little ridiculous so, sorry Ollie but you already have a juice cup. "I WANT MY DADDY" over and over and over again. Screaming and crying so I take him upstairs to take a shower - still screaming and crying. So I let him have his fit and tell him he can get in if he wants too. I take my shower and turn it off to get out and here he comes running towards me. "I wa wa want shower too." So I start to get back in and try to take his clothes off "NO!" and he runs away. Still screaming and crying. So it is obviously night night time. I get his pants off and put his diaper on. He will not let me put his jammies on so I just leave his sweatshirt on and put him in bed, turn off the light and close the door. I cannot deal with this tonight of all nights! He is still up there yelling "I want my daddy!" over and over again. Daddy of course is working late tonight. He has to fall asleep sometime right?

I guess I should just be glad that we all made it where we need to be in one piece.

Happy 26th Birthday Erin!!

Last night we all went out to Joe's Crab Shack for Erin's birthday! John & Paula came too!

I got Erin a wedding signature frame off of her registry - I think she likes it. She said "just what I wanted, how did you know?"

Ollie had to help with the presents. This one was heavy!

Paula had the same idea as me and got Erin a trashcan and towels off her registry for their bathroom.

Erin had to stand and blow kisses with a wig and sash on while everyone sang happy birthday!

Ollie wanted to touch the shark and made it sway, thank goodness it did not fall down!

January Birthdays!

Tonight we went to Teresa and Lester's to celebrate the January birthdays. Happy birthday to Krista, Tyler, Mike & Lester! Lester is 40! He doesn't look it!

The cupcakes were wonderful!

Here is Krista - the birthday girl!

Time for presents!

Debbie, Marcie, Teresa & Patti

We took lots of family pics and this is one of the better one's. Apparently it is hard to get all of us to look at the camera and keep our eyes open!

Christopher, Marcie & Kristina

Beth & Kristina hanging on Lester's chin-up bar.

Lester, Teresa, Krista & Beth