rollin'

Thanks to a lucky craigslist.com find this weekend, Addison received her first big girl bike! And she pretty much didn't need our help. At all. Move over Mom & Dad, I've got this under control. Proud doesn't even begin to touch on the feeling I felt as Addison rolled down the street toward our neighborhood pond. I was completely overwhelmed and amazed. I assume she was equally thrilled by the bike and her progress, because she asked to go on two bike rides yesterday. Both rides ended with a popsicle break.

day trips, moving on up

This week has been a Mommy and Addy week, with the delightful exception of Wednesday when Robert stayed home with us. We've kept busy doing errands, cleaning house, watching movies, and running around the city having fun. On Wednesday with Daddy Bear, we joined Grandma Betty at Wakulla Springs for Addison's first-ever "jungle cruise". Intially she had some degree of reluctance: the heat, the crowd of people, the WAITING IN LINE. Ugh. A princess should never be expected to endure such things! Once the ride began, Addison perked up and scanned the riverside for animals. Her favorite creature was either the alligators or the manatee...she can't decide on one. We also splashed in the water to cool off. While splashing, we found Addy's friend from school and they played together for quite some time. To end our trip we ate dinner at the Lodge. The food was tasty, but the service was quite slow.

Today Addison and I raced around town all day. We spent time at the park this morning, then dashed across town to eat lunch with Papa and Nonnie and spend some quality time with Nonnie's dog, Poppy. We spent a short amount of time at home before leaving again to welcome my dad, Addison's Doodah, back from the BSA National Jamboree. She was ecstatic to see her Doodah again, but the scent of delicious Cake Shop cupcakes lured her attention eventually. We used the rest of the afternoon to build tents out of bedsheets, watched a little bit of TV and nursed my growing migraine. Addison as usual was outstanding in her compassion and understanding when my migraine hit. She softly rubbed my head and kissed my cheek while I attempted to sleep. She's not great at leaving me to rest, but waking to he smiling face, even when enduring a migraine, never upsets me. Robert arrived home and escorted Addison out for a walk to the park which allowed me to heal my pain in peace. We dined on a late dinner of pork chops, green beans and mashed potatoes and celebrated with a variety of cupcakes thanks to my mom and The Cake Shop. As has been the norm this week, Addison ended her day with a partial viewing of "Mary Poppins", read three books with her Daddy Bear and went promptly to sleep. I love days when she doesn't nap...bedtime without arguments!

Currently contemplating what fun Addison and I can have tomorrow!

BTW, when Addison returns to school next week, she will move up to Ms. Donna's 3-4 year old class! VERY exciting move!!

dress-up fun, new favorite movies

Betty recently crafted a Wendy Moira Angela Darling costume for little Miss Addy. Because of computer difficulties, I have only been able to post the photos of said costume to my facebook page. If you are not a facebook friend of mine, you can view the photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2887457&id=5247387&l=f90286dd05
I will be updating that facebook album to include other photos from the month of July.

We purchased new movies for our growing Disney collection last week. We added Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Bed-knobs and Broomsticks, and Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins is by far Addison's favorite movie this week. She already has "Spoon Full of Sugar" memorized and sings it frequently while playing. We watched Alice in Wonderland once and will probably not watch it again for quite some time. The only part of that movie that she truly enjoyed was the caterpillar who smokes. She now pretends to smoke straws or sticks in imitation of that caterpillar. Of all the parts she could remember, why that one?! She enjoyed Robin Hood, but it's been overshadowed for the time being by Mary Poppins. Bed-knobs and Broomsticks has been another favorite, though the storyline is completely and totoally over her ability to comprehend. I don't really like the story at all myself. I would be OK if we never watched it again. Unfortunately, Addison really enjoys the flying bed scenes, so I am certain we'll watch it multiple times. I'm off now to watch this weekend's third and final showing of Mary Poppins.

yard sale

Today we had our summer yard sale. We were scheduled to start at 8am, but as usual shoppers arrived starting at 7:15. It's frustrating, but those early arrivals always buy things. The down-side for them is that they don't actually see the whole spread of items because they arrive when we only have one or two of our tables set up and full. Today's sale was extremely profitable for us, and we were thrilled to move all those unneeded items along.

Spring Break fun!!!

Disney World provided us with entertainment between Sunday and Wednesday. We hit Magic Kingdom twice, Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Epcot is fantastic this time of year because even with the insanely high volume of people that visited on Monday, the immense park dilutes the truth so you feel like the park is less crowded than it really is. The International Flower & Garden Festival was well worth the visit. Gorgeous flowers. I am now inspired to do more gardening in my yard. Coincidentally, Stacia & Steve visited Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, too, so we dined with them for lunch and dinner, and rode on a few rides together. After we left the park that day, Stacia & Steve got engaged! Very exciting! Stacia promises that Addison will get to be a flower girl! So thrilled! (See full photo recap of our trip here.) We came home Wednesday afternoon, exhausted but relieved to still have two days left of Spring Break. Robert went back to work, so Addison & I ran errands and hung out together. We spent some time yesterday dying Easter eggs with my mom and grandfather, Papa. We made 18 eggs, but two fell victim to falls and did not make the final basket count. Addison is eager to see where the Easter bunny hides her eggs tonight and optimistic that he will leave some goodies for her in the empty basket.

Today was a family beach day. It was windy when we arrived and quite chilly. The water was unbelievably cold but did not deter all swimmers, including my brother Hoyt. It quickly warmed up and we had a fantastically relaxing day. Addison ran, jumped, and splashed for hours. She built sandcastles with my dad, buried my brother and watched as his friend, Kat, sculpted a mermaid out of sand around his buried body. (Addison was given a choice of mermaid or princess. She chose mermaid.) We grilled chicken and ate lots of junk food. It was an ideal trip to the beach. You can see photos from our beach trip here. Sadly, I ended up with ZERO photos of my mom, but I want you all to know - she WAS there. :-)

thoughts from my brain

First, I need to clarify - my sleepless night on Friday was not at all related to my caffiene overdose, but rather the steroids that were injected into my hip late that afternoon. The steroids were given to reduce my hives that I'd been battling for a week. I only just yesterday figured out what was causing the hives. My Snuggie. My cuddly, fuzzy, pink Snuggie. It now must be retired...to the garbage, unless someone claims it first. Any takers? Perhaps my brother Andrew is interested...

I love days like today. The weather was chilly but great. My students were cooperative and compliant, for the most part. I had a long-overdue and much needed parent meeting where the parent appreciated and praised us for our efforts with his child. (It was at this point in the day that I realized I was still wearing my "Belle" sticker that Addison adorned me with earlier this morning!) I got to give my intern an excellent evaluation (she really is going to be an awesome teacher). Then I got to go pick up Addison and Robert. We shopped at Kmart (Addison's first ever visit there), stopped in Toys-R-Us and bought Addison an adorable Princess castle alarm clock (yes, she really did need a clock for her room), and then headed off to eat yummy pizza at Barnaby's. We came home and have been lauging for the last hour. Now I'm stoked to play "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, thanks to Jason who shared an online version with us!). I absolutely adore days like this.

Looking forward to breakfast for dinner tomorrow with Uncle Patrick! Yum!

happy times

Thankfully, the last few weeks of school have been better, but not stellar. I blame any negativity at school on the fact that this "9 weeks" is actually 57 days long. For those of you who can't/don't like to do math in your free time, that adds up to an 11.5 week "9 weeks". 9 weeks my foot. Anyway, the extra weeks leading up to spring break have been trying on everyone at my school. We are now only 5 days away. Wish us luck.

HUGE yard sale at Betty & Phill's tomorrow. They sell their house in early April, so we're clearing out the clutter tomorrow from 8 - 1. Come say goodbye to the house that we all know & loved...and buy some stuff while you're there.

You will never believe this but, TWICE in the last seven days, I have voluntarily eaten broccoli! That has never, ever happened before in my lifetime. Robert is on this whole, "I'm going to eat vegetables now" kick, and I certainly can't let him best me there. Though so far he's ahead due to his eating zucchini and squash last week. Addison still can't handle broccoli, but she tries, bless her little heart.

Some of you may notice that I am posting this at 3am. Why, you ask? Because I had a gallon and a half (ish) of soda at Sonny's tonight (you know how humongous their glasses are!). Problem was that we ate dinner at about 8pm...so the caffeine continues to surge through me and gives me so much excess energy that I can't sleep. I got about two hours and have been awake since. Being ready for the yard sale may not be too much trouble for me, if I don't get to sleep soon.

Happy weekend everyone!

thank heaven for weekends

While I may have endured an exceptionally horrible week (there were several events that transpired this week that I am choosing not to blog about), I intend to stay positive. Last night, I pulled a "Power Thought Card" that one of my fabulous Aunts (don't remember which one) gave to me many, many years ago and it read: "I turn every experience into an opportunity. Each problem has a solution. All experiences are opportunities to learn and grow. I am safe." Wow. I haven't looked at those cards in forever plus one day, and when I finally decide to open the box again the card is completely relevant to my current situation. Some (Read: Robert) will say that those cards are so generic that their 'meaning' could be made to fit any situation. I say that I can take it to mean whatever I want...and if that one little card is going to inspire me to keep going with my head held high, then so be it. If all else fails, at least the weekend is here now. All is well in your world when you're with the ones you love the most.

Going to the "Mair"

I think Addison's hearing is a little blocked still because this past weekend when we told her we planned to go to the Fair, she kept saying, "Great! Let's go to the MAIR!".

We had a fun time with Nonnie and Doodah, but sadly I got very few photos. Here's the two that I snapped prior to the camera batteries' death. First photo is before we went in, second photo is watching the pig races.

photo recap of the last few weeks

Addison's first haircut! Really, just a small trim. We had to maintain the "Princess Aurora" qualities of her hair. Robert held her like the for about 20 minutes. Addison pretty much has the most rockin' daddy ever. In the end, Addison and Miss Natalie made friends. CHEESE!



We made Halloween cookies with Nonnie, Doodah, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Evelyn. They were delicious, as usual.







We made a voyage to Disney World and met Marie the kitty - TWICE! Addison cried both times!

On our way home, we drove over to St. Augustine to visit Stacia, Steve, and Cat. Addison LOVED their cat, Cat.







Then we returned home and found our own Halloween kitties...
And Addison attended at Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party. Here she is with her best buddy, Kelley.

advances this week

This is what three year's worth of stuffed-animal accumulation looks like:

This is what a two-year old fashion-merchandiser's skills look like:


This is what a two-and-a-half year old writing her name looks like:
1st attempt - she wrote from right to left (maybe she was fluent in Arabic in a past life?). I know it's hard to see b/c she wrote with yellow crayon on pink paper, but all the letters are there, I SWEAR! I only wish I'd taken a video so you could've watched her write it!
2nd attempt: Watch & see for yourself!



I only wish the video was complete. Alas, the camera batteries died just before the end of her song. Perhaps, though, that was for the best. If the batteries hadn't died, I might have caught the largest freak-out she's ever had in my presence. She was upset because her handwriting didn't live up to her exacting standards. She tried to tear the paper and when she couldn't tear it, crumpled it up and flung it across the room. She screamed and cried and kicked her feet when I asked if we could hang it up. We told her it was beautiful and we were so proud of her writing and gave her some sweet tarts. That seemed to boost her self-esteem. I'm hoping this was just a 2 year old episode and not the beginning of a lifetime of OCD over handwriting!

Top 10 (or so!) Photos from the trip

Some of these are my images, others are borrowed from my wonderful family! Thanks, guys!

1. My dad and brothers demostrate the "Watkins Wave" at the Watkins Family Reunion in Solvang, CA.
2. Downtown Solvang, CA. My new favorite place.
3. Us in Yosemite National Park, specifically the river crossing at Wawona. One of my favorite family pictures ever.
4. My mom & Addison, also at Wawona.

5. Andrew & Evelyn fully enjoying their time at Disney.


6. Addison's unforgettable reaction to the Disney Princesses.

7. Addison taking in the world around her while at Glacier Point in Yosemite.

8. Pretty girl on a hike in Zion National Park.

9. My brothers: dorks, or the coolest guys on earth? Impossible to distinguish.


10. My dad, Doodah / Dude, with Addison at The North Rim's Grand Lodge.
11. With Amaly at the Grand Canyon. It's actually one of the best canyon views we got in a photo. If I hadn't actually been there myself, I might suggest we were simply standing in front of a green screen or picture of the Grand Canyon. I love it.

12. Anacapa Island, Channel Islands State Park. One of my favorite views from the trip, despite the fact that I was working through the sea-sickness I experienced on the way out. Everything about this place was spectacular. So glad we went.

I am SURE there are other photos I love, but these are the ones that come to mind pretty immediately. I hope you enjoy. :-)

check us out...

on the Long's Photography Blog! A quick preview of the cuteness that is to come on our Christmas cards this year!

http://longsphotographyblog.com/?p=2900

ENJOY! Let me know what you think, PLEASE! We got back to preview the entire session's photos in two weeks!

quickly

Because of my horribly insufficient short term memory, I have a total of four pages of notes about happenings on our trip to record here later. I hope to spend the first few days back at home sorting through those pages of notes as well as the - wait for it - 800+ pictures we've taken! I have lots of fun stories that I can't wait to share, but I'm not going to do it now because I'm awaiting Amaly's arrival here in freakin' hot, but astoundingly beautiful Springdale, Utah. Whoo hoo for great friends who are willing to drive 8 hours out of their way to visit you!

Check back for updates sometime next week!

vacation, part 1

We left early on Saturday morning, only to have our flight delayed by more than an hour. The flight from Tally to Atlanta was smooth and uneventful. Addison did an outstanding job, especially considering she was awakened at 4:30am. The lady behind us go up to leave the plane and said, "Oh! I didn't know there was a little girl in front of me. You, little girl, did a great job on that plane ride." We then told the lady that was Addy's first ever flight, and she clarified her statement with, "You, little girl, did an EXCELLENT job on that plane ride!". Addison loved the landings, laughing & giggling through it all. The ride from ATL to Vegas was my longest ever flight, and boy did it seem endless, though in reality it was only about 4 hours long. We had a few bumps on the landing, and something called "clear air turbulence" which startled Addy a little bit. She thought the snacks were fun. When we ordered juice for Addison, the stewardess informed us that until children are about 3 years old, they should not drink juice on airplanes due to the high amount of acid in the juice. Evidently, it causes stomach upset as the body cannot process the acids when at such a high altitude. Who knew?

So, we landed in Vegas, found all our luggage pretty quickly, and rode the shuttle bus over to the rental car terminal. We had quite a wait for our cars, but in the end got two good ones: a Pontiac Torrent and a Saturn Vue. Addison even rented a carseat that didn't gross me out...you know I was worried about renting a car seat! The only problem with her seat is that it's black, so in this extreme heat, it tends to be pretty hot when we first get in the car. We had lunch at a great restaurant near the rental car terminal, Wenchell's and headed over to Hoover Dam. We arrived there to find construction on a new bridge, tons of other sightseers and 118 degrees on the thermometer. We got out to at the visitor's center, but mom, Addison & I didn't make it. We stayed in the gift shop, rather than crossing the street. That was a heat unlike any other I've experienced before. We were all red-faced and sweating profusly, draining water bottles faster than I ever thought possible. Robert called Hoover Dam the civil engineer's "Mecca"...he really enjoyed the quick tour, in spite of the heat. My highlight of the trip there was purchasing a copper bio-medical bracelet that is not only pretty, but could potentially have healing properties. I'll keep you posted on whether or not it heals any ailments.

From Hoover Dam, we drove back to Vegas and wound our way to The Flamingo, on the strip. On our way in, we saw enormous lightning and rain - very cool to watch rain across the desert, watching it's every drop fall in huge sheets. The check-in line at the Flamingo was never-ending, and once up at the desk, we found our rooms were not ready. On the plus side, we got upgraded to rooms with two queen beds. Addison got up on the bed and immediately stated, "This bed is nice and comfy!". She started asking to go home about 10 minutes after that. By this point, we've all been awake for about 18 hours, and still haven't eaten dinner, eventhough it's now about 9pm EST. Robert suggested we check out Serendipity because it was "right across the street" from the Flamingo. This statement, I later learned, is relative in Vegas. You can't just hop across the street. Oh no. There are a seriers of stairs leading to crosswalks that you must manuever around and through in order to cross the street. Serendipity had a 20 minute wait for outside seating (they offered misters for outside seating, which made it almost bearable to eat outside), which turned into a 40 minute wait. We were hot, exhausted, and starving by the time we were seated in a section that had been empty the entire time we waited...Dad suggested that they were short-staffed. I don't know what to think about it, I just found it frustrating & a tad annoying. Meeting my expectations set by the extended wait for seating was the service - extremely slow, didn't get the orders correct. However, the food was delicious, especially their cheesecake. OMG. I would go back just for dessert next time. Poor Addison fell asleep while waiting for her dinner to be delievered...so we boxed it up and she ate it the next day in the car. We all crashed super-early for having been in Vegas. My bros and sister-in-law caught a Blue Man Group show and said it was fantastic.

I'm tired of writing now and need to get Addison ready for bed...I'll write more tomorrow provided I have free WiFi in Solvang. If not, it'll be a week before anymore updates.

ready for vacation!

We leave on the 18th for our trip. I cannot wait. I'm scared to death about flying, but I am going to suck it up & get on that plane. I am so excited - especially to take Addison on this adventure. Seeing the princesses at Disneyland is the highlight for her...but I think she'll enjoy the family time, too. Probably sightseeing in the Grand Canyon & Zion are not going to keep her attention. I guess it's good that Disneyland is in the middle of our trip...her fun is sandwiched between the things that will be less exciting for her. I'm looking forward to Disneyland, too. And I'm thrilled I'll get to see Amaly in AZ and Heather in CA.

One more week of summer school for me. It's been a fantastic summer. I really love having students in class who want to learn, want to be successful, and want to be there. I have so many kids that don't value education, that I was getting bogged down...this summer has been a welcome relief.

Lately, Addison has begun sleeping in the guest room. Probably it's related to us putting a new TV in that room for her to watch movies on. She's funny about it - she sleeps on top of the comforter, with three pillows packed in around her. She looks so tiny on that huge bed. Perspective...

it's OK to be an adult

Don't know why, but it's just dawned on my that I'm adult. I'm 27, but still feel like the same person I was when I was 17. My friends and I interact the same way, I dress pretty much the same, act pretty much the same. I never really got how adult I was until today. I own a house, a car, have a daughter, have a husband, a job where other people entrust me with their children's growth and development. It's like this all happened in the blink of an eye. BOOM! Here I am, an adult.

I find that motherhood is the hardest part of being an adult. Marriage has been easy, thanks entirely to my wonderful husband. Work has been difficult on a day-to-day basis, but easy at the same time because I really love what I do. Buying a house and car, those are expensive, but simple. You buy it, set up the payment schedules, and it's done. No more thinking about it. Motherhood is different though. I guess because it's unlike any of these other adult things I do? There are great days, good days, so-so days, and then some days where I'm downright resentful of all the attention Addison gets. But on those days when I am the most worn out, exhausted, frustrated, and so over it - those are the days when my little angel is the most loving and thoughtful. She'll pick me flowers, sing songs to me, draw me a picture, but my favorite is when she, totally unprompted, says, "Your my best mommy!" or tells me, "I love you, my mommy!". Those moments, however fleeting, remind me of why this toughest of all jobs is so worthwhile.

No more blogging today, I swear. I'm so addicted!

finally aware

I have recently become aware of how dependent I am on the Internet. I'm going to try to cut back. I'd say on average, I spend an hour per night online: checking email, paying bills, playing Bubblespinner, playing on Facebook, Skype-ing, and reading my daily blogs. That is one good hour that could have to chat with my husband, read a book, bake some cookies...basically be more productive with my time. I don't yet have a plan, but I know I need to reclaim my life from the Internet monsters.

In funnier news, Addison has two classmates (Henry & Mattie) who have new-ish baby siblings at home - one is a boy and one is a girl. Sadly for Addy and her classmates is that both that baby boy and that baby girl are named Riley. It's a cute name, but for these poor 2 year olds who are attempting to generalize everything they learn, the name Riley is now the all-purpose name for any new baby. Ask Addison, she'll tell you. If anyone is having a baby, that baby's name will be Riley. End of story, no discussion.

21 days of school left. Believe it or not, today was a good day!! I am so glad to have had a positive day. I really needed it to get my spirits back up.

Oh What a Day!

Saturday was jam-packed for us Browns.

We woke up extra-early and went to the SouthWood Community yard sales. After an hour of driving around, we finally found what we'd been looking for - a new big-wheel bike for Addy. It's awfully beat up, but she loves it and it was only $5. We were thrilled. We spent $14 total for the morning and came away with some neat things. Very successful yard sale venture.

We then hurried over to the civic center to see Stacia's FPCHS cheerleaders compete in the FHSAA Cheer Competition. They ended up placing 4th! Addison loved dancing & watching the girls (and a few guys) jumping and flipping around on stage. It was great to visit with Stacia & see her girls be succsessful. We missed the final round and the awards ceremony, but what we did see was really, really good. Stacia has a great artistic vision for pairing cheer moves with music. Those girls certainly showed that they earned their 4th place finish! They were great!

We drove home and Addison drifted off to sleep. This is highly unusual as she hasn't taken an afternoon nap since December. She slept for about two hours & woke up with a fever. Not really high, but noticeable.

We went to the park with Adam & Seph (Matt's nephews) & Matt's parents. Addison seemed overwhelmed by the number of kids at the park, but miraculously decided to play on the slides and bridges rather than swinging for an hour like usual! Cousin David showed up with Grandma & Grandpa, and that really put Addison at ease. She & David & Adam & Seph played in the slides and ran around for almost two hours! Adam is exactly one week older than Addison, and Seph is 5. David is 9 already! It was hot, but lots of fun.

Then we went off to have dinner at Paulina's with David, Grandma & Grandpa. Yummy. Addison picked at her food. When we got home, her fever was 102. She stayed extremely hot all night (but I didn't measure her temp)...and woke up at 8 with 101.5. Tylenol did nothing for her. Her wonderful Daddy went out at 9AM to get her some Motrin, and since then she's been much cooler. Still grumpy and clearly not feeling her best, but cooler.

We planned to go to the Painted Pony today to paint a pony at their Family Fun Day, but Addy's sickness and the weather are going to prohibit any more fun this weekend.

One week until Fenella is here! And (maybe) Amaly, too! Yea!

Two weeks until our cruise! Whoo hoo!

Christmas Break Recap

I can't believe I go back to work on Monday! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun!

Christmas was amazing. We made delicious sugar cookies with my family. Andrew and Hoyt were more interested in eating them than decorating, so in the end mainly just my mom and I decorated. They turned out really pretty & were quite tasty, even though some people were worried because I used whole wheat flour instead of all purpose bleached flour. You couldn't taste a bit of difference and the cookies were almost classifiable as healthy! My mom made our traditional manicotti for dinner, which Addison really enjoyed this year. After dinner we opened presents. Highlights were Evelyn's cow salt & pepper shakers, Mom & Dad's new digital camera, my new purse and new laptop pad, Robert's leaf blower, Hoyt's cowboy boots, Papa's photo calendar, and Addison's Tinkerbell purse. I don't remember anything that Andrew got. We then gorged ourselves on dessert, and called it a night.

Addison slept relatively late on Christmas morning - awoke around 7:45, only at my insistence. I was too excited to sleep any longer, so I woke her & Robert up. We did stockings which Addison quite enjoyed and the did presents. Addison loved her new painting supplies, books, puzzle, but mostly her kitty keyboard. Robert was quite thrilled with new reusable shopping bags, dish cloths, and his new cordless electric edger/trimmer. As usual, Robert put me to shame with gifting. He swears that he will always go above & beyond whatever I do. I guess I have no choice. This year it was obvious. He got me all the new music I wanted, some much desired kitchen supplies, a new pillow (which is making me sleep much, much better!), and the highlight was a new necklace. We took our time, but were ready to go by 9 AM, and decided to head back to Nonnie & Doodah's house for breakfast pizza.

When we got there, we did our second set of stockings for the day. These are probably my most favorite part of Christmas. My mom does stockings like no one else. She finds the neatest, most unique but useful items for stockings. I love this part of Christmas. We traded off names this year to do "secret santa stockings". I got Hoyt and Robert got Andrew. It's tough to shop for the two of them because there are many things that we wanted for both of them. So, I'm sure in the end there was some overlap, but I think we did a pretty good job. Papa had my name, so my mom ended up doing most (READ: all) of mine. Andrew (or Evelyn?) had Robert's name. We both ended up with lots of neat items.

After breakfast and stockings #2, we ran over to Robert's parents' house for lunch. We did our 3rd set of stockings there, followed by more presents. Addison got a cute little crib for her baby dolls that Pepaw made for her. She's really enjoyed it so far. We got some cook books from Janie & Craig and another angel figurine for my collection. This one is holding a star. Craig ended up getting really sick and going home, so the day was cut kind of short by that. We all stayed for lunch (turkey), but the group disbanded pretty quickly after that. We wanted to get out before we caught the germs Craig had spread around all morning. Thankfully, none of us ended up with it!

After lunch, we came home so Adds could nap. She didn't end up sleeping, so we went back to my parents' house for dinner (ham).

Christmas is absolutely our busiest day of the year. We are on the move from the time we get up until about 9pm that night. It's an awesome day because we get to visit with so many people that we love, but it really is exhausting.

The next day we started packing for our beach trip. Addy was prepping to spend her first 2 nights away from us. (My parents kept her for the first two nights of our beach trip.) We ended up loading the car down. Thankfully, Addison wasn't in the car on the way to St. George, because we could not have fit everything that we needed in! Amaly drove down with me, and Marcus, Jason and Robert drove in Jason's car. The beach trip was outstandingly awesome. I never wanted to leave. I wish with all my heart that the group could be together more often. We've decided to make this an annual occurrence. Hopefully next year everyone will be able to stay longer...we're hoping to plan for a week, perhaps to include the new year holiday. I cannot wait! While we were there, Robert took some really, really stunning photos. I think his colorblindness gives him a different perspective on color and light/dark than the rest of us have. This is my favorite picture that he took. He took a few others that are quite wonderful, so please check out my pics online.

On a related but unrelated note, Matt & Helen, who joined us at the beach this weekend, got engaged last night! We are all very excited or them & will be celebrating our traditional way - with a game night at Trevor & Jen's house.

Regarding my beloved friend Heather - if you're going to be in Jacksonville on January 9th, PLEASE check out her benefit show at the Endo Exo starting at 8pm.

Happy 2009! If the wondrous events that happened in my life during December are any indication of the year ahead, 2009 should be a great year for me & my family! Best wishes to all of you!