Christmas 2010

had started a week early,

with the ladies from Bible Class, at Nancy's house. She made yummy quiche and hash brown casserole and other goodies, and every one brought a little something as well.

On Christmas Eve, Cindy treated the family to dinner at Golden Corral. ( I always want to spell Corral with 2 Ls, for some reason ).

After which, we adjourned to Cindy's house for coffee/tea, Scrabble and Farkle!

Christmas lunch at Grandad's was festive as always, with good food, great company and presents! ( As well as a reindeer sighting or two )

Merry Christmas one and all, and have a truly Blessed Year Ahead!

Breakfast for Dinner

Shana had her birthday

a little over a week ago,

and we were over at Stephanie's to celebrate and have yummy breakfast for dinner :)

The cousins had a chance to run and romp, and Max was really sweet to share his toys.

Christmas Time in Abilene

We're in the middle of a drought in Abilene,

while some other parts of the country are getting pummeled with snow. We haven't had any precipitation in quite a while, and while I know that snow comes with its own set of problems, I can't help thinking about last year when we had a White Christmas.

ANYWAY, as part of the season's activities, we bundled up the little boy, and went to the Christmas Parade downtown.

I spent most of the time keepin' the stroller a'goin', because little boy wanted to keep a'movin' movin' movin, so I didn't really stop to take many photos

After the parade, the crowd usually piles into the Civic Center for the Lighting of the City Christmas Tree and to listen to the orchestra play.

After a couple of minutes, though, we had to duck into the next room, a huge multi-purpose hall, because the little boy was trying to tell us loudly that he had had enough of being strapped in and carried about. He was ready to romp!

Well, as was with every year, there was a performance by cheerleaders in there, and a small crowd had gathered to watch them do their flips and tumbles etc.

AND there was ample room for Jaxon to run to his heart's content.

We went by the Civic Center again last week, as the annual HEB Feast of Sharing was hosted there. This year, apparently, 7500 people were served food provided by HEB.

After filling our bellies with yummy food, we joined in the fun in the Children's Area, a part of the shindig that we never knew existed before - but then we didn't have Jaxon before this either.

Christmas Cactus

I had one several years ago,

but managed to kill it, poor thing.

This year, the hubs was very sweet to get me one that had so many blooms on them, and I have really enjoyed having it on my desk.

The little boy points at it and goes, "Fah Woo" :)

Breakfast with Santa

T'is the season again,

and today we were off to Hillcrest for pancakes and sausages, bright and early.

By the time we got there, the whole place was already bustling and a-buzzin', with people enjoying their food and kids running around or working intently at one of the various craft stations.

Cindy helped Jaxon with a door hanger while mummy and daddy got a bite to eat.

We did get in line to take a picture with Santa, and I was already wondering if this year would be any different from last year's. Alas, it wasn't. No sooner had I made any signs of placing Jaxon on Santa's lap, did he start screaming in panic mode.

It was great fun and yummy food - I wondered by next year, if Jaxon would be able to appreciate it more and want to do the artsy crafty stuff. But for now, he is having a whale of a time just running around ( pancake in hand ) and soaking up the festive vibes.

No Longer a Baby

Jaxon had his first haircut last Tuesday

His dad wanted it to be a special event, and in an old-timey barber shop if possible.

Not being one who frequents barber shops, ( and David shaves his head ), I did a little sleuthing online and came up with one that came closest to what he/we had in mind.

We invited the family to come along with us, and Grandad and Cindy were able to make it.


There were the traditional 3 or 4 chairs with mirrors lining the wall

With Grandad settled in comfortably, we waited our turn

Here's how long the child's hair was, before.

When everyone was ready, David lifted Jaxon up on one of their affix-a-booster-seat thingies, and the little boy was wrapped up in a clothing protector ( for want of a better word/description ). That's when he started having an inkling that SOMETHING was up.

I mean, I HAD told him we were going to go get his hair cut, but I don't think he could quite grasp what that meant yet :)

He did NOT like this strange new experience very much, especially when a stranger was doing strange things to his head, and it got even wilder when the BUZZING started. Aunt Cindy held his head firmly so that there would not be any accidental nicks. ( Mummy had been delegated to photo-taking duties )

All in all, he wasn't any worse for the wear. In fact, he looked so grown up after his hair cut that his daddy and I felt a little twinge in our hearts that our little boy was growing up oh so very quickly.

The barber offered him a lollipop, but our dear boy had no idea what to do with it, since we hadn't ever given him one before, and only ended up with very sticky hands :)

What a Bargain.. NOT

Oh, Fisher Price

Surely you can do better than this

On Top of the World

Sometimes,

when there really isn't anything happening around town,

we just drive around and explore with Grandad.

Sometimes we come across places that even HE has not been :)

Flat Stanley

We received a surprise in the mail

a few weeks back, from my nephew, Aidan. His class was doing a Flat Stanley project and we were more than happy to show Stanley around.

Trunk or Treat

Jaxon did not get to eat


any of the candy he received, but I don't think he really minded.

Or knew any better :)

Next year might be totally different, but this Halloween, our little Superman was quite content to be part of all the hullabaloo and getting to run around.

We went around the parking lot at Church, where the Trunk or Treat festivities were held,

and then we went into the Multi Purpose Hall for more carnival activities.

I think Jaxon took some time out to talk to The Invisible Man, who was apparently feeling a little neglected and overlooked. :P

We haven't gone into the loot yet, though. I think neither David nor I are very interested, and Jaxon is oblivious to the existence of candy for now. ( Phew! )

My Ingrown Toenail got drilled on.

Well, not really.

I don't have an ingrown toenail ( Thank God!), and we do have several drills... but that's beside the point.

Point is, I got bitten by an ant yesterday. A Texas Red Harvester Ant.

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

On the shin, out in the yard.

It was excruciating. I looked down, and here was this ant clinging on to my shin with its freakin' mandibular mouth parts. I brushed it away and went back in the house.

That was at about 5pm. When I finally went to bed at about midnight, it was STILL hurting! This time, the hurting was down the front of my shin. I felt under my PJs pant leg, and that area was SWEATING. I mean, everywhere else was dry and cool, but the hurting area was DAMP. *hoy* Anyway, a I quickly googled the darned situation, found out that the pain could last anything from 1 to 8 hours, made a judgement call that I wasn't about to die or lose a limb, and went to bed.

This morning, there is a 1 1/2 inch diameter round red welt on my shin, and it still tingles some, but I'm alive and well.

Where does the drilling of the ingrown toenail come in? Well, an entomologist came up with this pain scale from 0 - 4 for stings, and mine came in at a 3.

• 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
• 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch.
• 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
• 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
• 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
• 2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.
• 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
• 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
• 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric.
• 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel.