I can see carpet now, the track is gone

This title was my poor attempt at musical humor. But I am just plum giddy over this...

My dad (Papaw) built Trace a train table for his birthday and I was very impressed with how it turned out. He's been hiding the fact that he's so handy from my mom for years!

I didn't ask how much the materials cost but I feel sure it was no where near the $300+ that "Thomas and Friends" wanted for theirs. The playmats that go in the bottom to make it look like the Island of Sodor are 70 bucks... ridiculous! Sorry buddy, you'll just have to use your imagination.

Since Christmas Morning, my living room has had a card table in the floor with various sizes of tracks and choo-choos laying around it. This was the pre-Christmas morning excitement (and before all the bridges and ramps collapsed) picture...

Then, we got the bright idea after dinner last week, to attempt to use all the pieces to see just how big a track we can make in the floor.

Who comes up with these great ideas?

We've been stepping over it ever since...
Although Trace's birthday is not for 2 more weeks, when I heard the table was finished, I lovingly encouraged them to bring it on over. Now he has plenty of room to make his big tracks and even a basket underneath for keeping the trains and extra pieces in...Merry Christmas to me!

Eventually, we will move it up to his playroom but for now the train table (and, let's not forget the basketball goal) are permanent fixtures in my great room.

Oh well, one day, he won't want anything to do with us and will probably lock himself in his bedroom just to escape dear mom and dad. I'm gonna enjoy this phase while it lasts.

Thank you Papaw, we love you!

Not so silent a night

Last night sent me back to nearly 3 years ago when I was nursing a newborn. I went to bed at 10:30, was back up at 12:30, 2:30, and 4:30 and then ended up sharing the bed with my boy. However, unlike the little 8 pound wad that laid cuddled on my chest, I was now sleeping with a 36 pound acrobat.

Trace had a cough and started running a little fever about 2:30. Around 4:30, I heard him coughing again and went up to find him cradled asleep in the corner of his bed because apparently his sippy cup had leaked water all over his sheets and pillow... poor fella.

So I put him in bed with me upstairs and padded the floor on the other side with pillows and a bean bag prepared for the WWF that I felt sure would begin once he fell back asleep. As most of you know, when you sleep with a toddler, you typically need full body armor to protect your vital organs. Funny, that even in a king sized bed, they somehow manage to get turned sideways or upside down and plant their feet firmly in your ribcage and/or face.

Trace's new favorite story of the month is Roar of a Snore. Bless Dolly Parton and her Imagination Library. We read it at naptime, we read it again at bedtime, we recite "A mighty snore, a thunderous snore, and ear splitting, clamorous ROAR of a snore" at the dinner table. But his favorite part, is the end when the family discovers the snore is actually coming from a little kitten asleep in their barn and rather than wake it up, they decide to all snuggle up with him in the hay and sleep. Ever since reading this book, Trace often asks to "snuggle"... Ahhh, music to a mama's ears!

So last night after numerous trips up and down the stairs in the dark getting the thermometer, Motrin, water, etc... I pick a very drowsy Trace up and put him in the bed next to me. After a few flips, kicks, and twists, he crawls over to my side in his little fleecy, footed pajamas (coughs several times in my face), and then curls up next to me and we spoon... heaven!

Just as he's drifting off to sleep he whispers...
"Mommy"
"Yes Baby"
"Dis is fun!"

And I thought to myself as a closed my eyes... Thank you God for this wiggly, giggly, gift.

"Thomas" the moomie

We took Trace to his first movie this afternoon. We have been waiting patiently on something that will captivate his short little attention span and when I saw "Thomas and the Runaway Kite" I knew we'd found it. He was SO excited and asked all day when we were going to the "moomie".

Loaded down with 2 bags of Pop Secret, a sippy cup and a Diet Mountain Dew in my purse, we headed out. Call me cheap, but I have a hard time paying more at the "section" stand (as my brother and I always called it) than at the ticket counter. I will admit, I was a little nervous when the usher came over to tell us it was about to began and Trace was sitting there with a ziploc baggie of home-popped popcorn in his lap. Oops!

He discovered the arcade as we were walking out and had to take a spin on the motorcycle. Sorry to tell ya kiddo, but that's about as close as your gonna get to riding one if I have anything to do with it!
They gave us raffle tickets at the ticket counter and told us to come to customer service after the movie to see if we won. I started to just skip it based on my previous NADA% of ever winning anything but when we got there, we had actually won the new Thomas movie The Great Discovery! I have seen those in Target for about $20.

So... technically, since we only paid $13 to get in, brought goodies to eat from home, and won a $20 movie, I'd say we actually came out ahead. Woo-hoo! Not bad for his first trip.

i STILL love a snow day

Maybe it's the "forever" teacher in me, but I love waking up to a snow day. Although I've been home since Trace was born, I still find myself peeled to the evening news, and watching the tickers to see if our school system is out for snow.

Old habits die hard I guess.

I've never been a good "stay at home" mom. When I decided to quit teaching, I knew I would not be content with being at home for days on end. Visions of Kate Gosselin and her brood not leaving the house for 3 straight seasons, made me wonder if venturing from the workforce was such a good idea for me. But, I don't regret it one bit. In Kate's defense, if I had sextuplet toddlers, I wouldn't even attempt to go to the mailbox!

Trace and I are on the go quite a bit. But when I heard the weather was going to be bad for the next few days, I was excited to "hunker down" and enjoy it. I was very productive on my first little snow day. I made homemade clam chowder, cleaned out my coat closet and pantry, vacuumed up the still remaining memories of Christmas, and organized our office. All this, while... potty training!

Trace is finally showing some interest, so he spent the better part of the day in the buff...at least from the waist down( isn't that ever man's dream?) ha!

At one point, I found him staring out the window watching the snow, wearing only his pajama top, socks, and a tobaggan. (He must have swiped that during my extensive coat closet reno)

We tried all the gimmicks of the potty training regimen. We moved the potty into the main living area to make it more convenient (not necessarily sanitary... but convenient). I asked him every 15 minutes if he needed to go, I floated a fruit loop in the potty to encourage him to "aim" (to which he replied, "Mommy, it's not a fruit loop, it's an Apple Jack). Well, excuse me... the boy apparently knows his cereal.

We finally settled on M&Ms as his reward for tinkling in the potty. I'm happy to report that we had a 50/50 day... 3 in the potty, 3 ...not quite.

After his nap, we ventured outside for some snowy fun. After I was so ill prepared for our last snow, we got him some insulated camo coveralls and boots (just like his daddy). Within minutes he went from living as a nudist to a multi-layered, fit for subzero weather, army man.

Jimmy, showing him the art of packing and throwing the perfect snowball (at me, holding the camera).
Feeding Ginger snow...

You know you've watched the Wizard of Oz too many times in a 3 week span when you see this picture and immediately think Glenda the Good Witch is landing in your backyard. ha!
Hot chocolate and dethawing...
Tomorrow is another snow day, where potty training will resume and more closets will hopefully be decluttered. Happy Snow Day to you and yours!

My day with Mickey, Minnie, and men in hard hats

Although this drama happened on Tuesday, I am just now able to write about it... much less find any humor in it. ha!

The day before Christmas we traded my car. Because of the holidays, I had not yet returned my 3rd row removable seat from my Tahoe that had been living in our storage shed for the last 4 years.

So Tuesday morning, Jimmy loaded my old seats into my new car before heading to work. I dropped Trace off at my mom's and my goal for the day was to drive to Cleveland, unload them and finalize paperwork, emissions, title, etc...

Picture this scenario, if you will...

I round Wendy's to get lunch before hopping onto I-75 to make the 30 minute trip to Cleveland. I am talking to Jimmy on my cell phone (yes, and eating and driving at the same time, but before you judge, I was using my Bluetooth) when something in my rear view mirror caught my eye. I look up from my burger to see a...I can barely say this word... RAT... running across the middle seat headrest!

CUE SHEER PANIC!!!

I immediately start SCREAMING into the phone like a completely deranged lunatic knowing that at any minute he could leap from the back seat onto the back of my head. (I physically shivered just typing that)

I somehow manage to get control of my car before it went plowing into the construction site set up in the median and pulled off the exit. I am still hysterical as I dive out of my car onto the off ramp and begin slinging open every door. I lift the hatch of my SUV, find a t-shirt and begin frantically swiping at it.

SIDE NOTE: (Some may call it a mouse. It had beady eyes, fur, a long tail... and was IN my car... call it what you want... to me, it's a rat)

I finally knock it out of my car with the t-shirt only for it to begin tormenting me on the ground by circling my feet! I am dancing, swinging, and screaming as people continue to drive down the interstate glaring at me.

I knew I wanted those old (rat infested) seats out of my car, so I reach in to grab them and out pops another one!

Cue Explosion #2!! And the process begins again...

In the mean time, I have begged Jimmy to come get me (knowing full well that I was NOT about to get back into the car until it had been thoroughly inspected). After several phone calls he tells me he's on his way but that he's got 3 of his workers with him and he's 30 minutes away. He says I need to get off the shoulder and drive to a gas station where it's safer until he can get there.

Huh, yeah right... I'll risk it.

So, I wait...

Now, on this day it was 35 degrees and very windy. My coat in laying in my front seat but not knowing if Ratatouille had set up camp in it, I decide to take my chances of freezing to death on the side of the highway than to reach in and get it out. Oddly, although I've been accused of being "temperature intolerant" most of my life, I believe pure adrenaline kept me warm that day.

A very nice construction worker finally walks over and tells me he and his buddies have been watching me (hysterically laughing, I have no doubt) and thought I was having some kind of "fit". I told him what happened (while holding back tears) and that my husband was on his way and he then made his way back across the median. (He didn't like rats either)

I continue to dodge the now 2 rats running around my feet and car (you would have thought they'd have run off... but no) while they attempted to climb up the tire well and get back in. I have no idea if that is even physically possible, but you must remember my rational thinking skills weren't fully engaged at this point.

(Some may think, duhhh... just close your doors. BUT what if there were more rats in that seat that hadn't come out yet?) Uhhh... another shiver.

About 15 minutes later, another worker (from the other side of the highway) drives over to check on me and says all of his guys have concluded I must have a snake in my car. I tell him my sob story and he offers to get the seats out of my car... bless his heart!

Finally, an hour after this all began, my Prince Charming arrives. Poor guy, I don't think he was quite prepared for the state that I was in by that point. He and one of his workers searched my car and inspected the seats for more rodents. By now, I am frozen, physically sick to my stomach, and very aware of the "show" I had just put on for the construction crew and passerbyers of I-75.

I refuse to ride in the car by myself, so Jimmy and I deliver the seats to Cleveland (good riddance) and I came home and scrubbed down with an SOS pad. ha!

Three days later, I still gag a little just thinking about it, and can't climb into my car without checking everything out first. I may drive forever staring into my rear view mirror, waiting to see something scamper across my seat.

Always trying to find the positive in every situation... I was very thankful that I didn't cause a major traffic accident and that Trace wasn't in the car with me. Can you imagine that scene???

So, the next time you hear on the news... mysterious car accident, broad daylight, no weather conditions, single car, witnesses have no idea what happened...

you may think to yourself... could have been RATS?!?

Christmas Wrap-Up

Rush here, drive there, wrap this, unwrap those, smile at the camera, What time are we supposed to be there? What food do I need to bring? Are all the presents in the car? Has anybody seen Trace?

Whew... sound familiar? Christmas seems to get busier every year, but it's so much fun with my little guy...
My friend Penny, does Christmas up right! She has every child's dream yard. Each year she adds to her collection of inflatables and arranges them in her yard complete with candy canes and lights. I had to take Trace over to her house to meet the penguins, snowmen, Snoopy, Santa, etc...

Other than him tripping continuously over the gazillion bungee cords it takes to hold all of them up, he LOVED it... especially when she killed the power and they all fell to the ground. I think Aunt Penny got a "wow, how cool!" from Trace on that trick. (I have no idea where he heard that phrase, but it has become his favorite)

Aunt Lynda came over to get a picture with all the critters!
A couple of days later, they started Trace's Christmas off right, with this...

They spoil him rotten. Lynda's new grandson (coming in March) just doesn't know how lucky a little guy he is!
We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with my mom's side of the family. I'm embarrassed to say I had my new camera on the wrong setting all night so most of the pictures I took were terrible. (I'm a technology whiz, I tell ya) I did manage to capture a few.
Uncle Andy and Aunt Kadi's gift was one that Trace and his daddy love! Jimmy refuses to move the basketball goal upstairs to Trace's playroom because the ceilings are not high enough. I have reminded him, they are plenty high enough for a 38 inch toddler to shoot, just not his 6 foot daddy!

I have a feeling it will be a permanent fixture in my living room until Spring, when it will be relocated to the driveway :)
Santa's goodies before the chaos began...
A very happy, train lovin, little boy on Christmas morning!
Ole Saint Nick was too cheap to actually buy the table the train is supposed to sit on, so he somehow found a card table in the garage...resourceful, isn't he?

Santa and Mrs. Clause went a wee bit overboard with all the ramps, hills, bridges, and tunnels for a not quite 3 year old. Before Christmas breakfast was even eaten, the hills were collapsed and the track flattened and rearranged... proving my theory that the train tracks at Books-A-Million and Learning Express Toys are obviously glued together!

After breakfast, we headed to Alabama to spend Christmas Day with Jimmy's mom's family. 28 people, 4 dogs, 1 cat and lots of food and presents. I love it down there!

I hate this picture of me, but sadly, this is the only one of the 3 of us. Lipstick and mascara would have been helpful... umm, it looks like I'd been up all night putting together a train set or something?!?
Sara Kathryn loving her new tutu.
The girls amongst all their loot.
The kiddo end of the dinner table. Can you tell Kate and Mark (Jimmy's cousins) don't have kids yet? They actually volunteered to sit at that end! ha!
Sweet Hannah read the Christmas story from the Bible before we opened presents. That was really special...she did such a wonderful job!
Miss Gingie-bug never fails to find her a cozy place to settle. She is hunkered down in Cousin Bryan's new hunting clothes. All the lengths these guys go to to be "unsmellable" to the deer, and poor Bryan is going to smell like a dog everytime he steps into the woods. ha!
The newest edition to the family... look at the precious face! Kacey's first Christmas :)
Remember this picture from Thanksgiving...
Well, it became this...
Wal-Mart photo lab (Wal-Mart really does have everything!)
We had a fantastic Christmas with cherished family and friends. It was very busy and wild but I wouldn't want it any other way! There were several other Christmas events we went to but I didn't have my camera with me.

We were certainly mourning the ones we have lost this year and missing them terribly this holiday season. But it is such a comfort to know that one day, we will all be reunited in heaven having Christmas together once again...God is so good!

Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. Psalms 30:4

Trace's preschool Christmas show was Tuesday night and it was precious! There's truly nothing sweeter and more pure than children singing for the Lord. His group (the 2's and 3's) sang songs and then the 4-year-olds did a skit about the birth of baby Jesus.

I must admit, I have had NIGHTMARES about how this would go. Trace is not known for his calm, laid back demeanor and I was seriously concerned he might propel off the stage or choose this time to practice his somersault routine.

Once his teacher, Ms. Loretta (a.k.a. to Trace as "Retta" and sometimes known as "Cinderella") escorted him back down the aisle after he tried to make a run for it, he went up on stage and actually stayed there until all the songs were over! YEAH!! Whether he sang a note or not, I considered that a success in itself! ha!

We came armed, of course, with cameras, video recorders, and phones ready to document whatever went down. Minutes before the show began, I realized I hadn't put a tape in the camcorder (real prepared) but luckily Jimmy's phone takes videos. It kept cutting off and is very wobbly but at least we got 2 out of the 3 songs.

You may notice Trace telling me midway through Little Gray Donkey that "Granddaddy and Sisty are over there". We did not tell him before the show that his entire entourage would be in the audience, but he spotted Granddaddy with his video camera on the aisle while they were walking in.


In the second video, he nearly Gloried himself right off the stage. Thank goodness Ms. Shannon (the preschool director) was there to catch him in time for the big finale and then crawled after him when he tried to escape down the stairs...I hope they pay her well! ha!




He couldn't resist giving Mia a quick hug, she looked a little scared. He has a BIG crush on her and talks about her all the time. I was so glad they got to stand together during the program so I could get some pictures.

Young love... so sweet!
"Hi everybody!" (I promise his hair was combed neatly to the side and his shirttail was tucked in when I dropped him off!)
Here's the rest of his class singing on the other side of the stage.
My friend Lucia's beautiful Kate...
My cousin Carrie's son, Abram, was a wiseman. I wish I had gotten a good one of him with his crown on. They all did so good and told the story perfectly!

I think between ours, Carrie's, and Lucia's families we took up the entire right side of the sanctuary. ha! They are very blessed little boys and girls to have so many people that love and support them!!

It was a very special night, full of what Christmas is really about... not Santa, presents, and reindeer...but the birth of our Savior!

If seeing that program didn't get you in the spirit, nothing will!