Christmas may be over, but...

...we STILL haven't cleaned up! 

I don't know if it is because I am still recovering, or maybe in denial about all of our presents, or if I am just being realistic about the fact that I have no clue where to put it all!  Ok, I say "our" presents.  But let's be honest: I mean Keagan's presents!  It was, in fact, his Christmas.  And I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Except maybe for him to have had a litttttttttle more interest in opening his presents.  Ours is the child who opens a couple presents and then is perfectly content to play with those toys.  Who cares what's in the other wrapped boxes.  Out of sight, out of mind.  It turned out that mommy opened most of the presents, which made me feel kinda silly.  But when I tried to "force" Keagan to open a present (sounds weird, doesn't it!?) he would get upset and start squealing and whining.  So in an effort to "save" Christmas from a melt-down, Keagan wasn't forced to open presents. 

Regardless, the Owens family had a nice and relaxing Christmas.  It was Josh's parents' "turn" this year and they offered to come down to our house for Christmas because they wanted to save us the trip of hauling a ton of presents home.  Thank you!!!!  However, I am now wondering if they knew something we didn't...and didn't want to worry about cleaning up afterwards!  Hahaha, I am just kidding :)  Even if we went there, we'd still be faced with the dilemma of finding a home for each and every toy.  So, they came here and so did Josh's brother Clay and Clay's wife Jenny.  I am glad they chose to celebrate their first Christmas as a married couple with us.  It really was a fantastic Christmas and watching Keagan's eyes light up with the vast amount of presents was pretty special.  Having the family here made it all that much better for him, he had so many people to play with!

Here are pics of the Christmas Season, because I am bound and determined to make only one Christmas posting and I have failed at getting these up in a timely manner.

Keagan had an Advent calendar...and he thought he could help himself to it anytime he wanted.  When we told him that he could get a treat out of the calendar he would get so so excited!!!  I am so glad he enjoyed this tradition, because it is one of my favorites!

Keagan opening some presents from Aunt Stacey and Uncle Jarrett.  The funny thing is that he felt compelled to climb on, rather than open, the big one!  But he knew right away what the little one was: a laptop computer!

Present exchange with buddy, EJ.  I don't think they really got it, though!  They opened their gifts, but then each wanted to play with what they gave rather than what they got!  Funny kids! 

And finally, Christmas morning.  The amount of presents was overwhelming to me, I can only imagine being a little guy.  Well, his face said it all when he rounded the corner and came into the living room.  He was overwhelmed!  And only wanted to hold his mommy!  But he eventually got into it...(his facial expressions crack me up!!  this kid has so much personality!) 

And the aftermath....yikes! 

Even if you are still cleaning up, like we are, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  We did!  And now it is time for 2012.  WOW.

Jolly Ol' Saint Nick

This morning our local Dairy Queen was hosting a Breakfast with Santa Clause so I decided that this Santa was probably much better than the Santa at the mall in Paducah.  Less people (waaaaay less people), shorter drive, food.  And if it didn't turn out well, I wouldn't have invested too much into it!  You see, Paducah is miserable this time of year.  The thought of going up there just to see Keagan's reaction to Santa makes my skin crawl.  The thought of going up there this time of year, period, makes my skin crawl.  So when I heard about Santa being in town, I was all about it.  Off we went to DQ to see Santa.  I had been prepping Keagan all morning that we were gonna go see Santa Clause, in hopes of avoiding a major public meltdown when he actually laid eyes on the old dude in red.  Josh didn't go with us (he was duck hunting) so the thought of dealing with a major meltdown alone freaked me out just a little! Pathetic, I know. 

Well. Keagan was perfect. No crying, no fussing at all. He bravely sat on Santa's lap, looked at his beard, looked around, then looked back at Santa and talked to him! It was so sweet. Of course, Mr. Serious is my child's other name, so we didn't get any smiles. But at least we didn't have the anticipated scream-fest!!

I don't know why I expected anything less.  He was quite the champ last year, too...remember?  http://teamowens3.blogspot.com/2010/12/santa-clause-is-coming-to-town.html
and http://teamowens3.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-carol.html

 

One week 'til Christmas.  Are you ready?  I am not. 

Great Grandparents are Grrrrreat!

This past week, my Grandma and Grandpa James (mom's parents) came to visit us...all the way from Northern California!  It has been a very long time since we have seen them--August 2006, to be exact!  And this was the first time they met Keagan, their first great-grandbaby!  They arrived late Monday evening and Keagan was already sound asleep, so they had to wait until the next morning to meet him.  He was smitten with them from the get-go, and I am pretty sure the feeling was mutual!  Keagan shared all his toys and made sound effects for them.  He played and danced and talked all week long.  He was a very, very good boy the whole week (with only a few temper tantrums) and he even doled out kisses and snuggles to Grandma and Grandpa!  We had a lovely visit and learned a lot about them (how they met, married, and their childhood) and a lot about my ancestors.

Pictures, Pictures...

Grandpa likes to sing.  Keagan likes to dance.  They were the perfect pair.  (I love the way Keagan is looking at Grandpa)

My granparents used to own a Western Auto store and would get us grandkids our first bike...and they wanted to get Keagan his first tricycle for Christmas.  So this is what they did!  And Keagan helped Grandpa put it together!

Yesterday we took them to Patti's 1880 Settlement for lunch.  It is always decorated beautifully for Christmas and all lit up, so in my mind we would go to lunch and then check out the pretty lights.  Well, DUH.  They don't turn the lights on when it is light outside!!  So we didn't get to see the lights, but we had a yummy lunch! And Keagan snuggled Grandma and Grandpa a little afterwards.

This was so sweet...Keagan rested his head on Grandpa's...unfortunately the picture isn't good b/c the credit card/receipt holder is in the way!  But you get the idea... 

After lunch I took some pics at home, and got this AMAZING (if I do say so myself!) pic of Grandma and Grandpa and their great-grandboys!! 

Yes, Oscar was beside himself in-love with Grandpa.  Poor Grandpa, every time he sat down Oscar would demand attention.  Grandma wasn't completely off the hook either...she has a pretty good lap and gave good ear rubs!!  You'd think we never loved on Oscar!!!

It was a great visit and we are so thankful they made us a stop on their big trip (they were world-travelling this month!).  Come back soon!

Here Comes Santa Clause!

Today was the Benton city Christmas parade, and the weather was absolutely spectacular!  I think it was 62 degrees!!  A great day for a parade, if you ask me.  We met some friends out on Main Street and waited for Santa.  Of course, this is a Benton parade, so it was short.  We didn't have to wait too long for Santa!  But it was fun and I think Keagan enjoyed the fire trucks, sirens, and Santa.  Oh, and the candy. 

This is my friend Dana and her little boy, E.J.; he and Keagan are big buddies from church and our many neighborhood walks.  E.J. is about 2 months older and talks really well, but he likes to call Keagan "Keena."  It's hilarious!

 E.J. and his grandpa. 

Tassie and Joey came out and enjoyed the parade too!

This is Ms. Valerye, one of Keagan's teachers at school.  I don't know if Keagan realized it was her, but she certainly saw him!!

And.....SANTA CLAUSE!!!

The Pogue Family:  Kerry, Dana, E.J. and baby on the way!

Mmmmmm.  Makes you want a sucker, doesn't it!

Who doesn't love a hometown parade?  It was fun and I think the kids enjoyed it.  It is hard for me to believe that it is 22 days until Christmas!!

Out with the Old, In with the New!

I have been back on a house-decorating kick. More like picking up where I left off...not a thing has been done to our house since my parents helped paint the nursery, way-back-when. I have wanted for the longest time to paint the entry way from the garage, half bathroom, and laundry room, but something about having a baby has caused me to not follow through with many house plans. BUT we managed to get that whole area pained (courtesy of a lady who did the work!) and I am now in the process of the perfecting the details of each area. I can now check the laundry room off my list...it is C.O.M.P.L.E.T.E.!!!

Out with the OLD....

In with the NEW!!!!!

A fresh and lovely laundry room, with good organization and flow :)  I am very excited to be doing laundry again.  NOT!  But I am excited about my pretty room. 

Who knows, maybe I will have some more pics for you of the half-bath within the next year!  Don't hold your breath...

What am I Thankful for?

This amazingly sweet face. 

And he was clearly thankful for mommy's Thanksgiving cookin'!  He couldn't get the food in his mouth fast enough!  Keagan was such a big boy sitting at the "grown-up" table!  We are very thankful to have had Josh's parents and sister in-law join us for Thanksgiving meal.  It was a very nice, quiet Thanksgiving Day and it was fun to start new traditions!  Hope you had a warm Thanksgiving Day filled with family and friends! 

(now I am trying to figure out how to lose the 10 lbs of turkey dinner off my belly and thighs...blah!)

Stone Soup

Today was the Stone Soup meal at Keagan's school and parents were invited.  Ever heard of the Stone Soup story?  I had, but couldn't remember...Josh had not.  Luckily, they refreshed my memory and enlightened Josh with a synopsis of the Stone Soup story:

Some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travellers. So the travellers go to the neck of the stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavour, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with carrots to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.


The one year old room was in charge of bringing tomato soup.

It was fun to eat lunch with Keagan and his friends, although he didn't much care for the Stone Soup! He also wasn't a big fan of his turkey hat...which got a leg ripped off right after these pics were taken. 

One of Keagan's friends, Reece, was fascinated by my camera and kept squealing every time I showed him a picture of himself!

Dancing dancing dancing...notice that he's surrounded by girls!  He's a Ladies' Man! :)

After lunch Keagan wanted to show off the toys in the room...he was pretty wound up!  We had to leave him to try and take a nap after that.  I felt bad for the teachers, a bunch of parents stirred the up the kids then left!!  (none of the kids slept, apparently!)