Gone Fishin'

When Nicholas was about 2 years old he became completely and totally obsessed with one video that we watched over and over and over and over....Bill Dance Bloopers.  Bill Dance is a famous fisherman who has his own TV show and somehow Greg ended up with this DVD of his bloopers like 100 years ago.  Nicholas wanted to watch it one day so we gave it a whirl and the rest is history.  We watched it at least once a day and probably much more than that for longer than I care to remember.  Seriously, we drove all the way home from Colorado to Oklahoma that summer and Nicholas watched nothing but that video.  We couldn't believe it.  The movie itself was silly and nothing short of mind-numbing, but he loved it with every bit of his heart and soul so therefore it has been cemented in our family memories as something very special.  I can remember many nights I sang him to sleep with Bill Dance's theme song on perpetual repeat.  As with many things involving children, once was never enough.  He doesn't ever watch that video anymore and he can't remember the words to the song now, but he definitely remembered his old friend when he got the chance to meet him face to face last weekend at the Bassmaster Classic Expo in Tulsa.  I wasn't there but Greg sent me this picture of our boy. And like the complete sap that I am, I got all choked up. 

I've been told that seeing him at events is very rare, so this was just perfect timing.  He even got an autograph on the bill of his beloved Bass Pro cap as well as one from Jimmy Houston, who's another  fishing legend.

(P.S.  Nicholas told me he was scared of Jimmy Houston at first because of his hair.  I get it.)

Overall, I think they had a great afternoon and they returned with a very happy, very sleepy boy.  He had a big bag of cotton candy and about a million booth freebies to play with, so all was good with the world.

 

 

 



 

 



All You Need is Love...and Perhaps a Little Snow

This year's Valentine's Day was preceded by the perfect little winter snow storm.  And after the major let down over Christmas break, Nicholas was more than ready to get out in the middle of it and have some snow fun.  Usually I prefer to do without any form of snow, ice, sleet, etc. but this particular snow was just my style - just cold and wet enough to stick to the grass and put a beautiful blanket of white over everything...everything but the streets.  And it was one of the prettiest snowfalls I can remember, with giant, fluffy flakes gently drifting through the air.  As soon as we got home that afternoon, Nicholas and I suited up and headed out to play.  We made snow angels, giant snowballs, and even made a sad little attempt at a snowman.  He was short and lumpy, he didn't have arms, and his eyes, nose, and mouth were made from crap in the garage I scrounged up in less than 2 seconds, but hey, he was ours and we loved him.  By the time our fun was ending, Nicholas had reached his max of the cold.  Once he decided he was done, he was DONE (cue the tears), so we retreated to the house to warm up by the fire and watch the snow still falling outside with some cookies and milk in hand.  By the next afternoon, all but a tiny bit of snow had melted away and it was back to 60 degree weather and nothing but sun. 

 

Officially over it....

And then came V-Day.  We didn't do anything over the top, but we did have Nicholas' school party in the afternoon and then delivering of the homemade cards for the grandparents.  Unfortunately, I'm not really the crafty type which Nicholas will likely inherit from me (sorry, son) but we committed to making those cards with full force and I have to say they were pretty neat in the end, even if they were a bit plain.  And to top off the whole day, we made a Menchie's run after Daddy got off work and stuffed our faces with yummy fro-yo.  So, like I said it wasn't anything too exciting but it just the right amount of special with my two amazing Valentines!

Checking out his gift from Grammy & Papa, which included a new helicopter t-shirt!

 

 And this awesome Batman balloon from Mimi!  He wasn't too sure about it in the beginning

and actually told her she could take it home with her.  But he eventually warmed up to it and now Batman is living in his bedroom closet. 

And my beautiful orchid from my beautiful boys.  Lucky mama.

We are Back!

My apologies for the blogging hiatus but life of late has been ridiculously normal (that is not a complaint).  But over the weekend we took a break from the real world and enjoyed some R & R at the lake.  Aunt Julie and Robi drove down from Missouri to join us and we all had a great time introducing Robi to our little piece of heaven on Eufaula.   Now, I'd really hate to assume anything but I'm pretty sure he liked it. 

 

Bunny face with a moustache, of course.

And trying to give one to Robi.

Not sure if you notice Nicholas' wide open mouth, but he was shrieking with laughter

that I could hear all the way down the beach as Daddy did doughnuts in the sand.

Treasure hunting.  "What's this, Daddy?"

 

And we did some exploring at the "scary house" up the road. 

Lots of fun things to discover here.

 

Thanks for checking back with us and I promise to be more diligent in the future!

Joyeux Noël

I'm sad to say it, but Christmas is over.  I'll spare you my usual boo-hoos, but just know that it's extremely painful for me.  The holiday came off without a hitch, minus Nicholas having the head cold that wouldn't die.  He ended up at the doctor's office twice in just a few days, which is never how any kid wants to spend his Christmas vacation, but in the end it was everything it should be - family, love, giving, joy, and probably most importantly - FOOD!  Since Nicholas hadn't been feeling too well, he slept pretty late on Christmas morning. I'm sure he was the only kid in America to do such a thing but we're considering it a very generous gift to Mommy and Daddy.  Thank you son, we'll take it!

Jillian was very sweet and sat down to read Nicholas a story on Saturday when he was feeling pretty rough.  He rallied long enough to open his first round of presents, but was quickly back on the couch.  Thankfully, Uncle Ryan was there to try out all of his presents for him.  Life saver.

The night before Christmas, we meticulously worked down our checklist of traditions.  Nicholas got to open one present from Mommy & Daddy, then we set out the cookies and milk for Santa's visit, complete with a note that I transcribed for Nicholas.  Afterwards, we read The Night Before Christmas and said farewell to Chippy until next year, checked NORAD's Santa tracker to be sure we had plenty of time to fall asleep before the big guy arrived, and got tucked into bed where I sang him off to sleep with our favorite bedtime song, Silent Night.  (He asks for it almost every night, Christmas time or not.)  It was a storybook perfect kind of Christmas.