NYE :: Train-ing

 

Heading to the train after Charlotte's "First Night" Celebration 

A quick stop for dinner with sweet friends at Pike's

 ... and a little sugar packet sorting.

Trying to stay warm while waiting for the train

{Love}

 0/5 or 0/10 re: eye contact with the camera

 A little better!

{Colin, Alekzander, Izzy, Kate, Carter}

 ...and done!

{Look at Carter hiding.}

Playing Polar Express with Mr. Blake & Kate

Sweet sleeping boy

After a fun afternoon uptown, riding the train, and eating dinner with friends, 

Alekzander stayed up until 9, and then he had a mini-sleepover 

in the Williams' bonus room while Mommy & Daddy stayed up 

to ring in 2013 with Blake & Lauryn.

Over the Highway & Thru the Woods

 Around 8:30 on Christmas morning

 when we were done with our family Christmas in Charlotte, 

I got a text from Tessa saying,
"Good morning.  'Twas the day!!!  

We have been up since 5:30 waiting for you.  

Come on, come on.  

Over the highway and through the woods."

To West Jefferson we go.

Handsome boy couldn't contain his smile!

 The fam tram will officially be bigger next year 

 after Tessa and Ryan's wedding in October!

Mia and Gruffalo and the favorite daughter.

Holding a treasured cookbook of family recipes!

Entranced by Shawn the Sheep.

Obsession further fueled by Tessa & Ryan.

 Somehow our 3 year old knew how to "make it rain" with money.

He plans to use it all for blueberries.

{Another obsession!}

It was a whirlwind of gifts and food in West Jefferson - 

and fun with family...

Aside from spending an hour playing McGyver at dusk in the cold.

As seen on Andrew's FB wall :: Remember that Christmas 

when I locked both sets of keys in the car 

and you had to pretend to be McGyver? 

Yeah, me neither. ♥

Oops.

We will laugh about it next year.

Promise.

Birthday "Cacon" for Jesus

While neither the most nutritional nor traditional Christmas breakfast, 

we enjoyed birthday cake and bacon ...

newly coined "cacon" by Alekzander and Andrew 

in celebration of Jesus' birthday.

In honoring Jesus, we unintentionally didn't honor his Jewish dietary rules

since he himself would not have been able to eat the bacon ...

But it was both disgusting and delicious at the same time.

Happy Birthday, Jesus.

Christmas 2012

 

  

{Early morning excitement.  Pondering which present comes next.

Stocking gifts.  Grandparent gifts.

Helping Mommy open her present.

Rex Cat helping supervise the opening of presents.

Santa delivered.  The highly anticipated Monster Bowling set!}

Growing Traditions

Christmas Eve traditions...

Church service at Forest Hill.

{Surrounded by friends who have known us 

for as long as we've been in Charlotte.}

 

Spending time and sharing a meal

with some of our favorite little blondies

and their family.

{So thankful for friends that are like family.}

2012 {Lila :: 6.5, Ella :: almost 2, Alekzander :: 3, Hali :: 4.5}

 

2011 {Hali :: 3.5, Ella :: almost 1, Alekzander :: 2, Lila :: 5.5} 

 2010 {Lila :: 4.5, Alekzander :: 1, Hali, 2.5}

Shoe Shine, Sir?

City Reflections

Singing Bears II

 

 Singing Bears at Founders Hall

Totally into the bears... for about 5 minutes... 

but with 50 minutes left on the parking meter, 

Mommy & Daddy won the battle of wills.

Seriously, we will all enjoy this pre-Christmas family outing whether we like it or not!

Take 3  ... aka "Take what you can get" 

with a grumpy 3 year old {having major snack envy!}

Three

At the beginning, you were sleepy and squishy and sweet.

At one, you were silly and {a little} sneaky.  So smart and even sweeter.

At two, you were adventurous, daring, independent.  

Out-smarting us and charming us.

Surprising us with your listening skills and selective obedience.

But still, oh so sweet.

You are on your way to becoming a palentologist

{dinosaurs are a new interest},

or a 'struction worker/"fixer".  

 

You love pretending - and when we are invited in, 

you are a strict rule enforcer.

We must play your way - or no way at all.

 

You are loud {so,so loud} sometimes!

You like to be heard and you love to lead.

{Use this for good in our big, big world.} 

 

At three, 

you will get smarter and sweeter.

We hope you remain independent and imaginative.

Creative and caring.

Affectionate and attentive.

You are a helper, a hugger,

a dinosaur roarer, a Rex-cat lover,

a "huggle" giver, a vacuum user, a "cooker",

a good-good-good eater, a bug catcher,

a sweet, early morning riser and snuggler.

You are Alekzander.

No longer our baby.

Not even very little.

The sweetest boy we know.

The one we love.

Happy 3rd Birthday.

 

Fall into...

leaves.

love.

life.

See You at the Finish Line

More often than not, Alekzander runs rather than walks.

While we were hiking at the end of October, 

he ran ahead on the trail and yelled,

"See you at the finish line!"

We don't know where he comes up with half of the stuff he says, 

but this one stopped us in our tracks and made us laugh.

He said it in a tone similar to

"Eat my dust!"

I suppose the next few years will be a big {fast} game of chase.

On your mark,

Get set,

Go!

 

Hierarchy of Football

Andrew explains the hierarchy of {his} football {preferences} like this:

Broncos fan first - Hometown Team second - Steelers by marriage

Until Alekzander really cares,

he'll lead a conflicted life during football season.

He does own more orange and blue gear than black and gold,

but he will tell you the "black team," the Panthers, 

is his team, Broncos are Daddy's team,

Steelers are Mommy's.

When Daddy's Broncos came to town this weekend

to play Alekzander's "black team,"

we couldn't get tickets, 

but we had fun watching the game

in a Buffalo Bills restaurant.

{Crazy conflicting!}

  

When we got home, Alekzander was proud to sport his Broncos jersey,

celebrating their 36-14 victory over the Panthers.