How we spent Christmas, Part I

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!

Speck & Joe's Wedding Day!

Pre Wedding Fun

Love and Sippy Cups

Watching fireworks the night before Speck and Joe's wedding

The wedding photo slide shows begin tomorrow, I promise!

Another conversation with Owen

On the Dumbo ride at Disney World

(Hey family, I have no photos of the wedding on my camera! E-mail me some to post please.)

While we were driving down Hwy 31 today, Owen called out from behind me, "Mommy, Owen have two noses!"

I glanced in the rearview mirror to see him sitting in his car seat with one index finger shoved into each nostril.

Math grade: A+

Anatomy grade: C-

Free to a good home

One toddler. Has all his shots. Good with cats and other children. Needs to be kept outside in fenced yard.

SsssssNoNoNo!

It snowed overnight-- our first snow here on Viking Circle.

So why is Owen absent from these picturesque scenes?

He didn't want to get his new galoshes icky.

It's someone's special day!

Try to ignore:

• the cat hair on the sofa
• the fact that Owen is wearing tennis shoes with pajamas
• that Owen's parting words mistakenly wish me a Happy Birthday

So glad you were born Scott! We love you!!!

Conversations with Owen

SCENE-- The Target parking lot just after sunset.

DADDY-- Where is the sun Owen? It was up there when we went inside, but where did it go?

OWEN-- Sun went time out, Daddy.

SCENE-- OWEN's room at nap time. (Coincidentally also the time he realizes he has a million questions to ask.) DADDY has gone downstairs to lower the thermostat setting because OWEN's room is hot as blazes.

OWEN-- Daddy go turn heat off, huh Mommy? Daddy turn off heat?

MOMMY-- That's right. Daddy went to turn off the heat.

OWEN-- Where heat go?

MOMMY-- It doesn't go anywhere, honey. It's just off.

OWEN-- Where heeeeat go, Mommy?

MOMMY-- I don't know what you're asking baby. The heat's just stopped.

OWEN-- Where heeeeat gooooo, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Ummm... heat rises? Heat goes up? I don't know.

OWEN-- No Mommy, heat go night, night.

MOMMY-- You mean you knew the answer all along?

OWEN giggles.

SCENE-- Repeated throughout every single day (with a few specific examples thrown in).

OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

Whadat part, Daddy?

Whadat do, Daddy?

Whaaaadat no-ise, Mommy?

------------------------------------------------------------

OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's cake. It's a piece of cake.

OWEN-- What cake do, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Well, it makes Mommy fat.

OWEN-- (Giggling) Cake make Mommy fat! Cake make Mommy FAT!!!

------------------------------------------------------------

OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's a fly.

OWEN-- What fly do, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Well, that fly doesn't do anything- it's dead. Can you put it down, please?

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OWEN-- Whadat, Daddy?

DADDY-- That's soup. Mommy made soup for dinner.

OWEN-- Dat's poup, Daddy.

DADDY-- Sssssss. Soup.

OWEN-- Poup.

Dat poup hot, Daddy?

What poup do, Daddy? What poup dooooooo?

------------------------------------------------------------

OWEN-- Whadat, Mommy?

MOMMY-- Aww- you know what that is honey. It's your stuffed giraffe.

OWEN-- Whadat part Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's his eyes

OWEN-- Whadat part Mommy?

MOMMY-- Umm. I think those are his antlers?

OWEN-- (Lifting the giraffe's tail and pointing under it.) Whadat part Mommy?

MOMMY--

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SCENE-- Nap time today.

OWEN-- Whaaaaadat no-ise, Mommy?

MOMMY-- That's the heat going off.

OWEN-- Where heat go, Mommy?

MOMMY-- (Smiling to herself and feeling wise.) Heat go night, night honey.

OWEN-- Heat go night, night.

(OWEN takes contemplative pause.)

Mommy?

Where heat's bed?

Trees in Review

2007

2008

2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

My sweet hoodlum

When I picked up Owen from Mother's Day Out today, his teacher handed me his bags and then cleared her throat.

"Ahem, we had a little problem with Owen today. He had to be sent to the director's office."

I glanced over at Owen, who was on my hip, and I could tell he knew what we were talking about. He looked down at the floor and picked at his bottom lip.

"Owen wouldn't stop aggressively hugging his classmates. If you and your husband could work with him on hugging softly that would be a big help."

Part of me was embarrassed for Owen, and part of me thought Is she serious? Personally, I find soft hugs about as desirable as limp handshakes.

So what do you think? Will Owen be robbing convenience stores by the time he's 15 if I let this one pass? I can just see him lording over some poor clerk, "Gimme all the money in the register! I got a bear hug and I'm not afraid to use it!!!"

An analogy (SAT style)

wedding cake: Owen :: cheap beer : frat boy

Congrats Drew and RaRa!

We love you!!!

Owen's Big Box Birthday Bash

Everyday Owen: The giggles

I went to feed Owen a bite of his dinner at the same time that he tried to take a drink from his sippy, and he ended up with pesto up his nose. I said, "Oh, no!" And things spiraled into a delirious mockfest.

Happy Birthday Owen!!

Scott and I took Owen out for lunch and ice cream to celebrate his birthday today.

At Newk's, we all ordered pizza and then took a table near the back corner. After sitting there a few minutes, I said to Scott, "Tom Kite is sitting at the table next to us."

I am infamous for my poor doppelganger finds. Scott has put up with them for so long that he usually doesn't even bother to look anymore when I say I see someone who looks just like Axl Rose, only with a crew cut and a tan. Today, however, he looked.

"Shelley, that really is Tom Kite."

"I know it really is Tom Kite, Scott."

He was having lunch and conversation with his family so we opted to pass on the photo op. Of course, even if he had been standing on a street corner looking alone and bored, Scott and I would probably have been too chicken to approach him. Oh well.

After lunch we went to Yogurt Mountain, where you take a tub the size of your head and fill it with all the yogurt and toppings you are willing to pay by the ounce for. Owen chose cake dough yogurt with sprinkles, Teddy Grahams and Nilla Wafers. (Scott went for sour apple with Heath bar, which I think is the YM version of a suicide... ick.)

Listen real close at the beginning of the video and you'll hear Owen say, "Happy birthday to you." Listen even closer and you'll hear me whispering to Scott to get Owen to say it again. Fat chance.

Here's your annual homework assignment: What is your favorite memory of Owen from this past year? Respond by leaving a comment, sending an e-mail or even snail mail. I'll save them for Owen to read someday. Thanks!

Happy Birthday Owen!

Back during Owen's nap with a written post...

Happy Halloween!

Prizefighter and prize floors

Score: Concrete floor 1, Owen 0

The hardwoods in the new house have been stripped, and we are going to just seal them and leave them their natural color. As for the paneling and walls? I dunno. Any suggestions not involving a sledgehammer are welcome.

We move one week from today, so it will be a mad dash to the finish. But we are so excited! And I met with the couple who is (subject-verb agreement issue there?) buying our little Homewood bungalow, and I'm confident we are leaving it in good hands. Yay!

Post edit: While I was trying to write this post, Coby got sick and Owen got bored with eating his oatmeal and started throwing it. Did you know flung oatmeal looks a whole lot like cat puke?

The good news...

Owen and I head to Texas today!

The bad news...

We have to leave for the airport in just over an hour and Owen's clothes are still in the dryer, he hasn't fallen asleep for his nap yet, and I haven't packed one single thing.

The sad news...

This is the last time Owen flies free.

But did I mention the good news?

Owen and I head to Texas today!

Better skedaddle.

He said he was just going to brush his teeth

23 and 2/31.

Sorry folks. By the time I remembered to take Owen's picture at 8 PM on the 3rd he wasn't in much of a smiling mood.

See wood veneer paneling in background to understand what's making me so forgetful lately. I hope to post some before and after pics of the new house soon!

We closed on our new house today!

Owen enjoying a blue "tuh-tur" from the bank.

There's lots of hard work ahead, but we are very excited. The house is on 2.3 acres of woods in Vestavia, and I can just picture a 7-year-old Owen spending long days outside waging battles from his tree fort. And we are less than a mile from 3 of our best couple friends. Can anyone say block party?

Jockey O

Thanks for the shirt Aunt Becky & Uncle Joe!

Boy Owen has worn me out today, and it's barely after lunchtime. To give you some indication of his adventures this morning, I had to give him a bath before nap time to remove oatmeal and ice cream from his hair and bird bath water, blue-tinted bug spray, mud and sweat from the rest of him. Now I think it's a shower and a nap for me too.

Turtle

Scott and Owen discovered this little reptilian refugee in our yard early this morning. I guess all the heavy rains flooded him out of his usual home. I was all prepared to "save" him, but then I found an internet article that pointed out that he didn't need saving anymore than the dozens of birds and squirrels that I see in our yard daily. I did pick him up to check for webbed feet (negative) to verify that he's a land turtle, and then I left him to mosey off into the woods.

Everyday Owen: Zoo Carousel