Everyday Owen: Pears & Chairs

Scored them off of Craigslist this weekend. (The chairs, not the pears.)

Yellow Machines

If you're planning to have a conversation with Owen anytime soon, you'd better be able to call that thing in the picture up there something more than Big Yellow Machine. That tactic only worked for me for about a week, and then I had to hit the internet and educate myself.

We've memorized all the active construction and road repair sites within a 10-mile radius of home, with our current favorite site being the "new why-bwear-ee". Today we saw a crane lifting steel beams and a bulldozer pushing dirt around. Score!

But I would caution you against flaunting your newfound knowledge. Throw around terms like boom, grapple, or skid steer loader one too many times in Owen's presence, and he will just calmly point out the passenger side window at something like this

Image via Astronomy Picture of the Day

and say, "Care to tell me what THAT is, smartypants?"

Clearly we need more chairs

or is it just a guy thing to watch sports at close range?

The Dining Car

Owen removed the panel from the bottom of the refrigerator, declared that it was the door of a train and invited me to join him aboard for dinner. He even requested that we get our suitcases.

How could I not oblige?

Once we were ambling down the tracks dining on ground turkey and pasta, I asked where we were going.

Hobby Lobby.

I'm off on a cruise with 5 girlfriends! See you back here next week.

How we spent the rest of Christmas

DD, Coach and Jen (who Owen is pretty consistently referring to now as Neenee) drove over from Texas on Christmas Day in a record-setting 9 hours. I will never drive to Texas again unless Jennifer is my chauffeur!

We were able to enjoy Christmas dinner with them, along with Scott's parents and grandmother GG. Yes, Owen has a DD, Mimi, GG and now a Neenee. The lesson? If you want Owen to call you by name, find a syllable with a long E, say it, then repeat.

We spent most of our time just visiting and enjoying being together, but I was also a bad hostess and put them to work while they were here. We primed all the paneling and wallpaper in the living room, so farewell 70s! It kind of looks like the video below was made in a hospital waiting room, huh?

Before......................................After the before, but before the after (that pic to come later!)

Happy New Year!

Chocolate soul patch