Let's RIDE!

The BIG gifts for the boys this Christmas were their bicycles! Evan's is a "John Deeere" bike and Nathan's is a red "Tony Hawk". They both have training wheels for the time being, as Laura and I compromised - they come off at the end of the school year. (plus, both bikes came with them, so there was no additional purchase required)... As for the blue foam pieces in their hands, the little explorers found those in someone's Christmas packing trash down the street and decided they each needed a piece of the "treasure". One man's trash is another man's treasure - and then it usually becomes that man's trash!

Christmas Time

It's always an enjoyable time when family gathers for Christmas. Granny and Grandpa, Uncles and Aunts, and COUSINS!! Oh, yeah, and there's the whole presents thing, too! Here are some pics and captions...

Thanks for the rifle, Uncle Brad! I'm ready to go hunting!

You're never too young for an r/c car - fittingly, Nathan got the POLICE Mustang!

Just as fittingly, Evan got the speedy hot-rod Mustang!

With all the people here at Christmas, sometimes you just have to "let it out"!

If that doesn't work, there's always PIE!

Ahhhh... a sweet escape from the "hustle and bustle"!

Christmas Mice

The Children's Ministry at our church put on a Christmas play. The kids all dressed up as mice and sang Christmas favorites with lyrics re-written from a mouse's perspective and the grandpa mouse gathered all the "kids" around to hear his first-hand recollection of what it was like at Jesus' birth from his point-of-view...

Butt(on) Nose

It was already dark as the boys and I made our way home for the day, taking in the Christmas lights and decorations on display in our neighborhood along the way. Nathan exclaimed, "Look, Dad, there's a snowman over there!" I glanced at the 10' "Frosty" and began to sing the song:


Frosty the snowman, was a jolly happy soul
with a corn cob pipe and a button nose
and two eyes made out of coal...


Evan's snickering interrupted the song as he giggled, "Nathan! Daddy said 'butt-nose'!"
Nathan: "Dad! Evan just said, 'BUTT'!"

"Evan! I did NOT say 'butt', I said 'but-ton-nose'." (more giggling followed by Evan's softly repeating "butt-nose" a couple more times)


"OK, Boys! Lets sing a different song..."

BBQ Rolls

We enjoy having breakfast rolls from time to time - cinammon, orange (especially the orange!)... so I decided to try the caramel rolls recently. The oven was preheated to the right temp. The caramel was spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. The pan was placed onto the center rack. The timer was set at the lowest of the suggested range. I'm trying to let you know that I FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS!


Apparently, our oven runs a little hot! The rolls and the caramel were a tad "overdone". Ok, so they were pretty much TORCHED, but they were still edible (as far as I was concerned). Nathan was visibly upset about the anticipated caramel rolls...


"DADDY!?!"

(Yeah, buddy?)

"Who put BARBEQUE SAUCE on my ROLL?!"

Stand By Me

On our snow day, Nathan's school closed for the day because their main campus in Opelousas (20 minutes N of Lafayette) was shut down. Since Evan's daycare couldn't accomodate Nathan, he came to work with me! After dropping Evan off, I asked Nathan if he was excited about coming to work with me. He confirmed and then declared from the backseat, "Dad, I'm gonna stay by you all day today." (Ok, pal.) "And I'm gonna go where you go and walk where you walk, Dad!" "Ok, Nathan," I replied as I considered the depth of his statements beyond just this day... hoping to be the kind of man he'll one day be proud to have followed. He only wandered down the hall a couple of times all day and he's really good at shredding stuff!

Snow-nuts

After playing in the snow a little while, we had to come in and get ready for the day (school and work). I had picked up some donut holes that morning and the boys found them on the table. Evan was soooo excited and exlaimed to Laura, "Mommy! Snow makes DONUTS!"

SNOW DAY! (12.17.08)