An Awesome Autumn Alphabet Adventure [16 of 26] P is for the Perils of (grand)Parents in a Pit!

Dear Henry, 
Anxious to share all of our fun and inexpensive activities we find in Bloomington with Bahboo and Grandma P we took them along to the gymnastics center with us.  We also met up with Heather, Phillipe, Etienne and Sylvie too.  So we took you over to the pit and you jumped into it several times, piled up the blocks with Bahboo outside of the pit, ran around and basically tried to show off your skills to your grandparents.  I saw Bahboo and Grandma P eyeballing the pit.  I could almost hear them thinking aloud how comfy and fun it looks.  I sent out a warning about how difficult it can be to get out of that sinkhole of foam blocks and random lost band aids.  However about 10 minutes later there they were.  Climbing in. Slowly sifting to the bottom of the foam blocks and fighting to keep afloat amongst the kids deftly jumpin' in and climbing out around them.  Grandma P was even hidden for a minute under the blocks and scared a kid that jumped near here when her hands and head finally came up for air.  After bonking them over the heads a few time you wanted out to play with other things.  There were your two grandparents, stuck, whining and struggling to get out of the pit.  "Why didn't you tell me us it would be so hard to get out," they yammered.  Bahboo got out first then Grandma P followed with a little bit of hoisting and that was the end of them for the next two days.  They went home that evening and I called to see how they were doing and they both exclaimed that the pit had whooped their butts.  That's what grandkids are for right?

P is for the Perils of (Grand)Parents in a Pit 

Love, Mama

PS  Here are a couple of photos of the twins hanging out watching the parachute.

Christmas Preparations

Dear Peep A Claus, 

The preparations for Christmas this year have gone smoothly.  Santa sent word that your behaviors the last 12 months have been over all great so that means presents are on their way.  Yes, that means we aren't counting the recent episode at the post office.  Mama and Daddy have finished their shopping for each other.  Every year the labels we stick to one another's packages are almost as important as the present inside.  Our tree is decorated mostly at the top as you are in love with taking the ornaments off and on.  So the only decorations this year are plastic shiny silver snowflakes from Aunt Judy (been gone a year today), a snowman handcrafted by you, and our couple of special ornaments.  JMom would be proud to see the angel holding onto a heart that reads, "believe!" front and center.  

 She gave it to you last year.  Mama asked you tonight what you wanted Santa to bring you.  At first you said a sucker and followed up with drums.  Thatta boy!  I wanted to post some photos tonight.  The holidays can make us miss those we love and can't be with for whatever pile of reasons but it doesn't mean we aren't thinking of them.  After all, it was Dec. 25th at 5:35 pm three Christmas' ago that we received the best present ever, a call from J, your birthmom, telling us that she believed that we are your parents.  On Christmas!  Our family grew that night in all directions.  We love her and are thinking of her.

We are grateful to be together with most of our immediate family this year.  We will get to be with Uncle Gary and Cousin Tony, Grandma P and Bahboo, Aunt Krispie, GG Hazel, Grandma LaJean.  That is happiness. 

Love, Mama

An Awesome Autumn Alphabet Adventure [15 of 26] O is for Oh, Oh! Ho Ho has Suckers!

Dear Henny, 
Finally, I am to the letter O!  I have been slacking in the last week keeping the post flowing.  I don't think anyone has noticed so I will just pick things right back up where I left off.
Last weekend we took you to see Santa Claus at Greenwood Park Mall! That's right!  You saw Santa Claus.  My guess is that we were more excited than you were, until you saw the huge box of suckers.  You waved at Santa when we drew closer but you saw that sucker box and you may as well have said, "Santa Who?"  You twisted and pointed exclaiming, "SUCKERS! SUCKERS!"  Your turn came and you walked toward Santa and made a quick turn to his sucker box grabbing a yellow one just as Santa lifts you to his lap.  The only thing on your mind was that sucker!  With the long lines I tried to hurry you along.  You fumbled yellow sucker and I had to reach quickly for a red.  You were happy.  The photos the place took were bad, not even funny bad just bad, so we didn't buy them.  Mommy was happy that Santa allowed his visitors to take whatever photos they 

 wanted.  You can tell in Mommy's photos that you were really not that into it.  Daddy took video with his cell phone.  You were eating your sucker so you were happy and I got to fire off a couple of shots so I was happy.  Win, Win.  You recounted the experience later by saying, "Lap, Santa, sucker, bite it, eat it, drop it."

 O is for OH, OH! Suckers!  

Love, Mama

An Awesome Autumn Alphabet Adventure [14 of 26] N is for Naughty, Naughty, NO! NO! What the Heck are You Doing Now Henny?! and Your Favorite Video Right Now.

Dear Henny, 
Good gawd!  Since birth, rolling over the first day, you've been a physical phenom.  You started crawling right around 5 months, pulling up a couple of months later and walking completely on your own the day before 10 months.  I'm bragging a little but all this early strength can cause some problems.  For instance, you have recently been on a climbing jag.  You are so stealth about it too.  One minute we are playing in the living room and by the time I drag my old bones up to follow you to the kitchen, you've shimmied up the bar stool and are standing on the kitchen counter or sitting there with your feet in the sink acting like you're doing dishes.  You also love to sit on the dining room table grab my mouse roller ball and throw it or stand up and try to swing from the light fixture, seriously.   You s-t-r-e-t-c-h your arms above your head standing on your tip toes and smile at me.  You know you should not be doing this!  When I pull you down you say, "naughty, naughty!"  Huh?!  I haven't said naughty to you more than once or twice your whole life.  Where did you get that?  It is true but where did you get that word from?  But hey, if it fits.  This weekend we thought you were hiding behind the Christmas tree but I found you sitting on the record shelves discovering all of the crap you've been throwing back there for the last year.  Pointing and trying to crawl over the shelves head first to dive for a three month old cookie I was in shock.  Not about the three month old cookie, but rather your boldness!  By the way our house is clean in most spaces but I've just left the crap back there to accumulate, until now.  I had to remove your motivation!  So the letter N is for....

  Naughty, Naughty, NO! NO! What the Heck are You Doing Now Henny?!

In addition to watching Lily in action, some afternoons we will dig up fun You Tube videos to watch.  Babies giggling, chimpanzees, Koko the gorilla, and music videos.  You have your favorites requests.  "Elmo A, B, Cs,"  "Frog, banjo, rainbow, Debbie," and most recently, "Elmo, bed, sleepin', guitar, milk, milk."  It features the letter N and the rockin' out part gets your head moving swiftly from side to side, up and down and all around surrounded by chuckles. 

N is for the letter N with Elmo and Ricky Gervais

An Awesome Autumn Alphabet Adventure [13 of 26] M is for Marshmallows, Molkky and HayMarket Riot visit

Dear Henny, 
At 10 days old you went to your first punk rock show.  Some may say that is a little young but thankfully it was at a recording studio and you and I sat in the recording booth protecting your teeny ears from sounds that might have just blown your mind grapes.  I was able to adjust the volume to protect you.  The band you saw, Haymarket Riot from Chicago, have been friends of ours for a decade now and we all have a lot of mutual love and respect.  They were so happy on that first visit to meet you and give you cuddles and gifts.  This visit, a year and 6 months later, you didn't get to go to the show but you did get to hang out.  Their show was very late at the Bishop and so we started a little fire in the back yard, threw acorns at each other, played some Molky and roasted marshmallows.  You really tried to play Molkky and had no problem shoving marshmallows in your mouth.  Chris Daly, Daddy and I exchanged parenting stories and had a good visit.  I think they were surprised at how big you've gotten.  We were happy to see our friends and to congratulate our friend Fred on his recent marriage.  Remember Henry how great it can be to maintain friendships with good people over time and distance.   It is always rewarding.

M is for Marshmallows, Molkky and HayMarket Riot Visit

Love, Mama