A Christmas Riddle ...

What do you give someone's kid who you don't see very often? Give up?

A kitten of course (or a puppy as my Dad tells it - he is always full of wonderful gift suggestions).

Meet Sergent Tibbs. And before all you who have sent me Christmas cards get antsy thinking Sgt. Tibbs will be your child's Christmas present, fear not - this kitten is now settled in on South High Street for as long as it chooses. Sgt. Tibbs was left near our house by her mommy (a cat we feed in the neighborhood) who wanted to wean her kittens. Tibbs was right wild last Saturday, but is now tamed down and spent this evening pulling the ribbon off of the lower branches of our Christmas tree and playing with Vivian. I named the cat Sgt. Tibbs after the cat in 101 Dalmatians (a movie I have seen one to many times).

So, time to catch up a bit. I have been MIA on the blog lately, but it has been pretty hectic here in the evenings. With Rick working 2nd shift every night, I have Vivian in the evenings on my own and lately she has been very clingy every evening (1st year molars are trying to come in - not fun). When you add in getting Christmas ready to all the usual stuff to get done, well, there just is not enough time to work in blogging (but I am really enjoying reading everyone elses blog).

Last Saturday, we headed over to the church to and helped out with the free toy store for folks who are having a hard time affording gifts for their kids. We had a good time trying to put together some of the toys - so much so that I am considering getting Rick the car track that he helped put together - he really seemed to like it:) In the afternoon, we took in the Franklin Christmas Parade and baby - it was COLD outside.

Here she is waiting for the parade to start. She was being very patient.








Finally, the color guard arrived and the parade was on.





Vivian watched the parade candy fall on the ground, but she is still a little small to pick it up.





Finally, the big guy arrived in Franklin, and it was time to form a line to tell Santa what to bring on his next visit to town.

Vivian was not to sure what everyone was waiting for.

And when she got to the front of the line, she was not sure it was worth the wait.

This week I have tried to get some Christmas shopping done. I am really liking online shopping, but Thursday I took off with my Mom and Vivian for some in store shopping. We had a pretty good day and gave Santa another try - Vivian was even less amused in her picture although after the pictures were taken and she was off Santa's lap, she really enjoyed talking to him - weird. It seems like Vivian is the easiest person to shop for, so she is going to get lots of cool stuff this Christmas. One very cool thing that I already gave her and incorporated into my decorating was the Little People Nativity/Inn at Bethlehem/3 Wise Men set. I figured it gave Vivian something she was allowed to play with, and she loves it. Every time we go through the Christmas story, she laughs. She also really enjoys dancing when the nativity plays Away in a Manger. Tonight I got a picture of her in action.

Lately, Mary has been hanging out with the wisemen, and the shepherds have been far away in another room of our house - Bethlehem was not ready for Vivian. You can sort of see our tree in the background. I will post better pictures sometime. I was disappointed that the tree would not hold ornaments well, so I decorated with lights, ribbon, poinsettia picks, and other stuff and put our ornaments on a small artificial tree out of Vivian's reach.

As for my Vivian Christmas pictures - hopefully I will be able to get the pictures I want in the morning - I will explain it all later. In the meantime - stay sane and enjoy the Christmas season.

Christmas Tree Hunting

With Thanksgiving behind us, Christmas can begin in earnest. Saturday afternoon we started our holiday season by hunting for a Christmas tree. It was not too cold, but because it usually takes us a while to find a tree (Rick is so hard to please:), we bundled up Vivian nice and warm.

Since we had a good bit of walking to do, we rocked out the stroller to push Vivian around in. I think Mr. Beatty at the tree farm was impressed - must not get too many strollers in the tree farm. Vivian was unfazed by Christmas tree hunting - just taking it all in stride.

When we finally located a tree - I got Vivian out of the stroller to help Rick saw it down.

She then got to inspect her handiwork.

Then Daddy and Vivian had to strike a pose.




Then it was Momma & Vivian's turn.





It was a fun afternoon, although I still do not think Vivian understands why we brought a tree in the house. Anyway, decorated tree pictures should be coming your way soon. This tree is a little challenging for me because it is a white pine and I usually get a spruce so most of our ornaments are too heavy. I guess it is an okay trade off though because Vivian does really enjoy touching the needles. Stay tuned.

Happy American Thanksgiving

Too much turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving one and all - since we now have a friend married to a Canadian, I have to be specific - I don't want the Canuck to break out her red pants for just plain ole' American Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for many things this year - family, friends (near and far), being able to watch Vivian grow and helping shape who she will become, health, 101 Dalmatians, pumpkin pies that turned out decent today ... I could go on, but you get my meaning.

I know we usually spend time with family at thanksgiving, but I am thinking about all my friends too. Krissy - I don't know what Hawaiians have for Thanksgiving, but I hope you had a great one. I miss you. Canuck - miss you too kiddo and I enjoyed the pics of Ainsley being crafty at daycare. KatMac - I hope Jordan actually ate real thanksgiving food today - wish we were there to see it. Andrea, Kim, Jenny - miss you all too, of course now that thanksgiving is out of the way, Christmas preparations are definitely on. Nancy Lee - I hope you had a house full of your peeps and had a great time whipping up on them with your Nintendo Wii skills.

Anyway, I hope everyone has eaten entirely too much today. I know I have. Take care.

Weekend Update

Sorry for the lack of blogging - I just have not had the time. I have also been remiss in taking many pictures, however, I did break out the camera Wednesday evening because Vivian had a surprise package waiting for her at our house when we came home. Ainsley, the Canuck, and Michael sent her a belated birthday present and it was really cool.

She started out with her card first, but since she could not get it open, she threw it behind her and started working on the rest of the box.





If this is any indication, we will have our hands full at Christmas. She loved everything, and is having a real good time making Mommy read the storybooks in French. Cool. Every time she gets a different story. Thanks again. We appreciated it.



On Friday night, Rick and I went to my Judge's retirement party. It was a surprise (that was a hard secret to keep for several months) and it was at Canaan Resort which had a bunch of snow Friday afternoon, making the trip somewhat treacherous. I can say that the Judge was totally surprised and really touched that so many of his friends and family made the trip (of course he may never trust us again). We sat at the most rowdy table and the one most likely to have a cat fight (not by my choosing) - anyhow, it was a good time and lucky for us the State Road was out working while we were partying and the roads were in great shape for the drive home.





Vivian also spent some quality time with her Bigglesworth this weekend. The cat loves us when it is really cold out. Notice that he is lying against the door so he can make a quick exit. Thankfully he is really good with Vivian and she is getting better about being easy with him too.

Sunday morning we realized that babyproofing is now at a whole new level. Vivian was playing in our room and Rick picked her up and put her in her crib. What he did not realize was she had her bottle of lotion with her and proceeded to unscrew the lid and was sucking lotion out of the bottle. Not good. Rick called poison control and they said she would be okay - just drink water and be ready for nasty poop later. She was alright all day - I have a feeling later is setting in because while I have been blogging, she has been waking up and her belly is grumbling. Sunday night should be a whole lot of fun. Have a good week.

13 Months

Miss Vivian,

I cannot believe what a independent little person you have become. I have laughed at all the little things you have started doing like the other night when your Daddy thought you were asleep and turned off your 101 Dalmations movie and you sat straight up in your crib, gave him a dirty look, and pointed at the tv until he turned it back on. You have a definite idea of what you want and you enjoy testing us to see if you can get it. We also had quite an adventure when we took you to see Madagascar 2 at the theater. You were really impressed with the movie theater scene and were a good girl during the movie.

You are also mastering walking, you just are not always in the mood to do it. I think if you twist your butt a little less, your balance will improve. You are also chattering all the time and I think we have conversations, I am just not always sure what you are saying. You are pretty clingy with your Momma, and I saw just how jealous you are of me on Sunday when I was holding Ethan at church and you threw a fit until I gave him back to his mommy and got you back from Daddy.

You have been really healthy this month which has been a good thing for us all. Seven very sharp teeth are now in your mouth and you accidentally bit me the other day and it certainly did not tickle. You are going through bouts of not sleeping well and that is a problem, but hopefully we can get this figured out. See how upset you are - you need some sleep.

I really enjoy taking you out to Grandma & Pop's house and watching you play with Sassy and Peaches (the cat - or should I say THE cat). It is so funny how you and Sassy play with each other - you chase Sassy until she licks you on the head and then you shy away and let Sassy follow you around until you decide to chase her again. Peaches has recently gotten in on the action which is pretty funny since she is usually a very distant & at times cranky cat. When you pushed her away from her food bowl so you could play in her cat food, I thought you were in for it, but I really think she must like you. You are getting much better at being easy with the animals and petting them nice. I just wish you would not play in their water and food bowls (or in Sassy's box of chew toys). Anyway, it always makes for a good time.

So, thank you for being you. We love you very much and are looking forward to seeing you continue to change and to making many more fun memories. Love always, Momma and Daddy.

Ten Thoughts for Thursday

Since blogger did not like me on Tuesday enough to allow pictures, I have waited until Thursday for this ten.



1. The election is over - no matter who you were pulling for, the fact that it is finally over (no recounts thank you ) is a good thing that we all can agree on. I do not think the outcome was a huge surprise given the way the end of the campaign went. Obama has campaigning down to an art and McCain had a pitbull. I really thought McCain's concession speech was a class act - I really liked the old John McCain before he was "handled" by his conservative staff, but he became something I could no longer recognize, let alone vote for at the end. But that speech was a real great one and I hope he is back on his original path before the detour into uber-conservative land. As for Obama - I liked his speech too, but we have come to expect such a good performance that it is hard to get overly excited about it anymore. I hope he can pull our country out of the trouble we are in, but seriously, who in there right mind would want this job right now.



2. The election of Obama made me think about my daughter. She probably will not remember much about his presidency, but the fact that she will never know a US that did not have a black president will be so totally different from the world that any of us have grown up in. What will it all mean and how will she come to understand the whole thing remains to be seen, but what a strange and exciting time we are living in.


3. Okay, as promised, a reflection upon our chimney liner project. A few weeks ago, we pulled our stove pipe out of our flue to find that our clay flue liner had busted and fallen down (for those of you who do not know what that means just picture this $$$$$). Anyway, we then began the process of trying to figure out a long-term solution that did not involve propane (our backup heat source). So after some research and a few consultations, we decided to install flexible stainless steel liner in our chimney. Simple enough or maybe not. By Halloween our plan had materialized and the installation began - first, we decided to cut a hole in the chimney to have a cleanout for our flue. This job was MESSY and not without some issues since the prior owners had also replaced a chimney liner and left most of the old liner in the bottom of the flue with cement on top of it. Nice.


After that, the real fun started. Enter our cast of characters:



On the roof we have Larry. I think if I photoshop this a bit, I will not have much trouble convincing Vivian that Santa Clause can go down our chimney.






On the porch, we have Bartles and James. Not really, its Edwin and Alvy on a break.




Here is the scene when the liner was being raised up by the boom truck to be stuffed in the chimney.

And then here are all the supervisors watching as the liner was secured at the top. From left to right we have Edwin, Alvy, my Dad, and Junior (notice he is ready to chuck a rock at Larry - oh yeah, we were definitely the most happening thing in Franklin that Halloween).

My brother Ashby was also helping out, but he avoided pictures. Thanks so much to everyone who came to help. It turned out great and I really appreciate you guys helping us out. I am sitting by my stove with a nice little fire in it right now.

4. On of the funniest moments of the chimney liner installation was when a guy passing by stopped to ask us if we had a card. Did we look like professionals? Alvy and I pondered whether we could make money at this for a sideline, I think we decided it is not worth it, but you never know, we all just may go into the chimney liner business - heaven knows that you cannot wrangle a contractor in these parts without a pretty long wait and when you need heat, waiting really is not an option.

5. Overnight On Call. This is my least favorite part of my husband's job. We are up off and on most all night when he is on call. It wears me out. The weird part is after spending a night listening to the scanner/radio/pager and taking phone calls from the ComCenter you kind of forget what actually happened and have to rehash it in the morning to see if you had the same recollection. Thankfully Vivian has been pretty good about sleeping through it, I just wish I could.

6. I think you are officially parents when you cannot remember the last movie you watched that was not a cartoon. Right now, we have 101 Dalmatians memorized to the point that Rick and I both sing the songs from the movie. Rick also has a new infatuation with the Bee Movie. I have yet to watch it all the way through.

7. On that note, we are going to take Vivian to the movie theater for the first time to see Madagascar 2. I hope it goes well because I really want to see this sequel.

8. Speaking of Vivian, she has turned into quite a little cookie monster. Sunday evening, Rick brought home some cookies and put the container on the kitchen table. I was in a different part of the house and heard Rick telling Vivian no. Turns out the kid is pretty talented at getting what she wants and she had pulled the cookies off the table, opened the container, dumped all of them out, and had a cookie in each hand that she was chowing down on. It was pretty funny. Unfortunately, Rick cleaned up the majority of it before I could get my camera, but here are some shots after she got her cookie.

9. Why are all the stores full of Christmas decorations right now? It really blows my mind that all this stuff is out already. I went down to Rite-Aid the day before Halloween and they had already moved all their fall/Halloween stuff to the clearance bin because they had to put out Christmas stuff in its place. What happened to Thanksgiving? My Judge and I were pondering this very question the other day after I tracked him down at his house to sign an order and he was busy getting out Thanksgiving decorations for his lawn that he had someone make for him since you cannot find anything in the stores. I think I will take Vivian to get her picture taken with his display - he has this 8 foot tall pilgrim. It is pretty wild.

10. An update on pictures. Thanks for all your input on the fall pictures I took of Vivian. I decided to use #6 for the 11 x 14 picture. I liked them all but I thought that one would look best where I wanted to put it. I printed a few others too. My next challenge is a Christmas shot. Wish me luck.

Buzz...Buzz...Buzz

As promised, Vivian in her bee costume. Turns out that bees are not terribly photogenic. Really I think it had more to do with her parents being totally frazzled after spending all day putting in a chimney liner. So after we finished that job, Rick got in his costume and Vivian got in hers and Halloween was underway.



We could not get her to wear the antenna, so Momma got a brand new accessory.

While we are talking accessories, Vivian absolutely loved her black shoes. It was the best part of Halloween by far.

After Rick went to work, Vivian visited with Pop, Grandma, and Uncle Ashby and then we went to see Zelene. Halloween is Z's favorite holiday and she takes trick or treating very seriously. Her candy stash is so good that a couple of years ago some kids came to her house once, went home and changed costumes, and came back again. Of course the fact that she lives in a big haunted house (hey I have spent the night there - it is creepy) makes the atmosphere that much better for Halloween. Z gave Vivian a Halloween bear and she really liked it -particularly after we put her shoes on the bear.

So, that's our Halloween story for this year - I am sure that the bigger she gets the more involved Halloween will be, but for me, I just enjoyed hanging out and seeing her enjoy being dressed up.