atta boy

Today's conversation with Grant:

me: grant do you want to go to kohl's?

grant: uh uh

me: do you want to go play with your legos?

grant : uh uh 

me: do you want see daddy?

grant: uh uh 

me: do you want to go to the pet store?

grant: uh uh

me: do you want to go to cafe rio?

grant: uh huh

I asked him a few more questions and he answered "uh uh" to all of them, once I asked about Cafe Rio again he sure perked up. So funny. It's really funny because we've only been like 3 times! 

You know you're a redneck if....

You spend your weekends (and often weeknights) visiting Bass Pro Shops. Yes it's true, that is our "go to" place when we have nothing else to do. I must say they have some pretty entertaining items. Am I really getting back to my Craig roots or what??? In all honesty though, their Christmas corner is amazing. It's packed with fun crafts and games for the kids and the Santa looks like he was born to fill this role. Apparently everyone in the greater Denver area heard about this little gem and decided to bring the WHOLE family there. We've tried to take Grant to see Santa (the kid hardly says a word so how's he going to tell Santa he wants-which btw I often wonder what he really does want....doesn't matter legos it is!) but the lines were atrocious!

Today was a new day. I was determined to get that little kid on that lap darn it. He was dressed with hair combed and all. I wanted to beat the rush so I just threw on a t-shirt and pulled my dirty hair into a greasy ponytail. When we got there I scoped out the line and decided I'd better pick up some snacks at the little booth or we'd both be toast by the end of this experience. With popcorn and almonds in hand (along with 2 coats, my purse, Grant and a coloring page) we headed to the North Pole. And waited. And waited. And whined (yes both of us) Does it ever seem like every other kid on the planet is on super duper good behavior at the exact same moment that your kid transformed into Taz? No? Oh, well it seems like that to me.

About an hour later we finally make it up to the jolly (albeit very old) man and surprise surprise Grant wants nothing to do with him. Not even two seconds into this Santa insists that I sit on his lap with Grant. Merry Christmas. Anyway the photo was less than stellar (and I was trying so hard not to laugh at the line of people staring at me. Seriously? You really think I requested to be a part of this picture?), Santa was peeking his tiny little head over Grant's confused expression and my typical "deer in headlights" grease bomb face.  As I left I just kept thinking "Why oh why do parents torture themselves like this?" It's not like I just met Grant yesterday! On the brighter side Grant conked out in the car, the almonds were delicious and the picture was free....and will have a cozy spot in a box in the closet!

traditions

What can I say I'm a sucker for family traditions. I especially love Christmas traditions. Growing up we would always go around with my parents taking pizzelles to friends and family. I'm grateful that we were able to be a part of showing kindness to others and letting them know we were thinking of them during this busy time of year. Every year we would celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. There are only 7 grandkids so it was always easy to get together. We would attend a candlelight service at the Baptist church and then come home and have our family gift exchange. I know most families draw names for Christmas but one thing I loved about our tradition was that there was always a theme with the exchange. For example...one year we had to buy gifts that began with that persons name. We've had to buy gifts that correlate to a Christmas song or scripture. We've done hands and feet gifts or homemade gifts. I think it's always fun to be creative and to see what everyone brought to the exchange. I can't help but feel sad that David was never a part of this tradition....no it's not that he had to sit in the corner while we had the exchange, the year we got married my grandfather died and as a family we each decided to celebrate Christmas with our immediate family.

Last year Santa forgot to fill my stocking. I (sadly) put them back in storage when a little elf realized Santa forgot me. David didn't know where the stockings were and so he hung a diaper and filled it with treats- that was probably the first time I was excited to see what was in a diaper! I still have the diaper and we've decided to continue to hang it each year. I'm sure Grant will love explaining that one to his friends!

I'm finding that traditions just happen naturally. Grant always seems to want to turn on the lights to our little Christmas houses first thing in the morning, and point to Santa on the roof right before bed. We've been trying to read some form of Christmas story each night and I think it will help get us more in the Christmas spirit. I want to help my kid(s) understand the true meaning of Christmas and to give service and love to others, I'm hoping we can continue to donate and help wherever possible.

What fun traditions do you have? Favorite meals, songs, movies?

little lovelies-asics

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the greatest runner out there. I must say that these shoes have really helped though. I over pronate pretty bad and that made my knees pretty darn mad at me. I've been to a few running stores and they introduced me to these bad boys and I have yet to turn back. In fact I have 2 pairs of the exact same shoe. Go figure they are like the most expensive ones out there and of course they don't have a "generic" version. Boo. Oh and all my Denver friends did you see today's Groupon??? You bet I'll be asking Santa for another pair! Love me some Asics.