On Saturday, Meri and I took a rode trip and went to see my family. We picked up my dad and then my mom and then headed to the hospital to meet my newest great-nephew, Titus. Isn't he a cutie?
I got my baby fix in! And so did Meri,
and Mom
and Dad.
I don't remember how many great grandchildren this makes for them, but they have over 40 grandchildren... So it's going to be a big number.
Then we met up at a Perkins with my brother and his daughter and her family.
Caleb just played with his game and was pretty quiet this time...
But, not sure if you remember Norah. She was Maddy and Matthew's flower girl.
What a precocious kid!
Her sister, Ani, is no different.
Did I mention Zeke? I just kept snapping pics like he was a model. click click click, he did not disappoint!
On Saturday, Meri drove Robb and I to my hometown for a Christmassy gathering at my Mom's nursing home. Lots of food and lots of laughter and not enough time.
Meri and her cousin breaking the ice after not seeing each other since Thanksgiving.
This niece is in the process of publishing a book that she's written for young teens.
My sister brought a game that she'd put together with Saran wrap and candy and a die. As someone rolled until they rolled a six, another person unwraps like crazy to get as much candy as possible. It went around the table 3 or more times until it was done. The kids had a blast and got sugared up REAL good.
Here is Meri during HER stint with it. LOVE that smile.
My brother with his grandaughter, Norah (aka Maddy & Matthew's flower girl).
What a cutie patooty. And I guess my bro is pretty too (according to Meri when she was three. She gazed at him and said, "Mark - You're so pretty!")
Meri and her grandparents. That IS my dad's smile. and scowl. He's thrifty that way.
A nephew-in-law with his two girls, trying to get more candy out of the candy ball.
I love these two so much.
Do you ever get a lump in your heart from just looking at a picture?
On Monday after school, I took a short break and gave Leon a ride down the street in his wagon with five of his favorite stuffed Pokemon.
But then I had to get back to work, so I brought out the laptop and parked at the end of the driveway. He gave his Pokemon a ride down the sidewalk and kept stopping every ten feet or so and yelled back if that was the corner yet.
NO!!! Keep on going!!!!
But then he saw a bird flying over a house and came running back screaming that there was a bird...
Like he's never seen THAT before...
I had put his car seat next to the car we'd be taking after work and he found that it didn't fit in his wagon so he improvised.
Then brought it next to my chair and said he wanted to call someone.
"MATTHEW! I want to call Matthew!"
Okey dokey.
I dialed and gave him my phone. "If you hear a beep, that means that he's not available, so leave a message for him."
After a few seconds, he screamed to me, with the phone still next to his mouth, "HE'S AVAILABLE!!!!!"
Poor Matthew's ear drum.
Since Leon was so wired, he only said a few sentences and handed the phone to me then dashed.
Then yesterday he wanted to climb a tree. I rue the day when he can get up there himself...
I have created a monster.
It takes me back to when his daddy went on a play date at a friend's house in the country. Robb went to pick him up and said that he's glad I didn't go. When he got there, Ryan, Zach and Ian were fifty feet in the air up in a tree...
Yeah, I would have screamed so loud, they'd have fallen out. I don't even like to watch acrobats at the circus. I've watched enough movies to know that as soon as we get comfortable, someone is going to fall to their death right in front of us. And of course it.will.be.murder...
Because... Matlock... Moonlighting... Emergency... Quincy MD... Suits... Laverne and Shirley...
Where was I going with this?
Nevermind... It's THURSDAY!!! and I'm out of DDP, so I've broken into the stash of Diet Coke I'd gotten for Ryan.
I'll replace it.
Anyway, more cute kid stuff. Maddy posted this on FB yesterday.
My first and second graders have been slowly realizing that I'm engaged. Here are some of their reactions.
