When lunchtime goes bad...

Oh no!  Ravioli attacked my son!

And somebody taught my daughter to dip her baby carrots in peanut butter!

It's the end of days, people.  There's no other explanation.

Charlotte "makes" a new friend

While Peter napped this morning, Charlie Jo and I took the opportunity to get back out in the snow.  I put on the size 5/6 snow pants my cousin, Cady Lane, had handed down to Charlie and with the straps pulled tight and the legs rolled up, they sort of fit!

CJ wanted to make a snowman, so we whipped up a quick little one.  Thank goodness the snow packed super easily.  I'm not what you would call an expert snowman-maker.  I grabbed a couple of black olives for eyes and a baby carrot for a nose, which amused CJ to no end.  She especially loved dressing him/her up in a hat and scarf.  When I grabbed her a dry pair of mittens to swap for her wet ones, she insisted on donating her wet mittens to the snowman.

The final product:

Snowy day

School was called off for today (which really isn't such a big deal since CJ only goes for 2 hours a few days a week) due to snow.  After lunch, I finally worked up the nerve to dress the kids in some snow gear and haul them outside.  It might have had something to do with Faith Carol stopping by and helping me.  Connie dog came out too, but she got a little wild and knocked Charlie over a couple of times.  She may stay inside next time.

Charlie made a snow angel, of course.

Petey was a little reluctant to walk in the snow by himself -- probably because he has a hard enough time doing it easier surfaces.  He was happy to have a little help from Faithy.

He screamed like a stuck pig when his mitten fell off and his bare skin touched the cold snow.

Charlie, however, could have stayed outside in the snow all day if I let her.  I got tired of tucking her mittens into her sleeves every two minutes though.  Maybe I'll make her some elbow-length fleece mittens next time I get the sewing machine out.

Petey liked it once I got him on the driveway in the open spot where Corey's car had been parked all night.

Charlie made sure to find a stick (which she is trying to show us in the photo) like the boy in the "The Snowy Day" book so she could also smack a snow-covered tree (or bush).

Smack, smack.

See, Mom?  It's a lot easier to walk where there's no white stuff.

Now we're back inside warming up and watching Max & Ruby play in the snow on TV. That's my kind of snowy adventure -- short and followed by cuddle time on the couch.

Saturday Fun

Yesterday, Charlie and I went to the Nashville boat show. Here is Charlie at the helm of the a 46' Regal. She enjoyed checking out the helms of each boat we went on.

To Charlie's surprise and delight, some boats had "rooms."

And, not only were there rooms, but these rooms had kitchens "for me!"

Charlie and I looked a lot of high-end pontoon boats. These are sure different than the party barges that we rent each year. Wow. Charlie liked the view from this chair in the bow of a Crest pontoon boat.

The Marshalls invited us over for dinner. After dinner, we played with kids and dogs.

The Anatomy of a Take-Down:

1. Peter takes ball from Mr. Dan. Napoleon wants the ball.

2. Napoleon waits patiently for Peter to throw the ball.

3. Napoleon decides that Peter has taken too long in the pocket. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN, PIPSQUEAK"!

Peter was upset about being sacked by a dog closely resembling Snuggle the Fabric Softener Bear, so I demonstrated my sure-fire method for making him feel better . . . rub his head on something "fleecy." Works every time.
Yaaay! Mr. Dan rides!

My Madison

Charlotte's good buddy, Madison, started at Charlotte's early learning program with her today!  Charlotte showed Madison the ropes and apparently kept hugging her and saying, "my Madison" every so often.  Madison doesn't look so sure about all of this in the photos, but the teachers assured us that Madison had a fabulous time once Melissa (Madison's mom) and I left.

"Hey kid - stick with me.  We'll rule this school!"

"My Madison!"

Get your motor running...

... head out on the highway!

MOMMY FAIL

Funny story -- when you ask Charlotte "what does Auntie Ernie say?", she replies "MOMMY FAIL!"  While we stayed up at Auntie Ernie's house over Christmas, that phrase was so often heard that even Charlotte caught on and would announce "MOMMY FAIL" whenever Erin or I goofed up.

Today, Petey Pie was goofing off on the couch and I took a few shots of him dancing with his snack cup.  I saw him bouncing a little close to the edge, but did I stop shooting and move him back to safety?  NO.  So, not only did poor Petey fall off and smack his head hard on the floor, but I caught it on camera.  MOMMY FAIL.

OH NO, MR. BILL!!!

And now, he looks like this:

The little red mark on his eyebrow is from a few weeks ago when he cut it on the edge of the coffee table after, you guessed it, falling off of the couch.  Would it be too overprotective to buy him a crash helmet?

The Day After Christmas in Franklin

When Charlie Jo and Peter arrived in Franklin on December 26 in their Big Red Van, they discovered that Santa Claus had stopped by Cannonwood in his Big Red Sleigh!

"Look, Daddy! Santa brought me a playground!"

Stephanie and Don sent this inflatable car for Peter for Christmas. As you can see, both Daddy and Peter like playing in it. Charlie wishes there was room for her, too!

CJS

Charlie the Animal Rescuer

Charlie the Animal Rescuer wants to wish you a . . .

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year (a little early, since we're lame and are going to bed) from Corey, Niki, Charlotte, and Peter!  Hope your year was as fun-filled as ours.

Our New Year's resolutions include potty training (Charlie), getting completely rid of the bottle (Petey), and getting a babysitter once in a while so we can get out and have some adult fun (Corey/Niki).  

When cousin love goes bad...

I forgot!  We do have at least one shot of Sonia just about loving poor Peter to death.

Usually she had her arms flung right across his face, which really ticked him off.  Better too much love than too little though, right?

Cousin love

I've mentioned before that my sister, Erin, and I consider our kids to be like half-siblings, since their mothers have identical DNA.  Yeah, it's kind of a stretch, but it amuses us.  When we visited last week for Christmas, the kids were super cuddly with each other (when they weren't stealing toys and screeching about it).  Was it because of their shared DNA?  Yeah, probably not, but we caught some of these lovable antics with the camera anyway.  First, here are the girls . . .

At library craft time:

On Christmas Eve in the toy box:

On Christmas morning on my lap:

In Sonia's new easy chair:

While dancing to Christmas music:

It wasn't just the girls -- Sonia and Peter were always palling around together, too.  Sonia actually loved Peter a little TOO enthusiastically, and she had to be stopped quite often from hugging his head right off his body.  We didn't get any shots of that because we were too busy sprinting over to break up the affection.

There was lots of rolling around together on the couch:

 At Little Monkey Business:

On Uncle Jordan's air mattress:

And in big boxes.  There was a lot of time spent in boxes, of course.

Such cuties!