Tis the Season...

to be cooking, wrapping, planning, stressing, thankful, anxious, joyful, and oh yes, jolly. That about sums up our whole month of December. We had a truly wonderful Christmas, really just plain glorious as I've been calling it. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in our own house, just the 3 of us. It was glorious. Christmas Eve children's service was beautiful and Nate actually paid pretty good attention for 30 out of the 45 minute service. Progress, my friends, progress.

After church on Christmas Eve - watching movies, eating appetizers, and drinking hot cocoa. My head kept getting lower and lower trying to snuggle with Nate as he was slipping away!

The first gift of Christmas - Polar Express style...

Pajamas from Mimi & Paka! On the front they say, "Am I Cute or What?" Besides the fact that we think Nate is the cutest boy ever, he has taken to saying this phrase as well. We were in Target a few weeks ago and he says loud enough for the whole aisle to hear..."Mom, am I cute or what??" I thought one lady was going to fall over laughing.

Christmas cookies and milk for Santa. My mom gave Nate this cool cup to use for Santa's snacks...you pour the milk in the top and then the cookie slips in the compartment underneath. Pretty cool, huh??

Nate looks so grown up to me here...sigh, where does the time go?

Christmas morning tossing the inflatable globe that Santa left in his stocking.

Unwrapping, a skill he has perfected this December.

Success! Max & Ruby, which he has watched 382 times since Friday.

I did not take any pictures at the Corse Christmas in Charleston, shame on me. This is after we got back on Saturday. Relaxing. Love it.

Happy New Year!!

Tip For the Day

Don't ask your 4 year old to empty his trash can where you have secretly thrown away all the "kid junk" from his room that has been making you crazy for months. Kid will no doubt believe you are throwing away treasures and make you feel really bad about it.

Instead, throw kid junk away in a trash can that is not emptied by your kid. Kid is highly unlikely to notice said treasures have disappeared.

4!

Wow - has it really been 4 years?!? We celebrated Nate's birthday on Sunday with some good family time. He has grown so much in this last year and we are excited for what this coming year will bring. Opening presents on birthday morning...

Debbie & Wayne got him a new backpack - I think he likes it!

We use this plate on his birthday. My friend Audra made it when Nate was born and it is so fun to pull it out on his special day.

After breakfast, we headed to Build-A-Bear at the Zoo. We did the same thing last year, but at the Science Center. I look forward to making this a tradition until Nate gets too grown up for it! He chose a Frosty the Snowman and of course named him Frosty...orginal.

Giving Frosty his first bath...

It took a few dozen takes but we got one I think will work.

The cake!!!! With lots of encouragement from my friend Nicole, I was brave enough to try my hand at cake making. The Little Einstein's Rocket turned out perfect! I am very proud of myself, if I do say so. Nate loved it and it was worth every minute!

Blowing out the candles...

Nate's "big" present was a keyboard from us. Needless to say, he loves it. It even has a play iPod docking station where he can record songs and then play them anywhere. They do learn early, don't they. It is kind of loud, but worth it to see him so happy.

I'm sure when he is 8, I will be shocked that it has been another 4 years! Happy Birthday Nate!

More new posts below...

Zoo Lights

This year instead of feeling regretful after the holidays are over that we didn't make it to all the fun activities, I have tried to fit everything in and so far it has been well worth it. Saturday, we went to the Zoo Lights while my parents were in town. It is the first time we have been and I hope to make it a tradition! Nate wore his Santa hat and of course looked adorable on his Birthday Eve.

Warming up with hot cocoa - it was chilly!

Gardenland Express

Nate and I went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens on Friday to see the Gardenland Express exhibit. The plants were gorgeous and Nate enjoyed the trains and finding all the "I Spy" people.

Got to love this face!!

Liver Anniversary

In honor of my mom's 5 year liver anniversary, here are 10 reasons why I am SO thankful for her...

1. She allows me to call her 52 times a day if I need to...and never acts annoyed.

2. She worries about things for me, even though they may not have a direct impact on her. Heck, she worries about stuff that I haven't even started worrying about yet.

3. She is flexible. I clearly did not get her flexibility skills - I got my skills (uh...um...i mean lack thereof) from some other person that shall remain nameless.

4. She still sends me newspaper articles that she thinks I would be interested in - in the mail. Proof that she really is thinking about us all the time.

5. She stays up-to-date on all the new technology which makes communicating so much easier. In fact, she got a Blackberry before I got one!

6. She always responds with, "Abatha, he really is a good kid," when I share the latest in disasterous Nate news.

7. She is a resource on all things - from cars to electricity to which aisle in the grocery store has powdered milk.

8. She loves Scott as if he were her own (and he often gets better treatment than even me!!)

9. She helps out tremendously with Nate and truly enjoys the time she gets to spend with him.

10. She loves her family fiercely and has always been and continues to be the best mother and grandmother that ever lived.

Happy 5th Anniversary to my mom's liver! 5 years ago today, my mom was the recipient of a donated liver and we could not ever say thank you enough to the person (and their family) that chose to be an organ donor on December 17, 2004. As a family, we recant the story of that harrowing December often...in fact, I think it brings comfort to us to discuss all the details of what we called life for a few months. My mom...not so much, she doesn't really like to talk about it, and I don't blame her. It was a long journey for her to get back to her normal self, and for those of you that know our family, you know she basically runs the show and none of us really knew what to do when she is out of commission...lots of funny stories about this time on that front!!

Yesterday, she got a clean bill of health at her annual appointment. In fact, she doesn't even have to go back to her liver doctor for 2 years! Wow...all I can say is that we are extremely thankful. It is always a good lesson to me during this time of year, be grateful for all blessings and do not take tomorrow for granted.

Mom, we love you and your 5 year old liver - here's to many more anniversaries! Cheers!

Captivated

Scott & headed into north St. Louis on Monday to drop off Angel gifts at the Salvation Army. I was glad I picked him up at work to go with me because we ended up getting lost several times - and for those of you that know the area, it is not the safest.

We stumbled upon an area known as Fountainhead Park, which is a park that intersects North Euclid. The words "ghost town" and "eery" come to mind - it was like we had fallen off into a hole a few blocks away from some of the largest homes and gated communities in Central West End.

We were captivated by what might have been the "better days" of this area. Huge homes and ornate buildings overlook the park. Many of the homes are crumbling, dilapidated heaps of what they used to be, but yet the beauty of what "once was" still shines through. "What a shame" came out of our mouths over 20 times in the 5 minute tour through the area and I truly believe it is a shame that such beautiful architecture is boarded up, burnt out, and falling down.

We made our stop at the Salvation Army and headed back towards Central West End which is less than a mile away from Fountainhead Park. The homes, churches, and businesses we saw reflected years of abandonment and we left the area questioning why this had happened to something that seemed to be, or could be, a prize of the city?

After I returned to the home office and Scott back in the lab, we both began to research this area yearning to know more. One building in particular caught our eye and through much digging, we were able to find it and realized we weren't the only ones that were nostalgic for days past at Fountainhead Park. You can read about it here.

I can't help but feel a little helpless that there is not something more I can do for this area, except to write a blog post about it. I also can't help but think that if this area was able to "gentrify" that the Boyles would be the first ones to move in! Great location close to WashU and downtown plus quaint shops and restaurants in CWE (and not to mention the Zoo being even closer than we are now!) Maybe someday Fountainhead Park, maybe someday.

Christmas Celebration #1

We welcomed family from South Carolina and Georgia over the weekend for a two-fold celebration, Christmas and Nate's 4th birthday. Mimi, Paka, Aunt Amanda, Uncle David, Noah & Gavin made the long drive to be with us and we are so thankful! We had a great time and their visit made the weekend extra special.

Christmas celebration #1! Nate & Gavin - he still hasn't lost his love for Gavin...:)

The kid table for Christmas dinner - I think they spent more time standing at the adult table, but I guess that's what holidays are supposed to be about, fighting with your kid to stay in their seat...at least that's one of our traditions!

The adult table! We are so thankful David got to join us - it was his first visit to our house in STL and we were very glad to host him!

The best part for the kids - opening presents!

The second best part - helping Mimi & Paka open presents!

Happy Holidays!!

Another new post below...

Nate's Birthday Party

We hosted Nate's 4th birthday party at Monkey Joe's on Saturday. It was crazy with a capital C, but we had fun and most importantly the birthday boy had fun.

I had to hold him down, but he finally consented to a picture with me.

The birthday boy!

Cousin Noah - he was fearless on the big slide!!

Cousin Gavin got in on the jumping action too...

Some of the spectators - Aunt Amanda, Debbie, and Olga

We were so happy to have Charlie join us - he was a big kid in the middle of lots of little kids!

Peter posed over and over again - he would make a great model!

The Peach Family - Sad that this picture turned out blurry!

Cousin Elena - I had a hard time posting just one picture! She is also a poser!

The cake moment - Nate didn't really like the attention when everyone was singing Happy Birthday...certainly does not get this from me!! At this age I was an attention hog! No comments about present day...

The birthday boy opening presents - thank you to everyone for braving the craziness to celebrate with us!!

Merry Christmas Post-It Style

Nate discovered post-its this weekend. I'm finding post-its in every nook and cranny and it makes me crazy. I dispose of them as soon as I find them - an action that Nate was slow to pick up on. I was telling my mom about his latest discovery on the phone yesterday when Nate overheard the "dispose" part - he said, "MOM, DO NOT THROW MY POST-ITS AWAY! THEY ARE CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS!"

Okay, sweet boy. Whatever.