George Carlin Show

As a Christmas present this year, I got Steven tickets to see George Carlin. George Carlin is a funny tell it how it is comedian. This was a great gift idea because when all the fun of Christmas is over we still had special plans together for a night out. Steven has read all the Carlin books over the years, so he was so excited about the show. What I couldn't believe is how close we sat to the stage. We had a great time, the only downfall of the night was... it happened to be on the same night of the Monster Truck Show and we got lost in a very bad section of town.

Well we made it out alive and had a great time.

Odyssey of the Mind

Nick has worked very hard throughout the school year in Odyssey. This is a group of children who meet weekly to create a script to a given problem. The students are responsible for all parts of the project in order to compete against other students. The students are even responsible for making their costume. So Nick had to sew this dinosaur outfit. Let me tell you I was standing very close as he was sewing just in case we needed to go to the hospital. He made me very nervous with his hands so close to the needle going super fast. I know the needle shouldn't be moving that fast for a beginner but Nick has a lead foot when it came to the foot pedal.

A New Look!

Look what a few pillows can do. The bed just didn't look right something was missing. So this weekend I went out and bought some fabric and made pillowcases. Now his bed has a little boy sofa look. The large orange pillows in the back match the surf stripe on the wall. The three little pillows were done in cream color cases so I can bleach way the drool. My favorite pillow of them all is the one in front we took it down to have it embroidered. It has a palm tree on it and the words Surfs Up in the same orange. Even his cute Build a Bear, Nate has his Hawaiian shirt for the surf party.

Big Boy Bed

Ashe's New Bed

It really is his old bed with the side taken off and converted into what is suppose to be a toddler bed until we make it into a regular full size bed. We think it looks a little strange but before we know it he will be moving into the next stage of this bed. I know it seems a little early, it did to us as well. At school he sleep on a mat. Every night we had been rocking Ashe and fighting him to get him asleep. I mentioned at school one day how hard it was for us and they made the comment that he was the easiest one to put to sleep. So for a few nights we took the mattress out placed it on the carpet and had him try to fall asleep without us holding him. Each night the process was easy and he was much happier. We didn't want bedtime to be a struggle and we didn't want him crying himself to sleep, so we decided to try him in a big boy bed. We hope we made the right decision. We have a gate up in the hallway so he can't get into the other parts of the house, he can only be in his room or our room.

We are keeping our fingers crossed on this next stage.

http://www.babysdream.com/Products/Kathryn/Default.htm

I think I may sew some surf theme pillows to create the look on the website showing his bed.

Climbing

Nothing is safe around Ashe, especially when it come to his own safety. Ashe has now figured out that he can climb and that he is very good at it. Tonight while Nick was trying to practice his spelling words from his planner, Ashe wanted to see. Nick didn't want Ashe to rip his planner so he tried to keep him away from it. Ashe was determine to get a closer look, so he did... he went right up on the coffee table.

Don't worry no babies were harmed in the taking of this picture.

We snapped fast and quickly got him down, but now he has found a new a fun place to sit. This must have been the way Evel Knievel started out.

Talk, Talk, Talk

Ashe loves to babble to himself on the telephone. I have no idea which parent he could have possible inherited his gift of gab from???

Ashe Update:

Ashe has so many words these days. He says Mom Mom, Da Da, Pup Pup (puppy), Uh-Oh, Juice, No (he shakes his head in a silly way when he says it) What's that?, Football (he puts both hands up over his head when our team scores a touchdown).

He is also fond of blowing his own nose. What he really likes to do is take the tissue out, put it to his nose, and make blowing sounds with his mouth. He is getting really good at following directions you can ask him to put something in the trash, and close the door. One of Ashe's favorite thing to do is dance. Anytime he hears music he gets his little head bobbing back and forth.

Ashe is changing so much. We are enjoying all the fun changes.

The Polar Express

During our winter break we went to Sea World. I really wanted to see what the Polar Express Experience was all about. We had a lot of fun they took the Wild Arctic ride and change all the signs, the video (a movie clip) for the simulation ride, and added some beautiful decorations with even a real Santa you could have your picture taken with. Fortunately you were still able to experience the polar animals within the exhibit.

Future Drummer

Ashe loves music of all types. Over break we have been working in Nick's room getting rid of things and clothes that he no longer wears or uses. So when we were working on the closet Ashe found Nick drums practice pad and sticks. Nick is working on possibly getting good enough to talk Daddy into a drum set. That's all we need a very loud instrument shaking the pictures on the wall. Daddy's all for musical instruments as long as Nick is really serious about the drums. I'm all about the quiet. One of us is bound to lose?

Little Scientist

One of the things that Nick got in his stocking, at Christmas, is a soda and Mentos geyser. So he just had to make this mess, and what a mess it was. The main reason we had to do this is because the Myth Busters did it and he hadn't stopped talking about the experiment when he saw it done on TV. Kids really shouldn't do anything they see on TV.

Go Cowboys!

Our Cowboys will be in the playoffs this year... Go Cowboys.

We are hoping this year will be a Superbowl for our team.

Merry Christmas Love the Herod's

Nick on Christmas

Nick tried to teach me how to play the DS Lite, but I am just not good at video games.

Nick had a lot of fun on Christmas. He's older and loves the electronics. This year he got Guitar Hero (Which Steven loves more then Nick), the DS Lite and a few games to go with it. He got movies, and clothes, and other toys like skateboard things, Webkinz, and Dallas Cowboys items. Nick is getting harder and harder to shop for since he has the things he really likes already. When we went to Grandma and Grandpa Herod's house we unwrapped many more gifts and spent the evening having a special dinner there and ending the night with a game.

Ashe on Christmas

Ashe had a fun Christmas. He got a lot of big things like a work bench, his cozy coupe car, and his easel chalkboard, and his new uploshered chair that we hae no idea where we will store them. Then all the little things like his shape sorter picnic basket and all the Little People. He was so tired of unwrapping. When he woke up Christmas morning all he wanted to do was ride around in his newcar. He didn't even want to get out to unwrap gifts. Then when we started helping him, he then wanted everything out of the packages. Christmas could have lasted days if we did it Ashe's way. Later in the day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Herod's house, where Ashe opened even more gifts. More big things to find space for...

Christmas Eve

Here the boys are in their new Christmas Eve Pj's. Nick can hardly wait until the morning when he can open presents. The funny part is Ashe doesn't really understand what tomorrow is all about, but it was him who couldn't sleep. I tried everything to get Ashe to sleep. It wasn't that he was crying, he just wanted to lay in bed and talk. I brought him to my bed and had to tell him a few times to stop the talking.

Holiday Pressure

If you get the holiday pressure, remember to relax and breathe.

We all feel that way sometimes...

Doing Good This Holiday?

If you are looking to wrap up your gifts with something that can do good for others, then look no further. This holiday wrap up those holiday gift in Product Red Wrapping Paper from Hallmark. I can't wait for this under my tree.

http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article1000110051/HallmarkSite/HallmarkRED/HallmarkRED_TOP

Lion Country Safari

This weekend Nick went to south Florida with Grandma and Grandpa Herod to Lion Country Safari for his birthday. As you can see he had a good time feeding different animals and seeing them up close.

Nick is now 9...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Nick when he was little. I can't believe how quickly he has grown. He is now 9 years old.

Today Nick brought cupcakes to his school friends and Grandma Herod came and had lunch with Nick at school.

Birthday Weekend

This weekend we spent time going through our 1 year old family traditions. We started out with Ashe's first haircut. Then we headed over to have his one year old pictures done at Portrait Innovations. We ended the day with a family dinner, presents, and of course with a little boy covered in frosting from his first birthday cake.

First Hair Cut

Before

On Ashe's Birthday weekend we had a lot of fun. We started out with a big boy haircut. We went to a kids haircut place to try and make the experience more enjoyable. I was disappointed that he didn't get to sit in a fun car hairdresser chair, but he was still very good. Ashe's hair was getting a little long but we always wait until the boys turn 1 to have their hair cut. It was so sad to collect his baby hair in a little hair envelope. I didn't get much through because as you can tell it was more like a trim.

After

Ashe was wondering who that cute boy was in the mirror.