Happy Balentime's Day!

Just when I thought all the holidays were over, along comes Valentine's Day, or Balentime's Day as I call it. First we had Halloween...can I get a "Whoot Whoot" for tons of candy? Next was my birthday party. Yay, CAKE! Then, my actual birthday...Helllooooo Chuck E. Cheese. Thanksgiving was next...too many good things to list. Christmas...WOW! Presents, brunch at GrNanny and DaDa's, supper at Fuji. YUM! More cake and Fuji for Mommy's birthday in January, and I thought that was it until Easter. Imagine my surprise when along came Balentime's Day! We started off the weekend with, you guessed it, more snow! Daddy and I built a snowman and used hershey's kisses for his eyes and buttons. Of course, we used a carrot for his nose and a pappy for his mouth. That was my idea. Cute, huh? Mom and GrNanny are taking a cake decorating class. Daddy and I are struggling through all of Mommy's practice cakes. This is the one she made this weekend. I didn't eat any...too much Balentime's Chocolate. A guy's got to keep his priorities in order, but Daddy said it was Yummy!! Two years ago, on my first Balentime's Day, Mommy took some really cute pictures of me. Here's one of them... and another... Then, last year, we all had a stomach bug and did not want to remember that. So, we didn't take any pictures but, when Mommy was working on my scrapbook and there were no pictures, she was sad. Sooooo, she made it a point to take some Balentime's pictures this year. Whatcha think? Hope your Balentime's was great too! XOXO, Jax

I Never Thought I'd Say That....

This is Carie, hijacking Jax's blog to share some things with you. Of course, being Mom to Jax is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. However, there are times that are trying and frustrating. Often those times arise because I am distracted or because i am driving and he is strapped in the car seat out of reach or because I have not fully learned to think like a two year old boy. My mother says little boys are different than little girls in every way...how they think, what they will try, when and where they learn to do things...they are just very different creatures. Now, all of that said, here is a list of things that I have actually said, out loud, sometimes more than once, to my precious BOY. There are no pictures to accompany this post....just conjure up your favorite image of my boy and then let your imagination run wild...I promise you can't make it worse than it actually was!

Jax, please don't lick the bottom of your boots!

Why is there a football in my kitchen sink?

Please stop sweetie. It's not nice to lick the wall in the beauty shop.

Do Not pick things up off the sidewalk and put them in your mouth!

Just because that candle smells good doesn't mean you should have bitten it.

No, No, No!! We do not EAT ladybugs!

I know you like to play in the water, but the toilet bowl is NOT for playing!!

The brush Mommy uses to clean the toilet is NOT an appropriate hairbrush.

Get OUT of the dryer!

Do not lick the inside of the dishwasher.

We do not drink out of cans once they are in the garbage.

Walking in a puddle makes your shoe wet, not clean...DO NOT lick your shoes!

No, you may not have that candy that's laying in the parking lot.

Don't put your mouth on the buggy.

Please stop opening the groceries until we have paid for them.

Stop eating that Rice Krispies box.

Daddy's hammer is not like your toy hammer. You may not play with Daddy's hammer.

Grosssssss! Put that plunger back in the garage and go wash your hands RIGHT NOW!!!

I'm sure there are more that I'm not thinking of right now, but for now, that's all there is. Even amidst all of the frustrating and gross things that occur, Jax is really a good little guy. I am so blessed and humbled to be the Mom to such a smart, funny, loving, tender and curious little guy. I just hope we both survive 'til he reaches adulthood!

Last Friday, our forecasters were just predicting rain and a few flurries during the night, with possible accumulation in the mountains, but 1-2 inches of rain in the valleys. We were supposed to get warm air from the south that was going to keep us from getting snow and ice. Nashville and Knoxville were going to get 6-12 inches, but as usual, we were only getting rain. I slept until about 11:30 Friday morning(don't be jealous...I pitched a fit until almost 2:30 in the morning fighting bedtime!). Mommy was dressed and got me ready to go too. We headed out to pay the phone bill and go to GrNanny's house and it was already snowing a little. Mommy was going to drop me off for a while so she could go to the grocery and get some things done at home. As we headed to Ringgold Telephone, it began REALLY snowing! I kept saying, "can't see Mommy" because everything was white and blustery. By the time we got to GrNanny's house, her yard was white, and it was still snowing! Mom headed off to get groceries, but had already decided to surrender her time to get things done at home by herself so that she could get me back home safe and sound! As soon as she got back to GrNanny's, Dada was rolling in with some chicken form Zaxby's. He put ours in a bag and sent us home because the roads were beginning to get "dicey". Daddy was home by the time we got there and we ate our chicken and got dressed to go outside. WaHOOOOO!!!!! Waiting and watching the snow come down while Mommy and Daddy get their snow duds on and cameras out! Outside at last!! It was really coming down!

Lots of our neighbors were parking their cars and walking up the hill to get home. I kept waving and saying "Hey Y'all!" Just like Mommy did to the very first neighbors we saw!

Daddy showed me how to have a snowball fight. I couldn't throw for laughing my head off every time I got hit with one!

It was so much fun!!!

Incoming!!!

Daddy and me playing in the snow!!

Daddy scooping up snow with a cookie sheet so we can build a snowman.

Snowman building was cancelled due to a car sliding down our hill and crashing in our yard.

I kept saying, "Lady CRASH! Broke my Tree!!" Mommy and Daddy were just grateful that the landscaping was all that was damaged!

Daddy showed me how to make snow angels!

I tried it by myself, but ended up making a snow mess more than a snow angel.

Then it was time to try to sled. Now keep in mind we don't get tons of snow here, not even enough that our Walmarts get sleds in stock! So, Mommy came up with the idea of a laundry basket...slick on the bottom, sides I could hold onto....it was a great idea!

Ready, Set, GO!

Here he comes!!!

Whhheeeeeee!!!!!!

Whoaaaa!!!!

Daddy's Turn!He was a really good sport, but laundry basket sledding isn't his cup of tea!

Mommy got my beach toys out for me to use in the snow! Having never been to the beach, that was fine with me! I didn't know the difference!

I used my bucket to carry snow from one place to another.

Then I dumped it on our pile! It was supposed to be a snowman, but as I already mentioned, we didn't get to finish. We ended up with a snow blob.

Daddy made a couple of big snowballs for me to throw at him. I mostly missed him, but he better watch out for me next year! I bet my mittens will fit and I will actually be able to use my hands to throw!!

Me and Daddy taking a break on the front porch. Look how rosie my cheeks are!!

Mommy finally got me to go inside for a while by taking me to see the back porch. I was gorgeous, and covered with a blanket of snow that was about 6 inches deep. Mommy said I needed to take a nap, so I flopped down right on that beautiful blanket and told Mommy, "night, night"! Of course, she didn't let me nap out there, but once she got me inside and warmed up...ooooohhhh what a wonderful long nap I had. We ended up with about three inches of beautiful snow, enough to play in, but we were able to get out and about on Saturday. Maybe we'll get some more before spring arrives. I sure hope so because Daddy needs to work on his sledding skills some more! It was a fun day, and a very pleasant surprise! Hope y'all had a good weekend too!