THE PARK POST

The neighbors showed up to take our picture and no one was cooperating.  Jackson, of course, was no big surprise, but the two oldest girls said they weren't ready and kept the photographer waiting a good 15 min.  I have to try to remember that how you look is very important to a teenager.  We tried several poses and very few turned out, but I thought this one turned out kind of cute. At least everyone looks happy ( My sewing machine even made it into the shot).

Jackson never wants his picture taken, but he asked me to take this one after he finished putting together this ship.  I think he was pretty proud of his work. It was fun just matching the colors with each other. Sydney absolutely loved this lego set she got for Christmas.  I think she likes to organize and build things.  She played with this for almost five hours one day.

 A few days before Mike returned home, we decided to venture to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It helped pass some time and the kids really liked it, especially the touching pools. The crowds were crazy, so next time we go it will not be during the holidays. This room makes you feel like you are under the ocean because the fish and sharks are on all sides of you. I'd never seen this before. Kids touching the shark. Mckell with a sting ray. 4D movie The Coca Cola Museum all lit up at night.

 Christmas 2010 will be one for the books.  Without my husband around it just didn't feel like Christmas at all. We went to Olive Garden Christmas Eve and Santa did show up sometime later that night, but I think he was extra tired trying to do things on his own this year.  He left the basketball hoop still in its box so McKell and I spent 5 hours the next day putting it together. One fun surprise later that night was the 2 hour snow flurry we received. It hasn't snowed on Christmas here for 40+ years, so that was kind of fun. I hope we never have to be apart for the holidays again! 

We had quite a few pizza nights while Mike was gone. I just never could get myself motivated to cook, and I don't think the kids minded a bit.  Never a dull moment. Sydney loves stacking cups.  Jackson loves knocking them over.     McKell with her friend Nolin

Fast forward to the week before Christmas and the camera is working again,( although I can't talk about how much it cost because it just hurts too much.) We decided to go ice skating to make it feel a little more like Christmas time.  Out of everyone, Sydney enjoyed it the most, but by the end we couldn't get Jackson off the ice.  Paige invited her friend Abigail to come with us and apparently it just wasn't as fun as it sounded to them originally.  I went out for a spin or two myself and landed on my tush too many times.  I definitely had a wake up call that I'm not a teenager anymore.  

 The Nutcracker is becoming an annual event around our house.  With my camera dead I was grateful to our friend Leigh for taking some pictures for us.  Paige was snow, marzipan and flower this year.  She enjoys it so much and both grandmas were able to come and see her perform (unfortunately there is no proof they were here).  She danced beautifully, I guess all of those lessons are paying off.  SNOW MARZIPAN FLOWERS

After breakfast we made our way to the National Infantry Museum here in Columbus. With Michael in Iraq we were feeling very patriotic and figured Grandma and Grandpa would enjoy seeing the museum.  We got as far as the rifle range where Jackson was able to shoot a gun when the chaos started.  McKell felt like she was going to throw up, so I told her to sit on the ground, Jackson was feeling upset because hitting the targets wasn't as easy as he had imagined, and in the process of trying to deal with both of them I broke the cardinal rule of photographers--Always put the strap around your neck! It was like slow motion as I watched the camera slam to the ground. The lens popped off and I knew it wasn't good.  It was one of those moments that I really was missing my husband/photographer. Luckily I had two other stable adults with me that helped me through the crisis. The picture of Jackson shooting is the last one I had until the camera was fixed around Christmas time. ...

Our Thanksgiving this year felt a little empty without Michael around, but Grandma and Grandpa came for the week and that helped cheer us up some.  I bought most of our Thanksgiving dinner from Fresh Market so that I wouldn't have to stress over the meal turning out right, and Joyce made our favorite raspberry pretzel jello which turned out perfect (third times a charm.) We also ate out a few times, but one meal at Cracker Barrel will always be memorable for a few reasons: 1. Jackson pouted and cried over a miniature foosball table he spotted at the gift shop and tried to convince us he couldn't live without it. I guess the dramatics worked because Grandma and Grandpa bought it for him for Christmas. 2.. Encountered one of the worst waitresses ever. Grandpa purposely ordered extra slow and asked lots of questions to irritate her further. 3. Had some amazing cinammon french toast! 4. Grandma taught Sydney how to beat Jackson at checkers.