ICE!

The day after Christmas, my parents, sister Kristi, Jon, Jack and I headed over to this cool (freezing actually) ice exhibit in Grapevine, called Ice!. Using ice, these artists carved out sculptures, for visitors to walk by and admire. This year the theme was Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas so there were all these colored-ice sculptures of the Grinch, and the Who's, and scenes from the book. It was hard to believe that it was really ice; it looked so life-like! It was also FREEZING cold in there, and they gave everyone a huge parka to avoid hypothermia. The hard part was taking the pictures. I had to take off my glove to get good shots, which resulted in frozen fingers by the end of our visit.

The entrance Imagine a "Ch" instead of that woman standing there!
Jon, me, Jack, and my dad (or Pappaw)
I love how Jack looks tortured here. The smallest parka they had was made for a 5 year old, judging the size on him. Atleast he was warm.

Furry green creatures are soooo irresistible! The Grinch's sleigh and "reindeer"

I wish this picture would have turned out better! Jack is posing underneath a life-size candy cane with his daddy.

This was AWESOME. It's an ice slide. They let you slide down it, except the line was ridiculously long and it was ridiculously cold so we opted not to wait. Next time.

Aunt Kristi and Jack. I'm super impressed by the colors of the ice here.

So on your way out you got to walk thru a tunnel of ice, which I like to imagine is how eskimos feel when walking into their igloos. It was really pretty.

All the Who's celebrating Christmas together.

At the end of the exhibit, they had a Christmas room, displaying candles and angels. Very pretty.

Me eating some Who-cake.

Ice nativity. After seeing all the colored ice, the white nativity scene was simple and beautiful.

This picture is outside the exhibit. It's a train with white Christmas trees surrounding it. The whole area was decked out in Christmas trees, sparkling lights, and Grinch decor. Fun, fun.

After walking thru the exhibit, which they kept at a frigid -2F, we were ready for some warmer air. But I would definitely go back. I'm excited to find out what next year's theme will be, and hopefully take my turn on the ice slide.

Jack's Loop of Glory

Lately Jack has gotten into the habit of running while putting his hands up in the air, as if he were finishing 1st in a race. It's hilarious and endlessly entertaining. He loves the attention it creates. In the video, we have just gotten back from dinner and Jack started running a few dozen loops around the kitchen while throwing his arms in the air and laughing. Then a couple of weeks later, he did the same thing when my grandparents, aunt, and sister were over. He was so ecstatic that everyone was watching him, laughing, and moving our arms with him. What can I say? He has us well-trained. In fact, in the middle of his loop, in the living room, he stopped and looked at each of us individually to make sure we were throwing our arms in the air too. Once satisfied that we were all participating, he would continue running his loop.

He loves this new game so much that yesterday, while home alone, he pulled me into the living room, pushed me onto the couch, and made me watch as he ran more loops of glory.

Magic Cards

There's a scene in the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic where as a little girl, the main character watches some older girls use a credit card to buy shoes. A wide-grin spreads across the little girl's face as she remarks how it's a "magic card!" People can buy anything they want with one swipe of this magical card. A whole new world opens up to this little girl.

Well, I think my son has already been exposed to this world. Yesterday while at the dry cleaners, I sat him on the counter while waiting for my order. Jack opened my wallet, grabbed my credit card and handed it to the lady. She laughed, commented on how smart he was, and then swiped it! She didn't even ask me if that's what I wanted to use. She then gave it back to Jack who knowingly put it back in my wallet. He was so proud of himself. His first time to use the magic card! He was such a lucky boy that today he got to use the magic card again at Walmart. You can totally tell that he feels as if he "is in the loop". I love that he is so observant and clever! Except, now I'm going to have to be much more careful with my magic.

A White Christmas

For the first time in Dallas' recorded history, we experienced a white Christmas! It was a magical feeling to watch the snow fall on Christmas Eve. Luckily, we didn't travel and could just enjoy the white weather. Here we are enjoying the snow outside my parents' house on Christmas morning.

Jack loved the snow and threw some impressive snowballs

Hmmm, what is this cold, white stuff melting on my mitten?
Jack with my parents (Mimi and Pappaw)Jack with Aunt Kristi. She was very helpful in packing the snowballs.And, before I forget to mention, we did open presents too! Jack opening his "big" gift: a pop-up tent with attaching tunnels. He loves it, and I love that it folds up afterwards!Overall, it was a lovely Christmas and we enjoyed spending time as a family. I hope that it's not our last white Christmas here, but if so, then we have plenty of pictures and footage to last. It's not everyday a Texan gets to have a snowball fight!

2 days left...

Merry Christmas Eve (Eve)! I am getting really excited for Christmas this year. I can't wait for Jack to open his presents. Hopefully this year he can get past the excitement and allure of the bright ribbons and bows, and instead appreciate the actual gifts! During his naptimes the past few weeks, I have spent my time wrapping gifts and getting things ready for the big day. Of course, all the pretty gifts are stuffed in my hall closet, safely out of the reach of curious Jack. He finally learned to leave the tree alone, at least until Mommy leaves the room that is. He has been a real angel lately about things that he knows he is not allowed to play with. For example, last night he picked up the remote control. He then walked over to me and freely of his own will, gave it to me while sweetly smiling. WHAT? Did he really just give up the remote without a fight?! Wow, talk about evolving. So I figured I could trust him, right? Fast forward to this morning, and I have the diaper wipes out ready to change Jack. He decides to go off to play in his room, so I decide to go use the bathroom real quick. Big mistake. By time I get back, Jack has returned from his room and emptied the entire contents of the diaper wipe box all over the floor. And he pulled each one of the wipes out individually! Now, they're all stuffed back into the box, not connected, so you have to reach into the box over and over and over again for each wipe! So now, I'm a little more cautious of Jack's "evolving"- is he really more angelic, or just even sneakier? Do ya'll have any sneaky kid stories to share?

It's the little things

Jack is doing so many precious things lately; I feel crazy trying to remember them all! Here's one example of his cuteness. Earlier this week I put Jack down for a nap...1 hour later and he's still awake, playing in his crib. He usually falls asleep pretty quickly, so I went in to check on him. Turned out he needed a diaper change- so I changed him and put him back in his crib (anticipating screaming and crying b/c he HATES if you take him out of his crib, and then immediately put him back in the crib). So to placate him, I tucked a blanket around him and he gave me the sweetest smile as if to say, "thank-you Mommy." Ahhhhh. 10 minutes later I check back in, and here's what I find: He was fast asleep in the comfort of his blanket. Ever since he was a newborn baby, he has always buried his head in blankets and cushions to sleep. I don't know how he breathes, but he just loves to snuggle. And that is just one of his many adorable qualities.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's our Thanksgiving recap:

Remember how I previously posted on how wonderful nursery is? Well, it turns out there's a down side. It's called catching a cold, and getting an ear infection. Poor Jack was sick over Thanksgiving, and because our family in Midland was sick too, we decided to stay home and not risk Jack getting worse. So we spent Thanksgiving day at home alone, eating zero turkey or dressing!! Luckily, we had a nice turkey dinner the next day at my parents' house. My sister Kristi was in town, so we got to spend some quality time together. Here we are at a creek feeding the ducks. Jack was so adorable the way he threw the bread. He threw it so hard at the ducks, and then he didn't understand why they waddled away from him when he tried to walk up to them.

Aunt Kristi and Jack sharing a moment

Here's some footage of Jack's throwing skills:

Saturday night we ice skated! I've always loved ice skating, especially around Christmas time. We went to the Galleria mall in Dallas, and they had the biggest Christmas tree I've ever seen. It spanned 5 levels, and was beautifully lit.

me and Jon

me and Kristi

We had a good time, and I can't wait for Christmas! This is my favorite time of year. Happy Holidays everyone!