Santa was ahead of schedule...

Christmas came early to the Snow household this year! Since we will be travelling over the holidays, we wanted to celebrate at home. The great thing about having young children, is that they don't know or care about dates, so the fact that it was Dec. 16th and not the 25th wasn't an issue for them! All they knew was that Santa was coming- and he did! They were spoiled by Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles and Santa of course! These children don't need another toy for the next 5 years! Seriously, for fear of raising spoiled children, I have told everyone that next year they can only give one toy and the rest goes into their college funds! But the kids did have a GRAND time opening everything and they haven't come out of the playroom for hours! Now we're off to go and pick up Mommy's Christmas gift... some R&R on the beach and a tan!

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring... not even my spouse! (He was on a business trip and arrived home at 1AM! I built tables, wrapped gifts, hauled packages from their hiding places, stuffed stockings... I was a busy little elf!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Grant's trip to the barber

It's hard to believe that our little Grant actually needed a haircut! He has been so slow to grow hair during his first year and a half, so we've always just been grateful for what was there!(I even fed him jello frequently b/c someone told me the gelatin in it is good for hair and nail growth!) But the mullet was growing a little long in the back, and the baby curls were giving way to wispy batwings... so off the the barber shop we went! The lollipop was key! Grant one year ago- not a hair on his head!
One year later...what a big boy with a big boy haircut!

Proud Little Dukies

This past weekend was Aunt Nancy's gradution from the Duke School of Nursing! It was quite the family affair- Mom, Fely, Whitney and Baby Andrew, Dad, Scott, Me and the boys! We enjoyed touring the Duke campus, a visit to the bookstore for Duke attire, a stay at the lovely Washington Duke Inn (Nate LOVES hotels), dinner at Magnolia Grill, and celebrating "Nurse Nancy" of course! We are so proud of her! It's nice to have a nurse in the family! And the boys are now official 'dukies'. Nate has not taken off his basketball uniform since we returned home! He has even been sleeping in it. I had to bribe him out of it to go to preschool Tuesday morning! As soon as we got back home he changed right back into it!

After Aunt Nancy's graduation! We're so proud of you Nanc!

The celebration dinner at Magnolia Grill!

Handsome boys in their Christmas colors at the Washington Duke Inn.

The outfit Nate has been wearing since Saturday! Go Blue Devils!

December Visitors

We were so lucky last week to have a visit from Grandma BG and Lola Fely! They arrived a few days before Aunt Nancy's nursing school graduation at Duke University and spent some time with us! Christmas cookie decorating at the Childrens Museum
The Hess Trucks are here! A Grandma BG tradition!
Baby Andrew came for a visit too!
Spider Men! Here are the cousins in their matching spider jammies!

Ginger

Today, my dear childhood pet Ginger passed away. I was in 5th grade when my parents said we could get a dog. My fathers criteria were very specific, she had to be a pure-bred, miniature, apricot poodle. Every Sunday, for weeks, I looked in the Washington Post pets section in search of the perfect dog. Finally, one Sunday, there she was.... an apricot poodle, pure-bred, for sale by a breeder. We all piled in the car and went to pick her up. There was an adorable little grey poodle for sale as well, and if we had all had our way we would have left with 2! But my Mom insisted... just one. (Smart woman... she knew she would end up doing most of the work when we grew tired of the 'new dog'!). But Ginger was such a fantastic dog... she was gentle (even with grandkids tugging at her ears and chasing her around), she was devoted, and she had the energy of a puppy when we would let her off her leash at the beach. When I explained to Nate tonight that she had died, he said 'when she gets better, then can we see her again?' and 'we can just take her to the animal doctor and give her some medicine'. I finally explained that it was like her body ran out of batteries, like his toys sometimes do. He looked at me and said 'Mommy- Ginger didn't have batteries, she was just Ginger'. We'll miss her.

Nate the enforcer

Sometimes I wish I had video surveilance around my home so I could rewind the happenings of the day and watch some of the more comical moments again and again. This weekend, I was making dinner while the boys were playing in the family room and I heard a little scuffle between them. Nate yelled out, 'Mom, Grant is hitting'. I said something to the effect of 'be soft to your brother Grant' and went back to my cooking. A few seconds later I see Nate bringing Grant by the hand to the bottom of the stairs. Nate is standing with his hands on his hips, and says to Grant- 'Sit right there Grant- you are in TIME OUT because there is no hitting. You need to stay there and mommy will set the timer and tell you when you can get down.' Well of course, Grant didn't stay and started scampering right up the stairs so Nate started getting more upset! 'GRANT! You come back here! You are in Time Out! Right now! 1-2-3!'. I was dying laughing watching him chase Grant around the house trying to get him to comply. Frustrated, Nate finally came to me in the kitchen and at my suggestion he eventually compromised and decided to just give Grant a 'warning'. Justice was served! :)