Christmas Wishes DO Come True

Bailey has been really getting into the spirit of Christmas this year and has held up her end of the deal by being a good girl (as usual). When she went to visit the fat man in the red suit, she was very clear in what she wanted for Christmas... She wanted a Barbie RV camper and cowboy boots. A few days before Christmas, she also stated that she wanted snow, too.

From the pictures below, you can see that she got all three of her wishes.



If she didn't believe that Santa Claus was real before, I'm pretty sure she does now.

Bailey meets the fat man in the red suit!

After turkey day ramblings...

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Now we are left with the age old question of "how much longer are we going to eat turkey???" Not much longer since I didn't take too much home in a doggy bag when we left my parents house on Friday. I did leave with some cookies baked by Bailey and Me-Me, which promptly got eaten up once at home.

Waiting patiently for Me-Me to get started on mixing the cookie dough.

Mmmmm......everything taste better with sprinkles!

On the many trips to Monroe, La., James always has layovers in Dallas, Tx. so he picked up a small gift for Bailey on his last trip in November for being such a good girl while away. For Christmas Santa will be bringing her matching cowboy boots.

After baking and playing with her new hat, it was time for a nap. It was hard getting to sleep but eventually she crashed while the turkey was baking.

One holiday down and the next one is coming up. I'm not ready one bit since it means going shopping and hearing all the Christmas music playing in the stores. I pretty much hate Christmas music, especially when it's a classic song being butchered by some pop artist.

This year I'm thankful for Netflix. I know, I know that seems a bit shallow but it's true. Yes, I'm thankful for my family and that everyone seems to be doing fine health wise but I can't denied it anymore, I'm thankful for signing up for Netflix this year. Netflix is freakin' awesome. They have pretty much anything you can think of and the best part is all of the children shows that we can watch instantly on our PS3 that's hooked up to the big TV in the living. No more buying DVDs at $10 each or trying to remember what channel is Noggin for a child that is wanting Max & Ruby when Max & Ruby may not even be on. Now with that said, I shall be remembering part of my childhood after this blog entry with the DVD we got in the mail today, Season 1 of The Muppet Show. Check out the YouTube video of the Muppets doing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcEpdxsWZLA.

A haiku for the seasons

Sycamore must die

Very slow and fiery death

Cupcakes are yummy

Trick or Treat and my husband's amazing ability to get a free dinner!

Trick or treat, just give me CANDY!!! Well Bailey wasn't that bad but she did have quite the haul at my office's Halloween party for the employees and families this year. This year she decided to be a fairy princess but she didn't want a crown, she wanted a hat. So off to the store in search of supplies for making a princess hat, it turned out good although it wouldn't stay on her head very well.
Friday morning I was greeted by James and Bailey singing "Happy Birthday" to me. Bailey was managing to sing every other word to me while James did his impersonation of Marylin Monroe's singing happy birthday to JFK. As I tried not to laugh so hard that I would wet the bed, I thanked both of them and told James to keep his day job. After work we were both tired so my birthday dinner was scheduled for Saturday at Red Robin. He's a picky eater so he usually has items removed or added so by the time the waitress has taken his order, they are usually on the next piece of paper for my order. Even though the waitress has written every little change down it usually comes out wrong. Food gets sent back, comes back right with the manager saying "so sorry, we've taken this meal off your ticket". James never makes a scene, never gets angry or loud, never goes out expecting them to do anything but bring him what he order but for some reason, every time it happens he gets a free meal. The one time I go out to eat with my co-workers and I get my glass of ice tea dumped in my lap by the waitress, I still ended up paying for my meal. Saturday was to be no different, I knew the minute the burger went back because there was cheese & mayo on it, it wouldn't be on the ticket. Most of us would be just eaten the burger but James's point is valid, he order it without cheese & mayo for a reason and at the prices you have to pay now a days, might as well get what you asked for. We are probably the only family of 3 that can go out to eat and walk away under $20 for the night.

Bailey's Jack-O-Lantern

There is much debate at my house over how I say the word "pumpkin", apparently I say it wrong according to the man who's home state puts "Yee Haw" or "Y'all" before everything. When I see the orange gourd I say pumpkin (PUN-KIN) now, I know that I'm not the only one doing this since I hear it quite often around this part of the state but that hasn't stop James from pointing it out to me for the last 7 years that I'm saying it wrong. Just like holidays, daylight savings time and bank hours, I can always count on James this time of the year start up the debate on how I pronounce the vegetable in question and once again all this is coming from the man who doesn't even eat the vegetable in the first place. Over the weekend Bailey got to decorate her pumpkin with her Aunt Theresa who also happens to say it the same way as I do, which he quickly pointed it out to her that she too was also saying it wrong.

Homecoming weekend down at the farm

Beautiful weekend weather for the annual Homecoming festival in Fredonia, Ks., Bailey and I couldn't have asked for more. Well having James back home would have been nice but Bailey and I had a good time anyway. Bailey was pretty excited about the parade and collecting the candy. Well, it's all about the candy when your 3 and this year she got plenty for me to bring back home. The carnival came in second place and this year she wasn't disappointed. The carnival seem to have more rides for younger kids which is good cause there is one thing about Bailey and that is she's not timid.

Uncle Doug & Bailey on the Ferris Wheel

Bailey was also excited about her brand new Barbie fishing pole she received from her grandparents. Here is her big catch of the day with a little help from her Aunt Theresa.

The Barbie fishing pole seemed to be the only fishing pole with the most amount of luck that day. Theresa caught the biggest fish using Bailey's fishing pole and continued to use it the next day when all of us went fishing again.

But after a few minutes of standing and having to stare at a bobber, Bailey seemed to loose some interest in fishing and spent most of her time playing in Papa's gator.

After a full day of candy collecting, carnival rides, fishing and showing off to all of my relatives...she crashed at bedtime.

Employee Family Picnic

James has been working at his work headquarters office building in Monroe, La. lately and he would be down there for the annual employee & families picnic. We got an invitation to go so Bailey and I drove down there and met up with James last weekend. This was my first visit to the state of Louisiana and first thing that James pointed out to me was this:

Click on the images to enlarge them.

That's right, it's a Drive-Up Daiquiri store and they are everywhere down there. Had a rough day at the office, just stop by on your way home to pick up a strawberry daiquiri and super size it please! Leave it to a bunch of Cajuns to figure out a loop hole to the whole "Open Container" law. My next impression of this state was that I really wished I still wore contacts. Between the humidity and it being monsoon season down there, wearing glasses was near to impossible. I thought my biggest problem would have been my hair fizzing up but with the constant downpours the rain pretty much took care of any fizz problem and gave me the look of taking a shower with my clothes on, sexy right? Lucky for the picnic the rain and humidity held off on Saturday which made it enjoyable for all.


Food, music, live demonstrations, train rides, games and even pony rides. Bailey had a blast at the picnic, I guess it worth the drive down there to see her and her daddy have fun together. The company headquarters sits in the middle of a pecan orchard that backs up to a bayou of all things.

As far as the drive goes, it wasn't bad and I really didn't mind it except for the rain (see monsoon reference above). Although Bailey had managed to throw all her activities for the entire trip on the floor of the car within the first 30 minutes of us getting on the road, she did real well for a toddler being strapped down in a car seat for a 10 hour drive. Between the Barbie laptop toy and the portable DVD player she was a happy traveler. One thing about the drive that did creep me out was the trees. Just like the drive-up daiquiri stores, pine trees are everywhere and they breed like rabbits in the swamp. It's not like I've never seen pine trees before or tall trees but they were very tall and in straight rows just enough space to see through. They frame the road so that you are driving down tunnels of trees, pouring rain, flooding everywhere....I really did expect to see swamp girl standing somewhere.


Now these pictures of course were taken on the way back while James was driving. He was a good sport about the whole creepy tree thing, I think the humidity must have gotten to him.

Newest member to our family

Introducing MoJo-JoJo Fatboy. Hey Doug, we found you another riding buddy! At least he doesn't require as much luggage as my sister does.

My three monkeys at Ihop for breakfast last Sunday. The big monkey said something about how the Chiefs sucked on Sunday once he heard what the score was from Sunday's game. Bad monkey James!

Et tu Kenmore?

It wouldn't be a holiday weekend in my family if someone didn't have a project for the rest of the family to help out with. This year I'm happy to announce it was the Laurie tribe that needed some extra hands for the Labor day holiday weekend.

When James and I bought the house three years ago we inherited a brush pile in the back yard. After 3 years the pile has grown and expanded to other parts of the back yard along with some old carpet that had been torn out of the house. We decided to expand our holiday weekend by taking some time off to do a major purging of the home and yard. With a dumpster coming to us that morning of the 3rd, James and I had high hopes to start bright and early with work until we heard something strange coming from the basement. As we crept downstairs we saw water everywhere coming directly out of the water heater. Five minutes later we managed to shut the water off to the entire house and start sucking the water up with the shop vac. After shopping around and a few phone calls later my dad found a water heater in Harrisonville for the best price.

Out with the broken and in with the one that allows me to turn the water back on to the house. While James and my father got the new heater in my mother and I worked on filling up the dumpster before it started raining.

Once the new water heater was up and running again, I set forth to finish up the laundry. The clothes that I put in earlier were still wet so I ran the dryer once more. An hour later.....still wet clothes. I turned on the dryer for a few minutes only, open the door and realized that the dryer should be getting hot, it wasn't. Ugh....and you too Mr. Kenmore???

Business trip

A few weeks ago James went on a business trip to Monroe, La. for work. A week in Monroe, La. and all the sightseeing he did was pretty much from the hotel to the office. Here are the lovely photos of his hotel room he managed to take while there.





As part of an incentive for Bailey to work on her potty skills while James was away he brought back some new toys for her. She's into Thomas & Friends and Bob the Builder right now and watches them daily on the Netflix account.

Bailey with Thomas, Gordon, Percy and Rosie trains.

James will have a few more trips before the end of the year and if Bailey keeps up with her potty skills, she'll have the whole island of Sodor before too long.

Get your dollar city vacation!

Recent vacation trip to Branson Mo. with the whole family. Got home late so not much writing will happen on this blog.

Light show at night at the Branson Landing.

Learning how to blow the duck whistle for the boat ride.

Kissing ducks.

Ready to blow the duck whistle at other tourists.

Captain Doug Wilks.

Passing another boat on Taneycomo Lake.

Go-karts, where family members earn bragging rights.

Happy Birthday to James and Theresa!