the night before we left, Joshua thought he'd show Holley who has hair and where. It was pretty cute.
Holley goofing off the morning we left....ha ha ha she didn't know the road trip in store for her:
Christmas Eve, they got to open Gramma Gerry's presents to them. Joshua got some matchbox cars,and HAD to show everyone in the room.
"this was Holley's but I opened it, want to play with it with me?"
"This isn't reading? I was sure I was supposed to use my tongue to read it..."
"Yeah....my way was more fun!"
I love this shot because not only does it show Holley deciding that crawling would be a fun thing to learn to do on Christmas, but it also shows where Joshua's buttered bread wound up at.
Christmas morning, the kids opened their presents from Mama and Daddy. Things like a Thomas letter laptop, a ball popper, new diapers, a first baby doll, a sipper in the stocker, a mini potato head in the stocking, new wooden trucks and a curious george doll with some bath soap and squishy sponge thing(loofah) for bathtime all came in from us. We were so grateful that we shopped ahead of time and were able to do this for the kids. They......didn't seem to care who it was from. Naturally.
Mama, I mean Holley opening her sipper stocking stuffer.
Joshua's driven by edible things. Holley's just hooked on the drink. The doll was tossed to the wayside in order to keep our hands on the cup. Mustn't lose the cup!
Showing Daddy the power button....
Showing Holley how to use her ball popper and not-so-secretly having a blast himself:
Holley chose her favorite new diaper. I love all of them, but this was not my absolute fave. She rarely lets go of it if I bring the box of diapers into her view.
Later Christmas morning, Uncle Greg and Aunt PollyAnne, Aunt Carol and Uncle Dean all came over to Gramma's house and we had a huge breakfast of homemade waffles and berries, and egg casserole, bacon and sausages, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember because it's late. It was yummy. Joshua actually ate. Big deal since he hardly ate a thing the rest of his vacation. The kids also got presents from their aunts and uncles, and the dogs seemed rather enamored of a few of them, as well. I was too busy eating to take many pictures at that time, but here is one of Joshua apparently telling Dean that he will be in charge of opening all of his sister's gifts.
From Penn State, we drove to Stuebenville, OH, to spend a few days with Shaun's mom. The kids got some neat presents, like the Spud Buds potato head kit, and a little hand puppet that looks like a hippopotamus plus lots of cute outfits were there to be opened. Not to mention a million, I mean a few, cats that Joshua thoroughly enjoyed chasing down to torment, I mean pet.
Crystal showing Joshua the nutcracker mouse. Joshua looking at her like she lost her mind. Of course, as soon as she set it down, it was his and we never heard it stop the rest of the trip.
Joshua cleaning up his pee. :)
Aunt Karen reading to the little silly-head:
If the boy won't cooperate, grab the baby cuz she can't get away yet. This is my personal philosophy and as evidenced, held true overall.
From Crystal's home in Stuebenville, we headed south to a place called Shadyside. It's on the Ohio side of the river, across from Wheeling, WV, and I think Shaun's dad's family are the only folks that live there. We were surprised to have a Christmas to-do ready for us when we arrived, including a nice handful of people from that branch of family. Since it was after Christmas when we arrived, we did not anticipate dinner or get-together!
Shaun's Pop, who I don't think was allowed to put down the etch-a-sketch after Joshua discovered that he could make a tractor picture on demand.
Joshua playing "If I hide in Perry's blankets and pillows, maybe they won't find me and put me back in that ol' carseat...." Otherwise known as "When granddad gets out of the potty, you scare him before you get on the road."
Feeling the need to report his every action to Vicki:
From Shadyside, we traveled into Columbus, where the kids went to church, and Joshua got to see his old teachers from there. He was sad to leave Miss Kathy, Miss Sue, Miss "Missa"(melissa) and "Pad-dor Dad" (pastor dave). I heard about them for a few days after that. We also spent the afternoon that day with some friends, whose boys have grown insanely huge and smart and not little like I remember and that makes me sad. Also my friend picked up Joshua a train track for his trains and such and got Holley some really cute outfits. Joshua is having a blast with his trains. I didn't get any pictures of this day. Mostly because I was tired.
That night, we headed up to Oberlin area. The kids got their Christmas presents from there, and by that point, Joshua was beginning to think if it has paper on it, it must be for him and it must be for tearing to shreds. Holley was just starting to get ticked off that there was even more paper she wasn't allowed to eat.
Finally getting the hang of things:
That's my boy. He actually asked me where was the stuff inside the thomas bookbag. Sigh. Be happy with what you got and fill it with love, boy! He's now putting cars and trains in, by the way.
Joshua got the tools he wanted!
Holley got some paper wrapped around some stuff and that was exciting to her. The stuff she didn't so much look at.
There were more trips for visiting and many more people seen than were mentioned here. And to prove it, Holley got the wardrobe for the next 2 sizes that she was in need of(ok, desperately in need of), and Joshua got several clothing items. This picture is JUST the toys that came from EVERYONE. We had to unpack everything in order to repack it and we laid it all out. This is just so much generosity from our family members that I think I want to cry when I think of it.
Here are the toys they recieved. We counted over 50.
Holley was one pound shy of hitting her weight limit so we took our Christmas gifts and bought her new carseat. Merry Christmas Mommy. ha ha ha. (It's ok, I also got an electric skillet, so there. lol).
New Years Ever, I forgot to buy any decent boomers, so Joshua got some poppers and he did some sparklers with his daddy. He LOVED it. Naturally, since my little pyro likes fire in general. Although, he did try to eat it, also. I didn't try for a great shot, because I was really really cold.
Then we went home. Home. Where our own beds are! where our favorite jammies are. Where I have to be the mom and watch my kids again. Crap.
This is how much stretching room I had in the van after we packed everything the kids got into it.
Yeah.
After we got home, the kids were so happy to be around their own things again! Joshua took his new toys and introduced them to his old toys this morning, and Holley learned to pull up to stand using her granddad's filing cabinet so she practiced that at home on the gate. Escape is imminent, escape is imminent!!!!
She also found a new place to poop while I cleaned and unpacked today. This happened more than once.
Everytime I tried to take a picture of Joshua's room and his trains he was like a superstar caught in the midst of a scandal among the paparrazi. Ran at me yelling "No picture no picture no picture!" I am sure we will have an entire blog coming up regarding how my sanity has gone up and down the tracks and I'm pretty sure Duncan or Thomas the engines have it locked up in their boilers.
That's our photo-vaca. Stories to come.
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