Christmas with the Dows

Since Shanny & David were going to North Carolina to see Dorothy at Christmas and we were going to Missouri, we did our dinner and gift exchange on the 16th. 

(I love doing an entire week of Christmas!)

Clothes for Benjamin...

Kaden always happy to see new books.

The new truck "with movable parts" was a huge hit with Kaden.

Kaden getting excited about Papa's Spray & Grow tomato fertilizer.



Christmas 2010 Has Begun

Ben & I are like giddy little kids when packages from (Ben's) Aunt Mary arrive; we NEVER

wait until Christmas Day or our actual birthdays to tear open a package from her (sorry, but it's true). 

With her it’s always like getting to open TWO gifts: first you break into the heavy cardboard box to find an array of beautifully wrapped gifts with nice paper & sleek coordinating bows.

So when Ben pulled in to find two large boxes sitting our front porch this evening, we waited an entire 20 minutes before diving right in…

pile of Aunt Mary presents



Daddy got some nice clothes for school

Kaden got some 18+ month big boy clothes AND a little teddy bear pull toy, which was a hit!

Mama got a heavy grill pan (something I’ve wanted for a LONG time, but felt too guilty buying for myself), a round tart pan and a few other fun kitchen gadgets.

We rounded out the evening by making some chocolaty treats (chocolate covered peanuts, buckeyes & fudge) for Ben to take to school & give away.  He even helped!  Gasp!

Ben stirring the fudge, telling me NOT to take his picture.

 

Thank goodness a big chunk of this is leaving in the morning because this is just way too much temptation (for ME) to to handle for too long...

… and Christmas is still over a week away.

I am starting to get really excited about taking another road trip back to Missouri 

& spending over a week with my family & friends!

Amarillo By Morning

Even though it is dry & brown most of the year, the sunrises here are MAGNIFICENT!

Two Messes

I LOVE it when Kaden & Danni get together to play.

Instead of solely relying on me for entertainment, he has someone else to watch/interact with,

which actually frees me up to do other things.  They were playing really well together in the den, near the Christmas tree so I started sweeping the kitchen.  Suddenly I realized that the house seemed a little TOO quiet.  I made my way through the house, only to find...

and NO, this photo was not staged

Miss Danni Shea (22 months)

Kaden Benjamin (15 months) & his renowned upside-down reading.

Luckily I was able to snap off a few photos before Danni scooted off her rocker and told me “go” & “no picture” before giving me the cold staredown and closing the door.  Ouch.

Enjoy it now (Kaden) as this will be the ONLY time in your life that girls will be allowed in your bedroom...  even if you are just reading in side-by-side rockers.



MY Ultimate Lasagna

When Ben & I moved in together I was a decent cook, but nothing close to Shanny Dow,

my mother-in-law. SHE is truly the gold standard for all things domestic

—especially cooking & cleanliness. (Good thing I love her…)

On nights when I had made a particularly good meal and was feeling brave, I would inquire

(to Ben) as to whether it came close to his mom’s. Much more often than not, he would simply shake his head side to side. (I, after all, asked for it.) This brutally honest side of Ben is a trait I’ve learned to appreciate over the years; he doesn’t throw compliments around. Therefore when he says he likes something, he REALLY likes it!

Tonight I made yet another attempt, as I do every few months, at Ben's favorite meal- lasagna.

I was feeling extra good about this one (partially due to the good red wine—see below) so I plated a hefty piece and just stood back to watch.

He took a big steaming bite, closed his eyes, smiled enthusiastically and mumbled, “Baby!...”

I didn't even have to ask this time. 

FINALLY!  After years of endless Food Network watching, experimenting & recipe trying, and 10+ years of mediocre attempts... a KEEPER!

I can’t give exact measurements since I don’t cook that way and typically eyeball/taste things along the way; here are a few hints:

• extra tomato sauce

• lots of sausage

• hunks of pepperoni—a layer on its own

• tiny pinch on cinnamon

• BIG pinch of flour (all 5 fingers)

• splash of cream

• good red wine—also for drinking while assembling

• a BRICK of mozzarella—more than the recipe calls for & grate it yourself because it always tastes better

* Inspired from Guy Fieri’s “Blazy’s Pepperoni-Studded Lasagna” & Tyler Florence’s “Ultimate Lasagna” from http://www.foodnetwork.com/.

To be enjoyed on a day where fat & calories do NOT matter because I don’t even want to know…

Kaden afterwards



15 Months Old!

An update on you & your personality over the past few months:

• You weigh exactly 21lbs. and are 31” long.

• You are a man of few words (dada, mama, dog, uh-oh, and NO), but seem to understand a LOT. You mainly do a lot of pointing & gesturing.

• You love all things electronic: the remote, our cell phones, my iPod, the receiver, the printer...  

with the laptop being #1.

sneaking onto daddy's laptop as soon as he left the room

• I am amazed at how quickly you (and all small children) figure things out!

For example, you enjoy the game “Peekaboo Wild” on daddy’s iPad. I only had to show you how to make the animals appear from the grass a couple times and you had it mastered… Now when daddy comes home and sets his computer bag down, you know that the iPad is in there and want to play.

• You’ve become a much pickier eater! Grrrr… You’ve forced us to hide the bread at lunch/dinner time. Once you see bread or know it’s there, that’s all you want to eat and will point furiously at it & refuse to try anything else. Bread has become the new dessert. (I totally get this… I could literally eat a loaf of fresh bread and real butter!)

     o You used to love bananas, but now refuse them while eyeballing the counter for something better or pointing to the freezer, where I keep waffles.

     o One night we (you) skipped dinner altogether due to chocolate cake sitting on the counter. You refused to eat anything else—just kept pointing up to the counter until the fit got so bad we decided that you just needed to go to bed.

Pirate's Veggie Booty is your favorite snack lately. 

I have to hide this in the grocery cart because you don't understand why we can't just eat it at the store!

• You have 7 teeth:  4 on top and 3 on the bottom.  It’s funny to watch you eat because you push everything to the front of your mouth to chew.  When you have an especially BIG mouthful, you hold one hand to your lips to keep it from falling out.

• When you get really tired, you tightly wrap your arms around my neck and grasp your hands together. You sometimes start stroking my hair, which is nice… BUT since my hair is so long, your little fingers get stuck towards the bottom, which causes you to yank.

Another reason my hair is usually in a ponytail/bun.

• You are a LOVER! And you LOVE your mommy!

You love to be held & cuddled, and you like to give hugs.

Busted!  Upon meeting Miss Shay, you immediately got close and put your arm around her.

• You still LOVE the bath! If I mention it, you run to the bathtub and even try to crawl in
with your clothes on.

• You have become slightly obsessed with the potty—specifically, flushing it. I’ve had a couple minor heart-attacks upon realizing you were in the bathroom with my phone or daddy’s wristwatch.

Luckily we haven't had any serious losses, so we need to remind ourselves to keep the bathroom door CLOSED.

• You play well when I drop you off at the nursery at the gym & always seem to gravitate

to the Lego® table.

new jacket from grandpa Cook



• I'm willing to bet that you are the only boy in Amarillo with a whole closet full of Mizzou apparel.

• Green Eggs & Ham is your favorite book lately. (I’m starting to recite this one by memory.)

15-months old

Thankful

I often have trouble remembering to be grateful and give thanks each
day while not worrying about everything else I "could/should be doing" with my time.

I have to constantly remind myself that having a dust-free house, leaning new music for class, being more informed on my current events, etc... are not THE most important things in life... 

I need to fully enjoy this short time I have at home with Kaden.

After browsing through the posts we've made this year, I know that we ARE blessed and

truly have so much to be thankful for.

* Pictures taken (on a cold & windy day) in Dalhart, TX by Jessica Claborn

of JesClaborn Photography

Thanksgiving Break

This year all of the (David) Dows, including Dorothy, got together for a small
Thanksgiving in Amarillo. For some reason we neglected to take many pictures, but here are a couple with Kaden's favorite aunt.

showing Dorothy how to play "Peekaboo Wild" on the iPad.

playing on grandma Shanny's piano

Highlights from this vacation:

• Turkey (I need not attempt a THE turkey anytime soon after tasting this year’s masterpiece! Hurrah!)

• Texas A&M beating the Texas Longhorns (24-17) in the annual Thanksgiving game

• (me) visiting with Jessica for an entire day & enjoying a leisurely lunch (sans children)

• Waking up to a warm & cozy freshly painted bedroom... and FINALLY getting a bed frame/headboard

quiet time in Kaden's room



Little Man WALKS!

Finally. 14 ½ months.  

Kaden has been creeping along the furniture for over 6 months, always very cautious and hesitant to let go- even just to try balancing. 

This weekend we had lots of company including Ben's aunt Mary & Doug. As we all visited, they watched him take a few steps at a time.  The next day my cousin, Andy, spent the night with us on his drive from San Francisco to St. Louis.  As we were talking Kaden suddenly just started walking across the room.  BAM!

And we're not just talking a few steps... We're talking the length of the room
(I KNEW he had it in him) with Andy as our witness!

Thundersnow

I've seldom ever grateful to be wide awake at 5:45 a.m. on a "sleep in" day.

Had I NOT dragged myself out of bed to let Schatzi out, I would have completely missed the sights/sounds of "thundersnow".  (Exactly as it sounds: thunder + lightning + snow = thundersnow)

These amateur photos bring NO justice to how cool this really was!

There was no going back to bed after this awesomeness.  I decided to enjoy the peace & quiet with a fresh pot (yes, POT!) of coffee & pumpkin-spice bread before Kaden woke up.

Intrigued, but not sure what to think...

As usual, the snow was short-lived.  Ben spent the better part of Saturday afternoon picking up & sawing up branches that had fallen all over our/the neighbor's yard.

Walking outside to THIS made me slightly nervous... 

BUT I knew it would have been futile to hold the ladder.

Why not take pictures instead?

Mizzou-Tech Game

In addition to having season tickets to Mizzou football, dad usually buys a set of tickets to a game at a different BIG-12 stadium every year.   For the past 4 years, he has mentioned driving down to watch Missoui play in Texas Tech's stadium... That day finally arrived. 

Kyle & dad made the 800+ mile trip (one way) with Ben & I down to Lubbock last night.

 Jessica with her daughter Shay (6 months). 

Since Shannon went to Texas Tech and Jessica went to Mizzou with me, they also bought tickets to the game.  Their daughters wore a mix of black/gold/red, but McKenna confessed she was rooting for the TIGERS! 

Nothing would have been more satisfying (to me) than beating Tech, but in typical Missouri fashion the tigers fell apart in the 2^nd ½ (a scenerio I've watched too many times) to give Tech a homecoming win.    Damn.

Kyle & Dad Breeze Through Amarillo

Kyle & Dad made a SHORT-sweet trip to our house before the Missouri-Texas Tech football game.  Although (today) I'm (very) sad that they couldn't stay longer, I am glad that we are already in November and the holidays are right around the corner...

Reading "The Hallo-Weiner" on the couch before breakfast. 

Not sure who enjoyed it more.

Enjoying the sunshine while drawing on the back patio.

SO advanced!

Happy Birthday & Merry Christmas... to me

I think I may have used up my birthday AND Christmas… and a few others all at once.

I got NEW windows! Notice the use of the pronoun “I” instead of “we”.

Ben still isn’t sure why I felt the need to replace our "perfectly fine" windows.

Who really cares that they were the inefficient originals from 1955, allowing the freezing winter air & scorching summer heat to pass through? So what if they were impossible to clean? (Literally—we’re talking 55 years of dirt stuck between these panes!)  The fact that you might have had to set things down in order to use two hands and all of your body weight just to open/close some of them?  And who really noticed the long crack in the top window of Kaden’s room anyway?

A little before/after shot from the living room.

I'm happy with "our" decision to go ahead and finally replace them. 

Happy Halloween

Halloween was nice this year!  The weather was perfect- not the raining/sleeting/wear-your-heavy-winter-coat-over-your-costume weather I remember from my childhood- more like 70° and sunny. 

So nice, I may have actually gotten a slight tan planting my fall bulbs this afternoon. 

Around dinner time, we headed over to grandma & papa Dow's house, where there's always plenty of the trick-or-treating action every year.  We visited two of the neighbor houses, but didn't venture much further... not until Kaden has a better grasp of what's going on.

I was able to get a bit more mileage out of my costume.  Ben chose NOT to dress up.  Shocker.

Lucky for him, I found the ole' "greaser" wig at his parents' house that I forced upon him.  Tee-hee.

It didn't dawn on us what Ben should have been until a little trick-or-treater pointed to Kaden and exclaimed, "Hey, it's Curious George!" Then it hit me, Ben should have been the Man in the Yellow Hat carrying Kaden around. Next time? Next monkey costume opportunity? Next kid?

Someday we'll really get it together...

Ben & his dad mostly watched the Rangers in game 4 of the World Series while Shanny & I passed out candy.  Kaden did his thing and ate his animal crackers.

The Craighead & Dow families

I absolutely loved Jay's "Woody" costume from Toy Story. 

(He even had the giant pull-string that Deana fashioned & attached to his back.)

Zumba Zombie Bash

... a little pre-Halloween fun @ the Amarillo Townclub.

On Saturday morning I helped two of my fellow instructors promote our Zumba classes. 

This time the ATC hooked us up with a stage and a sound system, which made it 100x more fun!

Everyone shakin' it on the Cornell basketball court.

Torry (the ghetto superstar) did a fantastic job making all of our decorations and getting us organized.  I'm learning to appreciate all of my friends who are forever more
prepared/structured than I...

Eat   •   Sleep  •   Zumba