The Holidays...

So I realized I haven't posted anything from the holidays yet and it is now almost halfway through January. So here is the quick rundown…

THANKSGIVING

(Seeing turkeys at the fair in November. They don't realize what they're in for.)

We were privileged to host a nice Thanksgiving dinner at our house. My sister Karen and niece Beth drove up from Lake City to join us. The food was wonderful and the company even better.

Family

Beth, Me, Karen (definitely family).

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went downtown to enjoy the Annual Jacksonville Light Parade and fireworks on the river. First was the parade of lights on the river.

Santa

Donovan's favorite - Mater from Cars

The dragons were my favorite.

Then came the fireworks set off simultaneously from 3 barges on the river and two bridges. The most spectacular was the firework waterfall they created down from the bridges.

We had one of these on each side of us. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was beautiful!


The first week of December, we made one last trip to Orlando for the year and celebrate the magical season in the Magic Kingdom.

It was a cold rainy day, but we had tons of fun anyway.

Donovan loved driving on the speedway, although I was tossed around a bit.

A special person makes visits to Disney...

Donovan is positive he met the real Santa.

Santa sharing a candy cane with Donovan.

Do I spy a 8th dwarf?

We were sure glad we had raincoats and umbrellas. It was a nice day at Disney.


The next day we went to Sea World.

Still cold, but not nearly as much rain.


First we met this Shamu.

Then we met this Shamu up close an personal.

We enjoyed the Dine With Shamu lunch and backstage at the whale show.

We rode on the Polar Express and then watched Sesame Street Live.

When we got home, we had the first of the Christmas parties.

Donovan decorating his cookie,

and then carefully eating the cookie.

The rest of December was filled with parties and fun.

Donovan was such a big helper with wrapping presents.

Helping Dad write the tag.

Soon came the best day of December..

CHRISTMAS!!

Santa brought Donovan a bike. I think he was a little stunned and not quite awake yet. (He went to sleep at 11:00pm the night before and was awake at 6:30am.)

The loot.

Wow, I got a new train set and tools!

Christmas dinner.

(Donovan really didn't want his picture taken, the lack of sleep was catching up with him.)

Trying his new bike out a few days later.

Donovan singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, as he did and still does about everyday.

(Dan didn't know I was filming.)

The week after Christmas we we lucky again to get a wonderful visit from my dear friend Amber and her boyfriend Andrew. We had such a great time the few days they were here.

Donovan thought they came just to see him.

It was great spending time with friends and family this holiday season. We had a good 2009 and 2010 looks great so far.

Look Mom, a Wish

As we were leaving the grocery store, Donovan said, "Look Mom, a wish."

This was what he was looking at. I asked him if he knew that was coming from a jet and he said, "Yes, and it's a wish." Oh to see the world again through the eyes of a 3 year old.

Conversations I never thought I would have with my 3 year old.

This picture was taken on Thanksgiving.

He was wearing his cousin Beth's boots and being quite the show-off.

Recently I have had several conversations with Donovan that I never expected to have as a mother. So I share some of the best with you...

The scene:

Donovan was changing into his pajamas and ran to use the toilet before getting dressed. While washing his hands, he looked in the mirror.

Donovan, "I am all shiny and white. My lips are (pause to look) red. Mom, what color are you?"

Me, "What do you think?"

Donovan looked me over thoroughly and said, "You are red, maybe pink."

(A side note, when I took Donovan to the doctor's office recently, I was asked, "Is he always this pale?")

The scene:

Me trying to take a short nap on the couch.

Donovan, "You aren't allowed to take a nap. It's not Thanksgiving!"

Me, "Actually, I can take a nap during the day any time I am tired, even if it is only Wednesday and so can you and Dad. (mumbled) Of course, that is if you will let me."

The great part about this was that Donovan climbed on top of me and fell asleep. It was amazing!

(Dan's personal favorite of late) The scene:

Donovan had just emerged from the bath and was sitting on his towel.

Donovan, "Mom, what is this?"

Me, "What is what?"

D, "What is this down there?"

M, "Down where?"

D, "Down there, below my penis."

M (after a small pause to collect my thoughts), "Those are your testis."

D, "What are testis?"

M, "Testis are the small balls in the sack of skin."

D, "What are they for?"

M, "They make you a boy."

And this was the end of the conversation. He was actually satisfied with my answer and no further discussion was necessary.

Now onto the new running joke in the family.

The Scene:

Reading books on the couch before bedtime. Donovan had chosen a book called Music is Everywhere. This book says things like, "Music is everywhere. I hear music in the Ocean" and "I hear music in the trees", etc.

I was beginning the first page and read, "Music is everywhere. I hear music in the rain." At that very moment I had a small release of gas. (Okay, I have a 3 year old, I'll admit it. I farted.) Only fitting to the book I said, "I hear music from my bottom."

Donovan thought this was the funniest thing he had ever heard. He was laughing hysterically and kept repeating, "I hear mu (laughing) sic (laughing harder) from my (and even harder) bottom." Of course all three of us were laughing quite hard at this point.

Eventually we were able to finish the book and get the boy to bed, but while he was hugging me goodnight, he was still repeating, "I hear music (laughing) from my (laughing) bottom." Then he produced a burp and said, "I hear music in my throat!" accompanied by even more laughter.

When I thought he could handle no more, Donovan farted and barely managed to say, "I hear music from my bottom" amongst all the laughter.

Ever since that night, Donovan will randomly bring up, "I hear music from my bottom" and start spontaneously laughing. I wonder how long this will be around our house.

HALLOWEEN (and the week preceeding it).

Halloween was last Saturday and we had a blast, but the entire week before was incredibly busy and fun filled. So I am sharing a Week of Halloween..

A week before Halloween, Donovan wanted to get dressed up, but I wasn't quite ready to get out the actual Halloween costumes, so we came up with the train engineer.

Here he is at his percussion class all dressed up.

With his friend Meghan.

That night we went to the Jacksonville Zoo's Spooktacular.


The train engineer got to go trick or treating a whole week before Halloween. He was in heaven.

Donovan and his dad are looking in the pirate cove for something...

Ah, they found the gator.

The zoo was quite fun, especially for the little kids. Donovan got to see the giraffes, the gators, and he loved seeing the bats. They were really cool.


That Monday, Dan and I got an opportunity to see President Obama speak at the air station. (I know it doesn't have anything to do with Halloween, but it helped make the week even more busy.)

Here we are with some of Dan's co-workers.

Air Force 1

Yes, that really is President Obama. We decided to sit instead of stand, but that meant we were quite far away. We could still hear everything and see his speak, but my camera doesn't zoom very good.

Here is proof he really was here.

Later that week, we carved pumpkins. We had a good time, but Donovan really was not impressed with the goo inside the pumpkins. After barely touching it once, he wouldn't put his bare hand back inside any of them. He helped with the scraper a tiny bit, but every time he touched anything slimy, he retreated out of the pumpkin. Dan thought this was too funny and decided to torture our child. He told Donovan, "Stick out your hand." Donovan grudgingly obeyed. Dan proceeded to take a large gob of the pumpkin guts and place them on Donovan's hand. I wish my hands weren't slimy and I could have taken a picture. His face was hilarious! It was absolutely terror stricken. After a bit of cleaning his hands, Donovan did help decorate his Mrs. Pumpkin Head.

While carving, I did come across a really good way to grow new pumpkins...

Let the pumpkin mold and the seeds start sprouting.

Needless to say, that pumpkin did not get carved. It was really gross.

On the Friday before Halloween, I was truly brave. I hosted a Cookie Party for Donovan and his friends - ages 3-4.

Meghan and her cookies.

Abby and her cookies.

Sara could have cared less about the cookies and went straight for the frosting.

Donovan used about half of the sugar sprinkles on one cookie and of course made the biggest mess.

The group (left to right):

Bonnie and Abby, Dave (Sara's dad), Donovan, Mary and Meghan, Jennifer and Abby, and Sara.

The kids had such a good time and the house really wasn't that big of mess. I might actually consider doing this again.



Finally, it was HALLOWEEN!!!

Our pumpkins barely made it, but we got them lit.

They were all moldy and bug invested; got to love the humidity.

Donovan went as Dash Incredible.

And of course, we have Mr. and Mrs. Incredible along with Dash.

(For those who know this is a repeat of last year, well tough. No one around here had seen them and they really were good costumes. Plus Donovan's still fit him.)

Donovan loved trick or treating around our neighborhood. I think he loved handing out candy when we got home just as much. Every time the doorbell would ring, he would scream with glee and run to go give out the candy.

This really was and absolutely marvelous Halloween. I can't wait until next year.