Earning Your Keep

Hey, he wanted to help!

A little hard work never hurt anyone!

New Year's Day 2009

Dean maxed out on the football after several hours and requested to watch Cars, his new favorite movie, on New Year's Day. Apparently, football on NYD is a marathon, not a sprint. Only a seasoned football veteran can hang that long. So, we compromised with the portable dvd player. Dean watched Cars on the little screen, while the boys watched football on the big screen. Everyone wins!

First Train Ride

The week between Christmas and New Years was a busy one. Dean went on his very first TRAIN RIDE!! We spent the day at Uncle Josh's place, which is a very fun live-work community in Atlanta.

Dean is a big fan of trains. We couldn't get on the train fast enough.

You can't tell in the pictures, but he was gripping Katie's hand with excitement the whole time. He was mesmerized.

Whizzing by...

The Fam. It was a little windy.

The giant tree.
It snows every night during the holidays. This is the South, so it's fake snow, but snow nonetheless!

Christmas Day!

Coming down the stairs on Christmas morning...

Mommy, Daddy, Santa was here!

His own toolbelt and working drill, courtesy of Gigi (Katie's mom). Yes, she bought a two year-old a drill. He LOVES it. Katie is making him a "honey-do" list as you are reading this blog.

His requested gift from Santa: Thomas the Train set! With tracks!

Santa picked the perfect gift!

Phoebe enjoyed it, too.

He's pretty good on the sax. He gets his musical genes from Chad, NOT Katie.

Cool pencils that look like twigs.

Cool giraffe puzzle, that helps you count and learn your ABC's!

His own golf clubs from a real golf pro! Thanks, Uncle Zak!
Ready to hit the links!
Coloring away at his new art desk.
Dean and his adorable cousins

It was a wonderful Christmas. We are so grateful and thankful for all our friends and family! Dean is very excited and can't wait until Christmas rolls around next year. The magic of Christmas is so amazing to share with a child. God Bless!

Guess...

...who has two thumbs
and likes Steak and Shake.

Christmas Eve 2009

We decided to make a Gingerbread House on Christmas Eve. So, after church and dinner, we settled down to our project. At first, Dean thought it was kind of lame, because it mostly involved the grownups trying to keep the house together. Apparently, you are supposed to construct it, then let it sit for a few hours. We decided to "make it work," as Tim Gunn would say.

Dean quickly discovered the joys of all the candy and sugar. At first, he decorated the house, but then he decided to decorate the inside of his belly with all the icing and candy.

The finished house:

Looks just like the picture, huh?
After the gingerbread festivities. Dean was a LITTLE WOUND UP after ALL THAT SUGAR! In retrospect, making a gingerbread house and eating candy before bed on Christmas Eve was not a good idea. After Dean ran around the house like a maniac, we put a snack out for Santa.

(arranging them perfectly)

"Dear Santa, I'm sorry my mom left you some stale 'nilla wafers and carrots covered with white crud. She was a little busy that week. Please come anyway because I've been real good."

Can We Build It?

Yes, we can!