The Christmas socks

I think a lot of kids will find something they like and stick with it. At one point Avery needed to wear a hat. Always. Everywhere. I have a picture of her taking naps in her hat. Whether it is a certain blanket (known as a Bubba in our house), or bandaids, or simply pants with pockets my kids have things they sort of get stuck on. Right now, Asher has a pair of lime green socks he won't take off. They are quite ugly. They are also far too small... size 12 to 24 months, but that doesn't bother him a bit. I think he saw them in his drawer before Christmas and insisted we put them on. He was wearing red pants, so naturally I made the connection between red and green and called them his Christmas socks. The other day he peed his pants and his Christmas socks got wet too. I had to round up a whole load of clothes to wash so he could have them the next day. Asher and his favorite socks- which he calls his Christmas Socks:

A day with my kids

Jamie left town yesterday morning to go to North Carolina to pick up a trailer. I decided to take the kids to the mall. It was so cold here that going outside was out of the question and it's been so cold all week they've been cooped up forever. So, getting out sounded good to all of us. The first thing we did was play in the play area. At first they were the only kids there so they had the run of the place, which was nice. Soon more and more kids started showing up so it was time to leave. That, and Asher decided to take off running sock-footed toward the little island with the candy machines. Then we went and got Asher's hair cut. He's had one professional cut but it was so long ago he doesn't remember. I usually buzz it, but I wanted to keep some of his length on top because it's winter. It ended up looking pretty cute. He was such a good boy sitting there, and Avery waited patiently. Then it was Avery's turn. She went to get her nails done. Of course she picked out blue, and thought it was cool when the lady next to her started talking to her just like she was a big girl. Notice the crown, which Avery has made me start putting in her hair in the mornings. After that, I gave each kid a quarter to put in the candy machines (they both got these disgusting little dog-boned shaped sugar candies) and then to Sbarro's for a piece of pizza. Then, our usual ride on the carousel just before leaving (we have to do it last thing... it's my most valuable bargaining tool). Of course, we sent these to daddy who sent us a voice message telling us how much he misses all of us. After getting home, Asher took a little nap on the couch while I sewed and Avery watched Peter Pan. We had tacos downstairs and watched Toy Story, then all went to bed with a nice, fun day under our belts.

My sweet girl

Last night I was having a rough time. I had a good day with the kids, but just missed Jamie and felt overwhelmed at the week ahead. I've also been a little depressed feeling, probably due to the really cold weather and not getting to get out and work out like I'd like. Anyway... The kids were both watching television and I went into Asher's room to have a bit of a cry. Both of them walked up to the door and asked me if I was okay. I could just see their little silouhettes in the doorway... so sweet. I told them I was okay and that I just missed daddy. Asher says "hey that's my daddy's name" like we were missing two different people named daddy (who he was crying for last night). Avery went and got this little pink bear and gave it to me, and told me I could keep it forever and ever. Then she told me that one time at daycare a lot of kids were being mean to her and her friend Kenley gave her a little airplane to keep, and that it made her feel better. So, she gave me her bear to make me feel better. I was so proud of her and her sweet heart. Sure enough, I felt better after that.