Christmas Eve (well, kind of) at Nana's

Well, this year for the first time ever we did not celebrate Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve itself. Uncle Brian (the State trooper) had to work on Christmas Eve so we celebrated it Sunday night, on the 22nd.

There were lots of activities...

Some of our favorite cousins (Hannah)

and some gift opening

Side note: Check out the dog in the background to your right in the photo. Doesn't it look like a real dog? Nana probably wishes... that's just a pillow.

And then it was time to tickle the ivory and play some Christmas carols. I rocked my Christmas piano recital songs - Angels We Have Heard on High and Rudolph -

and then Isaiah hit the keys and that boy can play.

And since I had my seat warm there on the bench I hung while Dad and Mom did their thing.

And then Nana did her thing! She's been taking piano lessons, too.

And not to be outdone, next came Uncle Brian. Wasn't a Christmas song, mind you, but he still has one song committed to memory from 30 years ago. Well played, Uncle B.

And while we did our thing, Mae did hers with Buddy.

All in all it was another wonderful Christmas Eve (well, kind of) at Nana's.

Sled Bed Head Fred

No idea what that title means except that yesterday we went sledding, bigtime. Went back over to where we used to live in the South Loop to the secret sledding hill that not very many people know about. Pax even took a few runs down the hill (and absolutely loved it).

With the city in the backdrop it was, as Mom put it, "totally one of those I Heart Chicago days."

And as you'll see in this video, it was getting serious.

Rudolph for You-dolph

It's that time of year again - school Christmas programs...

 and decorating the tree.

And then it came time for the angel on the top, and I pretty much completed the trifecta by not only making the angel but getting it to the top of the tree (with a little help from my friends, and by "my friends" I mean my mom).

VIDEO ALERT!!
And last but certainly not least, here's a little Christmas diddy from my house to yours. (Hint: click on the blue text to your left)

Happy Happy Birthday, Andy Bowman

So Dad's friend Andy lives in San Francisco and his girlfriend asked his close friends to send birthday wishes to him via a letter or a message in a bottle or something clever so she could read them to him on his birthday.

So Dad and I came up with this amazing idea to make up a song for him and send it to Erin (his GF) and she could play it for him as our birthday gift.

It took a few days but Mae and Dad and I got a bunch of words together that rhymed with Bowman - snowman, show man, toe man, grow man, etc. - and Dad got out the six string and next thing you know we had a masterpiece.

Then it came time to record it, so we got out the iPad and we were just going to do a first take to see how it sounded, but as you'll see, the first take was so entertaining we decided to keep it, even though Dad's head is partially cut off on screen... yes, it was that good.

Have a new video function here folks. Going to use YouTube links for videos instead, so when you see text highlighted in blue, just click on it and it will take you to the video on a separate page.

VIDEO ALERT
So without further ado, here we go with a birthday wish to the west coast, singing "Happy Happy Birthday, Andy Bowman."

Road Trip to KC

Well, it was off to Kansas City for the Thanksgiving holiday and it started out with a bang... well, it was either a bang or a really long car ride. Yah, that's probably more like it - it started out with a really long car ride... as in a nearly 12-hour car ride.

About 20 minutes out I got car sick in the back seat from reading while we were driving and two hours later, after two trips to the bathroom, a Costco run, a gas fill-up, Paxton's morning nap and a couple really deep breaths by mom and dad, we were on our way. But not for long, we probably stopped 40 minutes later for another bathroom break.

Needless to say, we arrived Tuesday night, settled in with some of Noni's signature spaghetti and felt right at home.

Lots to cover, so I'll keep the narrative short and this one will be all over the place:

First off, the poparrazzi were in full effect following Pax around.

My Aunt Jan was in from Taos. We don't get to see her very often but she made up for that with a game of shuffleboard and a 35-minute massage (she even brought her massage table).

One of the weekend themes was the dogs. Aunt Erica has four dogs and Mae and I cannot get enough of them so we went on plenty of walks and had some good snuggle time with them.

And then I found something new that rocked my world. Aunt Erica has a basketball court in her house (yes, you read that right - IN her house) and every year the grownups play volleyball. Well this year I wanted in on the action, but I needed a lesson first, so Aunt Erica took me into the gym and gave me a lesson...

And next thing you knew... it was go time!!

Meanwhile, Mae was busy playing some tunes and making noodles with Grandpa.

And after she heard about my volleyball adventures she thought she'd take a turn at it.

Not too shabby, Mae. The weather outside was not too frightful so we took a trip to the park and Pax took his first swing ride.

All in all, a great Thanksgiving trip to Kansas City.

And Grandpa capped it off with a piece of pie and 38 pounds of whip cream.

So So Thankful

So I'm a little late on the Thanksgiving post because we were traveling (more on that in the next post) but just wanted to pause a moment and say that I'm really thankful for this little man,

And this old cat, my photo editor,

And so thankful I have a mother and role model such as this beautiful bird. I'd be lost without her.

But if I had one thing to be most thankful for, it would be this little lassie. She never fails to make me realize there is nothing like a good laugh and with her around that good laugh is always just around the next corner. 

We fight like two polar bears after the same fish, but my world would be a much different one without her. My roommate, my band mate, my best friend/arch enemy, my buddy and seriously the love of my life - Mabel Jane.