Holiday Happenings

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch at the Martin house this year... despite a broken fridge a day before the feast!  Thanks to some good friends and their coolers (and lots of bags of ice), we were able to save Thanksgiving!

We woke up just in time for the start of the Macy's parade.  TJ loved the Buzz Lightyear balloon and the Sesame Street float. Then, Ga & Pa showed up with what could possibly be TJ's favorite toy ever -- a big trash truck with lights and sounds.  He played with it for two hours straight before pausing for dinner.  It's the first thing he asks for when he wakes up now.

Aunt G and Pat joined us for dinner, too, and it was nice, relaxing holiday.  Frankie & Mom fixed up a wonderful dinner that, of course, TJ gobbled up.  He finished two plate-fulls of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes and four helpings of cranberry sauce!  He loves Thanksgiving!

Frankie braved Black Friday's midnight madness and went to Best Buy to score us a great deal on a fridge.  I guess we can look on the bright side about the timing of this breakdown. :)  Problem is, we have to wait a few more days before the fridge shows up.  So... we're still roughing it.

We've made the O'Brien Park lighting our family tradition, so we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant and met the gang for the lighting.  After that, TJ met up with Santa before going on a horse and carriage ride.  He loved it!  On the way home, he yelled, "Yee Haw!"

TJ's vocabulary continues to blow everyone away.  His teachers can't believe how well you can carry on a conversation with him.  He's learning to share better, and he's becoming more helpful cleaning up at school.  He loves to help Mommy sweep the floor and Daddy rake the leaves.

'Nastics is still is favorite thing to do.  He's now able to do handstands against the wall all by himself.  He still needs help with his forward rolls, but he loves to do log rolls down the mats.  He loves going on the ladder, too.  And much to Mommy's surprise, he did it all by himself the first time he tried it.  He's such a big boy!

Mommy's taken some time off now that November Sweeps is over.  We'll spending Sunday watching Tebow (TJ's favorite player... he loves to yell, "Yay Tebow!  Yay Tebow!" much to Mommy's dismay), getting our Christmas tree and decorating the house for the holidays.  We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Little Gnome-o

TJ definitely got the hang of Halloween his second time around. :) Since Mommy had to work on Monday, I took him to Chapparal High School's Sweet Street on Saturday. Our neighbor, Morgan, is a senior there, and she helped decorate the halls with the Wizard of Oz theme so the kiddos could get candy.

TJ loved looking at his Gnome costume, even though he called it Santa! As much as he loves hats, he refused to wear his Gnome hat and beard. After a little fit on the stairs, we left the house with the hat and beard in the bag. Of course, when we get to the school and TJ sees Morgan, he puts it on... long enough to get this one shot!

He LOVED Sweet Street. At first, he wasn't quite sure, but after seeing a few pieces of candy go into his bucket, he was off and running. He made out with a bucketful of candy, and he couldn't wait to get his hands on it!

On Monday, after getting a bag of toys and treats and a box of cupcakes from Pa & Ga... TJ went trick-or-treating with Daddy & Ga. This time, there was no fight to put on the topper of TJ's costume. He turned it into a Bob the Builder costume by trading in his Gnome hat for his hard hat. He would walk down the street and when someone asked if he was Bob the Builder, he would say, "Yes we can!" Daddy & Ga said TJ had a wonderful time, but I think they had more fun watching him!

Fun Times

We can't believe TJ is 21 months old.  Seriously, where has the time gone?  TJ continues to be a chatterbox! nbsp; He is stringing 5-word sentences and talking up a storm.  We can actually have "conversations" with him, and his teachers at school are blown away by his vocabulary.

TJ is loving his "nastics", too.  He did a somersault all my himself on Tuesday, and he loves to "bing bing" on the trampoline.  He has so much fun... you can't help but giggle the entire class.

Last weekend we were able to enjoy some quality family time.  It started with a visit to the pumpkin patch Friday morning.  He had a great time picking his pumpkins, going on a hay ride and best of all... playing in the "sandbox" of corn.  He still talks about it today.

Then... it was off to Buena Vista for a prime rib dinner with Ga, Pa, Uncle Carl and Aunt Jane.  TJ's favorite part?  The chocolate mousse pie and throwing rocks in the creek with Pa, Daddy and Uncle Carl. 

Saturday, TJ & Mommy volunteered for Coats for Colorado.  It's Mommy's favorite station event... collecting tens of thousands of coats for people who can't afford to buy one this winter.  This year, Broncos Safety Brian Dawkins came to the Park Meadows collection event.  TJ gave Dawkins the Mile High Salute!  Then, the two bumped knuckles!  It was so cute!  Dawkins is Uncle Justin's favorite player, so we had him "color" a football with his signature.  TJ wanted him to "color" something of his, so he walked right up to Dawkins, handed him TJ's favorite hard hat and had him sign it.  He even asked, "Please!"  So cute!

On Sunday, Mommy celebrated her birthday with some nice and quiet family time.  We went to Lodo's for the Saints game and lunch, then it was back home for more football.  It was the perfect way to spend a birthday.

This weekend, Daddy is headed to the Big Easy and Mommy and TJ are going to Ga & Pa's house.  TJ has been talking about it all week... so has Daddy. :)