To Grandma's Houses' we Go!!!!!!!!!!
(pant pant pant panting exhaustedly and rumpledly looking)
It started like this. There were two wee boys living their happy little lives, helping Mommy unload the dishwasher
eating spaghetti
lovin' Jesus
greeting Mommy when she came home from work
and just generally vegging.
And the like.When one day, wonder of wonders, it was CWIS'MAS!!!!
Here is Gabe with our Cwismas Twee. Note the uneven distribution of Christmas ornaments, involving such factors such as chubby grabby hands and one Christmas ball squeezed into tiny little splinters. Yikes.Christmas at the Miller's
Daddy and Gabe read the Christmas story as Gabe barely restrains his gift-opening impulses, and Israel lurches around happily looking for Christmas paper to scratch on.
The gift opening frenzy begins. All those opposed to Christmas materialism will sadly and sagely nod their heads when I report that Gabriel's slightly panicked mantra throughout the Christmas season was "Mommy, I need one more gift!!! Mommy! I need one more Cwismas gift to open!!!" (Just one more, Mommy. Only one more.)Highlight gifts were:
Gabe - Diego helicopter
Israel - a beepy lighty "cell phone" and "car alarm" thingie, and a lighted whirly thing
Then the next day it was off to find even better experiences.
Christmas at the Beery's
Ah, the joys of Christmas at Gwandma and Gwanddaddy's. There's the "hiding in the crock" experiences:
helping Granddaddy build the snow scene,
feeding Reindeer Boy
opening gifts with Mommy
assembling gifts with Granddaddy
icy scenery,
yurmmy meals,
a random nose picking or two
and just generalized cuddling with Granddaddy.
I mean, who can beat the Granddaddy cuddles?
Finally, it's time to hit the road. It is 8:00 PM on Friday, December 21, and Gabe is READY!!
He has his Grandma Goody bag tightly clutched in one little fist, and his new Cars bookbag carefully handpacked with Tyler's Christmas pwesants, and he is good to go. Bye Gwandma and Gwanddaddy.Highlight gifts:
a wagon with sides for Gabe and Israel from Grandma and Granddaddy
a tunnel set with a tent and house from Mommy and Daddy
a Cars bookbag for Gabe
a New Holland combine from Uncle Quentin
And then we were off. The boys slept great from about 8:30PM-1:30AM. Then they woke up, and were basically awake until 5:30AM. And they cried, and Mommy cried, and all was not very happy in the blue Chrysler Dodge minivan traveling due west on Interstate 76 and Toll Road 80. We arrived in IN, nonetheless, safe and sound, about 6:30 AM on the 22nd, and slept the sleep of tired little puppies.
Christmas at the Norm Millers
Oh, the joys of Tyler Wayne Stuckey. Gabriel loves having a cousin. These boyses were due two days apart, and have a generally delightful time playing together.
Here they bump Car Pajama bellies on Christmas Eve, gifts from Nana Carol and Grandpa.Can't forget fun in the tub.
Israel gazes raptly at Uncle Rusty.
As Aunt Lynette careens wildly through Target with her post-massive-surgery-knee elevated properly on her cart with the loudest reverse beep EVER.
Israel enjoyed an Aunt Melody cuddle or two;
It snowed and that was a lot of fun for Mommy.
There was story reading with the Grands...
Back adjustments for the willing and able, and Gabe was eagerly both...
And even pretzels at the Davis Mercantile.
A great time was had by all. It was so good to see everybody again. It was not so good to be the parent of a three year old who was on his second week of wild fun lovin' vacation with varied bedtimes, overnight trips, new playmates, and sugar rushes. (Insert wide eyed parent here.)Highlight gifts:
PJ's for all from the grandparents
Thomas the Train video from Tyler for Gabe
John Deere rake from the grandparents for Gabe
Pink piggy bank with plastic coins for Israel
We moseyed on down the road Dec.30, stopped for the night at a Holiday Inn for fun, and zizzered back into town the next day. We had a great time, spent time with great family, and feel so blessed to be part of the families we have. Love you Beery's and Miller's!!!
10 comments:
WHEW. . .I need a nap after reading this post!! Thats a LOT of traveling. . makes our little 5hr trip to Atlanta look a little pidly :). Brian is a HORRIBLE traveler, so I might have thrown in the towel:D. Glad ya'll made it back safe and sound and had a good time with family. Janice
New Holland Combine! Yes!
hey carrie i was hoping that you had updated. i loved reading about your christmas especially with the inserts (ie frazzled mommy) i to think i would have gone crazy being in the car that long with 2 kids. hope your life gets back to normal fast and naptimes are instilled again for your sanity. i had fun talking to you when you were back "home" in va. thanks for the update on Rachel. i am so glad she is doing better. hope you have a blessed new year. ~heidi
We had such a great time. It was fun to relive our week together reading your post. Tyler told me New Years morning that he has friends in Indiana (and listed family beginning, of course, with Gabriel). He was sad to leave - hopefully they can see each other before too long!
Melody
Wow, Carrie! You are very brave doing all of that traveling with you family. It's great to catch up on what's happening in your life and see the wonderful pictures of your kids. I know they (and you and Tim) made many valuable family memories during the Christmas season!
Wow, how many hours hunched and drooling and squinting over the keyboard did this take?? I've been checking for an update, so enjoyed all the pics etc.Looked like a really cuddly special Christmas in spite of all the agonizing travel. So, did you hear the big news that Rebekah is engaged? Do I get to see you this summer??? Okay, talk to you soon....Candice
Dear Carrie,
Why don't you throw those two kids of yours back into your blue whizmobile and bring them on down to Alabama? Heh heh. Heh.
Sincerely,
Cured from thoughts of long-distance traveling with kids for another 6-12 months.
Janice - glad to know I'm not alone in traveling stress. Goodness. Israel has been just the WORST also; I think it's the age. I will be SO GLAD to be DONE traveling with the age he is at. And, hey, 5 hours is STILL 5 hours.
Sam - I didn't know you were a New Holland devotee.
Heidi - I really enjoyed talking to you too! You have a great New Year yourself.
Melody - We had a great time with you guys too! I wish we lived closer...sigh.
Lisa - HEY! It's the runner lady! Thanks for dropping by.
Candice - Slurp. That's me slurping the aforementioned drool. Actually, with high speed, the entire process was only about 2 hours. So not as bad as it could have been. Of COURSE you get to see me this summer. I am coming home and camping out for a while when you guys are there.
Joyce - briefly contemplated the thought, along with the thought of slamming my head repeatedly against a wall of glass splinters. In other words - AIN'T HAPPENIN'. (Although truthfully I did seriously think about it and how fun it would be and sighed a bit wistfully...but perhaps another time. Er - spending time in AL with you, not the head slamming bit. Just to clarify.)
Carrie -- you crack me up! Sitting here with Rachel at UVA and decided to try to find your blog. Sorry to admit I'm not a regular reader. Andrea
Ah Carrie, you make me laugh, you bring back happy memories of my own (and believe me, I need help remembering anything these days), and you remind me once again that there is plenty of fun and joy to be had in families if one is willing to stay focused on it. Thank you.
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