c spot: Peace, good will towards men.

i just got back from a run with trout. don't get excited. it was just down the street and back. but...strangely, that was sufficient...for me, anyway. i can't believe that i used to be a runner. there was a time when i would not go to bed unless i had run my 3 mile lap through the subdivision. that was before i got married...but still. i used to could do it. now...i don't think i could run a mile if someone was chasing me with a knife.

however...if you want to enter a contest against me in diaper changing or hair braiding...

bring it.

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in the last post, i mentioned the holiday lunch at the school. this year was my favoritest, by far. chad and i both went to all 3. and we had our friends there too. friends make everything better. i've decided.

speaking of friends...

here are 2 of aiden's favorites.

just looking at this picture makes me tear up. i know. it wounds weird. but it's the innocence. the joy. the toothless grins. the shared secrets. it's who i was before the world got to me. i don't want the world to get to them. they don't deserve it.

****

annslee caught a killer cold. i guess it's more like...it caught her.

and we all know what that means...

it caught me too.

even a sore throat couldn't keep me from savoring this sight. there is just something about two animals loving each other that is...well...happy.

evidently, they have come to some sort of agreement. they decided that if they were going to be forced to live together...in this crazy house...they might as well be allies.

****

on friday, colton took a personal day. if adults need and can take personal days...why can't kids? they are dealing with a lot too, after all. the pressures put on our kids these days by state tests and trying to find their place in this world was enough to give me chronic stomach aches in 7th grade...so who am i to argue when my little man needs a break from it all?

it was a day i won't ever forget with him. just him and me. like it was 10 years ago...when i would hold him in my arms all day long in order to protect him from harm. i didn't get to actually hold him this day...and i couldn't make all of his troubles disappear...but i did get to keep him under my wing. even if it was just for the day.

and later that evening, we had some old friends over for dinner.

a little beer based chili, good drinks, a camp fire, and marshmallows...i've found...keep everyone happy.

it got cold enough that aj could christen my red, velvet, christmas coat from when i was her age. my honey made it. which reminds me...i must learn to sow.

doesn't she just look like she needs to be in a horse drawn sleigh?

****

the next morning, we went to granna and grandaddy's for pancakes and eggs. i'm convinced that my father could open a breakfast place and only serve his whole wheat pancakes and eggs. it would be named the griddle...and me and my mom...and the girls would wear really cute aprons and help out in the kitchen and with the customers and the boys would sit around and talk and eat and laugh. we would have some of our favorite memories in the griddle. and we would know all of our customers by name. and when people walked in...they would feel like they were home.

today, chase took a personal day and came along to the galleria with granna, grandaddy, annslee and i.

it did him good.

he took his sister on her very first train ride.

and...let her wear is hat.

now...that's love.

i remember riding a similar train at the mall when i was little. i would get so excited. i had lost my faith in kids getting excited about stuff like that. these two were just the kids to redeem my faith in the excitement and magic of the little things.

to them...

it made their day.