1-2-3-4 I Declare a Snow War!

A cold and snowy battle took place on our front lawn this morning. Amid appx. 2" of light snow, AJ rolled, threw and enjoyed attacking the snow.

I am happy to report that the only victim of his attacks was the left side of the garage door which despite being pelted with many snowballs from close range, is expected to make it :-)

AJ LOVES SNOW! Good thing because we are getting more before the day is through and I expect we"ll be outside tonight for part two of the battle.

Snowball Fight!

We have had two very very minor dustings of snow flurries. Not enough to close schools or cause a run on toilet paper out here (that means less than half an inch since that is all it takes to cause panic).

AJ has decided to prove that a dusting can still be fun. He gleefully pounces on the snow, runs around and scoops it into his mittened hands and tries to make snowballs. A couple of nights ago I pulled into the driveway and there were Pete and AJ with handfulls of snow ready to deploy. They hit the car and then nailed me when I got out. Another night AJ proved he is an equal opportunity snow baller when he snuck a tiny one into the house and threw it at Pete.

It is nice to be reminded that snow isn't just a pain on the road but can be a lot of fun and giggles in the yard too. I'm hoping we get a few inches soon so he can really let loose and try out his new snow boots.

AJ Wants to Be Like the Obama Girls

No, he doesn't want a coat like the one they wore yesterday. Though I hear JCrew is going to have one in the kids fall line so all the little girls can have one.

He wants a dog. Now, no one promised him one during any kind of campaign so I am a bit amazed that he came up with this request on his own. He matter of factly injected the request into our conversation on the car ride home last night. I think I bought some time by letting him know we could go visit Gramma Lynn's puppy. We'll see, I could be in trouble on this one.

AJ Meets Mickey (and Minnie, Buzz, Sully, Mater...)

Wow. Even AJ was rendered near speechless during the trip. I forgot just how impressive Disney is. I think it is because now that I am "grown up" I realize what it takes to make all that magic happen every day.

There were many highlights - AJ wasn't at all afraid of the creatures in costumes and hugged many of them.

He rode the Dumbo ride and the little kid roller coaster twice each.

We hiked out to see Grandpa at mile 23 of the marathon and shot up aliens on the Buzz lightyear ride.

AJ even chased bubbles down main street in the Magic Kingdom.

But perhaps the hardest part of coming back was leaving the 70 something weather -warm enough for the water slide at the resort - to come home to the frigid temps :-)

Guitar Hero Rockin

During a recent stop at Best Buy, AJ spied the Guitar Hero demo and hopped right up to play the drums. It was wild how he knew just what to do.

He also insisted that Mommy grab a guitar and join in the fun. It was funny - especially to watch the faces people made when they walked around the corner and saw this little guy just jammin and drummin away.

We weren't very good at completing the game objectives but we had so much fun we didn't care.

Here is AJ rockin out to the Go-Go's - We Got The Beat (no, I didn't pick the song!)

Hey, that's my cookie!

Jamma and Jampa joined us for dinner one night not too long ago and AJ was charming as always. After he finished dinner he wanted a cookie but Daddy asked him to please wait until everyone was done with dinner. AJ complied and went into the family room where he happily entertained himself for at least 20 minutes while adults chatted at the table and I cleared the dishes.


I went into the family room to tell AJ what a great little guy he was for playing so nicely and asked if he still wanted a cookie. Of course the response was yes and he came back to the table to claim his treat. He took the first bite of his cookie and set it on the table while he chewed - then his cookie disappeared. Jampa thought he was being funny but AJ was deeply concerned about the disappearing cookie. So much so he rolled his lip under and began to cry. Jampa quickly returned the cookie in question but the damage was done. I wish you could have seen the evil eye look that AJ gave Jampa after that.


I won't be surprised if AJ rethinks sitting next to Jampa next time he has a cookie that could be swiped!

Disney World Bound

We're off to visit Mickey Mouse and hopefully watch Grandpa finish the Goofy races. Will report back soon with lots of stories and pictures.

Playing at the Park

While the cousins were visiting from NC we took advantage of a warmish day and went to the park up the street. AJ and Nora spent much of the time chasing each other and doing what the other was doing.

Mommy's Little Helper

As earlier reported, AJ had great fun helping Mommy make cookies in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Here are some pictures of him helping (and licking a little icing of course!)

Santa Visits the Frank Clan

Santa made a second, later stop at Grandma and Grandpa Franks when AJ could celebrate Christmas with his Cousins Charlie and Nora. I'm not sure who had more fun with the toys -the cousins or the Aunts & Uncles! We had a great time visiting with everyone from NC and Great Auntie Leslie who came from NJ. I think she brought half of Santa's workshop with her!

Whoa Was Santa Good to AJ!

AJ got some wonderful gifts from Santa and our family for Christmas - some folks must have thought he was a good boy this year :-)

Video Recap - Stars & Guitars

We got a new computer yesterday and I can finally retrieve almost six weeks worth of video and pictures of darling AJ. Pictures will be up shortly, but for now here are a couple f short videos for your viewing pleasure.

AJ's class put on a holiday show and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. As you will see, AJ decided he needed to be the star of the show, front and center.

AJ loves music and instruments. To complete his rock band Santa brought him a guitar and Great Aunt Leslie brought a keyboard. He really enjoys jammin on the guitar and showed off for the Sarikas family on Christmas night.

Happy New Year!

Hope that your first day of 2009 was a good one. AJ slept until nearly 8:30 this morning so I can't complain about how the year started for us! (now, worth noting he was up nearly two houurs after the usual bedtime last night which accounted for the sleeping in)