Like Father, Like Grandson

The toys were awesome, but CRB's favorite part of Christmas 2008 was fishing in the basement with his grandfather, ToolMan's dad.

Continue to pray for us and ToolMan's mom.  Tomorrow she is facing a brain biopsy. 

Prayer Request

ToolMan's mom is not doing well. Without getting into to many details, 2 days of tests, another hospital, and several specialists cannot agree on whether this is a stroke, viral meningitis, a brain tumor, or something else. Complicating factors include she is not in her home state with her regular doctors. Thankfully ToolMan was able to fly his plane down to be with his mom and dad at this time. She is undergoing more tests this afternoon.

Please keep us in your prayers, and send us all the positive thoughts you can spare.

Sodor News

CRB has a lot of Thomas the tank engine toys, most of which where acquired within the last 2 months or so, with a noticeable surge coming from Christmas. I did not expect to be one of those train moms, but I am. The train set, err sets, are doing so much for him on so many levels that I constantly am encouraging train play and I freely buy him new additions. It's amazing to me what he learns almost every time he plays with them.

A few days ago I was speaking to one of my great neighbors about CRB and the trains and she said that she wanted to get some of her 11 year old son's (we'll call him Ripstick) old stuff out of the attic and bring it over for CRB. Yesterday during naptime, they brought us a several plastic cartons full, and I was excited to be able to loan Ripstick three fun PS3 games in return :)

When CRB awoke from his nap and came into our kitchen he was stoked to see James and his tender, Annie and Clarabel, Catherine and her truck, a useful engine shed, a rock tunnel, a suspension bridge, and another cargo box and box car. (Slyly I hid most of the stuff for another day...) We had a great time integrating all of these pieces onto the train table.

Later that evening, when MeMe and I were doing something else, CRB brought a basket of "tack to play, tack to play trains" to us. What was in the basket? Keep in mind that this was the basket that I had used to carry the trains stuff from the kitchen to his room earlier. Every single new piece that our neighbors had brought him that afternoon. Nothing else, none of the standard favorites like Salty, Duck or Diesel, but only the "new" stuff, just like we had played in the kitchen before.

I was really taken aback by his ability to sort his stuff (and it is a lot of stuff, too embarrassing to list), from Ripstick's stuff.
After seeing this, MeMe said that she had a better understanding of how important these trains were to him. To him, they aren't just another toy. It's an adventure, a story to act out, a possibility to build.

Library of Congress or Humpty Dumpty?

CRB, the only child of two only children, has a lot of books. New books, old books, and some in between. Somehow, though I had a lot of books and ToolMan had a lot of books, we have very few repeats between us. Add into the mix books bought for CRB and you would be hard pressed to be unable to find something awesome about nearly any subject appropriate for a 2 year old.

Lately I have been in a mindset to clean up and organize and today CRB's books are on the agenda. When CRB was little my books were segregated from Toolman's. Now, all the books have moved on into another category, those of CRB. I am trying to decide how to order them. Though it's tempting to leave them where they have fallen lately (i.e. the Humpty Dumpty method of organization) I am going to try to do something better, but what I don't know. True organization is not possible with a 2 year old librarian.

Champagne Wishes

Last night, ToolMan and I tried to date the bottle of champagne in the fridge. He thinks it was pre-CRB, the 2006 New Year's Eve bottle that did not seem appetizing on top of the fert. meds). I think it was post-CRB, 2007 New Year's Eve bottle bought by delusional, sleep-deprived parents of a 3 month old). Regardless, I can tell you it was good, and is still somehow bubbly for great New Year's mimosas.

Rock on 2009. 2008 was a great year, and am hopeful for a repeat.

Mega Meme

1.Do you like cheese? definitely, all kinds

2.Have you ever smoked? only on a dare

3. Do you own a gun? nope, but there are some in the closet would-be burglars

4. Do you like listening to Christmas music? only during December

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? 100% unless it's with the allergist

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I feel sorry for them, people should treat their pets better.

7. Favorite Christmas song for all time? The First Noel

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? milk with a little coffee

9. Can you do push ups? is this a dare?

10. Who is your favorite Grey’s Anatomy Character? Addison

11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? wedding ring

12. Favorite hobby? childcare

13. Do you eat “exotic” foods? I find Mexican food exotic

14. Do you have A.D.D.? not one bit

15. What one trait do you hate about yourself? I can be bossy

16. Middle Name? Elizabeth

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? "I need to make an eye dr, appointment" :"Wish I was at the Library Hotel" "Eclipse"

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? soy milk, wine, gift cards

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? coffee, dr. pepper, orange juice

20. Current worry right now? my parents lack of desire for receiving any Christmas gifts

21. Current hate? how the print on this screen seems too small

22. Favorite place to be? rocking my child

23. How will you bring in the New Year? champagne wishes

24. Where would you like to go? The Library Hotel in NY city

25. Name three people who will complete this? myself, Stacy, and possibly Kerri

26. Do you own flip flops? in every color

27. What shirt are you wearing? Lands' End pjs

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? nope

29. Can you whistle? only by breathing in

30. Favorite color? green

31. Would you be a pirate? nope, they're too violent

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? U2's the Joshua Tree

33. Favorite girl’s name? Ella Kate

34. Favorite boy’s name?

35. What’s in your pocket right now? no pockets

36. Last thing that made you laugh? CRB

37. Bed sheets as a child? rosebuds

38. Worst injury you’ve ever had? Split open my chin

39. Do you love where you live? Roll Tide!!

40. How many TV’s do you have in your house? two

41. Who is your loudest friend? no one is louder than CRB thankfully

42. How many dogs do you have? 1

43. Does someone have a crush on you? not sure

44. Do you get embarrassed easily? not really

45. What is your favorite book? it's not Twilight but I am really enjoying the series

46. What is your favorite candy? rock candy

47. Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince theme song? no

48. What song do you want played at your funeral? nothing with the pipe organ

49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? trying to sleep

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Let's go back to sleep

Christmas Cards

Here's my favorite photo from our photo shoot, but oddly it is not the one I chose for our cards. Colin was unwilling to pose with CRB, so I may end up doing a few New Years cards with just Colin. After all, he's my boy too ;-)

Sunday we took photos, and I got the cards and envelopes printed. Sam's Club won my business because I was able to use an online tool to design the cards and pick them up in one hour. A side benefit was the 100 cards for $25 dollars, including premium envelopes. Since I am a geek, I have the addresses for most everyone in an Access Database, and I use Mail Merge in Word to print the return labels and addresses on the envelopes. Once I had made a few updates to the address, six minutes later I had envelopes. Now I just need stamps and Ho, Ho, Ho I am done with cards.

If anyone would like a card from us, just send me an email with your address to classicrockbaby@gmail.com