December, Part 1

December was a fun, busy month. I had lots and lots of work to do with my Etsy shop and of course, for Christmas. We got two decent snowfalls in December, which is really freakish for here. Charlie really enjoyed them.

Then we had our Branch Christmas party. I love our church activities. It's so fun to see everyone together, and obviously, to eat. I made these red velvet brownies with a cream cheese swirl for the party. I combined a Southern Living recipe with a BHG one and man . . . best brownies ever! I guess they're technically reddies . . . either way, they were gone fast!

Since Charlie goes into Primary in January, he got to go up front and sing with the "big kids." He didn't know any of the words but I think he liked being in front of everyone. He's a ham. :)

My brother Ethan and his girlfriend went to a Christmas party where everyone was supposed to wear ugly Christmas sweaters (I wanted to do that for the branch party but John wasn't feeling it). Ethan took it one step further and made his own ugly Christmas sweater featuring the leg lamp from "A Christmas Story." And yes, the lamp lights up. As if you had to ask.

Flynn Family Reunion 2010

The week of Thanksgiving, we had a Flynn family reunion. Almost everybody was able to attend, so it was crowded and fun. John's parents' beautiful new house was finished just in time for the reunion. It was a lot more comfortable with all the extra space!

On Wednesday morning, all the womenfolk went to go get pedicures. This was so nice since we're used to the "boys" going to football games, etc. while the "girls" are stuck with the kids. We went to California Nails in Hamilton Place Mall. The people working there were pretty rude so I cannot recommend that nail place! We had fun anyway. I got bright green glitter nails in celebration of Christmas . . . see below!

That night, we all went to Rock City's Enchanted Garden of Lights. Every year, Rock City puts up millions of lights on their trail. It's very neat and fun. Unfortunately, it was super foggy that night and our pictures aren't that clear! Charlie loved seeing the lights and found a new favorite food: kettle corn. He pretty much ate his weight in that stuff. I've never seen him eat anything like that!

Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course. Before we ate, we took a moment to remember Doug. John's dad planted a tree in the front yard honor of Doug and had all the children put a spade of mulch around the tree. It was a very touching, spiritual moment for all of us. When John's dad talked about families being forever, I felt the reality of it.


Hannah, Joseph (two of Doug's kids) with Charlie and John.

The weather was so amazing Thanksgiving day. It got up into the 70s! We (well, some of us--we were all spread out) got to eat on the screened it porch. It felt more like Easter than Thanksgiving.


That night, we all played "Minute to Win It" which is basically where you perform really crazy tasks in one minute. John was annoyingly good at everything . . . he was able to catch a marshmallow in a mug on the first try. Ugh. My task had something to do with sucking up M & M's with a straw but I didn't know we could use hands and so I lost mine . . . I still call for a do-over!

On a final note, here is what I learned/felt during this family reunion:

John's parents are total cheaters.

I was super impressed with the teenagers there! Kelsey, Hannah and Bailey were so fun and sweet to all the kids. They had such a good attitude not to mention they are all stunningly beautiful!

I felt relieved that Charlie got some man time. He's surrounded by girls 24/7. He got to play with his boy cousins . . . and they actually played together. We're blessed that he has so many boy cousins his age!

Laura loves paintings of fat people.

Always wear flip flops when you go to get a pedicure . . . that way it won't get smeared. Now I know, Katie!

Chocolate Coconut Pecan Pie is to die for. And I almost died after eating it!

I love my family!

Charlie: Lover and Artist

Sorry I've been so horrible about posting! Let's rewind to about a month ago . . .

One of Charlie's former Nursery teachers got married last month to Keith Cooley. Charlie ADORES Elizabeth she loves him right back. John brought Charlie into the reception a little late (I came earlier because I was serving cake) and Elizabeth immediately ran over to him! I loved that even though there was so much going on she took the time to see Charlie. When she came over, Charlie said, "I like your dress." Awww! These two are so sweet. I got some pictures, but Charlie wasn't really cooperating:



Elizabeth and Keith's wedding was also exciting because I helped make their cakes! My mom got really sick the week of of the wedding so I got to make the Superman groom's cake and help with the wedding cake. The both turned out amazing! For more pics and info on how we made them, check out my craft blog.




Also around this time, I got to see Charlie paint his first painting! As most of you know, art means so much to me and John so we have been really disappointed that he hasn't jumped on the bandwagon. He's never had much interest in coloring or drawing. One day on a whim, I got him a set of watercolors. I showed him what to do and he went to town! It was amazing! I've never seen him concentrate so much on anything that didn't have wheels. He seriously spent 10 minutes on that painting . . . for him to spend 10 minutes doing anything is amazing! It made me so happy to see him work so hard to create something. Who knows if it'll last but I'm a proud mama right now!





And the finished masterpiece:

"Ed-a-ween"

That is Charlie-speak for "Halloween." This year, Charlie had 3 fun parties to go to. He was so excited to wear his Batman costume. Once he had it on he was in character, husky voice and all. He's so Method. We dressed up as a family for the first time and it was pretty fun. Charlie wanted me to be Robin and John to be Killer Croc (a Batman villain from the cartoon). We thought Killer Croc would be a little too complicated to pull off so we decided on the penguin. Check out my crafty blog to see how I made both our costumes!

Charlie's first party was Trunk or Treat at the church. Everyone decorates their cars in the parking lot and the kids go from car to car to get candy.

Charlie with his adorable bud Maren.

The lame pumpkin I threw together for our "Bat Cave" (our car). Our trunks always wind up to be so lame since we spend so much time on our costumes! I was so mad because I downloaded Batman songs and even bat noises on i-Tunes, only for my speakers to not work!

A few of the kids dressed up as nerds . . . they were so into it that I think Charlie was a little scared.

The next party was at the Aquarium. My sister took him to that one while I stayed home (a nice treat for me!) and John was in Florida for the GA game. He had tons of fun at the aquarium party. My sister has yet to send me the pics, so use your imagination . . . .

The last party was at my sister's house on Saturday. It was just a little barbecue for all the cousins.

My brother and his girlfriend dressed like Zack and Kelly from "Saved By the Bell." My sister went nuts with the fog machine so that's why the picture is so blurry!

Charlie trying to jam a marshmallow on a huge stick (a log, basically) so he could roast it . . . LOL!

Charlie and his cousin Eloise on the trampoline. Eloise was a "scary dragon."

Cousin Annie was a bat, too!

October

I've been doing so well updating my BiblioBags Blog (say that 3 times fast), and I've been totally abandoning this one. I'll try to do better . . .

Recently, one of my dreams came true. Even though I never looked forward to being a mom (for awhile I didn't even want kids!), I did have a soft spot for one thing . . . superhero pajamas. Maybe it's because I grew up between two brothers, maybe it's because I'm a nerd, I don't know. I've just always thought toddler pajamas with capes were the cutest thing ever. I've wanted to get Charlie some for a long time. John, my mom and I looked all over for some Batman PJs with a cape to no avail. So, his b-day went by and no PJs. Then, a couple of weeks later, I was in Target and TA-DA! I found one pair in his size. He loves these so much, I often have to throw a sweatshirt over the shirt so it looks like he's wearing clothes when we're in public! He refuses to take them off once he has them one. One downside is the cape thing freaks me out as a mom. I've heard all kinds of scary strangulation stories so he's not allowed to wear the cape to bed. Ah, all the insane ways moms imagine their kids getting hurt . . . it's a wonder we're not all institutionalized!

I forgot to mention earlier about Charlie's 3 year old checkup. Our old "Dr. Paul" had moved away so I was pretty bummed because I liked him a lot. This time we got to see Dr. Jones and wow, I love her! Charlie does to . . . as soon as she walked in the room he was talking her ear off. I think some people just have a great spirit about them and they are meant to work with kids--she's definitely one of those people. Charlie can be shy sometimes with new people but he liked her right away.

We found out he is in the 25th percentile for weight and height. I was surprised he was in the 25th for weight since he is so "skeeny." I thought he would've been much lower. I worry about him since he's a 3T in height but still probably 18M in the waist! The doctor said not to worry, he'll catch up. For what Charlie Man lacks in weight in height (WARNING: obnoxious proud parent alert . . . this is about to get annoying!) he makes up in smarts. Dr. Jones said that she had never heard a 3 year old speak so clearly.

"What did you do to get him to enunciate so well?" she asked.

My eloquent response? "Uhhhh . . . I don't know." (John says he thinks it's all the TV he watches. He's probably right but I'm not going to tell the doc that!)

She continued to say he's far beyond his milestones and added that "he's got an I.Q. of a million." Can you tell why I like this doctor? : )

On October 18th, John and I celebrated our 9th anniversary this year! And as such, we are old and lazy and just went to a movie. John was a good sport and went to see "The Social Network" with me. He didn't want to see it but ended up liking it. I loved it and was super impressed with it. It's a good one! And yes, Justin Timberlake can act! : ) I want to see it again . . .

My mom made a couple of cakes for Haley Blackburn and Seth Wolfe's wedding. I really wanted to help (even though I have no cake decorating skillz whatsoever) and my mom let me cut out black fondant flowers. It was a lot of fun . . . and Charlie appreciated them. As you probably know, fondant tastes disgusting. It's corn syrup and powdered sugar. Ew. For whatever reason, Charlie thinks it's delicious. We had to hide the flowers from him because he kept eating them . . . as evidenced by his black teeth. (I'll post the pictures of the cakes on my crafty blog soon . . . )

I'm obsessed with all those cake shows on TV. I don't really have an interest in making cakes . . . just making them pretty. Baking and cutting and kneading is too much work . . . . I just want to do the fun part! My mom said that she and I could learn to make sugar paste flowers together for her next cake in November. Yay!

One final breakthrough for Charlie this month . . . he's an artist! John and I have been a little disappointed because he's never shown much of an interest in drawing, painting or coloring. One day, I was in the bathroom and I hear Charlie yell, "Mom! I made you a temple!" I got out and came downstairs to find a box of my sharpest tools spread out on the table. Just as I was about to freak out, Charlie smiled and pointed at this creation. "See? It's a temple!" he said proudly. I was impressed! The tweezers positioned at an angle really did it for me. I shooed him away, far away, from all my sharp stuff (luckily he didn't cut himself) and had to take a picture.

Charlie's Birthday, Part Deux

The Sunday after Charlie's birthday, we had a little party with my side of the family. Charlie is obsessed with Batman, so we had a Batman party. He is more spoiled than ever, getting tons of clothes, toys and books from his family members.

No birthday would be complete without one of my mom's cakes. Charlie had been asking for months for a Batman cake . . . he was so excited when he saw it!

The balloons looked a little too cheerful for a Batman party so I cut out a bat that hung from the light fixture.

We had to wear our Batman shirts for a Batman birthday!

Charlie opening his Batmobile. He got tons of these GeoTrax Batman toys and they are amazing. They're made for littler kids so the toys are chunkier and easier to use. A lot of times he gets frustrated with toys for older kids, so these toys were perfect. He got a Batmobile (that drives itself), a Bat Jet, Robin on a motorcycle and several other villains. Uncle Paul and Nathan (who only have daughters) were eager to help take the toys out of the boxes for Charlie . . . well, not so much for Charlie. They just really wanted to play with them!

John and I got him this train set. Again, the magic of Ross . . . this set was twice as big as a set at Target we almost bought for $45. This set was only $13! It was just as nice . . . and messy. What was I thinking buying him something that said "60 pieces" on the box?!

Charlie and his cousin Caroline playing with his Batmobile.

My personal favorite present he got came from his Uncle Ethan (who is even more obsessed with Batman than Charlie). He got Charlie a Batman costume! If you think this is cute, wait until Halloween to see him all decked out. So adorable!

Last week, I had a booth for my purses at Hodgepodge. It was fun but also tons and tons of work. Check out my "crafty" blog for pictures of my booth. Health-wise, I've been having a crazy couple of months. But it could be so much worse so I can't complain. Nothing really new to report--my levels are still off so my thyroid meds were upped yet again. Hopefully we can finally get the dosage right so I can feel like a human being again!

Charlie's Birthday

Guess who just turned three? Well, it was actually over a month ago but I've been so busy I haven't gotten a chance to update this blog. I know, I'm horrible. But, better late than never. Charlie's birthday was on a Saturday so we took him to the zoo. Why did we pick his 3rd birthday to do this?! As soon as they turn 3 you have to buy them a ticket. Oh, well.

Charlie watching the jaguar. The new South American part of the zoo is actually really amazing and nice.

Charlie's monkey face.

Watching the train. Yes, the petting zoo is literally right under a train track. Depressing, I know. Charlie was more excited about the train than most of the animals!

To tell the truth, it wasn't the most fun trip ever. It was extremely hot that day and Charlie was really whiny. For whatever reason, the automatic sliding doors at one of the exhibits filled him with existential terror. Despite his bad attitude, we were nice parents and got him this little green monkey (of course he picks the only stuffed animal in that shop that's not a natural color!) at the gift shop and a little lunch at Burger King.