I am holding true to my vow to do a better job of keeping the blog updated. This weekend we had the pleasure of having Honey and Pops come and stay with us. I started my weekend by checking something really important off my 'to do' list. Kenzie's piggy bank has been accumulating for sometime and I finally managed to empty it and get her money deposited and counted. Kenzie now has more money in the bank than I do! She's trying to decide how best to invest this-perhaps a well diversified mutual fund or maybe a bond?
It was a beautiful weekend but the cold wind kept us indoors most of the time. Honey and Kenzie did manage to spend some time outside...
I do have a rather dark secret to share.....Honey has a canned whipped topping addiction! I just happened to walk in and catch her passing this along to Kenzie. Before long she'll be squirting it directly in her mouth like Honey!
Jennifer got a new toy for Christmas-After an embroidery class this week she was ready to get started.
Jennifer made a Valentine's Day gift for our friends. I have to say that I am very impressed! (I requested permission to post this so I wouldn't ruin any surprises!) I'm really excited about seeing everything that Jen will create!
The best part about the embroidery/sewing machine is its location....now we can face off while we're getting our work done!
Pops spent some private time with Kenzie at the grill. It was chilly so the coals doubled as a pretty good foot warmer.
Honey splurged a bit and bought Kenzie a new dress in downtown Tupelo.....
and she wore it to church today. What a great picture!
I'll wrap things up with Kenzie being silly in the kitchen!
We didn't get to travel to Water Valley over Christmas as Kenzie was a little under the weather. Since then we've been anxious to spend some time with great-grandparents Babe and Gran. Friday evening the weather was wonderful and we got to spend some time out in the garden.
The cabbage is looking good-
Kenzie is not afraid of the dirt-in fact we couldn't keep her out of it!
Kenzie also helped out in the turnip and kale bed...
Pulling hard....
harder....
Sweet success!!
Surveying the view with Pops
We had a fantastic breakfast at Babe's- she made french toast (my favorite growing up). I'm not ashamed to report that I had 5 pieces all to myself. Kenzie didn't want to leave her dinosaur out. She decided to feed him breakfast all by herself.
Here we are having a very grown-up conversation with Honey-
Later we went to the BTC grocery for lunch and some shopping.
We do have a breaking announcement coming out of the Harris household tonight. Out of the blue Kenzie has decided to start using the potty like a big girl. Though this is going to save us a lot of time (and money in diapers), I can't help but feel a little twinge down in my stomach-Kenzie is just growing up too fast!
What can I say...I'm pretty delinquent on my posting these days! My only excuse is all of the craziness that surrounds the holidays. Let's go back to mid December and get everyone up to speed on the happenings around the Harris household.
The time line of a terrible smell....
We'd been really anticipating all of the company we were expecting for Christmas this year. Obviously one wants to have the house just perfect prior to the arrival of guests. Approximately 7 days prior to the arrival of our company, Jennifer noticed what would best be described as an 'odor' near the desk in my study. Naturally Jennifer assumed that I'd left some food item tucked away in a drawer somewhere. I was quickly instructed to search the desk and discover the source of the smell.... but to no avail. I could find nothing.
Day #2
The odor seems to be gone
Day #3
Jennifer calls me at work to say the odor has returned with a vengeance. After arriving home I came to the unfortunate conclusion that a small mouse died in the wall. I spent $100 at Lowe's on air fresheners and candles...maybe would could just cover it up.
Day #4
Jennifer calls me to let me know that she and Kenzie have evacuated the house due to the severity of the odor. Words can not express how bad it was. We had company arriving in 3 days and we couldn't use the downstairs of our house!
Day #5
Desperate times call for desperate measures. A quick cut into the wall revealed the source of our misery...
It wasn't that easy though... I had to make the hole a little bigger!
The source of the odor was no small mouse but rather a huge rat! A quick survey of the basement revealed the opening from outside that allowed our 'guest' inside. Fortunately Mom and Dad came to the rescue and we were able to patch things up before everyone arrived.
Day # 6
Day # 7
Good as new!
One of the guests that we were expecting was Santa and some of his buddies who came to see us for three days. We had a great time and lots of girls and boys (and adults) came by to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, the Grinch, a couple of elves, and Cindy Lou Who in our front yard. I have to give a big thanks to all of my family for their help making this happen- I couldn't have done it without them. They really are good sports about the whole thing and I can't wait to tell them what I'm planning for this Christmas! We also raised money for a West Point cadet and friend of my brothers' who was wounded in Afghanistan recently, 1st Lt. Nick Vogt. We were able to raise about $500 to support him and his family during his recovery. If you are interested in following his progress, you can check out his facebook page here:
I believe it's good to pause everyone now and then just to contemplate how blessed we are......we must remember that we have men and women such as Nick Vogt in harms way willing to defend our country every day!
Here's a picture of the crew minus Cindy Lou Who (she got cold in her stockings)
Rudolph (aka Honey) was popular with all the kids and had some impressive dance moves-
Cindy Lou Who reappeared with some much needed hot chocolate!
Kenzie really enjoyed Rudolph!
Christmas morning was wonderful! Kenzie got her own rocking horse...
Maggie, Larry, Danny, and Ashley holding their stockings from Santa-
I was really proud of the playroom we built Kenzie for Christmas- she really loves it!
The next couple of weeks were spent recovering from the holidays (and taking down all those Christmas lights!) Even with all the new toys Mommy's shoes are great fun to play with-
Recently I had my on campus week of lecture in Birmingham. While I was immersed in Economics, Marketing, and Corporate Finance Jennifer, Kenzie, and Nana explored Birmingham. Once again they visited the Children's Museum and Kenzie loved it!
Now that's having fun!
Fun in the fish tank with Nana...
I just love this picture of Jen!
After 64 hours of lecture it is really great to be home. I think we have a future soccer player here!
Kenzie's vocabulary is really growing these days. Here's a video clip of her making some animal sounds
