Meeting the Big Guy

Well, meeting Santa at Zoo Lights was absolutely the highlight of the evening, maybe the entire season!

She hopped right up into his lap and gave him a BIG hug.

Santa was pretty surprised when she told him she wanted a magnifying glass for Christmas.

The cutest thing: She calls Santa "Christmas," as in, "I got to meet Christmas!!"

And as we were driving home, I asked her what her favorite part of the whole night was, and she said, "CHRISTMAS!"

As a funny aside, as we were a little lost in the parking lot, looking for our car, Santa and Mrs. Clause walked by, and Devyn started saying, "Santa, help! Santa, help!"  She wanted him to help us find our car.  ;)

Zoo Lights

Helping

She "helped" me bake cookies yesterday.

Thanksmas in Dallas

We took the kids to see the trains at Northpark mall, which was definitely a higlight of the trip.

We tried to get a cute cousin photo, but this was the best one we got.

 Then we went home and painted cookies that Aunt Em made!

Christmas tree!

Auntie

Snow Bunny

Somebody decided that playing in the snow isn't too bad after all. (Especially once mom gets you proper snow pants and mittens that don't get wet!)

Play Dough Bread

Devyn really enjoyed helping me make rolls on Thanksgiving, which she now refers to as "play dough bread."

It was a really strange Thanksgiving, with just the two of us, but a nice one nevertheless.  We watched the parade and part of the dog show, made rolls together, took food to our sick friends, and had a nice meal.  And there were plenty of leftovers to share when Daddy got home!

Waiting for Santa

Dev: I'm cleaning up the blocks so to make Santa happy.

Mom: Oh, that's nice. What about to make mommy happy?

Dev: No, just Santa.


Kid knows where her priorities lie.

Superman

Butterfly Pavilion

Chocolate mustache

Driving

Ok, actually just sitting, waiting for a restaurant to open.

A Few Rememberies

On Friday, I picked Devyn up from school and we drove to the liquor store so mummy and daddy could have a beer with their pizza, and as we drove up and parked in front of the store, she said, "That says T-O-T-A-L-B-E-VYN."  Well, she was very close.  (It's actually Total Beverage; I think she got a little ahead of herself when she got to E-V and thought she knew the rest.) But I was pretty impressed!  She even got the A, which on the sign is upside down so it looks like a cup with drink in it.

She can now spell two words: DEVYN and MAMA.  She can't write them, but she can spell them!

Last night, she got out of bed in the middle of the night for the first time. The last two nights, she's woken up crying because her noise machine is off.  (She says it just goes off by itself, but we're pretty sure she's turning it off at some point.) So that happened at around 1, and I went and turned it back on for her and came back to bed, easy peasy.  Then I woke up a little before 3, I and thought I had heard a door shutting and her say "Mama!" but I was still in that haze of just having woken up from a very deep sleep, and so I wasn't sure for a moment if I had dreamed it or if it had really happened, but then I heard a shuffling, and sat up, and there she was.

We tried to ask her what was going on, but all we got was a very rambling story about dog poop, so I'm going to assume she was dreaming.

Veteran's Day

On this Veterans Day, I'd like to honor my grandfather, John O. Boggs, who passed away in October of this year at the age of 93.

Just a few months after he married my grandmother, Lucy, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he knew he would be going to war. After basic training, he was pulled out to work at an army-run shoe factory, because he had experience with that work. He later became a quartermaster and was assigned to help supply units headed overseas.

He told me that one unit came through, and he really hit it off with their commanding officer, and so he asked to be reassigned to active duty with that unit. They approved his request, and he was sent to France, and later to Edinburgh, Scotland. He mostly told tales about the good times he had there, seeing parts of France with a buddy who spoke French, and about how much he enjoyed Edinburgh.

And when the war was over, he came home. He told me that it took him a little while to "get right" after all he'd seen, but then he and my grandmother started their family, and my father was born.

Just two years ago, he was awarded the World War II Cross of Military Service from the Daughters of the Confederacy.

I feel his loss so deeply, but I know that a great deal of who I am is due to the amazing person he was. He was an incredible force in my life, took care of me a great deal when I was young, was the best man at my wedding, and is the reason Devyn's name is hyphenated. I will always strive to live up to his personal integrity and code that he may live on in me and in my children.

Love you, Poppy.

Veteran's Day

On this Veterans Day, I'd like to honor my grandfather, John O. Boggs, who passed away in October of this year at the age of 93.

Just a few months after he married my grandmother, Lucy, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he knew he would be going to war. After basic training, he was pulled out to work at an army-run shoe factory, because he had experience with that work. He later became a quartermaster and was assigned to help supply units headed overseas.

He told me that one unit came through, and he really hit it off with their commanding officer, and so he asked to be reassigned to active duty with that unit. They approved his request, and he was sent to France, and later to Edinburgh, Scotland. He mostly told tales about the good times he had there, seeing parts of France with a buddy who spoke French, and about how much he enjoyed Edinburgh.

And when the war was over, he came home. He told me that it took him a little while to "get right" after all he'd seen, but then he and my grandmother started their family, and my father was born.

Just two years ago, he was awarded the World War II Cross of Military Service from the Daughters of the Confederacy.

I feel his loss so deeply, but I know that a great deal of who I am is due to the amazing person he was. He was an incredible force in my life, took care of me a great deal when I was young, was the best man at my wedding, and is the reason Devyn's name is hyphenated. I will always strive to live up to his personal integrity and code that he may live on in me and in my children.

Love you, Poppy.

Raking Leaves

My little writer

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