The Circus...

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We went to the circus with the entire Gleaton family on Wednesday night. We had tons of fun. It was a really late night for us and you could tell it with Ellie.

We got there around 6 and were on the floor for "mingle with the circus" at 6:30. The circus started at 7 and didn't till 9:30. Ellie finished with the circus about 45 minutes before it ended. LOL We had to get up at the end and I took her up to the walk around so that she could run and jump about. She just couldn't stay in that seat any longer.

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Ellie was most excited about the animals and acrobatics/gymnastics. She didn't care about the clowns and stunts (she wasn't scared by them...just not interested), but really that didn't suprise Kenny or I. She LOVES animals soooo much! And gee, does it suprise you that she is a tumbler??? HAHA...

Noticing the Elephant coming out onto the floor Watching the Elephant with Daddy

This is Asia, the Painting Elephant!!! She was really neat to watch.

Ellie and Daddy Playing with the Pink Spinner she begged for an entire hour for.

Some of the Show...

I had difficulty with my camera and getting it to focus so the pics did not turn out great...This is all I could find that were decent. Sorry!!!

Ellie playing with Daddy. She loves to grab his ears and shake is head all around!

Uncle Kerry and a pouting Korey...don't fret...It got him what he wanted! LOL

The Snow of 2011!!!

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Well if you're not from Alabama you must think we are crazy when you see what we go through when snow is forcast for us. First EVERYONE rushes off to the grocery store to get food incase we get stranded in our homes for days. The milk refrigeraters and the bread isles always end up empty, then we hunker down waiting anxiously for that first snow flake. When it does snow, we act like idiots running out in it and tasting it, dancing in it, screaming with excitement, etc... Then, and it doesn't take much snow for this, when we have to drive in it WE CAN'T!! We have a very wet snow that quickly turns into ice, and ice is not very compatible with car tires. Roads quickly get closed and so do schools! This equals SNOW DAYS!!!

Well this year we have started off with a true snow storm! There were parts of Alabama that received 8 inches of snow in one night! So when they started forcasting that type of snowfall and I knew Kenny was flying out of state the morning before it was to come, I loaded Ellie and myself up and headed to my mom's to weather it out. Where my mom lives we didn't get snow...we got ICE!! ONLY ICE!! That was no fun at all! However we did have a fun time together playing dominos (a game called Mexican Train) and eating fabulous food and snacks like Chili, sweet potato pie, apple cake, fat boys, and more. I truly enjoyed the time spent with my family.

We were out of school Monday and Tuesday due to the Snow and icy conditions. On Tuesday, around 12:00 I headed home in anticipation of returning to school on Wednesday. When I started out the roads were fine, but as I traveled North I realized that the roads were not as good as I thought they were. I became nervous with the road conditions and was very thankful that I had driven Kenny's truck as I shifted it into Auto 4 Wheel Drive. The interstate became very slushy and Icy especially over the bridges and overpasses, but we made it home safe and sound. Not long after we unloaded the truck, we received the phone call saying we were out of school another day.

Wednesday morning we woke up and got Ellie situated and I jumped into the shower, got dressed, dressed Ellie, ate some lunch, packed up so super warm clothes and waited on Kenny to get home. We were going to play in the snow! Kenny's High School still had snow, it's about 45 minutes North of our home. We went there so Ellie could experience several inches of snow.

Kenny go home and we took off towards the snow. The roads were not near as bad as they were the day before. The sun was doing a wonderful job helping the melt the roadways even though the temp was not getting above freezing. We got there and there were still about 4 inches or more of snow on the ground! We were truly excited! We found a large box and broke it down to slide with and a plastic box top that was perfect for Ellie to ride alone and then we hit the snow.

Now let me tell you a little bit about snow. Snow that is three days old is not near as fluffy as fresh snow, especially in the South. The snow has a full layer of ICE over it. You had to almost stomp as you walked to break it. Poor Ellie didn't weigh enough to break the layer of ice and slipped down several times, once her leg flipped behind her and it hurt. Once we all got used to it we were good.

We started with the small hill and Ellie and I on the plastic lid...that didn't work so well. I was a little to heavy for the plastic lid!! HAHA!! Then we used the cardboard...Perfect! We were off!! No pics of that because the Camera was full (and Kenny wasn't happy about that...My Bad). As I worked to delete pics so we could use the camera, Kenny and Ellie took a trip over to the big hill. As I turned around to take pictures, I couldn't find them. Then I see a spec on the horizon...It's Ellie and Kenny ready to slide!

Then Ellie and I went to slide. We climb on the carboard and Kenny gives us a shove. As we are sliding down the hill I see this mound of snow (later we realize someone had formed it into a ramp) at the bottom of the hill. At that moment it was to the right of us but as we slid we were turning towards that mound and also turning backwards. I prepare for the inevitable....We were not only going to hit the snow, but were were going to hit it backwards!! And then we are airborn................splat! HAHA!!

He enjoyed me being splat on the ground and took several of these!! LOL

We rode the hill several more times but those times we made sure we were far away from that snow ramp. Then we moved back over to the small hill so Ellie could ride by herself.

Mommy sending her off by herself for the first time.

Kenny pushed her a bit to hard and laid her out flat. LOL

He got it rollin. Look Ma' No Hands!!

Look at that face......She had a blast!!

We played for about 2 hours before we packed it all up and headed home. It was a good day! Ellie was excited that Daddy was back home after 4 days away and she had a blast playing in the snow! She passed out in the truck on the way back home. We woke her to get an early dinner at 5 Guys and Fries... Yes, I was a good Snow day.

Btw...on the way home I get the call that there is no school on Thursday!! We got a nother snow day coming..

Dreading the return to the working world...

I am sitting here dreading the return to work. Mostly I just don't want to give up what this week has been....Fabulous!! My husband has been taking such great care of me and he has been so attentive to everything. He has really spoiled me when I have needed him most!! Also I have truly enjoyed watching Ellie this week. She has played with all her toys and enjoyed every minute of it. I hate the idea of waking her up early in the morning and getting her ready for school. She has been able to wake up on her own everyday this week, and she has slept till about 8:30 each morning. Instead, tomorrow I am going to have to walk in there at 6am and get her up. I can see it now....She's going to look at me like "What the heck?!?! Mom do you know what time it is?!?!?!" My poor girl doesn't know what "Christmas vacation is over" means. However I did start talking to her about going to see her teacher and friends tomorrow. She said she wanted to go see them and started listing her friends and Ms Carol...

Tonight was nice...She was so funny. She found a tiny toy guitar at one point tonight and climbed on the back of HER chair and sang Old McDonald with her daddy...It was so sweet. She sang it over and over and over again. I just got so tickled at her. Then she played a little dress up in all of her cooking gear. Nana bought her an apron, hat, and oven mitts for Christmas. I think I was as excited as she was since everytime we cook she tries to pull my apron off the wall so "she" can wear it!! Now we both have one.

Christmas break has been a roller coaster of a trip this year. Our highs have been amazing but our low was truly difficult and scary. Overall we have benefitted at a family from this Christmas vacation. I think we appreciate each other more and learned to enjoy each and every moment with one another!

I hope your Christmas was a blessing and that your New Year will bring you amazing memories!!