Happenings!

There's been some stuff we've been up to.  Aren't we always up to something?!?  I just wanted to clump all the events together so I wouldn't have to make a gajillion (roughly) little blogs!  YAY!  So first up?  We went to the Children's Museum AGAIN!!!!  We had to, though!  In December, they have this thing called the yule slide.  The kids LOVE it!  Lola was a little scared (and covered her face the whole time down)!  Blake and I had a blast racing each other.  I think he won (maybe).  I mean, I wasn't really paying attention.  Or something.  Okay, he beat me BIG TIME!!!!  Then Lola dressed up like a frog in the frog exhibit.  It was awesome.  And the best part of the day?  Probably when Billy put on a tutu to walk Lola out on the runway in the Barbie exhibit.  Yeah.  It was funny.  And embarrassing.  But mostly funny!

I love that I caught her RIGHT in the middle of her twirl! :)

Okay so there's that.  What else is new? 

1.  Well, Blake has started basketball (woo hoo)!  He's doing really well and I LOVE watching him practice!  The games start in January! :)

2.  Lola and Blake went to Build A Bear about a week ago.  Blake built a Pacers fox.  Fox?  Yeah.  He named him Granger (for Danny Granger)!  Lola built a Hello Kitty.  She loves her Kitty Kat (the name she picked out)!

3.  Blake had Rigby (a stuffed dog) for school for a week.  So he came around with us on many errands.  One of them was to soccer practice.  Despite the gang load of germs I'm sure he carried, we all had a lot of fun with him (well, mainly Lola and Blake).

4.  Blake went to a birthday party for his friend, Drew at a place called Snapperz.  They had a blast!

And that wraps up the happenings in the life of the Yadon clan!

Happy Birthday, Lola!

I can't believe Lola is 3.  I really can't.  The time went by so fast.  Now that she's three, I have to seriously start working on some things.  1.  THE BINKY.  2.  Potty training.  UGH!  I don't want to do either.  Especially with Billy living in Louisville.  Wish me luck that I can maintain my sanity over the next several months! :)

Anyway,   Lola is amazing.  She makes me smile all day long.  And believe me, I need that!  So three things I love so much about Lola?

1.  Her wonderful laugh!  She giggles and giggles and I love it!  There's nothing better than having a happy little girl!

2.  I love how much she adores her daddy.  She looks exactly like him.  And she worships the ground he walks on!  Of course it also breaks my heart when she cries for him EVERY day.  But she sure is happy when he's around!  She also adores her brother, Blake!  She talks about him the whole time he's at school!

3.  She is crazy into EVERYTHING.  And I mean everything.  She loves Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Dora, The Wonder Pets, baby dolls, Finding Nemo, Mickey Mouse, etc....Yeah, she's easy to please!  YAY for easy present shopping!!

Happy birthday, Lola!  You are the best little three year-old we know!  We couldn't possibly love you more!

Tribute To A Fish!

Get your tissues ready!  I might need one! ;)  Seriously, though, I am very sad to say that our fish called Mike died Monday evening.  You may remember the blog I posted when we first got him.  I talked about what an amazing fish he was.  And boy was he.  Unfortunately, it was his adventurous nature that ultimately took his life.  :(  Apparently he jumped out of the bowl.  How was he discovered?  I went in to collect the trash from Blake's room and noticed that Mike wasn't in his bowl.  That was as far as I went.  Traumatized by it all, I yelled for Billy to come find the fish.  He found him on the floor next to Blake's nightstand.  He was actually still alive.  But he was barely holding on.  All of that is what made it so hard to take.  I can't stand to think of him suffering.  Blah.....

I honeslty felt (feel) like a major dolt with how I handled it all.  Who cries over the death of a fish (apparently ME)?!!  But I didn't cry at first.  I was convinced that our fish who had been with us almost two years, would somehow pull through.  Well, he didn't.  He swam around for about an hour before he took his last breath.  Then I cried.  When I was really sure he was gone, the tears just started flowing.  And for those of you who know me, you know I'm not much of a crier.  I'm not at all.  But this got to me....mainly, like I said, because I knew he died a traumatic death.  Also, he was a BIG part of our daily routine over the last couple years. 

So I didn't just say goodbye to a silly old fish.  I said goodbye to the awesome fish who nearly jumped out of his bowl whenever we fed him (he got that excited).  I said goodbye to the first thing I saw when I woke Blake up every morning (he lived, as I mentioned, on Blake's nightstand).  I said goodbye to the only way I could get Lola to come up and get ready for bed.  She LOVED to feed Mike and did it every night.

I guess living without my husband (not by choice) for the last year and a half has turned me into a softy (or a mental case...).  I can't help it.  Sometimes I go days without having any adult interaction.  So many's the time, it would make me happy just to go hang out in Blake's room and watch Mike swim around.  Weird?  Maybe.  But he truly did bring us joy.  Lola can't understand where he's gone and just keeps saying she "needs him."  *SNIFFLE*  I miss him already.  :(

I know he wasn't a dog.  Or a cat.  Or even a bird.  But by golly, he was part of our lives.  He brought us such happiness.  So it only makes sense that in his absence, we are sad.  We loved you, Mike.......

This Just In (Kinda.....)!

Faithful blog readers.....you may remember me mentioning the band, My Morning Jacket.  Right?  If you don't, well, remember the name from now on.  Why?  Because they are awesome.  Did they just get a Grammy nomination for best alternative album?  Um yeah.  Yeah, they did.  Do they deserve to win?  Um yeah.  Yeah, they do.  I realize I'm a few days late reporting this (as my blog title signifies).  But better late than never, right?!? :)

Most of you know that the bassist, Two Tone Tommy, is a good friend of mine.  He made my senior year of high school TONS of fun and for that, I'm very thankful!  I'm also very thankful that over the many, many years since graduation (yes, I'm pretty old), we have stayed in touch and have remained friends.  Of course, I haven't seen him much lately, as he's been on tour following the huge success of the release of their new album.  Circuital is amazing!  You should have a listen.  I still jam out to it (yes, air drums and air guitar are often played) all the time!  I promise it's a most wonderful treasure!

So a big ol' cheers to the Best.  Band.  Ever.  You guys deserve the Grammy nod.   You deserve the win.  Then we can all have a Victory Dance (pun intended)!  I'm very proud of ya, Tommy!  You guys super rock!

Oh Christmas Tree (AND MORE)!!!

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving break!  We were able to go to Louisville to spend time with family and friends!  YAY!  We knew we'd be gone until the first week of December so, as I said before, we put the Christmas decorations up BEFORE we left for Louisville on Tuesday!  I love my tree!  And I love my piano and entry table decorations.  And of course, I love my U of L wreath (go Cards)!

Other things to note?  Blake finally let us cut his hair!  THANK YOU, ALLI!!!!!  I mean, check out the photo with all his hair on the floor.  GROSS!  In other news?  We celebrated Alli and Lola's birthdays while everyone was together.  Lola was over the moon!  She scored many awesome gifts!  She loved modeling her princess gear the next day.  I've never seen her so happy!  So I had to take a photo of her in the tiara!  Also?  I was able to take a short trip to Lexington/Georgetown to visit some dear friends.  I LOVED seeing baby Hallie for the first time!  She loves her Auntie Sarah  (you can tell from her big smile in the photo)!  I miss my amazing friends every day.  So It's nice to be able to catch up!  I hope you all had an awesome break! :)