Boy vs. Claw

What kind of terrible mother lets her son get more than halfway into a claw toy vending machine before she even notices?! Ahem, that would be me! Last night, my son (being the typical curious little monkey that he is) crawled into a claw machine at BWB (Buffalo Wings and Beer). That's right, where all good mother's take their toddlers to eat! Stick with me here. Before we left, Uncle B was trying one last time to win Little B a toy from the claw machine. While Big B, Becca, and I were all gathered around the machine trying to legitimately win a prize, my naughty little spirited child thought he would take matters into his own hands and try climbing into the machine to pick a prize. Thank God Becca noticed that Little B was almost to the point of no return and Big B was able to quickly yank him out. Oh my Josh-ness! What am I going to do with that kid?!

Sadly, I wasn't able to get a picture of his little legs sticking out of the machine to post on the blog, what with worrying about him getting stuck and all :o) Here is a video of some other kid getting stuck in a claw machine!

Christmas fun with cousins!

Sadly, the Law family will not be joining us this year on Christmas. I suppose it is only fair that we share them with their other extended family, but they will surely be missed around Pops and Nana's Christmas tree. So for a little pre-Christmas fun, Brennan made the long trek to Ballston (Arlington, VA) with me today so he could visit with his cousins and have a mini gift exchange. Don't tell Pops though. He does not believe in opening presents before Christmas :o)

I was at work, but I heard that the cousins had a fun visit and Brennan was on his best behavior. I don't have any fun pictures, but B's Aunt LiLi was sure to capture a couple. They can be seen here.

You'll notice that Brennan has a nice boo-boo on his chin. He had took a little spill at my Aunt and Uncle's open house on Sunday and split his chin open. I had only told him four times not to run on the hardwood floors in his socks. Perhaps if I had told him a fifth time he would have listened! Fortunately, the emergency room was nearly empty when we arrived, so they took us right back and patched him up. Kids - never a dull moment! 

Hammett Boy

Since his birth, I've gotten tons of comments on how much little B resembles my father (Pops), my brothers, and myself. As he has grown, he has started to resemble his daddy a little more (usually when he's being naughty!). However, on this particular day, Nana caught him acting like a Hammett. You see, most members of the Hammett family have some sort of musical talent -- this skipped over me and a few others, but I won't name names!!

Look at the concentration on his angelic little face! We Pops will definitely have to work on B's form, but I think he shows real promise. You know, for a two(almost three) year old! Pops, do you have any experience dealing with left-handed, hyperactive, easily distracted children?!

"Not me!"

It's that time again. Check out MckMama's blog (the inventor of "Not me!" Monday) to read the funny tales of a mommy with 4 kids who are ages 4 and under!

I am not posting my "Not me's!" that I typed last Monday only to have Google Blogger freeze up and prevent me from posting them. This most certainly is not because I can't really think of anything witty or funny to post that has happened since last Monday!

I did not give my niece a cookie half of a cookie while I was babysitting last night (now over a week ago!) in order to keep her from crying when Mommy and Daddy left. I did not proceed to teach said niece fun words/phrases like "Spike-a-licious" and "How embarrassing!". Her baby brother's nickname is "Spike", and the "How embarrassing!" is to tease her Mommy :o)

I so did not just use the super-cool strikethrough that I learned from MckMama's blog just to prove I can :o)

It did not reach 70 degrees today. This is December for crying out loud. We should be doing our Christmas shopping in freezing cold weather while sipping cocoa, not iced lattes!  Speaking of, I did not practically finish my shopping over the weekend. I am a self-proclaimed procrastinator who does not finish Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve!

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Ok, Lisa! I did not just post this blog to get you off my back!

Wow!

I gave my blog a little face lift and I must say, it's looking marvelous (if I do say so myself!). Hope you like the new look.

It's been a fairly uneventful week for us. Well, aside from B being sick...and having an "incident" with B's betta fish in the middle of the night (more details on "Not me! Monday")...and being super busy at work (come on people, it's almost Christmas!). But other than that, not much to report.

We're not even a week into December, and Brennan has managed to sit on Santa's lap twice already. We don't really push the whole Santa thing, so I think in B's little mind seeing Santa in public is just like seeing Mickey at Disney World. He's seen them on TV, so he doesn't mind saying 'hi'. I also think he enjoys the free goodies that come from talking to Santa. So far he's gotten a candy cane and two big tootsie rolls. Of course, I didn't have a camera on me either time so this picture from my phone will have to do:

Rebel FOR a Cause!

I'm sure that it's no secret by now what a HUGE fan I am of MckMama's blog. When MckMama and her husband were told that their unborn son would surely die after birth, they decided to give their son completely to God and carry him to term. Their son was born totally healed and is a healthy one-month old. MckMama is using her story to touch the lives of others in a major way. By purchasing a "raffle-way" (raffle/giveaway) ticket, your donation will go to raise support for String of Pearls, No Hands But Ours, and The Elison Project. It will also give you a chance to win a Canon Rebel XSi and a slew of other fabulous prizes.

Check out MckMama's blog (http://www.mycharmingkids.net/) for more details.

"Not me!" Monday

It's that time again! In following MckMama's footsteps, it's time for me to be brutally honest and live to tell about it. I'm definitely not a perfect mommy or wife, and here's proof!

For starters, I did not watch my son move his step stool from the bathroom into the kitchen in order to help himself to a pack of smarties at 5:15 am as I was preparing to leave for work. I am certain he did not get the idea that this is an ok practice because I once gave him yogurt and smarties before I left for work in order to keep him from crying and screaming for me to stay with him. Even if he had gotten his own smarties, I most certainly did not allow him to get away with it because I feel guilty for leaving him.

I did not leave my house at 4:30 am to go to Wal-Mart on Black Friday. Only crazy people go to Wal-Mart on Black Friday! I did not leave approximately 20 minutes after arriving because there were fights breaking out and police officers being attacked.

Even if I had gone shopping on Black Friday, I did not get Brennan two pairs of jeans, a sweatshirt, three sets of pajamas, and a long sleeve shirt for $29!

In closing, I would like to add that my house does not still have pumpkins sitting in front of it while every other house in the neighborhood has Christmas trees or lights. I would not justify this by stating that at least the rotten ones have been thrown into the woods. Like that would make it ok to have pumpkins out in December!

Nope, not me!

Thanksgiving Day Fun!

Here are some photos of our Thanksgiving Day fun. We spent the day at with my paternal grandparents which is only about 20 minutes from our home. We had a really fun time and had the chance to visit with several Aunts and Uncles. I could be mistaken, but I'm fairly certain that this is the first Thanksgiving dinner Big B has been able to attend since he graduated from boot camp in 2004. And, even though he's been living in our guest room, we're thrilled he's home :o)

Little B and Big B

Momma and B

Watching the beautiful sunset over the Potomac River

Cousinly love!

Thanksgiving 2008 - Top 10

We would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to take time to reflect on the true meaning of Thanksgiving - counting your blessings and thanking God for them. Even with all of the political and economical drama that surrounds us, we are so blessed compared to the majority of the world. This year, here are the top 10 things for which I am truly thankful (in no particular order!):

1. A God who loves me with an unconditional love I don't deserve;

2. A hardworking, loving husband;

3. A happy, healthy, bouncing boy;

4. My Momma who has the love and patience to care for my baby boy;

5. My Dad who always finds the energy to give B a ride on his shoulders - even after working in 100 degree heat all day;

6. My in-laws who are always willing and able to watch their grandson - even on short notice;

7. Big B making it safely back to St. Mary's County;

8. A warm, cozy place to call home;

9. Food in my pantry;

10. The freedoms I have as an American and the soldiers who died to give me those freedoms.

There are so many more, but you get the idea! Anything that you are thankful for this year?

Another "Not me!" Monday

That's right folks, it's time for another "Not me!" Monday post. Be sure to check out MckMama's blog to read about the things she didn't do over the past week. Speaking of MckMama, she is trying to reach as many people as possible to create hype for String of Pearls, so pass her blog information to your friends.

As for me, I most certainly did not skip a week of "Not me!" Monday simply because I was too lazy to blog!

I did not manage to buy B a new coat, a new hat, two pairs of "glubs", "glub" holders, and a popcorn tin for $26 at Wal-Mart. Do such deals still exist?!

I did not eat half of a slice of almond pound cake as a pre-breakfast snack.

I did not finally get a week's worth of grocerys for under $50 ($49.68 to be exact) after (unsuccessfully) attempting to do so for several weeks. I also did not manage to do so after keeping track of my purchases on a calculator only to clear the total before I finished shopping.

I did not watch Wall-E five times since Friday because that is B's new favorite movie.

How about you? What did you not do this past week?