Thanksgiving

A non-traditional Thanksgiving was held at my house without a turkey in sight. We feasted on cheese fondue, shrimp, salmon and steaks with baked potatoes, stuffing and green bean casserole followed by brownies, pumpkin roll and cheesecake. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving last month and had the traditional turkey feast.I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

Unwrapped

Tuesday, Troy opened his presents from us on his actual birthday.

It took a hour to open a handful of presents mainly because he had to play with each one for at least ten to fifteen minutes before moving on. Christmas morning may be a marathon and not a sprint in gift opening. Sounds wonderful to me.Troy had his two year healthy baby appointment on Thursday. His height weight are still about average and his head is in the 95th percentile. The big head enjoyed the Mr. Potato Head he just opened.

Ax Murderers Don't Ring the Doorbell, Right?

I got up early on Sunday after Troy's 2nd birthday party, cleaned up the house and it took me several hours but read the paper.

I never got dressed or showered and stayed bra-less in my happy pants and t-shirt all day.

Around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, while Tim was in the bathroom the door bell rings. I peek out and don't recognize the guy standing there so I ignore it. Two more times the bell rings so I grab a fleece, toss it on, try to push my hair towards the pony tail holder and open the door.

This nice looking guy is standing with a wine shaped gift bag and a six pack of beer bottles. Since I know the Skins were playing the Cowboys later, I thought this guy looking for a football watching party and was at the wrong door. He hid his horror at my appearance and I kindly said,

"Hi - You must have the wrong address."

He said, "Is this the Thaxtons?"

Uh - oh - "Yes?!?"

"Are you Deb?"

Uh - oh - "Yes?!?"

He said, "You may not know me but my name is Eric M."

I said - "Oh Yeah!" (thinking...Eric M.....not an ax murderer but somewhere in the depths of my brain it rang a bell..........) Since he clearly was armed with alcohol and not an ax, I invited him in. Honestly, I was more concerned with scary appearance and trying to figure out why the name was so familiar.

Where was Tim already?!?

So I make small talk, try to put the focus on Troy who was watching this all from his high chair. So Eric says, "Yeah, it's been at least ten years since I saw Tim and I'm down on an Army training thing at Fort Monroe...."

E U R E K A!

This was Tim's best friend from the Army that started when they were both in basic training together 20 years before.

Tim came out not knowing who was in the house and was shocked at who was standing there.

They spent the next few hours catching up on things. Eric came back for on Troy's actual birthday and as promised, I was more appropriately dressed and showered.

Troy in the News on his Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Troy!
His picture was included in The Virginian-Pilot's local stars section today.

I used the picture that I took in July 2008 at the Neighbors house because I loved the absolute joy on his face.

So far, Troy's birthday has started off on the right foot. After making noise to let me know he was awake, I came in and he did a belly flop on the bed and started laughing. This has become a new trend which is equivalent to running every time I say let's get a new diaper. He likes me to chase him and in this instance, he plays "dead" so I have to pick him up after he lays like a laughing pancake.

Troy's 2nd Birthday Party

Although his birthday is tomorrow (Nov. 18), we celebrated Troy's birthday on Saturday night. The Elmo theme ran rampant and Troy couldn't have been more thrilled.
Opening presents was very exciting and he got a lot of help from his friends.



He even figured out how to blow the candle out on his Elmo cake eventually. I'm not sure what he may have wished for but I hope it's not for a puppy.
Thank you to everyone for your generous gifts. Troy will have a second round of gift opening tomorrow when he gets his presents from us.Well, at least one of us was smiling.

A Dog's Life

It's not justice to not include from time to time pictures of our labs, Sydney and Sandy. Recently, they came in and migrated on a cold sunny, Sunday morning to the back slider where the sun was nice and bright.

I laid on my belly with Troy by my side and took a few pictures of our girls.

You get a bonus point for every time you noticed my slipper in the background.

TNT Picture Day

Today is picture day at daycare. Dressed in his new outfit, I snapped a few pictures of Troy before school. I'm glad he listened to me when I was pregnant and came out with blue eyes, curly hair (in the back) and his Daddy's dimple.It's hard to believe that in one more week he'll be 2 years old.At the last picture day in March, he was so scared of the photographer he didn't get pictures taken. Here was one I took seven months ago before school of his then new outfit.Wow, has he grown....

Hokie Fans in Blacksburg

I love Virginia Tech.

Tim, Mike, CC, Nadya and I set out early yesterday from Virginia Beach to the other side of the state to watch Virginia Tech host Maryland. For early November in Blacksburg, the weather was beautiful. The trees were still hanging on to their autumnal hues and it was sunny and 70F. Of course my fellow Hokies know that it could easily be a high of 40F today in Blacksburg because that is just how things happen there.

Here are some tailgating pictures. My fellow Hokie fans, I KNOW you recognize this guy in the picture with us. I literally yelled at him from across the parking lot to get him to come over to take his picture with us. "Hokie Man" is on every football highlight reel when a crowd shot is shown.

Tim and Mike - - Yes, he is sporting Maryland attire and we welcomed hecklers who walked past to make fun of him - - then to joke him wearing Maryland. Ha!More pictures are forthcoming once the girls get some sleep. Five people slept in a truck last night and it didn't result in much sleep, especially for the driver. Haha....(just amusing myself)

Sunny Days...Sweeping the Clouds Away...

Thanks to modern conveniences, our cable box allows us to "tivo" programs of our choosing so we can watch them on demand and without commercials. We have been religiously recording Sesame Street for the last six months because Troy is in love with Elmo. As soon as he comes in the door, he asks for juice, his shoes off and Elmo. It's not always in that order either.

Troy's second birthday is quickly approaching (Nov. 18) so for an early gift we purchased tickets for Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Green Thumb" at The Ted. Tim's boss built the arena so we used his box seats and The Neighbors joined us.

Although there were a few instances of being distracted and walking around, Troy really did enjoy the show.

The Elmo love affair continues. Wait til he sees what we got him for his birthday...

Pork Party

We had a good time at our friend Jay's party on Saturday night.
I failed to do two things, eat some of the pork he had smoked for two days and take my camera out of my purse. Luckily, Kim took a few pictures of the kids.
Troy and Morgan warmed up in the same chair.
Caught playing in the wild are Taylor, Dylan, Troy, Morgan, Alexis and Emily.

Halloween Night!

Question: What do you get when you put a dragon, pirate and a princess in a wagon?
Answer: You get our group on halloween!Dragon Troy and Capt. Morgan enjoyed their first trick or treating experience along with Princess Alexis, Taylor and Dylan.
It was a good time with The Neighbors.