Over the Highways and Through the Woods....

[To the tune of "Over The River And Through the Woods": Over the highways and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go, our car knows the way, and it's a safe bet to say ---there'll be plenty of family to show!]

On Sunday we had our big family Christmas get together inclusive of cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, nephews, niece, parent and grandmother. Sadly, not all of my family could be there because of work and other family obligations, but it was a wonderful time nonetheless. Since everyone came from various parts of the Piedmont (Central NC), we had our Christmas gathering at my Grandmother's house (as tradition dictates), or rather now in her retirement community's clubhouse; a central location for everyone. It was a wonderful place to gather, and I'm sure the seniors in this gated community were surprised to see young people traipsing about in their domain. LoL. Our Grandmother, the family matriarch, headed the food line and we spent the afternoon eating and catching up. The children had fun playing together as the adults looked on and remembered when they were children at these gatherings, being chided away from the dessert table and running around playing hide and seek throughout the nooks and crannies of Grandmother's house. It was wonderful to see the circle of life continue these beautiful passages of time.

From Our Family To Yours....

Happy Holidays And A Prosperous

New Year!

Girlz Day Out

Girlz Day Out has been a long honored tradition of the gentler sex... a day involving copious amounts of carefree self-indulgences such as shopping, pampering, eating, and laughing (in no particular order) with your BFFs: Best Friends Forever. I did just that on my Girlz Day Out. Today I met my BFF Debbie whom I've known since I was 17.... my BFF Shannon, Debbie's baby sister.... and my BFF Pamela, my baby sister. The last time all four of us were together for a Girlz Day Out was when Shannon and Pamela were 6 and 8 y/o respectively, and Debbie and I had taken them to the movies to watch "An American Tail" and then to SciWorks (nature and science museum) to see the dinosaur exhibit.... and [snap!] here we were over 20 years later reuniting for a much overdue Girlz Day Out.

Our Girlz Day Out began with a delectable luncheon of Indian cuisine at Nawab's. It was Pamela's first time to try out Indian food and she was an instant converter. Because all four of us have blogs, all of our volun-ask photographers had to be subjected to an array of cameras and apologetic instructions to basically capture the same photo op, or as Shannon called it, "blog-op". LoL.

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After our spicy meal, we ambled over to a charming little shop that sold unique gift items such as blown glass ornaments, stained-glass wind chimes, and specialized wrought iron sculptures. The girlz struck silly poses, and this was my favorite.

We couldn't leave the store without getting our holiday "blog-op" with Santa. Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa was all smiles under his long wintry beard.

We lingered so long at the novelty store that we had to hurry over to Tranquility Salon & Day Spa for our luxurious hour of pampering and self-indulgences... but not without getting our "blog-op" shotz beforehand!

Here's a close-up of the Tranquility pose from the above "blog-op". I love this photo of the girlz.

Inside, I posed in front of the Tranquility fountain with my BFF sisters. As we were collected for our scheduled appointments, four girlz that came from four parts of the United States: CA, VA, NY, and NC separated and went to their pampered appointments of Swedish Massages, European Facials, and Russian Pedicures.... It was, without a doubt, a delightfully self-indulgent Girlz Day Out !

Soccer Tots Rule!

This morning I got up early to go watch my nephew Zeb play indoor soccer. Yep! You read this correctly. My 2 y/o nephew plays soccer! There is a wonderful indoor soccer complex where he lives that provides a soccer program for tots. It's name? You guessed it: "Soccer Tots". The program's primary purpose is to help toddlers develop their motor skills for soccer (i.e. hand-eye coordination, foot work skills, etc.) vice playing teams competitively.

Here's Zeb getting instructions from his coach.

Parents play a key role in the program as they interact with their child as they develop their skills. My brother John and his wife Holly help Zeb work on his skills of throwing the ball back into the game by throwing balls against the wall.

Parents are a major part of the program's success as they encourage their child's development.

"Soccer Tots" runs them through a gamut of drills. This drill has the toddlers running in and out of the hula hoops.

Another fun drill is placing balls in the middle of a parchute as tots and parents work on lifting the parachute, so little muscles can strengthen for play.

Workout is hard work, but there's always time for a water break!

Then it's back to more soccer fun.

Zeb is a natural athlete. He dribbled the ball down the field, and he kept full control of the ball the entire time!

AND HE SCORES!!!! WHOOOPEEE!!!!

I was filled with pride and elation!

I was fortunate to make his last game of the season. All the Soccer Tots received certificates. Here's Zebbie and his proud parents with his award. Waaaaaaay to go, Zeb!

Cyclones vs. Ice Bears

Mom and Dad came back from their Christmas shopping yesterday with a spontaneous surprise. We were going to the hockey game that evening to watch our local minor league team, the Twin City Cyclones play against the Knoxville Ice Bears. I called my siblings on the spur, and my brother John and nephew Zeb were the only ones that could go last minute. My sis n'law Holly was hosting a girlz night Christmas Party at their house and the boyz were booted out of the house for the evening. LoL.

My nephew was mesmerized by the skaters. Pffff... forget hockey! He enjoyed the cheer of the crowd and the loud music played overhead. His little bun-buns would shake to the rhythm of the music.

Our team's mascot showed his Christmas spirit by sporting a Santa hat ---

as did this fellow in red. LoL. We tried to get Zeb to take pics with Santa, but he was not having it. He wanted his daddy!

The Ice Bears (booo! hisss!) scored 3 goals in the first quarter to our 1.

But tempers flared on the ice and gloves were thrown off, as these gladiators on ice skates battled it out... and the roar of the crowd rose to a crescendo. Zeb loved it!

Posing with "Nana", a.k.a. Best Mom In the World!

The boyz rehash first half offensive plays and defensive strategies during half time. We were down by 3!

The Cyclones never recovered in the last half. They lost 5-2, but the hockey game was still fun. We had great seats... great eats... and family bonding time that was so sweeeeeeeets.

High Chair Chums

Launch your own Faux Magazine Cover! My adorable nephew Skylar is my cover model for my first issue of "High Chair Chums". This photo was taken at dinner several nights ago. I loved it. Although Skylar was suffering from ear and eye infections, you would never have guessed it. He was sooo happy at dinner --- and incredibly goofy. He and I would burst into maniacal laughter throughout dinner. It was great bonding time between us. I captured our time together in this fun blog project. Now, it's your turn!

Directions:
1. Go to http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php
2. Create an account
3. Sign In
4. Click onto "Magazine Cover" link
5. Upload a photo
6. Create Title line and other lines indicated
7. After completion save on desktop
8. Upload saved file onto your blog
9. Enjoy and Share!