Okay, here we go.

We'll begin with Friday, January 2. My Alabama cousins and aunt traveled from Tuscaloosa to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. Their beloved Tide were in the game versus Utah. As for the game itself....well, let's just gloss over that. But they were out a-drinkin' in the Coco Club on Bourbon Street and I think they got a little silly:

There's Mike in a great hat!                            And Sara....who is apparently now a shriner.

So it looks like the trip was a good time, even if the game was--oops, forgot we weren't mentioning that!

Moving on.

Saturday, my friend Kelly came over in the afternoon to take knitting lessons from my mom. I had called Kel the night before and pretty much begged her to bring the kids. She left Victoria at home napping, but she did bring Christian for me to play with. We had an absolute blast, my sister Emily was there and got to meet him and I fed him his first contraband Candy Cane.

Playing with Emmy--he seemed to be fascinated. Eating a snack with Kaye.

Giving kisses to mommy.  And sitting on my lap eating the candy cane, he was trying to watch himself eat it, like he just couldn't believe he got to do this.

And this is probably my favorite pic of all....he is delirious over the just finished candy cane and you can see how green his face is after eating it (it was pear flavored and green, not peppermint).

Then, Saturday night, I saw Kelly, again as I met her and Mark for drinks. I also had Emily and Chad come with, and her brother Wayne and his wife Cassie were there as well. We were a jolly group out in the midst of some terrible, icy, weather. But it was a great time. One of the highlights of my evening (other than beating Mark at trivia) was the very end as we were getting ready to go. Kelly, who is a very hard working mother, in addition to being a full-time teacher, and she doesn't get out that often. Because of that, she sometimes gets a little, well, loopy is the kindest word for it, when we go out. She was cuddling up to me and falling asleep at the table, so we decided to call it a night. Everyone got up and got ready to leave....and then we had to wait. Kel had a wee bit of difficulty putting her coat on. It was hysterically funny. And I've got pictures! Man, she is going to love me for this:

She picked up her coat and seemed to have trouble telling which way was up. So she began to struggle....

...and here it looks like she's got it! But, alas, something went wrong with the system and her arm got stuck in the hood and she had to start over.

Now, Mark has decided to help and leans across the table to straighten her out. But, she shakes him off, because she knows she can do it herself. At that moment, around the chuckling, she really reminded me of her 2 1/2 year old daughter, Victoria.

Still having a bit of trouble, but she finally got Mark to leave her alone. Such a struggle, I would imagine after a battle like this (this has been several minutes at this point) she would probably be pretty tired....

...looks like I'm right! After finally getting the jacket on, she felt she deserved a little nap as a reward. And thus completed my evening with laughter. Thanks, Kel, you're such a good time! (Seriously, Kel, this was nearly funnier than the dance video....which lucky for you is stuck inside my phone!)

And so we move on to Sunday.

I headed back to work at Hamline, after a two week hiatus. Yes, it is nice to be off over the holidays, but I did still have to work my other job and I wasn't being paid while I was off. So, it isn't as great as it sounds. But I managed to squeeze a ton of fun into those two weeks, as you could see if you've read my blog with any regularity. So I worked until 4 and then headed home to my final Christmas of the season, with my nephew, Simon. We didn't get to see him the week after Xmas, so we were all pretty excited. Plus, it was our first ever Xmas with him.

Here he is digging in to the pile of presents. He started with the Cabbage Patch doll I bought him. Which he doesn't seem to like much, but he still likes it more than his dad (who is the guy looking on...my brother Nick) who made fun of me for buying a doll for a boy. I think Simon will grow to like it, and besides, it is good for kids to play with dolls, even boys.

He is quite the little multitasker, as he was sitting with grandma, playing with the new puzzles Santa brought him, when he picked up a ball and started a game of catch with his Uncle Zack (the gray blob on the right), but he still made time for me when I pointed the camera at him. A new trick, by the way, two weeks ago, he would turn away from me when I pointed a camera at him, for sure he wouldn't smile, but suddenly, he is just mugging it up.

I was keeping an eye on him for a bit, and he was playing with the stuff on one of grandma's tables when he took a moment to stop and check out the haps with the Vikes game. They lost.

Caught him! He figured out that by pushing the step stool over to the counter, he could reach the candy bowl. And here he is, with his little fingers in the bowl, snatching candy (this was after he was told that he had had enough!).

This was the closest he came to sitting still during his visit (you'll notice the blurry hands....he was still a bit in motion) so I snapped a quick portrait. But he wouldn't smile. Little bugger.

And that wraps up what was only one weekend. Yowza. And then, today, I found a little gift in my email. My friend Elena sent me a new snapshot of her baby niece, Grace.

Here is little Gracie, wearing a darling "I heart my auntie" onesie. She is a cutie! It is nice of her to drop by.

Last but not least, I have a non-photo related topic to mention. (Can you tell how much I love my new camera phone?)

I was watching t.v. today, just idly flipping channels. With absolutely nothing on (daytime t.v. SUCKS!) I headed for my old standby....GAC. If you're not in the know, it is the country music video channel. I don't watch it, because their programming is pretty terrible, but when they're showing videos, which is more frequently during the day than at night, I enjoy it. So I flip to it and there is a video playing. First off, it was a song that I have never heard before. That is weird enough, but I didn't know who was singing it either. Didn't recognize the voice at all. I was going to move on, because the song was terrible but at that moment, they showed a close-up of the singer. And it was......(c'mon, you had to figure I was going somewhere with this, didn't you?)..........Kevin Costner! Hand-to-God, Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham) is now a country singer. Movie actor-turned-country singer, I guess.

Am I out of the loop or something?

Did I miss the transition? The media alert. I don't think so (well, I did find that ONE article). So, I actually sat through that whole video (mostly dealing with NASCAR....yuck) and that whole song--really, really bad--just to see if the credits would explain. Maybe it was for a movie, or a charity, or as a duet with someone; only to find out that apparently he, Kevin Costner, has an entire CD out!

Wow. All I can say is wow. Wait, no, I thought of something better than wow.

Why? Seriously, Kevin, what were you thinking? Make another baseball movie, those seem to work well for you, anything but this.

Okay, I think that just about catches me up on the blogging. I know it was long, but for those of you who hung in there until the end....good for you! You should be very proud of yourselves.

As for me, after about 3 hours of composing this message (well, I was working, too) I am ready to file it away. Thus, for me, the holidays are officially over. Welcome to the new year.