Sliding into 2011

2010 was full of change, the biggest being our move to Texas. We were hit with one last change before the new year began being the passing of our dear Grandma Beth. She passed away the 28th and with the funeral being on new years eve, it was inevitable that I would be spending the holiday solo (with exception to the two midgets I tote around). Chase flew to Utah Friday morning and returned home Saturday evening. The only entertainment left for me?...Sadie and Jack.
We were fortunate to have a beautiful day so we headed down to Central Market to feed the ducks and throw rocks in the water. We also had the splendid idea to get cafeteria trays and slide down the hill. The idea soon caught on and other children joined us. Sadie has been complaining lately of Texas' lack of snow. She was pretty excited to find you can still sled in Texas as long as you have a tray.
Even though Jack is grumpier than ever and won't eat ANYTHING, we managed to get a smile on his face once he saw the pond and rocks. The ducks had obviously been fed because they were lounging in grass surrounded by bread crumbs. They weren't baited by our offerings.

Jack even decided it would be fun to slide down the hill on his own...no tray. If I put him on the tray he strongly protested but then giggled as he flew down the hill.

I managed to get a cheese stick in Jack's system and was pleased as punch. I don't know if he's gotten picky or if his teeth are hurting, but I can only get him to eat his oatmeal in the morning. I've offered even the tastiest stuff, like chocolate milk, and he still refuses. I guess being outside on a picnic blanket distracted him enough to eat something for a change.
When we got home, we put "Grumpy Gills" to sleep and set about washing the car. After a few weeks my car starts to look like a storage unit/dump. Seeing that it was such a nice day we got in our flip flops and swimsuits and hosed her down. I had so much stuff in there I filled 5 recyclable bags to bring inside.
I love getting out the vacuum and cleaning out the car seats, crumbs, and foot prints on the back of the seats. After it was all clean we were wet and sweaty, but I felt like a new woman. To top it off we arranged the garage as well.
That night my cute neighbor (Ginger,you better be southern with a name like that:-) invited us over for a wild New Year's party. The kids ran around in the back yard, grumpy Jack occupied my lap and fed me carrots, and everyone else got loopier and loopier from their drinks. When Sadie's nose turned red we decided it was time to head home. I put the kids down, watched a chick flick, and went to bed at 10:30! I am so lame but I knew I would need my energy the next day if I had to tackle the kids on my own.

Chase had such a great time with all of his siblings. He said the funeral was amazing and so fun to hear all the stories about his Grandma. It really is a unique situation to have all your siblings around with no children and no spouses. I was jealous of his family time. I would love to head down to Zions and go backpacking with the Etherington clan. Hopefully it won't take a funeral to make it happen:-)