We are Magical Beasts

We celebrated a slew of Hunt birthdays about two weeks ago.  Caroline's birthday is notoriously looked over, since Katie had the audacity to have her on December 29th.  Robby didn't fare much better with January 7.  Sista Katie entered the world on February 9th.

Only yours truly gets to command a solo fiesta since my entrance into the world was perfectly timed in June.

We decided that the Hibachi Grill in Carmel was the perfect venue to display our idiotic tendencies.  

Genevieve loves a Japanese steakhouse experience.

I love ridiculous headgear.

I commanded Katie to purchase unicorn horns from Paper Source, since she hit up the mall prior to the party.

She complied, because...duh.

$40 later, we were ready to prance.

I didn't anticipate spending that much for festive attire, but Katie practically put me in a headlock until I wrote a check.

I now have unicorn horns for rental, if you happen to require any.  

The boys were all too eager to cross horns.

I enjoyed a cocktail to help me tolerate a visual display of raw meat.

YaYa and G snuggled the whole time, as is their custom.

I pretended to cook.

I forced the guests of honor to stand in front of this fountain until they had to flee for a restroom break.

The unicorn cake that YaYa brought was a fabulous finale to the evening's fun.

My parents took G for an overnight adventure in a hotel so that I could have a break.

Mothering a single child is truly exhausting.  

I mean, really.

Ha!

T and I hit up a whisky bar on Sunday afternoon because that's what everyone does after church.

I had the first whisky drink that I have ever enjoyed.  It was called the Violet Beauregard.

Last weekend I took Mother to see Beautiful, The Carole King musical.

I just adore Carole King.  I may have mentioned this before, but my father sent me Tapestry on CD when I moved to North Carolina in 2001 to start my first year of teaching.  As I drove my Sentra to school each morning, I listened to Carole warble "So Far Away."  I would cry the entire way, partially because I missed Indiana and my family, but mostly because the children in my first class were most certainly spawn of the devil himself. 

So that album has personal significance for me, beyond the message of female empowerment that she was espousing in 1971.  

It empowers me to know that I survived the year as a naive 22 year old, who is now most certain that half of those children are incarcerated.

The musical was fabulous and on the elevator of the parking garage I saw Karen of HGTV's Good Bones.

Like a normal person, I threw my arms around her and invaded her personal space whilst squealing, "It's you!"

Bless her.

She didn't miss a beat and responded, "It's me!"

In typical Jane form, mother inquired, "how do you know each other?"

Lord.

February is looking up.

Making the Best of January

We have been staying busy and trying to tolerate January.  It is by far my least favorite month of the year.  It's cold, dreary, and everyone is resolving to change their lives.

I just want to nap all of the time.

Genevieve received a pair of tickets to Paw Patrol Live from Robby and Meghan.

I convinced her that Paw Patrol allowed only daddies to attend.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when she finally sees through all of my elaborate deception.

They had a ball together.

They stood in line for a picture that Trinity thought was "included" in the ticket price.

Amateur.

$20 later...

We met the Hunts at the IMA for my brother's birthday.

The cousins engaged in a Japanese tea ceremony in honor of Robby.

I mean...how cute is this?  

My handsome honey man is simply a work of art.

Snarf.

G attended a swimming party for her friend Lydia's birthday.

Rosie and G were all smiles.  

We are still going strong with the violin:)

Christmas 2017

We kicked off the weekend before Christmas with a short little overnight jaunt to TH.  California Courtney took the red eye from San Fran, and landed Thursday morning at 6:20 a.m.  I told her we would be more than happy to deliver her home, but not at 6:20 a.m.  Court is a world traveler (not exaggerating) so I told her to pretend she was on the streets of Bogota, and to take a nap in the Indy airport.  She did and we picked her up at around 8.

G was excited to see Court and also the horses that reside at her parents' house.

She even packed a little bag of baby carrots and an apple for the horses.

It was a gorgeous morning and Genevieve tried to pretend she was an equine lover, but then quickly recalled that she is scared of most everything.

Court was very patient in trying to explain things to her...

just extend your hand-

nope!

Our visit was not as lengthy as I would have liked because on that particular morning my odd kid decided she was scared of dogs too. Teri and Ken have a Goldendoodle, and we all know how ferocious that breed can be.

G is sometimes terrified of dogs.

Other days she likes them.

When she decides she is scared, her behavior is beyond embarrassing.   

She squeals and tries to climb my frame and acts like a total weirdo.  

We returned home the next day.

Trinity and I decided to start a new tradition of spending Christmas Eve at home.

We went to St. Elmo's for an early dinner at 4:30.

The bigwigs at St. Elmo's had received Genevieve's memo about prints being in for Christmas 2017.

G was so excited all day that she refused to take a nap.  My girl still naps for almost 2 hours at preschool.  She needs her naps.

About halfway through our delightful meal she decided she was too tired to sit upright.

Awesome!

She rallied to eat a bit and smile with her father and her leftovers.  

We finished around 5:45 and still had time before mass started at 7. She started whining about not going to church and how it was too cold  and she was too tired.

Trinity drove around to look at Christmas lights and she came close to falling asleep in the car.  I was starting to doubt myself and my dinner/mass timing.

Trinity was skeptical.

Then I told myself if Mary could be the amazing mother that she was and ride on a camel while all kinds of pregnant, then I could get my daughter to church via a heated SUV.

Hallelujah!

We did it!

She even behaved and mass was beautiful.  

She was on the draggin' wagon by the time we left but was very proud of herself for lasting until 8:15 in big people church.

She was awake by 6:15 on Christmas morning.  We opened gifts and had breakfast together in our house.  We were already loaded up and we arrived at my parents' by 10:00 a.m!

Holler!

I was just bursting with pride over my accomplishments.  

The cousins were dressed as a trio of Starlight mints.  

I love that my siblings and I had kids who follow the same birth order as us.  They are spaced much further apart in age, but they totally align with our own personalities.  Caroline is caring, nurturing, and far more mature than her age might indicate.  Genevieve as the middle grandchild is loud, bossy, and the center of attention.  Robby is a big baby who is quiet and lets everyone do everything for him.  

G idolizes Caroline but intentionally tries to peeve her.  She loves Robby because he does whatever she wants him to do.

That's pretty much how my relationships worked with Katie and Robby.

The typical Christmas hijinks ensued.

Uncle Kent, Aunt Cindi, and John and Scott came for Christmas dinner.

Scott brought his lady.

It is hard to believe the twins are 23.

Of course, I'm 38.  

We wore our traditional Christmas cracker crowns.

We had a fabulous meal and it appears that I did not get a picture of my mother or sister.

They were there, taking care of everyone.

That's how they do:)

They are the workhorses of the family.

I like to sit.

We left for Owensboro on the 26th.

Shirl gave G this princess phone case and pretend phone.  It was a hit.

Abby loves a themed gift.  One of G's favorites was a personalized book with a matching pair of red shoes.  

It was a darling story and not the traditional story of the red shoes where the little girl can't stop dancing in the shoes and like dies of exhaustion.  

We opened gifts and had a wonderful dinner that Papi and Abby made.

The next day we relaxed and then went to the movies.  Trinity and I saw Star Wars and Abby and Papi took Genevieve to see Ferdinand.  

Shirley was smart and stayed home to enjoy solitude.

We had dinner that evening at Mellow Mushroom, one of my favorite pizza spots.

I loved our new tradition and that we still saw both sides of the family.