Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Noble is 8!

Today is Noble's 8th birthday!

Eight years ago today our lives all changed (again) as this little man entered our lives. It's been such a fun ride ever since.

Happy birthday, Nobley!


Tuesday, December 1, 2015

A Taste of Black Friday



While in Granbury last Thursday for Thanksgiving, Kayci told us that she wanted to go Black Friday shopping. She didn't want anything in particular - she just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Kristi​ and I tried to explain about Black Friday to her and to explain that we had absolutely no desire to get out early and fight the crowds and all the madness that you see on TV. Be she was unconvinced. Sometimes you've just got to do something for yourself before you'll believe.

Well, there aren't exactly a lot of shopping opportunities in Granbury, Texas. Sure, there's Walmart, but there's absolutely no way that you're getting me to a Walmart on Black Friday. If there's going to be a fight or a trampling, it's going to be at a Walmart, and there's no way I'm taking my daughter to a public trampling. Not one this far from home, anyway.

So I decided we'd go for a much lower stress option - Michael's. I worked at Michael's back in high school and had to work a couple of Fridays after Thanksgiving (no one called it Black Friday back then - we just called it The Busiest Shopping Day of the Year because apparently we weren't the marketing geniuses that we are today). Anyway, I can well remember opening the doors on The Busiest Shopping Day as fifty frantic women and an occasional husband or lost hobo streamed inside to get all the great deals on dowel rods and eucalyptus. Plus, Michaels was advertising that the first 21 people in the door at every store would get a $5 gift card and that one super lucky person would get a $20 gift card. So those were the stakes, and we decided we could handle that action.

Oh- did I mention that the fact that the store didn't open until 7 played heavily into our decision? No? It did.

We got up at a respectable time and got out the door at 6:30-ish. It was 39 degrees outside, so standing in line for more than a little bit for Black Friday sale we didn't really want to go to to buy something that we.... well, let's face it. Nobody really buys anything at Micheal's if there's a Hobby Lobby anywhere in a 200 mile radius.

We pulled up to Michaels at 6:45 to find that the line outside consisted of zero people and wrapped zero times around the store. There was one other car in the parking lot, but it turned out to be an employee waiting for the manager to let her in.

Score one for the "I hate crowds" crowd. But it was disappointing to our girl, who really wanted to see a Black Friday honor killing in the parking lot.

But Kayci wasn't to be deterred. She hopped out of the car and stood by the door in a one person line. She even respectfully stood off to the side so as not to appear to be crowding the front door as a worker put out the Doorbuster bins. But she was clearly the only one there.

And then it happened.

About three and a half minutes until The Great Opening of the Doors, a lady pulled up, hopped out of her car and proceeded to walk around Kayci and stand directly between Kayci and the door. She had just cut the only person in line, and a 12-year-old at that.

Boom. Black Friday.

Kayci handled it with grace. She looked at us as if to say "what the hell just happened?" - even though she would never say such a thing. So we go out of the warm car and calmly went to the trunk of the car and got out my Black Beauty - the baseball bat I use only on Black Friday - and taught that lady a lesson... Walmart style!

Okay, so what we really did was get out of the warm car and just go and stand with Kayci for the next couple of minutes until the doors opened. I *may* have shot the cutter a couple of glares when Kristi wasn't looking. We got our gift cards as we walked in through the door, calmly. There was no pushing. There was no shoving. Everything remained polite. Three other people had shown up at the last minute and we all got gift cards. Everyone except for Kayci, that is. 18 and older only, dontyaknow - regardless of where you were in line.

And the cards we got were the $5 variety. I bet that line cutter lady got the $20 card. I hope she got a splinter from her balsa wood right in her her line cutting fingers.

Twenty minutes later when we left the manager was still standing at the door with a box of gift cards to hand out waiting for the first 21 people to enter the store.

But the important thing was that Kayci got to experience a little bit of Black Friday on a small scale. Luckily, that little taste of the devolution of humanity was enough for her.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

Posts from the Original Blog

I've recently run across some posts that both Kristi and I made from our original blog from when Kristi was pregnant with Kayci and when Kayci was first born. I'm going to be posting those here so they exists somewhere besides on my computer.

These posts are an interesting look back at a really scary and magical time in our lives. I hope you enjoy them.

-James

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Kayci is Blogging!

A few years ago, Kayci started a blog of her own. She didn't update it very often - after all, she was only five when she started it. But as of today, she's revamped her blog and is determined to blog again regularly, especially with things related to baking. The girl LOVES to bake.

So check it out if you get a chance and be sure to sign up to receive e-mails whenever she posts.


Monday, December 29, 2014

How was my Christmas?

How was my Christmas?

Many people have asked how our Christmas was. Thank you for asking! I can say without reservation that this was one of the best Christmases I've ever had. It wasn't what I got. It was so much more than that. 

This year our kids woke us up at 5 am with such genuine excitement (after having peeked at what Santa brought them, that is...). We opened presents and we played as a family. We relaxed and napped and went to a movie and took time to sit and read. And did I mention the nap?

We didn't have to hurry up so we could leave town to go somewhere and we didn't have to clean up quickly or to cook because people were coming over. And it was awesome. 

I got to play action figures with my son and snuggle with my daughter. I got to lay in the yard looking up at the beautiful blue sky with Kristi. 

Ten years from now when Kayci is home from college and Noble is in high school and all they’ll want to do is go off and be with their friends, this is the day I’ll want back. The perfect day. 

When I say “I wish every day was Christmas Day,” this is the day I’m talking about.

It was our little family just being and playing together. And it was priceless.

Monday, August 25, 2014

First Day of School!

Today was the kids' first day of school! Noble started first grade and Kayci started sixth grade. We had a fun morning and the kids had great days in their new classes.

Our yearly first day photo is little bittersweet this year because not only are the kids getting so big, but it'll also be the last year for a first day photo in the Little Green House.

Here are also some photos of Noble as he arrived to school this morning. There are none of Kayci because we're strictly forbidden now from walking her in to school on the first day. Frankly, we're glad she even lets us speak to her in car line.

We hope everyone had a great first day of school!








Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Six!

Six years ago, we had no idea of the joy that awaited us.  
This spring break, the only set item on our agenda was "celebrate Noble!"
So, we did.

The fun started a day early with a celebration at school.  I was shocked that Noble actually requested a birthday shirt, because he has developed an aversion to my "funny shirts that make people laugh at him."  Oh, okay.  So I let him design this year's shirt, and what he came up with is SO Noble.  

He's old enough now to understand that his birthday is the day he was born, not the day of his party.  


For his classroom celebration, Noble chose root beer floats.  A friend mentioned it last month, and it stuck with him. And they were a big hit with his friends, along with the mustaches we brought along.  Noble started a unibrow trend...because that's how we roll around here.


Last year, we told Noble that from 6 on instead of big parties he could have a few friends over to camp out or have a sleepover, whatever he chose.  Well, when he found out that "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" was coming out the day before his birthday, he decided that he wanted a movie party.  (You know me:  I'd been asking him for MONTHS what he wanted to do...even if it was a little party, I wanted to plan.  But it turns out, it wasn't about me.  Shocking, right?)  So, not quite two weeks before the big day, he finally decided who he wanted to invite.  This was the world's easiest birthday celebration--no invites, no favors, no cake...it's the opposite of any party we've ever done before, and it was exactly what Noble wanted.  


Around here, our tradition is to decorate for the kids so they wake up to a little birthday party.  Since we have cats this year, we had to really think that part through!



Noble came out of the bedroom at 6:00, which didn't surprise us at all...it's his new number, after all.



Daddy & I created a scavenger hunt that would take us through the activities of the day, starting with "get dressed!"



Thank you to all of you who called, texted, and even face-timed to tell Noble "happy birthday!"  


We let Noble choose breakfast, but we weren't surprised at all that he chose donuts (another birthday tradition, started by Lynn wayyyyyyyyyy to close to 20 years ago!).  Reasons #6798 and 6799 we love living in a small town:  Mr. Dale gave Noble a free birthday donut, and Ms. Dorothy led the whole store in singing "Happy Birthday to You" to our boy.  Only she forgot his name, so she sang to "Sweetie"--cracked Noble up!  (Or, as he would say, "cracked him out."  I don't know why.)


This is so Noble--while he was opening gifts, I had to talk to him about showing his gratitude better (we couldn't get him to make a decent thank you video for Aunt Susan and Avery).  I didn't realize it until later, but he totally taught ME a lesson.  Daddy & I wrapped up his birthday book, and that was it.  We didn't mention any other gift because it was part of the scavenger hunt.  You know what?  That kid opened the book and thanked us and we played with it for a while (it's the Wookie book, so the buttons make different Wookie noises).  He was happy with our gift.  And that was that, we went on with our morning.  When I realized later that Noble was totally content with a small gift and didn't blink an eye, I realized that he DOES get gratitude, and he could teach me a thing or two.  Do you know what he asked for this year?  A baseball bat and a book.  Jhido and Kayci took care of those, so Daddy and I were left guessing about what to get.  Luckily Daddy and Noble got out the bikes last week and his gift became obvious.  It was time for our big boy to get a bigger bike!

Noble's second clue led us to the store, where we let him pick out his own bike.  
Of course he had to try them out to find the perfect fit.  


And what do you do when you get a new bike?  You ride it!


After an easy ride around a parking lot, we had tons of fun going up and down the hill down the street from our house.  


I loved seeing Kayci's pink cheeks--
I'm so glad it's the time of year when we get to play outside!


Whenever we asked Noble what he wanted to do ON his birthday, he had the same answer:  Horseshoe Junction!  So, despite the weather, we went.  For the first time we bought the kids wristbands, and that made a huge difference--it was fun to know there wasn't a time limit, or that they could only ride so many rides.  The kids had a blast, and so did we!  The rain held off until the afternoon, so we got to play outside for a long time.  :)




After almost 4 hours and a yummy lunch, we took a break to go home and take a nap.  After dinner we went back and played for a couple more hours...the kids were THRILLED.  And tired!

While Noble napped, Kayci made his birthday surprise (his requested dessert was:  "surprise me!").  We are so proud of her, that she can bake a cake or cupcakes from start to finish with no support.  And Kayci loves being our official baker of the Pharaon family.  :)



She couldn't wait until dinner to show him her creation--Kayci had to wake him up.  I love how they love each other (even though they've now started to pick on each other...but that's another blog post).




Grandma came over for Noble's birthday dinner.  He cannot WAIT to have a wiggly tooth, and is convinced he'll lose one any day now.  It's been bothering him that he doesn't have a tooth pillow, so Grandma helped him out.  Now to have something to put in it...


Noble's birthday dinner request:  meatball soup.  YUM!

 


Kayci chose Noble's favorite color for his cake--I'm not gonna lie, I was worried about orange cake because I assumed it would be orange-flavored.  Thankfully, it was not.  :)



Yes, we let the birthday boy cut his own cake.  And eat two pieces.  


Noble will tell you he had a great birthday, and we had a lot of fun celebrating our boy!

And the fun continues...his favorite friend gave him a helicopter, and I'm not sure who has enjoyed it more.  Well, I am sure, but we'll pretend it's Noble.  :)


And the next item on our Spring Break agenda?  Nothing. 
So far, so good!


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Guess who's going for a limo ride????

Oh, I'm sorry--I meant to say, limousine.  Because every time I say limo, someone (ahem) corrects me.

Noble turned in his form today, with 21 items sold.  A big ol' thank you goes out to:

Jhido
Uncle Ronny
Bev
Nana
Auntie Lynn
and Grandma...

...thank y'all so much for making Bubby's latest dream come true!  You can expect your thank you in the mail just as soon as he gets that ride.

Y'all are the best!!!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Noble's Fundraiser

When Noble came home last week and informed me that he "needed" to sell 20 items for the spring fundraiser so he could ride to Cici's Pizza in a limousine, I informed him that he'd better get to work.  So he did--he made a really cute video for y'all asking you to buy stuff from him.  

But I can't get it to load.  Sigh.

So, if you want to help Noble realize his new dream of riding in a limo, please go online and buy something.  Anything.  Or, if you want to order from me, give me a call and I'll have Noble take your order.  By the way, if you want to know what Noble recommends, it's the cookie dough.

Specifically, the colored cookie dough.  

Cause you could make snakes and stuff.

And who doesn't want to eat cookie snakes, y'all?

If you've got free money and free time, head to www.joecorbi.com and you'll need this info:

Online Group Code: 70KRAEBT
Seller ID: 840065

If you're wondering, this isn't exactly how I pictured Noble doing the work himself, but you can bet he'll be writing some thank you notes.

Hopefully, on a picture of him in a limousine.  :)