Santa came!!!

In case anyone was worried, Santa did come to visit Hazel this part week. As we did last year, we spent the morning and Grammy and Papaw Burton's, and came back to Indianapolis for the afternoon. Hazel had a great day, and came away with quite a haul...

A SIT AND SPIN ZEBRA!!! HOORAY!!!

SANTA CAME!!! HOORAY!!!

A BALL PIT!!! HOORAY!!!

EMPTY OUT THE BALL PIT!!! HOORAY!!!

A SINGING CHAIR!!! HOORAY!!!

A CRAZY FROG!!! HOORAY!!!

MY OWN CELL PHONE!!! HOORAY!!!

Yes, Christmas was a distinct success.

And Megan questioned Glenn's judgement when wrapping things...

Oh, ok. One quick ball pit video...

Over the river and through the woods...

...to Grandmother's house we go!

On Tuesday, the family packed up, and headed towards Grammy and Papaw's. This is usually an uneventful 2.5 hour drive. However, if it was an uneventful drive this time, I probably wouldn't be mentioning it now, would I? On this particular trip, we decided to take a slightly different route than usual, but one that still should have taken us no more than 3 hours. So, we hit the road, and Hazel started to snooze. About the time we hit Greencastle (home of DePauw University), the temperature dropped and the light rain started to get a bit icy. We decided that we would stop for lunch when we hit I-70, about 5 miles down the road. Unfortunately, about a mile into this decision, traffic stopped dead. We then proceeded to sit motionless for 45 minutes. During this time, the two ladies in the car started turning into gremlins, demanding to be fed. So, we turned around to head back for lunch in Greencastle, but only made it about half a mile before traffic came to a standstill again. After another 15 minute wait, we finally heard word that someone had slid off the road and into a gas main, effectively closing 5 miles of the road. We were able to weave through some back roads and the hospital parking lot to make it back into Greencastle for lunch and to regroup. Long story short (well, short-ish), our 2.5 hour trip took us over 6 hours. Yuck.

What we all wish we were doing instead of driving in the ice.

Oops. I stand corrected. Some of us love to drive on ice.

But everyone was happy when we made it to Grammy and Papaw's!

As is tradition, the Burtons hosted their annual Christmas Eve party. This year there were approximately 15 guests, including children, grandchildren, family, and friends. As Hazel was the only one in her age group (the next closest was about 24 years old), she was the star of the party. So, to appease her adoring fans, she strutted her stuff in a fancy new Christmas outfit, performed her new getting-in-the-chair trick, and even did a reindeer impression.

Hazel makes her entrance, sporting fancy red shoes and Shiver, her polar bear.

Ta da! In the chair, all by myself! No hidden strings or wires!

Prancer, eat your heart out.

Daddy as a reindeer: not quite as cute, but at least he tries.

A whole McCain family of reindeer! Hooray!

Coming soon: We LOVE Christmas!!!

Hazel Lynn Who

There's nothing to bring out the Christmas spirit like living in the same house with a Who.

There's the Who music... (not music by The Who.)

The Who shows off her Christmas tree...

Some Christmas blocks...

And fills the air with Christmas song.

Whos like presents.

If only we knew what was inside.

Whos have an ever-growing vocabulary.

MMmmmm....Cookies

On Wednesday, Megan made "some" cookies (approximately 1.21 million). When Hazel got home that evening, she calmly stated that she thought that she might like to try a taste. The pictures below show the results.

I LOVE COOKIES!!!!!

Here cookie, cookie, cookie...

We have no idea why she took her shirt off. We can only assume that it some how helps one sneak up on unsuspecting cookies. Oh, and for those who hadn't heard, Hazel is now a walker. It started about a week ago, and she is already considering turning pro.

Meeting Santa

A week ago Saturday, Glenn came into the nursery where Hazel and I were playing and told us that he had gotten a special message from Santa who said that he was going to be visiting the Indianapolis Children's Museum that night and that night only! I had to work the closing shift at the library, but Grammy Burton (who just happened to be in Indianapolis) offered to go with Glenn and Hazel. Here, at long last, is my rendition of the evening...

First, Hazel and Grammy walk around to get the lay of the land...

When Hazel gets tired, Grammy is more than happy to carry her.

Santa brings all sorts of Christmas Magic... He even made it snow inside the Children's Museum!

Hazel, Santa. Santa, Hazel.

Hazel would really rather not sit on Santa's lap...

"Hazel would like you to know that she wants a pony and a Nintendo Wii." (huh?)

They say children are like sponges. . .

. . . soaking up everything they possibly can. We now have evidence of this fascinating phenomenon.

The Set-Up:

I have been sick this past week with a nasty head-cold/sinus something or other. I have also been working very hard on finals. So what do you do when you run out of tissues and you are too busy to run to the store to get more? You use toilet paper of course.