Pure Joy

Here is Payton's new train in action!

Christmas Chaos

It was such a fun Christmas morning with all of the Heckmans & Likens here to celebrate in the fun. The Christmas music was playing, the mimosas were flowing, the food was never-ending, and the repeated chorus of "Is my turn to open another present?!?" was heard over and over again. I guess you can't blame a 3-year old when he sees tons of presents sitting before him knowing that each one could contain a magical gift.

And magical gifts they were! He got so many wonderful gifts including his first real electric train (thanks Grandma & Grandpa Heckman!!!), and the cutest Lionel railroad crossing coin bank. And we got a Wii!! It's SO much fun and Payton loves to play with it too. No doubt he'll be kicking our behinds on the games real soon.

Here are some pics from the fun day...

Christmas Morning

Here it is, 6:43 a.m. on Christmas morning. My little 3 year old tucked tightly in bed sleeping like an angel and I sit here with such great anticipation that I can't sleep. My loving husband's alarm clock went off at 5:45 a.m. and since then I've been awake wondering what this morning will look like once the chaos begins. Right now it's so quiet and peaceful. The tree is decorated so beautifully with perfectly wrapped gifts underneath. There are no torn paper scraps hiding under the couches, no crumbs, drips or spills from the Christmas buffet, no one trying to talk over each other - or over loud toys... just quiet peacefulness. I'm soaking it up and taking a few moments to think back to what it must have been like over a thousand years ago when God sent his son to be born on earth. To become human. To experience pain. What must it have been like when he saw Mary & Joseph hold him and look into his eyes for the first time... knowing that only a short lifespan awaited him. Knowing that he would die a painful death on the cross for our sins. I just cannot imagine.

When I look back on all of the exciting, meaninful, wonderful moments I've experienced in my life, the birth of my son ranks only second to marrying the love of my life. So on this special day when we recognize Jesus' birth, I hope that we will all take a moment to think about the power of a baby being born. How it is such a miracle. How much God loves us to give us His son to be born as a human. It is truly a wonderous day.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Wild Wonderland at Zoo

We went with some friends to the zoo's "Wild Wonderland" event the other night. It was very chilly that evening (especially when we went on the skyride!!). But Payton had a ball and has discovered that he really enjoys rollercoasters (gets that from his Daddy). They also had decorated windows like the ones in NYC, as well as real live reindeers! Here are some pics from the evening...

Budding photographer

Yesterday afternoon we walked up to the little Village area by our house - kind of as a Christmas present to Rohy since he doesn't get to go up there that often, but LOVES it. Anyhow, I was taking a few pictures of Payton & Brian running around the fountain and Payton asked if he could take a picture. Of course, being a digital camera, I didn't mind if he took a hundred pictures because I knew I could easily delete them. But he actually took several really good photos (and a few with our heads cut off, but who doesn't do that??). I've put them below in a slideshow, and I think you'll be impressed...

Thank you!!!

Just wanted to post some "live" footage of Payton playing with his new Christmas train. Thank you so much Uncle Dave, Aunt Kara, Alex & Zachary!!!

Some Christmas Fun

This Christmas season has been really special with Payton. He is at the perfect age to experience the true awe and wonder that comes with the season. On one hand, he totally gets the true meaning behind Christmas and talks about baby Jesus and the manger... in fact, last night at a Christmas party, he asked me why the manger was called a "manger" and not a "stable" since there were animals in it. I love the mind of a 3-year old!

On the other hand, he is totally enthralled with the lights, decorations, Christmas trees, Santa, elves, every single Christmas TV show and movie, and all of the treats that come along with this time of year.

We've been bouncing from one Christmas event to the next, and loving every minute of it! Last week we went with our friends Rachel & Lilly to see the Victorian Christmas Stroll at the University of Tampa. The kids enjoyed looking at all of the different trees, but just couldn't understand why they couldn't touch anything. Here are a couple of pics...

Then on Saturday night, our community had its annual "Santa parade." One of our friends had a block party in their driveway and all the kids had a ball playing until the "Big Guy" arrived on top of a firetruck. Payton wasn't too thrilled with all the chaos that came along with the sirens and mass children running amok. But overall, he had a good time. Here are some pics...

Boys will be boys

I just had to post this photo from last weekend when we went to Orlando to surpise my mother for her birthday. After breakfast on Saturday Paca (my dad) had to take Payton to their favorite store...

Clearly, I'm still learning...

Okay, so it didn't occur to me last night when I was filming the beautiful light show at the new Wiregrass Mall that I was filming it sideways. So, turn your computer on its side if you'd like to view this stunning video...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I'll admit that in Florida it can be difficult getting into the Christmas spirit when the weather is still hovering in the upper 70's. But last night was different.

It was a crisp 60 degrees when we headed up to the new Wiregrass Mall up in Brandon with our good friends, the Bunkleys. Most of the mall is outdoors, with a giant center courtyard where they have a nightly Christmas lightshow (see previous blog).

As we were walking amongst the hundreds of other shoppers all bundled in their jackets and scarves, with Christmas music playing over the AP system... it really felt like Christmastime. Even better, there was a little "kids town" where the kids could run through different houses and there was a real "mini train" that the kids could ride. We even got a great surprise when we ran into our other friends, the Bravos!

It was a great night and definitely put me in the mood for the season. It's a good thing too, as we have 4 Christmas parties this weekend! Okay, I'm off to make some Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Hot Chocolate! Enjoy the photos from last night...

Riding the streetcar

My friend Jen introduced us to the streetcar down in Channelside last week. It's probably as close as Payton will ever get to riding a real train here in Tampa, so he was thrilled to go on a little adventure with his friends Max & Quinn. Here are some pics...

Christmas Carolling via Computer

Since we can't come carolling to your door, we hope you enjoy this little ditty via "blog-land." Merry Christmas!

We are Thankful

It seems almost impossible to flip through the morning paper without reading some really depressing headlines about the economy or the fighting and wars going on in other countries. With all of this bad news out there, we realize now more than ever the things that we are truly grateful for.

This Thanksgiving we spent the day with the Heckmans in Bradenton. Not only was it a wonderful day spent with lots of family, there was also tons of great food! Of course, what would Thanksgiving be without a little football? Brian and Payton threw around the football on the golf course, and then Payton played more football with his second-cousin Heather. In the end, we all left totally stuffed and ready for a good nap!

Thanks so much for all the hard work that went into the meal Mom & Dad - we had a great time.

Too early to talk to Santa?

Our large mall here in Tampa has their Christmas exhibit up already, and while we normally would wait until after Thanksgiving to have Payton's pictures taken with Santa... there was no getting by this one yesterday. We went with his little friend Lilly, and they had a ball walking through, touching everything, and even seeing snow!

It's the coolest Christmas exhibit I've ever seen - truly. It's all themed around the movie "Polar Express" - which, for those of you who haven't seen it - all centers around a train ride, so of course Payton loves it. It's basically life-size snow globes that you walk around (and through) to experience the movie. Then at the end, Santa is waiting to talk to the kiddos (for a nominal photography fee of course). So, it may be a bit early to talk to Santa, but what a neat experience for Payton!

S'mores - Heckman style

Last weekend, Brian decided it was cold enough to make s'mores in our backyard by using our firepit. Payton thought the whole "fire" concept was great, but wasn't interested in the smores at all. He only wanted to eat the chocolate (shocker). Poor Rohy wanted to get in on the action too, but he had just been groomed and had no "coat" to keep him warm, so we brought his dog bed outside for him. Of course, once Rohy got out of the dog bed, guess who climbed right in??? Good times. (thanks babe for creating such awesome memories for our family - your such a good hubby and daddy!)

Alvin & the Chipmunks meets Seinfeld.

Brian's parents bought Payton an Alvin & the Chipmunks Christmas movie and Payton loves to dance to the theme song. Unfortunately, my son looks just like Elaine from Seinfeld in that episode when she gets drunk at her company holiday party and dances in front of all her co-workers. Take a look, I'm sure you'll agree. Oh, and see if you notice at the end when his "jimmy leg" knocks over his bowl of dry cereal. Too funny...

ce

Savannah

I spent the past weekend in Savannah with 8 other of my college sorority sisters. It was one of the best times I've had all year. I don't think I've laughed that much in months! The chemistry between all 9 of us is just something that produces a lot of fun. Here are some of my pics from the trip...

Random stuff

I am just now getting back into the "groove" of things after being gone all weekend (see "Savannah" post). So, I am trying desperately to update the blog with all the pictures of things we've been doing recently. Here are some good ones...

We went to our Pastor's house to watch the Gators v. Georgia game (GO GATORS!!!) along with a few other families. The kids had a ball hanging out playing football in the back yard. And of course we were all decked out in our Gator gear!









This next one is of Payton at the zoo during our last "cold front." The poor child isn't used to being in weather under 80 degrees, so he was bundled up from head to toe! He got the worst chaped lips from the lower humidity. Poor little Florida baby...




This last one is of Payton & Brian playing a mean game of Blokus. Payton has recently gotten into playing board games, which is wonderful for us! We can finally play something that requires real thought and concentration. Of course, he cried the first time he lost... guess he has a little more to learn about being a good loser.

Halloween and other fun times

(Side note: check out that Thomas the train pumpkin - of course that's all Payton wanted me to carve.) Okay, on with the blog update...

"Is today going to be Halloween again?"... if I have to hear that question one more time, I'm going to lose my mind and start to think that Halloween really does happen every other day. Payton is convinced that it's going to be Halloween again this week. He had such a great time this year. From the spooky decorations, to trick-or-treating with his friends, to gobbling up as much candy as I'd let him - he loved it all! Here are some pics from our evening with our good friends who came over to trick-or-treat with us...

We had a really good time and hope that you all did too! Now... let's focus on some turkey!

Don't Mess With Texas

Well, I am happy to report that I was really surprised by all that Texas has to offer. I just got back last night from visiting my good friend Ashley and her adorable newborn son, Emerson in beautiful San Antonio. Although Ash was a bit under the weather during our visit, she was such a trooper and trucked us (us, being me & my friend Jen - another high school pal) around town (I'm in love with Taco, Taco restaurant), drove us to see the Texas hill country, showed us the beautiful Texas wine country (who knew?), and introduced us to the Welfare Country restaurant, which is located in the heavily-populated German area outside of San Antonio (again - who knew??).



I am so glad that I got to meet Emerson and see how my best friend from college has gone from my "fraternity party co-pilot, dancing in the stairwell at 2 a.m., duct-taping our dorm room off into thirds because we couldn't stand our 3rd roommate" friend, to the most loving, doting, compassionate mother any baby could ever hope for! As for Emerson, well... he's perfect. And that's just the best way to sum him up. :)



Here are some pics of the trip...

Trick-Or-Treat

Payton's new redention of "Trick-or-Treat"...

Just in case you can't understand him, here are the "lyrics":

Trick-or-treat,
Smell my feet,
Give me something good to eat.
If you don't,
I don't care,
I'll pull down your underwear!

Oh... the humor of a 3 year old. Priceless!

Wild Ride

We went to Busch Gardens with some friends of ours this week. It was a beautiful day so we stayed a lot longer than we initially had planned. Hence the reason Payton was literally snoring on the way home.

The entire day was really fun from riding the sky ride across the park, to the splash area in Land of the Dragons, to the kiddie rides and everything in between. But one of the more interesting things was our wild train ride. We always take the big steam locomotive around the park when we go (I know, shocker). The train goes through all sorts of animal habitats and one of the park employees always points out which animals are which, where their native habitat is, etc. But this train ride, we had two very close encounters with the animals.

First, there was a mother and baby rhinoceros in the African safari area. Somehow, the baby wandered off from its mother and got caught on the opposite side of the train tracks when we came through. So, the mother was on one side, and the baby was on the other. The baby took off running - (I had no idea how fast rhinos could run!) - right along side of the train (see picture). After the train passed, the baby leaped over the tracks and ran to it's mother's side. I have a feeling he was going straight into "time out" for that one!

The second encounter was funnier. My friend Jen was on the opposite side of the train from me, and we were sitting backwards on the train since we were in the last row of the train car. I started seeing all these people grab their camera and point and laugh and then I heard over the loud speaker, "Please do not attempt to pet the ostrich!" And just about that time my friend looked over her shoulder and - I'm not exaggerating - the ostrich was about 10 inches from her face! It was hysterical! I wish I had my camera rolling for that one.
And one other close encounter we had was in "Jungala" where they have these beautiful tigers in this amazing habitat. There are several viewing areas where there is nothing but a few inches of plate glass standing between you and these amazing creatures. This particular tiger seemed quite interested in our two boys and stared long and hard at them... but in a curious way, not in an "I want to eat you" kind of way. It was very interesting!

Here are some more photos from the day:

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween

So, as stated in my previous email, I love fall and all the festivities that come along with it. Months ago, Brian and I decided to take Payton to Disney World for "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party." When we made this decision, we involved Payton by "saving up" for the tickets. As you can imagine, it's not cheap to go to Disney these days - even if it's only for a special evening event. So for example, when we would be in Target and Payton would ask me to buy him a new toy, I would remind him that we were saving our money to "go see Mickey for Halloween." So for several months now we've been talking about this event and Payton has been so excited to go. Finally, the day arrived on Thursday! He was so thrilled he could hardly wait until 7 p.m. when they allow you into the park.
And may I just say, that if we had to pick a day/time to go to Disney, this would be it! It was so nice and cool out. And even though there were a lot of people, it wasn't so crowded that you couldn't just walk up to any ride and get right on. In fact, the only ride we had to wait for was Dumbo, and that we the very last thing Payton rode.
It was so much fun seeing the park decorated for Halloween. There must have been a thousand jack-0-lanterns throughout the park. There were trick-or-treating stations set up throughout the park where the Disney employees - I'm sorry, "cast members" - would give out handfuls of candy into the gift bags they gave out at the entrance. There was also free (can you believe Disney gave out something for FREE???) facepainting, a Halloween parade, a huge fireworks display, and of course all the characters were dressed up in costumes. All in all, it was a fantastic event and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
Oh - and apparently you don't have to be a kid to enjoy this event, as Brian and I were definitely in the minority since we didn't come dressed in costumes. We saw more adults dressed up last night than the best costume party we've ever attended! We saw adult couples (with no kids mind you) dressed up as Cinderella and Prince Charming, we saw husbands and wives dressed as hippies, and entire familes dressed up in themes such as Peter Pan (Mom), Captain Hook (Dad), Wendy (daughter), and Tinkerbell (other daughter). It was crazy!
And we were quiet surprised that Payton lasted until 11:45 p.m.!!! He was in the best mood, never fussy, just full of energy until we got onto the monorail and it was quiet and dark... and boom - he was out like a light!

Happy Halloween everyone!

I Love Fall!

I love fall. No, really... I love it. In fact, it's become quite a joke in my family that I decorate long before the actual holiday is approaching, and I milk it for all that it is worth. Here are a few examples of how I induldge in this season...



1. I began decorating with fall leaves, pumpkins and candy corn back in early September.

2. Starbucks non-fat, pumpkin spice latte. Enough said.

2. I've made some sort of meal with pumpkin in it for the past several weeks (Payton adores the pumpkin-pecan pancakes, whereas I fell in love with the pumpkin sage risotto I made for dinner last night). Also I've been drinking pumpkin-spice creamer in my coffee for weeks now (yikes - the calories!!), and yesterday I bought gingerbread and peppermint mocha creamer as well (I might as just well live at the YMCA this fall)...

3. Last Saturday we went to 3 different stores just to browse around the Halloween (and Christmas) decorations. Payton has definitely inherited this gene from me because I think he had more fun than I did!

4. The local pumpkin patch opened up on Monday and I was bummed that I didn't get there for opening day... so we went first thing when it opened this morning. Payton had an absolute ball running through the piles of pumpkins, checking out the scary characters hanging from the trees and searching through mounds of tiny pumpkins to find one "just his size."

5. Lastly... hide your scales people... the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard at Dairy Queen... oh, it's so dangerous I can't even begin to tell you.

AND... it was actually so cool last night at Brian's softball game that I wished I had brought a sweater with me! I LOVE FALL!!!

Thanks Aunt Jenny!

Gotta throw some love out to our sweet Aunt Jenny. She sent Payton the cutest Halloween card with a sheet of Halloween stickers.

He absolutely loved them and immediately wanted to put all the stickers onto paper and other various surfaces around the house. Thanks Aunt Jenny for always being so thoughtful and remembering how much kids love to get things in the mail! You're the best! We love you.

Why is this SO funny???

Payton thinks it is absolutely hillarious when Brian pretends to run into walls and falls down like he's hurt. Why is this? Why do children find it so funny when people pretend to get hurt?

It boggled my mind, until the other day when I recalled a memory from several years ago... We were living in a condo and Brian was BBQing in our back patio. When he turned on the grill a mouse jumped out of the bottom and went running for cover. Of course it surprised Brian and he went running too... right into the closed sliding glass door! I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. How awful is that?!? Fortunately, he wasn't hurt... but I still chuckle every time I think about it. So, I guess it's not too odd that Payton finds this sooooo funny.... take a look...

More Photos from Train Show

Busy, busy, busy!

This past weekend was busy, busy, busy! Payton & I were so fortunate to go spend 3 days at our friend's beach condo in beautiful Longboat Key. Payton had an absolute ball playing on the beach, at the pool, and even in the condo's courtyard area. They scoured the tall trees for long sticks that had dropped on the ground and then march around with them making up various games. Of course, this gave me & my friend Rachel lots of time to relax with our coffee and enjoy the cool morning breeze as they occupied themselves with the sticks.


The days were spent playing on the beach for hours and hours. They loved walking the beach, finding coquina shell habitats in the shallow waters, searching for seashells (or crabs or coconuts), chasing the sandpipers and seagulls and covering themselves with as much sand as humanly possible. We had a wonderful time! (Thank you so much Rachel!!)

Then today after church we headed out to the 55th Annual H&R Train Show out in Pinellas Park. The show was at the same train store where Payton previously had a huge meltdown (see previous blog post), however this time, we made sure he understood that we were NOT buying anything.

And that the show was just for looking.
He did so much better - actually, he was perfectly behaved the entire time. There were more than 40 train displays set up and he walked from train to train with the most wide eyes. He studied each set up and watched so carefully as each train passed by. It was the most adorable thing. Of course, Brian couldn't pass up the big sale they were having and purchased an entire electric set for Payton, which he will not get until Christmas. All in all, it was a huge success.

So, it was a busy weekend full of fun activities. And the Gators won, which makes it even that much better! Too bad the Rays couldn't pull out a win tonight. Oh well... there's always tomorrow night...