Back again

You know how when you get really behind on something, like perhaps your blog, the longer you take to catch up, the harder it is to do it? You think, man, it's been almost a month since I've posted - what do I say to bring it up to speed? Here's my extremely belated attempt.

We had a great Christmas. My parents and Mike drove down from Raleigh, and we enjoyed some beautiful weather and each other's company. Nathan had a ball Christmas morning tearing paper and eating bows. At first he was a little confused - we'd been telling him all week that he couldn't tear the paper but now we were encouraging him to do so. But then he got into it as we knew he would. He loved all his new toys and clothes and has a blast playing with all them. We knew since it was his first Christmas that he didn't really *need* very much - the paper was enough fun. It was time to get him some new big boy toys, though, so Santa came through for Nathan. Christmas shopping was so easy this year since I could let him pick out his own toys, and he wouldn't remember them come Christmas morning. If only they were always so forgetful... Nathan loves to ride around on the car and play with all the toys on it. He always has to check in the front trunk to make sure there isn't anything fun hiding there.

After Christmas, we went up to Raleigh for more time with my parents and Mike and a family holiday dinner on the Saturday after Christmas. My Uncle Bob, Aunt Arlene, cousins Dave, Kevin, and Jenny with her crew all came over for dinner. Nathan was having fun playing with his cousins, who thought he was a live doll, and we were enjoying him playing with his cousins, so we left him unsupervised for perhaps a little too long. When we finally saw him again, he had been "made over" by his cousins. The sash was stunning and went particularly well with the dinosaur shirt.

Last week, the weather got downright frigid for these parts - we had highs of 36 and lows of 14, which came close to breaking the records for the respective days. I had a YW presidency meeting down the street on the coldest day, so Nathan and I went on his first ever Polar Bitanic. Now for those of you who aren't Hendersons, a Polar Bitanic is a term my dad and his siblings came up with for explorations on very cold days. Fifty years later, the term is still around. Nathan got all bundled up North Carolina style - no hats, gloves, or scarves. He doesn't own any. I did put a blanket on his lap, though.

After that brief flirtation with winter, we've certainly been back in the warm weather this week, with highs of 75 or 76 for yesterday and today. From a low of 14 and high of 36 last Thursday to a high of 76 five days later. I love North Carolina. Nathan and I went on a walk to the river yesterday, but this time, no coats were necessary. We didn't need long-sleeves or shoes for that matter. The weather was glorious, and Nathan's favorite part was when we sat on the edge of the dock and swung our legs. It made him laugh.

My not so favorite part was the block incident. Nathan almost never throws things, and even if does, he doesn't throw far. Let's just say baseball is not in his future. But yesterday, he decided to see how far he could throw his orange block. It turns out he could clear the stroller and even the dock as his block went soaring out into the river. Thankfully, the tide was coming in and the water was blowing upstream, so it bobbed up to the next dock and with the help of a big stick, the block was rescued from a life among the cypress knees and rushes. After a trip through the dishwasher, it's as good as new. What a funny stinker.

And that is a brief update on the Reese's. Hopefully I can do a better job of staying on top of the blog in 2008. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Years!