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At long last

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've posted anything. I know below it says Oct. 31, but that's when I wrote that - it actually posted on Nov. 19. Hey, I have to defend myself and my horrible lack of posting a little!

Let's see - there's so much that's gone on. I'll start recent and see what else I can remember over the past month.

It's the most wonderful time of the year
Cousin Ele spent the night Saturday night, and we woke up to breakfast in bed from the kiddos. It was very, very sweet. Picture this - Nate getting pelted in the head by a Juicy Juice box along with Beau jumping on top of him saying, "Daddy! Guess what?!" I, on the other hand, had two, sweet angels (Brayden and Ele) on my side of the bed handing me apple cide in a cup with a lid complete with Spiderman atop and a yellow straw.

We both were presented "peanut butter toast." Here's the ever-so-sweet, yet very funny part of our "peanut butter toast." It was more like "peanut butter and stale bread on a plate." They woke us up to ask if Ele could use the toaster oven, but the problem is that she doesn't know how to use a toaster oven. So she turned on the timer instead of the toaster. And it's been a couple of weeks since I bought a loaf of bread, so we were down to the last few, gross pieces.

As good parents and aunts/uncles do, we graciously accepted and gave glowing praise for such a very nice and thoughtful thing for them to do. We ate a couple of bites, and when they were gone Honey promptly received a nice morning breakfast of peanut butter and stale bread.

As I mosey into the living room, I hear them all scurrying about in the kitchen doing God only knows what. But the best part was that Brayden was singing at the top of his lungs and oh-so-out-of-tune, "It's the MOST WondERful TIMe of the YEar. . ."

The Power Couple
In the past two weeks, we've been accused of being "the power couple" and "too popular." Both of these things I find quite funny since in KC we knew pretty well no one except for those of you reading this. And when we went places there it was rare that we'd see a familiar face. And Nate grew up there!

But this place is different, as I continue to point out in so many ways. The topic of this post is people. We have lived here for 4 1/2 months. I had a drink after work on Friday with a couple of my co-workers at a little neighborhood grill and bar by our house. One of the girls I've become friends with happens to work there part time. Her son is in Brayden's class.

Anyway, when we got there, I asked if Tiphanie was working. Strike 1, apparently. Then one of the teachers from Nate's school walked by the table and I spoke to her. Strike 2. At this point, my friend/co-worker Chris decides it's necessary to mouth me about how we've only lived here for 5 months (and it's really 4 1/2) and how do I know all of these people? He's lived here his entire life and he doesn't know people everywhere he goes like I seem to. What can I say? I know how to operate in a small town, a la Springfield.

So they left and then the couple who sat down right beside us happened to be the people we had over for dinner last weekend. Their son, Mackey, is Beau's best little buddy. And can those two get into some trouble!

The Bice's invade the Bentonville Christmas Parade
Stepping back a week, we were all in the Bentonville Christmas parade. Nate and Brayden were part of the float for their school. I've posted a picture of Brayden here. And Beau, Honey (our 2-year-old black lab), Nate's mom and I walked with Camp Bow Wow, our doggy daycare.

Now for those of you who know Beau, MiMi (my step-mom) said it best in their Christmas card. "Beau is. . . well. . .Beau. He's a ball of energy and the cutest thing you've ever seen." Emphasis here should be on "ball of energy." Imagine for just a minute this small-town Christmas parade. Between Beau and me, we knew someone about every 30 yards. And I have Honey on a leash - did I mention that she is NEVER on a leash? You can imagine how well that went over. And I did NOT have Beau on a leash. But I swear he needed one more than the dog did.

Scott that I work with, the one who deemed us the "power couple," said that when he saw me, I had ahold of Beau who was going left and Honey who was going right and I was strung out between the two of them. Lovely. Oh, and all of that with a santa hat on :-)

At one point, Beau decides to make friends with some innocent parade by-standers who had about a gallon of candy they'd collected just sitting on the ground between them. He apparently thought that being in the parade gave him celebrity status, so he just walked up and took some candy. Ugh. They were very nice and also offered him more. Just what he needed, right?!

So that's all I'm going to ramble tonight. Nate and I did finally get with the times and get on Facebook this week, so we've been trying to figure that out.

Thanks to everyone who has sent Christmas cards! Everyone's families are so beautiful!

Comments

Love the blog. Glad you are on FB! I miss that smiley face. I need to drive down there and enjoy some Changs with you and Ginny and Jen Price. Miss you guys!!

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