The Drive Home from St. Louis

I never thought I would write about something as uneventful as an 8-hour car ride on a blog if I ever created one; however, we've made the drive to St. Louis so frequently, I thought I'd share a few images. Not to mention, this may be the last peaceful, efficient, and enjoyable ride we have in a while, since driving with a baby isn't nearly as easy as a three-year-old that loves watching movies he only gets to watch on long car rides.

This year we brought the cats back with us so they didn't have to stay by themselves for a week. It's actually quite entertaining to drive with them. I've heard that most cats don't like to ride in cars, but ours actually do pretty well-in and out of cages and unders seats.

Most of the drive Collin either napped or watched his favorite movies - Cars or The Incredibles and I enjoyed reading The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield which I HIGHLY recommend. It was introduced to me on a Mary Kay Conference Call last week by my mentor Barb Wagoner and is particularly relevant for anyone this time of year and especially for us as we take such a big step in our lives by Mike starting his own business. View some video clips of Jack Canfield about his book.

Our timing worked out nicely to stop at a rest stop on the Tennessee River in the mountains while the sun was setting. I have to say the rest stops we have to choose from are much better than our choices in Oklahoma on our drive between Dallas and St. Louis.

Christmas Trip to St. Louis

We switched our Christmas plans this year to be in St. Louis again so we could be with my whole family in Dallas for Thanksgiving and don't have to travel next year with a 10-month old. It's always fun to be in St. Louis for Christmas! Collin was slightly disappointed that we didn't have any snow but he was thrilled that Santa found us at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Click here to see more pictures.

We got in town on Sunday, then Monday was Christmas Eve so helped Grandma prepare for the annual tradition of serving 30 people for Christmas dinner. That afternoon Karen and Greg came over with the girls dressed in their beautiful Christmas dresses. We met up with Tim, Laura & Audrey for 5:00 mass and got to sit this year which was a good thing. After a long service we came back to Grandma & Grandpa's for a yummy lasagna dinner and some Christmas cookies.

After letting the kids play and dance for a bit it was time to put the cookies out for Santa. Watching Collin's face when we explained how Santa would come down the chimney with the presents, and answer his 20 questions on all the specific details of Santa's evening was quite a joy! I've never seen Collin so eager to go bed. We read "The Night Before Christmas" and I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face as he closed his eyes tightly to sleep.

When we woke up Christmas morning, of course Collin was very excited to see whether Santa had come. We delayed a bit so that we could all be in the living room to see his face and his FIRST response was "He did come...but I can't see baby Jesus, there are too many presents!". Voegtles display their manger under the Christmas tree and the ridiculous amount of gifts obscured the manger. Was it possible that we had somehow helped our three-year-old understand the true meaning of Christmas?

The day after Christmas all of Mike's cousins, aunts, uncles and siblings & their kids gather again at his Grandma's house for the annual gift exchange. We attempted to visit the Budweiser Brewery for a tour but it was closed. We had Collin looking forward to seeing the (Clydesdale) horses even though he really needed a nap after two days of none and staying up so late on Christmas. Instead, we visited cousin Kate's cute apartment in Soulard nearby and went back to Laura & Tim's newly renovated basement.

The next day Grandma & Grandpa had to return to work, and Mike had to take a quick day trip to Dallas for a potential job opportunity, so Collin & I had some time to visit with my family. We visited the wonderful train exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Gardens again with Uncle Charles. It's really amazing because most of the landscape is miniature trees and other living plant materials surrounded by beautiful poinsettias. After a nice lunch with Charles we went to my cousin Caitlin's house and visited with Daryl, Teresa, Caitlin & Maureen (while Collin slept on my lap), back to Laura & Tim's where she helped me create this blog, then out to dinner with Aunt Pam, Uncle Jon, my four cousin's and Leah, Clayton's wife. It was a great day, then we headed back to Belleville to greet Mike home from Dallas.

Friday Laura & Karen hosted a party for "Poppycorn" at Laura's place. Aunts Pam & Teresa & cousin Maureen came along with Mike's Grandma and it was really nice. Collin thought the party should be for him, and especially loved the diaper backpack I got and thought it was his. Here you can see him wearing it around with the shirt we made at school with his hand and foot prints as Rudolph.

Saturday we went to the Magic House with the whole crew, which is a favorite past time of mine from visiting my cousins and grandparents in St. Louis. It's changed quite a bit since I probably haven't been there in about 23 years but all the kids had a blast!

After a week in St. Louis it was time to head home on Sunday...

A FUN December!

Knowing this would be my last December with one child and enjoying Collin's relative independence and curiousity, I sought to make this a memorable month and enjoy every moment of the season! Each Sat. of December Collin and I enjoyed a fun holiday activity. Mike was working most Saturdays as he focused on getting his new business up and running, but we made sure that Sundays were dedicated church/family time. Click here to see more pictures.

I took Collin to see The Nutcracker on December 1st. We were really lucky to get some recently released VIP tickets that were on the end of first row in case we needed to leave. Surprisingly Collin sat through the entire show and seemed to really enjoy it. At the end of the ballet he said "Do we have to go bye-bye? I don't want to go bye-bye." That evening we bought our Christmas tree and ate out for pizza. We decorated the house the next day.

The next Saturday we went to a Santa parade in Kennesaw with our friends Carter (right) and his mom Amanda, and watched real trains go by while we were eating. That night we had Mike's new business partner Bill and his wife Phuong over for dinner.

On December 15th we had several parties on the same day. We first went to our Church party where Collin sat on Santa's lap and sang Christmas songs with his church friends while Santa played guitar. We had to leave a little early because Santa was coming to our neighborhood for a Teddy Bear Tea Party and I needed to help set up. That evening our new friends Andy & Stephanie (also from Texas) came over with their two boys Cameron and Conner.

Other enjoyable events of the month were Collin's school concert and party, a carriage ride after visiting with Santa, decorating cookies, visiting the Atlanta tradition of the "Pink Pig" ride (see photo of him with friend Katie), attending a gingerbread house decorating party, and singing Christmas carols in the car everywhere we went or while playing the piano. Collin's favorite songs are 'Away in the Manger' and 'Jingle Bells'. It is really fun to be able to live Christmas through the eyes of a three-year-old!