Wild, Wonderful West Virginia

Nothing like a trip home to make you feel like a child again. Well here is my little one amazed to wake up to all this white stuff covering the ground. He wanted so desperately to make a snowman. But, he settled with laying down and making snow angels and writing his name in the snow with the carrot his Grammy gave him for his snowman's nose. The snow was just too dry for snowmen.

Trevor, Eli and I and the dog loaded up Friday morning and headed north to WV. Only a few minutes into the trip, Eli is screaming wanting his movie on. The dog is whining because he wants to ride in my lap the entire trip and the bed I made for him with a blanket in the back just won't do. Trevor is obsessing about the dog hair all over the dash of my new clean car and telling me to get my feet off the dash. Yeah doesn't this sound like a trip anyone would like to be a part of. I get Eli's movie started, the dog chilled out and I wipe down the dash with a baby wipe. OK now everyone is happy, well almost everyone. I then take off my shoes and slap my feet back up on the dash where I like them! Trevor just smiles and rolls his eyes. We all get settled in for our trip.

We make it home safely and ahead of my Dad who is still at work. Eli is happy to see his Grammy, but he paces the house asking about Grampy until my Dad finally makes it home from work. We eat dinner then settle down to watch Eli's new movie Grammy bought him, "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Elis loves it but something he loves more comes walking through the door to visit. Kyla and the other girl as he says. It is my niece Kyla and her friend/family Ashlin (Ashwa, he ends up calling her). They play hide and seek with him and chase him around the house till they are worn out. He loves to hide and always gives himself away by giggling. The girls leave to get a movie and we finish ours and get Eli to bed before the girls return.

Saturday morning means coffee and conversation with my friend Jessie. But not before getting Eli settled in for the morning with his Daddy and Grampy. I get Eli changed into some clothes, fight him to brush his teeth, make him take his cold medicine and put some cream on these 3 places on his right hand that I have no idea what they are. Needless to say I am now not his favorite person after all those Mommy jobs. He crawls in his Grampy's lap at the table with a glass of milk, I bend down to give him a hug so I can head out the door (since my car has been warming up for 20 minutes, while I chase him around) he hugs me and spills the entire cup of milk all over me, Grampy and the floor. :) Sometimes you just gotta laugh or you will cry. "No big deal, just a spill" That is something one of Eli's daycare teacher used to say. We clean it up and I head over for my girl time with Jessie. She told me the night before that the coffee is brewing at 7 am. It is now after 8:30. Trevor tells me on the way out the door that the gas light is on and I need to stop and get gas.

I get in my car and it reads 4 degrees outside. After wrestling with the pre-pay pumps and a new employee at the gas station, I finally get to Jessie's around 9am. Thank God for old friends. She greets me at the door with her sleepy eyed boy Hayden and a big smile and hug. We chat about everything, anything or nothing. We play in the floor with her 2 beautiful kids. I feel pure joy. Just simple friends and family visiting, no hectic schedule or planned event to attend, just enjoy each other's company. This is what going home is all about.

We take the kids to Billy Bob's wonderland later and meet up with my brother Jonathan, his girlfriend and his daughter Rileigh. She is amazing. She comes to me like she knows me, this just warms my heart since she has only seen me a few times and she says Hi to "EI" which she says so well. We spend a couple hours there, Eli runs around like a wild man. I thought this place might burn off some of his energy but Trevor says "this place is like giving a crack head, more crack."

I enjoyed my Sunday going to church and out to eat with my Dad and Drema. I even got to run to a store with my good friend Jessie. I am always saying over the phone, come on over for dinner or just run to the store with me. Knowing good and well she is over 300 miles away and can't. But we did it, she picked me up and we had a quick shopping spree and then she treated me to Starbucks. Overall, I had a great trip into Wild, Wonderful West Virginia. We loaded up Monday morning to head home, but not before Eli tumbles around in the snow, more simple fun.

P.S. The trip home was uneventful. We did hear Eli say something from his new movie that made us laugh. He was reciting in his lowest voice "Major Rock Star" just like the chipmunk did after sucking in air from a balloon. Cute huh?