Dockums Reunited

As promised, the pictures from our trip to vist my family, the Dockums. There are five girls and one boy in my family, so poor Andy is outnumbered most of the time. My brother was in Thailand and couldn't make it to the funeral and my brother-in-law had to stay in Phoenix for work, so there was lots of estrogen floating around. It's pretty much summed up by a line from the immortal movie, White Christmas, "Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..." These are just a few of the pictures. more are at to Bekka's blog: http://randekka.blogspot.com/ Bekka, Kaylee, Nanette, Nollie, Kira. My mom, Andy, and Ben are in back.

Ben with his doting aunties

Andy and I got pedicures together on Valentine's day. I am a glutton for pamering, and am a veteran of the peducure scene, but this was Andy's first. Gotta love relaxing with good reading material.

As you can tell, Andy's enjoying it. The salon we went to had a particularly good technician/masseur.

This picture makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. We discovered at my mom's house that Ben is severely allergic to dogs. Within a minute of being licked, he broke out in hives.

Gum Nirvana

As sugar-free gum addict, I'm always looking for a new fix. I'm also picky - strictly mint. A little fruity action is fun every once and a while, but it just loses its flavor too quickly. I love Extra because it's the perfect combination of strong, but not-too-powerful, and long-lasting. Up until now, I've been a religious chewer of the light blue peppermint Extra. But I recently discovered a new Extra flavor that I'm in love with: Supermint. I've only seen it in the 8-packs. If you give it a try, let me know what you think. What is your favorite gum?

Trip Home

My Grandma Maxine Dockum

Last week we took a spur-of-the moment trip to Washington for my paternal grandmother's funeral. Andy was able to get off work so the three of us hopped on a plane Wednesday night and came home late Sunday night. Ben was so big and pulled his Elmo backpack the whole time and he did a great job on the airplane. This our second trip home in three months, since my grandpa (husband of the grandma who died) passed away three months ago. Grandma was 93 and has had Alzheimer's for the past 8 or so years, so we've mourned her loss before now and I'm happy she can be back with her husband and my dad.

Even though we were home for a sad reason, it was wonderful to see my family. We got to take my little sis out for her birthday on Valentine's Day, get pedicures, eat lots of yummy food, laugh, and enjoy some sunshine. I was in a bit of a funk early last week and needed the boost of family. This winter weather is wearing on me, so I'm hoping to also go to Phoenix next month while Andy's in Alabama for his boys only golf trip. I'll upload more pictures as soon as I get them from my sister, the official photographer.

Fire Museum

Last week we discovered one of Columbus's hidden gems: The Central Ohio Fire Museum. Not only is it a repository of fire history ranging from the time of bucket brigades up through hand-drawn, horse-drawn, and steam engines, but it's actually in the old Columbus Firehouse dating back to 1904. They also had lots of fun stuff for kids and Ben loved dressing up in the fireman gear, sliding down the mini pole, and ringing the fire bell. The docents also gave the adults some good fire tips. One I didn't know: If a fire starts in your oven, just turn off the heat and don't open the oven door. The fire will burn itself out because of the lack of air.

Channeling my Inner Martha

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am totally lacking the creativity gene. So when our friends invited us to a fun Valentine's Day cookie decorating party last weekend, I had high hopes for a burst of Martha-esque inspiration. This was a serious decorating extravaganza, and a family tradition of the hostess for many years running. Alas, as others came up with sunsets and lacy piping, I went for the timeless and chic frosting with coordinating sprinkles. Chalk it up to laziness or the fact that that I don't like frosting and much candy (unless it's chocolate, por supuesto). What it really boils down to is why spend so much time decorating the cookie when you're just going to devour it in four seconds flat?

P.S. Just noticed I have frosting under the armpit in the picture. That's embarassing. Like I said, this was a serious decorating party. :)

This was actually Andy's second cookie. He ate the first and gave this one away.


Poor Ben doesn't look too happy about his pathetic wheat-free cookie and frosting. He looks like he's posing for a mug shot.

To the Rescue!!!

Andy went to the airport to pick up his dad at the airport on Friday afternoon and promptly ran out of gas a block away from the terminal after retrieving Charlie. Thankfully they just rolled off the road into a hotel parking lot instead of being stranded on the side of the freeway in the frigid, icy weather.

I had rolls rising, a lasagna in the oven and Ben had a cake ready to go (see below), but we ended up jumping in to the car, filling up our gas can, and racing out to the airport to rescue the helpless males in distress. The upside was that we bagged our previous dinner plans and went to Outback Steakhouse instead. Yummy! I highly recommend the shrimp grillers. P.S. I've decided that the favorite pastime of Ohioans is eating out. Every restaurant is PACKED on the weekends. But that's another story altogether...
Andy's reaction when we arrived

Trying to fill up the tank with our crazy gas can that spills everywhere.
Ben fell asleep on the way to the airport and missed all the action. Notice three trains clutched in his little hands. We never leave home without them.

When Grandma and Grandpa Come

Andy got sustained as the new Second Counselor in our bishopric today, so his parents came into town for the occasion. It's always fun to have them here, as evidenced by the following...

Ben took this picture of Andy's dad after we got home from church. Sorry Charlie, I hope you don't hate me for posting this. I think it's funny. :)

Our attempt at a decent family picture. I can NEVER get Ben to look at the camera, as you can see from all the other pictures below.

Ben, Andy, and Charlie galloping around to The William Tell Overture. Ben is the red streak on the left.

Running cowboy! He likes to wear this hat while he runs around to the song.
Three generations of Haws men. Again, apologies to Charlie for my poor photography skills.

Riding the horse at the grocery store with Grandma. It only costs a penny!

Annette and Ben made a wheat-free train cake to surprise Charlie when he arrived. It looked nice, but tasted terrible. Good thing Ben can't read to hear me bagging on the food he has to endure daily.
Tasting his handiwork.
Decorating the engines and dumping the entire M&M bag on the floor. Why not, right?
We decided to have a TV party last night. We blew up the air mattress and watched Wallace and Gromit (great claymation movies that kids and adults can enjoy together). Ben especially liked "A Close Shave" and my favorite was "The Wrong Trousers."

Ben at the Polaris Mall playplace. He got a new bulldozer and wouldn't let it go. The other boys kept holding out their hands and asking him to share. One little boy came up to Annette later and asked if she had any more bulldozers in her pockets. I can just imagine the kid's mind at work..."Oh look, it's the Bulldozer Fairy!"

This playplace is so great, with slides, cushy floor, etc. Plus, the mall is great, too. :)
Sitting on one of the fake logs.
Ben found these little chairs so we had a little relax. He said, "It's just my size!"
The best grocery shopping trip ever - he rode in the cart and didn't make a peep the whole time. Why didn't I discover this earlier???