The Polar Express

I recently took a ride to Birmingham, AL and then headed South a couple of miles.  This happens to be the closest connecting train station to the North Pole.  The ride from there to the North Pole is relatively short for the vast distance covered and we had an elf reading and singing to us so the time really passed quickly.  Anyway, check out some digital stills from the trip below.

This is not my first encounter with Santa in my life, but this is the first encounter between the 2 of use were we both did not coming away from the meeting rethinking our thoughts on his role in Christmas.  Remember this previous encounter?

Here I am waiting to board the train with Lala and Grand daddy.  Got my ticket ready to go.

Mama came along for the ride too.  Believe it or not she has never been to the North Pole

and you know my main man Dada made the trip.  He has been to the North Pole before but never by train, only by sleigh.

Here we all are (including Lamby) getting ready to start heading down the tracks.

Ok, we hear that Santa is near and we are both a little apprehensive.  Will he remember me, am I on the right list, did he see me throw Dada's keys in the trash back in April?  Is there a statute of limitations for being naughty or nice?

Notice I am in my Christmas PJs.  We are all invited to wear them but apparently I am the only one who adhered to the request.

Ok, here he comes, with his wife and  a couple of his elf's.

Here we are.  Miss Claus is very nice, smelled good and she even knew my name.

Here we all are.  Hope everyone else gets a chance to see Santa this holiday.

Frasier

Lets just get right to it.  It is Christmas time so we went and bought the best tree in the quad state area.  We did some research and this tree is 38 years old and comes from Orville Redenbacher's private tree nursery in upstate New York.  It came from the North East corner of the property where the acidity in soil is 2.3%.  The perfect level for growing Frasier furs.  Orville himself planted the seed for this tree and cared for it until his hip replacment surgery in 1989.  Then the current greens keeper for Augusta National golf course was its caretaker until it was sold to Home Depot in early Novemeber of this year for $39.97.



Here we are with Orville's finest.  I know the tree looks...well we all look a little rough around the edges but with a little tinsel and some shiny things we clean up pretty nice.

Here is a new edition to the Mason tree this year.  We only had 4 Elvis themed ornamements until now.  I hope that everyone has a pair of Elvis Blue Swede shoes hanging from their tree.   If not on your tree then at least in your closet, please.

Here I am helping with the tree.  By helping I mean standing back and not breaking any ornaments or decorations.

Also, a bit of sad news this holiday season.  One of my wise men lost his right hand in an unfortunate accident involving a certain dog, some teeth and a clothes pin.  Luckily he held on to his Frankincense to bring to baby Jesus.

Remember Scout.  He is back this year and is again watching over me with his sort of eerie smile.  He is good at keeping a straight face.  When I asked him if he knows Santa he just sat there perfectly still and kept that same grin.

Here is what the tree turned out like.  It looks a bit like Christmas awesomeness.  Merry Christmas everyone. 

Thanksgiving

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and I don't have any pictures of me with any turkey or dressing.  But rest assured that I was around of plenty of turkeys, also some pigs and a cow or two.  We traveled south for Thanksgiving, then East, then back North again.  We got to see most all the family.  Check out below for information about the trip.

I can't remember if I formally introduced you to Lamby or not.  We are pretty much inseparable.  It might even be becoming a problem.  Here he is on my tricycle.

Here we are at the fountain outside Hi Mama and GrandDaddy T's house.  Notice Lamby is with me running from the fountain as well.

Remember Mims...you know the cow Mims from last year.  Well this is Mims III.  Cows apparently grow quicker than little girls.

I call this picture.  Cows at Sunset

This one is called Girls and those Cows, At Sunset"

Running to go feed the horses

Margie Kate just showed Ryan and I how to feed Uno.  All you do is poor some oats in a bucket.  Pretty cool.

Look how at home Mama is on the farm.  Oh, and don't judge the farm by the size of this truck.  This is just the truck for little people.  There are big trucks for big people and a big trailer for big cows.

Autumn

This Autumn has seemed to last quite a while, which is not a complaint, just an astute observation.  Although plenty have fallen, we still have plenty of leaves to on the tree as well.  Fall usually brings a good picture opportunity or two.  See below...

I was in Meridian last weekend and got to visit with Grand Daddy, Lala and Mama Coats.  We had a good ole time.

This is a good place to be in Meridian, on the back porch in a rocking chair.  I just need a little sweet tea and a breeze and I will be good to go.

We took a walk around Oxford on Sunday afternoon.  There were leaves, baby acorns, daddy acorns and pecans everywhere.  We also ran into a squirrel named Skeeter.

To finish up the weekend Dada and I made some pizzas.  The problem with making your own pizza is the time it takes and the mess you make.  Little Ceasers makes pizzas in about 30 seconds.  Dada makes pizza in about 3 hours.  Not only does the dough have to rise, you also have to cook it!  And don't even get me started on the mess that flour makes.  It was everywhere.

My pizza was just my size so I loved it.

We did

We did go trick-or-treating this year, and I have the pictures below as proof.  Sorry it took me so long to get them to you.  Everything I publish has to be cleared by my publicist and she has been out of town.  Okay, look below for the never before seen photos...

Here are my scary and happy pumpkins.  We had a great time carving them and Mama makes the best roasted punkins seeds between Hwy 7 South and Billy Brewer's back yard.

Okay, the debut of the dress.  In case you can't tell I am Rapunzel.  She was in the new movie Tangled and asked me to wear here dress for Halloween because she was going to be out of town.  I have been growing my hair out all week to get the look right.

Here I am at school with my classmates.  As you can see I brought my candy bag as I was ready to go trick-or-treating even though it was 8:15 in the morning.

Ok, it is now Halloween night and we are at the neighborhood party at the pool house.  Here I am with my favorite conductor, Robert.

Guess who does not hang out together...Rapunzel and Chubaka.  He needs to go back to his own Galaxy.

Guess who does hang out together...Rapunzel and Jessie.  I was so excited to see here.

As you may remember, this is how I trick-or-treat.  In my wagon with Mama as my chauffeur.

Look who else was there, one of the dwarfs that knows Snow White.  He apparently knows Santa too since he borrowed Santa's beard and suit.

Jessie's Dad, Buzz Lightyear was there too.  He is so fast that the picture is a little blurry.   They don't call him Buzz for nothing.

Here I am with Snow White about to go get some candy.

Finally, here I am with the rest of the hood taking a hayride to my next destination.  Hope everyone had a great Halloween like I did.

Who had a party?

Just in case you have been out of touch with the Oxford social scene in the past week or so I wanted to mention an event that happened last weekend.  This event was my one and only 3rd birthday party.  We had great time and the events leading up to the party were great too.  Thanks to all who attended, including William and Kate.  I can't believe they came across the pond just for my birthday.

I awoke bright and early on my actual birthday and got to meet this little guy hiding in the corner of his tank.  I promptly and appropriately named him Nemo.  He is the only boy fish on the block with a pink castle in his tank and he loves it.  His light is also my new night light.  That's my jam.

Ok, fast forward to 2:15 PM at school.  Directly after nap time.  As you may remember from last year David Doss and I share a birthday.  That's right I said share.  Many of you may think I don't know that word but I do.  Now give me that toy you are playing with.

This is my "I'm about to eat a blue cupcake" look.

And this is my "I just ate a blue cupcake" look.  By the way, Hi Mama made it to the birthday party. 

Ok, fast forward again.  Now it is evening and I am all dressed up for my birthday dinner.  I got to open my present.  Candy Land, or as I like to call it.  I Win again Land. 

After opening my present we had reservations at Chef Bovine's new restaurant...Chik-fil-a.  They have great chicken strips and a play-room that is second to none.  I think Dada was the only one there in a tuxedo.  He said everyone else did not know it was my birthday so they were not dressed as formally.

Do a double take!  Its now time for a birthday party.  I was so excited that I got a rash, skipped my nap and put on a princess outfit.  Lala and Grand Daddy made the party too.

And where did this new Princess outfit come from?  Well Aunt Sissy of course.  (Programming note: You may see this costume again close to the end of the month)

Here we have the Lowery girls and JoAnna working on their crowns.  Papa Lowery was quite the creative inspiration behind some of the best crowns of the day.

Look at all these kids having a ball or two...or three.  Only took us about 2 days to get all 52 blown up.

I even had a couple LSU fans dressed in purple come to the party.  Thanks for coming Lala and Alma.  See if we can find some Red or Blue next time please.

Joe even made the trek across the driveway to the party.  And he brought his little Princess McKenzie over.

What is a party without a little entertainment.  We rocked the mic and tickled those keys for a good while.  I thought a flash mob was about to form.

Knox is all strapped in for a trip through the garden.  Knox is a big proponent of safety straps.

Jojo, also a fellow birthday sharer of mine made an appearance as well.  He looks like a 3 year old manikin in this pic.

Cupcake time.  I don't know if we had too many people or two few cupcakes but it got a little hectic for a while.

And the calm after the party.  I got my blue blanket and checked out all the wonderful presents my friends brought me.  I am checking out my new glass slippers right now.  Thanks for everybody who came.