Christmas morning

At first it took me a little bit to figure out the concept of "un-wrapping" the same presents that have been wrapped and sitting under the tree for so long now. I've tried to un-wrap them a million times and have been told no, and now today everyone's excited and encouraging me to do so.

Duce got a bone from Santa Paws and couldn't be happier.

Hut...hut...hike! Guess who got a new KU football uniform, complete with helmet.

Wow! My 1st Craftsman tool. Now I can work beside my daddy when he's fixing things because I will have my own tools.

All these toys I got and the box is still a favorite.

I gave Jesus racecars for his birthday. This time I brought them to him.I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

This holiday I am very thankful for all that I have. This is the time of year where I like to reflect on how lucky I am.

• I’m thankful that I have a warm home to sleep in.
• I’m thankful that my tummy is full.
• I’m thankful that I have a mom and a dad that both love me.
• I’m thankful for our troops overseas who are protecting our country as we celebrate this holiday today.
• I’m thankful for my family and friends and the love that we share.
• I’m thankful that I’m not one of the people stuck in the airports and unable to spend Christmas with my family.
• I’m thankful for my dog, Duce.
• I’m thankful for the Christmas holiday and all that it means.
• I’m thankful that I’m almost 2 years old.
• I’m thankful that I have a sad looking, but well-spirited Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
• I'm thankful for the wonderful presents I've received today.
• I'm thankful that I live in the United States of America.
• I'm thankful that I know the meaning of Christamas.
• I'm thankful that I'm alive and able to enjoy Christmas 2008!
• Merry Christmas to all and to all...a good night.

Christmas Eve...

is here! The tree is up, all the presents are wrapped and now we are just waiting for Santa to come. We've been tracking Santa and it looks like he's en route and won't be affected by any weather delays. I know that he's getting closer because I received a package on my doorstep from one of Santa's helpers. I can't wait for tomorrow morning!

My dad preparing the selected Christmas tree for it's arrival to it's new home when we brought it home on December 1st. The tree was glad to finally have a home.
Helping decorate the tree. Our Christmas tree. It has been agreed upon, by about every person that has seen it, that it is probably one of the ugliest, saddest, most expensive Charlie Brown Christmas trees ever. That's what happens when you pick out your tree in a blizzard in below freezing temperatures. Usually the first tree you see will do it. It doesn't matter though, it still full of Christmas spirit and is very happy to have a warm home to spend Christmas in.

Now, to all of my little friends...get to bed early so that Santa will come visit us all soon. Merry Christmas Eve to all!

Manning's tip of the day

To all my friends...learn from me. What should you do when your mom and dad are busy in the other room for 15 minutes?

You grab all of the presents from under the tree and run away with them to a secret hiding spot. If you're lucky you'll be able to get them all open before your parents catch you. I did not succeed. My parents busted me right before I could check out all of my loot. My advice...pick a better hiding spot than I did.

Won't this week ever get over?

The stress of the hoidays and winter has even gotten the best of my dog Duce.

Where's baby Jesus?!

This is a picture of the nativity set that my mom inherited from my Grandma Sharon's collection of holiday decorations. This nativity set has a lot of sentimental value to my mom and my mom has asked that dad and I be very careful when playing our daily game of the day, be it football, baseball or basketball.

Well, my mom didn't include racing in that request, and that should have been clarified for me. So, the other night my mom was doing a clean sweep for toys that had been stuffed in my hiding spots. Sure enough there she found my racecar and in it was her baby Jesus from the nativity set that she so cherishes. My mom was thankful that baby Jesus was safe and still in one piece, but couldn't help but laugh at the great discovery. She had no clue what a great racecar driver baby Jesus could be. I was really the only one that new his potential and I put him to the test. Also, my mom must've been sleeping the past few months to notice that I'm now tall enough to grab baby Jesus from the top of the hutch, that onced used to be outta reach for me.

More Race!

I probably say this 100 times a day. When I say it to a stranger they turn their head and anxiously try to figure out what it is I'm trying to say, but my mom and dad know exactly what it means...bring on more racecars. Right now, I breathe, eat, sleep and live racecars. Watch out Jimmy Johnson and Dale Earnhart Jr., there's a new boy in town. Well, gimme a few years and then I'll be ready to take over the racing world. I would say there's probably a 90% chance that I'm going to be involved in racing somehow in my future. I cannot get enough of it.

Friend of the wild

Went to the pet store today with my mom and we had a blast. We got to pet/hold guinea pigs, chinchillas and a parrot. It was so much fun and there were so many different animals to see. We went to Pet World, located off of 23rd street. In the store there was a sign that said they have tortoise feedings every day at 4 p.m., with the opportunity to hand feed the tortoises. So, we're going to go back someday to check that out. Everyone that worked there was so nice and friendly, and would assist in holding any pet that you wanted to see. I'm telling all my friends, so convince your mom and dad to take you in there and check out all of the animal friends.

Winter fish

A couple of weeks ago I got together with my cousins to celebrate my cousin Calvin's 5th birthday at the indoor aquatic center. It was a blast and I'm already looking forward to going back. You can take my sun away, but I'll still have fun.

Showing off some of my skills.

Baby body surfing

Cousins Madison and Calvin keeping an eye on the little people surrounding them.Birthday boy and Colton playing "King of the mountain"

Uncle Nick surrounded by little people.

Cousin Miles strutting his stuff.

Man, this is SO MUCH FUN. I can't believe it. Who would have thought that it could be freezing outside and 105 degrees inside all at the same time?

Birthday boy sitting upon the magical floating lobster, or whatever it's supposed to be.Ok, so then I got more brave as the day went on and decided to master the Dragon slide.

My dad was scared to try the Dragon slide, which was understandable because it was very big.

So, after some arm twisting and lots of convincing I encouraged my dad to give it a try. Way to go dad!