Fun Holidays

We are definitely not as busy as we usually are this time of year, but we are having fun spending time with family and getting ready for Christmas.

One night we popped some popcorn and gathered round to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Even though it's only thirty minutes long, the kids couldn't sit through the whole thing. Interestingly they love A Christmas Story the best.

 

Avery loves to put decorations on the tree. That's a good shot of the bed in the living room, too :o)

 

I decided to make goodies for our neighbors. I've never done this before, but I thought it would be a good way to meet them. And of course I picked the two hardest things to make--rice krispies treats and brownies. But they turned out cute. And we met some sweet neighbors in the process.

 

The day I made the goodies Daniel, Colt, and I were all sick. Aunt B saved our lives and called to see if Avery could spend the night. Um, do you really have to ask?? So they picked her up and she had a blast. They went to a petting zoo, ate pizza, and watched the Polar Express.

 

Natalie had her 12th birthday last Tuesday, and we went over to help her celebrate. We ate chicken parm, and all I could think about was Peyton Manning and the fact that Colt can finish the words to the Nationwide commercial. That's when you know you watch too much TV.

 

 

 

Wednesday we headed to Birmingham. Daniel and I had two dates planned at the Alabama Theatre. This is my favorite thing to do during the holidays. Wednesday we ate at Urban Cookhouse (yum!!) then went to see Scrooged with Bill Murray. It was my first time seeing it, and I really enjoyed it. Thursday we got there super early to see the sold out movie Elf. We got there at 5:45 for a 7:00 movie and still didn't get the seats we wanted. In two nights we bought five boxes of popcorn and four large Cokes...we were in a movie snack coma all weekend! Such a fun couple of nights!

 

 

Saturday started our weekend of family Christmases. We went to visit Peepaw, A, and Sarah Grace Saturday afternoon. I had to watch this joker with poor Lucky. They both finally settled down and were able to sit by each other.

 

This is what happens when your sister gets the Elsa doll that you wanted so badly. Poor, deprived Colty.

 

My sweet sisters. I can't believe Sarah Grace is almost taller than I am!

 

Family picture. I'm so glad my dad remembers to do stuff like this. I'm lucky to remember both my kids at the end of the night.

 

Sunday Daniel's family came over. Daniel and Papaw stayed up super late Saturday night making turkeys and stuffing. We literally had enough stuffing to feed an army. It was a little silly. Papaw's friend came over and brought her daughter, Riley. She and Avery had fun playing, and this is the only picture I got all day.

 

 

We are super excited for Christmas, and can't wait to see what Santa brings everyone! Merry Christmas, friends!!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We have been having fun decorating and getting ready for Christmas this year. Avery and I started by making a Happy Birthday Jesus banner. Avery knows this is why we celebrate Christmas, but as she gets older I hope to focus more on that. For now, she's more interested in the presents. We are looking forward to making a birthday cake for Jesus for the first time.

I found this cute craft, and luckily I drink lots of coffee so I had the main ingredient for the craft.

 

Avery and I have made tons of these cute snowmen for our family in the past few week. Isn't he cute?

 

 

Avery has so much fun with these. It's definitely a craft we do while Colt is asleep!

 

 

We don't have a chimney in our house, so Santa will have to sneak in our front door. I also had to find a place to hang our stockings with care. We have a barn full of old barn wood, so I got to work finding the right piece and nailing the stockings on. I found another use for barn wood, too.

 

 

I am in love with my makeshift nativity. It even survived the rain last night.

 

 

Earlier in the week we finally went and got our Christmas tree. Apparently Fayetteville doesn't encourage the use of real trees. Papaw told us about a Christmas tree farm in Huntsville, so we went to check it out. We've never actually cut down our own tree. Daniel asked the man if he was going to cut it once we found the one we like, and the man handed Daniel a saw and told him no, he could do it.

 

 

 

 

The kids had fun running around looking at the trees. Colt's new thing is to furrow his brow when he doesn't want to do something. Oh, and it's all the time.

 

 

It doesn't look quite like a tree you get from a tree lot, but it's cute and unique. Avery helped me decorate it. And Colt broke two ornaments. For those of you who haven't been to our house, yes, that is our bed in the living room. Our bedroom and living room are one and the same. Welcome to the country! You can thank Papaw for that one.

 

 

I can already tell he's going to be a mess with the tree this year.

 

 

Friday we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. To recap, Avery screamed her first two years, and they both did good last year. I wasn't sure how Colt would do this year. We put him on Santa's lap and he was fine. I think he even smiled a couple times. We got down and the girl said the pictures came out all black so we had to do it again. And this is what we got.

 

I actually like this better. I think it's hilarious when they scream. I can't wait to show them all their Santa pictures when they get older. Santa is such a trooper.

 

We can't wait to celebrate Jesus's birth and get to spend time with our family and friends over the holidays. Next weekend I will be attempting Christmas goodies for the neighbors. Wish me luck!





Giving Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Birmingham. The kids and I headed out Wednesday, and Daniel met us up there Thursday morning. We went straight to lunch at my Aunt Anne's house. As usual, it was amazing. I forgot to wear my turkey pants, and I was regretting it. Such good food and time with the family.

 

I didn't even fix this joker a plate. He ate a couple Cheez-its and a squeezie fruit. I think Avery ate a sweet pickle and the butter off her bread. Wish I had their appetites.

 



The kids' table. Poor Jack ended up by himself since none of the other kids ate anything.

 

Family picture. I always forget, and this year I remembered. It's hard to get everyone to smile.

 

This was the hardest picture of the day. I think Jack was the only one who smiled and looked at the camera in every shot. We had to settle for Colty crying.

 

Such a sweet picture with Meme!

 

This child never naps. After saying she wasn't going to sleep a million times, I looked over and she was racked out!

 

We had breakfast Saturday morning with our sweet friends the Howards. Avery and Fulton had so much fun playing and catching up.

 

 

Auntie Beth gave Avery some kinetic sand for her birthday, and we finally got around to playing with it. It's really cool. It's mushy and it stays together so you can build stuff. It entertained them for a while.

 

 

Once Colt figured out how to play with it, he had a blast.

 

I was a Mississippi State fan before I was an Alabama fan, and I have been so torn this season. I am so proud of State, and it was very bittersweet when Alabama beat them. So we cheered for both teams today. Sadly, the kid on the right lost to those ridiculous hotty toddy folks. I feel bad for Dan Mullen and the players. They played their hearts out this season. The little girl on the left, however, is hopeful for a big W! Roll Tide!

I love my Vet!

Happy Veteran's Day! The past decade has brought many thoughts, prayers, and thanks for those brave men and women who so devotedly serve our country and fight for our freedom as we fight in this horrible war. I heard someone on the Today Show say that we should also be thankful for the families of these men and women who also sacrifice much. I don't know fear and worry until my spouse is in another country on the front lines. Today, I honor and thank each and every active military man and woman, and also the countless men and women who served in the past. And, of course, this includes my incredible husband.

Daniel went straight into the Army after high school. He got to jump out of planes, shoot guns,and run a lot. But he also did something very cool, which embarrassingly, I had never heard of till I met him. My husband guarded the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. This is a very prestigious job. He was the 472nd person to receive the Tomb Guard Badge back in the early 2000s. Since then, less than 200 more have been awarded. It is also a very grueling job. You walk up and down the aisle at a certain pace for a certain amount of time. Day, night, rain, sleet, snow, heat...it doesn't matter. That tomb is always guarded.

I am so proud of Daniel for enlisting in the Army. It really saved his life. I even got a tour of the Tomb and cemetery by my favorite veteran on our honeymoon six years ago. It was amazing to see where he lived and worked for such and important time in his life. I can't wait to share it with our kids one day.

Daniel is on the far right.

 

 

 

So, hug and thank all the veterans you can find today. We civilians have no idea what it takes to do their job everyday.

 



Happy Halloween!

We were supposed to spend Halloween in Indianapolis, but we came home early and decided to spend it in Birmingham. Good thing, too...it was sleeting and snowing in Indy that night. Yikes! Avery and I spent the morning visiting some old friends and eating donuts.

 

I found this cute idea on Pinterest. However, I found out quickly that when you put a sharpie on an orange, it immediately quits working. Definitely a labor of love. We delivered them to my old coworkers at NSFH.

 

Nothing like a good ol' Krispy Kreme donut.

 



 

 

We visited Memaw, then we were ready for a fun night. I decided that we would trick or treat in our old neighborhood in Helena. The houses are close together, and it's flat. Plus, we got to see all our friends! After some fifty cent corn dogs from Sonic, we headed to Helena. Sweet Meme came with us!

 

 

Avery and Fulton picked up right where they left off. And I knew I wouldn't get any good pictures of Colt this year. Boy can't sit still.

 

 

We miss our friends!

 

 

 

 

 

We had fun trick or treating. It didn't last too long, though. Right as we were starting, the wind started blowing and the temperature dropped about twenty degrees. It was freezing! We hit a few houses, then headed home. We stopped to visit our friend Gigi in my mom's neighborhood and hit a couple more houses to round out the night.

 

 

Digging into the candy before we made it home. A boy after my own heart.

 

 

They did pretty good! This girl would have eaten everything in her bucket if we would have let her.

 

 

What a fun night! We had a blast seeing friends and trick or treating.

 

 

Fall!

So, apparently other places actually have a fall season where it gets cool and the trees turn pretty colors. Who knew!?! The trees in Indianapolis started changing a couple weeks ago and they are gorgeous! I've never taken the time to really look at the beautifulness that is God's creation. I mean, He could have just made the green leaves fall off the trees at winter, but he made them change into the most amazing, vibrant colors you can imagine. Add to it some cool weather, and life couldn't get better. I'm so glad we got to experience Indiana's fall before we left (yes, we are home in the still-hot Tennessee).

 

Can you get more pretty than that?

 

 

 

I didn't know you were allowed to wear hats and hoodies this early.

 

 

 

I hope he holds this memory forever. You don't see this much back home.

 

 

 

Sorry this picture is sideways. Couldn't figure out how to flip it, but didn't want you to miss this adorable face. Even with jacked up teeth and a mullet he's still the cutest baby in the world.

 

 

And the cutest little girl in the world.

 

As we got closer to home, driving through the Tennessee Valley, I was disappointed that all of the beautiful trees are still green. Better not blink, or I'll miss the pretty colors when they do change. Happy Fall!!