It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Whew! It's getting harder to keep up with this blog! We have been having fun so far this holiday season. I need to slow down and cherish this time we have as the last Christmas as a family of four.

We had a good Thanksgiving. It was our first one with just our family...plus Papaw. We stayed in Fayetteville since Daniel's work schedule is day to day. Which also meant that I cooked my very first Thanksgiving dinner...minus the turkey. I cooked and cooked and cooked, then it took us maybe 15 minutes to eat. It sure was delicious, though. Daniel smoked and fried turkeys. I made dressing, vegetable casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce, and my favorite, sweet pickles.

We have so much to be thankful for, and I'm trying to acknowledge that everyday and not just this time of year. Papaw stayed with us for two weeks, and gave us something we've been wanting for a while...a porch!! He and Daniel worked so hard and built this amazing porch for us to enjoy. I can't wait for great weather so the kids can play on it all day.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Day turned out to be a beautiful, warm day, and the kids had a blast playing outside.

 

The Friday before Thanksgiving Avery had a Thanksgiving lunch at school. Daniel and I were able to go, and we enjoyed eating lunch with our girl.

 

Notice Avery still has her regular lunch that I pack. I think for Thanksgiving she ate a pickle and Colt ate some circle crackers (Ritz). Oh, to have that much energy and never want to eat.

 

We went a week or so ago and got our Christmas tree. This year we decided to go to a lot instead of cutting our own. It's so pretty, and the kids did a good job helping me decorate. I thought I was over having to worry about Colt playing with the tree. But, no...this is the year he wants to touch everything. He's already broken an ornament.

 

We got a letter to Santa at the library, and Avery wrote hers and mailed it. She told Santa she wants a stamp set and Colt wants a Thomas the train. My girl is getting so big and smart. I'm so proud of her writing.

 

The Christmas after Avery was born I bought her a recordable A Charlie Brown Christmas book. My sweet friend Jenny's husband is British and I'm obsessed with his accent so he graciously recorded the book for us. We still adore it!!

 

Last week I went to Avery's school to help her decorate a gingerbread house. Luckily they already had the houses built and the icing on them. All the kids had to do was decorate with tons and tons of candy. And all Mommy had to do was not eat it! You could tell which parents told their kids where to put the candy, and which let the kids go wild. I was the latter. It turned out super cute.

 

A couple weeks ago at dance, the parents got to watch. My sweet Avery surprised me! She was very good, she didn't get embarrassed, and she was having so much fun! That's her in the purple leotard next to the girl in red. She is a natural!

 

I almost forgot about these cuties!! Colt and I were in Huntsville shopping and we were able to meet up with my friend Courtney and her little boy Vaughan for lunch. Colt is about 3 months older, and they are so cute together! I wish we lived closer so they could play more often!

 

Saturday was breakfast with Santa at the high school. Avery's dance class got to perform. This was before when we were practicing. I hope Daniel got some good pictures on his phone, because this is the only one I got! She did so good, though!! She didn't get stage fright, and was about the best one out there! I'm so proud of what she's done so far!

 

My mom got the kids this advent wreath at her church, and we are so enjoying it. Yesterday was the second Sunday in advent, so we lit two candles and read our daily verse. This was good because they both love blowing out candles. The verse was about how Mary was pregnant. I told Avery that meant Mary had a baby in her belly and that God put the baby there. She said, "God put himself in Mary's belly?" That girl is wise beyond her years. I bet there are adults who don't understand that God and Jesus are one and the same. I'm glad Avery is at the age where she understands why we celebrate Christmas. I think it's ok to acknowledge Santa as a Christmas tradition as long as we understand that is not what Christmas is all about.

My Avery knows this well...

She is just a little sponge, and we have to be sure to fill her up with truth and not junk that so often comes out of our mouths. I'm so excited to see where her journey to and through Christ takes her.

 

Last night was the Christmas musical at church that is done by the children. It had a really great message about paying it forward. They children did an awesome job, and I can't wait for these kiddos to be a part of it. Neither of these kids have an attention span longer than a puppy's. I thought Avery would be able to sit through it...wrong. Question: does the whining phase ever end?? Oh, I sure hope so! At least for my patient's sake.

 

As we get closer to Christmas I am constantly having to remind myself not to get stressed over tiny details. It doesn't matter if we can't decide on a time for the get together. It doesn't matter if the presents aren't good or plentiful enough. All that matters is God sent his only Son to earth to be flesh and bone. And this Son, Jesus, came only to die a painful death so that I wouldn't have to. All I need is Jesus, and Jesus is enough.





Host of Christmas Past

Every year around this time, my little town puts on a street festival in the town square called Host of Christmas Past. This was our first year, and I felt a little like a resident of Stars Hollow (which has always been a dream of mine) but a little more redneck. There was food, crafts, music, and tons of things for kids to do. Daniel had to work so I ventured out on my own with the two rugrats. Luckily we found a prime parking spot in our church parking lot which was close to the kids area. And of course we started out playing in the snow.

It was a good wait to get into the snow, but it was worth it. They threw tons of snowballs and had a blast. I, meanwhile, was burning up. The day started at 29 degrees, but by the time we got to that crowded black top parking lot around noon, I was pretty hot.

 

I don't think any kid can resist a good bounce house. Luckily there was a 5 minute time limit enforced. My little stinker didn't quite understand that, and the sweet teenager had to chase him through the bounce house to get him out. It was pretty funny.

 

It was time to head to the library for a fun (and free) Polar Express party. We got to eat some yummy Christmas cookies and drink hot chocolate. That same little stinker spilled a whole cup of hot chocolate on the floor. We got to watch a reading of the sweet book. I tear up a little every time I hear the ending of the story. I was a little tired and there were a lot of children so we skipped the craft and walked to the square to see the pretty decorations and run around a little.

 

I was surprised to see Mr. President himself, old Honest Abe. He was doing an interview right where we were standing.

 

 A local symphony was performing some amazing Christmas music. I could have listened to it all day.

 

We had walked past these croquet and checker sets a couple times, and Avery kept begging to play. I paid a silly amount of money for them to play, but they also got their faces painted. Too bad it was the end of the day and oh so close to bath time.

 

Avery chose a cute Rudolph. The girl was really talented.

 

Colt man's face was cracking me up. He looks cute with his Santa.

 

We had such a fun afternoon. I will definitely appreciate an extra set of hands next year! I'm still not sold on moving to a small town in your mid 30s, but this made me happy to live in one...even if it's not Stars Hollow...



Happy Halloween!

We had a fun and eventful Halloween this year! I met my mom the Wednesday before to give her Colt for the rest of the week. Then she was going to bring him home on Halloween and bring Tate too. My stepmom told me about a fall festival at her church in Huntsville, so we decided to take Avery. It was Halloween afternoon and the weather was barely holding it together. Avery decided to switch it up and dress as Mike Wazowski for the festival. We had a ball!

A while after we got there my mom and the boys had made it into Huntsville and joined us at the church.

 

The boys were costumeless but still had fun. They got to trunk or treat and play for a bit.

 

They had an adorable petting zoo with the cutest animals I've ever seen. This llama was my favorite. They had food you could feed them. Those had to be some full animals after all those kids fed them!!

 

We went inside for a few more bounce houses before heading home.

 

We had to park at a nearby high school and take a school bus to the church. I got a little sad when I realized Avery would be riding one next year. We headed home to rest a bit and eat some 50 cent Sonic corndogs before trick or treating.

 

Mike, the bat, and the Flash. Avery switched back to her original costume and Colt very willingly put on Mike. I have never been more shocked in my life. All week the weather forecast told us it would rain Halloween night. For once the weather was right on point. So disappointing. Luckily, our church in Fayetteville had their trunk or treat that we got to go to. We got there and were happy to see it moved inside. It was so much fun. Everyone at FBC did a spectacular job setting up and executing this event.

 

They had it to where you just walked through in a line and got tons and tons of candy. Mike was a hit!! It probably didn't hurt that the cutest boy ever was wearing the costume. We came out with candy, cotton candy, popcorn, chips, drinks....it was amazing! We did what we set out to do and we barely got wet!

 

We got home and took inventory. What a fun night!!

 

Halloween was definitely a success this year, and we were so happy to spend it with Meme and Tate!

 

I found out that Avery has no idea what Thanksgiving is, so we will be spending the next few weeks teaching and learning and reflecting on everything we have to be thankful for.