christmas eve

It was a wonderful evening. After Christmas cookie decorating we went to church. We chose the early "family" service - defined by couples with young children all who were wearing smocked dresses and matching sibling outfits. It has been a long time since I have seen so many red mary janes in one room.

Carly picked the meal...Daddy's ribs, beans, hashbrown casserole and texas toast. It was all super yummy and since it is one of 3 big holiday meals we have it was a perfect change of pace.

Carly got her traditional 3 Christmas Eve presents. New Christmas pajamas, a Christmas book, and a new piece for her nativity scene (this year's was a star).

Kenny read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Carly played a couple of Christmas songs on her guitar including Jingle Bells, Away in the Manager and Joyful Joyful. We put the reindeer food outside (cheerios & water this year) and Santa's cookies and milk on the mantle. And everyone was ready for a long winter's nap!

advent activity - december 24

make Christmas cookies

You got to have cookies for Santa! On Christmas Eve, we waited for MamMam and G'daddy to make our Christmas cookies. There were crosses, trees, candy canes, stockings, snowmen, stars - all with lots of icing and sprinkles.

advent activity - december 23

make a gingerbread house

Carly and I have made a gingerbread house the last 4 years. This was the first year that Carly did it ALL by herself. All I got to do was separate some of the candy by color when she asked for it. She was all business.

Not only did we decorate a gingerbread house, we did some cooking and wrapped some presents but best of all we stayed in our pajamas until it was time to go to the Burnett's for the Santa party.

advent activity - december 22

go to the movies

There is something about going to the movie in the middle of the day. It feels like you are getting away with something. A super cute movie, popcorn for lunch and special time with Carly....perfect!

advent activity - december 21

art activity

......

Thanks Natasha for your inspiration because it turned out super cute and we will definitely have to make another one next year to go with it!

christmas at the lake

Round 1

Christmas at the Lake House

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend with D and Celeste.

John and Libba were there with cousin JC.

We had cupcakes to celebrate JC turning 5.

We missed Josh who is living it up in Japan celebrating his 26th birthday!

We ate too much - spaghetti & meatballs for Friday's dinner (I think it was the best meat sauce that Celeste has ever made - and that is saying a lot). Saturday was beef tenderloin and lobster ravioli. We had fabulous antipasta, sides and accompaniments.

In a shower of wrapping paper, we tore into some wonderful gifts. Carly bagged a new camo coat, a heater for her bathroom, pajamas, slippers, paper dolls, a board game, and a fingernail polish kit.

advent activity - december 15

Make Gift Tags

.......

advent activity - december 14

make ornaments for the birds

......

{mini bagels, peanut butter, popcorn, pretzels,

cheerios, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and an orange}

{equals a plate full of fun!}

This was the first year for this activity in the countdown box - it was a hit and will probably make it back next year. I had all the items needed in the pantry and Carly loved that she could do her thing without guidelines.

wordless wednesday

"married you didn't I?"

14 years ago today, in a little country church in front of 100 friends and family, I said "I do" to forever and ever.

After 14 years that still seems like a pretty sweet deal.

{Last week on our anniversary date night out}

......

In honor of our 14 years together, 14 things about him that I love.

He.....

......

is the chief bug killer

is a great father

gives fabulous hugs

looks good in a suit & Italian loafers

looks good in jeans & work boots

makes me feel safe

reminds me when it's small stuff

makes me smile

makes me laugh

coaxes me out of reclusiveness

supports me

encourages me

keeps me balanced

loves me

I'll be loving you

Love, Me

advent activity - december 11

Look at Christmas Lights

......

{Here is one of those times I am so glad that I pack Carly's countdown box full of activities. I would never have left the house to ride around town and look at decorations. There were dirty dishes, dirty clothes, a report for work, and a hot bath calling my name. But, if you put it in the countdown box, Carly will hold you to it. It makes sure we fit in all the holiday fun. So we put on some warm comfy clothes, stopped by the coffee shop for a cocoa for me and an apple cider for Carly and hit the streets}

Two posts in one.

The SPT challenge this week is ...."my Christmas is filled with comfort".

Comfort could be the fuzzy green jacket, or the hot cocoa, or my seat warmer, but it's really all about being able to spend quality time with my family. That fills my Christmas with comfort.

advent activity - december 8

Go to a Christmas Parade

......

{Carly and I went to the local small-town Christmas parade. It was 41 degrees when the parade started and 38 when we got back to the car. Carly had taken her hat off to use as a sack to hold the candy and goodies they were throwing from the floats}

{there were lots of Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, churches, fire trucks (glad there were no fires in the county), police, horses, motorcycles, a couple marching bands and of course Santa}

{I had to take a picture of this guy. He cracked me up - he was geared up like he was at the Macy's parade selling his wares.}

2nd Annual

Girlfriend Christmas Party

......

{Carly and friends all dressed up for the"big-girl" Christmas party - everyone was dropped off at 6 and ready to party. I heard lots of questions like "are we going to do ...... like last year?"}

.......

{lot of sticky fun making decoupage ornaments - the ornaments turned out great. The girls were able to do them independently and were all very proud of them. I'm glad I covered the table because they got glue everywhere.}

{pancakes, sausage, & fruit for dinner which was a huge hit! I finally had to cut them off because I was scared they would all end up with tummy aches.}

{tried to have some lessons on "big-girl" table manners - this was interesting. I think they eat too many meals in the school cafeteria.}

{played Christmas bingo, swapped ornaments, and were big silly}

I sent them all home jazzed up and me exhausted. Carly had a fabulous time and didn't want everyone to leave. I think it was a hit and as much fun as last years. She told me several times "thank you" and then asked "can we do this every year?". We'll see.

jingle bells

wordless wednesday

november reads

1. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte...another classic that has been on my list for a while. It is probably a little shameful that it took this long for it to make it to my 'have-read' list. I really enjoyed it (even though it took weeks to read) and loved Jane Eyre...she is such a spunky character. I found my self cheering her own hoping she was going to make the right decisions.
2. Santa fe Dead - Stuart Wood....are you seeing a pattern here? For the last few months I have been making my way through Stuart Woods' books. I like having a series to read through without having to wait for the next one to come out. This one is from the Ed Eagle series. His ex-wife (who has tried to kill him and stole some of his money) escapes from jail. There are some good extra characters mixed in.
3. Phantom Prey - John Sanford.....another good book in the Lucas Davenport series. A typical "who dun-it?", full of twists and turns that keeps me enjoying it until the end. Lucas dives off into the goth culture to solve the case.
4. Growing up in Mississippi - multiple writers, all who were born in Mississippi, wrote short essays. They were more like glimpses of memories from their childhoods. And of course some were more interesting than others. Overall it was just "okay" and possibly only "okay" because I too grew up in Mississippi?

making teachers smile

Carly's teacher happies are wrapped and ready to deliver tomorrow. We decided on these super cute personalized Christmas flat notes from Doodlebugs. I want to go ahead and give them so they can use them to write thank you notes.

who knew

that a $20 dollar pink Christmas tree

some funky multi colored garland

and a box of lime green Christmas balls

would make my child so happy?

I need a drink

What the H.E. double L was I thinking?

Obviously I wasn't.

Kenny and Carly took off this afternoon for the woods so I decided to take my detailed list and go to The Heart of Darkness (WalMart) and finish up all those little odds and ends. You know, like batteries and such.

There has always been a rule not to go to H of D on the weekend. Heck, I have gotten where I don't go to H of D at all. SO WHY, did I think this was a good idea? No clue.

But, I was determined to make the best of it and get it done. Now, maybe I won't have to go back there before the first of the year or maybe the spring!

dear santa

{today's note and stamp from Carly's countdown box}

{Carly wrote a letter and used all her Christmas stamps to decorate}

On the list (amazing enough no surprises):

clay, Nancy Drew books, iTunes Gift Card, games, American Girl Doll stuff, coloring books, movie, and surprises. And as usual she didn't forget Gabby "P.S. My dog would like some bones and treats. NO squeaky chew toys" .

wordless wednesday