Christmas Week

Lance took the week of Christmas off of work. He was so excited to get to take Sam to the Marvel Live show at Phillips Arena. They went to the Monday morning show while Reese, Hayes and I ran some last minute Christmas errands.

Lance said that they both really enjoyed the show and I know Sam ate up that special time with Daddy!

We were supposed to have Christmas with Lance’s family on Tuesday but his nephew ended up with the flu so we had to postpone. We did meet his parents for lunch though at our favorite burger place. Other than that Lance has some work stuff to take care of and I made cookies and zucchini bread for our neighbors.

Wednesday was a packed busy day…on purpose. We went to our friends house for lunch that we had cancelled on the Friday before. The kids always play so well together and we rarely see them when we are there. They had these cute little hats waiting on us when we arrived.

After lunch we headed straight to see Big Hero 6. We got there a couple of minutes late but it was perfect that we missed all of the previews. The movie ended just in time for us to head to the 5:00 Christmas eve service at church. I love going to the later service so that when we come out it is dark and we are ready to settle in for the night. We grabbed a pizza on our way home and headed straight in to our basement to watch “The Polar Express”. After the movie was over we ran upstairs to set out our cookies and milk for Santa, touch our elf (since Santa picks him up on Christmas there is no need for him to still have his magic), contact the North Pole on our communicator one more time, and settle in to bed. Hayes cracked us up when he snatched up one of Santa’s cookies to eat for himself.

It took Sam a while to go to sleep. For days he had been climbing in our bed in the morning and asking how many more days til Santa came. He couldn’t contain his excitement that evening. Around 11:30 Reese woke up and asked if Santa had come yet. Since I was still up I told her I hadn’t seen him yet. At 3:30, Sam climbed in to our bed and said he looked and Santa hadn’t come yet. Turns out Santa had come but pushed the sofa back so that he could hide the kids presents under the catwalk so they couldn’t look over and see. We let Sam sleep the rest of the night in our bed and then Reese came in around 6:30. She wasn’t sure if Santa had come yet or not but neither one of them went back to sleep. We kept them in our room until 7:00 when we woke Hayes up and headed down stairs.

Santa saw Hayes play with this doggy at Target one day and decided to get it for him. It was his absolute favorite present and he played with it all morning.

Sam’s favorite present was his Power Ranger Super Megazord he had been asking for.

Reese was happy to get more bands for her Rainbow Loom.

Part of the aftermath…

After presents were opened and hugs of thanks were given, we told the kids we had one more present for them. They put shoes and jackets on and weren’t quite sure why. We didn’t tell them anything, we just walked outside and they saw their new trampoline. This was the reason we had to stay gone all day on Christmas eve. The man who finished my parents basement and his wife set up the trampoline for us during the afternoon so that it was there on Christmas morning for our kids. We were so grateful for them doing that for us!

They were very excited to get it!! They have played on it every day that hasn’t rained.

Around noon we headed out to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with them, my grandma, and Aunt Becky and Uncle Tommy. Not one.single.picture was taken. We had a fun day there though and came home with more fabulous gifts.

Friday morning I ran to Target to get diapers because we only had one left and I came home with tons of discounted Christmas décor. As the day went on I began to feel bad and a whole week after everyone else (and a little cocky that I had beat it) I ended up with the stomach bug. Our house looks like a tornado went through it because I was down for days and nothing had been cleaned up from Christmas! Ugh! I am back in the land of the living now and hoping to have the house organized by the new year!

December Update

December came in with a bang. I feel like we didn’t stop the whole month. The first weekend Reese was in our local parade. It rained all morning and we had decided we weren’t going. Right about the time we needed to get ready and leave the sun broke through and we headed out. I don’t have pictures of her because they are on Lance’s phone. His new iPhone takes great pictures so we have used it way more than any other camera. Our nice camera isn’t cooperating so pictures are slim.

After dropping Reese off with her group we went to eat at our favorite restaurant while we waited and then headed out to the street.

Hayes was mostly excited about the train tracks behind us and kept waving to the trains as they went by.

Reese had a blast walking in the parade. After the parade we headed home to relax and then Lance and I had a dinner party to go to. I am always so bummed when we get dressed up so nice and the only picture we get is a selfie in the car! We realized on our way that we thought the party was 30 minutes earlier than it actually was so we just drove around and looked at Christmas lights and houses.

Later that week our neighborhood had a Christmas party at our neighborhood pavilion. They had a pizza food truck make dinner and dessert and we got to visit with neighbors. It was freezing cold though and the whole time Hayes kept asking if we could leave. We had fun though and it was a great dinner!

The next night Lance’s cousin and her family came in to town to look at houses because they are moving to Atlanta. They ended up spending the night with us Thursday night but didn’t get here before the kids went to bed. Friday morning I told Reese they were here and that she could quickly go say hello before she left for school (they were still sleeping). She was so happy to get to do that. Once they were up the boys had so much fun playing with H.

Lance was home from work that day so that I could go on a field trip with Sam’s class. There was a church that was hosting “A Walk Through Bethlehem”. I drove Sam and one of his little girl friends from class. They were so cute and I had a lot of fun with them. They were not super interested in the days events though. In the car they were a hoot and they giggled and giggled for most of the ride.

Friday afternoon, H came back to our house for a nap while her parents looked at more houses. Reese got home while she was napping but the kids had to leave before she woke up. Reese was not happy at all that she missed out on seeing H. I kept promising her that she would get to see her all the time very, very soon. After the kids were gone, my house was totally clean and H woke up. I got to spend a good hour with her doing whatever we wanted. We colored, played outside, and watched Mickey Mouse. It was so sweet to spend that time with her and it made me miss my days with Reese when she was that age and the only thing I had to worry about. Friday night, I had a GNO with girls from my small group. We went to Tin Lizzy’s and had a great time visiting and doing a scarf exchange.

Saturday morning I was up early to get my hair cut. Shortly after I got home, Lance and I packed up and headed to Atlantic Station. His company party was at the hotel there that night so we made a night of it. That afternoon we went to see Mockingjay, I got a pedicure, and then we got ready for the party. It was a fun evening out.

Sunday we woke up and decided to go get our kids early so we could try and see H and family one last time before they left town. We met them at our house and it turns out we didn’t have to rush because they decided to stay one more night with us. The kids were beyond excited and had a great time together. We can’t wait to have them close!

The next week was crazy. Tuesday, Reese and Sam were both home sick with a stomach bug. Ugh! It really wasn’t bad and you never would have known by the afternoon. They were both free of the sick bug 24 hours later so they were back at school Wednesday. Thursday morning Hayes woke up just a tiny bit sick but I was supposed to be at both kids schools that day for parties. Luckily Lance hadn’t left for work when Hayes woke up so I begged him to work from home so I could still go. He did and unfortunately ended up sick by that evening.

I was, thankfully, able to go to the kids parties. Sam’s was fun. They played games and had a Chick-fil-a lunch. I had to leave Sam’s party early to get over to Reese’s party. I am the room mom so the party details fell on me. Sam was not happy about having to leave his early so another mom was able to drop him off in Reese’s class when she headed to her daughter’s party in the classroom next door. I was grateful for that bit of time to get her party set up alone.

At Reese’s party I did not get one picture. Being in charge of it all made that hard. The kids seemed to enjoy each activity though. This is my first year as room mom. I hadn’t planned on being the room mom but on open house night when no one else had signed up I felt bad for our first year teacher and told her we would figure it all out together.

Lance was home again with us on Friday much to his dismay. He kept saying he HAD to be at work but I told him his co-workers would appreciate him keeping his sick germs at home leading up to Christmas. We were supposed to go to friends house that night but we cancelled on them to hopefully keep them well. Instead we drove around looking at Christmas lights and stopped by a church that had a live nativity.

Saturday morning Sam had a birthday party at CEC to attend. It was a sweet morning with him. I very rarely get alone time with him so it was a mini date morning for us. We had a great time playing and talking. Reese had basketball practice that morning too so Lance took her to that (have I mentioned she is playing basketball this winter…total opposite of me, I tell ya).

Sunday was packed! The kids sang at church Sunday morning. Again, the videos are on Lance’s camera but I do have one picture of Sam. He was so excited to wear his red bowtie. He dressed himself and Lance made this comparison of Sam and one of the doctors from Dr. Who (which I have no idea what that is!!). They were super cute singing and I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole time. They sang “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”.

Straight from church we headed to my parents house for Christmas with my Dad’s side of the family. We got there late so they were eating lunch when we arrived. We jumped right in and caught up with everyone. We had a wonderful visit and it ended too quickly. Again, pictures on Lance’s phone.

That evening we hosted our small groups Christmas party.  We did an Ugly Sweater party and had a great time with everyone. The kids were super excited to be reunited with Taylor, our beloved babysitter, and she took them to the playground and to McDonald’s for dinner.

A Much Needed Update

Oh my!  I don’t even know where to start…or know if I even remember how to type. Ha! I can’t believe it has been a month since I have updated this blog. We have done so much in this last month that it totally flew by and now it is almost a new year! I guess I will just start where I left off and touch on as many things as I can (with a mouse pad that is not working well).

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Lance’s family. We hosted them at our house and the day went well. When I told Reese and Sam the plan, Sam whispered to Reese, “We get to tackle Brody!” That is one of their favorite things to do.

I am glad I got this picture of Sam and Brody…

Because it quickly turned to this. Brody is a good sport when it comes to his pesky little cousins.

I tried to get a picture of the cousins but out of the six I took this was the best I could do.

Friday, we spent the day decorating for Christmas.

Saturday, we were up bright and early. We left home around 6:00 AM to take the kids to my parents house so that Lance and I could meet my high school BFF to go to Athens. It was GA/GA Tech game day. It also happened to be Lance’s birthday. The last time Tech beat UGA in Athens was on Lance’s birthday six years ago. And this game did not disappoint. It was so much fun to be there.

We got to Athens around 9:00 (I think) and headed off to find a place to have breakfast. We had to wait a little bit for it to open and enjoyed some Starbucks Hot Chocolate while we waited.

After breakfast we headed towards the stadium. Since it was a noon game there wasn’t much time to explore. We wanted to make it in for kick off and we did!

Lance and Erik were in the row in front of us. Our seats were 45 yard line, three rows up. While it is fun to be in the excitement right there, it is a little hard to watch the game so we mostly watched it on the big screen when we could see around everyone standing up.

Lance was a good sport about being in a sea of red. This was my view for the first three quarters.

It was so fun just getting to spend the day with Adrienne and Erik.

During the fourth quarter the people in front of Lance and Erik left so Adrienne and I moved down to the front row. The only thing on our minds was being able to see around everyone’s heads. It really is a lot of fun to be behind the bench because those boys are crazy. Notice all of the people between us and the hedges. With about four minutes left in the game tons of UGA fans started leaving. Lance laughed and said apparently they had never seen a GT game before. Unfortunately for a lot of people they missed the best of the game by leaving.

We took this picture when the game was tied so we remembered that everyone was happy at one point during the game no matter what happened after this…

After a few crazy plays, Georgia blocked a second field goal attempt by Tech. It was hard to see what happened so we kept looking back and forth between the field and the jumbotron. All of a sudden Lance’s phone started blowing up with text messages of people saying they saw us on TV. We got several videos and pictures from friends and got the biggest kick out of seeing them. I finally got my 15 minutes! Ha!

Tech ended up winning the game and we had a great day!

Thanksgiving Break

We have had an exciting Thanksgiving break so far.

Saturday we had errands that needed to be taken care of and then had friends over that evening for dinner.

Sunday was a rainy day so after church we took it easy at home. The kids had been begging to get Christmas decorations out after our friends on Saturday night told them they had already decorated. So Lance caved and said we would get the tree put together.  Well, unfortunately, when we started putting it together we realized the lights were not all working. Last year when we put it out there was a strand of lights that would occasionally blink so we wrapped an extra set of lights around the tree and took care of that problem. We talked about buying a new, bigger tree for the family room but wanted to wait a year or two so we stuck it out with the one we had. Before we went to all the work of fluffing the tree we put it all together to see what lights were and were not working. It turned out we had a “zebra tree” as the kids called it.

We decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and buy a new one. We knew mostly what we wanted because we did a lot of research on them last year. So that night we placed our order. Since the kids were disappointed with our zebra tree we decided to let them go ahead and get their trees put up in their rooms.

Sam and Hayes both have a 4’ green tree. The one in Hayes’ room is the one that Lance and I bought for our apartment when we were first married. It has been in Reese’s room for the last several years. It is on its last leg so we will probably have to get him a new one next year. We decided not to put any ornaments on his this year because they will just end up all over the floor or broken.

Sam’s has a mish mash of ornaments on it but he loves it so much. I think they each just love the soft glow and twinkle of the lights in their rooms. I need to figure out some kind of tree skirt for their trees.

Reese’s tree is my favorite. Several years ago I saw a white tree with ornaments put on in a rainbow pattern. I showed it to her and she loved it. We never found a white 4’ tree last year so we didn’t get to do it but this year I was randomly at Walmart and they had one (before Halloween) so I grabbed it for her. She was thrilled and we both love how it turned out. This picture doesn’t do it much justice but it is really pretty. Her star is glittery pink and then the ornaments go backwards down the rainbow to red on the bottom.

Meanwhile, the sun started coming out right at dusk and it created the most beautiful light around our house. I couldn’t even get a good enough picture to capture it. It was a beautiful orange glow.

Knowing that the kids didn’t have school the next morning we ran to Target for a few things and then back home for a late bed time.

Monday morning Hayes decided to wake up early so I pulled him in to my bed but he never really went back to sleep. The big kids woke up shortly after that and went downstairs to play. Around 7:15, Hayes and I were still snuggling in my bed so I turned on GMA and figured I would enjoy the slow pace of our morning. Around 7:45ish Reese starts crying and I could tell it was a real cry, not her normal dramatic kind of cry. I ran downstairs to check on her and she was laying on the floor in the foyer. She had been riding our little roller coaster and was not riding it correctly. I asked her if she was ok and she said no. I asked what hurt and she said her chin. Once she stood up and let me see it, I realized our morning was not going to be so lazy anymore. I walked her upstairs, told her not to freak out but that I thought she was going to need stitches. Her chin was not bleeding but it was definitely spilt open. I FaceTimed Leah and had her take a look and she said that we should head to the ER for stitches. We ended up just going to an Urgent Care and left with six stitches in her chin.

She was so brave. She hates getting shots and will scream bloody murder when it is time for them. Getting her stitches there was definitely some crying but it wasn’t the dramatic, over the top response that she has to shots.

The boys were so good too. We were there for about an hour and a half. Sam was really worried about Reese and was closing his ears (afraid she was going to scream) and had tears in his eyes. He kept asking if he could go in the hallway to wait but I wouldn’t let him because it was kind of busy there that morning. Once it was all over, I promised them a trip to Target and a special gift from the dollar spot for being so good. Luckily we were done with all of this before the rest of our plans for the day.

After Target we met my aunt and cousin for lunch. We were supposed to ride horses with them that morning but because of the rain from Sunday we couldn’t do that. I did not get one picture but we had a great visit with them.

While we were at Target one of Sam’s friends asked him to come over for a play date. Sam is super shy about going to other people’s houses alone and this friend has several dogs so I asked if he would want to come to our house instead. He lives in Hallie’s neighborhood so I quickly texted Anna and asked if Hallie could come over too. She was available so I picked them both up after lunch and headed back home. It was a gorgeous day so I put Hayes down for a nap (3.5 hours since he woke up so early) and took the other four outside to play. They all played so well together and I think it kept Reese’s mind off of her chin.

Tuesday we had plans with more friends. We decided to meet at the mountain to go for a walk. It was the perfect fall day and I loved watching the kids run through the woods and walk along the path with leaves crunching under their feet. Even the babies got to run with the big kids for a while. About halfway through we stopped along the path to eat the lunch we packed. We ended up being there for a little over three hours.

When we got home from the mountain I pull up to our garage and our Christmas tree had arrived. I was so surprised because it was less than 48 hours since we had ordered it. I thought for sure it wouldn’t arrive until next week after we had already decorated everything else. So last night we got to work putting it together and getting it all fluffed.

It was a big undertaking because we decided to go with a 9’ tree. Last year when we first started talking about a new tree we said we wanted a 12’…(I’m glad we did not do that).

So we pulled out the tape measure and realized that was ridiculously too big for us. So we measured 10’ and that still felt too big so we decided to stick with 9 feet.

And it is perfect. I love the height of it and the width of it.

This morning when the kids came downstairs they were in awe. They loved it and can’t wait to decorate it. I think we are still going to wait until Friday to do that but I love having the glow of the lights on.

Now today has been a pretty lazy day for the kids. I am slowly getting things done around the house. We are hosting Lance’s family here tomorrow so I need to tidy up a bit and get started on some of the food. Hopefully the rest of our week can be pretty uneventful, peaceful, and full of thanksgiving.

Shooting for a Christmas Card

I took the kids out last week to try and get some pictures for our Christmas card. Unfortunately I don’t think I got any that will work for our card. It was an extra cloudy day so the color doesn’t look great. At least not good enough to use for Christmas cards but definitely good enough to share a few on here. I will keep some secret in case I can give them a little boost in the color department.

I love pictures of them holding hands…

Hayes wanted nothing to do with taking pictures. We did a lot of promising of things to get him to smile…it didn’t work too well.

We were next to the train tracks and he kept asking about the train. He was way more interested in the train than in taking pictures.

I was tired of trying to get Hayes to smile so they just played for a while. They ran down the hill a bunch of times, played on the playground, and then we walked through the train tunnel.

Again with the hand holding…

As we were walking back to the car a train finally came. Hayes wouldn’t climb up on the rail with the big kids but I just love this picture for some reason!

We also have a friend who is starting her own photography business so we had her take some pictures of our family. We haven’t seen those but hopefully there was at least one good one to use for a Christmas card.