Christmas 2013

 

Christmas time is hands down the best time of year!  Since having C, the magic of Christmas for us has been restored and we love seeing Christmas through her eyes.  She has been in awe over all of it, from the smallest Christmas decoration to the largest Christmas lights display.

 

On Christmas Eve, my mom, Brent, C and I went to Nashville to Opry Mills to see Frozen and to see Opryland's light display.  It has been years since I've seen the lights at Opryland and it was everything I remember it being.  C didn't know which way to turn her head next.

 

            

                   

 

We came home in enough time to regroup and put our jammies on before heading out to church for the midnight service. 

 

 

Christmas morning, Santa left a few things despite one little girl's fear of him.  She decided last minute that she didn't mind him coming to her house.  :)

 

 

 

We spent the day hanging out, playing with new toys and then going to my Nanny's for dinner.

 

This year was a little bit more special at my Nanny's because she present all of us grandkids with a quilt made out of my Poppy's old shirts.  This marked our 5th Christmas without him and it could not have been a better time to make us these quilts.  She has worked hard for several months on these and they turned out perfect.  It will be hard not to think of him every time we snuggle up on the couch.

 

 

The day after Christmas we had dinner at my Granny's and spent time with my Dad's side of the family. 

C trying to be like her Pap.

 

After we left my Granny's, we headed up to Indiana to spend the weekend with Brent's family.  This is the part of our Christmas that I never want to forget.

 

We got to Brent's parent's house around 12:30am.  I had worked that morning which means I got up around 5:30am so it was already a long day for me.  I didn't sleep on the way up because I wanted to be a trooper since Brent couldn't sleep, I wasn't going to either.  C passed out about 2 hours into our trip but perked up when we got to her grandparent's house.

 

We finally went to bed around 1am but C's excitement got the best of her.  She could NOT go to sleep and was determined not to let us sleep either.  Around 2:30am, Brent went to the couch thinking she would sleep better in the bed.  No such luck.  At 4am, I finally turned the tv and at 5am she told me I could turn it off and she FINALLY went to sleep.  If you are doing the math, I was up for almost 24 HOURS!  I had no idea my body was even capable of such a thing but the kicker was she only slept for about 4 hours and then was up and ready for the day.  I have never in my life!  At least she was making the most of her time with everyone.

 



 This is her at 4:12am watching tv.

 

C has so much fun being around her cousins.  They all play well with one another and have a blast.

 

 

 

Matching jammies is now a MUST every year.  So cute!

 

And to wrap up our Christmas, the Monday after Christmas, we spent the evening with my family.  It was my brothers last day in town and C needed her some Mo time.

 



 Watching movies with Mo on his iPad.

 

We were on the move a lot this year but we enjoyed being around family and spending time with everyone.  C is already wishing it was Christmas again and I can't blame her.  It was a pretty good time.

 

Christmas Fun

1.  C's class "wrote" letters to Santa last week.  Her wish list cracked me up!

 

 

Vacuum, dolls and kitchen pots.  Someone is training to be a wife and mama.  I swear her biological clocks tics louder than mine!

 

2.  Friday night we had my work Christmas party.

 

 

We always have a good time and stay up way too late hanging out with co-workers.

 

3.  I saw a Sharpie ad the other day where they wrapped a gift in craft paper then decorate the paper using a black Sharpie.  It looked like a coloring page so that inspired me to do all of C's gifts like that.  I then let her color all of them.  It was a HUGE hit!

 

 

 

 

She keeps coming back to color a little more on them each day so maybe by Christmas they will be fully colored.

 

4.  Yesterday, C had her first dance recital. 

 

C and her friends Lucie and Hadley

 

She was really excited about getting on stage and dancing.

 

 

We knew she didn't have a clue about what she was about to do and her first 2 seconds on stage confirmed that.

 

I'm pretty sure she was telling her teacher she didn't want to stay.  Thankfully she did what we do, ignore her and walk off.  Then she doesn't have a choice but to stay.

 

She was a little hesitant at first,

 

 

but she finally got the hang of it.

 

Her class did a great job considering their age and they were all really cute!

 

 

We were so proud of her and she has really enjoyed herself this semester at dance.  She has come out of her shell a little bit and made some new friends.  For now, we will be sticking with dance until she tells me she doesn't want to do it anymore.

Thanksgiving & A Little Christmas

We had an extremely low key Thanksgiving this year.  Normally, we spend the day at my Granny's but this year we gave her the day off and she spent the day at my uncle's relaxing and enjoying his family. 

 

Since we had no plans, C and I decided to help out at my mom's church serving lunch for those who wanted to come.  They also took delivery orders and we helped get those together as well.

 

 

C being the helper she is, jumped right in and put the gravy on the turkey.

 

I wasn't planning on cooking that night but decided to last minute and I'm glad I did.  The 3 of us had a nice little dinner to end our day.

 

Friday, we got crazy and went shopping.  We NEVER go shopping on Black Friday but couldn't help ourselves.  We went later in the day so it wasn't too bad but I still waited in line at Old Navy for an hour.

 

Saturday, was Thanksgiving at my mom's with her side of the family.  I have zero pictures because I was busy helping and stuffing my face!  I always enjoy sitting around the table at the end of the night chatting with the ladies.  My Nanny is crazy so we get plenty of laughs from her!

 

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I finally have my Christmas decorations up.  Since I've changed themes, I'm still adding things here and there and thinking of what I want to snag on sale after Christmas but for the most part it is complete.

 

We are still loving the white tree and I'm loving the gold decorations this year.

 

Since I don't have a mantel to decorate, I always decorate our shelf behind the couch.  Everything is DIY and I kind of like how it turned out.  I still need to add a few things but not sure what yet.

 

C provided the abstract art.  She had a big time painting it and is proud to have it up.

 

And I'm LOVING the deer antlers B brought home.  I had randomly told him I was looking for some and the next day he brings 3 home!  Proves he does listen on occasion.

 

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Last Sunday night, we had family night with the Bingham's.  C was super stoked about getting to play with Baby Eli and we were excited to hang out his mama and daddy.

She was singing the Ittsy Bittsy Spider to him.  ADORABLE!!

 

She has asked 1000 times since then to go see Baby Eli.  Clearly another get together is a must.

 

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Last Wednesday was C's school program.

 

 

Her class sang Here Comes Santa Claus and they did a great job!  I love the program every year and I love watching all the other little ones sing their hearts out!

 

And speaking of singing, Fruit of the Loom always has a group of carolers sing at corporate every December.  It was my favorite thing when I worked there and I was excited that they brought them to their retail store.

 

Since B works there, he sent me a text to come after work.  What better way to shop then with live carolers!

 

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To end this extremely long post, today we decided not to venture out to church in the cold and ice.  This meant we were about to spend the ENTIRE day indoors.  I had to think of things to do and fast.

 

We played, colored, wrote letters on the computer, made cookies and banana bread,

 

watched football and most importantly, checked in on Santa's reindeers. 

 

She sat and watched the live feed for a good 30 minutes and then tonight we all gathered around to watch Santa feed them.

 

I'm so glad I heard about the site because it kind of brings all the magic to life and makes me love the holiday that much more.

Randoms

 

Well another week is gone I spent the entire week coughing my head off.  Literally.  I started last Sunday with an annoying cough every few minutes that progressed into a cough every breath.  I finally got some relief over the weekend but instead of coughing every breath, I coughed every 30 minutes.  But because I've coughed so much over the past week, it feels like I'm getting hit with a spiked baseball bat with every cough.  It's been amazing.

 

Anyway, the coughing didn't stop us from doing some fun things.

 

Last Sunday, my mom and I took C to see The Rockettes.

 

 

The show was amazing and C had the best time!  She didn't move the whole show and cried at the end (that's her way of telling us she enjoyed it).  She has asked every day to go back so this might become a little tradition.

 

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At the grocery store the other day, C spotted the Funfetti cake mix and just had to have it along with the hot pink icing and sprinkles that were pictured on the box. 

 

This weekend she made us a batch of cupcakes. 

 

 

She was very proud of her work of offers us one after every meal.

 

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We were in dire need of a new Christmas tree and we've always talked about getting a white one.  Well yesterday we made brought one home. 

 

 

We LOVE it!

 

  At first we were just putting it together to make sure the lights worked but once C saw it, she begged to decorate it.  This goes against every bone in my body to have a Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving but I was feeling her energy so I decorated it.  She has told me a hand full of times that it is so pretty and that she just loves our tree.  Precious.

 

I still have some work to do on it but it is mostly done which kind of makes me happy.  Now, we just have to drag all the other Christmas junk decorations out and finish decorating the house.

 

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And speaking of Christmas, I'm over the top excited that I can say I'm 99% done with Christmas shopping!  I did major damage over the weekend and I only have 1 more gift to buy.  I'm not sure how I managed to be this on top of things but I am and it's great!  Now I just have the fun part of wrapping all of it up. 

Playing Catch Up

 

 What's been going on in our little world?

 

Last weekend we had a play date with some friends and went to lunch.

 

 Monday, C got to spend the day with Momoi.  They enjoyed their morning "coffee" together.

 

 

They ran errands, went to see Nanny and went to lunch.  They might have gotten ice cream too.

 

 

And this is how I was greeted when I picked her up Monday afternoon after not seeing her since lunch on Sunday.

 

Can you tell she was SUPER excited to see me?

 

 

I got Brent and I tickets to last night's Titans vs Colts game.

 

We had really good seats and had a blast!

 

It was a close game but "Luck" was on our side and the Colts WON!

This weekend we plan to chill a bit and on Sunday my mom and I are taking C to see The Rockettes!  All parties are over the top excited!

Worth It

As I mentioned in my last post, I tortured my family this past weekend with family pictures.  My dad has mad camera skills and I'm extremely thankful photography is his hobby.  Here are just a few of the final products.

 

 

 

Can not handle this one!  I feel like I'm looking at a 12 year old.

 

 

 

All parties involved were champs and I loved how they turned out!  Totally worth the stress it takes to get my crew together for pictures.  C somehow inherited her daddy's hatred of the camera.  Lucky me.

 

Now the decision on which one to pick for the Christmas card.

Halloween Week

Last week was a really fun week for us!

 

Tuesday, C's school put on a little pumpkin patch for the kids.  They had a hayride, apple cider, face painting and of course, they got to pick a pumpkin from the "pumpkin patch".

 

 

Thursday, was the class parties and school trick or treating.

 

C came home with a sack full of candy and was not the least bit disappointed that we didn't take her trick or treating that night.  We were not about to fight the crazy weather.

 

Friday night we went to my parent's to trick or treat since theirs was moved due to weather.

 

This year I decided to join in the fun and dressed up.

 

Mary Poppins and the fairy.  C thought I was hilarious and doesn't have a clue who Mary Poppins is.  Add that movie to our list of must watch.

 

C had a good time trick or treating but her favorite part of the night was giving out candy.  She sat patiently on the steps waiting for trick or treaters...  

 

and loaded them up when they finally came to the door.

 

Every time the doorbell rang or there was a knock at the door, home girl took off running.  She loved it!

 

Saturday, was a day of errands and playing no les than 100 games of Candy Land.

Reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas out loud page by page in the middle of SAM's.

 

Sunday, I tortured my family by having pictures made.

 

Her and her daddy were SUPER thrilled.  My dad was able to get a bunch of good ones and I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

And last night we witnessed this...

 

she emptied her toy bin out, got in and scooted into the living room singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat.  Dull moments at our house?  Never.