‘Twas the night before Christmas…
Putting out reindeer food.
Playing with lights.
Reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Our stockings (yes, Blaine is “borrowing” the cat’s stocking holder until I can find one for him).
Such a magical time was had by all. Troy really “got” it this year. We stressed the fact that the next day would be Jesus’ birthday.
My sweet and precious Justin. Still wears braces at night. He’s such a trooper really. Yes, he’s had them off at night before so he’s had a taste of “free” feet but we keep them on as much as possible. He snuggles with his green puppy and has recently added that big lion. Such a sweet child!
Decorating cookies! When you don’t have Christmas cookie cutters, use Play-Doh cookie cutters…they work, too!
And our babysitter’s last day. She will be dearly missed!!!
Made lots of cookies. Hey, you don’t have any cookie cutters either? Use Play Doh cutters. Although we didn’t have any “Christmas” shapes, the giraffe, dolphin, buffalo and crocodile shapes worked just fine.
Got this in the mail this day. It’s a card advertising the Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon. Almost 4 years ago we purchased tickets for that event. It was to take place in July 2009. Within a few weeks of buying the tickets, I found out I was pregnant so we weren’t able to go. Every year since, we’ve received a cute little invitation to the festival. Maybe one day, right?
An impromptu Junior League lunch. It was so nice to hang out and get out of the house! Had a good time with some of the ladies!
Our church has done this countdown to Christmas chain thingy. Among other things, it includes taking a family photo for Christmas, decorating the house for Christmas, listen to Christmas music, make homemade Christmas gifts, bake cookies to take to neighbors….oh, and “go outside and play in the snow! (that one should have been play in the leaves). So the idea is to get excited and count down the days until Christmas. We (or I) decided to countdown 9 days before Christmas and do it everyday. Some people are doing it every other day, every week or whatever works for their schedules. I put ours together and it’s hanging from the chandelier in the kitchen. Troy loves counting down each day. Justin likes to point to it and babble!
On the 17th, it was to “Drive around and look at Christmas lights”. We went to our local Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail where the Marriott is located and saw the light show. You park your car, turn your radio to a certain station and the lights play/blink along with the music.
Troy was super pumped to stand in the front seat.
I’m getting as much use out of this Moses basket as possible. When B stretches out, he’s too big for it but he still seems to like it. Do you see those little rolls forming? I can just eat him up!
I just noticed my socks…see, I really like them!
Cousins! So glad these guys were able to get together and hang out. Although for a short while, they had a blast! Troy and Justin were worn out on the way home. Thanks to Jeff and Amy for keeping T and J so we could have a fun night out!
A trip to Birmingham and a visit to The Alabama Theatre to watch Christmas Vacation.
The play, you say? No, the movie. So. Much. Fun. I cannot remember how many times we’ve done this but we have gone with the same friends from Birmingham for several years. We missed the last couple of years but are so glad we made it this year. Fun times!
My BIL and SIL watched Troy and Justin. Someone (not naming any names) forgot milk for the baby….so he got to come along with us. He could not have been any better!
So before the movie starts, there is a little entertainment. The organ comes out from the floor and people sing Christmas carols/songs. This year, they called up the folks who dressed up so they could stand at the stage. People sometimes go all out for this movie by dressing the part of Clark Griswold and Cousin Eddie. Fun stuff.
My sister’s birthday…
My husband’s work Christmas party. Lots of good food, good company and pretty delicious wine :)
Today Troy’s preschool had their Christmas program. Yep, I was a proud parent when I saw that he was standing in the middle. My heart was smiling from the inside (everyone’s kid can’t stand in the middle). I thought this meant he knew the songs….well, that was true. Then he began marching in place, then running in place and before you know it, about 10 other kids were following suit. Um, I’m not so sure he was in the middle because he was the best at the songs and participating. Maybe they thought he was more quarantined in the middle? Either way, all of the kids were pretty cute. Check out how high he gets his knees when he marches in place – THAT is pretty impressive, right?
All of the kids are trying to decide whether they want to be on stage and are waiting for their eyes to adjust to the bright lights.
Singing Jingle Bells.
Troy is in the snowman sweater. Hunter (with the Rudolph shirt) started marching a little bit. Troy took it to another level. Later he broke it down.
Running…with new socks. Thanks to my friend Amy. Strange looking YES…but they work. Whatever works, right? They feel like running in silk. These will come in handy while training for the half marathon (more on that later). Now it’s time for new shoes – SANTA?!?!
And a homemade nutella-substitute. Not as sweet as the real stuff but if you read the ingredients on the real stuff, you’ll never want to eat it again (or admit to it anyway). Whew!
Here’s a link to the recipe: http://deliciouslyorganic.net/homemade-chocolate-hazelnut-spread-nutella-dairy-free-paleo-grain-free/
We went to Calera to ride the train and go to The North Pole! I bought these tickets over three months ago (before Blaine was born). They are hot commodities (and sold out within a day of going on sale). SO worth the money and the trip up there. Both boys had a blast. Wish I would have taken a picture of Justin dancing. The “elves” were cracking up and dancing with him. Sometimes he surprises me with the sweetest, cutest things.
http://www.hodrrm.org/default.aspx
It was pretty darn awesome and something we’ll do again next year (hopefully)!
Cooking…..oddly enough I’ve been doing more of this over the past 3 months than in the past 3 years. Well, maybe not cooking in general but experimenting.
Took a cooking class a couple of months ago and learned how to stuff a tenderloin by cutting it and laying it flat then rolling some sort of stuffing inside. I used what I had on hand: mozzarella cheese and pesto. Didn’t have any baker’s twine so I used kite string (I have this for sewing) and it worked like a charm.
I know, it looks nasty but it tasted delicious.
The little boogers were playing around me. No, I don’t normally let them stay right under my feet while I cook but I let them for a minute so I could take a picture. Justin is usually wearing pants….Troy….not so much. He only wears them if he gets cold inside.
I posted the above picture on Facebook. Seems like everyone who made comments got a kick out of this except for one person Brian went to high school with. Told Brian that she probably had some sort of traumatic event involving either her or a family member and cooking/the kitchen. Well, he wasn’t a fan of her comment and she has now been defriended. While she may have meant well, it wasn’t taken that way. My mother was even bothered! Let’s just say that I don’t leave the kitchen unattended with my children running loose. It is dangerous!
As I headed home this day…yay!
I stopped in to see my grandmother in West Alabama. This is a bonsai tree…it is at least 60 years old!
Within 15 minutes of me arriving home, we packed the boys in the car and headed to Opelika’s Christmas in a Railroad Town. We got to a restaurant by 5:10 and within 10 minutes, the place was packed. We had a great time, though. Troy wanted to get in the firetruck (below) and immediately started turning the steering wheel as fast as he could. The firefighters got a kick out of him. We had to make him get out of the truck. The line to see Santa was pretty long so we told him he could just wave…and he was content with that (this year).
(this post wasn’t posted when I wrote it so I’m doing it now…almost a month late)…
…We live in a pretty fabulous town. There are always things to do here. If someone says there’s nothing to do, well, they’re not looking. Just about any given day you can find something to do…it might cost some money but there’s something to do.
even for working families like us…
Auburn Basketball and Football are two, to name a couple. Justin and Blaine went to their first ones in November.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well behaved our children have been so far. They’ve been so good that we are motivated to get out and about. We thought (initially) that it was nuts taking a 2 month old, 20 month old and a 3 year old to basketball and football games. But, it works and they were all so GOOD! I’m praising them and thanking the Lord they have been so good.
My in-laws continued their yearly tradition of coming to our house and watching our kids so we can go to the games – yes, you read that right. It’s been fun to say the least and gave us a little time to spend together hanging out.
Hanging out before the game and tailgating…
At the game. First Auburn football game for Justin and Blaine.
To say that Auburn had a rough season is an understatement. As of December, coach Chizik has been let go (after a 3 year stint including one National Championship) and the former offensive line coach has been hired. All of the assistant coaches were not asked to return. There are now new coaches who bring with them a bunch of anxiety and hope from the fans. While I love going to games, I try not to get all wrapped up in having opinions on things I don’t know enough about (i.e. the ins and outs of coaching and why they do what they do).
The boys wrestled with Brian and had a BLAST!
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