And they Danced....and Danced!

My nephew received this harmonica as a Christmas present. I think it took him all of 10 minutes to master it. He is a guitar player in a band and apparently now he plays the harmonica also. I love him dearly. He gets my kids all hyped up and they sleep like infants the that night. Thanks Al:-)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope that you remembered the reason for the season. We got up around 7:00 a.m. the kids were so siked! We read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. We then opened gifts and it was all laughs and hugs. The kids got clothes, a few toys, movies etc. We then ate breakfast(croissants,bacon, homemade grits). Greg and the kids were exhausted so they took a 3 hour nap. I stayed awake because it's just like normal to me. They woke up and we started some new traditions this year. We went out to dinner for Chinese and that was fantastic! We then went to visit grandparents for a couple of hours and came back home. I love doing that. It took so much stress off of me by going out to dinner. I love cooking but I do it all the time and dh suggested we go out and enjoy each other rather than me be in the kitchen all day. He is a great guy! Something new we are trying going forward is keeping the going out to dinner but me doing a big breakfast with all the traditional things dh grew up with. We also are not doing gifts. I read about this family in Atlanta parent magazine and they do something called "trips under the tree". What we will do is rotate between dh and I where we go but it will be a total surprise for the rest of us:-) We will not do gifts anymore except one per person but no other gifts to each other and parents. When I first told dh about this he was skeptical until he thought on it some more and as we drove up 85 north he said let's do it. We are sort of cheating next year because we are doing Disney but I will plan everything so he will be surprised somewhat. I can't wait to do this. The kids are all on board....they might not understand it all. I hope that we can keep this tradition going for years to come.

A New Version of "Santa's Comin to Town!

Elf On The Shelf

Have you heard? We have an elf living in our house! His name is Hayden and he arrived here a little later than planned. I found out about him from a friend of a friend. It is the greatest thing. He comes to your house around Thanksgiving and leaves Christmas Eve. He is a nice elf unless he is feeling mischievous. He sometimes leaves crumbs, spills drinks, and messes up the toy room. Every morning he is a different place in your house or car:-)
The kids literally jump out of there beds at 6:30 a.m. and start to look for Hayden. He leaves after they go to bed and heads to the North Pole to give Santa and updated report on how they are behaving. I was a little skeptical about this whole Santa thing but me and dh came to a compromise. The kids know that Santa is not the meaning of Christmas and Jesus is and we talk about that daily. The minute they put Santa or the elf as the reason....we need some S, R, and R....STOP, Reflect, and Rejoice! This is a lot of fun as they are so excited and it's fun to see them use there imagination. I love watching them come up with how he got back into the house. The also have quiet a few friends with elfs living at there homes. Kids make Christmas so much fun. I can't imagine it any other way. Merry Christmas to you all!

Have you Met Her

Have you met her? She is my bff and we are like two peas in a pod,Laverne and Shirley, Meridith and Christina! Her name is Michelle and we finish each others sentences, foods, drinks, and are almost the same person except she is one year and two days older than me! She is also the God mother of my children (bless her if something happens..lol)If I can only get her to scrapbook and if she could only get me to ride a horse..??

My Christmas Gift....Ruined

I had planned an extravagant getaway for dh and I next year in August. I thought that he would not check the credit card statement until after Christmas but he and so he knows we are going somewhere. I am so bombed! I had made a lot of cute clues leading up to Christmas. I had the big presentation all set up and then...Needless to say I love giving surprises but this one is ruined. We will still have a good time but my Christmas will not be what I thought. The kids will be surprised at what they received. I now see why it is good to have your own credit card.

Snaggled Bedazzled Hits Again!

Princess has lost her 4th tooth. We are going broke by the minute:-)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Our friend came over to take Christmas pictures of us. I have a couple of friends who are really good and patient with taking pictures of us. It can be challenge sometimes getting everyone to look at the camera. Jay took these and Julie took the ones last year you all receive. Maybe it's in the "J". If you are in the Atlanta area give them a call. I will never take professionals again:-) I think we clean up pretty well for southerners?

Christmas Party

This is our small group. Greg and I decided to be leaders this time around and what a blessing it has been. We had a Christmas dinner at our home for the group. These couples are fabulous! It is really refreshing to know that life can be done together and with support. The guys get together about once a month and so do the ladies apart from meeting every Sunday evening. We have dinner and then we the most amazing discussions based on our current study. I am so blessed to know these people and have them in our lives.

Finally!

Ok so I have been gone for a while now. It started with my blog page bing too dark. I just could not focus. It was dark and spooky. Anyways, we have been so busy around here. Things have finally calmed down! I am still working on my colors so be patient with me. I am a visual girl so I have to have the colors just right. I will try and catch you all up. We have had Thanksgiving, after Thanksgiving shopping, school, christmas pictures, early release days, ballet, christmas parties, and everything else in life. Here are some pics of us over the past month.