Final Words of 2011...

Tomorrow is a new day. A new year. Live it big. Yes, live it big.

Dressed for Fun...

Ella dressed up Lacey. Apron? Check. Tutu? Check.

Oh lawdy, those two girls are adorable playing together.

Ta-Da...

Ella cannot resist striking a pose. Ever.

It just about makes me squeal every time she does it. 

A Special Kind of Coach...

One of the coaches at Ella and Layton's school is Coach Montgomery. She also answers to Coach Princess which of course pleases all the children to no end. Coach Princess stopped by Layton's class party before school let out, and I had to get a picture of them together. She calls Layton, "Lynn Layton Chevrolet." He has no idea why she gave him this nickname, but he loves it all the same. A number of the children in kindergarten refer to him as Lynn Layton.

How sweet!

Amazon Threw Up...

Christmas day...

It looked like Amazon.com threw up in my den.

Summation...

I think Ella's face sums up what Christmas morning was like at our house. :)

Ornament Shortfall....

I've been a bit of a grinch the last couple of years. I'm not really sure why, but I just haven't had much Christmas spirit. It just seems that the season has become so commercialized and rushed that there isn't much time to enjoy being with family.

In fact, a couple of years ago, I threw out the majority of my ornaments with the intention of buying all new ornaments in the same color scheme so as to have a pretty tree. Did I get around to it? No.

This year I realized that I didn't have enough ornaments to actually cover the tree. Hmmm. So as Christmas cards came in the mail, I punched holes in them and hung them on the tree as a substitute.

Don't be alarmed if your family's faces were on my Christmas tree. We're not stalking you.

I just failed to ever actually replace the ornaments I threw out.

So all of your beautiful cards had to be my "decorations" this year.

Surely one of these days I will actually learn to decorate and make a beautiful tree.

Until then, thank you all for sprucing up our tree.

Don't Play with Your Food...

In Ella's case it's more like....

...don't play with your water...

Happy Birthday Siblings...

My father-in-law and his sister are 364 days apart in age. For one day each year, they are the same age. Since Papa Jim turned 60 this year, we decided to go out to eat to celebrate. See, his birthday is Christmas Eve, so it's hard to celebrate on his big day. We went out the night before on Peggy's birthday. It was wonderful to get the two of them and all their children and grandchildren together for a night. It would have been even better if Jay hadn't been under the weather and the service had been a little speedier. I think the last time we did anything for Jim's birthday was when he turned 50. Yes, it had been a decade. Oops.

I have always felt bad for Jim and Peggy having birthdays right at Christmas-time. They kind of get the short end of the birthday stick so to speak. Even their presents have often been Christmas themed. Just ask Aunt Peggy about the ''Snowman Story." :)

One Time at Band Camp....

Hadley is in the band. She plays the flute. We've established that band was cool in Athens for a long time. No, really. It was cool to be in the band here. There are still some lingering feelings of affection toward the band program here even though our rocking directors retired.

The middle school had their Christmas concert not too long ago. Hadley was sporting the tux like no body's business. She was thrilled to remove the tie and cumber bun though. Truth be told...it wasn't the best Sleigh Ride I have ever heard, but I was very proud of how hard the children had obviously worked on it. There were several times when I honestly thought it was going to fall apart, but the kids kept on going. It was endearing.

These are a few of Hadley's band friends. It was impossible to get a good shot of her playing the flute. She was completely obscured by other kids. :( She doesn't want to be in the band next year unless she can be a part of the dance twirl team. I know, I know. Where did I go wrong?

Happy Christmas Friends!....

Happy day, dear digital friends!!! I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas full of good food and presents!!!

Papa and Elf...

Papa Jim and Mama Kaye came to Layton's program at school. Papa always takes the month of December off of work, so he needed something cute to fill his morning. :) He was so proud of Layton even though Layton was a wild Elf.

Gosh, Layton is the cutest little elf I ever did see!

Much Better...

Elf You...

Layton's kindergarten class had a play. All the parents wanted to get a picture of the children as a group. They were elves; the other kindergarten classes were angels, reindeer, and santas. It was cute.

Layton wasn't on his best behavior during the program. He and his friend Trey played and wrestled the whole time.

Yes, even when I tried to get a good picture of my little elf, he was in elvish form.

See what I mean? He was entertaining....embarrassing but entertaining.

Oh Yes, It's On...

Ella is completely obsessed with cooking. She loves to cook and anything related to cooking. She could drop a fortune in Williams-Sonoma.

Since we have a family dinner every Sunday night, Ella uses that opportunity to cook with Mama Kaye. She has had to get Lacey in on the action. :)

How stinking cute is this?

Mama Kaye and Ella were so happy to have Lacey in the kitchen cooking with them.

Ella seemed to think that Lacey's technique was a little lacking, but it was Lacey's first cake.

I can't wait to see what these two, sweet cousins cook up next. :)

What Do You Think Was About to Happen?...

This picture of Ella and Lacey can only mean one thing...

Speaking of the Schoolyard...

The picture of Layton posing in the schoolyard is adorable to me for so many reasons. You see, Ella and Layton get out of school a half hour before Hadley gets out of school. After I pick the littles up, we sit in a car line for a half hour waiting on Hadley. There is a whole group of kids who have an older sibling and have to wait a half hour too. So....

The younger kids get out of the cars and play every afternoon that the weather permits and play. They play hide and seek or football or some other interesting child game. I find it completely endearing. :)

I'm Awesome and I Know It...

Just doing a pose in the schoolyard....

Funniest Christmas Card Ever...

I love my twitter friends. @becomedizzy posted this pic earlier today, and I nearly lost it I laughed so hard. 

It said, " Even SHE got a card out."

Totally adorbs.

Party on Wayne; Party on Santa....

Christmas parties are so much fun. I love going to parties. If you'll recall, I changed jobs earlier in the year, so this was my first Christmas party at the new company. I didn't really know what to expect, but I was blown away when I found out that children were invited to the party. I don't think I've ever been to a work party at night that allowed children. Every company Christmas party I have been to in the past involved an open bar and someone making a drunken fool of themselves. Mostly me. Ha!

Anyway, back to my first Christmas party for my job. The little ones came with us, and part way through the party, guess who showed up!!!!!

He was a great Santa! The littles sat on his lap and told them what they wanted for Christmas. He gave each of them a present. Actually, the parents had discreetly given the gifts to our Marketing/HR guru earlier in the day/week. My littles got pillow pet pee wees. They had expressed a desire to have a pee wee, and I knew that Santa wasn't bringing them on the 25th. This was the perfect opportunity to surprise them.

Santa told them to be good for Mom and Dad and to pay attention at school and clean their rooms. Lawd, can Santa come live with us?

My Littles.


Thanks, Kate for planning such a wonderful party and thinking of the children. This was a GREAT experience for us, and I look forward to the party next year. 

Whoosh...I Think I Need Warm Weather...

One Heck of a Weekend...

This past weekend was a little rough. Ella came home from school on Friday with the stomach virus that has been going around the local schools. I immediately quarantined her to try and make sure no one else got it. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know how badly I want to continue my vomit free streak. Soup and dry toast were on the menu that night. Sheets had to be washed and the quarantine had to be enforced. Thankfully though, no one else go the yucks. Well, that particular yuck.


Hadley had been having some congestion, and I had been debating whether or not she needed to see the pediatrician. Of course, she had no fever until Saturday morning...when the pediatrician's office is closed. So that morning I decided she was going to have to go to the doc in the box. I was dreading it because it always takes hours upon hours to be seen. I got her up and gave her a dose of mucinex to help her feel better and told her to take a shower. She came back into the kitchen a few minutes later and said she was a little itchy, so I gave her a benedryll. She took a shower, and she and I loaded up and went to urgent care. We'd been there a few minutes when she started to swell. A lot. I got concerned and asked if a nurse could look at her. The nurse said to take her to the ER fast. So I did. By the time we got to the ER, Hadley's lips were so swollen that her upper lip was touching her nose, and her eyes were swollen shut. She was covered in hives from head to toe. Luckily, the staff took us straight back, and we were seen within minutes. Poor Hadley is allergic to mucinex and had to have all kinds of shots. It was so pitiful. We were back home within two hours armed with three prescriptions and minus the swelling and hives.

My cell phone was broken during all of this. It had been restarting for no apparent reason, and sometimes out of the blue a Conan O'Brien video would start playing. I think I caught a virus. I could text and tweet, but I could only make or receive phone calls on speakerphone. Yes, I was the crazy lady talking on speakerphone for the whole world to hear...while an obscene Conan skit played in the background. When I called Jay to update him, I just used the hospital phone because it was easier and slightly more discreet. Then I was convinced that I had picked up tuberculosis and diptheria. Needless to say, I bought a new phone after getting Hadley's prescriptions filled.

So, what did you do last weekend? Ha! Still though, a stomach virus and an allergy to mucinex are pretty insignificant things to deal with. I am reminded of that every time I think of Noah Crowe. His parents are faced with the reality that this may be their last Christmas with their little boy. I have no doubt that they would rather have an ER trip for an allergy than have to watch their sweet child have a third brain surgery.

A Christmas Carol...Mickey Style...

Have you ever seen Mickey's Christmas Carol? It's my personal favorite. When I was a little girl, I would practically foam at the mouth flipping through the December TV Guide to see when it was going to play. I watched it every year. :)

Willie the Giant is a character that is just adorable. He's so big and clumsy and makes me laugh every time. Layton reminded me of Willie the Giant not too long ago.

Oh yes, he plucked a solar powered low-voltage light to use as a flashlight. At least he's inventive!!

You Might Be a Redneck If...

Hunting. It's not my sport of choice. I don't really have a sport of choice because I'm about as athletic as a doorknob. Is hunting even a sport? I have no clue, but I know that my husband loves to hunt. He and his brother particularly enjoy hunting squirrels at the farm.

They got a few not too long ago, and Ella wanted to help with the cleaning. What eight year old girl does this excitedly? Ella.

She calmly stood around holding the one she wanted to help with. What?!?!?!?!???? And more importantly, why was I fool enough to sit around photographing it instead of disinfecting her hands?

Clearly, we are redneck as it gets. We're klassy. With a K.