Home!

We traveled to Mississippi to spend Christmas with Mimi and Pop and had a great time. After covering 2,300 miles in 10 days, we are exhausted and glad to be home! Here are a few highlights:

*Santa knew we were in MS and brought the kids' gifts there!
*Visiting with relatives: Memaw, Aunt Hortense, Pete & Marsha
*Singing! Aunt Hortense taught the kids how to use her cane like a microphone and they LOVED it, arguing over whose turn it was to sing next
*Brayden's trip to the donut store with Pop (tradition). They made it once, but the second time they were closed. This led to tears streaming down sweet Brayden's face and grumpiness for quite a while. Poor guy.
*A trip to Memphis for shopping, the Children's Museum (awesome! Brinley told me today "I sang loud while I played the cuttar!), and Chuck E Cheese with my Chi O big sis Jenny and sweet Reeves & Caroline
*Eating at Sonic, Zaxby's, Oby's, Fuddruckers
*Driving around looking at Christmas lights
*Hotels! We stayed at 3 and the kids thought this was so much fun- watching tv in bed, sleeping with Mom or Dad, breakfast in the lobby
*Brayden invented a game called Quarter Bodorder. You drop coins from up above and try to land them ono a large commemorative coin. Too funny.
*The Tupelo mall: a train and merry-go-round to ride, plus a playground. The kids were in heaven!
*Snuggling with Mimi and Pop
*Mom & Mimi finishing our jigsaw puzzle (tradition)

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I'm sitting amongst the piles of new toys and discarded wrapping paper, enjoying watching the snow fall on this  Christmas Day. Last night we went to church, where both kids were squirmy worms, but we made it to "Silent Night" with our candles lit. After dinner we opened all the presents under the tree, mostly because Pop is very impatient when it comes to Christmas presents! Their favorite things seem to be the Vtech MobiGo video games and they each got one. Brayden (age 4) opened each gift and said "Oh wow, just what I wanted!" After putting out oreos and chocolate milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, we sprinkled reindeer food on the grass and went to bed. This morning the kids got up at 6:20 to find that Santa had arrived with even more gifts! As usual, the kids got way too many gifts even though I felt like I was holding back more this year. They have been well-behaved today playing with their toys and sharing nicely. It's been a great Christmas so far. The kids know that today is Baby Jesus' birthday and we plan to decorate some gingerbread houses for his birthday later on. Lots of pictures will follow later. Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses

The kids were so excited to go to a Gingerbread House decorating party. I think they ate more candy than they put on their houses!

Cindy-Lou Who

 The finished products!

Santa #2

Santa came to daycare last week. Brinley didn't want to sit with him alone, but with Brayden there she was all smiles!



Sweet Brinley

Brinley, soon to be our oldest and not only daughter, completely cracks me up and makes me melt lately with the things that come out of her mouth. From the mouth of the babe, age 2:

* We were snuggling in our bed one morning and I told her it was time for us to get up and get ready. She said "Let's snuggle for 3 more minutes, Mommy. K?" while holding up 3 fingers. Of course, we snuggled more!

* While rocking before bed one night I told her she was so sweet. She replied "You're so sweet too, Mommy. I care about you."

* She refers to Brayden as "my brother" fairly often. When asked what they had for lunch at Nana and Grandpa's house she said "I had a cheese sandwich and my brother had a hot dog," while pointing at Brayden.

Love it!

Shepherds, Sheep and a Savior

Brayden was a sheep in the musical "Shepherds, Sheep and a Savior" at our church last night. Along with the other 3 and 4 year olds, he was adorable! They sang "Away in a Manger" and I am not sure that Brayden actually sang any words, though he does know the song. He and Brinley sang it the other night at the dinner table and it was so precious. We were proud of Brayden for wearing the entire costume and getting on stage with the other kids...an improvement over last year. (He's the 4th sheep from the right, directly in front of the tree with his head facing the camera.) Brinley wanted to know where her costume was and I'm sure she'll be front and center singing loudly next year!

 Cupcakes- yum!

Upcoming Excitement

We have quite a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. By the numbers, it's roughly:

2 weeks until Christmas
5 weeks until we move to our new house
6 weeks until Brinley's birthday
9 weeks until Brayden's birthday
11 weeks until baby girl is due
13 weeks until Kim's birthday

Santa

We went to see Santa (and get a free picture!) at the Co-Op on Saturday. We got there right when he and Mrs. Claus were leaving for lunch, in their bright red traditional Christmas outfits. We went to have our lunch and came back and they had changed into camo. Not what I would have picked necessarily, but the photo is still cute! And, yes, we live in the country. For a few more weeks, at least. Brayden sat on Santa's lap for the first time, but Brinley wasn't so sure. So, Mommy is in the Santa picture yet again!

 They are really into sticking their tongue out in pictures lately, so I asked for a "sweet" picture. Brayden quickly put his arm around Brinley and said "For a sweet picture, we need to hug each other!"

Merry Christmas!

Video: Happy Halloween!

Christmas Trees

Brayden & Brinley each have a Christmas tree in their rooms. Brayden was so excited to set up his trains under his, and they both enjoyed decorating them with "their" special ornaments!

Family Pictures

Here are more pictures from our family photo session with Amanda (Amanda Carol Photography). Impossible to pick my favorites, so here are some of them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 We made handprint turkeys for the place cards and enjoyed a delicious meal with Kenny's parents (Nana & Grandpa), Aunt Barbara and the Nordts.

The kids really enjoyed "smashing" up the chocolate turkey into bite-szied pieces!

My sweet boy

At the dinner table, Brinley crawled up into my lap and told me she wanted to take a nap (she hardly ever naps), so I knew she wasn't feeling well. She went right to sleep and later had the start of the stomach bug we passed around our family. Everyone is feeling better now!

Thanksgiving Saturday

We had a very fun and busy day on the Saturday after Thanksgiving! We started off with a craft fair to get a few Christmas gifts and the kids each got an ornament. Then to the book fair for a new book. Next, lunch at McDonald's. After that to You Made It to paint ornaments- so fun! Then to the new Explore More Discovery Museum, and home to bed early!

Our ornaments before glazing/firing. Brayden & Brinley both choose a star and I made the middle one with their thumb prints.

A fun family outing, and we didn't break anything!

Explore More Discovery Museum

The Childrens' Museum is now in the new location, with a new name. We visited it over Thanksgiving and had a great time.

The kids at the tv station booth.

Working on cars