Highlights of 2007

If the rain would let up I am heading to Tybee for the rest of the holiday. I was thinking of the highlights and most memorable events that happened this year and here they are.

1. The birth of Packy is of course the best thing that happened all year. My sweet baby! (And yes I still nurse him at night if he wants.)

2. The most fun thing we did was go to the Justin Timberlake concert for Betsy's 30th birthday. You can laugh if you want but it was AWESOME, just ask Jason.
3. The most life changing event that happened was meeting Mr. Johnny and enrolling Jay in karate. Jay has really become more confident and controlled since we started and Mr. Johnny is so great at challenging and encouraging Jay. LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM!!! Happy New Year everyone!!!

Our "crazy" Family Pictures

It is ALWAYS necessary to take a "crazy" picture while posing for the family Christmas pic.

Packy's Present

Do you get it?

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

From our, everyone has been yacking but now we are better, sorry to those in our path, family, to yours....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

New Addiction

Advent activities are on hold.
We are still doing some stuff but it is not as organized.
The reason-Jason and I are addicted to Guitar Hero III.
I stink but I'm getting better.
Jason rocks.
He has become the rock star I have always wanted to date.
I am so 16 right now.

Another Fairy from the Party

I just like this picture. This is Mary Blue Butler. Isn't she pretty? ANTM?

Lola Grace's BD

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ayt0dd6p.33nu7a3l&x=0&y=lol9pd
For the rest of the pictures see the link above.

Swinging is Underrated

Emory and I have been swinging outside everyday since Sunday. I forgot how much fun it is to swing. Betsy and I used to sing the following poem as we would swing at my Nana Cable's house.

The Swing
by Robert Louis Stevenson
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Baby Wil

You wouldn't know it by looking at that sweet smile but this is Baby Wil and he is fighting cancer. He has been through one round of chemo and has 3 more to go. He is doing great but it still breaks my heart that he is dealing with this at such a young age.

You can read his updates at http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=BabyWil&cid=eminvite. So sweet.

This kind of Day

Have you ever had the kind of day where you really want the baby to sleep so you wake him up at the last minute to pick up his brother from school? Then you drag him to karate and since you don't have any time to nurse him because you have to take his sister to ballet, you make a bottle in the sink and give it to him in the car propped up with pillows while you drive to ballet. Ballet is short so you run to Blockbuster to grab a movie and drop your purse in the parking lot and then realize you don't even have a Blockbuster card because it has been so long since you actually rented a movie. Make it back to pick up ballet girl. Make it back to pick up karate boy. Make it home. Put baby in the bed. Thank goodness dinner has been in the crock pot all day. Make some caramel popcorn. Done.

December in Macon

I know I am behind on my advent days but we have been doing them. Jay is on it every morning! We went to a drive- thru Nativity Saturday night and tonight we are making caramel popcorn. BUT, what I really want to share is what we are doing today. We are having a picnic and playing outside because it is 80 degrees. It is hard to explain to our children that they should not expect a white Christmas or a white anything except for maybe a random day in March. I love it. I am not a cold weather person and I am as far north as I will ever live. Sunny days just make me feel better. So Mele Kalikimaka as they say in Hawaii!

December 3

The note said to play find the candy canes and eat one. I had mom and dad over for supper and after we were finished with our pecan pie, made by Nana, Mimi and Papa hid 28 candy canes. Jay and Jason were a team and Emory and I were a team and we searched the house for the hidden canes. So fun!

Weekend PRojects

DAY 1-When the children woke up Saturday morning they were very excited to see the advent bulletin board. THey read the first activity-Decorate the house for Christmas and get a tree and trim it-and they were ready for action. Jay helped Jason bring down all of the boxes and then they went and picked out a tree. We did a big sorting project this year and got rid of lots of broken decorations or ones that we didn't need anymore. The kitchen looked like a Christmas explosion happened! Emory went to see the Beauty and the Beast at the MLT with Lola Grace and Ceci and Jay went to the Music Hall of Fame with Jeffery. The highlight of his trip was putting pennies on the railroad tracks and finding them flat after the train went by. Jason loved this because he used to do it as a kid too. We had another fire in the fire pit and Jay and Jeffery ate roasted marshmallows and drank hot chocolate. Jason read them the Christmas Bogey story and they went to bed, very fast.



DAY2-The note said to learn about the advent and watch a Christmas movie. Our family lit the first advent candle at church so we wanted to explain what the advent is all about. After church we decorated the tree. Jay wanted LOTS of ornaments and that's what we did. We made our own advent wreath and then cleaned up! Ceci came over to bbsit and she brought some Christmas crafts-an ornament for them to decorate and some foam stickers to make Christmas pictures-she is the BEST mother in law! Then they watched Charlie Brown Christmas and went to bed!

Christmas Countdown

Inspired by one of the blogs I read, I decided to really try to make Christmas special this year. Last year I was very pregnant with Packy and Jason had to do all of the decorating. We started the "projects" earlier this week with the cookies and pine cone decorating. Yesterday Jason blew the leaves in the backyard in to a giant pile and we played different games in it. Then he built a fire in the portable fire pit and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Jay told Jason it was the best night of his life. He was in one of those "I love you Dad" moods. I decided to make an advent of some sort and the envelope bulletin board is what I came up with. Each day I will put a new "project" in the envelope that will tell the kids what we are going to do. Today's activity is to decorate the house and get a tree and trim it. Other activites include, read the real Christmas story from the Bible, watch Frosty the Snowman together and drink hot chocolate, ride around and look at Christmas light, etc. My goal is to post each day what we did. I can't promise it will happen but I am going to try. We also have a tree on the bulliten board that Emory made at school and each day we add a Christmas ball to it. She brought it home with office stickers to put on it but I chunked those and punched new ones from my old scrap paper. Much cuter!