Christmas 2010

A Christmas tradition we started before bedtime in December was singing carols and reading Christmas stories by the fireplace almost every night. So special :)

Dressed as a wiseman at MMO

We hosted Christmas with Chris' family at our house the weekend before Christmas.
Present time! Excuse my backside...we had few pics from the weekend.

Oh, how Alex loves cousin Kelly!
We missed you Amy and Andy.

Mimi and Great Grandaddy

The Men: Chris, Great Grandaddy, Uncle Craig and Grandaddy
Too bad Hunter and David are not in this pic to show the 4 generations of men. Next time :)

Kelly and Aunt Tammy

Cousins having fun

Grandaddy supervising monkey David

Day Day

Aunt Cathy helping supervise finger painting while Hunter shows off his artistic ability :)
Thanks Mimi for the easel and paint sets. I see some fun, messy days ahead!

Helping make Jesus' chocolate birthday cake

Christmas morning at our house :)

The first thing Alex said when she saw her dollhouse was, "I have always wanted a dollhouse and all of a sudden, I got one." It was so sweet.

David LOVES his train table and trains!!!
Thank you cousin Hunter for all the hand me down trains and table. It rocks and is perfect for David! A special gift :)

Focusing to keep the trains on the track. However, the tracks were destroyed in no time. We've learned a track on the table and not lifted up works best for David at this stage as he kept knocking it down and wanting it fixed every 2 minutes!

Stocking time....Ringing their mini cowbells in practice for their next MSU game :)))
Another tradition I started with the fam on Christmas morning is homemade cinnamon rolls...thanks to Mrs. Bette's recipe, my Bible study leader from Little Rock
This was the first time I worked with live yeast and let dough rise from scratch and then punch it down. So fun :) Prep was done the day before and just had to get up an hour early to let rise on Christmas morn....so worth it - YUMMY!!!

We drove one hour to Grandmother's house for Christmas lunch and spent a couple of nights visiting with family there. Here, the kiddos are on a train with Grandmother :)

Grandmother and her grandbabies :)

David LOVES balls.
He got a trio set of a mini basketball, soccer ball and football via a gift card from Nana and Papaw.

Alex practicing on her new princess scooter from Grandmother

Sporting her new apron

"Let me on the bed, too!"

Well, Christmas gifting lasted 3 weeks as Mimi could not transport all her gifts to our house initially. So, we traveled to Hattiesburg New Year's weekend to continue and celebrate New Years with the Mississippi State win over Michigan. Go Dawgs!!!

Loving her new giraffe

Cousin Fun

A Peek into FaLL 2010

Alex with cousin Amy @ MSU game
Amy cheers at a local high school here and plans to try out for a college cheerleading squad next semester!!! We hope its MSU :))))

David's 1st game. Alex's 2nd. They loved the game and had a blast!

Alex's first day of dance (ballet, tap and tumbling) at a new studio

Sweet friends, Kim and Fleetwood, came for a weekend visit from Atlanta while in town for her college reunion at MC.

Their precious kiddos

We were also so blessed to get to host my college friend reunion this Fall. Including us, there were 4 families equaling 15 people (7 kiddos all 3 and under!!!) for 3-4 nights. We all gather from FL, AL, IN and MS once a year usually at a different person's house. It was awesome! We had a blast including this trip to the zoo...one of the few outings we had. We mostly hung out at our house cooking, visiting, playing outside, etc.

Zoo train ride

more reunion crew pics

reunion friends from Indianapolis minus 3 yr old son here.

Sable, Alex and Eli thought the zoo smelled and they giggled constantly. All the kids played well together, but Alex and Eli especially hit it off. It's a long, sweet story but Alex asked Eli to marry her. ha!!!! Yes, too young to even think that but the conversation was so sweet.

Kristen, Tony and Hannah (~2 months older than David)

Apple Snack Time

Thanksgiving Day 2010
David - 18 months, Alex - 3 yrs, 2.5 months

"Don't mess with my ball."
David is full on into balls, trucks and trains! All boy!

Proud of his throw :)

Getting my little rascal :)

Future Track Star

We love wagon rides at Mimi's house!

Chilling with cuz Amber at Grandmother's house
Not only did we get to spend 3 nights at Mimi and Grandaddy's for Thanksgiving, we got to spend two nights at Grandmother's. This is the beauty of being back in MS. Just over 2 hrs separate both grandparents' houses and we live kind of in the middle. Sweet!

Helping decorate Grandmother's Christmas tree

Alex and Mommy riding in the Madison Christmas Parade with Alex's Dance Studio
So Fun!
A recent Fall picnic at the reservoir turned into a freeze fest as the winds kept picking up and the temps were dropping fast. Of course, we still had a blast with our energy filled munchkins wanting to run, play games and ball constantly. Playing kept us warm.


Future soccer player...dude has been dribbling about since he could walk.
Don't let him fool you though. He can throw a mini football, baseball and can hit balls off a T awesome, too. We've got athletes on our hands. (That makes daddy and mommy happy:)

ENT Christmas party bound.
We went on 4 date nights in 10 days. It was nice getting out as we just haven't done that much lately.

Our awesome babysitters - Aunt Tammy and/or cousin Amy or Kelly kept the kiddos all 4 outings. Tammy and Kelly made a gingerbread house with the kiddos the last night :)



This video was taken several months ago. I just thought it was cute.

Alex dressed as Cinderella last year for a Trunk or Treat and wanted to again this year. She requested David to be dressed as the Dashing Prince :)

New Eyes and Chairs

Whew... Life has been so full lately that I just decided not to stress in keeping up with this blog as regular. So, just a few of the many happenings that have occurred in the last month are.....drum roll......MY NEW EYES :))) I had PRK laser surgery (not Lasik, but similar in that the goal was 20/20 vision) on my eyes at the end of September. Recovery to 20/20 is longer with PRK than Lasik but it is safer as their is no potential flap complication. After reaching 20/20 vision within 9 days of surgery, my eye doc (who is my cousin that did the surgery) said I reached 20/20 vision much quicker than expected and that it would continue getting better :) I was so blessed not to experience any pain either during recovery, just some blurriness for a few days (which deterred any computer activity!). All in all, I am AMAZED at how clear I can see without glasses or contacts. I love seeing the leaves on the trees. I love seeing faces clearly from a distance. I love being able to read the TV from a distance. I love exercising without my glasses falling down my nose. I love that I can cuddle with my kiddos and my glasses not bump their faces!!! I love that David does not rip off my glasses anymore and attempt to break or throw them. I love that Alex asks me now, "mommy, why don't you have to wear glasses anymore?" I often forget I can see and wake up thinking that I need to reach for my glasses. Or I'll think I need to take out contacts before going to bed as I think I shouldn't be able to see this clearly without them. I am loving this new world of clear vision with no aids :) I've been wanting to have laser surgery for a long time and this was the perfect timing - so thankful!!! Thanks to Mimi for helping with the kids for the couple days after and to Mom for driving me on surgery day!!! Bye Bye contacts and glasses!!!

Also, we have been pecking away at furnishing the house and various house projects. One small project I decided to tackle one afternoon was recovering our old dining room chairs. They were so filthy and stained from the kiddos. My upholstery job is not perfect by any means (I learned how by watching a 3 min video online after doing one chair my way), but it was a huge face lift to our table and chairs!

2 of the 6 old chairs

Recovered chairs in fun party print :))))

And for those that just want to see pics of the kiddos, yikes!!!! They are so cute and fun and I just have no good pics to prove it. They are at such a great age playing (and fighting) with each other. I seem to never take pics anymore...just enjoying the heck out of them...except when Alex pops her pre-adolescent attitude already!!! Oh, and David got his first spanking (not really hard and on top of his diaper) last week for throwing food from his booster seat after being warned a couple of times. He's getting a bit testy, but thankfully it started at 16 months old. Alex started testing us when she was 10 months old. David's personality is much more compliant/obedient than Alex's strongwilled self. Overall, they are precious and I am so thankful every day that I get to stay home with them. Loving my babies!!!

Cousins at Amber's 4th birthday party
(Amber, Raegan, Alex and Dylan)

Sweet Day Day sporting his Mississippi State gear