Deck The Halls

A Tree Fell in 'Bama

We awoke this morning to snow in Alabama, something that doesn't happen often here, especially this early in the winter. It didn't last long but it effectively got us in the Christmas spirit and set the scene for our annual trip to the tree farm.

M&E helped us pick out the perfect tree for our living room.

As our beautiful Leyland Cypress hit the ground, Madeline's inner tree-hugger was awakened.

Eli has no inner tree-hugger; he helped Daddy take care of business.

Thanksgiving '09

For Thanksgiving we headed down the road to what is quickly becoming one of M&E's favorite places in the world: Johnny and Susan's farm.

We feasted.

The men played.

Eli took us for a ride behind the tractor...

...which required a camo hat because it was frigid.

We visited with family that we don't get to see often enough. (We missed Allison, Brianna and Cassie.)

We warmed up by the fire...

... which inspired Eli to build us one at home later that weekend.

It was another great Thanksgiving on the farm!

Mommy's mint m&m's

Besides the many other much more important things we think about this time of year (the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), Christmas also means one of my favorite things: mint m&m's. I purchased the first bag of these coveted candies a few days ago. They are now gone. This is not surprising. The funny part is how they met their end...

I had the bag of m&m's downstairs next to the computer so I could munch away during my coupon gathering for Sunday's grocery trip. When I left for the store, I left the bag there without a thought. Later that day, I came downstairs to do some laundry and realized that I had let Eli down a bit earlier to play. He was very quiet. I came down the stairs to see my sweet boy, bag in hand. With a guilty look on his face, he tells me, "I tee-tee potty, Mommy", as he shoves my m&m's into his mouth. (M&m's are M&E's reward for using the potty.) He frantically extracts the last two candies from the bag and eats them as well before I can get to him, hands me the empty bag and says "All gone". Not a day goes by around here without a good laugh and gosh, is that boy cute! But, he owes me a bag of m&m's.

Mmmmmm

Tonight, Brandon and I sat in the den listening to Madeline and Eli having a very sweet conversation in the kitchen. We couldn't quite make out what they were talking about and finally I decided that whatever it was, it was a bit too entertaining....

The leftover doughnuts from breakfast were on the floor and each one had two bites out of it.

And, in case you would like some coffee with your doughnuts, M&E have that covered too.

Fall Fun on the Farm

Brandon gave me a break Sunday afternoon and took M&E to the farm after naptime. Adding to the usual excitement associated with a trip to the farm, M&E got to ride in "Daddy's white truck" for the first time.

The reason for a ride in the truck? Apparently the loggers have created a necessity for 4-wheel drive down there. That, mixed with rain meant muddy roads... and also a need for camo boots.

Eli LOVES his camo from Mama Kaye, and he even understands its purpose. He greeted me at the door when he got home saying, "Mommy can't see me."

While the kiddos were away, I finally got some sewing completed...

Halloween 2009

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We had some friends over for hotdogs and hamburgers before heading out for some trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Now, if I could just force myself to step away from the candy.

It's the Great Pumpkin(s)

Since Halloween is this weekend, we figured it was time to carve the pumpkins. Personally, I like an uncarved pumpkin, but Brandon wonders where the fun is in that. The man takes his pumpkin carving seriously...



M&E got in on the action this year too. Actually, they're not much for having goop on their hands. For example, their entire class painted their hands to make spider pictures at school and Madeline absolutely refused to have hers painted. So, these pictures caught the one and only time M&E stuck their hands in the pumpkins.





The final products:

UGA Cheerleader in Training

Pumpkins and Playgrounds

We went to Johnny and Susan's farm last weekend to check out Johnny's pumpkins and ride the tractor. Eli talks about Uncle Johnny's tractor ("Gunka dadoo") every day, so he was in heaven out there at the farm. He and Madeline are very adamant that Mommy is not allowed to ride the tractor, only Daddy, Madeline and Eli. Apparently a tractor is not the place for a mommy - I belong in the house. Let's hope the ACLU doesn't come after these two little cuties for gender discrimination. Personally, I have to agree with M&E and didn't mind at all being left behind to eat with Susan in the cabin.

I was recently introduced to a new playground near our house and it is our new favorite hangout post-naptime. It's so close to home and it's always empty. So, have I mentioned that M&E are big kids now? They swing on big kid swings and climb up big kid pole things that scare Mommy when I turn around to see my child at the top of them...

Addition Completion

Brandon and I have been living in our new master suite for over a month now and we love it. It's nice to be on the opposite side of the house from the kiddos now. We can actually watch TV in bed without waking up anyone. We also love having our own bathroom now (even though it houses two frog potties at the moment). Here are some pictures of our new living quarters...

Late Night Fun

The other night, I put M&E down to bed and sat there listening to Eli play for the longest time. I heard power tools going off and the flute being played, etc. Finally at around 9:00, I asked Brandon to go back there and check on him. He came out crying he was laughing so hard and told me I had to grab the camera and go see for myself.

Eli had loaded almost every toy in his room up onto his bed. You can't see the amount of toys because most are blocked by the big airport that he even managed to lug up there. You can see in the picture that Eli also thought this all was very funny. What a nut!