Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We've had so much fun that I haven't had time to sit down and write about our wonderful holiday. I feel like we didn't do quite as much pre-Christmas fun as usual this year - throw in the mid-month trip to Jamaica and then the fact that 3 girls were in school until the 22nd the month flew by. Anyways we really kicked off Christmas celebration the Wed before Christmas when we had Dad and Nat over for dinner. We had a nice dinner (thanks Nat!) and then the kids opened their gifts. They were the first gifts the kids had gotten this year and wow..were they surprised, excited and spoiled! The next day we did our annual gingerbread houses. And let me add that every year I think this is a great idea but it never quite happens as great as I think/remember. Oh well...it's tradition. That night we met up with our good friends the Dickey's to go to the Lights on the Neuse. This is the 3rd year in a row we've gone with them to see a lights spectacular and so now it's become tradition. The kids loved it despite the frigid temperatures! Friday, Christmas Eve, Paul was off of work for the first time in perhaps our entire marriage! It was so nice to have him around. We have a tradition that the kids open 1 gift on Christmas Eve - always new pajamas and the kids were excited to open their gifts right after breakfast this year! The older girls are on to the tradition now and aren't surprised by the jammies but it's still fun. We delivered a gift to Paul's dad and enjoyed our only peppermint chocolate chip milkshake from Chickfila this holiday season! I cooked all day and we went to church for the Christmas Eve service in the late afternoon. That evening we welcomed Paul's family - his mom, her husband and his sister and friend over for dinner and gifts. Nana completely spoiled the children! The gift pile was neverending! The kids were beyond excited about all their fun new things. They made their Santa cookie plate and sprinkled reindeer food outside and finally went to bed with great anticipation!

Christmas morning the kids woke up about 7am which was later than I expected. We snuggled in the bed for about 45 minutes when they just couldn't take it anymore. We crept downstairs and indeed Santa had come! The kids were so excited! Santa was VERY good to us this year - including bringing me a new laptop!! We opened our stockings and played with our Santa gifts then Daddy made a big breakfast for us. After breakfast we opened the rest of our gifts! My family started arriving around 12:30...my aunt and 2 cousins came from Winston Salem and my mom and her husband came up from the beach. We enjoyed time together and a nice dinner and of course more gifts! More spoiling! The kids were super excited about everything they got! We'd been watching the weather all day in anticipation of the snow storm and with the impending winter weather my aunt decided to head home in the early evening. Smart move since we got about 6 or 7 inches of snow that night! My poor mom lost power at the hotel they were staying at (luckily it was right down the street) so they came to our house on Sunday and stayed until Monday afternoon when they headed back to the beach with Lily!

It's been a nice, relaxing week this week - cleaning and reorganizing, sleeping in....nice vacation so far!! Lily's having a GREAT time at Camp Gagi - I'm afraid she's not going to want to come home!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!

One of Those Days

Ever have one of those days where you think I should just go to bed before anything else happens? Yesterday was one of those days for me. I dropped all the girls off at their schools and set upon a mission to get teacher gifts. It was a must do since it was Julia's last day of preschool and I needed to give the gifts when I picked her up. I headed straight to Carolina Pottery but when I pulled in the parking lot it was clear that they didn't open until 10. I mean seriously, it's 5 days before Christmas - who doesn't open before 10?? Well..Carolina Pottery..that's who. Ugh. Plan B...I headed to the mall grabbed a quick gift then went back to Carolina Pottery thinking surely I can find something for the teachers there. After searching for 45 and listening to Jacob loudly declare his impatience with shopping with me I found something. I ran home to wrap it and while there broke one gift. Annoying. But I had an extra so I made it to preschool and handed out the gifts.

I get home and commence bread baking. I wanted to make several batches of pumpkin bread for teachers, etc at the girls school. I also wanted to watch Survivor while I baked but discovered it wasn't on demand yet and I forgot to DVR it. So I pull it up on CBS.com and then decide to move the laptop to another spot so I could watch it and bake. This it where it all went bad. It's like on TV when something happens in slow motion and you want it to stop but it's too late and you can't. As I go to move the laptop (and cord since it only works when it's plugged in) it somehow slips out of my hand and crashes to the floor. And then I cried. Well first I picked it up thinking surely it's fine. Then I realized it wasn't. And I really cried. The screen is all jacked up - shaking and there is a nice starburst crack at the top. It's still somewhat usable but very hard to see. So sad.

I don't think Santa is up for buying me a new laptop so I'm going to have share my husbands when he's in town and the kids desktop. Bummer. I'm going to have to book some more Disney trips so I can buy myself a new one...anyone? Anyone?

Wedding Pictures

As promised here is a slideshow of wedding pics!

Wedding!

Paul and I were forced to escape the bitter cold last week and fly to Jamaica for my little brothers wedding. Such a rough life, right? Thursday morning we got up at 0'dark early and headed for the airport. Unfortunately for the body scan watchers I got selected for a body scan. Of course. (For the record, it wasn't that bad). We were delighted that the flight turned out to be on time and we headed for Miami. We had a nice 4 hour layover in Miami and after what felt like 6 hours we finally boarded our flight bound for Montego Bay! Once we landed in oh-so-warm Jamaica we were herded like cattle through immigration and luckily our 2 bags and my dad's 9 bags (yes, that's right 9...it's cheaper to bring stuff rather than ship stuff to Jamaica) all made it with no problems and no questions! My brother had arranged our airport transfers so we found our bus, popped open a Red Stripe (one of 3000 that were consumed by the guests of the wedding over the 4 days. Again..not kidding) and headed to our final destination: Negril.

The wedding was at a boutique hotel called The Rockhouse. A GORGEOUS location right on the cliffs of Negril. The hotel is small so all the guests couldn't stay at this one place. My mom was at a place called Tensing Pen and Paul & I stayed with my Dad, my aunt and a few of their friends at a villa right down the road. The villa was perfect. The scenery was stunning and we had a cook to prepare us meals. Can you say spoiled? It took longer than expected for us to arrive at the villa and shortly after we got there it was time to go to the Rockhouse for welcome cocktails. The welcome reception was being held poolside and there was some unbelievable wind that night so we didn't stay too long at the welcome. We were all exhausted after a super long travel day as well. We said some hellos and they left to go back to the villa for dinner!

Woke up Friday morning to a gorgeous day. I was so thankful to be able to sleep in! I rolled out of bed and onto the pool deck where I stayed for a while. I read, played scrabble and just generally laid by the pool until it was time for the wedding rehearsal. Paul, who can't sit still, explored around a little and jumped off a 24 ft bridge at my mom's hotel. My dad and I headed out for the rehearsal and after that I helped Natalie (my dad's wife) prepare for the big rehearsal dinner they were hosting later that evening. We finished that up and went up to dress up for the big night. We started the evening with a cocktail reception and then dinner, then dancing. The whole evening was really fun. A bunch of my brothers friends toasted (roasted?) him and then we all spent a lot of time on the dance floor. A super fun night!!

Saturday was wedding day! Again, the day was gorgeous - bright, sunny skies! Paul and I spent the morning exploring the little town where we were. We bought a few things for the kids at the roadside stands, got offered to buy some "Bob Marley" and had a BBQ lunch at our villa. Before we knew it was time to get ready for the ceremony. The ceremony was held on the restaurant deck of the hotel. It was a gorgeous setting. I promise to post some pictures. I was a reader in the wedding so I got to sit up front and see all the action up close! The wedding was supposed to start at 4:30 but apparently a little glitch in the make up area postponed it for a bit. We were starting to get a little nervous that Ginnie was going to jump on one of the party boats docked near us and get forget this whole deal but thankfully she didn't. She was a gorgeous, gorgeous (I realize I've typed that word a million times but really...she was) bride. She looked absolutely stunning. The ceremony was really sweet and the pastor who was a friend of Brad's did a great job. After the ceremony we enjoyed cocktails (hmm..I've typed that word a lot too) and then headed over to the pool for pictures. The pictures are sure to be beautiful with the sun setting behind them! The reception spot was decorated beautifully. They had a reggae band and DJ. There was a buffet dinner and the food was great. The evening was really a ton of fun!

We headed back home a little too early on Sunday morning but as it turns out we were glad to have left early since many of our friends ended up with flight delays! Our kiddos missed us but were well taken care of by my sister in law and mother and father in law. It was a wonderful weekend away...just what we needed in the middle of December. Coming back to this cold was not so fun though..not at all! Pictures coming soon!!

When I Grow Up

I love 3 year old conversations. You just never know what they are going to say or where they are going to lead. I had this conversation with my 3 year old and her bff, Preston on the way home from school today:

Julia: When I grow up I'm going to be a teacher

Preston: Well...I'm going to me a dragon

Julia: Well then I'll be Jessie (as in cowgirl Jessie from Toy Story) and then when I'm a mom I'm going to go on a date.

Cracked me up....

Overheard

We (finally thanks to my wonderful husband) got a Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set this year. I've been wanting one for years but unfortunately I never remember I want one until the holidays roll around and they are in short supply. Paul happened to be in a Target (gasp! I know!) one day well before Thanksgiving and saw one. He remembered how much I wanted one so he brought it home. I waited until we decorated for Christmas before setting it out and needless to say it's been a big hit this year especially with Julia.

Julia plays with them a lot and has incorporated the other Little People farm animals into the scene. It's quite a little scene she's got going on. The other night Paul comes upstairs laughing. He says I just heard Julia say this while playing with the Nativity:

"Hey Baby Jesus, What's up? You doin OK in that barn?"

Made me smile.

Let It Snow!

Saturday we went to Rocky Mount to visit with my dad's wife's family (got that?). Every year her parents graciously invite us to their family Christmas celebration and it's always a good time so we go. My dad's wife's sister has 3 boys, 2 of which are around my kids ages so there is always a ton of fun to be had. We'd just seen them at Thanksgiving so the kids were even more acquainted and ready for action. There were also a couple other little girls there so there was no shortage of playmates. Emma had a dance performance that morning so my dad and Natalie took Lily and Julia up early and we met them there after the dance. Mrs. Crocker had rented a Mickey Mouse bounce house so the kids were in heaven. The only problem is that it was slightly chilly Saturday which caused more issues for the adults than the kids.

The forecast called for snow but 1..it's NC and 2. it's early Dec so I assumed the chance of seeing snow was pretty slim. I was wrong. About 3pm it started snowing, getting heavier and heavier! It was so beautiful! The perfect snow too - the kind that looks beautiful on the trees but doesn't mess up the roads or sidewalks at all. Mrs. Crocker built a fire outside and we roasted marshmallows and ate smores while the snow was falling. Gorgeous setting and so much fun! The kids loved, loved seeing the snow! It's really starting to feel like Christmas!

Breakfast with Santa

We were so excited to find out our preschool was doing a breakfast with Santa! I decided to take the big girls too so they wouldn't miss out on any of the fun. Luckily Paul was in town so he was able to go with us. We get to the school and after a few minutes we get in line to eat. While we were in line Santa walked in! Lily, not so quietly, announces.."that's not the real Santa". Oh. My. Goodness. I was just praying none of the preschoolers or their moms around us heard her. We have had conversations about how sometimes Santa sends helpers out since Santa can't possibly be everywhere. She goes on to say that's not the real Santa...the real Santa is much, much taller. Turns out she thinks the "real" Santa is one of our neighbors who has been a Santa at our neighborhood party for the past couple of years!

We ate and a few minutes later it was our turn to see the Big Guy. We were a bit rushed to get them to school on time but everyone was very accommodating. Unfortunately Jacob had NO interest in sitting on Santa's lap - none. But Julia braved her fear of Santa and did it. I was so proud! Hopefully this was enough Santa spotting for the season!

O Christmas Tree

I've been a horrible blogger lately! Just no time to sit down and blog. Which is a shame because I'll never remember stuff a few years from now! Anyway..last I checked in we had just gotten our tree from the beautiful tree farm. We got it in the house and up and Paul and I worked on the lights. Gracious...putting up Christmas lights is a true exercise in patience! Turns out 3 of our strands either didn't work at all or had only half the strand working. Needless to say the decorating of our tree was halted as a light run to Walmart had to be made before continuing the decorating. We also got stopped by this text from our neighbor: "hey want to come play the Michael Jackson experience with us?" Um? YES! So we went over and danced a little MJ. The best part of the game? It comes with a sequined white glove. So. Much. Fun.

We got down to serious decorating business Sunday night. Everyone was just so very helpful. And I might add that I'm very thankful that most of our ornaments are non-breakable. So the tree is up and decorated and oh so pretty to look at. Now if only I'd had the energy to decorate the outside before the temperatures plunged!