Holidays!! (Part I)

I am going to try to give you a summary of our busy, but happy holiday season.

Magical Nights of Lights: We started the season off the way we usually do with a trip to the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier. The fabulous mom that I am, I forgot coats for 3 of my 4 children, so we couldn't get out at the Carnival area. Ken took Karlee (who had a coat) and Kendall (wrapped in a scarf) to ride a few rides while the twins and I sat in the car. We still had a great time - it was not crowded at all so we could take our time with the lights. Kendall really enjoyed it this year.

My Birthday: We had a great dinner for me and Shanna's birthday at Olive garden and then chocolate cake back at the house. Ken planned a great outing for me and our friends. We had dinner and then saw the John Berry Christmas Concert. We had so much fun!! We have such great friends.

School Festivities: Next we celebrated with Kendall's Holiday Musical and Party - her class sang "Jingle Bells" and "Where is Santa?" while they were all decked out in their handmade Rudolph shirts and later had a party complete with yummy treats, story time and a craft. Karlee had her party the same day. They played Santa Bingo, made edible Christmas trees and marshmallow snow globes, had a book gift swap, made Magic Reindeer Food and ate yummy treats.

Christmas Baking: No holidays are complete without a little baking - we made Rudolph cookies, munchie mix, pretzel bites with Hershey's hugs & M&Ms and Rolos & pecans.

Book Club: My church has started a book club and our December selection was a great book, The Great Christmas Bowl by Susan May Warren. It was a cute little story about the things mother's do for their children and how they strive for perfection at the holidays. It was so funny!! I would highly recommend it for next year's Christmas reading.

Part II coming soon!

Jumpin' Monkeys!

In an effort to prevent ourselves from going crazy with our kids out of school (and it being soooo cold and rainy), some friends and I took our kids (and a few extras) to Jungle Jumpers, a bouncy house place in Winder. It was great!! It is beautifully decorated in the foyer and hallway, the jumping room is super nice with couches and wing back chairs. The bathrooms are nice and big with changing tables. It was so clean and nice. I would highly recommend it to anyone who lives in the area and is looking for something fun to do with your kids. Check out the website for all the details.

Party Time!

We have finished up school for 2009! Today was party day for Karlee and Kendall. I found a great babysitter (who doesn't have another job and can work during the day) to keep the twins while I did a little bit of Christmas shopping and then hit the party circuit. Kendall's was first - she was so excited about it. They had a feast: apples, grapes, cheese cubes, Christmas tree cookies, white chocolate dipped pretzel sticks, cheese puffs, fudge covered oreos and apple juice. The juice was the biggest hit since they only get water at snack time everyday. Then they made paint swirl ornaments and listened to 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. After the party, I took Kendall back home and then headed to RBES for Karlee's party. It was so much fun, but like a whirlwind - so crazy with 16 kindergartners running around. They played Santa Bingo, made Magic Reindeer Food, iced and decorated ice cream cone Christmas trees, made snowmen snow globes, had a book exchange and ate a snack. It was such a fun day and I loved seeing all the fun crafts they made especially the ornaments. I have a small tree for only hand-made ornaments but I think I will have to get a bigger one for next year.

Thanksgiving Queen

FINALLY!!!

We have been trying to lose this (our first) tooth FOREVER. After much, much drama when Ken and I tried to check pull it out, it fell out when Karlee was brushing her teeth before school this morning. With no drama at all.

Bright Spot in a Gloomy Day

What a yucky day today - rain, cold, wind. Not fun at all - but we did have one bright spot in our day. Kendall, Kourtney, Kamryn and I got to go to lunch with our "adopted" college students. Our church has a program to pair college students with family in an effort to help them connect and have a "home away from home". We have known about our two girls for a while, but had not been able to find a time to meet with them. We finally worked out a chance to meet them today at Chick-fil-A (Kendall's favorite. Okay, my favorite too.) We had a great time meeting with Jillian and Melody and we are excited about getting to know them better. I can already tell that they will be great Christian examples for the girls.

I Want S'more!!

Ken had been promising the girls that he would take them fishing. Kendall was upset that she didn't get to go to the ballgame today so Ken decided that after the game we would go down to the lake and fish, have a bonfire and roast hot dogs and make s'mores! We called Papa, Kerry and Aunt Amy and the boys to join us. The girls loved fishing with their new pink & purple Barbie fishing poles - but were bummed because they didn't catch anything. The roasted hot dogs were delicious and s'mores just might be my MOST favorite dessert of all time. Karlee had a little loose tooth drama near the end of the night, but a hug from Tanner was all she needed to feel better.