A North Pole Breakfast

Sidenote: If you know me well, you know that I am obsessed with pinterest. I realize that I hardly ever do any of the things that I pin, but that doesn't take away the thrill of pinning them. However, this morning, we enjoyed a North Pole breakfast & I got the idea from pinterest, so maybe now my hours spent pinning may be somewhat justified.

A little background on our Elf situation...... Santa was VERY generous last year & sent us, Jingle, an elf who moves to a different spot every night, but you can't touch or he will lose his magic. Daniel and Laura Ann really loved him, but our neighbors & friends had elves that you can touch, so they asked Santa last year if he could send elves that we could touch with Jingle this year. Santa, once again, was VERY generous & sent Cole & Rosie (touchable elves) along with Jingle. They arrived last night, December 1st, and will be here for the month to celebrate Christmas with us. They brought a bucket of Christmas goodies & new Christmas pajamas. We found out in a letter that came with Cole & Rosie that if you sprinkle them at night with the 'magic elf dust' they came with, that they will 'play' & 'be mischievious' while we are sleeping. We are looking forward to a fun month and are excited to see what they have up their sleeves!

It's the MOST WONDERFUL Time of the Year!

With Thanksgiving behind us, we dove into the Christmas season full force this week!

We got out some Christmas toys......Laura Ann's absolute favorite is still the Nativity set. She has begged for a solid week to get this out & I finally found it in the attic on Monday......she spent basicly the whole day rearranging everyone around the stable!

On Tuesday, we picked Daniel up from school & headed to Pine Hill Farms on our annual search of the perfect tree. Then we headed to Cracker Barrel for some hot chocolate & vegetable soup for supper. And I am proud to say that this year's tree didn't create near the drama of last year's tree. Dan got smart and chose a much smaller tree, making getting it in the stand and keeping it in there a cinch!

On Wednesday night, we got out the Polar Express trains & track. We had so much fun building the track & getting the North Pole all set up. They both LOVE the train track still & played with it nonstop for 2 hours after we got it put together.

On Thursday, we got out the Christmas movies (and despite the looks on their faces, they were thrilled) & no surprise that Polar Express was the first choice, quickly followed by Frosty & Rudolph! And no movie can be properly enjoyed without popcorn & M&Ms!

On Friday, Laura Ann & I decorated the tree. She was SO EXCITED the entire day working on the tree and other things around the house. She insisted on helping with it all. And just to be sure we were in the spirit, she brought her cd player downstairs & played all of her Christmas cds for me. Music led to a little dancing with Daddy.....be sure to see the pics in the slideshow. I had to MAKE her save a few ornaments for Daniel to put on when he got home from school. I just knew he was going to be so upset that we worked on the tree without him. Ummmm.....not so much......he did mention that he liked it passing by, but changed right into his football clothes & when I asked him to hang his ornaments, he told Laura Ann she could do it for him. Ha! Anyway, he did hang the Bama ornament & Laura Ann happily did the rest. Later on, when we put up the trees in their rooms, Laura Ann, again was SO EXCITED.......she hung all of her ornaments & then asked if she could take them off & do it again!!. Daniel was excited to see his ornaments, looked through them, then asked Laura Ann if she would decorate his tree!! Such a girl & such a boy!

Saban

Daniel continues to be ALL ABOUT BAMA football, but this week, after watching Game Changers, he has gone from being Trent Richardson to being Nick Saban. That, of course, comes with perfecting the costume. He has a polo shirt, khakis, straw hat, a whistle, a walkie talkie & a towel. He was distraught that he couldn't come up with anything for the earphones that Saban wears on the sideline during games, so he decided to just stick with practice. He has the act down perfectly, especially the hands. And he is really tough on Trent & has given LOTS of instruction to the receivers on the correct vs. the incorrect way to catch the ball. All I will say is that he has one well coached team!!! Ha!

She's Crafty

 
Laura Ann lovin' some crafts that she got for her birthday......
 

Choir Practice

At rehearsal......

Laura Ann has participated in choir again this semester at church & it has been a whole new experience. Someone had the crazy great idea to combine the preschool, children's & adult choirs for the Christmas production. It is a good idea, if only they didn't have to rehearse 500 times before December 11th. It's a little much for preschoolers. Anyway, rehearsals are in full swing & tonight was Laura Ann's first time to see the full show. She was FULL of questions, as always. Here are a few of the million she asked during the rehearsal tonight:

-During one of the upbeat children's songs....."Is that Justin Bieber singing?"

-While Lance is singing a song about Jesus' birth, a video is shown from the movie, The Nativity Story, of Him being born........"Why is Baby Jesus wet?"

-For the 2 songs the preschoolers sing, Mrs. Marti, the director, has stressed repeatedly for them to WALK SLOWLY & CAREFULLY to the stage when it is their turn. Today, the grade schoolers were a little slow coming in & so Mrs. Marti told them to "Run in quickly on cue".........Laura Ann looked at me & said, "Mrs. Marti told them to run, but I'm pretty sure she meant to say walk slowly, right?"

When Mary & Joseph came out with Baby Jesus......LA: "Is that a real baby?"
Me: "No, it's a doll." LA: "Are you SURE, because it looks real?" We went back & forth like this several times & I never convinced her that he wasn't real.

And I should add that Laura Ann pays very close attention to the director, Mrs. Marti, who is VERY dramatic & mimics her every move when we get home and reminds me constantly of all of her 'rules'! Ha!

The Iron Bowl on the Backporch

 
 
Dan has put the tv from our bedroom on the backporch for away games all season & it has become quite the hangout for him & his friends. They started planning this Iron Bowl party back in September & have been looking forward to it since then. We have enjoyed celebrating several TIDE victories this year with some of our most favorite people on the 'Backporch'. And tonight was no different......an Iron Bowl WIN in always fun!! Oh, and when the boys finally decide to clue us girls in on their plans, we can throw in some pretty great tailgate food...... :-) ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We went to Moulton for a quick visit yesterday & feasted with Gran & Papa. Then, we headed to Douglasville this morning for a Thanksgiving feast at Big Daddy & Nanna's. And a feast it was! Gran, Granny & Nanna never disappoint......the meals were absolutely delicious, as always. I am eventually going to have to learn to cook Thanksgiving food, but for now am still enjoying what our mothers & grandmothers prepare. Daniel and Laura Ann had fun visiting all of the grandparents, but missed the cousins on these trips. We have more blessings than we could begin to count and we are so very THANKFUL to God, our Father, for all of them! Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and I finally got to meet our newest cousin, Lydia, while we were in Moulton. She. is. a. doll!!!!! Looks just like her daddy!   And that is Reta's sweet dog, Okie in the pic too.  He is very protective of Lydia!

Big AL's Kids Club

We had a late breakfast this morning & then headed to the Quad for some playtime before the Big AL's Kids Club event later today. Daniel & Laura Ann had so much fun running absolutely wild in a wide open space. They also are old enough now to understand where & how Dan & I met, so we showed them Moore Hall (where we met) & our bench on the Quad (where we spent lots of dates with a cup of coffee & where Dan proposed). Lots of fun for Dan & me to reminisce......14 1/2 years later with 2 kids!!!! Anyway, it was finally time for lunch & then we headed to the stadium.

This is our 3rd year to do the stadium tour & Daniel absolutely loves it!! He likes all of it, but playing on the field is by far his favorite. Laura Ann was thrilled to get to meet some of the 'Sparkle' girls (the Crimsonettes), although she was confused at first because they were in sweatsuits instead of their sparkle outfits. She finally saw their batons & was convinced! Ha! We met the Bettis', Blakes & Daniels there & the kids all had lots of fun touring, playing & getting pictures made with some UA whos who. Big AL continues to be a HUGE hit with Laura Ann & Daniel still likes him a lot too, which is kind of surprising. I'm just waiting for the 'Big Al is for babies' from him, because I'm getting that about everything else right now! Anyway, we lived it up at Bryant Denny for a few hours and topped off our fun in Tuscaloosa with dinner at Dreamland with our friends. It has been a super fun weekend in our most favorite place!!!

Roll Tide!!

We left our Santa photoshoot & headed straight to Tuscaloosa for some tailgating fun & the game against Georgia Southern. Daniel & Laura Ann had a blast doing both. We had dinner after the game at my most favorite restaurant, DePalma's & then checked into our hotel. We realized while unpacking that we had forgotten a few things, so that led to a trip to Target. We passed Yogurt Mountain on the way there & decided to stop.......seriously, who could pass Yogurt Mountain without stopping?? Not us, for sure! Anyway, we finally got back to the hotel & settled in......awaiting a super fun day tomorrow!

Santa Session

Daniel & Santa

I am totally in love with this shot! So sweet!

Laura Ann & Santa


We have never had any professional Santa pics before & I have really been wanting to do some while my kids are still at the 'magical' age.  I was beyond thrilled when Stephanie Benzaia decided to do them this year.  She did this session at a farm of some friends in Helena.   It worked out perfect because we were going to Tuscaloosa today & just stopped there on our way.  The farm was beautiful & Daniel & Laura Ann loved everything it had to offer......barn, lots of animals, a lake, even a playground!  We got there a few minutes before Stephanie & Santa was already there, so I whipped out my camera & starting taking pictures.  I love the ones I got & can't wait to see the ones Stephanie got!
Ok, on to Santa.......he was THE SWEETEST MAN EVER!  He just totally hung out with Daniel & Laura Ann for 45 minutes!   He was so relaxed with them.  Daniel, of course, ran straight to him for a hug, but Laura Ann wrapped around Dan.   When she finally got down to go pet the horses, Santa just eased in beside her & starting talking to her about the horse.  She didn't even realize that she had dropped her shy act!  Ha! 

Daniel talked his ears off the entire time.....about everything he could think of.........his friends, his church, his school, sports, Jingle (our elf) & he even threw in the story about me almost burning the house down this past summer when I left chicken cooking on the stove while we went out to eat(sorry, I don't think that ever got a blog post, but we came home to a house full of smoke & a burnt chicken smell that lasted a good week!).  Santa listened attentively to it all & told some stories of his own when Daniel was taking breaths.  His response to the burnt chicken story was a story about the time Mrs. Claus overflowed her bathtub into the elves' toy shop.  It was a good one!   He talked some about his elves too & Laura Ann was all into that.   She asked him when he was sending Jingle.   Santa had a great response, "I'm not sure yet......don't know when his job will be finished in the toy shop.......elves leave at all different times.   It will be soon though, probably a couple of weeks."  Good answer, Santa!!  Stephanie really didn't have to say a word to Daniel & Laura Ann.......she would just tell Santa to walk over here, or sit over here & he would handle Daniel & Laura Ann.  And who doesn't do exactly what Santa says!?!?  I highly recommend having him around for photo sessions!  Ha!  Anyway, it was probably one of the best '45 minutes' of Daniel & Laura Ann's little lives.....no kidding!   I so wish I had videoed the whole session!

*I will post Stephanie's pictures when I get them*

Breaking Dawn

Ok, so I know I'm a nerd, but at least I'm not alone. Almost all of my friends read the Twilight series awhile back & we have had a Girl's Night Out with each movie release. The next part, I can totally blame on Carrie Anne.......she made us vampire goodie bags to celebrate tonight complete with suckers that make your mouth look red (bloody), vampire bite cookies with red in the center and my favorite were the vampire bite necklaces that we all sported to the movie. So much fun!!! We've been wondering what in the world we will do when this movie series ends, but thankfully we've all read or are reading The Hunger Games & that first movie comes out in March. Yay!!

Showing off our necklaces......can't really see them in this pic.

Leah was a sport & did a close up of her necklace

Molly met us there too & we always manage to dress alike without planning to.......guess it's a cousin thing! :-)

Belle

Daniel usually gets all the creative attention in our house, so I have to give this shout out to Laura Ann. She watched Beauty and the Beast this morning & then got dressed up like Belle & said she was going to 'the forest'. When I looked outside she was riding on her 'horse' & then she fell off to the ground......just like Belle. Looks like Big Brother is rubbing off on her! :-)

Beauty Shop

Nice!

I noticed when I was getting Laura Ann ready for church this evening that there were some VERY short strands around her face. She's always had some 'wispies' around her face, but after a few seconds, I realized that this was way more & they were very uneven. I asked her if she had cut her hair & she immediately dropped her head & said yes!!! What?? Or better yet, why?? She quickly explained that she wanted to cut hair like Gran & needed to practice. Well, practice she got & by the looks of her hair, she needs a lot more of it. She apparently did it this afternoon, because her hair was fine when I did it for school this morning. The sneaky little thing took the crayola scissors(yes, they cut hair) upstairs to her bathroom so she could see in the mirror.
(Oh, and I should mention that she is VERY embarassed about this, so no one say a word to her.  She has asked me multiple times to please not tell anyone.  I guess she doesn't realize that it really isn't necessary for me to say a word.......it is obvious.  She has a new Santa clip & I asked her to put it in & let me take a pic of it.......she didn't realize that I was getting a shot of her new haircut! :-)

Later on, when I was straightening up her closet, I found this........ Apparently everyone in her room got a haircut today!

I do realize that I shouldn't have left scissors accessible to her, but they were children's scissors & I really thought we were past this stage!! Maybe when she's a teenager......

FBCT Thanksgiving Feast

Ready for church!
 
We have been doing lots of 'feasting' around here & it continued tonight with our church family and was delicious. Our feast was followed by Communion. It was such a great service! So thankful for our church!

A WEE Center Thanksgiving Feast

Laura Ann's place setting for the feast
 
 
 
Such cute pilgrims......Laura Ann & Amelia
 

The WEE Center had their Thanksgiving feast today & Laura Ann thought she was big stuff dressed up like a pilgrim. The 3K classes are always Indians & the 4K classes are always pilgrims. So, she thought she had 'arrived' today because she had finally reached Pilgrim status! Happy Thanksgiving!