Christmas Eve...Happy Birthday Aunt Jennie!

We always go over to Mimi and Poppi's house on Christmas Eve to celebrate my sister's birthday and to open gifts from each other. We enjoyed a dinner of Oyster Stew (no oysters for us please), and grilled cheese sandwiches and then opened gifts. After opening gifts, we enjoyed some of Jennie's chocolate birthday cake! Mikayla opens the baby doll that she asked for that moves and cries from her Mimi and Poppi.
Drew opens the two wheeled scooter that he asked for from his Mimi and Poppi.
Jennie and BJ show off some of their gifts.

Uncle Jonathan opens one of his gifts from us - after he complained about not being able to get into the paper and then the box.

Mimi and Poppi open some of their gifts - Jennie and Drew and Mikayla had already worked very hard sorting all of the gifts into piles.

Drew holds his webkinz from Jennie and BJ - he named him Franklyn.

Mikayla holds her webkinz from Jennie and BJ - she named her Castle. We all had so much fun and got some great gifts! It was special spending this time with family, just like always!

Merry Christmas x2!

Drew shows us his fake smile!They love each other so much! One of my favorites - they are such hams. I guess that's what you get when your mommy carries a camera everywhere with her for all of your life!

Another one of my favorites - they were practicing their dance moves that they learned from Ms. Brown in 4k.

On Christmas Eve before we went to my mom and dad's house to open presents and to celebrate my sister's birthday, I asked Drew and Mikayla to stand in front of our tree in their Christmas outfits so I could get some more pictures - these turned out so cute I wanted to post them on here for all to see.

Happy Birthday Breanna!

Drew and Mikayla were invited to Breanna's birthday party at Monkey Joe's on December 13th. So after the Boiling Springs Christmas Parade we got some lunch and then headed to the party. We have never been to Monkey Joe's so Drew and Mikayla were super excited. Excited too to see Bryson and Breanna, Emily, and Philip and Elizabeth as well as all the other children who were there to celebrate Bre's big day. This was another occasion where I forgot my camera - Nanda couldn't believe it and neither could Traci. I wish I had gotten pictures though, because it is a neat place. Drew and Mikayla had a ball playing on the bouncies, and putting quarters in the machines. Mikayla was fine until Monkey Joe came out (a person dressed in a purple ape (maybe?) costume. She did not want Monkey Joe near her, so when he came in the party room to wish Bre a happy birthday and take a picture with her, I had to get Mikayla and take her out of the party room. She wouldn't even sit in there with Mrs. Hayes sitting beside her - that's saying something because she adores Mrs. Hayes. Once Monkey Joe left she went back in and finished her cake and ice cream. Then they all went back out and played some more - that's what is different from Pump It Up. At Pump It Up after you have cake and open presents you have to leave, at Monkey Joe's anyone that wants to stay and play can. Other than that, both places are about the same - Drew and Mikayla love them both. They both have mentioned having their parties somewhere like that next year - we will see! Happy Birthday, Breanna - thanks for letting us share in your big day!

Christmas at Grandma's!

On Saturday, December 20th, my dad's side of the family got together at my Grandma's house. I was so busy gathering the stuff we were supposed to take that I forgot my camera, but my cousin Michelle sent me some of the pictures she took (she knows how I am about pictures) so hopefully this post will have some that you can enjoy! We decided this year that we wouldn't exchange gifts except to Grandma, and that we would just enjoy dinner and our time together celebrating the real reason for the season, my savior Jesus Christ. We enjoyed dinner of sandwiches - any kind you can imagine, from turkey, ham, roast beef, to pimento cheese, hash, egg salad, etc. We also had potato salad (thanks, mom), slaw (thanks, Kathy and Hank), sausage balls (thanks, KK), Red Lobster cheddar biscuits (thanks, Michelle), and I took chips and ranch dip (because Mikayla said she didn't like the hot dip, she wanted the white dip), and chips and South of the Border Bean dip. Just as a side note...even with all of this food that I so love I still managed to lose 6 pounds during this week!! Both of my dips were made with low fat ingredients and no one even noticed, nor did they complain as I didn't bring any South of the Border dip home. After dinner, we gathered in the living room to talk, laugh, talk about this past year, and open a few presents. The kids still got gifts from Grandma, KK, Denise, etc. that they couldn't wait to open. I also let Drew and Mikayla each open one gift from me (a set of Pixo's for Mikayla and a set of Backemon rollers (I have no idea how you spell these things, forgive me) for Drew). Mimi and Poppi also let them each open a present from them at Grandma's house (a set of airplanes for Drew and a make-up set for Mikayla). We had so much fun spending time as a family and celebrating Christmas together. It was great to see everyone - some we had not seen since last Christmas!!

Grandma, my cousin Michelle, Mikayla, me, and my daddy in the middle of the chaos of opening presents! That would be Drew's arms you see holding up one of his presents.

Drew and cousins Krissy and Jacob play in Grandma's garage. It was raining that night and they were trying to stay dry - well the adults were trying to keep them dry.

Mikayla and Poppi open their gifts. I love this picture - Michelle's daughter Daffney took this and she did a great job!

Jacob, Krissy, and Drew open some of their gifts!

Nadia, Krissy, and Mikayla play in Grandma's spare bedroom. Drew and Mikayla love spending time with all of their cousins every time they get a chance! We gotta get together more often!!

Now for the Excitement (that I forgot)

Friday night (December 12th) about 9:30, I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone when I started to see all of these cars stopping in the road in front of my house and many of them turning around in my drive way. It wasn't long before I heard and saw a fire truck go by, and then another. Then the ambulance came whizzing by, with his lights flashing, honking his horn so he could get around other cars. Then 2 police cars arrived, lights on and sirens blaring, and blocked the road in front of my neighbors house forcing cars to turn around in my driveway or the driveways across the street. Then 2 more police cars arrived with, you guessed it more lights and sirens and parked in my neighbors driveway. By this time, I'm figuring someone has wrecked in the bad curve about a block down from our house, and I wondered why they were blocking the road this far down. My thought was "it must be bad". So, while still on the phone with my friend, I stepped onto my front porch. The police cars that were parked in my neighbors driveway had their radios on and you could hear them pretty loudly (my friend even commented about them). At one point I heard the dispatcher say something about a suspect trying to enter the residence (this ended up having nothing to do with the situation on my road) and my friend told me to get back in my house. I thought I can see these two officers standing in the road, and they can see me, surely if I were in danger they would tell me to get back in my house, but I did as my friend said. I called my daddy to come over and check things out. Drew was awake and watching out the window, and Mikayla was asleep. I wasn't going to leave them inside to go find out what was going on. My daddy arrived and walked over to check on the situation - to make sure we were safe of course. When he came back to my porch, I found out that he had talked to my neighbors too (I had wondered where they all were when I had been standing on my porch earlier). He said that a car had hit and knocked down the power pole two houses down from mine and the lines were in the road. My neighbor actually talked to the guy driving (she didn't know that he had been in the car) and asked if the people inside the car were okay. He responded "I was driving - I have a headache - I was acting like an idiot". We were just glad he appeared to be okay - they said he flipped his car several times. We do live on a busy road, but it is not every day that we have 2 fire trucks, an ambulance and 6 police cars (or more - some were blocking the road on the other side) pull up in front of our house. It was hard to get Drew settled down for the night after that, but once Poppi assured him that we were okay and the the guy in the car was okay, he was fine. The police cars and fire trucks had to stay (and keep the road blocked) until the power company arrived, so they were still out there long after we were asleep.

Boiling Springs Christmas Parade!

Saturday, December 13th, we met Poppi at our usual spot to watch the Boiling Springs Christmas Parade. I marched (playing trumpet) in this parade in Junior High and High School so I enjoy coming back year after year to watch it with my little ones. Drew and Mikayla LOVE going to the parade, although their favorite part is catching candy and getting goodies. They also like to wait for Santa who always arrives at the end. We were with other friends of ours who stand in the same spot year after year as well, and they kept commenting about how on every float that went by someone would either yell "hey Drew" or "hey Mrs. Meeks". Give Mikayla a few more years and they will be hollerin' at her too! They got enough candy, that's for sure, too much if you ask me!

Drew and Mikayla wave at our firefighters and Sparky as Poppi looks on. Who is holding their candy bags you might be asking? You guessed it, mommy.

Drew and Mikayla were excited to see Santa cruising by at the end atop another one of our fire trucks. I'm pretty sure a couple of these were the fire trucks outside our house the night before (I forgot to post on that excitement...I'll try to get to that later.)

Merry Christmas!

I took this picture Saturday, December 13th before we left for the Boiling Springs Christmas parade, and it is one that I ended up using for our Christmas cards this year. We wish (er, wished) you a Merry Christmas!

Santa Shop!

The Santa Shop is a yearly tradition at our school. Our PTA turns one of our portables into a "store" so that our students can bring money and buy Christmas gifts for their families. It is fun for our students to pick out these gifts independently, and it also helps raise money for our school. Prices start at 25 cents and go on up in hopes that everyone can participate (and most do). PTA volunteers even wrap the gifts for our students so that they are ready to give. Drew has purchased gifts every year at Santa Shop and Mikayla purchased gifts last year when she was in 4K and again this year in kindergarten. They both love giving the gifts they have purchased and can't wait to see the responses they get. This year was no different - in fact Drew let Mikayla open her gift from him in Extra Edition on December 9 (the day his class went) before I picked them up. Mikayla's class went on December 11, and she at least waited until we got home before she started passing out gifts.

Drew opens the gift he purchased for himself. There is no rule about kids buying things for themselves, and many of them do if they have money left over. Drew was no exception.

Even though I didn't get to see her open it, I was able to get a picture of Mikayla lovin' on her gift from Drew - a pink bear that says best sister.
Drew opens the gift Mikayla gave him - an electronic trivia ball. Mikayla did happen to be the exception to the rule. She didn't buy anything for herself, and instead brought the change home. Just another example of how different these two precious children of mine are.
They sure had a lot of fun shopping for their family, and everyone LOVED their gifts!

Happy Birthday Trevyr, and another Trip to Hollywild!

After the parade on Saturday, we went to get some lunch with Poppi, and then we met Trevyr and his family at Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate his birthday! Trevyr originally said he wanted to go to Monkey Joe's which is why we all ate first, and then later decided he wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Drew and Mikayla didn't mind - they love Chuck E. Cheese! This was the second time this week the kids and I had been to Chuck E. Cheese and I forgot my camera both times, which those that know me know that is not like me. They had a ball playing with Jadyn, Trevyr, and Trinity and I enjoyed talking with Amy and Jermaine and playing a few games of ski ball myself. While we were there, Amy mentioned that she had been wanting to take her kids to Hollywild to see the lights, so we decided that we would all go together later that night.

Since Amy and her kids have never been to the lights at Hollywild and because I have a van that we could all ride in, Drew and Mikayla, and I went to pick them up about 6:00. When we arrived, we waited in line on the road for about 30 minutes and then were finally able to turn in where we waited another 10 minutes or so. The kids were thrilled when they were finally able to unbuckle and we could open the sliding doors in the back. I didn't get any pictures in the deer enchanted forest this time, but I should have because the zebra came right up to my window this time and everyone laughed because I wouldn't feed him out of my hand. I laid his "cracker" on the window sill for him to devour instead of my hand - I prefer to keep all ten of my fingers thank you very much. People in other cars were getting a kick out of this as well. I was able to get some pictures of the kids as we were walking around at the bonfire.

Drew and Mikayla were looking at and talking to this nice sweet cow when he was behind the bars. When they figured out that he could maneuver himself through those bars, they started backin' up. Hey, I don't blame them, those are some big horns!

A better picture of the REAL reindeer! I plan to show this one to the kids in my class!
Drew, Mikayla, and Jadyn enjoy their hot chocolate while warming by the fire.
A picture of all of them (I'm not real sure what Drew was doing - I think he was saying something but at this point I have no idea what it was). Drew, Jadyn, Trevyr, and Mikayla finishing up their hot chocolate. Neither of us had fed our children supper because we had no idea we would be there as long as we were. When we pulled out at 9, we all went to MacDonald's. The children didn't seem to mind at all - they were just happy to be there all together. The kids sat at one table, while Amy and I sat at the table beside them.

The kids were asleep by the time we pulled into the driveway that night. I wasn't surprised as this was a busy, busy day (just as almost every day in December is). It was filled with fun though, and a day I'm sure they won't soon forget!

Inman Christmas Parade

On Saturday, December 6th (now you believe the part about being almost one month behind), Mikayla rode in the Inman Christmas Parade with her dance company. As 2007 Petite Miss Rising Star, she was the Grand Marshall of this same parade last year, and rode on the back of Aunt Laura's convertible. This year she crowned one of her best friends, Jadyn, 2008 Petite Miss Rising Star so Mikayla rode on the float with the other girls. She wasn't real sure about me leaving her at first, but when she saw Abbi, Annabeth, Brooke, Miss Nicole, and of course Bre and Emily riding with her she was fine. Drew and I dropped her off at the "float" at 9:45 then raced back to where Poppi was standing to wait for the parade to start at 10.

Mikayla and Abbi were all smiles as they were the first ones on this "float". Mikayla's dance company has grown this year so they had two "floats" in the parade along with the four cars carrying the queens and king.

See Mikayla crying and reaching for me? She was getting upset because she knew that Drew and I were going to have to leave, and Breanna and Emily hadn't gotten there yet. We didn't leave until Bre and Emily was loaded. It also helped calm Mikayla down when Miss Nicole agreed to ride on this "float". Mikayla adores Miss Nicole!

All smiles once the parade started. Nanda, Traci, Poppi, Drew, and I all screamed when their float rounded the corner so the girls smiled, waved, and threw Drew some candy! Once their float went by Nanda, Traci, and I left Poppi and Drew to watch the rest of the parade while we went to get the girls. As soon as we got them, Mikayla said I want to go see Santa (at the end of the parade). So she and I raced back to where Poppi and Drew were standing and arrived just in time for her to see Santa cruising by atop a fire truck. She was delighted!!

Catchin' Up!

Wow, it has been a busy month, and now I'm about that far behind in posting. I'm going to try to catch up today and tomorrow so I can post Christmas pictures and such around Christmas time! We will see how much I get too...

Thanksgiving Break!!

Last week, Drew, Mikayla, and I enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving break, with one of the best parts being the 5 days out of school (we are now counting down the days until Christmas break)!! After our trip to Hollywild Tuesday night, we spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday sleeping late (later anyway), getting the house ready for Christmas decorations which included finishing the living room paint project, completing Drew's gingerbread house project, and playing. Mommy was also able to get in a little shopping, though I didn't camp out Thursday night, or shop in my pajamas no matter how tempted I was.

Thursday, my family went to Ron's Hog Pen for Thanksgiving dinner. Normally, we go to my Grandma's house for dinner with she and my mom and my aunt preparing most of the meal. The rest of us usually bring one or two things to share. This year, with my grandma being in the hospital and not feeling like her normal self, we decided that we would go out to eat instead. Mikayla was a little unsure of this at first, saying "we always go to Grandma's for Thanksgiving", but when we assured her that Grandma would be joining us at Ron's she was fine.

After dinner, Drew decided that we needed to go around the table so that each person could tell what he/she was Thankful for. He wanted his sister to start. Mikayla proclaimed that she was thankful for her turkey and dressing, which cracked us all up. Next, it was Drew's turn, and my heart melted as he told everyone he was thankful for God and his family.

I thought I would end this post by listing the things that I am thankful for, not just on Thanksgiving, but every day.

1. God - His grace is sufficient!!
2. My children - They are my world!!
3. My family - Isn't unconditional love amazing??
4. My friends - What would we do without friends??
5. My job - I can't imagine doing anything else!!
6. My health - Losing weight sure feels great!!

I will spare you the complete list, as it could go on and on, but you get the idea! Happy Thanksgiving (forgive me for being a little late) to all!!

Hollywild Zoo 2008

Last Tuesday, November 25th, I took Drew and Mikayla to Hollywild Zoo to see the Christmas lights. This is an annual event for us, and many times we go more than once a year (we may be doing that this year, as both Drew and Mikayla have already asked to go back). We could not have picked a better night to go...this was the least crowded I have ever seen this place and we were able to ride through, take our time, and enjoy. It was cold, but we were bundled up tight!This emu was about to get Drew (or so he thought) in the Deer Enchanted Forest. He was saying, with urgency, "mom close my door". He was out of his seat and up in the front with me faster than I've ever seen him move before. I couldn't stop laughing - my normally fearless child did not take too kindly to an emu that "has a sharp beak" poking his head in our van. One thing Drew was certain of was that this emu was not getting him. Even as we tried to pull away from the emu, he followed our van.

Mikayla loved feeding this black deer. It apparently took a likin' to Mikayla too, because it stayed close by our van the whole time. It wouldn't let the deer with antlers get close.

Drew had several gathered around him at a time, and he loved letting them eat right from his hands...don't worry, we sanitized, their hands I mean.

Then, this big animal (we aren't exactly sure what it is, maybe someone out there can help us), just kind of hung around our van. It never ate any of the food we offered, but it stood guard like this for several minutes. We know that the animal behind this one is a zebra, but this one looked a little like a donkey to us, but he had some faint lines on his body as well. Any ideas??

Drew and Mikayla got to see and talk to Santa in Santa's village. We also got to see (and hear the clicking ankles) of some real, live reindeer this year. As far as I know, these are the first real, live reindeer I've ever seen in my life. It was neat to hear their ankles click when they walked (for those that don't know that is why the song says "up on the housetop, click, click, click") since I teach my kindergartners about them every year! We enjoyed some hot chocolate, and then we loaded back into the van to finish looking at the lights. Drew and Mikayla kept talking about how much fun they had, and as I said, they have already asked to go back. This may be installment one - stay tuned!