Bellingrath Gardens

We visited Bellingrath Gardens tonight with my parents and my brother Mike and his wife Linda. It was great company and a beautiful walk on a not so freezing night. The pictures without Ansley actually in them were taken by Ansley! I think she did well. The night setting on our camera STINKS. Maybe a new camera will be on the top of my list for Christmas next year - as well as a teeth whitening session which I totally want! Anyway - enjoy the pictures.
Stephen will ring the new year in with my mom and dad (which means asleep and oblivious) but we are going to take Ansley to a party at my good good friend Jill's house. We will see if she makes it for midnight. Who knows?

Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas 2008

Christmas was (and still is I guess) are great success. Stephen has been sick all week though - but seems to be on the mend now. We attempted to go to the dr. today, but there was a 2 hour wait once we got there, so we opted for heading home - out of the swarm of germs - and hope that the Robitussin will do its job. Unfortunatly, he has his daddy's gag reflex so the medicine is not the easiest to get down.

Everyone had a great time - gave and received great presents - and besides the 80 degree weather, high humidity and rain, it has been a great week. We loved having Luke and Sara stay with us. Christmas Eve was fun at Jamey's parent's house. Jamey's mom has 2 sisters and 2 brothers. They were all there with their assorted kids and grand kids. The kids all played well together - and some cousins even met for the first time. And Melia announced that a new baby BOY cousin was on the way - due in May. Pretty exciting.
Christmas Day was breakfast at our house while opening presents, then lunch at JAmey's grandma's house and then dinner with Jamey's aunt and uncle and cousin on his dad's side.

Here are a few pictures:

The BEFORE shot:The AFTER shot:
Here are a few others from the day:






We did attempt the mall today, but by noon the crowds were too much for me. I am not an inside mall person anyway, so I was happy to leave to go have lunch with my mom - who did work today!

Hope everyone had a great CHristmas! I know we did. Luke was home from Iraq - my kids are beautiful and healthy (well, Stephen is still sick, but thankfully he is getting better), Jamey's family is all healthy and rapidly growing in number. Christmas 08 was definitly a great time.

3 more days!

Three more days until school is out and it can NOT get here fast enough. I stopped wishing my life away when the kids were born, but I still hope the next three days of school are uneventful and go quickly!

Today was Stephen's Christmas program. He wore his little corduroy pants and sweater vest - he little man outfit! He sat with his class on the stage for their 2 songs - jingle bells and we wish you a merry christmas. He didn't sing exactly, but he rang his little Christmas bell and yelled "Hey" at the right time! In all, the performance last about 45 seconds (Jamey's kind of Christmas program for sure) but it was perfect and he was the cutest one there - in my opinion anyway. Watching him do that sort of things just makes me fall in love with him over and over! He has my heart for sure.
Tonight I told him it was time for bed and he said, "No night night." I said, "Yes, night, night - HoHo is watching to make sure we are obeying." ----He went right to bed. When Jamey went to kiss him goodnight, he told Jamey, "Hoho watching Daddy."

And as for Ms. Ansley - this is the conversation we had tonight on the way home from dance class (her dance class - not mine for those of you wondering)

Ansley: Why do people put Christmas lights on their houses?
Me: Well, they look really pretty and it is fun to decorate for Christmas, don't you think?
Ansley: I guess - but I was sort of thinking that maybe the lights on the houses should remind us of the bright starlight that led the sheperds and wise men to baby Jesus.
Me: Yes, you are right.

I cannot, CANNOT, compete with the spiritual and Biblical lessons from Jackson Creek Academy! Wonderful wonderful school - Stephen will be there as soon as I can potty train him.

Ansley's program in Friday and I am so looking forward to it. I will post some picture soon!.
Merry Christmas!

Happy 5th birthday to my favorite girl!

My big girl is 5 today! I know people say it all the time, but I can't believe how quickly time passes. She can read 3 letter words - she has her own little circle of friends - she bathes and dresses herself - and she has her own opinions which she is more than willing to share!

Everynight she asks me to carry her to bed - and every night I do. One day she wont want me to - so I will carry her until she decides on a change! Sweet baby girl...

Stephen insisted all day today that is was his birthday too - and Ansley was good enough not to be upset by it.

I asked her this morning on the way to school if she felt wiser now that she was 5. She replied, "They don't teach wiseness is kindergarten, mommy!" And promptly rolled her eyes. :-)

I have never been this far behind..

Christmas is totally sneaking up on me this year. With a trip to Disney and then another trip to the mountains four days later, my house is a wreck. Piles of folded laundry are waiting to be put away. Random bags from both trips still sit in my living room. Some presents are stashed in the closet but not a single one is wrapped. I guess Christmas will come no matter what is or is not accomplished and that is a good thing. (Isn't that a lesson from The Grinch who stole Christmas?)

But despite my being so behind in some areas, our tree it up and beautiful. The kids decorated the tree last night and that was really fun. Well, actually, they decorated the lower 30% of it or so. And they would not allow Jamey or I to change a few of the ornaments to the top part of the tree, so our uneven, yet beautiful tree, is ready for the season. It was really fun watching the 2 kids decorate the tree. They had a good time unwrapping each ornament - they would get so excited holding each one up. And the ones they liked the best were the ones they had made. Those are actually my favorite too! Our tree is not coordinated by color or by theme. There are no expensive matching ornaments.Our tree is truly a reflection of our family. From the ornament Jamey and I bought at Disneyland in California on our honeymoon 8 years ago to the thumbprint snowmen the kids made last year, I do love our Christmas tree!

I am counting down the days until school is out. Next week is CRTs, angel tree pickup, 2 Christmas programs, 2 Christmas parties and no, I repeat NO, half days of school. Sure State Education People - kids are really eager and willing to focus on their studies the last 2 days before Christmas holidays! Those will be productive days of school, I'm sure.

17 days until Christmas!

A few Disney pictures...

Here are just a few of the pictures we took while in Disney. It was a great trip - hotel was not the greatest, but other than that it was very nice!

Home again, Home again

Well, we made it back from the Smoky Mountains about 7 last night. And it is currently 7am and Ansley and I are not rushing this morning. Actually, she is still asleep. I am going into work a little late, not because I am tired really - I just can't seem to make myself rush this morning. And Ansley could use the sleep.
We had a great trip to the mountains even if it was a short trip. Jamey's uncle took us up in to the Smokys and we got to play in the snow. The views were fantastic.



Both the kids seemed to enjoy playing in the snow. It was cold, but got even colder the next day when we went into Gatlinburg. We just about froze walking around! We ate at this fabulous place called the Pancake something - it is supposed to be the first pancake house in Tennessee - whether it is or not, it was still a fabulous meal!