A fun family Party

Bradley and Lauren playing together

Daddy's boy

Bradley helping Nick make a fire in the outdoor fireplace

Elle & Rachel

The lovely girls: Sophie, Lauren, Elle & Rachel

wearing their new colorful boas.

Saturday night was our Christmas celebration with Joe's side of the family. We went to Pat and Jim's new beautiful house in Atlanta and had a great time! Rachel always has so much fun playing with Carter, Elle, Lauren and Sophie. (Bradley had a good time playing with Lauren later when he FINALLY warmed up...about 3 hours into the gathering!) The food was delicious and there was a ton of it! The kids each got goodie bags filled with lots of neat trinkets to play with. The adults each brought a gift and played our traditional game where you draw numbers, choose a present (or steal one from someone else) that can be anything from a purse to a laptop table to a neck massager. We always have a fun time and enjoy "stealing" from each other until the item is "frozen" and can't be taken again. At the end of the night, Nick and I joined Matt, Leigh Anne, Heather, Randy, Stacy and Randy for a game of Blokus. It was really fun and I can see where I could get addicted to it if I had one!! We left really late, but the kids enjoyed looking at Christmas lights on the way home. It was a really fun evening!

Rachel's School Christmas Musical

Rachel sitting with her class; 5th from left on the TOP row.

Rachel with her class about to sing their song.

Last Friday was Rachel's Christmas Musical. We were all so excited about it and Rachel had been practicing new songs for a few weeks. She was told to wear her "Sunday Best" and all parents/grandparents/siblings were invited to attend. We were fortunate enough to have Gege, Papa and Pop join me, Nick and Bradley. (Nana wasn't able to come since it was in the middle of the day.) The musical was great...each class sang their own prepared song and there were a few kids who were picked to wear costumes and have a small nativity scene. All the kids looked so cute and the ones who were dressed for the nativity were either standing there looking scared or taking off their costumes. The production was only about 30 minutes long...just long enough for the kids to sit there before getting too restless. Rachel did a great job of sitting with her class and waiting for her turn to sing. I was also very proud of Bradley because he was so good and patient during the hour that he sat on the pew at church. I had a few chocolate bribes to keep him going, but he did really well. When the first group sang, he did look at me with a grumpy face and say, "Not sing". I knew he was trying to tell me that he didn't want the kids to sing, but thankfully Nick told him to stop and he did. Little Bradley's always trying to gain a little control over any situation. :)

Once the play was over, we all went to Cracker Barrel (Rachel's choice), where we had to wait a LONG time for our food, but it was good. It was a really fun day and I was so touched to hear all those sweet little voices singing Christmas songs. It was a nice way to get even more into the Christmas spirit!

Our poor little sick girl...

Sick little Rachel with Bradley wanting to sit right next to her.

Today was Rachel's last day of school before Christmas, but unfortunately, she didn't get to go. She woke me up this morning at 5:30 and said her throat hurt, her nose was running and her tummy hurt. She was also burning up. So, I took her back to bed, gave her some Motrin for her fever and laid down with her. About 20 minutes later, she started gagging, and luckily, we made it to the potty in time for her to throw up in it. I figured that the Motrin had aggravated her already sensitive tummy, so we decided to go in the den and watch a Barbie movie. I was already worried that she would have to miss school today and I didn't want to talk about it with Rachel and make her sad. But, today was supposed to be a super fun day at school. They were having a class Christmas party, exchanging books with each other, having a book fair and even Santa was coming to visit. Also, ironically, this was the party that I had volunteered to organize. Thankfully, I had already arranged for Deborah to watch Bradley so that I could be at the party. So, she stayed home with the kids while I ran to the school to set up for the party. I also was lucky enough to have such wonderful moms in Rachel's class who were more than willing to pick up the slack and run the party. I came home from the school and took both kids to the doctor, where Rachel was diagnosed with strep throat and Bradley just has a nasty cold. Rachel felt so puny at the doctor, that she actually laid down on the examining table. Bradley was obviously feeling great, so he was jibber-jabbering and being brave and charming with all the nurses. Anyway, we got 2 prescriptions...one for each child and then came home to rest. Poor Rachel has been asleep most of the day on the couch. Bradley hasn't been able to stand that she's laying there and either wants to sit right with her/on top of her, or he likes to pat her head or face and say, "Ray Ray hurt". Rachel loves the attention from her baby brother and is tolerating him so sweetly. The above picture is just this evening where Rachel fell asleep (again) and Bradley climbed up next to her to watch tv. They are such sweet kids and sweet siblings!! I hope my little ones feel better before Christmas...hard to believe that's 1 week away!!

Another Princess Party!

the lovely scarlet dress

Hannah, Rachel & Laura

Rachel dancing with Callie, the birthday girl's little sister.

Cinderella applying Rachel's make-up

post make-up...isn't she lovely!?!

Rachel and her best friend, Kate

Last Wednesday Rachel was invited to another Princess party...this time for her friend Isabelle. This was her 3rd party at this "princess house", and she has loved each one!! This time, the lovely Cinderella was there to dance with the little princesses, apply their beautiful make-up, and serve their delicious tea, complete with pink tea, petite sandwiches, fruit and cheese puffs...all on the finest china. Rachel scarfed her little sandwich down before Isabelle's daddy had a chance to say the blessing! (I guess she was hungry!!) She had a blast dancing and trying on several beautiful gowns. It was such a fun little party!

Rachel - Christmas decorator

Here are a few pictures of the extremely enthusiastic Christmas decorator doing her own thing. She had the step ladder parked at this position for a long time, so this is where the majority of the ornaments were hanging.

Jack's Creek Tree Farm

Last Friday, we went to the tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree. We like to look at the leyland cypresses, but we always end up getting a pre-cut Frasier Fir since the limbs are just more stable. Anyway, we met Gege and Papa at the farm and all picked out our trees. Both kids took separate rides on the hayride to see the tunnel of lights. When we got home, we began decorating. We didn't get many ornaments hung Friday, so we had lots to do on Saturday. Rachel was by far the most enthusiastic decorator. She made exclamations about each ornament and picked out just the right spot for each one to hang. The majority of the ornaments she hung ended up on the same 2 or 3 branches. They were no longer sticking out, but sloping straight down. So, when she went to bed, I had to spread the ornaments around a little. But, her excitement was contagious and fun and definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. Bradley liked the ornaments, and tried to take off a few, but mostly just wanted to wrestle with the styrofoam snowman that sits around in the den. I think this will be that snowman's last year with us.

Not so good Anniversary Pictures

I was really disappointed in the Anniversary pictures we tried to take before going out to eat. I wanted to have us dressed decent and photographed, so we set up the old tripod. But, I don't like these at all. Oh well! Maybe our holiday pictures will be better!!