Christmas with the Family 2008

We have had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year...we have eaten great meals, spent time with a lot of our family members, and had a great time just hanging out with everyone. It has been a wild and crazy week, but one that I will have memories of forever. I have made a slide show with pictures from all of our Christmas gatherings over the past 24 hours...God has blessed our families more than we could ever imagine -- and I am sooo grateful that we were able to spend it at "home"!! May each and every one of you have a WONDERFUL New Year!!

Our Christmas with the Family:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Decorating the "Christmas Tree" at MiMi & Pop's House

This morning, we were busy decorating MiMi & Pop's "Christmas Tree" aka a ficus tree.

The kids were busy making homemade paper-chain garland...with the help of MiMi and Davy...





They also made popcorn garland with the help of Pop and Davy...and what a mess they made with it!!!





After they finished (well, MiMi and myself)making the garland...it was time to decorate the tree....





The kids enjoyed putting all the decorations on the beautiful "Christmas Tree" at their MiMi & Pop's house. And I would have to say....MiMi & Pop have the most ORIGINAL Christmas Tree EVER!!!

A Day With Friends at Good Old Chuck E. Cheese...

We were able to meet some of our friends at Chuck E. Cheese for lunch yesterday. The kids love getting together with their old friends...and I enjoy having great conversations with their moms.

Here are a few pictures from our fun time!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My Bunco Buddies

I had a great time yesterday with my old Bunco group!! I love getting together with them when I am in town. I played with this group of ladies faithfully once a month while I was teaching in McNairy, and still continued to play (as much as I could) when we moved to Jackson. And even now....since moving to Cincy...I still find time to make it down to good old Selmer to play with this group of wonderful ladies. They are/were my backbone when I was teaching...they taught me what I needed to know -- and gave me GREAT advice to help me with those CRAZY situations sometimes. We have/had a great time getting together and having fabulous conversations about ALL kinds of things. Our group is made up of diverse ages, but we don't care...we still have a blast playing anyway!! Thanks ladies for letting me join in the fun when I am back in TN...

Here are some pictures from yesterday. We had a Christmas Brunch...and it was FABULOUS!! These ladies can cook -- haha--all I had to bring is drinks...they knew better than to have me cook :)






Here is a very special picture...the picture of our "lucky dice"...these dice came from Vegas...and they have rolled many a times on many a tables over the years of playing Bunco!!!

Mom & Dad's Surprise 60th Birthday Party

I will have to give my sister, some of my parents' friends, family members, and myself a pat on the back for pulling off this special event for my parents!! We were so excited to see that they had NO CLUE!! I just knew they would find out, but they didn't. My parents seemed to be very excited to see a variety of friends at the party. We had a great turn out (considering that it was sooo close to Christmas).

Here are some pictures from today..sorry that some of them are sideways, but I couldn't turn them without cutting the pictures off!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Early Christmas Presents from their MiMi & Pop...

So, we roll into Henderson Saturday afternoon...I was worn out from sitting in traffic on I40...and still had a great deal to do to get ready for Mom & Dad's SURPRISE party. I dropped the kids off at mom and dads...when I returned - Barrett was whining (I know...he had not had a nap..very tired) to open a Christmas present from MiMi & Pop. I told him no that it was for later -- well come to find out -- their MiMi had shown them where ALL (looked like mountains of presents to a child) the presents were -- well that just set Barrett off! The next thing I knew...mom was asking if it would be ok for the boys to open them early --- WHAT IN THE WORLD...that would have NEVER happened when we were kids...well, long story short -- the boys opened their gifts to find remote control cars!! For those who know my family...they hardly ever give the boys toys -- they pretty much (well, mostly) give the boys clothes -- which I LOVE!! These gifts were different...they were REMOTE CONTROL (like real nice ones) CARS. The boys have pretty well played with them ever since. This way the boys can enjoy them while they are here.

Here are some pictures of the boys and their MiMi & Pop...

Carson's Winter Celebration

Carson's class had their Winter Celebration (they can't call it a Christmas party) Party on Friday...they had a great time!! I am the room mom for Carson's room...and so planning the parties can sometimes get a little overwhelming!! But Kasie (the other room mom) and I work great together..so we get it knocked out pretty fast. As most of you know...Carson will begin a new school after Christmas. I am going to go ahead and finish out the rest of the year as Mrs. Lovett's room mom -- I just couldn't leave her with no one to do it...and I would love to anyway...it also will give Carson a chance to come to their parties and see his little friends!! Since we moved to Lebanon (a suburb north of Cincinnati), Carson is in that school district now...so he will start there after Christmas. I am not near as worried about this transition as I was when he started MECC...it is a much smaller school -- and he will be in a class with a little boy from church. He seems really excited about his new class, new teacher, and new friends. We will just keep our fingers crossed that all goes well!!

Anyway, here are some pictures of Carson's Winter Celebration:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook