Cheers to 2015!

Sue Sue had to have unexpected surgery right before Christmas, and we made her cards when we got home from holiday travels… we missed her!! Thankfully, she has recovered and is back. All is good.

Avery would say "Mommy, I miss SueSue." Then when they talked to her on the phone, they said, Mommy Sue Sue is better because we prayed for her.  awww.  

We have loved a few days to do nothing but play with our new stuff. 

Master builder!  He was so proud to add to his Lincoln Log set. 

 Talk about a parking lot…

For New Years Eve, we continued tradition and enjoyed a relaxing evening at the Lake House, complete with fireworks!!  

An aside on playtime these days: 

Overheard, then included - 

Avery says she is "Mary" and Daddy is "Joseph" and her baby is "baby Jesus", Silas is yelling and running through with his sword and then becomes "oh no, Monster! My poor little child… let me put you in the stable" (the "stable" is her baby crib. I think she means manger). I walk into the room and she says "oh, there's my donkey."  Then, the monster was lugging her box full of Barbie stuff while she pointed with one hand and held the baby in the other and said, "okay monster, I must pack. We have to get to Disney World tomorrow in just 2 hours".  Silas (oh, I mean Monster), said "but we went there yesterday" and grabs his sword again. Avery screams and says "oh poor little child. Don't be scared. Don't cry. Let me put you in the stable."  

I was "donkey" for 2 whole days.  Bruce was Joseph for 3 days. 

Every so often, I love taking a half day off of work and picking up the kids at school - it's always the highlight of my week.. and theirs too. I love watching them as they see my car in the carpool line and start jumping up and down. I can read their lips saying, "Look, it's MOMMY!" I'll never get tired of that!!  Brent's was their lunch of choice a few weeks ago, complete with milkshakes.  Good choice, kiddos. 

Afternoons in the sunshine make the cold weather so much fun!

Now, on the something I must document… never to forget.  During Thanksgiving, Mimi told Avery that perhaps putting something over her eyes would help keep the bad dreams away… and she has slept like this every day since then.  Not kidding, every day… It's the funniest thing in the world, and she is very serious about her "towel".

Gay Gay generously sent Silas and Avery both eye covers… to save the day. I promise they're asleep here.

Silas went for his check up at the allergist… and I asked him for his "funny face" while we waited on the doc: 

And last Saturday morning, Bruce was at Upward and the kids and I were enjoying the morning. I ran to jump in the shower and the kids got really quiet… which usually means….  

So I sneaked in to check on them… and found this heart melting moment: 

I tried to restate the scene after I wiped the chocolate off her face and put a bow back in her hair… but they'd have none of it.  Sweet, sweet moments.  

It's going to be a great year!  Here's to 2015!

Christmas Day, Part 2

This says it all.  We were almost there… and hadn't even had lunch yet.

It was a great day with family… (and of course, karaoke)… all the great-grands, way too much food… and so many grateful hearts.  Days like this are so special (and so fast - hence no pics)

The great-grands entertained us all.

Avery thinks Garnett is her personal real-live baby doll. Garnett is a good sport… most of the time.

We awoke brisk mornings and warmed our feet with the fire. (Or Avery did)

Played at the playground with Mimi and Gay Gay...

And swam in Moppy and Poppy's pool with Uncle Cajah and GG!

Sweet times.

It was a very Merry Christmas, indeed.

Christmas Day, part 1

We all went to sleep at some point… because we all woke up early to see if Santa came! Silas and Avery were so funny and walked straight through the living room into our room without noticing anything, not even Mimi and Papaw sitting in the kitchen… then when we reminded them what day it was, they "woke up" and rushed to the fireplace to see if he ate the cookies and drank the milk!  THEN, finally, they noticed their presents….

            
Avery was so excited about her doll armoire which had her baby already dressed in Elsa gear…

And Silas ran to the thing he told the Elf every day that he wanted more than anything else: a garbage truck.

And he remembered Avery's "music box with ballerina that twirls" 

The walkie talkies were a hit. On the way to school, Silas and Avery love to play "carpool" and talk into imaginary walkie talkies, calling out numbers and telling who to stay in the room and who is going to lunch bunch… and whose car is here like their teachers do at school. "Number 98"! (that's our car)

What a fun morning… then we got ready and packed the car for Moppy and Poppy's house… 

Christmas Eve 2014

Since Christmas Eve fell on a Wednesday this year, most of us had to work the day before beginning the celebration. Keeping with our tradition, we all met at our church for the candlelight service at 5:30. Look at these three sweet girls!! And keeping with tradition, we made it (barely) through the service. Silas, Avery, and Eleanor walked confidently down to the front alter steps the the children's special part of the program…they intently listened to the lady tell the story until after a few minutes in, Avery started lifting her dress over her head and Silas started to karate chop the peace lily next to him… Eleanor was sitting in my lap on the front row and started giggling at them (as did I).  We made it back to our seats to sing Christmas carols - there is nothing better than singing with 3 and 4 year olds! This is the first year they actually knew some of the carols. 

Mimi and Papaw brought dinner, and we headed up to our house after the service.  These three have so much fun!  

No caption needed for this one.  Faces tell all.

Then, we opened a few presents!  Silas was/is more than excited about his fire truck!

This ladder goes up about 5 feet… squirts real water… oh my. Thank you Mimi and Papaw!

Garnett fully understands the gift thing. She did have two big helpers, but Garnini sure knows how to stake her claim. She can hold her own with these two!

Avery's turn!  Karaoke!!  Oh my. Thank you Mimi and Papaw!!

Our first lesson from GG:  (in Elsa costume provided by GG and Uncle Cajah)

I'll give you one guess for the song here… no sound byte needed:  

"Let it GO"

Let's just say everyone had a turn to enjoy it… 

Silas is all about fire trucks, garbage trucks, construction tractors, and ninja turtles.  Here is the one and only Raphael.. and his sai.   (and yes, I had to look that up…)

From source: He (Raphael) is physically strong, has an aggressive nature, and seldom hesitates to throw the first punch.  This might not by my sweet Silas, but that red mask and shell transform this guy into full fledge fighter! 

At Thanksgiving, Moppy gave us an advent wreath. This is our first year to do it with Silas and Avery, and although sometimes I forgot to light a candle until a few days later, it turned out to be really special. On Christmas Eve, we lit the center candle, the Christ candle right before bedtime (which was, of course, 3 hours later than normal).  Avery sang Away in a Manger and Jesus Loves Me as I soaked it in (and maybe teared up a little). 

For unto us a Child is born…is given... And He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

Tis the Season! Make It Merry!

It is the most wonderful time of the year… !!  The week after Thanksgiving, Silas and Avery had their precious preschool choir program at church.  They rang their bells with intensity and sang all the words… except that time Avery saw me lower my phone from taking a picture and yelled out, "Mommy, take a picture of me!".  So I raised my phone back up and, of course, held it there for the duration of the program.

I take a half day off about every other week so I can pick up the kids from school - we try to do something fun before going home for their naps… This particular day, they picked Roosters.  Mimi introduced them to this delicious burger place and they want to go every day after school!

Then came Carols by Candlelight week, where life just about pauses for a few days while everyone is at the church for the event.  This year, by far, was the most moving and impactful Carols I've ever seen (this is our 9th Carols)…. truly, it is just as (if not more) powerful to sing in it as it is to sit out to watch it.  You can stream the entire thing here: http://firstbaptistjackson.org/resources/media/media-library/


Friday night, the Sturdivants had their All Decked Out Christmas party at their house - HUGE shindig… and we had Carols, so Mimi and Gay Gay came down for the weekend to help with all the kids. Friday, Silas and Avery had their first sleepover!  They had looked forward to it all week and were so excited Eleanor and Garnett would be staying all night at their house.  After Carols, Bruce and I had a staff meeting at church, then went on to the Sturdivants for the party.  It was a great party!!  We got home about midnight (whew, LATE for me!) and this is what we saw:

No clue how long it took Mimi and GayGay to get them like this….
"Garnini" slept in Avery's crib in the nursery.  I think everybody got at least 3 hours of sleep…..

On Sunday morning, GayGay had to go home, but Mimi took Silas and Avery and Micajah took Eleanor to New Stage to see Peter Pan!  They loved it!!  Remember, this was Silas' favorite ride at Disney World:-)

One night last week we went to do a little Christmas shopping.  Barnes and Noble is always one of their favorites. We played and looked for books, and I said, Avery, sit here with me, I'll read this one to you".  She politely said, "No, mommy" as she turned to sit in the green child chair and cross her legs… "I can read it myself".  I sat there sadly but smiling as she "read" from each page loudly and confidently. Purpilicious no doubt took an alternate ending… but all around enjoyed the story (and Avery's unmistakable voice inflections strikingly similar to Minnie Mouse sometimes).  Precious!!

 

 

Next was Jackson Academy's Pre-K Christmas program. It was absolutely fantastic...marvelous performance by all, but if you ask me, the two toward the left with last name Warf outdid themselves... :-)

Then, Santa came to visit their classroom - one last stop before working hard to finish the toys and pack his sleigh!

Their classroom Christmas party was so cute and fun. Silas was beyond excited to tell me as soon as he saw me walk in: "Mommy, I'm the LEADER today"!!  Sweet boy!

 

Every night, we tell our Elf, Fred, exactly what they want from Santa... or what message they'd like Fred to relay to the big man at the North Pole.  Sometimes, they hold up the magazine (with everything circled...) and tell him exactly what they expect... too funny.

One day Silas decided to let us know that Fred was a girl elf. He explained that Fred couldn't be a boy since all the boy elves stayed and worked all day making the toys at Santa's factory.  Hmm. Okay.

 

Another little note to remember... Silas and Avery were with me in my bathroom one morning while I was getting ready for work. Silas began to rough-house a little (don't worry, Avery has no problem holding her own), but this particular morning she wasn't in the mood. She told him emphatically, "Silas, the elf is watching you and will tell Santa not to bring you presents"... Silas promptly replied "Avery, the elf can't see me in here."  After he thought about it, sweet boy asked me in private, "Mommy, Santa still bringing me presents, right?"  Yes, little buddy, he'll come.

 

Then again, another night, apparently some kids at school told Avery she wouldn't get toys... I sensed her sadness and probed a little. "Table 1, two people told me that cause I talk".  I never thought that kind of thing would begin at age 4!!  Geez, I haven't prepared my peer talk or bully talk to them! (And, of course I had to remember that Avery can be a little "drama" as well) We talked about others making fun of people and how that wasn't nice... and she shouldn't make fun of anyone nor let anyone making fun of her upset. She said she understood and was happy.  Whew.

 

When we were at Mop and Pop's house for Thanksgiving, I noticed a little sign hanging from the lamp in her powder room that said "Make It Merry."  If I had to describe Mop and Pop in a phrase, that'd be it!  Shouldn't we all take the responsibility to make all situations happy? Avery has inherited that too... wherever she is, she wants to "make it merry".  May we all do that wherever we are... all year long!!