nothing says Christmas like high 60's degrees

Happy Birthday to my mom on the 21st!

We had a warm Christmas..with Bryce asking when is it going to snow every morning. Maybe someday we'll have a white Christmas..but I am happy with what we have. It was so great to celebrate with family and enjoy this miracle of Jesus' birth. I love this nativity set my parents passed down to me a few years ago. Some of the pieces belonged to my papa {my dad's father} and he gave it to my dad. My parents used it while I was growing up and I loved to help my mom set it up. Now I have the honor of setting it up in my house. I still laugh at how Bryce used to say baby cheez-its.

Right before Christmas we had the kids' annual Christmas party with Walter, Ava, & Addi. Here is Bryce & his BFF Walter posing for me...
Then up late trying to finish wrapping gifts & off to Julie & Paul's dad's house on Christmas Eve. Connor, Bryce, & Jacob unwrapping their presents. The boys play real good together... Avery liked the princess "cd player" she received.

Next down to my parents' for mass & then dinner afterward. Oh it was so yummy. Do try Chateau Ste. Michelle riesling if you have not yet...I fell in love earlier this year. The kids opened a few gifts & Uncle Ryan (& Guinness} and Avie played sleepy. She is a pro at it!

I love driving by this house in the neighborhood next to my parents....I wonder how much their electric bill is.

We put cookies & carrots out, sprinkled reindeer food on the grass..somehow I threw it in the downpour...kids to bed & then whoosh! finished Santa's presents & made spinach dip and finally off to let visions of sugarplums dance in our heads

Hooray!!!! Christmas mornin' the babes slept until 8:30 and then opened their goodies from Santa. Santa was sure good to me as he always is. Bryce was happy with his million Bakugan toys & video games.

Avery sporting her "pretties" from her stocking while on her new tricycle (pink & purple of course}...,


my dad was happy with is own brew..

We love Christmas...& now it's gone already!

ahh it feels so good to be off school and sleeping in...& eating cookies in my pajamas all day. I have a feeling this week will go by too fast.

Merry Christmas

...to all!

more Christmas cheer

Saturday we went to see Twas the Night Before Christmas children's puppet play and had our Christmas with Paul's grandparents at his dad's. Then straight to my parents for cookie decorating {love making those butter cookies} and my mom's birthday dinner Sunday...with Ryan & Ashley too. So much cleaning still to do, grocering, ....& wrapping left to do. will do it while watching the Christmas Carol with the babes in bed . Looking forward to the kids' Christmas party tomorrow hooray!

{enjoy the holidays!!}

the pink pig

An Atlanta tradition is taking a ride on the Rich's pink pig.  Although Macy's took over.  I rode it for the first time last year...along with Bryce & Avery's first.  Paul is a veteran, riding it since he was Bryce's age on the original.  The 2 minute ride is worth the long wait in line.  Well do it again next year...

here is the original behind us 

 I like this photo from last year... 

our tree is starting to droop now...I put some presents underneath to make it happier!

hooray the Polar Express party kept the kindergarten kiddos calm & the ice cream the other day was a success..& learned to use 2 baggies for containg the ice cream mixture instead of just one. Also the dancing queens went without a hitch for our holiday show. But bestest of all....Christmas VaCaTioN has started!!!!!!

Nutcrackin

My friend Tiff & I took my two crazies to the Nutcracker last weekend, a local one that I had never seen and it was really good! They even had the lady in her big dress like Atlanta Ballet's. Avery enjoyed it & at times was trying to dance...so cute. I'll keep that vision in my head rather than her yelling at Bryce to not share with Tiffany's i-phone.

after 130 photos of ones like these..

I got
one that will work. Maybe next year bribing will work with Avery.

...it's gonna be in the 60's this week. Snow next perhaps? We are going to make snow ice cream manana. remember rolling the cans? Well....we are going to try in baggies. Hopefully it will turn out okay.

wishing list

I thought if I could have a wish list, I mean a wish list...then I'd write

Dear Santa,

I have been awfully ever so much good {oh tried to sound like Lola} so I think you would love to give me....
a second honeymoon back to Negril...

a new perfume, or five
this ~but with minus the 1400 calories....

this lens..

tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Walk-in closet, pre-filled of course. While you are at it Santa, why not one for each season?

...plus a new house to put it in


trip to a cabin Flagstaff with all my family together..including airfare for everyone.

~Ok I am so not a gold person, but I really like this necklace for some reason. I don't even like hearts that much, except in February...



ok, so for real I want some boots and a new lens....and peanut butter soap too maybe


~k

baby it's cold outside

Too cold for me outside! A few snow flurries swirled down Monday, but that's all.
So, I made semi-homemade chicken soup...Sandra Lee would be proud {maybe}.
I used~ Weyer's chicken soup starter to 10 cups water..and added a quartered onion, 2 bouillion cubes, & 1 lb. chicken breasts. Cook for only 45 minutes, shred the chicken and finally add separately boiled egg noodles at the end {in your bowl}.

Bryce said I want Shrek soup and Avery slurped it up...& a third of it went on the table..

...can't believe it's really December. Though we have been listening to the Elf soundtrack since October! We cut down our tree this weekend and still need to decorate...shop...clean...order Christmas cards. I need another one of these....

tat ewe!

I swear Bryce's first words were Thank you...more like tat ewe back then. Avery's are clearer now. iT's amazing how much more she can say now~ My favs are Hehwoah & Daddy's sillwee.

I am very thankful I could spend time with my family...though I miss all my family & Paul's. I am glad I had time to sleep in, to eat waaay to much food, & this year I wrote the recipes down so I will not forget! {It's hard when you only make stuffing once a year.} Someday I'll be able to do it all by memory & taste like my momma.
Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving!...or at least happy & tasty

Here are my little turkeys on Thanksgiving day...

Bryce with my daddy

...but not as much as tomorrow

Paul & I have our wedding anniversary that we celebrate...of course. But I think of another date as an anniversary. {November 18th 1995} The first "date" Paul & I went on. We went with friends to Beth's brother's place to hang out and then back to Paul & Michael's dorm room. How many times to sneak in through the window...what would we have done if they weren't on the first floor?! The next day the two of us went out to eat at Burger King...no whopper hopper that time. =) I didn't even order fries!! Seems like forever ago.so, I am happy to have been with my Paul for 13 years now....the bestest, most wonderful 13 of my life! I am glad he saw snow on the ground when he visited Piedmont and I am glad my friend Tiff & I went to visit Wendy. & I will always remember November 18th no matter how nuts Paul thinks I am. xoxo
So of course in my shoeboxes of stash I have the receipt... I keep way too much stuff! Call me a pack rat. I get it from my dad..although he is organized and very neat about it. Tickets, cards, tons of notes from 4th grade all the way through college, other random memorbilla....& of course photos. I purged some a while back when my parents gave me boxes from their attic. I have to keep my Barbies and Cabbage Patch kids for Avery, huh? I also have things stashed in my classroom.

Glad I have got to see so many girlfriends lately. miss them tons..wish we could get together more often! Can't wait for Ellie's shower for the girls!!

& speaking of friends...if you are not on facebook you must! I just gave in and I am so glad I finally did. There are so many people from my high school & college on Facebook that I have not seen in ages. I found my friend from Cali that I have not been in touch with for 21 years!!! My friend Leigh has been in Atlanta all this time and have not known...now we are getting together. Plus I can keep in touch with friends that I don't get to see daily anymore. =)

already?

avery 2 & 2mths
366? cannot believe it's been a year since I started to blog away. I always kept a journal in elementary school about how I loved Ricky Schroeder and what I played with my best friends. In eigth grade I wrote every single day! I revisited it a few months ago and boy are some entries boring!! Ha things don't change much =) I love how I have a journal of the last year with photos and moments I might have otherwise forgotten had I not made a post about it. I love reading about my family & how much they have grown over the past year. When I started last November~ Avery was not walking and Bryce had all his teeth =) My goddaughters were just 6 months old...friends' babies were not even born yet..I was still working with my friends!!!

Also this is another mode I can keep in touch with friends with! ...& with the world at our fingertips I can read others' blogs & in turn have met such awesome people. I have picked up so many creative ideas that I want to create {& wish I had more time to} & links to things to purchase! Sometimes it's quite addicting to hop around ... I click and click and get lost on someone's site.
What will my babes accomplish this year? What grade will I be teaching next year? What will the girls x2 look like? Will we ever move? Will I learn to sew? What surprises does Paul have for me? Will I get to eat the peanut butter stuffed french toast at Highlands bakery?
I cannot wait to see what this year brings.

photo from my very first post....
>

catching them lately...

oh how I love these 2!

turn, turn, turn

Here are some photos of our day trippin' in North Georgia. The colors were fabulous and the weather was so perfect! The only disappointment was no dried apples at Jaemor Farms =( ....oh & Avery screaming NO! and yelling so freakin' loud when she wasn't getting her way at Mark of the Potter. I guess she's not to blame entirely because she didn't nap in the car and it was the first day of the dreaded time change. Terrible 2s that is fo sure.... & then some.
We went to Toccoa Falls...

but skipped the Gorge this time...and then we drove to the Mark of the Potter {annual shot =)} Where we ran into the ladybug and her parents & grandparents!! We feed the ginormous trout & swung on the swing watching the Soque river. happy Fall day!

Avie & Addi swinging

there are
so many more I like, so....

To every thing there is a season, and a time
to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time
to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is
planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to
break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time
to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather
stones together; a time to embrace, and a time
to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to
keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to
keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war,
and a time of peace....I swear it's not too late!

look who...

lost his very first tooth!!!!

We were over our friends yesterday house eating lunch & I looked over at him and exclaimed "Bryce you lost your tooth!! Yea!!! ....where is it?" Well it was nowhere to be found. Yup, it must be in your belly I told him. He was totally fine with it all. The Cheetos must have dislodged it and he had no idea anything happened. That night he wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining to her that he lost his tooth and "it was in his tummy". I knew I was carrying that golden dollar around in my wallet for a reason. Bryce was so excited when he told me what he found. Now the one next to it is loose!

more exciting news... the pitt pair are both GIRLS!!!!! So excited for Ellie & Trevor & all the pink x two!

leaf perspective

went up to to north Ga and basked in such beautiful weather. More photos to share soon...
Hope no one has to stand in long lines....I mailed.

{hope the pair reveal themselves today!!} Cannot wait!!!!!!!!!

All Hallows' Eve

love Halloween! We had fun at school this week...We took the class on a walk to get some pumpkins from the car lot/pumpkin patch, rotated through fall centers in each of the classrooms..hayride, ate pumpkin bread, danced to the monster mash & more. His class and mine are teamed together for lunch, recess....we get to do a lot together. It is so awesome to be teaching and being able to be involved with Bryce's class at the same time. His teacher is great... lucky to have her.
SO glad Halloween was on a Friday though, I don't know if I could have handled teaching the day after.

My two trick-or-treaters this year..

fun! We took our 50's gal & Darth Vader {w/ no cape} trick or treating with a cute ladybug. Just look at the darling shoes Denni found for Addi. Would make Dorothy jealous!

We went to Denni, Earl & Addi's house. They have a massive neighborhood that houses go all out decorating {just as fun for me as it is for the kiddos} Avery was so in to it and was grinning ear to ear the whole time. except of course when I tried to take photos. She wanted said trick or treat and thank you to everyone...so sweet. Bryce was so patient waiting to move onto the next housed. I was able to steal candy from Avery and then hide it when we got home. out of sight outta mind still works =) It had been beautiful that day and wasn't too cold that night. I think we all had a great Halloween. ..finally a photo of all 3 of them at the last minute.