Cookies

We baked them - but I think more got eaten then decorated. Payton had fun doing the sprinkles - but she mostly just liked to eat the "cooks"

Breakfast with Santa

Grammy & Papa's church had Breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning - or in Payton's case Breakfast without Santa!

First she checked him out from far away......

Then from a little closer....

But when Grammy walked her up to him - she was not about to sit on his lap...

She wanted Grammy to hold her and she just wanted to look at Santa - but not touch him....


She did however have no problem going to the cute elf with the candy canes!

And then the best part was the pancakes!

We tried one more time before we left but after this look of terror - we decided that a picture with Grammy & Santa would be just fine.

Thanks Aunt RL and Aunt Mimi for going with us and keeping us entertained!

Maybe next year we will want to see Santa - guess she already figures since she told daddy and Papa and Grandpa John what she wanted there was really no need to sit on Santa's lap!

Congratulations Aunt Mimi

It's official - Kimmie is a nurse! We went Friday and watched her graduate and get pinned and take the oath!

It was defiantly a proud proud day! She has sacrificed and worked so hard - she defiantly deserves it!

Good luck with the job hunt - we know you will be one great nurse!

We love you!

Payton's First Pink Pig Expierence

OK for those of you not from Georgia this post is going to leave you saying "What, they ride a pig at Christmas time, those people from Georgia are weired!"

So I feel inclined to give you a little history on one of Atlanta's Christmas traditions.

For those of you who know and love Priscilla the Pink Pig - you may skip and look at the pictures.

For those of you that are interested in the History of the Pink Pig.... here goes

(thanks to wikipedia)

The Pink Pig was a child-scaled monorail that originally circled the toy department in the downtown Store for Homes. After several years, it was moved to the roof of the Store For Homes building. The front car of the train had a pig's face, and the last car had a curly tail. The original train featured Priscilla Pig, while a second train added to the track was named Percival. For many years after the closure of the downtown store, the Pink Pig was set up at the Festival of Trees at the Georgia World Congress Center. During the Rich's-Macy's era, in an effort to show respect for the traditions of Rich's, a redesigned Pink Pig, this time a child-sized train rather than a monorail, was set up on the top level of a parking deck at Lenox Square mall under an enormous pink tent. The train ride takes children (and adults, who can now fit) through a storybook tale of Priscilla Pig. The original Pink Pig monorail cars are now at the Atlanta History Center where they are occasionally displayed.

Drew remembers going to the old Rich's store with his Grandma and all his cousins, I however do not remember riding it at Rich's but do remember riding at the Festival of Trees. So here we are continuing a crazy southern Christmas tradition.

Next year we will go much earlier, as we waited for over an hour and a half in line. It was a lot of fun though - and the kids in line pretty much entertained each other.

Here's Payton waiting patiently (yes, we let her have the Paci for this - don't judge me - I bet parents of the the kids that were crying wished they had a Paci)

Then we had to bring in the reinforcement snacks....we really did wait a long time and it was cold!

The we finally made it to the tent - were at least we were warm while we were waiting!

Grammy even bought Payton her own Priscilla stuffed Pig - which Payton has not put down since and even tried to steal Carsyn's the other day!

Trying to keep her entertained and good was actually a lot of fun!

YEAH! Finally it was our turn! (Don't mid Drew's sour face - he really did have a good time - we just agreed not to bring him next year!)

And after all that waiting, and all those snacks, and then "all" that riding, Payton was ready for a nap. So we didn't make it see Santa yet!

And there you have the story of Payton's first Pink Pig Experience!

Christmas in Senoia

One of the reason's I love living in a small town is we have a Parade for EVERYTHING!

Kimmie, Me & Payton headed down to "downtown" Senoia and browsed the stores while waiting for the Parade to start. (Which by the way if you have not been to Senoia in a while I encourage you to come and see all the cool boutique stores we have - support your mom & pop stores).

It was so cold outside - but once the Parade started Payton really enjoyed watching everything.

We even got a glimpse of Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Andy by then we were FROZEN! So we headed home!

I love the small town feel - I love the holiday spirit - and I love watching Payton's face light up with excitement!

It was a great night - and thanks to Aunt Mimi for braving the weather with us!

You Might Be a Redneck If....

.....Your Christmas decorations involve Pink Flamingos and a blow up Santa in swimming trunks riding in a tube!

But hey Payton thinks Daddy's decorations are cute even if the rest of the neighborhood is laughing at us!

It's Begining To Look Alot Like Christmas

I know I am behind a little on my blogging.....cut me some slack....by the time I get Payton to sleep each night I feel like I've run a marathon!

Anyhow enough with the griping!

Last year I bought a "Skinny" tree - because I had to rearrange the living room for the Christmas Tree - so this one fits perfectly in the corner. Although now that I have most of the presents wrapped it looks kind of strange that the presents make a circle around the width of the tree....

But Oh well - here's some pictures of us trimming the tree. Sorry there's only a few. You try decorating with a one year old running around.

We hit our first snag right out of the box - one of the strands of lights didn't work. And since it was a pre-lit tree, we had to go light by light until we found the culprit! Good thing Payton was helping Daddy out or he would have never found it.

And who needs a Christmas Tree when you have the fabulous box that it came in!
Snag number two - plastic ornaments are breakable - when thrown at dogs from little girls!

But all in all what a fun time :)

Payton even enjoyed posing for some pictures! HA HA HA - yeah right - I couldn't get her to sit still long enough to get a good shot.

And there are no finished product pictures because at that point I was beat!

But the tree is beautiful!

What a Pretty Pink Tree

OK maybe it should read "What a Pretty Tacky Pink Tree" but Payton likes it and it was fun and everything on it is unbreakable. So it's a silver tinsel fiber optic tree with pink plastic ornaments. You get the picture! And we broke one of our cardinal rules of Christmas decorations and put this little tree up the day before Thanksgiving!

It was fun, Payton Oohed and Aahed.....

And "helped" with the putting the decorations on the tree......

And tried to feed the ornaments to Bo.....

The she ran off with some of the ornaments and tried to "cook" them in the play kitchen oven....

And finally we have a fabulously PINK tree!

Hope your Christmas Season has started off well and all your decorations are up by now.

Two Times as Thankful

I know I am behind on my blogging - I promise you I am trying to catch up!!!!

Since we didn't get to make the trip up to Marietta on Thanksgiving day to be with Drew's side of the family; Kathy had another Thanksgiving dinner on Friday evening.

So we had two days of being Thankful!

And two days of yummy yummy food and great company!

What a Bunch of Turkeys

We had a low key Thanksgiving this year. It was just our family. It was nice to gather and be in each other's company with no where to run off too. We missed seeing everyone that we didn't get to see - but I think this year it really hit me as to what this holiday should mean. It should be a reflection on the things you are thankful for. Things you should remember everyday to be thankful for not just on Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for my family! In the good times and the bad times, my sisters are my best friends. I am a very lucky person to have such a wonderful family.

I am thankful for my husband, who works so incredibly hard to provide for us, who never ceases to amaze me everyday. It's hard to believe this was our 10th Thanksgiving together. I can truly say that I love him more and more as time goes on. He is a wonderful father and a great friend. I am a lucky lucky girl.

I am thankful for my little girl. That she is healthy and spunky and full of life. She has taught me so much more than I have taught her. Children are truly the miracle of life. It's hard for me to imagine what life was like without her. She has brought so much joy into our lives. She can make an entire room smile.

I am thankful for my friends who come in different forms. I am grateful to have new friends and old friends. Friends who keep me grounded, remind me of who I am and where I come from. For phone calls at all hours just to talk. I am thankful for friends who never hesitate to help you out. I am thankful that I am surrounded by so much love.

I am thankful for the phone and the Internet - strange I know - but my grandma is always only a call away even if she is 800 miles.

I am thankful for all of the men and women who serve or have served to make this country what it is today. When patriotism is not always the popular stance, I am thankful to those who remember what this great country that we live in stands for. I am thankful to the families of our military who sacrifice so much of a normal life so that their loved ones may serve. I am thankful that there are still brave young men and women who sign up to serve. It was one of the best experiences of my life and one of the hardest to be a military wife. But I know how important it is! I can only hope that Drew knows how extremely proud I am for all that he has done for our family and our country! I am also, so very thankful that he is home now.

I am thankful for the angles that god send in unexpected forms.

I am thankful for all the memories of my life that have shaped me into what I am today and I am thankful that I wake up each day to make more.

Here are pictures of our Thanksgiving.......and all the "Turkeys" that enjoyed that day with us.