Cookies for Santa, Pajama Elves, the "Big Day"....and even a "White Christmas"

The shopping is done, the festivities are pretty much ready, and it is time to start the Christmas traditions.  We always make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.  Some we give to neighbors, some we eat, and the kids usually pick 2 cookies that they really like to give to Santa.  I think the kids did a great job.

These are the chosen ones.  Just for Santa.  I hope he comes hungry. 

After dinner, it is time to talk about what Christmas really means and how important the Savior is and what he has done for us.  Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we go through a box of symbols of Christmas, this year we read the story of "The Three Trees".  After we talk about the Savior, the kids get to open one present.  ( They try so hard to convince us to open a second one, but of course we just stick to the one,)  Now I don't know if the Pajama Elves come to your house, but every year they come to our house.  Every year the kids think they are going to catch the sneaky little elves, but they never do.  This year they came during dinner.  Hunter must have heard something, 'cause he decided to look out the door after dinner, and what do you know?? Three boxes and in each box a pair of pajamas.  Sneaky little elves.  Right before the kids go to bed, I always like to read " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas".  The kids then looked on Jeremy's phone to see an update of where Santa was at that time and then off to bed they went and dreamt of Sugar Plums dancing in their heads.

This year the kids woke us up really early.  5 AM.  I couldn't believe it.  We tried to stall until about 5:45 and then we couldn't stall anymore.  We had to get up and join the kids down stairs.  Now, I don't know if you know much about Alabama, but usually it doesn't snow too much.  Every once in awhile some flurries, but nothing big.  Who would have ever thought we would wake up to a "White Christmas".  Growing up in Las Vegas, I remember I use to wish for that and my parents would say it is nice to wish, but it probably won't happen.  How lucky the kids were to wake up to all this snow.  It snowed all day, more in the night, and even more the next day.  (Now that Christmas is over though, I think it should go away,  I know longer wish for snow)  The kids had so much fun in it.  They haven't played in the snow since we left Virginia, so it was a real treat for them.

That is pretty much Christmas in a nutshell!

The kids had a great Christmas.  They got things they asked Santa for and maybe a few things they never thought to ask Santa for.  They played, played, played all day long.  By the end, we were all exhausted and grateful for all the things we had and for being with each other.  We even had "Roast Beast" with the neighbors.  Oh, what a day!

I wanted to add this picture.  Hunter got this Paper Jam Electric Guitar from Santa.  He has played for 2 days straight.  Jeremy finally got tired of  hearing it and gave him some earphones to plug into it.  Hunter has been asking for a guitar for awhile.  Since the real thing is a little pricey right now, Santa gave him this for now.  He sometimes wears his sunglasses, sometimes jumps in the air while playing it, sometimes he even might sing a little.  He is so funny. He is our little Rock Star. 

Christmas Festival

Every year our stake has a big Christmas festival.  This festival is enjoyed by all around Huntsville and other areas near by.  It is enjoyed by members and non-members.  The community looks forward to it every year.  Prior to the festival, they collect nativity sets from all who will let the stake borrow them.  There are hundreds and they are all unique.  Some are from other cultures, some are very childlike, and some are very elegant.  They have very big ones and very small ones.  They even have a set that is distributed throughout the sets where the children can look for each piece like a scavenger hunt.  They display these through out the cultural hall along with Christmas quilts that many have sewn and Christmas trees decorated.  They even have a live nativity where you go from room to room watching as the story plays out.  They transform the rooms and hallway and it really looks as much as you can in a church, like being there.  It is very quiet going through this live nativity and very reverent.  The whole church is decorated with decorated fireplaces throughout and foyers decorated very home like.  They have a choir that sings at different times (which you should acquire tickets earlier because it is reserved seating).  They also take a family picture, if you would like.  This is ours.  Not too bad.  It was a very nice night.  The choir sounded beautiful and amazing with many added orchestra instruments involved as well.  What a great way to start the Christmas festivities.

Santa Claus

Every year, as with most of you, we take our kids to see Santa.  This is a most necessary event.  It is very important that the kids put in their order to Santa personally.  Sometimes their list is long, but I try to tell them to pick just a couple of things and to remember that even though Santa is listening, he doesn't always get what you most desire, but to be grateful for what you do get.  Here is what they ordered from Santa:

Megan asked for Legos, a puppet, and a ZuZu Pet,

 Emilee asked for a MP3 player and a doll (14 in. that you can dress),

 and Hunter asked for a Spider-Man Web Shooter.

Well, I hope they get what they wish for and that all of you have a very

 Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to be with your family and friends.  Like many, we do not live near my family.  For so long, we did and I have many wonderful memories of Thanksgiving Day.  It is so fun to visit all day long, play games, and just hang out.  The food itself is overwhelming and there is so much and so many favorites that you look forward to all year long.  Because of all this food is the reason why I didn't cook Thanksgiving in my own home this year.  I am sorry to say, but it is way too much for just us, especially when your kids eat like little tiny birds.  Last year, my dad was in town, so it was worth cooking a great meal and smelling the turkey all day long.  This year it was just us, so we decided to head up to Nashville and eat at the Golden Corral.  Now, you laugh, but we were together, no cooking, and best of all no clean up. 

 There is a park that we like to go to in Nashville.  It has lots of fun things to do, wide open spaces to run, and some trails to hike through.  After we ate, we went to the park and played for the rest of the day.  It was fun.  We had a good time and even though we couldn't be with my extended family, at least we had a great dinner and time to spend with one another and that is something to be grateful for.

Gone Fishing

Since the kids were off of school and Jeremy took some time off of work, he decided to take the kids fishing.  I was lucky enough to stay home and get some much needed things done.  They seem to have a good time and he took some pictures.  I think they look kind of cool with the fog and all.  

They tell me that the fish just weren't biting this day. 

Both Megan and Emilee have gone fishing on Jeremy;s boat and have had the chance to catch some fish.  Hunter has yet to go on the boat.  He has gone fishing with Jeremy, but just off the shore.  He has yet to catch anything, and so doesn't see the thrill in fishing like the girls.  He will some day.

                 This picture kind of looks like "A River Runs through it". 

There is Emilee the star of the show.

After they were done fishing, they went on a little nature hike.  This is one of the buildings on the

hike that you could go into. 

Well, no fish for the day, but I think they had a good time anyway with dad....and of course I used my time well and got tons done. 

Halloween 2010

Aahhh, Halloween!!  This is the time of year that my children look forward to the most.  They start planning it for the next year as soon as they get their costumes for Halloween .  And let me tell you, they change their minds about 5 times a day.  And then we get to that final day of selecting the costume and they get one that they  have never even discussed.  What can I say, they love it!  This year Jeremy went with them to get their costumes.  I didn't even know they were doing it.  They just came home with them like they did the dog. ( I am starting to think that maybe I should go along on all these Daddy - Kiddie outings.)  Well, I think the kids liked their choices and were so excited to dress up.  What fun they had at the Trunk or Treat and wouldn't you know it......They started discussing in the car, what they would be for the next year.

Megan wanted to be a devil.  I am not sure why this was, but she makes a pretty cute one.  If I would have been there, I would have tried to talk Emilee into being an Angel.  Now don't you think that would have been a cute picture?

Emilee decided on Spidergirl.  Now, I have to say that I thought this was just a made up character for Halloween so that the girls could use the Spiderman theme in their costumes.  Nope, she was real. (In the comic book world that is.) 
Spidergirl is the daughter of

Peter Parker and MaryJane.  Who knew??

Hunter went back and forth between Batman and Wolverine.  In the end it was Wolverine that won.  His favorite part of the costume of course, are the pretend knives that have the appearance of coming out of the hands.  He does look tough though.

Until next year......I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

"Lyons Farm"--TN

We just recently took the kids to Lyons Farm.  They have a few of these kinds of farms around here that are open for the month of October to pick pumpkins.  It was very fun for the kids.  We spent most of the day there.  The kids went through a corn maze (over and over and I think they tried really hard to get lost as much as they could),they played in huge piles of corn, slid down monster slides, road cow trains, jumped in bouncy houses, played on mountains of tractor tires, played on tractor tire swings, ate funnel cake, and of course, picked their pumpkins.  It was very fun for everyone.  I couldn't decide what pictures to put on the blog so I chose them all. 

  

Halloween Fun

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Time Out for Women Plano, TX

This past week, I had the great opportunity to go to Dallas Texas and visit some family and friends.  They really don't live in Dallas, but close enough.  It was way fun, relaxing, and full of great experiences.  I stayed with my most beautiful cousin Joanna, but I got to visit with others.  My brother Darin and his family live there as well as my cousin Lisa and her family and my cousin Teresa.  It was so good to see everyone.  In fact, it was the first time I had ever seen my brother's youngest daughter and she is definitely a Davis. 

Joanna, my sister-in-law Betty Jo, and I were able to go to Time Out for Women in Plano.  Along with them my good friend Lynette who use to live here in Alabama, got to come up and attend as well.  It was so good to see her.  We were able to spend most of the weekend together playing card games, talking about old times, eating out, and of course listening to awesome Time Out speakers.  For those who knew Lynette, she is doing quite well as she is serving as Primary President in her ward and loving the time she spends with her family. 

 Joanna and Julee.  Isn't she beautiful??  She is so much fun to be around and even though she doesn't think it, she is an awesome mom of 5 very active children.  Now, I love her children.  They are seriously funny and so much fun to tease, but if anyone deserves a Time Out, it would be Joanna.  She has so much patience and she loves to do so many fun things with her kids.  They are so lucky to have a mom like her.

 Lynette and Julee.  It was so much fun to see Lynette.  She is one of my bestest book buddies.  I have missed her so much and it was so good to chat with her and spend some time with her.  When I first had thoughts of going to Time Out in Plano, I had thought that maybe I could drive back down to Houston with her, spend a week around her house, and fly home from Houston.  It just didn't work out that way, but that just means we can always plan another trip.  Though, I have taken a few trips this year, and Jeremy might start putting his foot down.  I love ya Jeremy.

 Here is the gang with Virginia Hinckley Pearce.  She wasn't suppose to be at this Time Out, but was filling in for someone that just couldn't be there.  What a surprise.  It was so cool to listen and talk with her for a few moments.  I kept thinking, "Wow, this is Pres. Hinckley's daughter, she must have had some awesome experiences growing up".  I loved every minute of it.

 I was so excited to hear that Brad Wilcox was going to be speaking.  Joanna and I use to hear him speak when we were youth.  Also, I had forgotten this, which I can't imagine why, but he was in the bishopric in our BYU ward.  (I know, how could I have forgotten)  Betty Jo was excited to talk with him 'cause he was her brother's mission president in Chile.  He gave a wonderful talk.  Just like I remember. 

Ah, Michael Mc Lean.  I have heard plenty of his music and my most favorite is the Forgotten Carols, but I have never had the opportunity to be there for one of his performances.  He was very very fun.  

 And here we are at the end of a great Time Out for Women.  We had a great time.  Time Out was awesome.  I had a great time and learned some good things while enjoying myself with others.   I guess I get to go again next week in Atlanta with a friend from here.  There will be a couple of the same speakers, but about four will be different.  Lucky me.  The rest of my trip was great also.  It was so much fun to see everyone and to visit and catch up. 

Meet Odie

Saturday morning, Jeremy says he wants to go to the flea market not too far from Huntsville.  Well, if anyone really knows me, you know that I hate flea markets.  I don't find them fun at all.  So, I let him take the kids while telling him I had laundry to do.  (That is how much I hate flea markets)  A few hours later Emilee comes into the house very excited and asks me to guess what they got from the market.  I go outside and Megan is bringing in this.  An 8 week puppy.  Now, Jeremy and I have been talking about getting a dog.  We had one a few years ago, but we had to give him up because he just was too hyper for my kids.  I just thought we had to prepare more around our house to make it more puppy safe.  I guess when they found this little critter, they couldn't resist including Jeremy.  So, we now have a new member of our family.  I guess I think he is kind of cute.  So, just when I thought I was all through with potty training, here I am, doing it again.  He is actually doing pretty good.  We just have to be on top of it and make sure we take him out every 2-3 hours.  He seems to hold it quite well during the night.  We need to work on him telling us, but they say that can take a couple of months.  His first night he whined a lot in the night, but I put my earphones in my ear and told Jeremy I've done that job 3 kids before, it is all up to him.  Hee-hee.  He is a Dausend mixed with a Coon Dog.  His mother was the Coon and his father was the Dausend and the kids named him Odie.  The kids have had a blast with him.  They even love cleaning up his stuff outside.  They get so excited for him when he makes it outside to do his business and praise him with great words and treats.  I think little Odie is going to like it here.  He definitely will have lots of love from my kids.

First Day of School

Ah, the first day of school.  So many emotions for this day.  For the mom of a first child going into kindergarten has many different emotions then the mom who is on there fifth or sixth child going into kindergarten.  For me, I have to admit is a lovely day.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my children.  I love spending time with them, I love hearing their stories, I even love (sometimes) their emotional breakdowns.  With all that love, sometimes,  I want to share it with their teachers.  My kids, even though they won't admit it, I think were excited for the first day of school.  And even though they won't admit it, for the most part, enjoyed it.  I was having some thoughts of when each went into kindergarten for the first time yesterday.  So, I got out the old photos and decided to compare.  How they have grown.  Especially my oldest. 

                          
I probably couldn't find my camera the first day of kindergarten when Megan went to school so I must have used my phone and we think camera phones are bad now, back then they were awful.  Megan started school in Las Vegas, but we were getting ready to move to Virginia.  We knew she would only be there a few months, but she loved both kindergartens.  She is still short, but has grown up most definitely.  She didn't like her first day of fifth grade too much.  Here in Alabama, they have to change classes through out the day and she has three teachers this year.  She says she doesn't like to do that.  Megan has never been one for change and isn't ready to grow up at all.  I say that is fine, but she will want too in time.  I can't believe she is 10.  Wow!  Time does go by fast.  She did say her second day was much better.  She will get use to all the differences and I am sure will have a great year.

Emilee started kindergarten in Virginia, but like Megan, we knew she would only would be there for a few months before we moved to Alabama.  Also like Megan, she enjoyed both kindergartens a lot.  Emilee is my little studious student.  She loves school, though if you ask her now she sometimes says no, but I think that is just because she listens to her sister too much.  She is always well liked by her friends and her teacher.  She had a great first day of third grade and loves her teacher.  I never worry about Emilee at school.  She is always happy.

Not much change for Hunter since he just started school last year.  And what do you know, we actually had a child finish kindergarten with the same teacher.  How 'bout that?  Hunter is very silly when it comes to school.  I am not sure what goes through his head all the time.  His teacher last year only had great things to say about him.  He seems to listen well, but he says he doesn't like school at all and thinks he would get along fine without it.  I think he liked his first day of first grade.  I see him smiling and then when I call him on it, he says he wasn't and doesn't like to sing and doesn't like the big spider hanging on the wall in his new classroom.  He is such a character.  Mostly talk I tell you.  I am sure he will get along just fine.

It will be a great year for all of them.

Peaches

I love peaches!  I never really knew how much I love peaches until about 6 years ago when my ward in Las Vegas took orders to have some peaches delivered to us from the great state of Georgia.  So, I ordered a box.  OMGosh!!  So good.  They just are not the same in the grocery stores.  Everyone of them was a bit of heaven.  A year and a half later, we moved to Northern Virginia.  I thought "Wow, look at all the orchards around.  Surely the grocery stores will have some great peaches"  No....They don't.  The next year my cousin had come to visit so we had took her and the kids and went to an orchard to pick some.  OMGosh!!, so good.  Now we are here in Northern Alabama and I thought once again, "Wow, these peaches look so good in the store"  No, they weren't.  Very disappointing.  So, the other day I ventured out to find some good peaches that were not in a grocery store.  I am here to say, I succeeded.  My friend told me about this place off the 72 called Isom's.  (For all of you living near here)  They were fabulous.

Don't they look wonderful??  Believe me, they are!  Well we didn't stop there.  They had some nectarines to eat.  So I ate one with the kids.  Megan says"MMMMmmmm, I like that!" I guess she has never had a nectarine....go figure.

Now I think I like nectarines just as much as I like peaches, but again, you can't seem to find good ones in the stores so I guess I never bothered to give them to my kids.  My kids were all over them when we got home.  Don't they look good??

We ended up getting some grapes also.  They were really good as well, but they have seeds in them so I don't know how much the kids will eat them, but that is OK.  I still like them. 

LESSON TO LEARN:  Don't buy your peaches and nectarines in the grocery store.  So not worth it.  Either grow them yourself, find an orchard where they grow them, or if this is not available for you, find away to make that order from Georgia.  I still will say, that those were the best peaches that I ever did have.  I guess that is why Georgia is called the "Peach State".