Christmas Tree Time 2009

On Sunday afternoon, November 29th the five of us piled in the truck and headed over the hills and through the woods to Mayland Tree Farm for out second annual cutting of the Christmas Tree. After a short drive to Ware Shoals, we arrived at Mayland and piled out of the truck in search for the perfect tree. We were given our saw and a brief update on the types of trees and where to find them before we were off down the gravel road.

First stop was at the cut outs of animals where the kids enjoyed sticking their heads through for pictures. Next we were off to see the various real animals. The was a gigantic pig up first. The twins were in awa. After we hd viewed the pig, we looked at the gigantic turkey, chickens, bunnies, etc before heading to the trees.

We briefly looked at some on the right hand side of the path, but they were really prickely so we ventured on. Then we made it to another section with cypreses and some that looked frosted. After some wandering around, I happen to see a great deal on one of the cypresses that was only $15 due to the fact it had two main top stems. Although I was sold, I though in the spirit of Christmas we should keep looking. We really looked at the frosted ones since it would be different. However when we got down to letting the girls pick what they wanted, Emily said she didn't want such a high number on the tag (meaning $40+ was too much). She wanted to find the $15 tree. We really tried to encourage her to find what she liked since Christmas only comes around once a year, but she was sold on the $15. After a big search we found it again. It was too funny when John said the apple din't fall far from the tree with Emily. I do love a deal =)

Once all the kids were set on the tree John proceeded to cut it down and we then drug it to the road for the person to pick up. Once they picked up our tree to take it back to prepare it, we started back up the road. The girls really enjoyed collecting rocks and making a stop by the camp fire. After we had played around, we headed into the little store to pay for our tree and for the girls to get their candy canes. Once we were done, we loaded up the tree and we off to the house.

After dinner and baths, we worked for a while getting the tree steady. Monday night decorating, here we come.

Christmas 2008

On Christmas morning, we had Santa time once all the girls were up. They were all very excited. Surprisingly the night before when we were on the way home Emily mentioned for the first time ever that she really wanted a doll house. By coincidence the twins actually got a doll house from Santa and Emily got a bike. Once the kids had looked through all the Santa stuff, we headed outside for Emily to try out her new bike.

Once it was a reasonable time we all headed over to the Jefferson where we all exchanged gifts and had an early lunch.

Later that evening I went by and picked Walker and Steff up and took them and Emily over to the Christmas house in Kim's neighborhood. They were amazed.

Christmas Eve 2008

On December 24th we started the morning out with a family breakfast, got ready, and then all headed out to the store so that John could pick out the two gifts he wanted to personally choose. Later that afternoon, we all headed over to the Jefferson's to visit and enjoyed some Christmas lights on the way home. When we arrived home, we gave the girls their presents from us and let them exchange gifts with each other. They all had a great time playing with their gifts. Emily's favorite item was a glow station (a board you can write on in the dark), Bailey seemed to love a stamp set she got from Emily, and Ansley loved her microphone that played various songs, including twinkle twinkle (her all time favorite). After everyone played a little while, I dressed them all in their new Christmas jammies and they enjoyed some more play time. When the little ones were getting tired, we put them to bed and then helped Emily with baking cookies for Santa. Once the cookies were done and we set them out by the fireplace, we read her the Christmas story and tucked her in.

Viewing the Christmas House in Kim's Neighborhood 12-22-08

On the Monday before Christmas, Emily and I made our way over to Kim's house to view the light display at one of her neighbors house's. When we arrived, we were greeted by Dora who was very excited to see us. Emily and Helen played, while Kim and I waited on another couple that was coming to view the lights with us. When they arrived, we bundled up the kids, since we had a sudden cold spell of a day time high temp in the 30's, when it had been in the 70's the week before. You have to love that about SC, you never know what you are going to get =)

Emily pushed Helen's stroller for the first block, but she was having problems with the stroller staying straight, so Kim saved the day by pushing the second block. I had heard about the house from Kim several times, but without seeing it, it was hard to imagine. When we walked up to the house, there was a crowd of people coming to see the spectacle. The first thing we did was let Emily visit Santa who was out front. Then we started on the path they had set up for people to walk their back yard. It was amazing. I have never seen so many lights in such a concentrated area. After we had walked the entire trail that lead through their back yard and into their neighbors yards that they had also let these people set up in, we made our way back to Kim's house since it was so cold.

When we got in, we all enjoyed warming up with hot chocolate and other goodies. Emily being on her anti chocolate kick warmed up with her warm milk. Not a personal favorite, but she thought it was great. The kids were having such a fun time playing, we stayed until almost 9:30 when Kim and I were pooped. The little ones were still rearing to go =)

Ansley and Bailey's Class Christmas Party - Birthday Party 12-19-08

On Friday December 19th, I attended Ansley and Bailey's class Christmas party. When I arrived a little before 2, the kids were just getting up from their naps and everyone was heading to the story board to enjoy a story while the other teachers set up for the party. Before long, Daddy arrived to join in the festivities. Once it was time for the party, all the kids came over to the table and took a seat while the goodies were handed out. In typical toddler fashion, they dug in to the Cheetos. along with a few other goodies. After the kids were done with their goodies and they started to disburse around the room, the teachers helped each of the kids give their parent who attended their presents they had made. Bailey went first and was so excited to help me open the ornament she made. It was very precious. She had used paint to put her hand print on there. She also have me a wreath she had made. After Bailey's turn to give me her presents was up, we moved on to Ansley who had made equally as precious gifts. Once I had looked at the gifts and moved them to a safe place where the ornaments could not be broken, the teachers came around to the kids with the gifts they had gotten for each child. Ansley and Bailey were so excited to get their books and stickers and were also quite curious to see what others had gotten.

Soon, we moved on to the birthday party phase of the party. Since the Christmas party also happen to fall on the girls birthday, I had brought cup cakes and party hats for the group. The kids made their way back tot he table where we put on their party hats, sang happy birthday, and then passed out the cupcakes.

Once cupcake time was up and I managed to get all the icing off the girls hands, they enjoyed playing int he room for a while until it was time to say goodbye to their teachers and head home.

Emily's Class Christmas Party 12-17-08

On Wednesday afternoon, December 17th, Bailey and I made our way to Palmetto Prep for Emily's class Christmas party. The reason Bailey was with me for the day was she had to be out of school that morning due to a case of pink eye the previous day. Since she had been on the antibiotics more than 24 hours, it was ok for her to come with me to the party. When we arrived, my Dad was already there along with the kids who had just gotten back from art. We came in right as it was time to start serving the goodies, so I took Bailey and Emily through the line and fixed their plates with what they wanted. After they were settled, I helped a few of the other kids with their plates while the kids enjoyed their goodies. As usual, the chips were the big hit followed by the cake. After the kids were done with their goodies, we cleaned up while the kids played. Bailey had the best time playing being a big kid. Once things were cleaned up all the kids gathered around in the circle in order to hear the rules for the game they were getting ready to play. It was similar to musical chairs, but with using plates on the ground and the kids were to dance as they went around in the circle. Bailey had a great time going around and dancing with Emily and really got in to playing the game. They made it almost to the end until the two of them got out. When the game was over and the kids finished their candy canes they got as prizes for playing the game, they all gathered round to listen to a Christmas book. When it was finished and Emily had said her goodbyes, we made our way up to the other building to pick up Ansley.

Christmas with the Sizemore's 12-16-08

On the evening of December 16th, I headed to Daddy's along with Emily and Ansley for our Christmas get togethere. Since several groups would not be available on Christmas, we decided to have ours early. Unfortunately, John had to stay home with Bailey who was suffering a case of pink eye. When we arrived, we visited with everyone and then we served dinner to the little ones in the dining room. It was so cute to see all these little kids around the table. After the kids were done eating and the grown ups ate also, it was time to move on to the presents. IT was quite a fun year for it since all the kids were so excited. I think Emily's favorite present was her bracelet she got from Grandaddy and Gandmommy. It was Pearl w/ schwortzk crystals and a silver heart with her initials. It was quite beautiful and it was very special that all the girl cousins got one. After all had opened and thanks were said all around, the kids proceeded to play with toys, everyone visited, and cleaned up. As it was getting later, I took the girls home after we had stayed for a while after the presents.

UMOMC Christmas Party 12-11-08

On Thursday night, December 11th, I arrived at the Neely Farms club house for the UMOMC Christmas Party. When I got there, Leah and Katie were working away in the kitchen. We visited as everyone helped set up. Before long, several people started to arrive. Once a good crowd had arrived, Leah talked to the group to welcome everyone, Katie said a prayer, and then everyone headed for the line to serve their plates. In order to let Anne Marie get a plate, Amy held her 6 week old for her. When Amy needed to head to the restroom, I got the pleasure of taking over as baby holder.

After a while, the baby started getting hungry, so it was time to give her back to Ann Marie. Soon it was time to start the game "dirty santa". As Katie described the game for those who did not know what it was, we found out all rules were off =) It really lead to a very fun game!!!

The hot items ended up being a bottle of soap from Bath & Body Work and two different bottles of wine. When my number (9) was called I decided to go for a surprise with one of the items that were still wrapped. My present was quickly stolen so I decided to steal the bottle of soap from Tammy Ryback. However, the soap was stolen right away. Once it was stolen, I decided to go for one of the bottles of wine. Throughout the game, my item continued to get stolen and I went back and forth about stealing the soap or the wine. In the end, I wound up with the bottle of soap. After the game was up, we all enjoyed visiting and after most of the crowd cleared out, the board and I stayed around until 11 to thoroughly clean the club house so that we could get back our security deposit. It was a great night!!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

On Sunday after nap time, we got out the ornaments and started decorating the tree. Ansley and Bailey each took turns wearing an old elf hat that Gran gave Emily on her first Christmas. It was so cute!! While the little ones played, Emily and I put the ornaments and the angel on the tree. Since we quickly learned the ornaments were too great of a temptation, we only decorated the top half. Emily really got in to decorating the tree this year and loved hearing stories about the ornaments that I had as a kid.

Decorating the House and Trip to the Tree Farm

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we started our day as usual with breakfast and getting the kids dressed. After everyone was ready, we start bringing all the Christmas decorations down out of the attic. Once all the decorations were down, we all headed out front, and started decorating the house. We were very fortunate that it was such a nice day and all the kids had fun playing and seeing us put up the lights.

After lunch and naps, we called my Dad and he came over so we could all make our way to May-land Farms in Pelzer. I had been talking about us taking the girls to chop down a Christmas tree this year, so luckily we were able to find this tree farm that was close. We caravaned down to Pelzer and arrived at May-land around 3:30. When we arrived, we all headed to the information area, where they told us that if we wanted to cut our own tree, we would follow the path back to the wooded area, use the hand saw they gave us to cut down the tree of our choice, and then someone would bring it back to the front with the tractor. The 6 of us started down the path seeing various displays and animals along the way. It was really a neat walk. When we arrived at the area we were to cut down our tree, the girls and us wandered around for a while reviewing the trees. I really liked the cedar trees due to the fragrance. Emily ended up asking me the type I liked and it ended up she wanted to pick out one of the cedars which was nice =) After we narrowed it down, Emily helped us decide on the final tree and then John started cutting it down. All the girls were very curious to see what was happening. Once it was cut and we had given it to the person on the tractor to take to the front, we all slowly made our way back to the front of the farm. It even turned out that we found one of the displays that was made for five people to take a picture and we were able to get some cute pictures. When we arrived in the front, we took our ticket in to the little store and paid for our tree. While we were waiting on John and the person from the tree farm to load it up, the girls played out in front of the little store and enjoyed their candy canes the people had given them.

After the tree was loaded, we said goodbye to Daddy and Emily (since he was taking her to spin the night) and John and I took the little ones back to Greenville where we all enjoyed eating at the Mexican restaurant.

Christmas Day 2007 - Disney's Animal Kingdom

On Christmas day, we were woken by Emily asking if Santa came. We told her he had and went into the living room of the condo to see what he brought. The little ones were awake so they also came in to check out the action. Emily's was first and the very first thing Emily noticed was her soccer ball sitting at the top of the stocking. This is something she started saying she wanted just days before Christmas, and luckily Santa was able to come through. She was so excited she was running for the door. Although she turned back when we told her Santa had brought more and it was in her stocking. She quickly pulled out her new baby doll and followed with her various other goodies, including bath toys, a shake and go plane, candy, paint, etc. Her and the little girls loved playing with the stuff while I opened mine next. I got a digital picture frame, memory for my camera, a filter for my camera, and a movie. Next we were on to Ansley. She didn't really know what to do, but Emily and I helped. She got a remote control car (special made for 12 month+ that was really neat), various snacks she liked, bubble bath, a new WubaNub Purple Frog passie, and new plate to eat off. Next John checked out his stocking, which included a shake and go plane, a Superman shirt, a USC shirt, season 6 of Scrubs, some cologne, and a game. Finally we were on to Bailey. She didn't really know what to do ether, but Emily and I helped. She got a remote control car (special made for 12 month+ that was really neat), various snacks she liked, bath toys, bubble bath, and new plate to eat off. After all the stockings were opened, John took Emily outside to let her play with the soccer ball some while the little ones ate breakfast. She was very excited about her new ball. When they came back in, she also ate and all the girls played with their Santa stuff. At around 10, we met Daddy, Katrina, Leslie, Megan, Quinten, and Blake at the Sizzler for a breakfast buffet.

At around 2, Daddy and Katrina came over to our condo to keep Ansley and Bailey while John and I took Emily to Animal Kingdom. When we arrived at the park, we say Leslie's group and all walked in together. They wanted to do the safari. John headed with them to the Africa section to try to get fast passes. As it turned out fast passes for that ride was up for the day, and since we did not want to wait 90 minutes, we opted out. While John was trying to get the passes, Emily and I walked around. As it turned out, we quickly found a Calypso band and Emily had the best time dancing. The band was playing a variety of songs, including Christmas songs like Jingle Bells. When they were getting ready to play Jingle Bells, they got some of the kids to come up front, and gave them bells to shake with the song. Emily loved playing the bells. After a while, I got a call from John and he was able to meet us at the band. Since he did not have any luck with the fast passes for the Safari, he got us some for Its a Bugs Life (we late found out this would be a big mistake). In the time we had before our fast pass was ready, we went to Dino Land. While in Dino Land, we rode the Triceratops ride and then went to the playground. In time for our fast pass, we headed back to Its a Bugs Life. When we made it to the front, we waited a few minutes in this cave like staging area, which is where Emily started not to be crazy about it. However, when we went in and were on the second row, things seemed to be looking up. The show started out cute with the main ant coming out from the moving and doing a speal. After a minute or two, then the villain (which caught us totally by surprise), came out right in front of us. Since we were on the second row on the side, the probably 6 foot tall villain bug was hanging over us. Emily was scared, but we did not have any way to leave. We tried to get her to bury her head, but soon a big spider came out on the screen and started talking about showing us what it was like to be a bug and was spraying smoke. This is when things really went bad and Emily was screaming "Get me out of Here". Luckily it ended quickly and we were able to leave, but it defiantly turned out to not be the "show" we expected. Lets just say we did not try to get Emily to go to more "shows". After the trauma was done, we say a little bit of the parade on the way out of the ride and headed back to Dino Land. On the way, we stopped at the meet the characters section, where Emily go tot see Pooh, Piglet, Ehore, and Tigger. After we ate, I was able to get in touch with Leslie, and by coincidence, they were just coming to the restaurant where we ate, so we had a little visit. After our visit, we went back to ride the Triceratops again. There was a neat ride in Dino Land, the Primeval Whirl, that was for big people. I wanted to give it a try, so John and Emily went back to the play ground, while I went to get in line. By chance, I saw Megan and Leslie a few people ahead of me and some nice people let me go up there with them. The three of us had a blast on my first "big person ride" of the trip. When we got off, we saw Blake and Quinten. They had fast passes so they were off to Expedition Everest. I then met up with John and Emily at the playground. As it turned out, in the back of the play ground was a very neat digging section with all these tiny rocks for the kids to play in. It was like a huge sand box, but with tiny rocks. This was defiantly a highlight for Emily. After that, we started walking some and ran into the Barton's near Expedition Everest. They offered to keep Emily while John and I rode. I have to say that it was a really neat ride!! You start off traveling up what is suppose to be Mt. Everest, race around, then suddenly start racing backwards. After the ride, we headed to the play ground to meet up with the Barton's. Emily was really getting tired, so we played for a few minutes with Blake and then headed towards the car.

Christmas Eve 2007

After a very busy few days, we decided to take the 24th off from theme parks to enjoy a more restful day and to have more time to do Christmas stuff. After breakfast, we headed to the near by outlet mall since John had not done his Christmas shopping. John took Ansley and Bailey to the electronics store and I took Emily to Eddie Bauer. Once we were done with those two stores, we all walked around for a while since it was such a nice day and hung out some at the boardwalk/fountain area they had. After returning to the condo, having lunch, and naps, we let the girls open their Christmas presents from us. Starting this year, we decided to let the girls open their gifts from us and each other on Christmas Eve so that they were not lost in the shuffle of Santa. All of them had a great time oepning gifts, including the little ones. Ansley and Bailey needed help from Emily, but loved playing in the paper. Emily got a wooden clock and some new Christmas jammies from us, a princess radio from Ansley, and a Leo conductor's wand from Bailey. Ansley received a stuffed rabbit from Emily, and jammies and a Toby the Tot Bot from us. Bailey also received a stuffed rabbit from Emily , and jammies and a Twilight Lady Bug from us. They really enjoyed playing with their new toys. When Emily was ready, I took her outside so that we could sprinkle her reindeer food. This was something they made at school where they took oatmeal and sparkles and mixed them together. The sparkles were suppose to attract the reindeer and the oatmeal was a snack for the reindeer. Emily thought this was really neat. The two of us went to the grass outside the condo and careful sprinkled little bits around. She wanted to keep some for a while, so we headed back in and her and John later went out since she wanted to put the rest out. After dinner and baths, we dressed all the girls in their new jammies, loaded them in the car, and we were off to find some Christmas lights. At first we were having trouble finding some, but then we ran upon a nice neighborhood that had lots of lights. As it was getting late, we returned to the condo, put Ansley and Bailey to bed, and then I read Emily various books, including Twas the Night Before Christmas and one about the Christmas story. They we put out the cookies and milk for Santa before bed.

Emily's Christmas Party in Mrs. Ann's Class

On Wednesday, December 19th, Ansley and I attended Emily’s Christmas party for class at school. Ansley had been sick starting Monday and was not able to go back to school on Wednesday since she had not been symptom free for 24 hours, so she had been with me for the day. When we arrived around 3, the kids were having circle time and singing with Mrs. Denise (the teacher’s aid). Ansley and I came over and we proceeded to sing various songs including Jingle Bells, twinkle twinkle, and Deep and Wide. After song time was up, it was time for the party. Since there were several kids that had been on yellow or red cards that day (this is a system where depending on each kids behavior, they start on green each day, then go to a yellow card if they are not doing well, and a red card for really bad offenses), they had to go to the office for the first 15 minutes of the party, this included Emily. While they were in the office, I helped Mrs. Ann and Sherry Marler (Kyle’s mom) get all the goodies out and handed out. Soon the kids came back in from the office. Ansley wanted to get down, so she played in the circle in Emily’s class, while I visited with Emily as she ate her goodies. After the kids were finished, they all enjoyed playing in the room and playing with Ansley. After the goodie bags were handed out and Emily said her good byes, we headed to Ansley and Bailey’s class room.

Christmas with the Dyensons 2007

On the morning of Sunday, December 16, 2007, John, Emily, Ansley, Bailey, and I made our way over to Mom’s house around 10:30. When we arrived we were greeted by Mom. We made our way in the house and all settled in the living room for the kids to play. It was very nice to have the time to let the kids play and visit. While we were playing, Dave and John worked on the oven. For some reason it was not lighting. Since Emily mentioned being cold, Mom had a very special present for her to open. It was Emily’s very own electric blanket. Mom had gotten this since Emily had fallen in love with Mom’s electric blanket that was down at the lake house. Emily snuggled on the couch with John, while the babies played and I tried to help Mom with dinner. Around 12, Laura, Alyssa, Ashton, and a friend of Alyssa’s arrived. All the kids played until Matt, Jennifer, Nicholas, Claire, and Jeoff (Jennifer’s parents) arrived. They came in a visited for a little bit until it was time for lunch. All the kids, John, and I ate in the kitchen and played. Since it was getting late for all of the girls, we quickly let all the kids open their presents. Emily got her electric blanket and color wonder markers and pad from Mom. Ansley and Bailey got very cute Push along toys in the shapes of animals. John and I were given a termite treatment for the house. In addition, Clare gave Ansley and Bailey sweaters and hats she had knit and gave Emily a scarf she knitted. After the kids opened their presents we had to pack up and head home.

Christmas with the Sizemores 2007

On Saturday, December 15th, we went over to my Dad's house for Christmas with the Sizemore side of the family. Since most of us were going to Disney for Christmas, but Granny and Jennifer would not be there and Marna's group would not be there on Christmas, we decided to get together before Christmas. When we arrived, we were greeted by Daddy and headed inside. After a week of record setting heat (on Wednesday it hit 78 for the high), it was a nice crisp day and suddenly seemed like Christmas time. When we got inside, we say Granny and Jennifer. John and Emily went out to play after a little bit, while Ansley, Bailey, and I went into the kitchen to help. Actually Ansley and Bailey played on the floor with bowls and cups, but they seemed to have a big time =) Slowly everyone started to filter in. All the kids played, including Mason showing Emily his pogo stick. Once it was getting closer to lunch time and in order to lets the kids not be so anxious for presents, we let everyone open one thing prior to lunch. Bailey opened her shape sorter from Lilly, Ansley opened her puzzle from Christian, and Emily opened her play dough set from Blake. After opening one present each, it was time for lunch. We had hot dogs, baked beans, and chips. Ansley, Bailey, and I sat in the kitchen, while John and Emily ate in the dining room. Since they should not eat hot dogs, the little ones enjoyed the carrots, corn, and cheez-its I brought for them. In pretty typical fashion, Bailey shoveled food in her mouth and spread it everywhere. Ansley used her thumb and for finger to daintily pick her food up on piece at a time. In addition to the items they fed themselves, I gave them some baked beans. Ansley did not care for them, but Bailey thought they were great. Mid way through the girls and myself eating, we were joined in the kitchen by Katrina, Christian, and Blake. We all enjoyed visiting and the kids played. As soon as Bailey was done eating, she got down and crawled around. Her and Blake had a great time playing with the shape sorter. Ansley was taking her time eating. Soon it was time to all head in the living room to open presents. Once the gifts were sorted, we all started opening. As seem in the pictures, Ansley was very excited about one box of ours and crawled on top of it. The girls and us got various items for the trip from Jennifer including walkie talkies, bags with the girls names on it, and snack boxes with lots of treats. Granny had given the girls a variety of toys that they quickly got into =) The final Christmas present to all the kids were tickets to Disney from Daddy and Katrina. After all the kids had opened their gifts, Katrina opened her robe from us kids and Daddy opened his golf bag. Everyone was very excited about the upcoming trip. It was getting late for all the little ones, so John packed up while Ansley, Bailey, and I visited with Granny.