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.

Thanksgiving Day 2008

On Thanksgiving Day 2008 we awoke around our usual early time, I made french toast for breakfast, and then we started working on getting ready to head to Daddy's for Thanksgiving Lunch. While John when up to take his shower, I stayed downstairs with the kids and worked on cleaning up the kitchen and then cooking the corn and the butter beans while the kids played. Once they were started John returned from getting ready and I headed up to get ready also. After I showered and was dressed, we gave the kids an early snack and then put on their outfits. Once everyone was dressed and everything was loaded int he car, we headed outside for a quick picture and then loaded up in the van and truck. When we arrived, we unloaded and made our way in to visit with Daddy, Katrina, Christian, and Nis. Slowly the rest of the family filtered in. John and the kids played outside while us girls and Daddy worked on the final touches for the meal. At around 11:45 we called all the kids in and served their plates. This was the first year we tried letting them eat first and in the dining room so they had the experience also. It was very cute to see all the little kids sitting at the big table. Once they were done, we cleaned up from them and started with round two of the adults eating. Everything was very good and when I was

finished I traded off with John to stay in the living room with the kids. The kids were having a grand time playing with toys, including twister. After staying in a little while, we all filtered back outside to play while the other adults finished eating. While we were outside we got a few cute pictures on the stairs and then the kids ran around for a while. It was such a nice day to play outside. After things were cleaned up enough on the inside, we called the kids in and sang Happy Birthday to Jennifer. Since the little ones were really tired, John took them home and I stayed with Emily. After the cake and cards, Jennifer then played early Santa to all of us. There were various holiday related items that she wanted us to have during the season, so she let us open them then. I was most excited about my reindeer antlers and nose for my car.

After we opened gifts, we finished cleaning up some more until it was time for me to take Emily home.

Thanksgiving Feast in Ansley and Bailey's Class

I arrived at the school around 2:45 and the kids were enjoying themselves in front of the story board. I joined the group as they were finishing up the story and then a song. Afterwards, the girls and I played in their room for a few minutes before it was almost time to set up for their Thanksgiving feast. When it was time, we helped the kids get to their seats and started passing out their place mats they had made that week. They were very cute and included finger paint hand prints in the center of the mats that were made in to turkeys. In addition, they also pasted some other items on the mats. After the kids all had their mats, the teachers and parents helped fix and pass out plates to the kids in order to start their feast. Bailey was very excited about her macaroni and cheese, bread, and ham. While Ansley could not get enough fruit, especially strawberries. Since the girls had chosen places across the tables from each other, I kept switching sides to see both of them and to help them out. Soon Mom arrived from work and the girls were very excited to see her. After thoroughly filling up on fruit and other goodies, Ansley lead Mom around the room and they played while Bailey continued to enjoy her meal. She was very thankful!!! After enjoying all her food, she decided she would top it off with a cupcake before heading off to play. The girls were having a great time, so we played in the room with some of their friends for a while, said our good byes to the teachers, and then headed out to start the Holiday.

Thanksgiving Cookout at LSI

Around 11:30 on Wednesday, November 26th I headed up to Liquid Systems to meet John and Emily for the Thanksgiving Cookout. As a special treat, Emily had dressed up in her "work" shirt (a pink LSI shirt John had gotten her), packed her bag with all the items a professional needs (her computer, her pencils, and her pencil sharpener), and they headed off to work earlier that morning. When I arrived, I met John, Emily, and Walker in the parking lot riding the go kart. After they finished riding we headed in to visit with those that were there. During our visit, Emily showed me her work she had been doing that morning on her computer, her pictures, her drawing on the conference room white board, and the dollar she earned for working. As lunch approached, we made our way to the back of LSI to hand out. Walker and Emily pretended to drive the forklift while we awaited the blessing. After the blessing, everyone started serving their plates and visiting. I got Emily and Walker fixed. Emily decided she would be thankful with a ketchup sandwitch. Not my choice, but she loved it!! While they started eating, I went back and fixed my plate and then joined them in the break room. After lunch, the kids rode on the go kart some more and played in the leaves. After the kids had played for a long time, John, Emily and I went to the confrence room to let Emily pick out our Thanksgiving basket (were given to all employees), we said our goodbyes, John and Emily headed to the ho

use, and I headed to Palmetto Prep for Ansley and Bailey's Thanksgiving feast.

Moms Night Out at Cafe and Then Some

For Moms Night Out in November, we went to Cafe and Then Some on Thursday night, November 13th. When I arrived around 7, I was greeted in the parking lot by Jen Osborne and Amy Larsen. We all headed into the cafe and met up with Angie, Leah, and Katie who were at our table right up front. We all took a seat and enjoyed the usual conversation as the group filtered in. Due to everyones' schedules being so busy, I think we had a great turn out with 11 moms. Our waitress came around and took our orders and we all enjoyed our meals and conversation before the show. Around 8:15, the show, Blue Christmas started. It included the usual cast of Susan Smith, Maureen Abdalla, Traysie Amick, and Jim Wilkins, plus and returning member of the cast J. Michael Craig.

The show starts just before Halloween, Blue Elvis dropped in on Norma Jean and Dot (the main characters). Before they knew what happened, Elvis decided to stay with ’em through the holidays. We’re talking about the good-eatin’ holidays—the ones that keep them porked up from Halloween candy to Thanksgiving turkey, from Christmas hams to collards with blackeyed peas on New Year’s Day—they entered the Holiday Food Zone, with Blue Elvis as their guide. It was a spoof on not only self control from over eating, but with the credit crisis currently going on. Although it was in the early stage of the show where they are still using the script, it was just too funny!!!!

In the final act, Elvis sings "My Way" before he supposedly leaves to go back to Heaven, and the audience held up the candles from the tables. It was so funny, I was able to get a picture of Shannon holding up our candle. After the show was over, we all gathered up towards the stage for a group picture before heading home. What a fun night!!

Ansley and Bailey going Night Night

In the past couple of weeks, Ansley and Bailey have taken up sleeping in the same bed again. It all started when one night, the girls were getting in their beds and Ansley turned around before getting in hers, came over to Bailey's with the most pitiful look on her face, and then just stood there. When I offered to let here get in, she was so thrilled. They have not wanted to every night, but they defiantly have started making it a regular thing. Too cute =)

Emily rocked the vote on Election Day 2008

On Tuesday morning, November 4th, I got up around my usual time, 5:40, got dressed, and then got Emily and Bailey up in order to get them ready for school. John was in NC and Ansley had spent the night at Mom's, so it was just the three of us. I had been talking to Emily about it being our duty to go vote. We specifically had been talking about the President. Since it was predicted that there would be a record number of voters and you never know what will come up with three little ones and work, I thought we would be in great shape if we arrived at the poles promptly at 7:00 when they opened. Originally when I thought John was going to be in town, I had planned to only take Emily, but since he was out of town and I was not expecting any significant wait, I thought I would go ahead and take Bailey with us as opposed to driving all the way to Palmetto Prep and then back to Mauldin. When we arrived, we noticed a small line as we were getting out of the car, but did not think much about it. When we got out of the car, Emily said, "I am going to meet the President". It was too cute, but I did have to remind her we were going to vote. By coincidence, we ran in to Mrs. Kathleen, one of the teachers in Ansley and Bailey's class and she was saying she had been there a while and the line had not moved, therefore she was going to have to come back at lunch. We chatted and I said I would take Bailey on to school if there would be a wait and she offered to take Bailey on for me since she was on her way. It was so nice of her and with her being the girls teacher for so long, I completely trusted her to take Bailey to school. After we switched Bailey's seat over to her car, Emily and I then went and got in line. As it turned out, it was much windier and colder than when we left the house and it did not seem like the line was moving. I tried to talk Emily in to leaving several times (I figured I would take her to school and then come back on my own), but she was determined that she was going to vote =) In normally Emily fashion, she entertained the crowd with her dancing and comments in line and she also enjoyed picking flowers. Although it seemed to take a while, about 45 minutes, when we got inside the door, I thought we were almost to the check in table. However when we entered the door, I found out there was a significant portion of the line inside. I offered to Emily to leave, but being the good citizen that she is, she was determined to stay. At around 8:30 we finally made it to the check in table and then waited through the line to get to the voter booth. It was not until I was one back from going in the booth, that Emily decided she was ready to go. Luckily, we were right there. She came up with me to the booth and I cast my ballot. Next we walked down to the table where we checked in for the Mauldin referendum. I got my paper ballot and we walked over to the booth. Emily's big highlight was getting to place the actual paper ballot in the box. I was so glad it worked out there was a referendum in Mauldin where paper ballots were used, since Emily could appreciate this more than the electronic voting. After she placed it in the box, we made out way out and she got her "I voted" stickers. When we arrived at school, she was very proud to show her class that she voted and I was very proud of how well she did with having to wait almost 2 hours to vote!!!

Trick-or-Treating 2008

After leaving the school, we headed to Marna's house. When we arrived we started getting out of the car when Marna pulled up and we all headed inside. Lilly and Sophia were upstairs getting on their costumes and came down to greet us very soon. Before long, everyone started to filter in so we all headed outside to play. In Marna's front yard, they had hung a rope swing and the twins were anxious to get on. Since it was wobbly, I got on first, trying my best to keep my balance and hanging on for dear life, and then John handed me the twins one by one. Emily didn't want to miss out, so John plopped her up their also. I felt very unsteady and like my fingers were going to fall off from gripping so hard, but it was a ton of fun!!

After swinging, we played in the front for a while longer with all the kids. Since it turned out, Emily was still having issues from where she ripped her costume earlier at recess, she took it off while she played, and Katrina worked quickly to stitch it up or the evening. After a while, it was time for dinner, so we headed in, fixed plates, and then headed to the back with the kids to eat. Luckily all the kids had good appetites despite all the junk they had eaten at their parties, so we were able to get a good dinner in them before trick-or-treating madness started.

Once the kids were done eating, I started changing diapers, making a potty run for Emily, and getting all of them in to their costumes. Once all the kids were dressed, I also put back on my Dorothy ruby red slippers to make my costume complete and we headed out the front to take a few group pictures.

Once we had gotten in a few pictures, we all headed down Marna's street to the first house. Ansley and Bailey both wanted to walk and were so cute prancing along in their costumes. Although we drug behind the group since the older kids were much faster, Ansley and Bailey finally made it up to the first house with their buckets. Although Emily had already been to that house, she went up to the door again to make sure they were taken care of. The next house we went to had a dog that was dressed up as a pirate and Bailey though that was the best thing she had ever seen!! She was also encouraged by how much the lady made a fuss over how cute she was and how cute she thought the Wizard of Oz theme was, that when the dog went back inside the Lady's house, Bailey was ready to follow it inside. It was hard to get her to understand she was not staying with the dog, but after showing her candy, she was quick to follow me to the next house.

We made our way around the bottom of their street and headed back up. At one house not far past Marna's, Ansley decided she was ready to inspect her goodies. In her normal independent fashion, she plopped herself right down on the drive way and started pulling stuff out to take a look. Daddy sat with her and helped her look, before we all headed to the next house. Before long, it was getting colder and later so John took the little ones home and Emily and I pressed on with the group.

We made it about 3/4 of the way up Marna's street when Katrina offered to let me use her tennis shoes since she had on several pairs of sock and I was killing my feet in the heels. Since mine were gone (they were in the stroller that John had taken when he left) and I was pretty desperate, we made the switch. It was quite the relief to get those off =)

When we made it to the house at the top of the street, the lady oohed and aahed over Emily and Sophia's costumes as they came up to the door. However being the drama queen that Emily is, once Sophia had moved on to the next house and Daddy and I were still there with just her, she asked the lady if her costume was beautiful because she needed to know that just her costume was beautiful. It was so funny and the lady was tickled. Just for Emily, the lady went on and on about how beautiful she was.

After that, we made our way back down the street and gave the kids the option of going down the side street or going back to the house. Surprisingly unlike the past year, they were ready to head back. For that part of the trip, Emily stretched out in the waggon.

When we got back to Marna's, the kids looked over their candy, ate a little, and then got ready to go. Emily, Sophia, Lilly, and Christian headed with Daddy and Katrina for a spin the night party and I headed home to crash.

Ansley's and Bailey's Class Halloween Party 2008

Around 3:30, Emily and I left her room and headed up to Ansley and Bailey's class for their party. When we arrived, they were seated so we made a place on the floor beside them. The teachers handed out plates and the girls immediately dug in to all of their goodies, with the icing on the cookies and the cupcakes being their favorite parts. They also were nice about giving pieces to Emily, however she was pretty fully from her party and really just wanted to play since she was well in to her sugar rush. Once they were pretty well done with their feast, Mom arrived and they were excited to see her. They finished off any icing they could find and then I whipped them down so play time could begin =) The little ones played while I helped Emily with an unfortunate costume malfunction. Everyone had a great time. Since it had warmed up a little bit, we took off their costumes to give the little ones a breather.

Bailey and Pirate Jess decided to smile for the picture and then we said our goodbyes so that we could head off to Marna's house in time for dinner and trick-or-treating.

Emily's Class Halloween Party

At 2:30, I showed up at Emily class. The kids had just gone to art and I was there to help Mrs. Annette with the decorations for the Class Halloween Party. Since I thought Emily would like it and we were heading straight to Marna's afterwards, I came in my Dorothy costume. When I arrived, Mrs. Annette told me that Emily had accidentally stepped on her dress on the play ground and it had ripped along the middle since it was delicate fabric. Luckily, she was able to get some safety pins from Mrs. Taylor and do a temporary fix to save the day =) After the decorations were up and the food was out, the kids headed back in from art. Emily was excited to see me and we went to the bathroom so we could get her dress on for the party. When we came out, I helped her fix her plate. She was very excited about all the goodies. Especially the cupcakes and the chips. I helped her to her seat and her and her friend Jackson "Batman" wanted their picture taken. Too cute =) Us parents that were there helped other kids get their plates and helped pass out the drink while the kids enjoyed their goodies.

Before long, Ms. Doyle came in to visit. She was dressed as Mr. Brad (the general manager). The kids got a big laugh out of that one!! After all the kids were done with their snacks, it was time to start the pin the face on the pumpkin game. The kids all took turns getting blindfolded and putting a piece of the face on. They loved it. In addition, they also enjoyed going through their goodie bags and seeing their treats. (Like they were not high enough on sugar at that point =) Ha Ha) Since it was about time for Ansley and Bailey's party to start I mentioned to Emily that I needed to go to their party also and that she had the option of staying at her party, that was really about done, or going with me. She chose to go with me, so she said he goodbyes and we hurried up to the little ones party.