It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We finally decorated for Christmas this week. I got the kids "warmed up" by playing Christmas music and bringing out the bells while we waited for Clay and Grannylou to arrive. Decorating wouldn't have been possible without Grannylou's help. She entertained the eldest 2 children making ornaments and garland for their rooms while Clay and I pulled everything down from the attic and got the tree up. It was great to have extra hands as Miss McK was a little fussy. It was a great, exhausting night.

Tired and cold

You know you're tired when you fall asleep on the potty...
Yes, I'm envisioning this showing up during a rehearsal dinner...

It finally feels like winter around here. I had to capture Miss McK's first bundled experience...

A busy Saturday

After Mimi and Grandaddy left, we headed to meet some friends at another park. The kids wanted to be like me and wear hats of their own. Big J went along with his Mississippi State theme (it was Egg Bowl day) while Miss E chose a train hat. She was not fond of me taking her picture!
Later that day, the kids and I piled in Candie's car and headed down to a tree farm. According to my mom, this was not my first tree-cutting experience, but it is the first one I remember. It was warm weather which made the whole event much more enjoyable, but apparently takes away some of the experience (says the friend who lived a few years in Washington state and Idaho - what does she know?). It was a great place with fun things to do - live music, food, a hay ride (with questionable acting) that told the story of Jesus' birth, petting zoo (Miss E loved but Big J wasn't so interested), bounce house, and kiddie train ride. Only here would this simply be a tractor pulling a few metal trailers! We even got to use a real outhouse - check out the picture. The kids had a blast, and the tree made it home safe and sound. The only downside was that Candie didn't get to cut the tree herself. She had grand visions of using a chainsaw, but the guy didn't even offer to let her use the small handsaw. Silly man didn't know how tough these two women are - well, at least she is. He should have known we were a little nuts to take 5 kids out there by ourselves! Great memories...

Thanksgiving 2009

Our Thanksgiving week kicked off with a visit from Jake one afternoon. He is a friend from church, and he brought crafts with him. Everyone had a great time. Mimi and Grandaddy arrived Wednesday night, and even more fun continued. Thursday, Grannylou, Aunt Kristi, Kadyn and Dylan joined us for lunch. It was great to have our house full of loved ones even though a few were missing. Friday the weather was beautiful so we ventured out to one of our favorite parks. All of this great equipment and we spent most of our time watching the kids throw rocks into the creek. Even the big boys joined the fun. We fed the ducks and took a walk around the pond. It surely didn't feel like late November. It was a great few days.