Christmas pictures

SPOILER ALERT:  Some of these photos made the cut for our 2011 Christmas card.  Read on only if you're okay with a sneak preview of what's headed to your mailbox!

One of our friends from church was kind enough to agree to take some pictures of our family during the Christmas season.  I was hoping to get a few shots for our Christmas card, and I thought maybe I would get larger prints of some photos to hang in our living room as well.

Sherry wanted to get a photo of the entire family.  So we tried... but some of us don't seem too happy about it!  (That's actually because some of us - ahem, P and C - don't love standing still for photos.)



Once we got to some more casual shots, P and C were more cooperative didn't realize they were being photographed.

This Christmas it is really enjoyable to watch as both of the boys are thrilled with all of the decorations and special events of the season.  Here, P shows off his favorite ornament.

With a tree full of decorations, it was hard for either of them to settle on just one favorite.

We had better luck with a family photo when the tree was providing a distraction of sorts.

C finally decided that the angel was his favorite decoration on the tree... at least for the moment!

I love the expression of wonder and amazement on C's face in this picture.

We have spent lots of time around our tree as a family this month.  (And no, we don't always get someone to photograph it. :) )

I hope you and your families are enjoying preparing for Christmas as much as we are!

preschool PJ and cookie party

Last week at school the boys' preschool held their annual PJ and cookie parties.  The kids (and teachers) wear their pajamas to school, and the classes head to the fellowship hall to hear a Christmas story and then each student gets to decorate - and then eat - a cookie.

The parties are held in groups of three classes.  It just so happened that P's class was one of the classes that had their party during the same time slot that C and I were scheduled to attend, so the three of us got to attend together!

I tried to take a class picture in front of the Christmas tree.  Trying to get six two and a half and three year olds to look at the camera at the same time makes taking a picture of P and C together look easy.  Sigh.  At least everyone is in the picture.  C is wearing his Christmas pjs, but he didn't forget to wear his school uniform princess skirt, too.

 C was very invested in his cookie decorating.  His cookie was deliberately iced and sprinkled before he dug into his glass of milk and snack.

P was more, ahem, rapid in his decorating.  He was ready to get to the eating.  :)

And the milk.  Milk and cookies... what a combo!

One of the best perks of my job is that it allows me to enjoy special activities like this one with my boys.  I am so blessed to be able to work where they go to school!

From our family to yours...

Grandma Hen and Granddaddy Rooster visit

We were lucky enough to have Grandma Hen and Granddaddy Rooster come to our house and celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  We had a delicious turkey dinner and lots of time for fun and fellowship.

Grandma Hen brought a kit to make and decorate a gingerbread house, and the boys were thrilled to work on that project.  (They didn't mind munching on a few decorations as they were working, either!)

The day after Thanksgiving, the boys were ready to start celebrating Christmas!  We had already made plans to exchange Christmas gifts with Daddy A's side of the family on that day, and the boys were in full agreement.

All of the gifts were a hit.  P especially enjoyed his Transformers' fire station - loudly proclaiming, "Hey, this is just what I wanted!" as he unwrapped it - and did a great job of sharing it with his brother!

C was especially excited to open a new Dora game for his Leapster.

As soon as he had his game open, he went and got his Leapster and started to play.

I was pleased to see that they boys also enjoyed giving the gifts that they had chosen for their grandparents.

They were excited to see Granddaddy's and Grandma's reactions to their presents.

The present opening schedule - deemed "early Christmas" by P - was so popular with our households that we plan to make it an annual tradition.  I hope your holiday season has started off wonderfully as well!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

C gets ready for Thanksgiving, preschool style

I know I'm late posting about Thanksgiving, but please indulge me here.  Before we celebrated the holiday at home, C did a little research in the classroom.

(The pink skirt C's wearing is from the dramatic play center.  He usually puts it on as soon as he arrives at school and doesn't take it off until it's time to go home... I told you he was in a princess phase!)

More Dollywood fun!

Before heading back home, we hit Dollywood for some more fun.  We did several of our favorite rides again, including the cars.



We made sure to stop and feed the ducks.

C had to get in a thrill ride (I think this is Dollywood's version of the Scrambler).

After a fun-filled Saturday, we loaded up in the car and came home.  We had a great trip!

Ripley's Aquarium and Gatlinburg

Last summer, while we were at Dollywood, we saw a brochure for Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg.  When we saw that the aquarium featured a "Penguin Playhouse," we knew it was just the place for Grandma Paige!  Once P realized that there was a walk-through shark tunnel, he was hooked, too.

So in November the aquarium was on our list of stops.  There were lots of neat things to see.

You could even climb up into a cylinder to get a view from "inside" some of the fishtanks.

P posed as a "sea divin' guy".

Both of the boys enjoyed looking up at the sharks as we walked through the tunnel, and P was especially enthralled.  Here is a photo of the view above our heads as we walked.

There were areas for petting stingrays and a smaller touch tank for checking out some horseshoe crabs.

Of course we spent some of our time outside looking at the penguins.

When it was time for one of the penguins to head somewhere else in the aquarium, they turned him loose and let him walk through the crowd!  They asked that no one touch the penguins, but we were lucky enough to have one walk right past us.

When we left the aquarium, we decided to do a little shopping in Gatlinburg.  While we were checking out the fudge shop, P climbed into this sleigh and asked me to take his picture.  I was happy to oblige, of course!

C fell asleep in the stroller, but P was wide awake.  We passed a large candy store, and P asked to make one of those tubes of colored sugar... you know the ones - like a pixy stick on steroids.  Now, if this photo doesn't just scream "vacation" to a four year old, I don't know what does! :)

P was not allowed to eat the entire candy stick at once (actually, don't remind him about it, because he forgot about it and I threw it away before he had eaten much of it at all), and we headed to dinner at an Italian retaurant before heading back to our hotel.  We had a wonderful day!

Dollywood!

While we were in Pigeon Forge, we took advantage of our season passes and spent some time at Dollywood!

The first thing we did after we arrived was head for the Polar Express ride.  P and C stopped outside the entrance for a photo with the train conductor.

We made sure to stop and see Santa and Mrs. Claus as well, since they had a workshop set up inside the park.  Both of the boys were happy to see the couple, but I am finding it more and more difficult to get them to both look at the camera at the same time!

P and C requested a chance to drive "the cars," so we made sure to fit that in to our day too!

I was thrilled to see C happily wear his fuzzy bear hat and mittens.  I have a feeling that before long both of the boys will be reluctant to wear things that I choose for them!

We kicked off the Christmas season early on our vacation, and we had a great time!

Christmas at Dixie Stampede

Wednesday night, we arrived in Pigeon Forge and dropped our luggage of in our hotel room. I dressed P and C in some (coordinating, of course!) Christmas outfits, and we headed out the door for dinner at Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede.

When we arrived we took some time to visit with the horses. I love this picture of my dad and C. C was loving the animals, and then he saw a hostess "princess" in a gold dress and had to stop and flirt with her! C is in a MAJOR princess phase right now. I don't think I've mentioned it on the blog yet, but he definitely appreciates the beauty of a princess or a mermaid... he loves his Dora mermaid bathtub toy and Playtex princess sippy cup. I'm sure it will pass on its own, so I'm not too worried. For now, I'm enjoying C's proclamations of things that are "soooo booful" (so beautiful). It melts my heart when I hear, "Oh my gosh! Mommy - you are SO booful, Mommy!"

We enjoyed the music during the pre-show before heading into the arena for the North and South Pole competition. We were on the North Pole side, and P was a bit disappointed. The North Pole's color was green, and not only is red his favorite color, he has been anti-green for a good year now.

Daddy A was chosen to compete for the North Pole in the horseshoe portion of the evening. He received a medal, which I offered to P. P declined, because the ribbon was green. As you can tell from the above photo, C had no qualms about wearing a "green" medal.

We enjoyed the meal and the show just as much as we did last year!

Christmas Place draft

Over Veterans' Day weekend, Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred took us back to the Inn at Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The hotel is Christmas-themed year round, and when we arrived in our suite we noticed the familiar tree right away. (C is convinced this is Grandma's Christmas tree, and that we were at Grandma's house when we saw it...)


Santa left some gifts for P and C under the tree the first night we were there, and the boys discovered them when they awoke on Thursday morning.

P and C also had a chance to visit with Santa before breakfast on Thursday. Neither of the boys is intimidated by Santa this year, so it's fun to watch them interact with him. P is making his signature "cheese face" in this picture.

The boys discovered the fountain in the shopping center across the street from our hotel while we were waiting for our table at lunch one day. They both enjoyed throwing coins into the water. C kept exclaiming, "I need moneys, Mommy!" Seems like someone is starting that refrain a little early... and I have a feeling a penny or two isn't going to seem so wonderful in about ten years... I'll definitely enjoy this stage while it lasts!

We had lots of fun adventures in Tennessee... stay tuned!

Halloween night

As we were leaving school a few days before Halloween, P asked me if he could be a Bubble Guppy for Halloween. (Bubble Guppies is a preschool show about some merboys and mergirls who go to school underwater and have a grouper fish for a teacher. Both of the boys have caught the Bubble Guppies bug.)

P pointed out that he had worn his shark costume "manyer times", and that he planned to wear it "manyer other times" too. He did wear it to multiple other functions, and I think it might fit him a while longer, and it could definitely be passed down to C at some point. I explained that they didn't sell Bubble Guppies costumes, and he replied, "Well, you could just sew me one." I get really excited when the boys ask to wear something I've made, so I thought about it. P asked if he could call Grandma Hen and see if she had any "tail fabric" I could use.

I relented. P planned out costumes - complete with colored hair spray - for himself and C.

And on Halloween night, I took Nonny and Gil trick or treating.


When we stopped at church for the Trunk or Treat, the (mer)boys ran into Bumblebee.

We did go to a few houses, and between that and the church Trunk or Treat, the boys came home with bags FULL of candy. They considered their Halloween a huge success!

C's first school party

Halloween was the first event that C celebrated with a school party. I was fortunate to have Grandma Hen visiting - she came to school with C and I on Monday and then she and Daddy A helped prepare for and host P's class party at our house on Tuesday. I loved having an extra set of hands to help me out!

We did pumpkin printing in the art center during our regularly scheduled center time.


We headed out for recess about half an hour early and some of the students' parents came in and decorated the room and set up for our party. They brought baked goods and treat bags. One family brought pumpkin masks, markers, and glitter glue. The project was a big hit with everyone in the class!

C would "hide" behind his mask, say, "Where's C?" and then pop out and shout, "Boo!" He was thrilled to "scare" me over and over. I loved seeing everyone have fun at our first classroom holiday event!

Halloween fun at dance class

Grandma Hen came for a visit at the end of October. She and I took P to dance class the last Saturday in October. The students were allowed to wear a Halloween costume to class and there were some treats.

I mostly put this picture in the blog post so you could see the shark fin and tail on P's costume. Grandma Hen took it before class started, while P, Jack, and Madison were playing on the mats.


This year I remembered to bring my camera to dance class so I was able to snap a group photo. They all look so cute in their costumes!

I'm so glad P is enjoying dance so much this year! C is chomping at the bit for his "turn to dance". It will be here before we know it!

Fall Festival

Man, oh, man... it is probably a very good thing that C isn't a girl. Remember when I said that his shark costume was too small? Well, we traded that costume for an octopus costume in a bigger size (because (a) there were no bigger shark costumes left, and (b) C originally wanted to be an octopus but settled on a shark since I was afraid that the octopus costume, which only came in bigger sizes, would be too big).

When the octopus costume arrived, C opened it and exclaimed, "It's my octopus!" He carried it all over the house. He put it to "sleep" at the foot of his bed. He WOULD NOT put it on.

I didn't push the issue, but eventually the day of our church's Fall Festival arrived. I tried to get C to put on his octopus costume. I calmly stated that it was time to get dressed. I suggested he help me get his costume on his body. I told him to put his costume on. I tried to bribe him to put it on. He cried. I suggested he wear a Halloween t-shirt to the festival. He begged for a costume.

I went downstairs to the closet in the guest bedroom and got out some old Halloween costumes. I offered Elmo (P's costume two years ago), Swiper the Fox (P's costume last year), and Boots the Monkey (C's costume last year). C went back and forth. He would start to get a costume on, then take it back off. Some he "didn't yike", and others "scared" him.

Just as I was ready to wrestle him into a shirt and pants so we coul get to the festival, C settled on Boots. Seriously, if he were a girl would there have been 20 more costume changes? And an argument about hair? He's only two, people!


P happily wore his shark costume again. C later told Daddy A he was scared of his octopus because of the octopus in The Little Mermaid. I had to take the Swiper costume and the octopus costume out of his bedroom.

As you can see from the above photo, most of C's Boots costume didn't stay on either... but C, P, and Colby had fun at the festival playing games, climbing the inflatable slide, and going on a hayride around the church, and family fun was the ultimate goal. Costume drama aside, it was a pretty relaxed afternoon and evening.