Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It seemed to go on...and on!! On Friday Evening (12/23), Mom took us to Monelle's Victorian Christmas in Nashville for a scrumptious dinner while we enjoyed the Christmas Carolers. Ethan & John got to go this year since they are now 10 years old!
On Christmas Eve, we had Brunch with Papa Jack, Granny Jo, Carli, Cameron, and Uncle Randall. It was a "Converse Christmas"...all the kids got Converse shoes, including Janie Kate!


L to R: Ethan-10, Christopher-8, Benjamin-4, Janie Kate-1, Caroline-5, John-10 & Tripp-6

The Chaos....

Uncle Nate with Janie Kate

Carli helping Janie Kate with a back-ride on Christopher

Then....on to Memommy's for Christmas Eve Dinner! I don't know what happened...but I don't have any pictures while we were there. Anyway, the kids got a Ping-Pong table & a Trampoline to share that will stay at mom's. They were so excited that they were out there jumping in the dark, freezing cold!! Time for Bed...Santa Clause comes tomorrow morning.

Santa came to visit Christopher & Caroline at memommy's house. They both got skooters and Christopher got a 3DS & Caroline got a LeapPad....WOW!!!
Since Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, we went to Church to celebrate the Birth of Jesus. It was a very sweet service. Then we headed to Pulaski to spend Christmas Day with Wade's Family & to spend the night.

Again, I didn't do very well at taking pictures...I only took 3 and they were all of Caroline opening presents. I must have gotten distracted :) Anyway, we had a delicious lunch, spent time with family, and watched Christmas movies all afternoon.

Needless to say, we had a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you and your family did too!! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

This was Christopher's 1st picture with Santa since he was 7 months old. Another proud moment here!!! Merry Christmas!!! This was at his Scout Christmas party...he said he was ok with it cause he could tell that it wasn't really Santa...notice the "real" mustache showing behind the Santa mustache & beard, lol!!

The First Time Ever!!!!!!

Okay, for those of you who don't know...this post will make no sense. But last week when we went to a Fall Festival, Bob & Larry from Veggie Tales were there...in full dress! Well, Christopher has a full-force fear of dressed up people...if you have ever witnessed it, then you know what I'm talking about. It is extreme. Anyway, when I saw Bob & Larry, I thought "oh no...here we go"...but he did NOT panic this time. He kept his distance and it was not a big deal. I was impressed. We enjoyed the Fall Festival, and then when we were leaving, I (aggravatingly) said "Hey Christopher do you want to get your picture made with Bob & Larry? He said "sure!"....I thought "uuummmmm, ok?!?!?" We stopped what we were doing and went and took a picture, cause this was a once in a lifetime..so far...event!!! So, here it is!


I know this will sound crazy to some of you, but we were very proud!!! This was a huge moment for us. We have no pictures of our kids with Santa, Easter Bunny, we couldn't go in the Kangaroo Mart for like 2 years cause they had a dressed up Kangaroo in the parking lot one day. The child hates Chuck E. Cheese & Geoffrey from Toys R Us, and the Chick-fil-a cow sent him under the table in total fright...so maybe we've had a break-through??? I hope, but we'll see next time we are faced with a dressed up creature :)

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

We had a fun Fall weekend with my dad, Jodi, Carli & Cameron coming to visit us. They crashed in around 11:15 on Friday night...and we stayed up a talked for about an hour & a half...needless to say, we all slept in til around 9 on Saturday morning. Then we headed to Caroline's last soccer game for the season. We all had fun cheering her on!!!

Here are the matching brother/sister combo....Carli & Cameron...they still love each other, and I'm sure they miss each other a little since Carli is away at college now.
We decided that we would like to spend the afternoon carving pumpkins...so we went on a pumpkin hunt...believe it or not, they were hard to find! We finally found some good ones at Bryant's Garden Center in Cleveland. So we picked some out and headed home to begin the "project". I think this may have been Caroline's 1st time to really experience carving a pumpkin...here she is the the guts of her white pumpkin.
Here's Cameron working on his....and holding his dog :) Cookie loved Cameron and kept getting up in his lap.

Granny Jo had to help Caroline with her final touches on her carving. Here's the whole crew in our side yard. Hopefully we didn't plant a pumpkin patch for next year :-/

Carli and Christopher were working hard on their creative faces:

Somehow Christopher talked Cameron into helping him with his carving...he did "Dollar Sign" eyes...too funny!

Here's the Line-up of our Final Carvings:

Brandy: the pumpkin pot filled with assorted plants (I used this for a centerpiece at our church on Sunday for our Widow & Widowers Luncheon)

Caroline: the white jack-o-lantern

Cameron: Mr. Silly...if you look closely, you'll see his nose is a natural bump on the pumpkin

Christopher: Mr. Cash..."Dollar Sign" eyes and a greedy grin topped off with a cigar

Carli: the Black Cat (i'm assuming that, she never said it was black)

Anyway, how do you think we did? We had fun doing it and made good memories.

~Cameron, Carli, Christopher & Caroline all slept in the playroom that was wall-to-wall air mattresses

~Carli went down memory lane playing with Caroline's Disney Princess Vanity that plays all the Princess songs. I could hear her singing while I was downstairs, lol

~Nothing like 2 Big Kids & 2 Little Kids all jumping together on the trampoline

~Christopher & Carli took a bike ride through the neighborhood together

~Sitting in the kitchen talking to Dad & Jodi while drinking coffee and eating breakfast

~Watching Caroline's final game of her 1st Soccer Season ever

~Christopher & Cameron watched Star Wars in the playroom on their air mattresses

...too many memories to list! We had a great time.

Thanks for coming to visit...Papa Jack, Granny Jo, Carli and Cameron

Upward Soccer - Just Learning

Caroline has had her 1st Season of playing Soccer in the Upward League. She had lots of fun!! Here are some pictures from early in the Season.



Caroline is getting ready to kick the ball back into the game.

What a scramble to get the ball!!!

Prayer time at the end of the game.

Whew, she's thirsty :)

More pics to follow soon...

Another Back to School Pic

Caroline Goes to Kindergarten!

Caroline has been SUPER excited about starting Kindergarten...finally!!! She turned 5 last December, and felt that she should get to go to kindergarten then. It's hard to explain those details. Anyway, she has finally arrived!! She was so excited for her First Day!!

Caroline putting her things away in her cubby...

This is her Classroom, and they were all working on their beginning activity. Mrs. Jennifer always has a little something for them to work on as they come in every morning...today was playdoh...a big hit with all the kids!!

I can't believe my baby girl is in Kindergarten....no babies in this house anymore!! Christopher has now entered the 3rd grade, and is doing great. I don't have those pics on my computer yet, but will post when I get them on here.
Happy Belated Back-To-School Pics!!

End of Summer

We made our last extended trip to Murfreesboro before school started. Caroline went for 3 days by herself...then I came for a couple of days for some follow-up doctor appointments and swapped out kids...Caroline came home, and Christopher stayed for 3 days by himself. They had a great time. While I was there, Mom had a little birthday cookout for me...the big 3-5 now!! Herbert came out to let the kids ride the horses in the new corral. Caroline LOVED it, and of course, I had to try it out too. It was a good time!!

Katie with Baby Janie Kate...she sure is getting big!!!


All the boys checking out the horses to see if they wanted to ride or not...John did, but I don't think any of the other boys did.

Christopher hanging out on the fence


Caroline's first time on a horse...she was a little nervous at first, but loved it after about 10' around the corral. She's a natural....animal lover!!!

I had to try it too...poor horse!

Caroline all by herself!!! (with Herbert leading)

We love our time in Murfreesboro...we always have a great time on the farm! Never a dull moment :)

Hilton Head Island, 2011

When we first got to HHI, we headed to the beach to check out the ocean.


Here's Caroline enjoying the small waves and loving the sand...

Christopher got a little carried away digging in the sand...we kept reminding him that we were all in our clothes!!!

Here is Nana, Wade and Caroline:

Here are the kids watching a movie with daddy...How to Train Your Dragon


Day at the Beach:

Fishing in the Lagoon:

Fishing Again:

This is "our" Blue Heron...




Our Night in Harbour Town