Gatlinburg Trip

A few weeks ago, Aaron and I went on a weekend trip with 3 other couples to the mountains...NO KIDS!!!  We all had the best time.  We started with a very brief stop at Turkey Creek for some very quick shopping before lunch.  We all forgot to take our cameras in for lunch.  We ate at P.F. Changs in Knoxville.  Can you say heavenly?  The memorable moment there was Aaron deciding it was a great idea to bite off the end of a pepper in his dish and eat it first thing.  Biggest mistake ever!  It took forever for his mouth to be back to normal to enjoy his very first experience at P.F. Changs.  Then, Aaron B decided he'd try too.  Why didn't he learn from Aaron's mistake??  Oh, well.  Then off to our cabin.  Boy was the traffic terrible.  Our cabin was terrific.  I should have taken a few pictures of it.  But, I just didn't think about it.  Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Sorry, not picture of our Five Guys supper.  I've seen restaurants several times.  It wasn't what I expected at all, but the food was spectacular!  I was expecting different gourmet burgers, but it is your basic hamburger and cheeseburger with the trimmings.  But, it was the best hamburger!!  Once we left Five Guys, we did a little shopping at the Christmas Store.

Aaron joining in with the caroler at the Christmas store

The girls outside at the Christmas store

Then we decided for a stop at Marble Slab.

Back at the cabin we played games until after 1:00 am!  We had the best time.  Saturday morning we got up and went to Gatlinburg to eat at the Pancake Pantry.  Here are Aaron and Aaron being silly as we waited for our table.

Still waiting in line for Pancake pantry...in the rain.

Ahh, finally...PANCAKES and for almost everybody...endless hot chocolate!!!

After breakfast, we headed out to Pigeon Forge for a little shopping then back to the cabin for some R&R.  Unfortunately, the little girl of one of our friends got really sick.  So, they had to head back home to get her before supper.  For supper we headed back to Gatlinburg to Best Italian for supper.  Aaron and I split a calzone.  Check out this calzone!! I'm glad I had been there before and knew to split it with Aaron. 

Carolers came in to sing for us while we were there.

We got up Sunday morning to snow.  It was so pretty.  We got ready fairly fast and packed up the car and then took a few pictures before leaving.

Here are the girls (minus Jennifer G)

And now the guys (minus Jordan G)

Aaron and myself...not sure what Aaron is doing?!?!

When we first got up and started packing, there was no snow on the roads.  An hour later this is what we were up against getting back to the main roads...

It was TERRIBLE.  Not really sure how we got out of our cabin driveway because it was pretty much straight up.  Then back down and around and then back up where this picture was taken.  We were going NOWHERE along with the two cars behind us.  I was very nervous.  Took about an hour to get back to the main roads which included the guys putting brush on the roads, using their feet to scrap the snow off the road and eventually pushing the car up the hill.  What an adventure.  Aaron says now that we're never going to the mountains again unless we take a 4 wheel drive.  We had such a blast...minus trying to leave.



It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I've really enjoyed decorating for Christmas this year.  Here is a look at how it looks around here this year.

This is our "formal" tree. 

Although you can't see it very well in this picture,

it has gold and burgundy balls and poinsettia leaves on it.

This Nativity Scene was given to us by Aaron's parents. 

It was hand-carved and purchased from the Philippines years ago

while Aaron's parents were stationed there.  There is also

a basket on this table that I put all of our Christmas

cards that we receive each year.

I just love my Willow Tree Nativity scene as well. 

Do you see Jingles?  He is inside Connor's stocking.  The boys thought

this was a great spot for Jingles.  Aaron's mom made each of these

stockings for us.  They are cross-stiched with our names.  I just love them!!

This is what I call our Tree of Memories.  It contains all of the ornaments

that Aaron's parents gave him each year until we got married, the ornaments

that Aaron's mom has given our boys every year, ornaments the boys

have made, a few from my childhood and then some others 

we've just gotten over the years from various people. 

I just love Christmas.  We really emphasize the true meaning of Christmas in our house, but also enjoy the magic of Santa.  Aaron and I are always looking for new traditions to start with our boys at Christmas.  I want my children to look back on their childhood and have such wonderful memories of Christmas.  Some of the traditions we have are our Elf, decorating for Christmas (Connor loves to look at all of Aaron's old ornaments!!), having the 12 days of Christmas with "Nana presents", making cookies for Santa, reading The Night Before Christmas before going to bed, reading the Bible story of Christmas on Christmas morning and having a birthday cake for Jesus. 

What heart-smiling moments we have already had this Christmas Season.

Indian Pow Wow

I was sent a note that the kindergarteners were going to have an Indian Pow Wow on the Friday before Thanksgiving and needed to have various snack/drink items sent to school.  So, I sent muffins as requested (chocolate chip to be exact) and anxiously awaited to hear how it went.  Well, when I went to pick up Connor from school, this is what I was greeted with...

His teacher painted their faces for the Pow Wow.  They had such a great time.  Connor loved having his face painted.

Jingles Returns

Just as last year, Jingles (our Elf on the Shelf) returned Thanksgiving morning.  The boys were expecting Jingles, so they were so excited to see him again when they got up Thanksgiving morning.  Here is a picture of where Jingles made his appearance.

Can you find him?  He's in the light fixture!!  He always brings his book with him the first day.  So, we're able to read about him again and be reminded of the "rules" that go along with having him in our home.  I really wish I had taken a picture of all the places he's been so far this year for a wrap-up of where all we found him throughout his stay this year.  I may start now.  :)



Thanksgiving

Sorry it has taken me so long to get a new blog up.  But, now I have several scheduled over the next week.

For the second year, we have hosted my side of the family Thanksgiving Meal.  I had always wanted to host our family Thanksgiving meal and get out all of my nice dishes that we got for our wedding that we just don't ever use.  I just love hosting meals!!  Here are some pictures from the day.

Here is a picture of the "adult" table.  This is where my parents, aunt and uncle and grandparents sat. 

The food spread.  Yummy!!!

Blake being very serious about his food.

Take one!!!

Take two...Monica and Cary

My grandparents, aunt and uncle and my parents. 

Yes, I have a very small family.

The "kids" table. Up until just a few years ago, my grandparents still referred to us as little girls.

Grandmother and Blake

Monica and Granddaddy

 It was the most perfect day outside on Thanksgiving.  After lunch we all headed outside to walk the neighborhood and let the kids play. 

Grandmother and Granddaddy really enjoyed being outside with us too.



We all had such a great time.  I'm so glad everyone (minus my dad's other brother and his wife and my other cousin) were able to come to our house.  I just loved having them all.

What was That???

So, I was downstairs decorating for Christmas.  Blake had disappeared, which typically I don't worry about.  He'll escape to Connor's room and play with Connor's toys or up to his room to look at books.  Well, he had been gone for some time, and I heard a big loud noise.  I took off running up the stairs and found this....

Yes, he had decided that playing with the Thomas train set while standing on the floor was just not enough fun.  He decided sitting on top would be much more fun.  Good thing Aaron built it.  It is the strongest, toughest table ever.  I'm certain a store bought table would not have held up to this.  And, yes, that is a sucker in his mouth as well.  (This Halloween candy MUST leave this house!!!!!)

Thanksgiving Choir Presentation

On Wednesday night, our children's choirs and youth choir at church presented a couple of songs each in front of the congregation.  It is always such a sweet little service.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera this year!!  As Connor was getting ready for church, we were practicing his two songs that his choir was going to be singing (I help out with his choir).  He then looked up at me and said "You know what, Mom?  I really don't like to sing.  But, I want to do it because I want to make God happy."  Is that not the sweetest!  I am so thankful that he is really understanding that our singing is not for us, not for the moms and dads and grandparents in the church, but it is for God!!  I am so thankful for my family!  Tons of heart smiling moments!!

Operation Christmas Child

Do you know about Operation Christmas Child?  If not, you must get educated about this wonderful opportunity to help children overseas.  For several years, I have participated in this wonderful experience.  Now that we have children, we get the children involved in it.  This is Operation Christmas Child in a nutshell.  You buy small items for a child and pack it in a shoebox, take it to your local church and it gets sent to a distribution center (like Atlanta) and is sent to children overseas.  Billy Graham's son is the one that started it.  So, it is very Christ oriented.  From what I understand, the children also receive information on Christ inside their boxes.

I typically buy things all year long.  Whenever I make it to a Target, I go to the $1 aisle and go crazy looking for items that would bring lots of joy to a special child.  Then a couple of weeks before the boxes have to be turned it, Connor, Blake and I hit the Dollar Tree to get the final items for our box.  Our box usually contains several toys (cars, paddle balls, play doh, crayons, pens, jump rope, mini frisbee, etc).  Then we usually put in some toothpaste, toothbrush, comb and soap.  Over the past couple of years, our church has started packing these items in plastic shoe box containers.  The children are then able to use these boxes to store food, bring water back to their village, etc. 

This past Sunday was the dedication service at our church for these boxes.  People bring their filled boxes to the alter and we have a special prayer for the children who will be receiving these boxes.  So, we got all of our items out and packed up our boxes for Sunday.  I like for us to do this as a family and talk about the children who will be getting these items.  It is so important to me for Connor to realize how blessed we are and we should in turn help others that are less fortunate as us.  It is just so hard for him to understand that there are children that don't have any toys at all and have never gotten a Christmas present.  So, we always talk about these children and pray for them before we take the boxes to church.  Here are the boys packing Connor's box.  I decided to go ahead and pack Blake's box.  Well, he got upset that he didn't have one, so I took a few items out of his box so he could repack it! 

Our church is this area's drop-off location, so I am anxious to hear how many boxes were brought in this week and loaded onto the big truck to be taken to Atlanta.  As of Wednesday night, our church alone had packed 611!!!  Our goal was 700, so I hope by today we were able to meet our goals.

Another fun part of Operation Christmas Child is a new addition last year.  You can now pay your shipping online and receive a bar code to put on top of your box.  In a few weeks, we'll get an e-mail letting us know what country our box will be delivered to.  Connor really enjoyed getting to know where his box went to last year.  This year, since he is a little older, I plan to get the globe out and show him where our boxes are going.

Halloween Fun

This year the boys had such a great time trick-or-treating.  We didn't really think Blake would be that "in" to it, but we were wrong.  The plan was to do our usual routine...walk to Jill and Aaron's house where we all gather and then do our neighborhood.  Then, Aaron and Connor would go to a neighboring neighborhood and to a trunk-or-treat at a church across the street.  Well, Blake decided he wanted to go.  So, the three guys went trick-or-treating and I stayed to man the house.  We always have tons and tons of trick-or-treaters.  It is so much fun.  I never had that experience when I was growing up because we lived out in the middle of nowhere and we probably had 10 trick-or-treaters the entire 21 years that I lived at home.  Boy did we have tons.  We bought 780 pieces of candy and gave out all of it, turned out our lights and people were still going through the neighborhood for probably 30-45 more minutes. (Yes, we limit the candy for our trick-or-treaters...2 pieces unless we know you)

Once Blake and Connor got back home they helped with the passing out.  Blake had the best time.  If a scary trick-or-treater came up he would say "Scary, Scary." and just laugh.  Nothing scared him the entire night...not even our neighbors that were dressed up (I thnk as vampires if I remember correctly) passing out candy.  Here are the highlights from the night.

Tigger and Iron Man

My buddies and myself

Walking to Jill's house

One of the houses in our neighborhood

HE'S BACK!!!

Well, just for 1 day.  So, who is back?  Jingles!  He is our Elf on the Shelf that we adopted last year.  He showed up at our house last Thanksgiving day.  Every night he would go back to the North Pole to tell Santa how Connor and Blake did throughout the day.  Then he would come back and hide out in a new spot.  Connor enjoyed getting up every morning to look for Jingles in his new location.  We received an e-mail from Santa a few weeks ago stating that Jingles would be returning to see us but he had been very hard at work at the North Pole over the last several months. 

Tuesday, during nap time, Jingles showed back up with a note for the boys.  According to the note, he only dropped by to see the boys.  He's apparently too busy at the North Pole preparing for Christmas Eve.

Our Elf, Jingles

When Aaron got home he yelled upstairs for Connor to come quick and see who was here.  Here are our buddies checking out the note.

Once the boys went to bed, Jingles left. Apparently he was a little hungry when he left...

He ate some of Blake's birthday cake on Blake's birthday party plates. 

What a fun little tradition we have started in our family.



Blake's Birthday Party

This past Saturday we celebrated Blake's 2nd birthday.  What an experience actually getting to the party!  As you know, Aaron always makes our birthday cakes.  And, since Connor turned 4, he has been making his own fondant and using that to cover the cakes.  The fondant always turns out just fine.  Well, this time it was not that great.  Actually, it was TERRIBLE!!  3 out fo 4 batches of fondant he made did not turn out...can't use it...must throw it away!!  Aaron had worked ahead in order to have the cake completed by Thursday night.  Well, that just didn't happen. 

Friday afternoon late we decided we were going to have to buy fondant at Hobby Lobby after the last fondant failed to harden as well.  We really dreaded having to do this because we'd always heard people say how bad typical fondant tasted.  (Aaron made marshmallow fondant)  But, we had no choice.  The party was in 31 hours and this cake had to get done!!!  Ends up, bought fondant is the best!!!  Before we bought it, Aaron said he was finished making cakes, our kids would have Wal-Mart cakes (not that there is anything wrong with that, but when you get use to Aaron making them, it made me sad), he was DONE!  Aaron ended up completing all but the stars for Blake's name on Friday night.  It was the fastest he has ever made a cake.  So, he has said he will keep making cakes, but he is finished making fondant.  We will be purchasing it every time.

Here is a picture of the finished product.  I was so pleased with it.  I really think this is the best he has done!!  Great work, Aaron!!

Our sweet boy blowing out the candles.

We had several friends and family over for a grilled hamburger lunch and cake...LOTS OF CAKE!!!  We had such a great day celebrating Blake's 2nd birthday.  My heart just smiles seeing him so happy!!  Love that boy!!