Our December

We had an eventful, jam packed, expensive, fantastic December. It started off with the Winter Wonderland dance at Kaitlin's school. She looked pretty and had a good time, and it kicked off the four week Christmas extravaganza. We also found out that Kaitlin won the Reflections song writing competition for the entire county and will be up for the state in January. I'm telling you, the girl can write.

One of the major highlights of our month with this kid right here getting named the Student of the Month for his class. I almost fell off myself walking down the hallway as the principal called his name over the intercom on the afternoon announcements. He has come a LONG way since last year. He has become a great student and is really thriving in first grade. His precious teacher wrote a letter to the principal calling him a "model student". Thank you God for this radical transformation and thank you Deb McIntyre for getting him healthy! We are so proud of little Red.

We have fallen in love with Bella. She is a lunatic, but Eric has worked hard with her in doggy training and she has become a very good dog. She has seriously added more love and joy to this family than I ever thought possible. She is the best snuggler, and she has such a fun, happy spirit. We are all moody and passionate people and we can all be a little too intense at times, so she is a much needed breathe of fresh air in our home.

Kaitlin had her first chorus performance. I couldn't get close enough to get a good shot so this is all I have. She was so cute up there singing about the Grinch. It was a loooong night, but highly entertaining. Beth- I know your laughing.

We got the new Taylor Swift album and we've been singing her new songs all month. One of her songs really stuck a chord with me. It's called never grow up, and I cry every time I hear it. It will be the first song on the Project Twenty10 video. Kaitlin wrote a couple a great songs this month. Her and Aspen wrote one together called Cinderella, and it's beautiful. I hope she sticks with her writing and singing. She's really growing as a young artist.

Now let the Christmas season begin.......

The rest of the month is all about Christmas, and this year was great from start to finish. I think I speak for all of us when I say that white Christmases are incredible. What an awesome surprise!

We decided earlier this year to have some fun with our Christmas card. We laughed until we cried several times just talking about our ideas for it. Ivey had the best ideas, and inspired the awesomely tacky border. The rest was just pure magic. Joe only took 5 pictures and BAM, this beauty was born. It will be hard to top this one next year but we will definitely try. I can't imagine going back to regular smiley kid cards after having this much fun with this one. The Christmas card photo shoot is such a nightmare every year and this was just pure fun. It's a no-brainer. We do LOVE getting Christmas cards in the mail. We all fight over who gets to open them. I hang every card on my pantry door. I LOVE Christmas cards. I don't know why. I guess I just love pictures. I never got around to sending out the picture this year, but I will next year. I've already got a few ideas in mind for next year. We will try to top ourselves each year with more creativity and ridiculousness. Let the competition begin!

We started our Four Christmas Tour at dad's. I didn't bring my camera to their house, but I have this picture from last year that deserves another debut. If you really look at each kid's face you will laugh. Thanks dad and Yvette for such a great (last minute) night and being so generous with your blessings. It was a great way to start off the holiday season! And with your generous gift- we will no longer stress about spending for the holidays. THANK YOU!!!! You made us cry and praise God!

Our next stop was to Atlanta to have Christmas with mom and family. Dave and Cristina hosted this year so it was fun to change things up a bit. Jack started running a fever that morning but he managed to hang with the family and keep his spirits up- thanks to Motrin and prayer. I was thankful that my family let him come, sick and all. They have all had it so they figured it would be safe. I would have hated missing Christmas with my mom and siblings!

This doesn't look like a very exciting picture, but it was a great night. I had way to much fun to worry about being the photographer.

Mom and Grandpa Dude gave the kids a new computer. This makes Eric and I VERY HAPPY!! We put it in the family room and they are only allowed to use theirs now. No more fighting over who gets the computer. THANK YOU MOM AND CLIFF!

The froggies in Colby's tank were really excited too.

Looking back I have no idea what night we celebrated with Eric's parents and family (my family too). Things seem blurry to me now. I am pretty sure this was Christmas #3. Am I right Beth? I know. I'm a goner. Whatever night it was was a blast. Carson and Ashlyn are hysterical. Carson cracks me up wearing his helmet everywhere. I guess Jack wanted to give it a try. He wants to play football next year but I think I am going to hold off until he's a little older. We were happy and surprised to have Rachel, Grandma Dot, and Monica with us. We missed Brad, Mollie, and Dave though.

The kids played beautifully as the adults sipped wine and laughed at the Vegas stories.

After the children attacked Grandpa Nick, they disappeared for a while. Carson came downstairs in his adorable voice and asked me to build him a bed. He walked me upstairs and showed me what he meant, and of course, I melted. Jack and Ashlyn had made beds on the floor upstairs, complete with kiddie bibles on their pretend nightstands, and Carson wanted one of his own. Can we say Photo Op?



Good times. Great company. Thank you to my in laws for being so gracious about the changes we made to Christmas. You all are classy people. We loved your company! Now if we could just get a peek at Jennifer's gift to Steve.

Nuttin' but cuteness here.

And now for Christmas Eve. Jack clearly had developed the flu. He had run a fever for days now and was dragging himself through every step of our Christmas Tour. He was like a deflated balloon tonight. Beth and Nick spent Christmas Eve with us and they definitely got the worst of him. He was opening one present after another (toys he normally would have flipped out over) and tossing them aside like a zombie. It was sad. Kaitlin, on the other hand, enjoyed every minute of opening presents. Especially when she opened her tickets to Taylor Swift!! Compliments of MaMa and Nick- we will see TS in July and spend the night at a fancy hotel in ATL. We are both so pumped about this. CAN'T WAIT!!!

And of course they didn't forget to get Bella a few treats. She woofed them down with sheer joy.

Then she was tired.

Oh how this spastic dogs melts me.

And this was my sweet boy after a long day and a 102 fever. Mama- he has loved the toys you guys got him! He just needed to get well to enjoy them. :)

At Last......Christmas morning. Our favorite morning of the whole year. I video taped the gift opening so this was the only still shot I got. The kids found their big gift (a basketball goal) three days before Christmas, so that was a huge bummer. But it was still a great morning full of gifts they can enjoy OUTSIDE. We are trying to encourage them to be active and get some Vitamin D. This generation of chitlens are inside way too much.

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And what would a Christmas be without several strands of burning out after you spend hours decorating it?

We were supposed to spend the day at home and go to Cindy's for a family pajama dinner, but God decided to bless us with 3 inches of the most beautiful snow on earth. I'd like to give a little shout out to the Lord for that one! Woot Woot! It was a beautiful surprise, and we embraced it. We gave Jack his 400th round of Motrin, got in the car, and drove to Cindy's for an early 3:00 dunch (dinner lunch). And you have to know I serenaded my family with a few rounds of I'm dreaming of a white Christmas on the way. We realized it may not be all the safe to wait until dark to head over and then get stuck at their house with no place to sleep and a sick child so we changed plans and ate early. Jack was a trooper. He will pretend he is well all day long to spend time with his beloved cousins!

There is only one person who takes more pictures than me, and that is Scott. And I did not have any feelings of envy at all as I was snapping a picture of him using his 70-200 mm 2.8 lens. Not one bit.

I know. We shouldn't let a child with a fever play in the snow- but how could we not? We said a prayer and bundled him up, and gave him a few moments of snow joy. The kid needed to enjoy his first white Christmas. He didn't last long, but he got to through a few snowballs and smile for a picture.

And here is the noseless, mouthless snowman the kids made. I thought it, he, she was cute.

My most favoritest part of the whole white Christmas was the way the garland looked next to the white snow. I loved seeing all of the beautiful lights and greenery covered mounds in tiny snowflakes. It was simply beautiful. I really took it all in. I could not get over the sheer joy of a white Christmas. It consumed me all day. I was seriously lit up with happiness like a Christmas Tree!

When we got home from Cindy and Brad's, Eric and I sat on the porch and shared a glass of wine as we watched the snow cover our street. I sat in silence for a bit, counting my blessings. It was such a beautiful sight on such a beautiful day. Happy Belated Birthday Jesus! I know you were born in the fall but we sure do love celebrating your life in December!

It was such a perfect week. I know I sound like I am advertising for some Christmas commercial but I really can't help but emphasize how much fun we had this week as a family. I am still lit up about how awesome the week was and how much I will miss the family gatherings and the snow!

And I wanted to end this looooooooooooong post with a cute picture of K.K. She decided to give her naturally curly hair a try and I LOVE IT. Here she is sporting her new jeans, her new Columbia jacket, and her new cross necklace. She is almost 5 4'. I can't get over how fast she is growing up.

Jack is finally feeling better. He is the toughest sick person I know. Cheers to an awesome 2010 and praying for an even better 2011.
Happy New Year!