Zoo Lights and Santa!

Week 28! This was an interesting week as usual. The kids had their annual checkups. Mary Virginia was in the 97th percentile for height and 50th for weight. Tall and skinny - but we all knew that! John Bay is in the 75th percentile for height and 50th for weight! Closer to average, but still tall! Overall it was a great doctor visit - except for the flu shots. That did not go over well! I worked at the Santa's Workshop at Mary Virginia's school again this week. It was so much fun to see all of the kids getting ready for Christmas!

Beignet brought us a little surprise on Thursday! He came with instructions to go to The Zoo Lights! We picked up Ed and headed over to the zoo. This was probably the best zoo display I have ever seen! Of course, Thursday night was freezing! We grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and set out to see the lights. These were a few of the kids favorite lights! Roar!

The kids loved the lights, but we were ready for dinner...their first visit to IHOP!

Friday night the kids went to a little party at our church while Ed and I were able to go to our Sunday School party! I know I keep saying this, but we were so lucky to find such a wonderful church. They welcomed us into their group and treated us like we had been there for years! What a fun group, I am so glad we are getting to know them! The kids had fun watching movies and playing with other kids from church-we usually don't get to see these friends except on Sunday, so this was a treat!

Saturday brought more fun. It was time for Breakfast with Santa! While all of the other kids around were dressed in their cute Christmas clothes, we had to be festive in our own way...in our Army Football gear! It was time for the Army-Navy game and we were dressed and ready! We still looked cute for Santa! After a morning with Santa, Ed and I went to watch the Army-Navy game with some others from West Point while the kids stayed at home with babysitters! We all had a fun afternoon!

We spent Sunday at church and then out at the barn. MV did a great job riding Jack, while John Bay and the girls from across the street played on the swing! She is still enjoying riding and she is doing a great job. Ed has started playing basketball on Sunday nights with a few men from our church. They have a Bible study and then play a few games - this has been a great way for him to unwind and get to know some friends from church!

We can't wait to see our friends and family very soon!

More Elfcapades....the Adventures of Beignet the Elf

Reading Twas the Night Before ChristmasHe spent the night flying paper airplanes around the house and into the Christmas Tree!
Fishing at Charlie's tank. Too bad he used a gummy lifesaver - I don't think that Charlie liked it too much!

The note to head to Zoo Lights!

Making paper snowflakes!

Hanging out...Beignet decorated the garland with rainbow candy canes, MV's favorite!

He took Barbie out for a date - I am thinking they were eating dessert...cookie as a plate which was full of sour patch kids and skittles!

In the Christmas Spirit...

Week 27: This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love to have the house decorated with all of the lights and the greenery. I have been working at Mary Virginia's school this week in Santa's Secret Shop. The kids have been so cute coming in to buy gifts for their parents and siblings! Since I have been at the school everyday this week, decorating went a little slower than normal. We finally finished decorating the inside of the house on Friday! Ed still has a few additions he wants to make to the outside! It was an uneventful week - and very chilly! I believe it was Friday when then weather finally cleared up and we headed out to the barn! We were so excited that Ed was able to come watch MV ride. She showed off riding Jack - he is a very stubborn horse and she is getting really good at giving him directions! Now, she also showed off with her other favorite activity at the barn and that is the rope swing!

Then the kids showed off their horse skills on a different type of horse!Saturday, we accidentally ran into Santa at Wal-mart. He was a sad excuse for Santa, but we made the best of it! The kids sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas...well, MV did, John Bay forgot! He was very upset that he forgot to tell Santa about the Bat Cave that he wants! Don't worry, we will be finding another Santa soon! After a fun morning at Wal-mart (the most crowded spot on Earth), MV and I headed to a zumba class! Her Girl Scout Troop was taking zumba and we went to earn her Fitness Patch! We had so much fun that we are going to start going on Saturdays in January for the kids class!

Sunday, after church, we headed to the mall to see the "real" Santa! Too bad the line was out the door of the mall - a few hour wait. We will try again soon! Instead, we rode the carousel...

and had a treat at Menchies!Another great week in LA! We are counting down the days until our trip home for Christmas!

Beignet's Elfcapades

On Monday, Beignet decided to take over the chalkboard and make a self portrait! Tuesday, he made gingerbread man crayons and brought the kids coloring books. Who knew that an elf was a great artist! Wednesday, he brought the kids some new Christmas PJ's! Beignet was covered in ribbon, labels, and tissue paper!

Thursday, there was a Marshmallow "Snowball" Fight between lots of our friends. This snowball fight did the kids in. I went to the back to get ready and when I came back into the den, the kids had put all of their stuffed animals and toys away and scooped all of the marshmallows into a pile. I was told to clean up the marshmallows and put them away. It seems that the kids did not like Beignet playing with their friends!Friday, Beignet brought an advent chain tree. He left a note telling the kids to cut off a chain each morning and then on Christmas they would be left with the gold "star" link!Saturday brought another rough situation...Beignet built a Lego house and was playing on some of the construction equipment....John Bay quickly put the blocks away and the equipment. Let me say though, he DID NOT touch Beignet....just dumped him on the floor - so the magic is still there!And finally, on Sunday, Beignet zip-lined through the kitchen! The kids got a kick out of this!

We are enjoying the holidays and the adventures of Beignet! He is one crazy elf!

Thanksgiving!

Week 26: Thanksgiving!

It was an amazing week at home! We were so excited to see friends and family! We started the week with a yummy dinner with all of the grandparents. It seems like the whole week revolved around food...We had a wonderful date night with Allison and Craig up at The View. I don't know how we all made it home, we were stuffed with an amazing dinner and even better desserts! The kids went back to their school to visit with the teachers that we miss so much! We had a play date with Ella and Caroline and then off to another yummy dinner . This time we met up with our old neighbors for a fun night. The kids were in heaven visiting with each other, it was like we never left! The girls were making up skits while the boys were playing games.

Then came the out-of-town family! Our cousins from New York came down to visit along with our family from Atlanta! Mary Virginia and John Bay were beside themselves when they saw their "big" cousins. I think we wore the cousins out! There was soccer in the backyard, basketball on the porch, and lots of running around! And that was when we weren't busy eating!

After two days of eating and catching up! We went to the lake to do it again! We hated that we missed Thanksgiving Day with Mimi and Balba and the rest of the family, but we tried to make up for it on Friday! We had fun visiting, playing with the puppies and enjoying the beautiful view.

And then it was back home for more family!

When we got back there was a new face for us to meet! We were so excited to see baby Baxter for the first time! I can't wait to spend more time with him and watch him grow up. What a precious little boy!

Mary Virginia and Martha wrote a book! MV told Martha the story as she wrote and then MV illustrated and read it back to us. I am amazed by her creativity! She is so proud of her book. Once the festivities were over and as we patiently waited for the Iron Bowl, the kids went out for a day with daddy and Jaja and of course, that included ice cream!
Now...this will be a new section on our blog until Christmas!

Elfcapades!

This year, an elf came to visit us. He is staying with us until Christmas and reporting back to Santa every night about what the kids are up to and how they are behaving. He showed up on Saturday morning with a North Pole Breakfast. He brought their favorite...powdered doughnuts and hot chocolate! The sneaky elf decorated the kitchen with streamers too! The kids were very surprised and not too sure what to do with him! They did name him...Beignet Harper. I think you may have been in Louisiana too long when your kids name their elf after a favorite treat!

As we head back to Louisiana, we are sad to leave, but excited that we will be home again in 3 short weeks.

Talking Turkey!

Week 25: This was a week of celebrating Thanksgiving (even if it was the week before)! We had a fun week of talking about pilgrims, Indians, and turkey! The kids each took a treat to their class to celebrate! I let them both pick out the treat that they wanted me to fix for their class. This was Mary Virginia's choice for her class! (My secret confession is that I raided all of the Halloween candy to pull together the pieces for both of the treats!) It was such a fun way to make a turkey! I can't wait to do this again next year! This was John Bay's choice. His was a little bit easier, but again I raided the Halloween candy. He was signed up to bring desserts for his Thanksgiving feast - I wasn't sure how this would go over, but the class loved it! There is nothing better than slice and bake cookies, m&m's and icing!
Ok, enough about the food....It was another normal week in Louisiana with the exception of Thanksgiving Feasts. We were not invited to celebrate with John Bay's class...they didn't want the kids upset when it was time for the parents to leave. We did get to go to the feast at Mary Virginia's school. The kids were so cute and they dressed up like pilgrims and Indians!

What a fun week of teaching the kids the meaning of giving thanks. We cannot wait to see all of our family next week. We are packing up and heading back to Alabama for fun with family and LOTS of good food!

Sitting Around the Campfire

Week 24: Yet another fun week in Louisiana! We had Girl Scouts this week and the girls made the cutest "I am thankful" turkey hats! I still can't believe how lucky we are to have such a good group of girls and some great leaders! And of course, we spent an afternoon at the barn! Mary Virginia was a little disappointed that she didn't get to ride Baily - she is the horse that MV can jump on! This week, she rode Jack. What a sweet horse! He is not a typical beginner lesson horse - you actually have to know what you are doing and give him some direction. MV did great and she really enjoyed riding him (he has a fast trot and is very stubborn)!
The week would not have been complete without a trip to Bass Pro Shop. I am not sure if you know, but Santa's Village has officially arrived to Bass Pro, so we needed to check it out! The kids saw an ad and decided they needed to make a Christmas craft and check out the new toys! We rode the carousel ...

and then MV found the gift that she wanted!

This is as close as I came to a photo op! I don't know how I got this one, they can't sit still when they are at Bass Pro - something about all the "toys"! (I didn't get a picture of the craft time - I was covered in glue and paint from "helping". We did make some CUTE Santa ornaments from popsicle sticks!

We also took some time to explore all of the camping gear, since that is the latest interest for the kids and Ed. They want to camp out more than anything. I thought we might make it this weekend (in the backyard), but the temperature dropped and it was just too cold!

We did light up the fire pit and have a "campfire" to cook dinner (hot dogs) and make s'mores! We had a great time and the girls from across the street came to play too!

(The fire pit was one of Ed's birthday toys!)

(eating yummy s'mores)

We had a fun week, but we are looking forward to the school Thanksgiving celebrations next week and lots of turkey crafts!