Christmas Time

We had a wonderful Christmas at home this year, and celebrated from morning til night.  

Greer and Celia were absolutely giddy when they saw that Santa came!

Celia's most prized present was a bag of marshmallows!

Greer was thrilled to find a chocolate Santa in her stocking.

Greer and Celia bought special gifts for Mama and Daddy.  The school PTA sets-up a shopping day where kids can pick-out and buy a gift for their parents (PTA purchases the gifts from the Dollar Store).  They loved giving them to us.

Celia had the biggest present ever!

It was a bean bag!

Mr. Kitty liked playing in the box as soon as it was tipped over.

Greer's special gift was a kareoke machine.  She sang all morning, and made special announcements in the microphone about photos of the "show" not being allowed, and "boy alert!" every time Daddy walked in the room. 

We ate a delicious supper at MamaSu's that night, and opened more presents.

Uncle Jake with Jacky and Mae.  I was behind the camera most of the time, so I don't have photos of our family to share...maybe next time!

Christmas Program

Greer and Celia had their school Christmas program today, and had mixed success.  Greer did great!  She nailed her line, and sang all the songs.  She was really cute, and got some laughs.  Celia, on the other hand...

The program told the Christmas story through the animals' eyes.  Greer was a sheep.

Celia was a mouse.  She refused to wear the costume (so her teacher told me), and she insisted on carrying her blanket on stage.  She pouted through the entire performance (although the majority of her class cried, so at least she kept it together).

Happier times for Celia.

I finally got around to taking a photo with Greer's new grin (minus a tooth!).

Thanksgiving

We had a great trip to Huntsville for Thanksgiving this year, and enjoyed time spent with family.  Greg and I had an adult night-out with friends and his sister, and we had a delicious meal the following day.  We also spent an afternoon ice skating...unexpected in Alabama.

I was too busy being busy to take many photos, but here are a couple to mark the occasion:

It's tough to get a good photo with this many kids, and this was the best I could do.  From left to right: Greer, Celia, Connor, and Hudson

Out to dinner the night before we left.  Greg's cousin, Amy, is on the left.  

Arboretum

We spent a couple of hours this weekend at the NC Arboretum.  It's minutes from our house, and is a great place to let the kids run wild.  They have a great exhibit now called "Some Assembly Required."  It features massive Lego sculptures, and is really interesting to see.  Here are some photos from our visit.

This photo op was made of Legos!

The camera focused on the Lego sculpture instead of the girls, but you can tell they are having fun.

Can you tell that Greer likes to pose for the camera?

Celia can't be bothered with photos, so this is the best I could get from her.

So many steps!  Celia could spend hours climbing up and down.

Greer found some sticks and stones to use as make-shift drums.  Singing soon followed.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year, although the pictures don't show it.  Greer was a leopard, and stayed in character as long as the costume was on.  Celia was the cutest ladybug, but didn't want to slow down for a photo.  This is the best I could do:

Greer with friends Carter and Brooks

Halloween Preview

We went to our church's annual Fall Festival today, and had a great time as always.  Greer and Celia had been so eager to wear their Halloween costumes, and their wish came true today.

These two are scheming on how to get the ball in the hole...

Special Visit

Granny came to town last weekend for a special visit, and we had lots of good time with her and cousins.  We also celebrated Daddy's birthday (a couple of weeks early) with brunch at Deerpark.  It was a good weekend!

Granny with the great-grandbabies (plus Nella)

Besties

Here is Greer and her two best friends from school.  These three have SO much fun together, and can't get enough of each other.  So glad I finally got a photo of these girls!

Ellie (left), Elizabeth (center), Greer (right)

End of Summer

We had a great Memorial Day weekend celebrating the end of summer.  We cheered on Bama with some friends Saturday night, and had a movie night in our living room Sunday night.  We pulled out the pool one last time on Monday, then said goodbye to summer and hello to fall.

I have really enjoyed the short summer we've had, but I'm finally looking forward to a new season now.  I dread the cold winter, but I've always loved the crisp air of autumn, the changing leaves, and a new energy that comes with the cooler temperatures.  Hope you have a great fall season to come!

First Day of School!

Greer and Celia started back to school this week, and it was a big day for Greer - the first day of kindergarten!  She is at the same school as always, so there wasn't a big difference there, but it was still exciting and fun (especially the new uniform she has to wear).  She was so thrilled to be there and see her friends, but didn't have much to say after school except that she had a good day.

Greer insisted that Wooly be in the first photo.  Wooly is waving at the camera here.

Classic Greer pose.

This & That

We had a nice weekend staying around town...

Greer harvested our lettuce Saturday morning.

Greer played a sea turtle in her school's The Little Mermaid production.  She was in the show on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.  She said she did, "Awesome!"

Biltmore hosted a pirates and princesses event, and Greer jumped at the opportunity to put on her finest ball gown.  

Celia enjoyed a cookie she decorated by herself.

Exploring the sunflowers at Biltmore.