Christmas Eve & Morning 2011

We attended our Christmas Eve service at our church.  The children played all the parts of the nativity except for Joseph and Mary.  The kids are always so cute and sometimes pretty funny.  It’s always a blessing to me to gather together as a church family on Christmas Eve to sing and fellowship.  Afterwards we went out to dinner.

 

Christmas morning Davis came in and picked up this present right away.  After that he had no interest in opening any of the presents.

Chris wanted pictures of the kids in front of the tree so Amber took this picture of Abby before everyone started opening their gifts.

This is the only time all three sat down in front of the tree.  So Chris you will have to get that picture from Amber.

They loved the table and chair set Jonathan and Chris gave them for Christmas.

Amber helping Jackson open his stocking.  They were sitting so good at the table so Amber let them open their stockings first this year.

Davis on the other hand didn’t need any help, he kept peeking down into the stocking and pulling things out.

Abby opening her skates.  She thinks they are ice skates, she’s into ice skating, (pretend of course).

It’s amazing how excited kids get when they get a ball.  Dustin picked up three balls for them while shopping and they loved them.  It was one thing they kept going back to all day.

Abby opening her princess sheets.  Davis in the background with the ball, of course.

This is a princess trunk with dress up clothes and some jewelry in it.

Michelle and Josh sent the boys these blocks and when they opened them up they were out of the box in two seconds.

The kids spent a big part of the day at the table.  JoAnn and Tim sent them two different types of Etch a Sketch boards and they spent a lot of time on those.  That’s Davis standing up.

Abby is painting with the Crayola (no mess) paint set.

Hope your Christmas was an enjoyable one.  May God continue to bless each of you this coming New Year.

Back on Line 12-22-11

It seems like an eternity since I have updated my blog.  It all started when a virus attacked my computer a week before Thanksgiving.  It was getting pretty ancient and slow so I thought it would be a good time to get a new one.  After two weeks of deciding what to buy and three more weeks of getting the new one set up like I wanted it and a few glitches worked out I’m finally able to blog again.   So in the next few days I will try to catch up on my November/December events.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went to the Blue Ridge Mountains to  cut down two Fraser firs.  The area is near Boone and they have a lot of tree farms there.

Somehow we managed to get out of the house without Abby’s jacket so she is wearing Amber’s sweatshirt.

The people at the tree farm gave Abby her own tree.

Here’s the whole crew after getting the tree tied to the Suburban. It was extremely windy up on top of the ridge.  They actually got snow the day after we were there.

Random Pictures ~ October/November

I never know when something might come up that I want a picture of so I keep my camera with me most of the time.  These are a few of those times.  Also Chris always asks, “Did you take a picture?”  when we tell her about something going on.

 

Abby and Amber working together on a turkey for Thanksgiving.

One morning when Amber was gone and the boys were napping Abby and I decided to put together the waffle block set that JoAnn sent to the kids.  After putting it together Abby wanted me to take a picture of her with it, just before I snapped the picture she crossed her legs like she was posing. Too funny!

This is ballerina Abby in her dress-up dancing dress.

 

We drove over to Childress Winery one afternoon for Amber to measure the staircase for the wedding she was doing flowers for and it happened to be their Open House weekend.  We got to see the horse drawn carriage they had for visitors that day.  Abby was elated to see the horses and they came right up next to our car, they were beautiful.

This is Abby’s cowgirl outfit for the birthday party she was invited to.  They had the party at a horse farm that belongs to some people who go to our church and she got to ride on a horse named Mabel.

Chris sent me this collage as part of my birthday gift this year.  It has pumpkin farm pictures with all the grandkids except Davis and Jackson.  We hadn’t gone to the pumpkin farm with them yet this year.  I love it, it’s great to have all of their pictures put together like this.  Thanks Chris, you’re so creative. 

When the temperature started getting around 34 degrees I had to bring all my plants inside.  So, I went to Lowe’s and bought 6 or 7 of these plant stands that they had on clearance.  I decided to keep most of the plants downstairs this winter so I could enjoy them.

Abby’s New Big Girl Bed ~ October 30, 2011

She was so excited to get her new “pony” bed. The comforter and pillow sham has ponies on them. She’s done really well staying in it until someone says she can get down, which is good. It’s her new favorite place to go and read her books.

It’s also a good place to have her mom snuggle in and read with her.

Halloween Apparel

Amber and Dustin’s take on Saturday Night Live’s Ra Ra team for Austin’s Halloween party.  If you are not familiar with the Spartans just ask Amber.  Too Funny!!!

A Few Fun October Activities

We’ve had a busy schedule of activities this past month and these are a few of the highlights of some of them. 

   

These are the 3 pumpkins that Abby, Davis and Jackson picked out at the Pumpkin Farm.  Dustin has been gone every weekend this month so we have not had much time to carve pumpkins.  I brought back this Diva Pumpkin Set that JoAnn gave me for Abby so we decorated her pumpkin with that  She was pretty excited about it and wanted me to take her picture with it. 

Sapona had a evening for the children with dinner, (all kinds of kid food) hayrides, a haunted house and pictures of the family.  This is Evan Wilson, a friend of his, and Abby waiting for the hayride to come.

 

The photographer let me take a picture of the family after he took some.  Abby was Dorothy, Davis was the lion, and Jackson was the tin man.  Jackson’s tin man hat wouldn’t stay on his head.

 

Jackson is in the running everywhere stage.  Walk is not in his vocabulary.

Chris sent the kids a pumpkin and leaf project to do so the whole family got in on it (except Jackson), like I said he’s in the running and mobile stage so he didn’t want to sit and do it.

 

Davis on the other hand sat for about 1/2 hour drawing with the sticks that scrap off the black to make the designs.

Here’s the finished product.  I think they turned out really good.  Thanks Chris, it was fun!

High Rock Nursery Pumpkin Farm ~ 10/6/11

This is a pretty cool pumpkin farm.  It had hayrides, an apple cider press, a corn pile, a few animals, a corn maze of Davidson County (there were 17 points of interest and at each one you had to answer the question it asked about Davidson County), and of course it had a pumpkin patch.

 

It was fun to watch the boys walk around and pick up a pumpkin of their choice.

Davis was pretty interested in the stem.

Family photo in the pumpkin patch

Once Davis picked his pumpkin he wouldn’t let it go.  He tucked it under his arm and that’s where it stayed the whole time we were on the hayride.

The kids really loved this corn pile.  They played and played in it and did not want to get out. It was interesting to walk in.  I took my shoes off and walked in it and got a foot massage.

 

Dustin was trying to bury the boys and they were laughing.  Jackson tried to crawl out, but Davis just laid there.

 

They all sat on the hay bales so we could take their picture.

It’s so nice that the boys are walking.  We did not want to carry them around this maze.

Forsyth County Fair ~ 10/5/11

We went to the fair again this year.  The kids really enjoyed it because they were a little older, and I always enjoy going as well. 

Abby fished and caught a fish the first try, so she won a prize.  She picked out this princess wand that lights up with all different colors.  She was pretty excited.

We went through the farm animal section where they were shearing sheep, feeding them, and washing them.  The roasters were going at it the whole time we were in that exhibit.  Abby wanted to pet this bunny, its fur was the softest thing I have ever felt.

 

The petting zoo area is the most popular area for the kids. This year Davis and Jackson were able to walk through by themselves, and help feed the animals.

I stayed outside with the strollers while they went in and I heard Abby crying.  Amber said a goat came up and took her plastic bag with her carrots in it and ate it and the carrots.  That’s a goat for you!?!

There’s no way we could ever get away with not taking Abby on the pony rides.  So once again here’s a picture of the two of them with the ponies.  Davis is watching.  Maybe next year Davis!

She really loves them!!

Dustin is taking Abby on the Ferris Wheel.