O Christmas Tree

We went Christmas Tree shopping the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Talk about getting a jump on things! We don't normally get a tree so early in the holiday season but we were all chomping at the bit...and it was 70 degrees outside! What a perfect way to spend a warm winters day! We went to our normal spot behind Pop's Diner on Hwy 17 to pick out our tree.

I just adore how excited Jonathan gets at Christmas time!

Gabe and Eden spotted a beautiful tree the second we arrived but we decided we would check out everything else before we made a decision. The kids spent the next 20 minutes running around chasing each other as Jonathan and I searched for the perfect tree! We finally managed to wrangle them just long enough for a quick pose in front of our 2011 Christmas Tree!

After a nice gentleman loaded our tree on top of the car we drove off toward home so we could start decorating the house. You should have seen me trying to help Jonathan get the tree down from the Highlander...next year...I think I'll use a ladder. We brought the tree inside and spent about half an hour trying to get the cotton-pickin' thing in the tree stand correctly. Turns out our buddy at the tree place didn't cut the bottom of the tree level so we had some major Leaning Tower of Tree-sa going on. But pushing forward we made it work and moved on to the rest of the decorating.

By Sunday the branches had fallen just enough to make stringing lights possible...but still a royal pain in the buttocks. We fixed the thing up and plugged it in. GORGEOUS! There's something about Christmas lights that really makes me happy - well except the putting them up part.

Uncle Jason and Aunt Madelyn came over for Sunday dinner and helped us decorate the tree and when we were finished...it was breath taking! Probably the prettiest tree we've had yet. Decorated to perfection, lights in just the right places, but the DANG thing was still leaning! We rigged it up a couple more times...tightening the screws into the trunk, leaning it back more than normal to try to compensate for the handicap. STILL LEEAANNNNGGG! Oh well...maybe nobody will notice, right?

Monday morning, 4:30 a.m., the alarm goes off and Jonathan and I get up to start the day. Monday's are rough anyway, but they are even worse when they start off with the realization that during the night your amazingly beautiful, breath taking tree has fallen over during the night. Oh yes! And let me tell you - this thing did NOT go down without a fight...smashing & shattering my favorite Pier One decorative plate, breaking a few ornaments and making the biggest mess a Christmas tree could ever manage to make...the thing went down!

Leaving the mess for later in the day, (honestly I was just too mad and heart broken to go anywhere near the thing) the kids and I got dressed and went about our day. Off to work...off to school.

Sparing you the details, let me just tell you that Monday was a rough day for Mommy. I couldn't wait to get home to my family. I walked in the door with a sigh, glance to the left and what do I see? A midget Christmas tree! My super sweet husband spent about an hour picking up the mess our tree made, gathering all of the strewn about ornaments and taking the chainsaw out to cut the bottom of the tree properly to prevent any future tipping. Leaving our tree a good 9 inches shorter than before. (Please give me a moment while I weep)

At the end of the day I suppose size doesn't matter - the tree was a bit shorter but everything was back in order and looked nice. I can't bring myself to post pictures right now, as I need some time to mourn, however...you'll see Christmas posts soon! 

Craft Time at WCC

2011 Craft Day at Williamsburg Community Chapel

The kids had a great time making fall wreaths and Christmas Cards for the elderly at one of the many retirement communities in the Burg.

I love this idea! We made turkeys out of tissue paper and pipe cleaner! I think we're going to do this every year - it's a great idea for place settings for the childrens table at Thanksgiving! I know Wendy is going to kill me for posting this picture...but the look on Gabe's face is just too funny not to share.

After craft time everyone went into the theater to watch the latest Veggie Tales movie and eat popcorn.

Before going back downstairs for lunch all the kids split into five groups. Each group was given a black trash bag full of goodies. The Rules: Use everything in your trash bag to transform one Dad in your group into a turkey! So cute! The kids thought it was hilarious! Each turkey then went up on stage to strut!

Gobble Gobble Guys!

Monster Truck Madness

I think all boys go through a Monster Truck stage. Gabe has always loved cars and trucks but has never, until recently, been into Monster Trucks. On November 11^th Jonathan took Gabe to the Monster Truck Jam at the Hampton Coliseum and they had a blast!

REWIND two months… 

We stopped at Digger’s Dungeon in North Carolina when we were on our way home from the beach back in September. Thinking Gabe’s current monster truck obsession was going to be short lived, I didn’t even blog about our time at the Dungeon. So let’s start there…the kids were both exhausted when we left the beach house but we promised them we would stop to see the home of the Grave Digger on the way back to Virginia. When we arrived the kids ran out into a huge field to get a closer look at some of the retired trucks.

 For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to have spent some quality time at Digger’s Dungeon, let me paint a picture for you - there is Digger’s Diner (where you can stop and have a tasty lunch), a gift shop, a petting zoo, a huge auto-workshop and a field where you can pay to ride in a real monster truck. (Insert children’s squeals here!) As excited as Gabe and Eden were, we chose to postpone our adventure on the monster truck because it has been raining all morning. I know what you’re saying…Monster Truck…mud…does it get any better than that? Well, as we walked up to get a closer look at the family who just exited the monstrous vehicle…they were completely covered in mud. Now, it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) seeing 5 people covered head to toe in mud and smiles…the kids were so jazzed about hitching a ride they were about to come out of their skin! But with at least an hour ride home…mommy and daddy had to let them down with a NO as gently as possible. We did commit to stopping and riding on our way down to the beach for our next visit to Nags Head…I’m sure there will be pictures to follow come May.

To distract the kids from their sorrow we headed toward the gift shop. On the way, we got to peek inside the Grave Digger’s workshop where there were several trucks being fixed up.  The kids really got excited about this one…The Batman Truck. (Clever name)

Here’s a picture of the gift shop taken from the Grave Digger’s website…my pictures came out a little blurry.

The kids climbed up into a huge chair from the 2010 Las Vegas Monster Jam World Finals Racing Championship. Dennis Anderson, the owner and driver of The Grave Digger was crowned top driver for this series.

$40 dollars later we got back in the car with a hat and t-shirt for Gabe and headed for home. It only took the kids 15 minutes to fall fast asleep. Here’s a picture of Gabe snoozing with his Grave Digger hat in hand.



FAST FORWARD to November, Jonathan and Gabe are ready for a night of fun! I took a few pictures and sent the boys on their way.

This is actually the only picture of Gabe at the Monster Truck Jam – this is what happens when you leave Daddy in charge of taking pictures. HA!



Meanwhile, back at home Eden and I ate dinner, baked some cookies and watched a movie. She was trying so hard to stay awake so she could hear about Gabe’s time at the Jam. But our sweet little girl just couldn’t hold out any longer. Here she is fast asleep – gripping her Barbie car while How to Train your Dragon plays in the back ground.

Jonathan called me when he and Gabe were on their way home. Gabe had passed out in his car seat after being on the road for less than 5 minutes. All the Monster Truck excitement really got the best of him. When they got home Jonathan carried Gabe inside and laid him in my arms. As soon as he woke from the shifting, he sleepily started telling me all about the trucks, and the jumping, and the motocross bikes. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget about the $10 snow cone with collectible Grave Digger mug he brought home. So sweet!

Duke's Man Eggs

And the day started just like any other...

I was packing the kids lunch this morning and Gabe began to request a turkey sandwich with cheese and mayonnaise. Eden who doesn't even like turkey, or any other lunch meat for that matter, chimed in and asked for a turkey sandwich also. Shocked, I looked at her and asked if she was sure - and she responded...

'Yes. I want a turkey sandwich with cheese. But no man eggs. I don't like man eggs'.

I couldn't help but giggle. It reminded me of when Gabe was her age and used to call balloons 'goons' and any bright light the 'hot sun'.

Arg! Give me all your booty!

The kids were both pirates for Trick or Treating this year and they were absolutely adorable! Jonathan even taught Gabe to say 'Arg! Give me all your Booty!' instead of 'Trick or Treat' when people came to answer the door.

Eden loved Trick or Treating so much that she found it necessary to ask after each house, 'Can we go to anofer house Mommy?'.

I love that Gabe was so hopeful that he carried a bag almost as large as he was to fit all of his 'treasure' (candy) in!

Alas me hearties! Let's enjoy our treasure!

The morning after...Gabe and Eden both look a bit tired from all that walking around last night! I thought it was sweet that Gabe asked if he could release his Birthday balloons so they could 'float up to Heaven to be with Memaw since she wasn't able to make it to his Birthday party'. It made me very proud to watch him walk outside and send the balloons off to Heaven...now if only the wind didn't blow them into the tree in the front yard allowing them to get stuck between a couple of branches! A week later and they're still up there!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

Our little pumpkin is 5! Gabe had a hard time deciding what he wanted to do for his Birthday party this year so we just went with a fall theme. We invited everyone at school and some close friends to come over to help us celebrate and we had an amazing turn out.

The kids all had fun with the caramel apple buffet and painting pumpkins.

Gabe, Landon and Coen paint their pumpkins.

We had apple juice with cinnamon sticks and caramel cubes - but the kids didn't enjoy it like I hoped they would.

Eden and Cleo decorating their caramel apple.

Gabe and his buddy Ayden.

The kids all circled around Gabe outside in the back yard and gave him a huge group hug! It was adorable.

Here is Thomas, Gabe, Landon and Jayla.

We had 20 kids at our house on Sunday and they all behaved so well. Nobody felt left out and everyone got along perfectly.

Gabe was so excited to see Thomas, they ran up to each other and hugged!

Gabe doesn't like cake so we made 70 pumpkin bread muffins. 

Thank you to everyone who helped make Gabe's 5th Birthday Party a success. He enjoyed seeing all of his friends and we had an amazing time having everyone over!