Sweet Boys

Today was Davis' Christmas program at preschool and he certainly redeemed himself after the Santa fiasco. He was precious (and he proved me wrong - I predicted a total meltdown and no singing) and sang with all of his friends. We were so proud!

Davis' class sang the sweetest little Christmas song and it was so simple! I love that because I have tried to teach Christmas carols to preschoolers and it's not easy (right, Ms. Brooke?)! I thought I would share it with you although I'm not sure about the title -

Sung to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb":

Mary had a baby boy, baby boy, baby boy
Mary had a baby boy
And his name was Jesus.

Joseph loved that baby boy, baby boy, baby boy
Joseph loved that baby boy
And his name was Jesus.

It melted my heart to see Davis "rocking" the baby Jesus.

Clapping for everyone!

One of my favorite moments.
They were singing "My God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do!"

Now, my other sweet boy came home from school yesterday (public school, no less) with a birthday card for Jesus. He showed it to me and then told me that he wanted to give it to Jesus. I thought that he would put it in his Bible to take to church. But, he didn't.

This is where I found it...



...by the nativity in the foyer. Gotta love that kid and his heart!

Visit With Santa

On Sunday, we went to the Biltmore Estate to visit with Santa. Drew had prepared his letter for Santa very carefully and, like the good big brother he is, helped make a list for Davis.

We had been looking forward to this day for weeks - we had set aside this day for the boys. We had really talked up Santa to Davis and we expected him to love seeing the "Big Man". But, little did we know, that Davis would decide that Sunday would be the day that he would become, well, evil. Really. He was evil - as hard as I try, I just can't think of another word to describe it. And he screamed about seeing Santa. Not because he was scared, but just because he wanted to scream.

So, while Drew did this...






Davis did this...


Good times. And the icing on the cake was, that as we were leaving, he kept saying how he wanted to see Santa. Aaaaaaahhhhhh!

After Drew met Santa, Davis was a little happier and I was determined to get a picture of the boys together. They are so hard to photograph together! Our Christmas card picture was nearly impossible to get this year! They are never both looking at the camera. Drew makes weird, "I'm trying to be cool" faces and Davis {sigh} just never cooperates. If anyone has any tricks for taking photos of 2 (or more) children, please let me know. Here is our attempt on Sunday...

Take One

Take Two

Take Three

Take Four

Take Five

Take Six

Take Seven

Take Eight

Take Nine

And Mom gives up...

Christms is Coming!

Christmas is in full swing around our home now! I love the holidays and we are so excited for the coming month. Here are a few pictures...

We have two trees this year - one in the den and this one in the keeping room. It's all gold and silver and it really sparkles!

A few decorations in the kitchen.

Let's play a game - can you spot the Stephanie? Did you find her?

I have had the hardest time taking a good picture of our trees. But I wanted to show some of our favorite ornaments. We love this Santa - he's just so jolly!

Drew picked out these guys on our trip to Richmond. He loves sharing all he knows about North Carolina and he loves that the state bird is the cardinal.

Here is the den and our red and white tree. I love my new "Believe" letters!

Our basket of Christmas books sits by the tree and our goal is to read one a day. So far, we are a little behind, but we still have plenty of December left to go (at least that's what I'm telling myself!).

Our beautiful nativity was a wedding gift from my Aunt Lynn and Uncle Rocky and it's still our favorite Christmas decoration to put out. This year it's in the foyer.

Thanksgiving in Pictures

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Richmond this year. Here are a few pictures of our trip...

The Kids' Table


Kevin and his Dad. They look nothing alike. It's hard to tell they are related, really.


The Little Maestros - Davis and Jackson


Davis performing solo.


Amber and Jackson - I cropped out the bunny ears she was giving her brother!


After lunch, we played with Drew's new remote control airplane.


Nana and Davis


Jackson and Brian - trying to rescue the airplane (or was it the boomerang?) from a tree!


Davis and Papa Frank

We loved seeing the tacky Christmas lights on Thanksgiving night! There were two houses side by side - I've never seen anything like it!

Tacky House Number Two!

We've been decorating for Christmas since we've been home! I'll be back with some pictures soon!

Thankful

I am so thankful today for so many things - the list could go on and on. But, I am most thankful for my boys. I am so grateful for the love and laughter that they bring to my life.

I am so thankful that my boys have such a wonderful example of a husband and father to watch everyday. I am grateful for Kevin because he helps with math homework and takes care of bath time - even after a long day at work. And he's not mad that I saved those duties for him!

I am so grateful for Davis' outgoing personality and the way he makes everyone smile. I love his laugh and the way he tries to shove me out the door when I drop him off at preschool - "See you later, Mom!" He makes me feel so loved!

I am thankful for Drew's sweet spirit and the way that he takes care of his little brother. I am thankful that he is growing up (even though I tell him he should stop!) because I love watching him learn and explore and discover new things.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Up, Up and Away!

One of the perks of living in the mountains is waking up to this on Fall mornings. Hot air balloons in the sky!



This picture was taken from our front porch about a week ago. And what a difference a week makes! Now, the leaves have just about all fallen. So sad! But, I'm still hopeful that snow will cover those bare trees very soon.

Have a wonderful weekend! We will be helping my parents move from our, I mean, their home. {sigh} I am so excited about their new house, but I'm feeling very sentimental today. Who knew that so much happiness and love and comfort and family could be contained in a little ranch house? Well, my parents must have known when they bought our little home 31 years ago. I am so grateful to them today (and everyday) for all the things that "home" means to me - the most important of which have nothing to do with bricks and mortar.

Catching Up

Well, "eventful" doesn't even begin to describe our life lately! It's been a whirlwind, so I wanted to catch you up in one HUGE blog post.

Starting with Drew's 8th birthday party. It was WILD with children in costumes running all over the house -and that was before I gave them any sugar! I haven't included many pictures because of other children, but I do want to show Drew blowing out his candles from his party - he was Harry Potter this year (without the glasses in this picture).


I also wanted to show my fun afternoon with the boys on Drew's actual birthday. After I picked him up from school, Drew wanted to "jump" at the mall. Our mall has a trampoline-bungee-thing (can you tell I have no idea what to call it?) and so Davis and I watched Drew jump, we had soft pretzels for our snack and they both made bears at Build-a-Bear. Drew wanted to dress his bear in a Navy dress uniform - he's so proud of our cousin, Blake who is in the Navy! Very cute! Then, we picked up Dad from work and went to Fun Depot (no pictures - dead camera battery!) and played and played and played. It was a great weekend!







Oh, and Drew got the all important "bike with no training wheels" that weekend, too! He bought it and lots of cool bike gear with his birthday cash! I think he enjoys shopping as much as I do sometimes! He has also been having a blast making some of his Lego toys that he received! Good grief, he's rotten!







Then, after the birthday whirlwind was over, the Halloween whirlwind began. It was quite the week!

I had a great time volunteering in Davis' preschool class on the day of their Fall Festival! He was great and actually agreed to wear his penguin costume - something he would NOT do at his brother's birthday party! They made pumpkin pancakes and had a costume parade - it was the best!







Then, on Halloween night, the grandparents came to town and we had potato soup and mummy dogs and we had a blast trick or treating! Drew is a pro already, but Davis really got the hang of it by the end of the night! That child will eat some candy! We knew he loved his "Dem-a-dems" (Davis-speak for M&Ms!), but he kept asking for peanuts! I knew we didn't have any peanuts in the house - I couldn't figure out what he meant. Then, he brought me a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup! That's my kind of peanuts!



Then, the next day, the cousins arrived! I don't know if I've ever mentioned it on the blog before, but Kevin's brother's children are really close in age to our children. They'll realize one day how lucky they are! Amber and Drew were born about 8 weeks apart and Jackson and Davis are 5 weeks apart! We couldn't have planned it better if we had tried!



We had a wonderful time hanging out and playing over the weekend! I am sorry to say that I didn't get even one picture of the grown-ups, though.

Then, on Tuesday, our week came to a screeching halt. No one has ever told me that kidney infections are that painful! So, I've been out of commission for a week, which has been no fun. But, thanks to my mom and Kevin, we made it through and are looking forward to everything getting back to normal - right before the holidays begin! Ha! Never a dull moment!