"Santa... Are You??"

Today we got dressed up, had a photo shoot, and decided that it would be a good day to go to Bass Pro Shops and see Santa.
Here are some pictures from our little photo shoot. I hate the glare from our screen door :( Some were really cute though!

Now after almost an hour and a half in line, I regretted choosing today UNTIL we actually go to Santa.  We used our time in line to chat, and we talked about how we are supposed to sit in Santa's lap and tell him what you want for Christmas. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Margaret Anne, are you going to sit on Santa's lap?
MA: Noooo.
Me: Are you going to tell him what you want for Christmas?
MA: Yes. Argwet want presents.
Me: What kind of presents?
MA: Presents.
Me: Are you going to sit in Santa's lap so he can see what a good girl you are?
MA: Nooooo.
MA: Santa, are you? (this is MA speak for "Santa, where are you?")

So, considering it was an hour past her naptime when we actually got close to Santa, I was fully prepared for a meltdown/fit. However, I let her watch the other kids getting on Santa's lap (none of them were freaking out, thank GOD) and when we got close to him she said "Hey Santa!" and looked at me and said "Like it!" Y'all, my heart melted. Then she got right on his lap and sat there like a big girl for her picture. Unfortunately we didn't capture any of her big smiles because she was being a little bashful, but when Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas she did say "Presents." Here is her Santa pic:

I am so proud of her, I just thought she did great! I totally forgot about the hour and a half in line after seeing how much she loved seeing Santa.

I need this today. Do you?

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

I can't believe it's been three years.

George Folkerts

First day of our Field Biology of the Southern Appalachians class (3 week trip),
Summer of 2002

Three years ago today, George Folkerts left this earth. I still have a hard time grasping the fact that he will never lead me into another swamp or citronelle pond, will never play trivia (as Biobug) or make me put on a pair of smelly "wet shoes." I can't believe he'll never try to get me to smoke another Camel Light or give me another lecture about the "real world." I can't believe all of the things I've done and learned in my life that I never would have known or experienced thanks to him. I remember all the times he talked me into going out and socializing/playing pool when I should have been at home studying. His reasons were clear and understandable - he thought that young people should be young and live life to the fullest while they could. I remember how he knew teaching was my talent and pushed me into it. He counseled me through money crises, boyfriend troubles, school troubles, and everything a college student deals with. He taught me not to be afraid of the unknown. He taught me to appreciate the little things and to come to understand the "green blur." I listened to countless roadside lectures from George and learned SO very much. Thank you George. I still miss you.

I Elfed us again!

SEC Weekend in the ATL

Well, I thought I would add a few pics to Susannah's post about our fun weekend!

Somehow Sus and I got NO pics together, but we had so much fun and talked incessantly! It was such a blast and I hope we were decent houseguests, Sus was a great hostess. Jason wasn't so bad, either! Sorry about the quality of these pics, but since our computer is STILL with the geek squad, all I had was my phone for pictures.

This is how Margaret Anne and Emma spent the end of the game. Wasn't that a great game? War Eagle!

The next morning, Emma made sure that MA and Daisy ate their breakfast. She is such a sweet precious thing!

We took these girls to lunch and shopping on Saturday and it could not have gone any better they were SO well behaved! Then we enjoyed an awesome performance by our Auburn tigers and laughed over how silly people were acting about everything on Facebook! I've found that FB can be very entertaining on game days.

I think the guys had a blast, but since their hotel bathroom was kind of gross (Hays describe it as it looked like there had been a "doo doo murder") they came home pretty early on Sunday and so Sus and I left the kids with them while we did a little more shopping. I can't wait to see the Edwards family again soon! But we also missed Laura and Peebs too, and I hope we all get to hang soon.

"Christmas, Christmas time is here, time for Joy, and time for Cheer..." and Christmas Cards!

I love getting Christmas cards in the mail. When they arrive, I truly feel like it is the Christmas season. I also love getting photo cards with pictures of friends and family, especially those who live far away and I can't see them and their precious children (or dog children) as much as I would like. It's also really fun to look at cards from years past and see how much people and their sweet babies have changed.
Last year was the first year that I was able to send cards, and if you remember, these were some of my pics from my Christmas photo shoot last year...

This year I am going to order my photo cards from Shutterfly! Right now, they are doing a promotion for 50 free holiday cards! They have such a great selection of cards and layouts to choose from. Click here to see.   Shutterfly also had great gift items like these calendars (Click here) and personalized thank you notes (see those by clicking here). I personally love when people give personalized thank you notes as gifts... I think they are cute and very useful!

If you are interested in participating in the blog promotion for Shutterfly and getting 50 free cards, click here.

Happy Card Shopping!

Remember, I don't like to share my finished card until after it has been mailed out! You guys will see it soon...

Thankful!

We are still here, everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts. Our home computer has a virus, so I haven't been able to do much on the blog front. We had a great Thanksgiving and were so blessed to have a combined Thanksgiving with my family and Hays' parents. It was so much fun and GREAT to see a still undefeated Auburn team! War Eagle!

I did not get any pictures so I am going to link to THIS POST on my good friend Fran's blog so you can see our cute babies playing over the holiday. I hope to be back with more posts from a fixed computer soon!

Katie's Senior Pictures

Please go here to look at my sweet dance captain Katie's senior pictures. She is so gorgeous and the photographer did a great job!

I am going to be SO SAD when she leaves me!

Trick or Treat! (Halloween, Part 2)

On Sunday night, we continued the tradition of getting together with my best friend, Amanda, and her entire family at her sister's house. We got there early so that the kids could play a little bit and then we could take them out to trick or treat. Alyson has a terrific neighborhood for trick or treating! She also has really sweet, fun neighbors.

Amanda's little girl Emily is 4 months older than Margaret Anne, and has really good verbal skills for a 2 year old. At one point, Margaret Anne came over and said "Face hurt" and I asked if she wanted me to kiss it, and she shook her head. Amanda asked her if she wanted Emily to kiss it and she said "yes," so she walked over to Emily and said "Kiss it." Emily looked at MA and then looked at Amanda and said "Her daddy needs to fix her." So hilarious!

Now for the pictures:

Cute Cheese Ball

Mustard spider web

 Ghost Sandwiches

Bug Cake

 Me and Amanda

Our precious girls, Emily and Margaret Anne

Trick or Treat! Margaret Anne did so well saying "trick or treat" and "thank you!"

Carrying her prize

Walking with Mommy - gotta hold hands!

 Sweet girls taking turns. If you can't tell, Emily is Dorothy and Ella Kate (middle) was a nurse! Her scrubs said "Ella, R.N."

Emily and Margaret Anne holding hands. MA loved this!

They walked up to the door holding hands, then Emily had enough. Ha!

Halloween, Part One

We had a very busy weekend. Margaret Anne got to have so much Halloween fun, and I think she really loved it. I swear, as soon as I feel sad about being a grown up with real responsibilities, I am able to watch Margaret Anne and experience childhood through her eyes. It is truly a joy to watch.

On Saturday, Jamie, Elaine, and I got Charlie, Andrew, and Margaret Anne together to take pictures in their costumes, while the boys watched the Auburn/ Ole Miss game. War Eagle.
Natalie came to join in the fun. We had so much good food and fellowship, it was a blast. My man T-dub had a little cold, so Jamie decided to wait until Sunday to put him in his giraffe costume. Jamie, I want to see pics!

Our better attempts at getting them together while all in costume.

My little Cheetah!

More Charlie love - true story... when we got there, Charlie was in just his diaper and they would not stop hugging and kissing. It was pretty cute!

"Margaret Anne! Help me get these orange lights down!"

Being dressed up is SO exhausting...

Cheetah prowling around.

"Here Margaret Anne, eat this leaf. I tried a few and they're GOOD."

Lady, quit taking my picture.

"I'm not doing anything... definitely not ripping leaves off this bush."

We really enjoyed our Saturday night with great friends. It will be so fun to watch these kids grow up together!

Charlie's Bday Party!

We had a blast this past Saturday at Charlie's party. Jamie always knows how to make things look beautiful and Charlie's party was no exception. It was a beautiful day, and since we were all excited about the Auburn/LSU game, we all tried to dress accordingly. Margaret Anne wore her new Auburn dress, too!

 MA loves her some Charlie. And I thought we would never get her away from the slide!

Each child got to decorate a pumpkin and take it home! We loved doing this and I thought the finished ones were so cute.

Margaret Anne's kitty cat pumpin.

Jamie made so much cute delicious food!

Charlie's special Birthday Cupcake! So cute!

I think he liked it. Such a precious family! We love them so much.

Decor...

Margaret Anne loved this see saw toy!

We tried to get a good picture of the guys, but Charlie wasn't having it! It was his party, he wanted to play!

Not a great pic of the three muske-terrors, but it was the best I could do! That's Jamie's nickname for them, by the way.

Then after all the kids had decorated their pumpkins, we decided Elaine's "pumpkin" Ava needed a costume, too!

So cute!

Part of our Momtourage group! Me, Elaine, and Jamie

Andrew, so cute and hard to get a picture of because he is so busy!

We also got to take home cookies. I may or may not have eaten Margaret Anne's. (Ok, I shared it with her.)

 Thanks for having us, Jamie! We had so much fun!