Tis the Season!

This could possibly be the longest post in the history of blogging. Around this time every year, it's non-stop which means lots to report!
Where to begin...

Last Tuesday after B's very last cheer practice of the year (yay!), the girls dove into a major project...

The annual gingerbread house construction party!
B had exams to study for, so she didn't stick around to help for long and the girls didn't mind taking care of the icing and candy in her absence...

This is what happens when you don't let your icing dry because of a lack of patience and the house inevitably falls apart...

But Daddy put it back together when he got home from running...

Towns also had her last dancing class of the year last week, and I decided that it would be fun to get all the dancers dolled up and put on a show for the parents...


DJ Bebby Bebs in the background...

Cate and Lilly Beth were such supportive little sisters...

Wednesday Towns' class invited a parent to come help make gingerbread houses and have a little Christmas party...


We had a table full of this...

Along with a table full of anxious little girls...

We started with 2 milk cartons...

And ended up with this...



Party time!

Mrs. Glenda and Mrs. Michelle gave all the kids sweet teddy bears...

They all sat in their circle and sang lots of Christmas songs for us...

While us moms were like paparazzi!

Saturday J and I made our way to Tuscaloosa (the forbidden territory for me) to his best friend Bradley's wedding...

I feel like Bradley is family. He's spent many a night with us during duck season! And he hasn't complained the first time about sleeping under a hot pink bedspread...ha!

It was great to get dressed up and have a night out. Grandmommy came to keep an eye on the girls while we were gone which is always a treat.
All these pics were taken with my iphone in a dimly lit room, so they're not the best. But I would sooner die than take the big ol' Nikon into a wedding reception because that would surely make J run for the nearest exit!!


Sunday after a great church service, we had lunch and J got the girls out and about while I tackled these...

That's always a monumental undertaking! I got them all wrapped and got everyone fed in time for us all to catch The Nativity Story Sunday night. It's always one of our Christmas favorites. I've been looking for it because I intended to buy it, but it just so happened to be on TV. Towns was going to town with her blue crayon and a notebook, and I was sure that there was no way she was really drawing anything because she couldn't see much by the light of the television. I was wrong...

There you have Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus in the stable. Complete with the big star in the sky. I'll be keeping that one forever!

Last night we decorated the last tree in the house that needed some color on it...



After dinner, we hopped in the car and rode around to look at Christmas lights...

And when we got home, a certain junk food junkie dug into this...

Only 3 more days 'til Christmas...

We're ready...can you tell?!

I Bit the Bullet...

I did it.

I cut Cate's mullet.
I didn't know I had it in me, but I did.
Thursday morning Towns asked me if I'd cut her hair, and once I got started on it Cate couldn't wait to have her turn. I took it as a sign that it needed to be done. Towns has never had a real hair cut - I've always cut it myself. And I've always done it while Cate was asleep because I didn't want her catching on to how the whole thing works. I know without a doubt she'll be my child who takes the scissors to her hair. It's just a matter of time. I've already mentally prepared myself. I never had to worry about that with Towns, but Cate is a completely different story. She waited somewhat patiently to hop on the stool, and once I started on her she asked 'you beauty shopping me, Mommy?' about fifty times. Towns and I laughed hysterically every single time. She couldn't be still for trying to see what I was doing back there...

I'm happy to report that she's not rocking a mull anymore! I believe it's still long enough for 'ponky tails', and that was her Daddy's one request.

We played around all weekend long...




And Sunday after church I just so happened to have my camera on hand to get pictures of the girls doing what they do best.
Putting on a show (for everyone in the church parking lot)...


Towns is singing her heart out in this one, and Cate's the back up dancer (living her Mother's dream)...




Pretend microphone in hand...

Raise your hand if you're excited that Christmas is in less than two weeks...

We are!!
And speaking of Christmas, this morning on the way home from taking Bethany to school Cate informed me that baby Jesus was born in Birmingham.
Bethlehem...Birmingham...I can see how it can be confusing.
But she wasn't backing off the fact that she knew she was right about knowing exactly where He was born! Leave it to Cate to come up with her own version of the Christmas story...

Santa's Village or Bust!

Last night we were in the mood to do something Christmas-y, so we headed to Huntsville for dinner at Mellow Mushroom and a trip to Santa's Village. Given the fact that it was below 30 degrees and we didn't realize that most of Santa's Village was outside (translation: we were unprepared), we were in and out in less than an hour!
B was oh-so-thrilled about going (as most teenagers would be). But the girls were ecstatic about it...if you didn't remind them that Santa was actually going to be there! They're terrified of him for some reason, and both nearly came unglued at the thought of having to sit in his lap. We didn't push the issue. One day they'll come around!

Not quite tall enough for this one...


Towns loved pretending she was Santa...

And she wouldn't let Cate sit in the front with her. She stuck her in the back and told her that she could be a reindeer, even though that's not really where reindeer go...



Can you find Bethany and Towns in the Christmas tree?

I need someone to give me a class in picture-taking for Christmas. I tried to get a picture of the reindeer, and got mostly the fence instead...

Can I get an A for effort?

The girls got to write their letters to Santa at one of the indoor stops...we let them take their dear sweet time so we could thaw out! That's why I didn't mind letting Towns spell out her entire name which took all of 5 minutes to write. She took it upon herself to check the 'nice' box and I couldn't really disagree with that one. Bethany checked both boxes on Cate's letter! They dropped their letters in an elf's bag that was ever so patiently waiting on Towns to finish, only for me to chase the elf down and ask for the letter back so I could keep it.
Bethany called me crazy. I call it sentimental! :)

Heaven Help Me!

Just out of curiosity...

Say you have a 2 year old who is quite a pistol. And say, perhaps, that she's been told to keep her hands away from the ceramic Nativity scene...oh, maybe 74 times a day. And just for fun, let's say that she disregards the fact that she's ever heard those words uttered in her presence and captures a wise man every so often. I can live with that. It's pretty tempting. But let's go a little further and say that she brings you this fellow here and tells you that it's Lady Gaga...

What would you do?
Start praying?
That's what I thought, too.

An Early White Christmas

Saturday morning we woke up to this...

We don't get snow very often, so when we do it's major excitement!
We bundled up and headed outside...


Cate was trying her best to throw snowballs, but all she could get was dirt and leaves!
Maybe one day she can see real snow, but for now we'll take what we can get...

By the time the snow had melted, Grandmommy and Pop had arrived so we could help Grandmommy celebrate her birthday. She's one of the girls' favorite people in the world (mine too!), so we were glad we got to be with her on her birthday...

Unfortunately, the only other birthday picture I have is with a green balloon covering up Grandmommy blowing out her candle...thanks B! HA!

Sunday we went to Christmas on Church Street at our church, which was just as great as it is every year. It was a packed house, and everyone there had to have left even more in the Christmas spirit than when they came. There was no way not to! These people, along with the choir and orchestra, did an amazing job! Have I mentioned that I love this time of year? Can I say it again? I love Christmas!!