Just Plain Fancy

This has absolutely nothing to do with my run at posting Christmas pics, but I had to add this because it was pretty funny....

The other night I asked Towns to get her pj's on and get ready for bed and the picture above is what she came up with. Anyone who knows my child knows that she's into wearing her fanciest get-up ALL the time. Sometimes we wear at least five or six different costumes in the course of a day (some of them my old tacky dance costumes which is hysterical), and most of the time I can't get her out of them when it's time to leave the house. So I've resigned to the fact that I'm gonna pick my battles and roll with it. Add a turtle neck and tights and it makes for wonderful Publix/Target/post office/bank/etc. attire. If I'm lucky (and I do mean lucky), I can get her in normal clothes with a tutu compromise....that translates into her wearing real clothes with simply a tutu over them. And this wouldn't be complete without telling you what she said today. It's been one of those cold days where it's almost painful to go outside so we've been playing in the dress-up trunk way more than usual. Towns is potty trained which means that going to the ladies' room isn't an easy task when you've got hundreds of layers of tulle from your waist down. So after probably the tenth time of taking all the hoopla off to use the restroom and putting it all back on she looks at me and says in the most dramatic voice ever "uuugggghhhh, I CAN'T keep doing this to myself"!

Here's the picture where she's all smiles because I let her get in bed in the clothes you saw in the previous picture. It's really funny to be honest, and it makes her feel so special to be so dressed up and pretty. So why on earth would I want to take that away from her?! The sun's going to come up tomorrow whether she's in conventional pj's or dressed as a fairy! :) This is why I L-O-V-E, LOVE having little girls!

Christmas Eve

I'm finally getting back into the swing of things so here's the first installment of Christmas McClendon style...

I let Towns make Santa's reindeer a little snack thinking it would pass a good amount of time Christmas Eve night. She was itching for Christmas morning to come so we thought this would be a good way to distract her. I had some simple carrots in mind, you know since everyone knows reindeer love carrots. But my creative little chick had something completely different in mind....

After my boring carrot idea she went and got marshmellows...

And then chocolate covered raisins and really pretty sprinkles!

And naturally, we had to get a pink spatula to mix it all together with.

When it was all done she had to take a good look and make sure she'd gotten it all just right. Obviously reindeer food is serious business to a 2 year old! We put it on the front porch and she was pretty excited to see that it was all gone come Christmas morning! :)

Happy Birthday Jesus!

A couple of weekends ago Towns and I went to the Happy Birthday Jesus party at our church...and it was a celebration if I've ever seen one! Our church has an amazing children's ministry and it seems like every other week there's something big going on. The party was complete with big inflatables, a carnival with more games than you could imagine, face painting, clowns, ponies, and on and on! To top it all off we had a big birthday party with huge birthday cakes to go along with the theme. We had a blast and it was a good reminder of what the Christmas season is all about!

We were first in line for the face painting!

Hart and Towns having fun jumping.

What's a party without a sugar rush?!

Emma and Towns went to check out the ponies and I overheard them discussing whether or not they should give it a try.

They decided to go for it!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Jonathan's office rented a Santa for all the employees and their children a couple of weeks ago so we went to check out the famous old St. Nick. Towns was all about it until we got there and she had a change of heart in no time flat. Once she laid eyes on Santa (which was a really good one as you can see from the pics) it was over! However, Cate didn't mind sitting in his lap and we managed to get Towns to agree to a picture if we were ALL in it, provided she didn't have to sit in his lap. It's not the greatest picture ever, but at least we've got something to remember it by!

My Dear Reindeer

Thought I'd share a few pics from Towns' Mother's Day Out Christmas party at our church...

Katie, Towns, Anna Bekah and Emma

Towns tells me that if she were a reindeer she'd be "Dancer"...which is so appropriate being that there are very few minutes in the day when she's not moving and grooving!

Towns and her friend Vivi

Long Time, No See

It's been quite a week to say the least. Normally I would have posted ten times already about Christmas since we were SO into it this year, but I'm falling down on my job! Everyone in our family has been down for the count in the past week, and when you factor in Christmas and traveling to see our families...well, it's enough to make my head spin! I had emergency surgery last Thursday (it was outpatient, but with two small children demanding my attention the minute I walked in the door from the hospital, it was no less harder to recover from if it would have warranted a 2 night hospital stay), Jonathan was in the ER on Christmas Eve THINKING he was about to require surgery (he's never been to the doctor in his entire life, much less to the emergency room, so I knew he meant business!), and Towns and Cate have had the worst virus for days now. All that to say this, I'm working on getting pictures loaded onto the computer from Christmas and trying to get my thoughts together enough to tell you all about it! Hope yours was merry and bright! :)

Busy, Busy!

We've been rather busy around here the last few weeks...so busy that I haven't had a free second to be on the computer (which is usually my sweet escape). Without making this a mile-long list, here's what we've been up to....

A few weekends ago we went to pick out a Christmas tree which was MUCH overdue being that we get in the Christmas spirit, oh, somewhere around Halloween...

Hmmm, so many trees to choose from!

Ah-hah! Found one!

SO excited about the tree atop our car!

Towns is into dressing herself, and this is the fancy outfit she came up with last Friday...

And she added these stunning leopard "high heels" (aka clogs) to her Christmas outfit...

Bethany and Grandmommy came up last weekend and we finally took the famed (and dreaded by all but me) Christmas card picture...

The picture could have been a LITTLE bit better, but at least all 3 were looking at the camera!

And here are a few little treats thrown in for good measure...

One day they'll hate me for dressing them alike, but for now we'll keep rolling right along!

There's nothing like Halloween 2006's costume doubling as pj's!

Just thought this one was cute...Cate's finally eating so much she's getting a double chin! Love the matter-of-fact look on her face...

Towns' two favorite things...her big sister & fun Christmas toe socks!

"Congress spends money like John Edwards in a beauty shop"

This whole blog scene is about to switch gears for me. Usually I'm writing about the fam and such, but I've been prompted to change it up a little bit and be a bit more serious. Being the devout Republican I am, I have been so distraught over which candidate to pick in terms of the Presidential primaries. From day 1 it was George W all the way for me the last 2 rounds, and until just recently I really haven't adopted a candidate to call my own. I've all but put in a personal call to Newt Gingrich begging him to make my day and throw his hat in the ring. I've always been impressed with his knowledge and the way he nails every interview he's ever done. He's the real deal and knows his stuff. I would feel very confident in putting my trust in him to run the country, but he's told me time after time he's not in the running...no way, no how. So then I was somewhat into Rudy since he was the next best choice, or so I thought. He handled 9/11 pretty well and I suppose I can forgive him for being a yankee. But an underdog has captured my attention and, well, so long Rudy. Now, no need to feel compelled to comment on this being that everyone's political views are different. But I really feel the need to give a little shout-out to Mike Huckabee. I wasn't a fan until I heard him in the Republican Debate in Florida. He was AMAZING....the only one on the stage who didn't scream "I'm putting on a show for you to get your vote". I love that he hasn't gotten into the mud-slinging. Of course, that could very well come in the near future but I don't expect it from him. He's a godly man and in my opinion, our country is desperate for someone like him. He's so open with his faith and what you see is what you get. I can't give him enough credit for being the example he's been so far. He might not make it to the finish line, but if the future President takes a few pages from Huckabee's book he'll be doing a good day's work. So maybe he doesn't have the advantage of possessing a wealth of knowledge on foreign policy and everything else that comes along with the job, but I sure do like the guy. So here's to you, Mr. Huckabee, make us proud!

I really think Huckabee's got something special. Something I don't see in any other Republican candidate. And I think the aforementioned "something special" is just what the country is crying out for. If you've got approximately 8 minutes & 11 seconds check him out and see if you fancy the "Congress spends money like John Edwards at a beauty shop" comment as much as I did!