O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Call us crazy, but we took the annual family trip to pick out our Christmas tree the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We had a packed week ahead and felt that if we didn't go ahead and do it, it would be December and we still wouldn't have a tree up. That's a major no-no at our house!

Obviously stripes and boots were a requirement in order to set out in search of the perfect tree...The measuring tape was key because last year we got one that was a bit too tall...

Bebs helped Towns check out the top of the tree to make sure it was just right...

It didn't take us long to find one...

So we spent the rest of the time putting the camera to good use while J paid the bill...

Towns was mainly in charge of lights this year. It was a first for her and she passed the test...I'll gladly hand over that duty because I'm such a perfectionist about it that I end up with a headache while trying to get them just right!

We've got a silver tree in the kitchen that's pretty sparkly. Towns and Cate insisted that it have sparkly ornaments and a sparkly bow at the top. See a trend here? We do love to glitter things up as much as humanly possible...B spent the night with a friend the night we put the lights on the big tree so we went no further than that. We waited until she got home the next day to let her help decorate it...

Don't you just love the neon star on top of our tree? :)
The children are behind that all the way!

Bebby and Towns worked oh so hard and were in need of rest on the couch halfway through it...Do you sense the sarcasm? :)

Once it was all decorated, Cate crawled under the tree and proceeded to cover herself up with the tree skirt. She fully planned on sleeping underneath it that night...

The other day Towns came home from school asking if we had an elf that would come this Christmas. I told her that that just might be the case, but that I'd gotten word it wouldn't show up until December 1st. So last Wednesday morning she was bright-eyed at about 6 a.m. wanting to know if the elf had come. She and Cate looked and looked. Finally, they found this mess in front of the Christmas tree...

Who could have pulled out every fancy ballet flat the girls own and left them in a pile on the floor?! Usually I'd have two answers...

1. Towns
2. Cate
But they weren't behind the mess this time! Towns knew immediately it was the work of a mischievous elf so she tried to find her... Enter Mirabelle...She left a note explaining that she was sorry for the mess, but she really liked the girls' shoes and tried her hardest to find a pair that fit. No luck, though!

She's shown up in some silly places so far. Like the fridge...because she missed the North Pole and our warmer temps in Alabama were too much for her to handle!

One more thing while I'm at it...

Couldn't resist showing you what Jess made us for Christmas!

Love it? We do!

Merry, merry!

Babies R Us

Pick a baby, any baby...

You need it? We've got it!
Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, gouged out eyes, blond hair, red hair, no hair, talkers, criers, tattooed (one guess as to who the culprit is), etc. They're all very well educated. They're lined up like that and taught lessons every single day. And each one is special in her own way which is why none of them will make the annual trip to the Salvation Army to clean out before Christmas. If you've got little girls you know what I'm talking about. But I'm willing to bet you've never ridden around with one buckled in a car seat after you've pinky promised to take good care of Bitty Baby while your little one is at school...

{I've got to teach Cate to lower the shoulder straps. Bitty's not very safe like that.}
That's me every Monday, Wednesday and Friday while Buggy's at school. The things we do for our children...

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

Since it's December 1st it would be nice if I'd get on the ball and wrap up Thanksgiving, now wouldn't it?! Here we go...

Before I dive into Towns' Thanksgiving kindergarten play, I have to touch on Cate and her Thanksgiving feast at school. Obviously she doesn't do quite as much at school as her sister right now, but I can't leave her out! We signed up to bring cookies to her feast. I let her take charge which meant licking half of the cookies before she put them on the baking sheet. We kept those at home and sent the germ free cookies to school! She was meticulous about lining them up...

I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd have to mess up her hard work and spread them out. Before they were fully cooked we took them out to put sprinkles on them. They seem to stick better that way, and then you can finish baking them. Cate ate a few and poured out fifty times that many in an attempt to get them on the cookies...

Her feast and Towns' play were back to back, so I made it in time to catch Cate's class eating their Thanksgiving feast...

The orange place mat had her picture on it, and around it her teacher had written what Cate said she was thankful. She's thankful for her Mommy, Daddy, Bethany and Towns. Naturally. But she didn't leave out Towns' friend Emma either. :)
Brock and Cate are quite the pair...After sneaking a few Chick Fil A nuggets from Cate's feast, I flew upstairs to meet J for Towns' play. The name of the play was "'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving" and started out with students leaving for a field trip to Farmer McNugget's farm...

Once they were at the farm, they made friends with a few turkeys...

The kids couldn't bear the thought of the turkeys being eaten for Thanksgiving, so they stuffed them under their shirts and snuck them off the farm...

They ended the play all on stage by saying:

"So each one give thanks for loving and for living, and we hope that you all have a happy Thanksgiving". I don't think I'll ever forget those words because it took us so long to memorize them! By that point in the play I was a puddle. I was snapping pictures while J was videoing. And thankfully they did the play twice just in case we missed something the first time!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a few pictures when the play was over. After all, Towns' kindergarten year is almost halfway over and I'm already a wreck about it.

Towns and Briar, her turkey partner...

Briar totally stole the show and was hysterical. He's a cutie, too. Every morning when we walk Towns to the door of her room he'll get out of his chair to come to Cate and say "good morning you little Cate Bug" - and I do mean every morning. Thank goodness he gives Towns a "hey Townsy Wownsy" as he's passing her to get to Cate or else I think she'd get her feelings hurt. It must be the red headed connection that he and Buggy share that gets him going. :)

Emma, Sydney and Towns...

Towns was so happy her daddy was there...

Conner was the farmer in the play. I love that boy because he's like the big brother Towns never had. She and Emma are the only girls in their class and Conner has taken it upon himself to make sure they're very much taken care of. He's so protective of them. I have a picture of the three of them from every school function so far...

Towns meant we weren't leaving without a picture of her and Mrs. Lindsay who is the best teacher anyone could ask for...

The morning wouldn't have been complete without a little cutting up...

Emma's the turkey and Towns has the ax!

This one needs no explanation...
Blondie did great on stage, spoke very loud and clear, and didn't look like she was a bit nervous (even though I knew by the smile on her face she was very much just that!). SO proud of you, Wownsy!

This next round of pictures will officially wrap up Thanksgiving...

In Towns' class, they read a story about a turkey disguising himself as to not be eaten for Thanksgiving. Mrs. Lindsay sent home a Perky Turkey for us to disguise that started out looking like this...
Towns decided she wanted to dress her turkey up like Santa, so we pulled out our craft box and I let her go at it. She did every last bit of it by herself...
And voila...
The finished product!

I can't bring this one to a close without putting this here so I won't forget it...
Cate just poured out her snack bag of Froot Loops. As I was cleaning up her mess I reminded her that she needed to be sweet because Santa Claus is watching her. She said, "I'm pretty sure he's not here." By the look on my face she knew she shouldn't have said it. So she threw her arms around my neck and said "I just love you so good."
She going to make a fine teenager one day...

Babies, Pilgrims and Christmas Angels

But not exactly in that order or even remotely associated with each other...

Let's start with the Pilgrims. The kindergartners had a Thanksgiving play which was definitely worthy its own post that's soon to come, and on the Friday before they got out for the holidays the Pilgrims and Indians made their debut for another little show. But first, a Thanksgiving feast was in order...
It was heart warming to see the Pilgrims and Indians all dining around the same table!
After they feasted and played a round of educational games, they got lined up for their performance...
It was as precious as always!
If Towns is the pilgrim, guess what Cate is...
And a wild one at that!

A couple of weekends ago I hit the road to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Little Miss Sara Frances Parrish, the bundle of sweetness my friend Oakes will welcome next month. The theme was very fitting. You can't imagine what it was...
Jenn did a fine job in the cake department...
However it would have been a whole lot sweeter had she been with us and not under the weather. We missed you, JennSimp!
Let me just state the obvious - Anna Kate's baby shower hosting skills are impressive...
Is that door hanger for Sara Frances not the most precious thing ever? Jess' handy work!
(I just hung our Christmas door hanger and definitely have to show you how cute it is.)
A certain little elf left adorable owl ornaments for us all to take home...
Complete with the cutest poem...thanks Diana! You know we love you!!
Oakes isn't the only one with a bambino on the way...
Ginny and Ashley are both expecting!
Blazer and Tara and their baby bottles...
Wish you could have seen our attempt (or 83 attempts) at a group shot with our self timing cameras. This one is the best one I came home with, and it was a work out trying to get it...
But I wouldn't trade it for anything! And will you please notice that even at a baby shower we've got football on in the background? Only in the south!
I have to admit that I'm a little spoiled from seeing most of those girls two weekends in a row. We'll all convene at the beach in March and I cannot wait! Being with those girls just feels comfortable. Like Tara said, it's the only baby shower she's ever been to where she doesn't have to shut the door to the bathroom! :)

Now onto Christmas Angels...
Last Sunday morning we picked two off of the Angel Tree at church. This is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season. 'Tis better to give than to receive, and we can't start teaching the girls that early enough. So I slightly influenced their Christmas Angel choices and got them each to pick little girls their own age. It really gets me that those two little angels need clothes and tennis shoes for Christmas. We hit Target immediately after church to pick a some things out for them. Towns and Cate really couldn't understand why their angels only wanted clothes for Christmas. I tried to explain it the best I knew how, but they both meant that we were buying them coloring books, crayons, jewelry and dolls as well. I loved how enthusiastic they were about it. It did my heart good!