Here, There, and Everywhere

The holiday season is in full swing and we are staying quite busy! My sweet Papaw got out of the hospital and is adjusting to his new normal.  We LOVED having our aunts and uncles in town! The kids were really missing the entertainment when everyone went home!

The kids have really enjoyed adding to our "thankful tree."  It was so cute to listen to each thing they wanted to add from God and family to milk.  We have much to be thankful for and this simple reminder to do daily with the kids was so special. 

Our Christmas decorations have been up for a while now, but we added a puppet theater to the mix this last week. I have judged a tumbling competition between Barbies, a modeling contest between princesses, and watched MANY a production put on my the two littles.  My favorite by far has been to see both kids retelling the Christmas story using their little people nativity. It seriously melts this mama's heart. 

J was out of town at a conference for youth ministers this last weekend, so the kids and I headed to Columbus.  The Nelsons kept the littles and I went to my first State game of the year. It was fabulous!

It was absolutely amazing to get to see some of my favorite girls in the world.  So thankful they have been in my life for the last 14 years!!!

I just love this place!!!

The kids helped Pop with a little baking.  The amount of powdered sugar on the floor was far greater than the amount actually used in the recipe.

These cardboard boxes provided a great deal of fun and countless hours of entertainment! They added to their village over a couple of days and even had a patio.

We were able to go watch our friend  Hunter play basketball at Heritage. So proud of him for signing with Mississippi College to play baseball next year.

After the game, we went to eat at Umi.  It was the first time my kids had been to a Japanese restaurant (Meaghan, can you believe that?) and my kids thought it was the very best thing ever!!!

EK got to go to her very first sleepover (with the exception of Kay Kay's or Nana's house) with Sarah Kat. They made cookies, painted ornaments, and watched movies.  They stayed up until midnight and had so much fun that EK took a 3 hour nap today!!

EK love, love, loves crafting and Nana hooked her up this visit.  She has worked and worked and wanted to have an art show to showcase her amazing creations. She is so proud.

We have had an incredible week so far! J's brother's crew came in to town yesterday and we head to Amory tomorrow for Jones family Thanksmus. Many more pictures to come! Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!!!!

Turkey Time

Ella Kate's class had their Thanksgiving feast today.  They dressed as Pilgrims and Indians and ate a meal that I am certain is historically accurate...CFA nuggets, Cheetos, grapes, and an iced pumpkin cookies.

EK was so proud of the placemat she made for the party, and she was even more thrilled to get to take it home today.

We love getting to see Kay Kay at school!

The sweetest little Pilgrim!

Not only did we leave school with some Pilgrim duds, but we also are the proud new owners of Indian wear as well. "Snow Princess" was apparently the most coveted name in this year's Indian name selection and EK was the lucky recipient of the honor.

J kept Walker while we feasted, so we ran by the church to let him see the Thanksgiving fashion show.

We had a super fun morning and are excited for all the other fun Thanksgiving festivities that are to come in the next few days.

Weekends Are The Best

Our weekend started off by celebrating this guy's 32nd birthday.  And by celebrate, I mean he and his daddy worked in the yard for 2 days....in the freezing temperatures! We so enjoyed having the Nelsons here for a couple of days and so appreciate all of their help around the house.  Everyone had a blast.

Speaking of blast...later that evening, J and I braved the artic blast that has taken over Mississippi to catch the first round of the football playoffs.  It was COLD!

Saturday morning, we met up with my mom's side of the family for breakfast at Primo's. My granddaddy has been in the hospital for the last week, so my aunts, uncles and cousin have been in town.  Although the circumstances of the visit are not at all what we would like, it has been awesome to get to spend time together since we don't see each other as often as we would like.

EK wanted her picture by this tree.  Why not?

Walker is a mess.  He and Aunt Ellen spent a good 15 minutes discussing the things in the parking lot outside this window.

My aunt and uncle have a precious dog named Bo and he made the trip down from Virginia as well.  My kids love the idea of dogs but have always been rather scared of them up close.  Not Bo.  They adored him....bless his sweet heart!

You know it is true love when Walker is willing to share his beloved blanket!

We had the best time getting to see Katie.  EK was her flower girl a couple of years ago and the Katherine in her name comes from cousin Katie.  EK had the wonderful time coloring pictures with her and I loved getting to visit.

Katie and I are just 6 months apart and we have always been super close even though we live far
away from each other.  It is always special to spend time with this precious girl! Love you Katie!

Back to Bo...again...bless him.

We tried our hardest to help our Dawgs out but it didn't end the way we would have liked.  Oh well, better luck next week!

I snapped this picture before church this morning.  I have a feeling there will be a few more like this in the next month.  We love pictures by the Christmas  tree....yes we already decorated. I seem to always do it during J's birthday week.  I have a problem.

Church was so good today.  Frank spoke truth this morning that was so solid and the music was awesome. We had a special music presentation and several ballerinas from Ballet Magnificat danced along with the choir, orchestra and Vibe band.  Ella Kate said it was the best day ever because Bethany (Uncle Frank's fiancé) was dancing.

This weekend has been a good (and busy) one.  We are thankful for all the family and friends that we have been able to be around over the last few days. 

Disney on Ice

My people love Disney. Anything Disney. So, when Disney on Ice comes to town, it is a must for this crew.  Ella Kate was invited to go to the show as part of a birthday party for a sweet friend in her class.  They met up at the Old Capital Inn and rode a party bus to the performance. Then after the show, rode the party bus back again to do cake and ice cream.  Pretty stellar time if you ask me!  Mom, Dad and I got to take in the action with the little guy.  He was disappointed to have to ride in the "party van" with us but quickly got over the disappointment with popcorn and a spinning blinky light which we absolutely needed.

The birthday girl's mom sent this picture during the show. She was one brave/crazy lady to take on 16 5/6 year olds, but Ella Kate said it was the best time! 

Twinkle Toes

It's fairly obvious that Ella Kate is obsessed with all things ballet related, so I was super excited to get to watch her at practice last week on parent observation day.  She was in her element for sure and I know I'm biased, but she's actually really a pretty good little dancer! I absolutely loved getting to watch her do what she loves!!!!!