Sunday, December 22, 2013

More Christmas Happenings


We have had a really fun week celebrating Christmas. One morning we joined our new/dear friends from our church for gingerbread house building. This was a first for all of us actually. We glued graham crackers (with hot glue) onto empty half and half containers. We then used frosting as "glue" for the candies. It was a lot of fun. We had to keep Coleman from licking all of his glue off his house! He did a good job though.

Callie was mother Mary in her preschool, classroom skit. We then had a birthday party for Jesus and got to celebrate with other kids in her class.

On Wednesday night we went with our same friends from church, Aunt Laura, and Bebe to the "Behold the Lamb" concert. For those who don't know, that is Andrew Peterson. We were so impressed. The music was awesome, and the kids did great considering they were up until 10:30.

These next pictures are all from the Spalding Christmas party. This is a yearly party that Charlie's mother's side of the family has. Callie even had a little part in the reading/telling of the Christmas story. She memorized a couple of lines. We also got to visit with cousins, the ones in town but also cousins from Colorado. From left to right, Callie, Elizabeth, Riley, Reagan, and Annabel. Elizabeth and Annabel were visiting from Colorado.

Singing Christmas carols

Monday, December 16, 2013

Winter Wonderland


This past Friday night we were able to visit the new Winter Wonderland at Turner Field. I say new, because this is the first year they have had the event. We went with Papa and Bebe and had a great time. They had rides, lights, and even a little circus. The weather was perfect for being outdoors. The rides were the highlights for the kids. The highlight of my evening was the little bit of Funnel Cake I got to have. Man, I forgot how good those things are!

Monday, December 09, 2013

Butterfly Party


Yesterday, we had an early birthday party for Miss Callie. Can't believe she is almost 5! I'm cherishing her last days as a four year old. Anyway, it was a really sweet party. We invited 7 girls, mostly neighbors and church friends. Callie informed me she wanted a butterfly party, so we did butterflies. Each girl got a pair of butterfly wings to decorate with little gems, glitter glue, stickers, and fake flowers. They had fun, and it was a good party activity.

a look at some of the goodies!

party attenders Left to Right: Molly Kate, Riley, Callie, Reagan, Anna, Coleman, and Mary Katelyn

A little shot of the birthday girl from earlier that morning. I thought they looked cute in the Christmas outfits. Thank you Bebe for buying them!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Thanksgiving


We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. We spent the night with Papa and Bebe and cooked our meal at their house the next day. Our most memorable moment (which I so unfortunately did not capture by photo) was first attempt at brining the turkey. I placed our turkey in 2 gallons of saltwater to brine overnight in a styrofoam cooler. Charlie picked up the cooler to carry it out to the garage to stay cold. When he did, the cooler split open and out poured two gallons of water and our raw turkey onto the rug on the floor! If only I had captured that moment!

We carried on with our Minnesota tradition of chopping down our Christmas tree down south to Georgia with us. Unfortunately, we couldn't carry our beautiful Minnesota fir trees down as well. Come to find out they don't grow firs this far south. So, we settled for a Leeland Cypress. I think what I miss most is the smell of the fir tree. But, this one isn't bad, and this particular type of tree doesn't shed or lose its color.

Helping Daddy chop down the tree

The finished product.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Car Party


Last weekend we had a little party for Coleman. Can't believe he is 2! He doesn't feel like a baby anymore to me. It's sweet, but kinda sad at the same time. It was a car themed party, which was appropriate since he is crazy about cars. We did a poor job of taking a picture of all our party guests at one time, but hopefully these will give you little glimpse. The party primarily consisted of neighbors and family. The big highlight was taking rides in Bebe's convertible car. We tied balloons on the car and took laps around the apartment complex! Ha Ha it was a little party mobile.

This picture was actually from the day of his birthday. We had a chick-fil-a breakfast.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Zoo Membership


Just wanted to put up a quick post about our zoo trip the other weekend. We heard the thing to do in Atlanta was get a family zoo membership. I must say, we've used it a lot already. I mostly meet up at the zoo with other moms, but the other weekend just our little family of 4 went. It was a lot of fun, just the four of us. We also bought seed sticks to feed the birds. We had not done this before, so it was a special treat. The kids loved it. They also enjoyed the panda exhibit. Stay tuned to the blog for highlights from Coleman's "car" party this past weekend!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Mini Vacay!


Charlie was able to take a couple days off of work this past week. We headed to South Carolina (still amazing that I can do things like go to south carolina for a weekend now that we're back south!). Anyway, my mother kept the kids for a couple of days so that Charlie and I could enjoy some time away. This was the first time in over 2 YEARS since we had been away from the kids! Some friends of ours were gracious enough to let us use their gorgeous lake house on Lake Keowee. This was the view from our massive back porch!

This a picture of Charlie and I at nearby Lake Joccasse. It is my favorite lake because of how crystal clear the water is. Notice how you can barely tell the rocks are under water because it is so clear.

After our wonderful time away, we went to Clinton, SC home of Presbyterian College (where I went to school). It was homecoming/our 10 year reunion. We got to visit with friends we hadn't seen in a while. We also got to host our dear friend Melissa the evening before. She had come back for homecoming as well.

Kaye's kids and mine tailgating! (left to right.. Hayes, Jackson, Callie, Coleman)

Kaye, Moj, and myself

Here's a little snapshot of the kids' time with Gami while we were away. They had a blast going to McDonalds and Chuck E. Cheese (for the first time, I might add). Thank you Gami for making this trip possible!