Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 might just be the best Christmas yet for me! I have so much to update you on that I thought I would do it using pictures (shocker, I know) so you have a lot to look at, but hopefully not a ton to read! :-)





Christmas Eve:





Every year we have brunch on Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family! It's a large group of people with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins... the whole bit! We always have a WONDERFUL spread at brunch and then do Dirty Santa! It's so much fun. Here are (from left to right) my brother Ken, his wife Sarah (expecting), Dad, Bentlee, Mom, my sister Sarah, her husband Malcolm, me, and Chris.





Bentlee stole the show as always! She was ADORABLE in her Christmas dress!!





More family photos and (below) a shot of just the girls!







After brunch, gifts, and visiting, we always head back to mom and dad's to RELAX, nap, play, and hang out. We open gifts and mom cooks Christmas dinner...





Christmas Day:



Chris and I headed back from Chattanooga Christmas Eve night and went to his parents for a while to visit and help put some things together. Christmas morning we had a quiet relaxing time and opened gifts from each other and had breakfast together. Then around noon we headed out to pick up Lily and go to his parents house for Christmas there!



LOVE this picture! These two are SO MUCH ALIKE! And they couldn't love each other more if they wanted to!

Family fun opening gifts and playing with them and visiting!

Me and my prince charming!

Lily anxiously awaiting her turn to open!

Chris' dad gave his mom and lovely necklace!

Lily got a kitchen! I LOVE the kitchen, we saw it at Sam's and told his parents about it and they decided to get it for her for Christmas! It looks ADORABLE in her room!

Do you see Santa?

Day after Christmas:

Lily fell asleep Christmas night, so waking up at her Daddy's the day after Christmas she had a whole other visit from Santa to deal with! I got the call EARLY to come over cause she couldn't wait to get to all those gifts...

Overall it was a magical Christmas and I enjoyed every moment!

I am still enjoying playing with all the new stuff and spending time in doing

Tis the season...

...for parties and socials and games and fun! :-) And that is JUST what I have been up to!

My little digital camera (the one I carry in my purse with me everywhere) has had dead batteries for a while, so my first photo is a couple weeks late! Remember book group night? We took wine, appetizers, and cookbooks to the potter place to eat, drink, PAINT, and be merry! Here are Me, Moo, and La! We had so much fun that night! I'll post a pictures of my final product eventually! It is the most happy I have been with something I painted myself... I was really proud!



This weekend was also full of fun and holiday cheer! Saturday we had games against one of our biggest rivals... and WON! :-) Then we headed to a Tacky Christmas Party at our friend Beth's! It was so much fun! Here is a photo of all of us in our tacky Christmas garb...
...please note that Chris WAS NOT the only guy there! lol. This is just the picture of all of us at the party that work together at the same school! :-) It was so much fun! We stayed at Beth's until after midnight just relaxing in the living room, talking, and laughing!


And SUNDAY was a BLAST!!!!! Chris' friends (that are practically family) gave us Titan's tickets for Christmas so we spent the day tailgating (okay, so we were just at a restaurant in downtown Nashville 'cause it was SO cold) and at the game! :-) The Titans played the Rams and kicked their booty!!

Here we are the game! It was REALLY fun! Thankfully it wasn't AS cold as it had been, but by the time the game was over it was pretty chilly.

Overall it was a WONDERFUL weekend and I am COUNTING DOWN until this week is over and I am OFFICIALLY on CHRISTMAS BREAK! (think I am excited???) ;-)

A cold weekend...

Enjoying a cold weekend with my favorite person! :-) We have ballgames to coach, Christmas baking to do, a Christmas party tonight, and a Titan's game tomorrow we are going too! I feel so blessed!!! :-) I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed weekend!

Gatlinburg 2009

Chris' family takes a trip to Gatlinburg every December! I have been hearing about it for years now, but this year I actually got to be a part of it!!! We left an icy snowy Murfreesboro to head to the mountains of East Tennessee!


I was so excited, I had to take pictures of the first snow of the season! It seems really early for snow, but it sure did put me in the Christmas spirit!


Our feet in the very first snow! :-) We were on Chris' parents deck enjoying the beautiful view before we left! We made really good time on the way up with very little traffic! Once there is was on to a whole lot of this....

Resting and relaxing! I don't think Chris' family gets in a hurry for anything... and you know what? That is exactly what I needed! A low key weekend of resting and relaxing! We watched football, shopped, walked, and lounged around the hotel (a lot) and it was so much fun!!!

Jessica and Lily

All bundled up!

It was C-O-L-D this past weekend!!!!!

There are SO many sweets there! We went to a candy store in the village right away to get the queen of all sweet-tooth girls some goodies! I was a good girl and refrained, but I wanted to buy some candy SO bad! :-)

Chris and I documenting our first Gatlinburg trip together!

Is it just me, or is he SUPER hot! ;-) lol

Me, Lily, and Crystal in a sleigh!

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping!

Lily and I

Overall the trip was so much fun! We laughed, we napped, we played games, we ate... it was just the restful little break I needed. I can't thank Chris' family enough for being so generous, for including me as one of their own, and for being exactly themselves - I had a wonderful time and was honored to be in on a family tradition!

Quick update, just because...

In reverse...

Today (Thurs): Hello Basketball season! We got to work at 7:00 this morning and home at about 10:00 tonight! :-) We won (because the coach is freakin' awesome!), but unfortunately the night brought some cheerleader drama *sigh*.... happens at least once every year. You can't have that many girls together that often and not have drama! lol.

Yesterday (Wed): Worked a L-O-N-G day at school, then headed home to make a yummy, from-scratch dinner! Chris and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at the table together and then he took me out to see Blind Side. OMG!!!! Best movie I have seen in a LONG LONG time!!!! You have to go see it... NOW!

Tuesday: Book Group! We met at the pottery place with appetizers, desserts, and wine! We painted, ate, laughed, talked..... it was so fun! I have pictures, but I am just too tired to load them - how sad is that! lol.

Monday: Basketball games (of course), and another win (of course)! lol. And then? Monday Night Football at a new chicken joint... food was just okay, but football with Chris, Gary, and Jules... wonderful!

I have so many fun things coming up! Christmas shopping with mom tomorrow (we both took personal days at work to spend some QT together)! Gatlinburg with Chris's family. More ballgames - I'll admit.... I don't like the long hours, but I love the games! And THEN... next weekend Christmas Baking with Chris' mom, a Tacky Christmas party with colleagues, and a Titan's game with my handsome man! I can't wait to post all about it!!! Stay tuned...

Thanksgiving Day...

This year might be the best Thanksgiving I have ever had! I have so much to be thankful for!! The day dawned and I attempted to sleep as late as I could! When I awoke there were only two others awake in the house and they were hard at work...

Mom and Lily were cooking away in their PJ's making Sweet Potato Casserole to take to Thanksgiving at Mary Ann's! The rest of the house was sound asleep! You know my mom was tickled pink to have some quality time with Lily... she thinks the world of that little angel!!


After a relaxing morning laying around, playing, and eventually getting ready, we headed to my Aunt's (My Dad's sister) for Thanksgiving lunch!!! We had to pace ourselves, because we had to eat twice this year!

Here you see Lily, Ian, Elizabeth, and Bentlee at the kids table! They had SO MUCH FUN playing together! When we left, Lily wasn't just asking when she'd see B again, like usual, but she was also asking when she would see Elizabeth and if Bentlee would see Elizabeth before her! TOO. CUTE!

Here they are at the top of the stairs! They played upstairs for quite a while! They had so much fun! Ian was being goofy since he was totally outnumbered by the girls!

Every Thanksgiving we take family pictures, so of course I have some of those to share! Here are Sarah, Ken, Bentlee, and baby Stiner (due in June)!

My precious parents! I hope I am half as amazing as they are when I am able to be a parent!!

Lily loving on her Daddy! I am telling you, these two have a bond that is so precious! She is like a mini-version of her daddy in every way! I love it! I can't say enough about what an amazing father he is!!!

And, of course, all of us together! This was just before we hit the road to head back to Murfreesboro for our second meal!!!

Chris' family was kind enough to agree to put off their meal until 4:00 so that Chris and I could eat with both families! :-) I thought that was so generous because it kind of broke tradition! We headed back to Murfreesboro - me driving and Chris and Lily grabbing a nap! We stopped at his Aunt Jan and Uncle John's house to pick up some yummy food and visit for a bit before we headed out to Milton to his parents...

...and we ate all over again! It was a wonderful meal and evening of visiting! We even watched Christmas Vacation - my favorite Christmas movie - and all laughed about laughing about something we've seen so many times!!!!

Saturday we went back out to Chris' parents to help them decorate for Christmas... I was too busy helping to get any pictures though!

Overall it was a WONDERFUL, PEACEFUL, APPRECIATED break! I am thankful for family and my wonderful life! I hope your Thanksgiving was as amazing as mine!! :-)

The Day Before Thanksgiving...

This year the day before Thanksgiving was filled with fun! Chris and I packed the car and hit the road early to get to Chattanooga for our day of fun!!! :-) We got there just before lunch time ready to roll! Ken picked Chris up right away and they headed to the golf course and Sarah came right behind him to drop of Bentlee for day of girly-girl fun! Lily had been talking for two weeks about playing with Bentlee and making plans! SO. CUTE!

It turned out to be a beautiful day outside, so we spent most of the day outdoors enjoying the sunshine! I love this picture I snapped of Lily sitting int the sun. She's so beautiful!!

Of course Grandmommy had to get a picture with her two favorite girls! My mom is the best playmate! She totally gets into all the games and pretending and participating! It's priceless and inspiring! The girls just LOVE her!

Here are their hands around a sidewalk chalk heart! Just thought that was a cute little photo-summary of our day!

Check out B's snaggle-tooth smile!!! She has THREE missing teeth! Of course all Lily's friends at school are losing teeth and B is losing teeth, so Lily is dying for a loose tooth! LOL!! She's not one for any discomfort or out-of-the ordinary, so I'll be interested to see how the actually loose tooth thing turns out with her! LOL Bentlee let them hang in her mouth until they literally fell out!! (I can't say much though, because I did the same! My papaw pulled my first 2 and I never let anyone near my mouth after that when I had a loose tooth!!)

Serious Sidewalk Chalking!!


In addition to sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and hopscotch (sp?) we had a lunch of crackers, grapes, cheese, and yogurt on the porch together, played baby dolls, doll house, and school!!

I'm telling you, these are two peas in a pod! They play together SO WELL! No arguing, they take turns, share... you even occasionally here, "No, YOU get the big stroller..." "Oh no thanks, why don't YOU have it this time!" LOL.... it's pretty amazing!

Sarah picked B up around 4:00. Me, Mom, and Lily headed to the mall for a little clothes shopping, daddy finished golf and met us at Couch's for dinner and then it was back to Grandmommy and Papaw's for some major doll-playing! :-)

The day before Thanksgiving couldn't have been any better! I have so much to be Thankful for! Most of which is an amazing-fun-welcoming family, a loving-compassionate man with a beautiful daughter, and uplifting friends that never cease to amaze me with their generosity! :-) Life.is.good!

Fun on the Farm...

It seems I can't stay caught up on blogging!! :-) Last weekend we headed to the farm for a good time... and boy was it! Chris, Lily, and I headed to Megan and Web's to play with Jack and Vance as well as Lauren, David, Dawson, Derick, Annie, and Presley! We had such a wonderful time! It was a beautiful day! The kids played and played outside (and so did the adults)! Web got out the four wheeler and the men give rides!! David took Dawson on a ride, Web took Megan on a ride, and Chris took Lily on a ride... then later took me on a ride... and then, at Lily's request, took us both on a ride together!!! It was SO. MUCH. FUN! We laughed and squealed and had the best time!

After all the outside fun, we headed in for grilled burgers and hot dogs and some more play-time! The whole evening was WONDERFUL! Unfortunately I forgot my camera (unheard of, I know)! BUT, Lauren was sweet enough to email me some!


This is Lily cracking baby jack up! She was saying "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, POP!" and he was laughing, laughing, laughing! It was so funny!

Here are Vance and Lily playing! They have such a good time together!

And here is just a a tiny sample of the outside fun the kids had! It was such a great evening! Megan and Web thank you for opening up your beautiful home to us! Lauren, thank you for crackin me up! :-) I can't wait for next time!!!!!

Questions...

Thought I would post some fun questions for a slow blogging day! Borrowed some of them from Betsy's post a couple of weeks ago!

What is your favorite thing to snack on while blogging? I don't really snack while on the computer... in fact I am not a big snacker at all! I pretty much stick to three meals a day! But I do love to sip a glass of wine while I blog, or browse the web, or work on my pictures!


What is your least favorite thing to clean? Without question, the bathroom! Specifically, the shower! UGH! Which is why I am SOOOO happy that I have a cleaning lady! YAY! And, she is amazing!

When you have extra money, what is the first thing you think to do with it? Extra money? I don't know what that is like! lol. On the rare occasion that I run across some extra money the FIRST thing I think to do is shop! But I try very hard to save! :-)

What would you do more of if you had more spare time? I would read more... a lot more! I love to read and I feel like it is so enriching, but time makes reading hard to accomplish these days!

What do you love to smell? I love the smell of honey suckle in the air in the summer time! It is so refreshing and sweet smelling!

I also love the smell of Chris. He always smells so good and his scent just relaxes me completely!

What is your favorite character of all time? Cinderella! Have always loved her and always will!

Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something? I would love to have the time and money to expand my photography! I think it would be so fun to be able to make a little extra money one day with that hobby, but I have a lot to learn before that ever happens!

Would you rather live in the mountains, on a farm, or at the beach! That's a hard one! I LOVE the beach, but I think I would rather live on a farm... not a literal working farm, but out in the country here in Tennessee. (But a house at the beach to visit whenever I wanted would be too bad either!)

What is your favorite store? Again, no hesitation! I love Ann Taylor Loft! :-) I would have to say over half of the clothes I own came from there! If I could afford it, ALL my clothes would come from there! lol

I tag anyone having a slow blog week! I didn't answer all the questions... just took a few! You pick some and see if you can't share a little something new about you!