First stop on the 2012 Christmas Tour was Ridgeland, SC. We spent a long weekend with the grandparents, celebrated Christmas a little early with Granny's extended family, and packed the kids full of sugar and the car full of presents.
Ice Cream with Jelly Beans on top. Always good treats at Granny's house.
Patiently waiting to open presents.
The box is as big as the boy and he loved unwrapping it
Thanks Aunt Rhonda for the roller coaster o' fun
The kids immediately tried it out
Ridgeland had a Christmas lights display that you could walk around so we bundled up one night, took a quick walk around and finished off the evening with Dairy Queen Blizzards.
She looks angelic
Chomp, chomp
My gifts under the tree
Ridgeland's finest!
Love Y'all! See you soon!!!
(I didn't get any pictures but we made a quick stop in Myrtle Beach, SC on the way home to have Christmas with Jay, Melissa, Katy, Kelly and Granny Roach.)
Making a Christmas Tree with Icing and Fruity Pebbles
The best part...getting all sugared up at 10am. Grayson was too busy playing to sit and make one of these tasty treats but once he saw his sister take a bite he ran straight to her and demanded she share.
The Budweiser Clydesdale's came to Wilmington.
Objects in your lens may appear smaller than they are!
Letters to Ol' Saint Nick
Off to the North Pole they go...
Sandy the Silly Elf. Carrington starts each morning with an Elf Hunt. Some of his tricks include taking down the stockings and replacing them with underwear and diapers, climbing the Christmas tree, and swinging from the banister.
What the picture doesn't tell you is that I had to bribe Carrington to sit on Santa's lap and Hudson spent the first minute crying before we could calm him down. Grayson continued his tradition and will do so for many more years to come.
Other happenings not pictured...Wilmington Christmas Parade, making baked goodies for Carrington's teachers and our neighbors, driving around and looking at Christmas lights, learning about Jesus, his life, and his love for us! Merry Christmas!!
Our Christmas Season started the Friday after Thanksgiving when we headed to the Christmas Tree "Farm" (a field on the side of the road with trees already cut). Carrington and Grayson ran in circles around the trees until they found the perfect one. Really, they ran in circles because they were outside and could run and scream without us catching them and making them stop. We like this little tree "farm" because the owner is super nice, local, and is trying to sell trees to provide for his young son and wife. They also have nice trees that last for a month and don't come with bugs.
Standing/Sitting in front of their tree
Old Timey Fire Truck
Frosty and Santa
Then it was home to decorate the tree...
Elf 1
Elf 2
Elf 3
A glimpse of the mess we created. It took four days to decorate the tree from top to bottom. Hence the many different outfits the kids are in.
The last month has been a lot of fun with Hudson. His little personality is all over the place. One minute you get a smile and coo and the next he is fussing about not being held. He enjoys rolling around on the floor and bed, and prefers to be on his belly most of the time. He recently started reaching for toys when you hold them in front of him. Once they are in his hand they go straight to his mouth for further exploration. He gets lots of entertainment from watching Carrington and Grayson play around him. At times he looks at them like they are loony. Sleeping is going great - sticking to a nap schedule during the day and sleeping 11 hours at night! Riding in the car is getting better although he still has days where he cries the entire ride. I continue to enjoy the time when I get him all to myself; we chat about how cute he is, sneak in early morning naps, and play without having to share toys. Oh, and he really enjoys sucking on his pointer and middle fingers -a lot and often!
Thanksgiving week started off with Carrington's program at preschool. The kids spent the month decorating their costumes and learning songs. We heard bits and pieces of the songs during November when Carrington came home singing them. The little number they put on was adorable! Imagine watching 30+ three year olds, standing in front of their parents, proud as peacocks, just singing their little hearts out. Precious, I tell you!
Little Indians
"Hopping Bunny" - Carrington's Indian Name
Thanksgiving morning the kids and Aaron watched the Macy's Day Parade while I cooked a few things for our feast. For lunch we traveled to Murrell's Inlet where my Aunt rented a house for the month. We had lunch on the porch overlooking the water, and then spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside, taking a boat ride, and looking over black friday deals in the newspaper. We covered all the things you are suppose to do on Thanksgiving!
The discarded pictures from our Christmas card photo session...
The video was accidentally taken while Melissa was trying to snap photos. I love that it was captured because it's so accurate of what it's like trying to get a picture with all five of us - Craziness!
Melissa, Katy and Kelly during their Christmas card photo session.
The rest of Thanksgiving break was spent around our house. The weather was beautiful so Aaron spent an entire day raking leaves and burning them. The kids played outside, making use of the leaf piles by jumping in them. It gave them hours of entertainment and in need of a good bath that night.
Hayden (our neighbor) and Carrington
Carrington got a hold of my camera while I was taking a nap and took several pictures of me sleeping. I had no idea this was happening at the time. The next day I grabbed my phone to take a picture and scrolled back to find them. It was pretty funny to look at because she also took several other pictures and video of our Christmas decorations.
Saturday was spent doing our favorite Fall activity - watching college football all day!! The kids have been doing this since birth so it's second natural for them and something they enjoying.
The last item of business over Thanksgiving was pulling out Christmas decorations, putting everything up, buying a Christmas tree, and decorating it. It took four days but everything is up - not all plugged in but at least out for viewing! I'll post about that later...
