Hair

Grace has curly hair.  Really curly hair.

And she decided to brush it.

So now she has a fro.  And she's totally rocking it!

Watching football

Benjamin does not like to watch tv.

Unless he's in his Daddy's lap watching Auburn football.  Then he's quite content and enjoying himself.  War Eagle!

A pink tree

We were out and about town when we stumbled upon a hot pink prelit Christmas tree.

And David and I simply couldn't resist it.

All the children adore it.

It's now in the girls' bedroom so they can enjoy their very own Christmas tree. 

And we decorated their growing tree with two hundred multi-colored lights.  They love it!

Thankful

Thanksgiving is a time to pause for a moment and thank God for all his many, many blessings.

I am so thankful for my family.  My immediate family and my extended family.  And the family I married in to who treats as one of their own. 

I am thankful for my husband.  He provides me joy, safety, adventure, support, challenge, understanding, patience and most importantly, love.  He is a Godly example for our children.  He is the most wonderful and amazing person I know.  Words cannot describe how highly I think of him, how much I love him, and how grateful I am for God bringing him into my life.

I am thankful for my children.  They are each beautiful and special in their own right.  Grace is so sweet and compassionate towards everyone.  Faith has a joyful heart and silly nature.  And Benjamin is growing into a strong and determined man just like his father.

I thankful David's career.  His job provides so well for us.  It allows me to stay home with our children while giving us financial security.  With his job we are able to pay all the bills, afford some extravagances, and still save for our future. 

I am thankful for our home.  It is beautiful and more than I ever dreamed of having.  It's more than just a roof over our heads, it is our home.  The place we enjoy our meals together at the dinner table.  It is the place we make some of the best memories.  Already it is full wonderful treasures:  Grace learned to swim in the pool in our backyard.  Faith learned to ride a tricycle in our driveway.  Benjamin was brought home from the hospital to this house.  We reside in a safe neighborhood with so many wonderful amenities and incredibly nice neighbors.

I am thankful for our boat.  We have really enjoyed it this year.  Every chance possible we take it out and go up the river, out to the bay, to a small beach, and even all the way to Gulf Shores.  We've gone fishing, tubing, water skiing, and we've even seen dolphins.  We've made some really incredible memories on it this year..

I am thankful for the school Grace attends.  The teachers here are amazing.   Alabama gets a bad rap for their schools but I have been completely blown away with what all she has learned at such an early age.  She was reading entire books independently by the end of kindergarten.  She's learning how to multiply numbers and diagram sentences in first grade.   And all the kindergartners and 1st graders have iPads.  Second graders and above have MacBooks.  Starting in January all kids will start learning a foreign language (we pick from 25 different languages) using Rosetta Stone.  Amazing.

I am thankful for our community.  It is a small family oriented town with conservative values.  Things go at a slower pace here because everyone takes the time to get to know each other.  It's a place where people know you and greet you by name.  And they ask how your family is doing and what your plans are for the holidays - not to just be polite but because they are sincerely interested. 

I am thankful for our church where we can worship together as a family and enjoy Christian fellowship. 

I am thankful  for our nation and all the freedoms we have.  I am thankful for the men and women who fight to protect those freedoms.  We are so blessed here that sometimes it's easy to forget that not all countries are as fortunate as we are.

We truly are blessed beyond measure and for that I am forever thankful. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today we drove to Sweetwater to visit with my Dad's family for Thanksgiving.

A lot of people showed up. 70 odd people in total I think.

Some I knew, some I didn't.  Some were family I hadn't seen in years and barely remembered.

We had food.

A lot of food.  More food than we could eat.

A whole room full of desserts.

After loading our plates we found a seat anywhere we could.  And we sat, and ate, and talked.

Then the children played.

And played.

And rode  tire swings.  Then we left and went to Nana and Gran's house.

Where David tried to take a nap.  It's all that turkey, y'know.

Grace serenaded the Turkey Tom and the Turkey Mom song.

And Faith danced along.

And Benjamin and his Daddy finally rested a bit.

Master bath update

We finally decided to update our master bath.

By "update" I mean paint. 

 

The walls and trim were plain old boring white.  The cabinetry is ivory.  The trim and columns were once ivory as well and looked gorgeous against the dark taupey walls and light tan ceiling.  But then the bank brought painters in to paint everything white - the walls, ceilings, and trim.  But that's another story...

And by "we painters" I mean Grace, Faith, and me.

Faith took a wall and painted quite meticulously.

Grace took a wall and turned it into abstract art.

Then I finished it all up by cutting in and rolling it all out.  I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out in spite of the fact that the pictures makes everything look wonky in color. 

Hot chocolate

One of our favorite treats when it's cold outside is homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.  And what better way to enjoy hot chocolate than in a tall fancy plastic cup?

Thanksgiving program

For Grace's Thanksgiving program.

All the first graders dressed like Indians in their dyed tshirts and headdresses.

They even made macaroni necklaces.  Adorable!

They sang several adorable songs.

Like the Turkey Tom and the Turkey Mom!

The Turkey on the Farm.

And even and Indian song. 

Then we headed back to the classroom for snacks.

And each child took turns telling everyone else what they are thankful for.  What an awesome program.

Making Thanksgiving Day snacks

Grace's class has a party planned for after their Thanksgiving program.

Grace wanted to make a snack for all her friends.

So we made turkeys on a stick!

And cornucopias that read "I am thankful for you."

And two little Indians just for fun.

It was a busy evening making all those snacks.

But worth it to see how much my girls enjoyed them.

Decorating a cake plate

We started on a very special Christmas gift today.

A personalized cake plate for Nana who is famous in our family for her cakes.

So Grace and Faith took turns fingerprinting the plate.

Benjamin tried to take away their snacks to eat them.

Then we started painting individual faces to represent each of Nana and Gran's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  Come this May they will have been married for SIXTY years.  Wow!  And they have the family to prove it.

The people represented are colored coded and described by family below: 

Terry (son), Diane (Terry's wife), Matt (grandson), Kim (Matt's wife), Avery (great-granddaughter), Mattie (great-granddaughter), Timothy (grandson), Emilee (Timothy's wife), Lee (great-grandson),

 

Randy (son), Sheila (Randy's wife), Justin (grandson),

 

Donna (daughter), Freddie (Donna's husband), Charity (granddaughter - that's me!), David (my wonderful husband), Grace (great-granddaughter), Faith (great-granddaughter), Benjamin (great-grandson), Chloe (great-granddog), Hope (granddaughter), Seth (grandson),

 

Tracy (daughter), Todd (Tracy's husband), Derick (grandson), Crystal (Derick's wife), Lance (great-grandson), Kerry (grandson), Laura (Kerry's wife), Eli (great-grandson), Kira (granddaughter), Jacob (great-grandson)

 And this is how it turned out after glazing and firing..We left the stand separate so Nana could use the top as a platter or a cake stand.  It's multifunctional. 

 

We had such an awesome time at Paint N Parrot.  It's our new favorite fun spot and we can hardly wait to make something else.  I hope Nana and Gran like their gift as much as I do.  We love you!

Exhausted and asleep

Benjamin konked out on the floor today after throwing a huge tantrum.  Now he looks so sweet cuddled up with Faith's friend "LeeLee" (Lily)...

Homemade granola gift

As part of assistant teacher appreciation week, Grace was told to bring in "something sweet."

But her teacher's assistant wanted something healthy so we made homemade granola.

And Grace took a jar to her teacher assistant and her teacher...

Succulent before and after

This is my succulent before this week.

It was such a lovely little plant.

This is my succulent today.  Someone pulled each little petal off.

And then tried to eat one.  Thank goodness it isn't poisonous...

Fun outside

It was a little chilly today

But that didn't keep Minnie Mouse

or One Eyed Monster from playing out in the yard.  It's our favorite pastime.