Christmas Eve

Tonight is Christmas Eve. I've been looking forward to this Christmas, because I think the kids will really enjoy unwrapping their gifts. I thought this was the year I'd be able to pull the old "Santa isn't coming if you are naughty, only if you are nice." But, nope! Nobody seems to care about that. Tripp, well he's too young, not even 2. Sophie, on the other hand, is nearly 3 1/2. Shouldn't she get it? That child. Phew. She is becoming such a handful lately. Sassy, talking back, telling me no. I have been telling her she should be nice and not naughty or else and she just says "no!" I'm tempted to tell Santa not to come tonight.

Of course that won't happen. I'm too nice of a mommy. But I think I need some tips in getting my kids to calm down a bit. Tripp has also started the "no!" bit while shaking his head somewhat violently. He has also started to throw food and hit drinks off the table when he's mad. Today we went to a restaurant with some friends. Sophie ran around like a wild woman asking for candy (there is an arcade with candy machines in the back of this restaurant) and Tripp screamed and cried when we put him in his highchair. Still hates being strapped into anything. While we were eating he just decided to smack his chocolate milk right off the table. So frustrating! We had to move tables because it made such a mess. It's embarrassing when the kids act like this. I've gotta think of something and something fast. They went from being sweet angels just a few months ago to holy terrors in restaurants. If anybody has suggestions I will totally welcome them!

Enough about the ranting, let me tell you about Christmas Eve! I'm taking Sophie to see Princess and the Frog when she wakes up from her nap. We tried to go earlier, but we were late (lunch took longer than expected) and Sophie was falling asleep. Have you ever tried to explain to a 3 year old why you aren't going to the movies but that you are going 2 hours later after nap time? Doesn't work so well!! Anyway, she was so tired she fell asleep in the car. She had a late night last night. She was out shopping with daddy for mommy's gift last night (yes, the night before Christmas Eve). Daddy is out with Tripp finishing that shopping now. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!! Anyhoo, Sophie and I are going to the movies. When we get home we'll eat a lowkey dinner, probably sandwiches and the rest of the hashbrown casserole we have and then we'll try to put the kiddos down a tad bit early.

I have a lot of wrapping to do tonight. I haven't wrapped one single gift. John and I have a tradition on Christmas Eve. We pop open a bottle of wine, light the fire, sit by the Christmas tree and wrap gifts, and watch "It's A Wonderful Life." I'm looking forward to that tradition tonight!

Sophie's Sweet Face

Sophie hamming it up at Cooper's Farm. She rarely lets me take pictures of her so this was fun! She's just a sweet soul with a beautiful spirit. I love my little girl!




Cheesy pose but I love it!


I just find this one to be so sweet an innocent.


Me and Soph!

More from Cooper's Farm

Tripp wouldn't really let me take a good picture of him, but Sophie would. She was hamming it up and I loved every minute of it! Incidentally, our Christmas card picture is from Cooper's Farm. Last year and the year before were from Berry Patch.

Christmas card picture ... aren't the two babies so cute? I tried to get one of them sitting looking pretty and smiling at the camera. Who am I kidding? That never happens. lol This is true to them so I think it made the perfect Christmas card picture.


Here are the cut your own trees.


Tripp's chasing daddy again!


Did I mention there was a Dora Santa? Sophie probably thought this was a bonus and in her book Cooper's probably went up a notch, quite possibly market higher than Berry Patch solely because of Dora. Why don't you give her a little hug, Soph?


This picture just cracks me up. Tripp is licking his lips and trying to decide if he should eat the berry. No Tripp! Stop eating everything you see ... including dog food! lol


Did I also forget to mention there was a small petting farm? Well, that's what they call it. It was more like a pen full of bunnies, a cow that you couldn't touch (but it was cute), and some chickens in a cage. The kids loved the bunnies. Tripp just about dove in.




Where is Sophie? Oh there she is ... in the middle of lots of pretty Christmas trees!


Two cutest kids ever.

Christmas Tree Pickin'

This is a serious topic for me. Growing up we always had a fake, um I mean artificial, Christmas tree. Nothing wrong with that and I didn't know any better, but since moving out on my own I have had a real Christmas tree every year. Just the smell alone is worth paying for a tree every year.

My Christmas trees in Florida were purchased at Home Depot. Even my first few trees in Atlanta were too, but for the last five years we have been buying our trees at Berry Patch Farm. I absolutely adore that place. It's a family run farm in Woodstock. They have trees you can actually cut down yourself. How cool is that? We like the Fraser Firs best and those aren't grown there so we don't get to cut it ourselves. However, they do have them all set up looking pretty out in the farm. You take a little hay ride out to where the trees are and walk through them until you find the perfect tree. I always go for the sad looking Charlie Brown tree because I feel sorry for it thinking that nobody will buy it. Yes, it's just a tree and yes, I'm weird like that. John generally wins out and we buy a nicer tree, but it usually still has some type of flaw. The flaw can always go against the wall!! Anyway, we have been going to Berry Patch for 5 years. It's a Goodballet tradition now. We get our tree, buy a wreath, wander through the trees, take pictures, and drink hot chocolate. Last year the kids were old enough to play on the little swing set they have. It's just very quaint like I always imagined a Christmas tradition to be. But this year, because we moved, we had to find a new tree farm.

I did my research. Don't get me wrong, I checked around. I found two tree farms near our house. After pouting from Thanksgiving until that Sunday I gave in and agreed to skip Berry Patch this year since it is an hour drive now. John vetoed the first tree farm pick and said it was too far. So we packed everyone up and headed to Cooper's. Oh Coopers. Such a disappointment. To their credit, they were an amazingly nice family. I really did like the people working there. They had a nice selection of trees and I do believe we got the nicest tree this year that we have ever had. And, as a bonus, it was less than smaller trees in previous years. But where was the hayride? The hot chocolate? What about the sleigh for us to take pictures in? Or the farm to walk around? **sigh** Oh Berry Patch how I miss you so!!

Here are pictures from our "new" tree farm. I feel bad talking about Cooper's this way, but once you've been to Berry Patch you'd feel the same. John says we are going back to Berry Patch next year. I won't argue!



Wait for me guys!

Where did you go? Don't pick one without me!

All this running is making me tired.

I like this one!

This is the one! Sophie & daddy picked a beautiful tree.

Happy Mommy Moments

The small things in life are sometimes the best. These little moments happen from time to time and I definitely need to do a better job at recording them. Yesterday was a nice moment for me.

John picked Sophie and Tripp up from school while I finished working. He swung back by the house to pick me up so we could take the kids to the park. When we got to the park I unbuckled Sophie from her car seat and picked her up out of her seat. She gave me a huge bear hug - legs around my waist and arms around my neck - and said "I missed you today mommy" and then squeezed me with a big hug. Gosh do I love these moments. I think these are what parents live for!!

Quote of the Day

Help me to not lean on my own understanding but to rely totally on YOU for guidance.

--Proverbs 3:5

Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween! I really, truly enjoyed Halloween with the kids this year. I've enjoyed it every year, but mostly because I loved how cute the kids looked in their costumes. This year was fun because the kids actually enjoyed Halloween.

Halloween was actually a week long this year starting last Sunday. We went to trunk-or-treat with the Mallory's at Drew's sister's church. That was cute. People decorate the trunk of their cars and hand out candy. Tripp was a little nutso walking from car to car, but all-in-all it was fun. Kids got a lot of candy!

Tuesday night we went to Kroger for their trick-or-treating Halloween party. It was a little lame, but I do give them props for trying. It was raining pretty bad and everything was inside. My guess is that they set some things up outside on a normal night. They had a haunted house that went through the deli freezer. Justin was scared and wouldn't go through. I carried Tripp and Anthony held Sophie's hand all the way. It was cute. Older kids were screaming through the haunted house. The actors (um, employees) did a good job not jumping out and scaring the little kids. When we were at Kroger today grocery shopping, Sophie asked if we could go back into the freezer lol She has a good memory! They also did some face painting, decorate your own cookie, and gave out candy.

Friday was trick-or-treating and Halloween party at the kids' school. They had a ball! Since the parties were at different times depending on the classroom, I went up and hung out with Sophie for her Halloween party and John went up for Tripp's party. The kids really loved having us there. So much so that I had to bring Sophie home with me at lunch. She was crying and carrying on and I couldn't bare to leave her. She took a nap and I worked. They also got to walk around to the different classrooms and trick-or-treat in their costumes. It was very cute!

Finally, the real thing today! The Mallory's came to trick-or-treat with us and to watch the UF vs UGA game. I won't say who won (Go Gators!!!) so not to tick off my UGA friends, but I was a happy camper. It was hard to get the guys away from the football game and it was getting late (and Tripp was oh so ready to go!) so Holly and I started off with the kids. The guys met us a few minutes later. It was a little bit chilly, nothing like the cold weather of Halloweens past. Not only was it chilly, but it started to rain. It rained earlier in the day and stopped so I thought we would be in the clear. Nope. It started pouring rain just before we left. Some kids and parents just kept trudging through the rain for candy - actually some parents came to the door with bags while their kids sat in the car (really????) - we waited for the rain to slow. It did. We took off.

Marly, Sophie, and Tripp had a great time! I wish we had gotten some video of the night. I need a new camera for that. I lost my little video camera. This was Tripp's first Halloween as a walker. Last year we pushed him in the pink car and Sophie was very hesitant to walk up to doors. This year Tripp thoroughly enjoyed walking from house to house, up the stairs to the door, and getting the candy (and grabbing more if the opportunity arose!). Sophie loved every minute of the attention and playing the big sis, let me walk first role. Tripp was in awe of the older kids in costumes. He was priceless tonight, it was like he was in his element. And, Sophie. Sweet Sophie. She just wanted the candy. Candy, candy, and more candy ... and sneaking a piece to eat here and there ... that girl has a sweet tooth! Marly is like a pro. She went house to house, getting her candy, walking down the steps, and moving on to the next house. Well-behaved as always! Sophie and Tripp always enjoy their time with her. She's like another member of the family.

All-in-all this was a fabulous Halloween. The kids loved it and I loved it. Oh!! Wait!! I didn't mention the costumes. Tripp was Spiderman with muscles. It is honestly one of the cutest costumes I have ever seen. In the beginning he wouldn't put the mask on, but by the end of the week he was an old pro and kept the mask on for us. All the parents who saw him loved the costume! I let Sophie pick out her own costume this year. She picked a pink Spidergirl costume that was super cute. That's why I picked Spiderman for Tripp. Well the costume didn't fit well and had a hole by Tuesday so I purchased a new costume for her. She wanted to be a butterfly. I was looking so last minute for a costume and just could not find a butterfly so I settled on a fairy costume that had big wings .... or so it did on the cover of the package. What a sham. When you see the costume, you won't see any wings ... that's because they are so small you can't see them. They're there, they're behind her back. I was so annoyed by that. Of course, Sophie didn't seem to mind. She loved her star light wand and her light up skirt. She was happy with her pitiful butterfly costume. Marly was Little Mermaid. She had a red wig, not sure where it went. She was adorable and the red wig was a hoot!!

Halloween 2009 was the best yet!

Quote of the Day

The self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates.

-- Thomas Szasz (1920-) American Psychiatrist

My sweet baby boy

Have you ever taken a picture of your baby and thought "Wow! This is quite possibly the best picture I have ever seen of my baby?" I have! Once with Sophie ... the picture is posted somewhere in this blog. She looks like an angel in the picture. Now I have one of Tripp, too ... man, isn't he the sweetest most precious thing you've ever seen? I just want to squeeze him. I'm submitting this picture to baby Gap for their model contest. If he doesn't win, well then there is no justice in this world! ;-)

Fall is here!

It's the changing of seasons here in Atlanta. My absolute favorite time of year is fall. I mean seriously, can you really find anything wrong with fall?

1. Weather is cooler
2. Windows are open
3. You can play outside with the kids and not break a sweat
4. There aren't so many nasty flies trying to get in the house
5. Holidays are just around the corner
6. You can burn those yummy holiday candles
7. Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks
8. Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks is almost here ... hooray (as Sophie would say!)
9. Lots of days off work - 1 bank holiday in September, 1 in October, 2 in November, and 1 in December ... it pays to work at a bank!
10. Most importantly -- college football returns!

Nope, fall is perfect!

When I first moved to Atlanta, September was my favorite month because it was the sign fall was nearing. Septemeber weather was always a welcome relief to the schorching August heat. Now it seems like fall doesn't hit until October, so I'm debating about whether or not I should change my favorite month. Hm. September does offer some great things - start of football, Labor day (bank holiday!), and some possibility of using the pool without freezing water ... eh, that's not enough. I may just have a case to change my favorite month to October. I'm still debating.

In honor of fall, I have changed my background ... and I promise to post more often. Happy Fall Y'all!!

Yellow River Game Ranch

Gabby and Jason and their 3 beautiful kiddos (Haylee, Mya, & baby Jace) were here visiting from North Carolina over the weekend. Gabby and Tara have been best friends since junior high school back in their Florida days. I love Gabby and her family and I always look forward to their visits.

We needed to get the kids out of the house and take them somewhere fun. It literally had been raining for like a week. As you can imagine, a house with 6 kids (8 if you include Anthony and Summer) is just crazy. Tara suggested that we go to Yellow River Game Ranch. It's a bit of a hike to get there since it's all the way down by Stone Mountain, but it was a fun trip. All types of different animals just roam around and eat out of your hands. Except for Tripp's hand - he didn't share much. He wanted to eat the food himself instead of sharing with the animals. No worries, it was carrots, graham crackers, and animal crackers. It looks like all the animals are behind fences, but they aren't.

The big animals - the puma, buffalo, pigs, bears, goats - they were caged, but the rest were not. So what was left to roam? Hmm .. deer, chickens, peacocks, squirrels, turtles, rabbits. I guess there were less free-roaming animals than I realized, but just the fact that deer were hanging out with us was cool. Especially the sweet baby bambis! The place was stinky, but pretty cool. For the most part, the kids were really good. Tripp kept trying to go under the rails and through fences, but what else was to be expected? I should also note that we were there right smack in the middle of nap time so towards the end the kids were antsy, but did much better than I expected. They all had a very good time and we made some nice memories. It was truly a nice family day!

Sweet little baby deer.

Sophie and Daddy feed a big deer.

Tripp is snacking ... shouldn't he be sharing? I love this picture so much! Notice the deer in the background licking his lips. Hmm ... what would taste better, the carrot or Tripp? lol

Notice that Tripp is eyeing the carrot. lol They had fun feeding the deer. The deer were so gentle and friendly. They followed us down the trail for a while. Pretty neat.

I didn't know you could actually feed a squirrel. Don't they carry rabies? Eek! Cute anyway.

These donkeys were begging for food. They weren't neglected, I promise!

Staring at the tall goat in amazement.

Tripp finally decided to share "his" food.

Interesting nursery lol

Well hello there Mr. sheep!

This is what you call a feast!

As Sophie was running away from the bear cage she said, "I'm not scared!" Yeah, ok. lol The bears were cool. We were throwing apples into their cages and they were catching the apples right in their mouths.

All the kids

North Carolina

We took our annual trip to Sapphire Valley/Cashiers, NC with the Mallory's last week. It's our 2nd year going there and we really enjoyed it. The Mallory's have turned into our vacation buddies and it really is a wonderful thing. Drew and Holly are such a great couple and nothing bothers them. Everyone just goes with the flow and it makes the trip very enjoyable. I always look forward to our time with them. Of course Marly is just a precious girl and I'm so glad that Sophie really enjoys the time she spends with Marly.

Last year Tripp crawled for the first time while we were there. This year he was running around like a maniac. Last year Holly was pregnant with Presley. This year baby Presley is 3 months old and got to spend a few wonderful days with her grandparents. Last year Sophie and Marly barely spoke to each other but ran back and forth in the family room to the front door. This year they didn't stop talking to each other and did everything other than run back and forth to the door. Last year the boys watched football and drank a few brewskis. This year, that didn't change :-)

Holly and I enjoyed about 2 hours of time together without kids. We went to Family Dollar and Ingles - oh my what a fun time! lol We did by a few toys for the kids for Christmas as well as some toys to keep them busy in the condo. We got all the ingredients so Drew could make his famous chili. Man, it was yummy!! The boys had to stay home to watch the kids and by the way they were acting when we got home you would have thought we'd been gone all day. Holly and I had fun, really, we had fun at Family Dollar!! lol

There was an awesome city park that Holly found this year just down from where we stayed. I have no idea how we didn't find it last year. The kids loved playing at the park and even loved walking through the two nature trails. We also did another hike up Whiteside Mountain. Kids did very well and walked most of the way up. Down was a different story, but I will say that's okay because it's easier to carry kids down than up. Sophie and Marly loved looking for colorful leaves. Sophie was mesmerized by the rocks. Some had little specs of silver in them. They were very pretty! So pretty that Sophie felt like she needed to keep a pocketful ... which I forgot about until I saw a 1,000 little pieces in my dryer. *sigh* At least we didn't have to pay for a souvenir. lol The view at the top of the mountain is beautiful. My new blog title picture is from the top of the mountain. For those of you who liked the picture that was originally there, the new one that replaces it is in the same location, just one year later. It's amazing to look at the pictures side by side. The kids have really grown! The last day we were there it was rainy so we took the kids to the game room and the miniature golf course on the property. Kids had fun at both places, even playing mini golf in the rain.

It was a wonderful trip and we had a great time! Drew and Holly, we can't wait until our next vacation :-)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New House & Everyone's Sick!

I haven't posted very much but wanted to write some stuff down. We've moved into our new house and we absolutely love it. It's so nice to have room for the kids to run around and enjoy the place. Our backyard is huge and will be great over the coming years as the kids grow. Tripp is really starting to try to talk alot and he can actually say some words "Mama" (in various tones) is still his favorite. When Tammie left the room this morning Tripp let her know that he wasn't happy about it by yelling 'mama' until she came back. It's pretty funny.
Sophie is going through a phase where she doesn't want to go to sleep in in her room. We had to switch the lock around so she couldn't get out. SHe usually ends up sleeping in front of the door on the floor. It's sad because you want your kids to be comforatble when they sleep but I think whe will realize that the bed is better than the floor. At least she's not screaming her little head off anymore. Tripp is actually going to sleep fairly easily now. They are slowly but surely starting to play with eachother a little more everyday. It's so rewarding as a parent to watch them grow and do new things together.
Both Sophie and Tripp were sent home from school Friday because they were throwing up. There was a stomach virus going around and apparently they caught it. They were fine by Saturday for the most part but Tammie started throwing up Sunday night. I felt bad for her. I have been battling a knee infection for the last 7 days. I don't think they're going to cut it off so that's good. Antibiotics have helped alot but I think they are making me kinda sick at the same time. Just don't feel right all of the time. I'm sure once we all get healthy we are going to be loving life. Tammie and I are really excited about raising our kids there. It seems like such a great community. Plus, I can get Tripp and Sophie out there playing golf which is awesome.
Well that's it for now. Gotta go.

Quote of the Day

I have got to remember (and live by) this one!

We live by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7

Blessings

My sweet baby girl is going to be 3 in just about two months. I cannot believe it. I know that every parent goes through this and thinks "how can my baby be 'insert age'" I've said this about every 6 months for each kid. I love that they are growing up and that they are becoming so fun and learning so much, but at the same time it's so sad to see them becoming independent (and sassy) and growing. Time goes by so fast and I wonder if I appreciate the time I have with my kids enough. I think I do, I hope I do, but I'm going to try and appreciate it even more. Some days I wonder how I was blessed with two such sweet babies.

Sophie is so full of love and happiness, she truly enjoys her life. She smiles about everything and boy do her smiles go on forever. She has such a beautiful and contagious smile! Her innocence is so sweet. She loves her daddy more than life itself. She loves me, too, but as soon as daddy appears it's like I'm not even there. It doesn't bother me, though, because she gives me my time too. I love that she has that bond with her daddy.

Tripp is so full of energy! Boy is he full of energy. He is into anything and everything. He's very curious and very interested in what's going on . He is strong and stoic and serious. When he laughs, he gives belly laughs! His laugh is also contagious, but for different reasons that Sophie's. First, it takes an act of God (or a lot of tickling) to get Tripp to laugh. But when he starts laughing, he doesn't stop. He giggles, snorts, runs out of breath, and then laughs like he doesn't have a voice. It's the sweetest sound I've ever heard. He truly loves me, but he also likes his daddy time. He loves to be outside and loves to throw and hit balls. He also likes to spot small items, in the grass for instance, and stand over them and point and grunt. He's learning how the world works and you can see it on his face. The ladies love his hair and he's getting more handsome as the days pass.

This post is really just a reminder to me to count my blessings every day for I have so many in my life.

Quote of the Day

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.

- Albert Einstein, physicist

Sophie at Infant Swim

This is Sophie in Infant Swim at week 2. Not fond of floating but really digging the swimming.

Swimming to Michelle







Trying to float. She just wants to kick her feet and move her arms. It's like she's not comfortable floating and immediately wants to move. Finally Michelle said "silent feet" and "lift your chin" and the next thing you know Sophie wasn't sinking but was floating. "Quiet feet, Sophie!" :-)





Almost there!



She did it!

Tripp at infant Swim

This is Tripp at week 2 of Infant Swim.

Swimming to Michelle


Floating


Swimming back to steps


Rolling over from float




He made it!


My little chubby monkey looking a little dazed and confused. But, regardless, how cute is he?