Christmas 2009

Looking for the Dollar
Found it!!













On Christmas Eve we went over to our friends the Williams and had dinner and goodies. There were a bunch of families from church over so we had fun visiting and hanging out. The kids had a great time playing with their friends. We came home and the kids got on the computer to TRACK where Santa was! Before bed, the kids picked out a spot where they wanted Santa to leave their presents. They left their stocking there so Santa would know that was their spot!

Aubrey kept waking up all night- she woke up about 12:30, 3:30, and 6:00. I told her at 6:00 to just lay in my bed by me for a while. (James was awake on his laptop checking his sales from the day before- he said that was his Christmas present- He broke a million dollar gain for the year so he was HAPPY!!) At about 6:15 Jaymz came in.. so about 6:30 we woke Damon up. Damon had woken up about 2:00 AM and went downstairs to check if Santa had come.. somehow he didn't see the presents so he was sad and thought Santa hadn't come. Luckily he didn't see the presents because he would have been ready to open them!! So when we got up and went downstairs Damon was very happy to see that Santa had really made it! Ü

We hide a dollar on Christmas Eve and who ever finds it the next morning gets to open the first present.. Damon has found it the last 2 years.. but this year Aubrey was the lucky winner!! Everyone was very happy with everything they got and we had a great day!
We hung out at the house most of the day. In the morning we went over to some friends the Bowens for a little brunch and later that night we went to our friends Buff and Denise who live across the street and had some dessert and visited for a while. All in all it was a great relaxing day!!

Christmas parties

Damon had his Christmas party today at school. They had pizza, decorated cookies and decorated a gingerbread paper with cute little stickers! I helped make the shirts they are wearing- we used their hand print to make a Christmas tree. They turned out cute I think! Today is pajama day for the kindergartners! They are watching Polar Express and drinking hot chocolate. Damon is LOVING all the fun things they have been doing at school!!

The Spirit of Christma

I've seen this a few times and think it is a great reminder what Christmas is really about!

Swine Flu Twice?

Since I keep this as a journal I wanted to post this so I don't forget....some day I really am going to make each year a book.

So All the kids got the Swine Flu the week of Labor Day. I took Aubrey to the Urgent Care on Labor Day (since our Dr office was closed) They tested her and she was positive. The next day Damon came down with it. My Dr wanted to see him and test him to make sure that was what it was.. yep he had it too. 2 days later, Jaymz came down with it. In all the reading I did I thought once you got it, your antibodies would be up enough that you wouldn't get it again.. at least not that same year. Well, last week Aubrey got pretty sick, so I took her to the Dr. He told me he was pretty sure it was the swine flu. I said she had already had it so I didn't think she could get it again. He said that you could get it more than once- it's not really common, but you could. He wanted to make sure what it really was so he took some blood. A few days later they called to confirm that she did test positive. Luckily this time was not as bad as the first. She was only down for 2 days. She did have to miss soccer for the week but it wasn't too bad at all! No signs of Jay or Damon getting it so I think we are clear!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We woke up to SNOW this morning! I know it doesn't look like a lot of snow, but for Alabama it is pretty crazy! We don't get much snow, so when we do people go crazy! They go to the store before hand and get their necessities so they don't have to go out in it- they close down schools and church too!
We went to the kids elementary school for Santa's workshop this morning- they all bought each other gifts there.
It is noon now and all the snow has melted. Damon wanted to make a snowman, but there wasn't quite enough snow. It sure was pretty while it lasted- it helped put us in the Christmas mood, but I'm glad we don't have to deal with it for months and months like we did in UT or New Hampshire! This is PERFECT for me!! Ü Just my kind of snow!

Christmas is in the air.....

Christmas is definitely in the air! We went and picked out our Christmas tree last night and it smells SO good! I love getting a real tree because of the smell!! I don't necessarily love all the pine needles and remembering to water it, but the smell is so worth it! We went with a 9 foot tree and it fits perfectly! I have been slowly getting up all my Christmas decor and realizing that we need to get a lot more! Last year we had just moved into this house and were just still trying to get settled really, so it didn't bother me too much, but this year I feel like I need MORE!! I'm going to have to keep my eyes out for some cute things and maybe go check the day after Christmas too!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we had a few families over. James Smoked/ Barbecued a turkey out on the grill- it turned out AWESOME!! We also cooked one in the oven and did a ham. I made a couple of cheesecakes and pumpkin pies. Everyone who came over brought a few things with them. It turned out great! We had a ton of leftovers and everyone was happy!! I tried to be good and take a bunch of pictures.. her's what I got...
















Happy Thanksgiving! We hope everyone had a great day! We have so much to be thankful for and are glad we have a day to relax and be thankful!!

Jaymz b-day party

Since Jaymz birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, he is having his party tonight. I let him invite a few friends from church over. I have had a good time watching and listening to them... it is very different than when Aubreys friends are over! Ü

They have been happy playing football, the Wii, and listening to Michael Jackson's songs on youtube! Now they are playing Ghost in the Graveyard outside! Jaymz wanted a Chocolate Chip cookie cake so that made it really easy for me!

I can't believe it has been 11 years since I was in labor on Thanksgiving Day-- Wishing I could have some pie, or Turkey or SOMETHING!!!! My water broke before I got to eat anything so by the time I actually had him (12 hours later) I was STARVING!!!! I'll never forget that nurse eating a piece of pie right in front of me when she came in to check me! BUT- it was all worth it once he finally got here!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYMZ!!!!!

Here are a few pics of his little party tonight....