Christmas Time

We had such a wonderful, exciting and busy Christmas this year! We traveled up to my parents house and spent several days enjoying the Christmas season with my family. My oldest brother and his family were in the process of moving, so they were able to be in Richmond for Christmas as well. The cousins had such a wonderful time together! We haven't spent a holiday with the cousins in years! 

We started our visit off with a little pottery painting project for Papa's gift. The kids loved getting their hands in the paint and were excited to see the final product.

Alley getting her hand painted while Owen watches

Blue hand

Kendall getting her hand ready for some paint

All the grandkids put their hand prints and finger prints on a cookie jar for Papa. The kids were hoping they could sneak cookies from it in the future (if it has their hand prints on it, then they can have whatever is in there, right??!)

Daddy after his nap (he was up all night!). Andy had a game at Auburn the night before we left for Richmond. So Andy rode the bus back and arrived at our house at 2:30am, took a shower and then immediately drove us to Richmond...what a sweet sweet husband and father he is!

learning from the artist herself (Kathy)

the full mantle! And Mimi and Papa dont even have their stockings up there!

We got to go see the Nutcracker Ballet for the first time this year! The girls were so excited!! It was a great show.

MC very focused on cartoons

Christmas Eve with all the cousins!

Papa opening up his cookie jar

Christmas morning surprises!!

Santa ate it all...yes, yes he did

they got "girl Legos" to share. They were so so so excited!

MC's favorite...Hello Kitty band aides...

 Kendall opening up a rock in her stocking. This.girl.loves.rocks!

 MC and Daddy

a very excited Alley

for my little book lover

MC playing with her legos

We did it a little backwards...we had Christmas THEN made Christmas cookies. Hey, at least we did them:) 

After Christmas, we traveled to Farmville to celebrate Granny's 91 birthday. What a wonderful lady she is!! I love her and miss her so much! I will always cherish the years we got to spend living together and as neighbors. My children were able to develop wonderful relationships with her and see how important family, especially the elder generations, is.

Me and Granny

Granny and her grandkids...

I tried to get a picture of Granny and her McPherson great-grandkids, but MC (in true MC fashion) refused to be in the picture.

Later on, MC went up and took Granny's hand to hold...so sweet!!

Singing and celebrating Granny!

What a great visit it was! I am so thankful for family who loves us and encourages us and helps us! I am also thankful for my husband, who is willing to accommodate my needs/wants and to do it all with a smile! I truly cherish every moment with my family!:)
Merry Christmas!!

The makings of Christmas!

Every year when Christmas rolls around, my girls become fascinated with snow globes. Alley will always bring up the snow globe "she once had" (all spoken in a very wistful tone) and how much she loved it and wishes she had a new one. Back track, Alley had a miniature snow globe once and she broke it...end of story. After wading through several days of "remembering my snow globe", I was happy...no, ecstatic...to hear the local library was having a "build your own snow globe event". Couldn't have been better timing on that one! Call me a mean mom, but I am NOT going out to purchase a snow globe...I'm not sentimental and snow globes are weird...there, worst mom of the year award, taken. Back to the story, I told the girls we had a fun event planned for the afternoon, but didn't tell them what it was. I love building the suspense;) When we got to the library, they about died and told me I was the best.mom.ever. Oh yeah, take that! Anyway, we met up with some friends at the library and had a fun time making those creepy, beautiful snow globes. It was love at first sight for all three...whose kids are these??!!

I told the girls to stand at attention with their hands behind their backs so they wouldn't touch anything while the directions were being given...hehe, they look like little soldiers. They did well:)

all ready for the liquid

excited sisters:)

showing off their magical globes:) 

MC had a penguin, K a wolf and A and tree...and lots of glitter!

After our fun with the snow globe project, we went out to dinner with our friends and watched the town Christmas parade. To make the evening even more exciting, MC proceeded to bust open her chin at the sandwich shop. She barely cried, so I assumed it wasn't bad and just slapped a band aid on it. We made it all the way through the parade (it was short!) before I realized the cut was deeper and worse than I thought. Andy had a home basketball game right then, so he got the doc to meet us in his office and check out MC's chin. While we were there, MC dropped her snow globe and it broke...oh.my.word. She cried more then, than when she cut her chin! Anyway, she got her chin glued and we went on our way...sniffing and letting crocodile tears stream down our cheeks as we passed the snow globe carnage...RIP little creepy penguin. 

A few days later, we invited some friends to join us for a Gingerbread House party:) We built and decorated gingerbread house while enjoying the company of some great friends:) 

 the whole clan decorating away

After all the craziness of that week, I had to enjoy a little alone time with the Christmas tree lights...serene and quiet...Merry Christmas yall!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was another interesting event for our family. I am coming to terms with how "holidays" are changing for our family since we moved to Clemson. Last year, we spent Thanksgiving in Disney world...not too bad, but a juicy burger and fries replaced a turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes. This year, Andy had 2 practices on Thanksgiving...whaaat??! So, we entered another "make-do-with-what-you've-got" holiday. We are fortunate enough to have some really great friends around us here at Clemson and we were able to collaborate with one of the families and have a fun Thanksgiving feast! Of course, nothing seemed to go right since Andy was gone for the day! All the dishes that I usually make for our family feast, turned out horrible...oh well! Three of Andy's GA's couldn't go home for TG, so we invited them to join us. It ended up being a great day (minus my dry biscuits, burnt bacon and undercooked green bean casserole...ugh!!!) at least my pumpkin pound cake was AWESOME;)

we started the day off right with the Macy's TG Day parade...the girls practicing to be the next Rockettes

not quite in sync, but with a little practices....um, nope!

Alley and Leah excited about spending TG together

being silly 

time for some TG crafts/coloring...we had to occupy them somehow so we could have some adult convo over a cup of coffee;)

the girls (me, Angie - best bud, Stephanie, Julia and Stephanie)

Kendall working hard

Alley enjoying her crafts

MC couldn't sit still...surprise, surprise...checking out baby Jesus and making sure he's being taken care of...

sweet, wild MC...oh my are you a hand full:)

We had a great time celebrating with friends this year! We had a few bumps in the road this year, but I am looking forward to how we get to celebrate next year!! Rumor has it, we get to go to St. Martins right before TG next year!! WOO-HOOO...I am ready for my Margarita!;)

Charleston

We had the opportunity to travel with the basketball team to Charleston the week before Thanksgiving for a basketball tournament. It was a great time to just get away and be together as a family in a very beautiful and historic town. We all needed a little change of scenery and I needed a break from the norm! We had some warmer temperatures most of the days we were there, so we were very thankful for the break from the cold weather. We spent most of the mornings doing school and playing in the room. Once school was completed, we ventured out to check out our surroundings. There was some great shopping a street behind us, a wide open park a couple blocks down from us and, the aquarium was just down the street. We were in the best location!

One morning we decided to venture down to see the water. The sky was dark, but the weather was warm. Minus the whining from a certain little girl who "doesn't.think.she.can.take.a.nother.step.or.she.will.die.", we all faired well on the walk;)  

The going to check out the water

taking a break from "all that walking" (really it was only a few blocks away...maybe a mile at most!). We sat and watched big boats glide through and enjoyed seeing all the sights and sounds of a waterway.

of course, it wouldn't be a basketball trip if someone didn't get sick. True to her nature, Alley got sick Thursday night and we spent all of Friday in the hotel room. She was feeling better on Friday, but I wasn't ready to risk heading out on an adventure when we hardly slept the night before. Thank goodness for legos and PBS!! ;)

we did go outside the hotel to get a little fresh air. Alley decided everyone needed dance lessons. I mean, you never know when you will be invited to a ball! ;)

Thank goodness Saturday seem to be a good day for the girls, but poor Andy ended up with a horrible migraine. Whomp-whomp! So the girls and I tried to make ourselves scarce on saturday. We headed over to Mount Pleasant to see what was over there. Lucky for us, we found a Barnes & Noble that was just about to start story time!

the girls all excited about story time

they did a project with glitter and glue...obviously the person who planned this activity does NOT have any children...We walked away with very glittery dresses, hands and hair...plus 2 out of the 3 had glued parts of their dresses together...(sigh)

after a quick (and quiet) lunch and nap at the hotel, we headed to the aquarium. The girls have been talking about going to the aquarium since October when I told them we would go. Note to self, never tell them anything until the day it happens. 

Very excited to see the fish tanks...MC is more concerned with snack time...

in the outdoor section of the aquarium...MC was very concerned with the fish that kept coming up to the edge of the water and "wooking at me". 

Kendall patiently waiting until it was her turn to feed "my new friends"

MC overly excited about the huge fish and sharks in the tank. She was so incredibly excited!

going for a safari ride

Alley holding a starfish

MC grabbing the starfish...we all thought she was about to run away with it!

just chillin with the frog outside:) MC was still trying to make her escape

the view from the aquarium

the last morning we were in Charleston, we met up with one of Andy's former co-workers who had moved to Charleston. His daughter was born 2 weeks before MC, so it was fun seeing how they had grown. We enjoyed the donuts and catching up!

This was the best I could do! Neither girl was too excited about getting their picture taken:)

We had a great time in Charleston and are so blessed to be able to travel with Andy on his long trips. I just hope that we can break this curse of Alley always getting sick during basketball trips! Our next one is in March....here's hoping!!

Alley is 6!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet, loving, caring, curious, helpful little momma. I can't believe she is 6 already! Partly because that means I am getting older too (shhh!) and partly because I still remember her/think of her as that small little bundle who constantly wanted to be held and looked at. She was definitely a child who want to be in someones arms and I don't think that has changed much in the past 6 years. She loves to come in to our room in the morning, snuggle with her daddy and say her morning prayers. She loves to hold hands, give and receive kisses, snuggle on the sofa and just get as close as possible to you. It is so sweet and I am trying to remember to slow down and enjoy those moments, because they will be gone all too soon!

Since Alley's birthday coincides with the beginning of basketball, we try to cram all our birthday activities into the wee morning hours before Andy has to go to work. 

After waking everyone up (it would have been much sooner if Andy and I hadn't made her wait!), she couldn't wait to dig into the pile of presents at her seat!

our big birthday girl!

MC trying to steal the spotlight;) I have no clue what she was doing except making noise and getting up on the countertop...

Alley's favorite thing...a home-made card from Carlee Scott.
What a precious thing CS did for Alley!

After all the presents were opened and all the questions about "when can I play with _____?" had been answered, we headed out for our Birthday breakfast at Dunkin Donuts! I am not sure who was more excited?! ;) Of course everyone got donuts with sprinkles and got a complete sugar high....poor teachers;) After dropping the little girls off at their schools, we went up to Andy's office to bring him his donuts. Alley loves going to Andy's work. After lunch everyday, she asks if she can go back to work with him. I think she's hoping that one day he will say yes;) Alley ended the day with cake and a birthday song at our small group. She loved being surrounded by her church family. She told me that it was the best birthday ever. What a sweet sweet girl!!

Alley had her birthday party the following Saturday. One of her and Kendall's good friend has a birthday in November as well, and we thought it would be fun (and easier) to have a joint party. The theme was Pancakes and Pajamas. Everyone came over in their PJ's and we had pancakes, donuts, fruit and a variety of milk. The girls LOVED being able to stay in their pj's all morning. Of course, Kendall preferred to play dress-up since the birthday girls both got princess pj's...oh Kendall;)

MC and her best bud, Sydney (the other b-day girls sister)...they fight like crazy but still call each other "bes fwen"...they refused to stand next to each other for the picture...they are hilarious:)

here's the food table...yum yum!

All the guests:) 

Alley blowing out her candle

The kids eating breakfast and getting ready to watch Tangled

activity #1: decorating pillowcases

activity #2: making cereal necklaces

Kendall and Leah (the other birthday girl)...best buds:)

Alley and her best friend, Charlie. He was SUCH a great sport! They have so much fun together.

MC spent the whole party trying to make everyone laugh (and look at her). 

MC: 1 

B-day girls: 0

finally, a picture of the two little ones...except, they got in a fight over who was going to put their arm around the other first...oh me oh my;)

All in all, it was a great party and birthday!
We love you Alley and are so blessed to have you in our lives!!!