Christmas in January

I was just uploading photos from last night's Mardi Gras parade, when I found photos I took of our Christmas in January with the Davis' in Alabama. There are way too many to post here, but I uploaded them to Shutterfly. Click HERE to see them. We had a wonderful visit last weekend. Erin, Dylan, and our dog, Chewee enjoyed a little outdoor play with WD's sister, Danielle. WD's other sister, Julie came over to visit as well. Dad Skeet pulled out the horses and saddled them up to give us all rides. One benefit to having such great family (and large families, too) is having great holiday celebrations too... even if we were a little delayed this year!

Christmas Morning

Check out our Christmas Slide Show at the bottom of my blog!

What a great time it was yesterday. WD and I were awakened at 6:45a.m. by the creaking of our bedroom door and a jubilant dog "pounce" by Chewee. Erin and Dylan said that they had already been downstairs and that Santa had indeed stopped by our house and left gifts. It was time to get up. Santa left two special notes in the Christmas tree which led Dylan to the hall closet where he found a Wii game system and Erin to her bedroom where she found a Dell desktop computer. After opening the other surprises left under the tree, WD tackled the game system in order to have it up and running downstairs on the big screen tv. I headed up to assemble Erin's computer. After installing the wireless network card, hooking up all the wires with the computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, speakers, etc, Erin was online and in business. She immediately logged onto the webkinz website where she registered the her new pet that Aunt Brandi and Uncle Brett gave her. It was very nice to see them enjoying their gifts.

"Christmas Rocks!"

Erin and Dylan were beside themselves with excitement. We spent Christmas Eve at their "Granny's" house with all of their cousins. It was wild and feverish squeals of delight as all the aunts and uncles passed out gifts to them, then as their Granny and Pawpaw doled out unique gifts bought just for each of them. Erin exclaimed as we drove home that night, "Christmas rocks at Granny's house!" I don't know what they were most excited about though... the gifts, the great food, or hanging out with all of the kiddos.

Here they all are piled on the couch... Hayden, Dylan, Zann, Caden, Erin, Blaise, Victoria, and Titus (it was hard to squeeze them all in!).

Erin couldn't believe she got a digital camera! Her pawpaw arranged for the extra memory card so that she could click away (up to 800 photos).

Dylan was so shocked that he finally got an iPod shuffle. He also got a docking station, that he called "surround sound".
All of the moms and dads sat back with pride and happiness watching all the activities. Our entertainment came when we all got to play a board game which generated lots of laughter and silliness for the adults. I think Dad Roddy mentioned how wonderful it was to have family that could all get along and enjoy each other's company. It's truly a blessing!

Christmas is for Chilling Out

I think I have watched more TV in the last two days than I have the whole year! I actually sat and watched 5 full length movies, a few episodes of ER, an episode of Amazing Race, Crowned, Don't Forget the Lyrics, plus much more. It has been totally relaxing. I cooked up a few sweets, made a pot of shrimp soup, and have enjoyed curling up in my chair with Dylan on one hip and Chewee in my lap. WD has had to do last minute shopping, and Erin has been running from friend's house to friend's house hanging out. I have wrapped more gifts than I care to count, but on my own time schedule... a few here and a few there. WD and I ventured out to the new Perkins Rowe mall just because we wanted to get out and enjoy the cool weather. It has been a very good time and I am looking forward to tonight's Christmas festivities at my mother-in-law's where we watch all 8 of her grandchildren excitedly open gifts and play. Tomorrow will be just as exciting to see Erin and Dylan fill with excitement and joy!

Get Elfed!

This must be the new holiday thing to do! I have received multiple e-mails from family and friends who have "elfed" themselves. WD sat with the kids last night to "elf" us... you've got to check out these moves...

Davis' Get Elfed

Santa's Coming to Town

We were eating supper at my mother-in-law's house Monday evening, when we heard an abrupt knock at the front door. Who could it be? It was Santa Claus! He stopped by to let the children know that he's watching and can't wait to make his special deliveries on Christmas Eve if they can all continue to be good. He had a few little gifts for them as a "preview" to what's to come. Dylan excitedly opened a box of hot wheels skater freaks while Erin tore into her typing computer program.

Natchitoches

There are a few perks to having to travel for work... the Natchitoches Christmas lights! I was asked to visit Northwestern & LSU-A yesterday for work. It being quite a drive home, my coworker, Gina, and I were able to get rooms at the Queen Anne Bed and Breakfast. I stayed in the "Garden Room" on the second floor which opened out to the gallery. It was absolutely lovely! The whole little town of Natchitoches is like something out of a southern fairy tale. Gina and I were able to do a little shopping downtown, eat at Mama's restaurant, stroll along the Cane River, and take in the lights and sounds. All of this after meeting with some of the friendliest people in the state at NSU and LSU-A... I have to say, I have a great job!

How Christmas-y are You?

Take this special Christmas Quiz to find out just how "Christmas-y" you are! I scored 126.

Christmas Quiz

Thanksgiving 2007

Oh how full I am! I suppose I could go at least the next week without eating a morsel after all the wonderful foods I indulged in during the Thanksgiving holidays. Fried turkey, sweet potato casserole, breads, pies, dressing, honey-baked ham, baked spaghetti, and the list goes on and on. The most unusual dish that I enjoyed was a pineapple cheese casserole that my sister-in-law cooked up. It was so sweet that it could have subbed in for dessert... yummy! I did manage to avoid the Black Friday crowds Friday morning, but WD and I strolled the mall Friday evening after most of the crowds thinned. We also started the Christmas decorating, which truthfully I had been dreading. Once WD got the kids excited about setting up our Fontanini nativity collection, I couldn't help but to catch a glimmer of the holiday spirit. WD, Erin, and Dylan got me motivated to struggle through the mazes of lights and garland as well. It's all coming together to look more like Christmas around our house.

Christmas Layout for Board of Designers

I have completed my final project for the Scrapbook and Co's Board of Designers this quarter. The theme is Christmas! I dug around in my photos to discover that I had not put Erin and Dylan's Christmas class parties from 2006 on pages yet. I ended up using some of these photos here on my project! The glittery accents don't reflect well in the photos, but I have fallen in love with a product called "stickles". It's like glittery glue in a million different colors (well not a million, but enough to please any scrapbook artist).
I love it!