Christmas at Home

Here is Christmas at our house...

Presents waiting under the tree.

Kids waiting at the top of the stairs.

Note from Santa.


Ethan in joyful bliss... there is nothing like the joy of stockings.
Livy digging in to her stocking.


Isaac and Livy discover candy bracelets for the first time. The breakfast of champions.

A little bit of bed head.

Ethan finds his "treasure" an enormous lollipop from Santa (still in the cabinet - he has already forgotten about it - because of all the Christmas hoopla).

Can you tell what Livy is so excited about? A new sippy cup in her stocking!!

Livy's favorite... a new baby.
Ethan's new spaceship set. "To infinity and beyond..."

Isaac's favorite a new vacuum. We should have bought one for each of our kids... seriously this was the "hottest" toy of the morning and all the kids were fighting over it!

Merry Christmas to all...

6th Annual Hoots' Christmas Party

Well, we celebrated the birth of Christ with friends for the sixth season in a row. Here are a couple of shots of the merriment! We always play the White Elephant Game and this year a couple of the hot items were a decorative trunk (yeah really), movie tickets, a granite cutting board, and soap on a rope ;). If you couldn't make it we sure did miss you! Go ahead and mark your calendar for next year, God Willing.

My favorite part... desserts. The wassail was pretty good too.

Every year we run out of something - this year it was this easy punch.

Very tasty- thank you allrecipes.com.

Here is the food I did not make - the appetizers. You can't really tell- but the food was phenomenal- I have some friends that are great cooks.




Our friends the Manns.



Rachael and Brooke.



Ashley and Kari.

Old Friends (not age, length of friendship) the Vandergriffs and the Camerons.

Small Group (and extended small group) Ladies... love these sisters. We missed you Meredith!

Trip to Ohio

My QUICK trip to Ohio was awesome. I was able to go kid free (thanks to my wonderful husband) and actually spend time talking to my family!! We ate, laughed, played cards, looked through OLD photographs (and I mean old people), and went through all the old Christmas ornaments. It was wonderful. Above is my grandmothers house. She has lived there my entire life, every Christmas and every summer growing up I was blessed to have wonderful memory upon wonderful memory there. I think it was where I had the most fun family times in my childhood. Anyway... Here are three generations at least (sorry Liv - you had to stay home).

My mom, me, Granny, my sister.

The four granddaughters with my grandmother.

Me, Katherine, Granny, Jaclyn, Tina.
Sorting through the Christmas stuff... I was blessed to go home with a nativity set my grandmother made! (That's right folks- MADE) More on that later.

Four Red Heads

Shannon, Katherine, Jaclyn, and Tina

No we are not (all) sisters! These are all the female cousins on my mom's side. We all drove to my grandmother's house to surprise her for her 80th birthday. (my mom and aunt and uncle went too). We had a great time and Tina and I were even asked if we were twins!!!

We have not all been together in over 10 years! It was great. And, celebrating with my grandmother was a treat. Happy Birthday again, Granny!!

Happy 80th Birthday Granny

My beloved grandmother, or "Granny" (pictured above in her engagement announcement at age 19) as I call her is 80 years old today. You may remember we had a big party for her this summer, but today is her actual birthday. There are no words to express how much I love my grandmother and how influential she has been in my life. I am so grateful to have her as an example and a kindred spirit. May God Bless you Granny, I wish you peace and happiness and all things good. Thank you for loving me and teaching me so much. Happy 80th Birthday!! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you- but I am sending something special to your door - four things to be exact - so be on the lookout. I love you!

My grandmother and her three sisters. She is the second on the left.

Christmas Card Out Takes - Take 2

Christmas Card Out Takes- Take 1

My mom and I tried to get a good shot of the kids for a Christmas card. Right now- this is near impossible. Here are the first group of ridiculous photos - no editing at all! Enjoy. (PS - I just ordered my real cards - you will have to wait to see the final shots!!)

Char-Grill

After a couple of days inside with the kids eating turkey we decided to head out to our favorite local place- Char-Grill (the original above). This was one of my favorites in high school and now I have John hooked too! If you are ever in the Triangle you should stop by. The burgers and shakes are incredible. (PS - I think the kids liked the ketchup more than anything.)

Thanksgiving

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed ourselves at my (Shannon's) parent's house. We ate too much, but we enjoyed our little pilgrims and Indian.