I Love You Because...

Isn't it ironic...

It hasn't been enough time at our house for me to be able to laugh about it quite yet but, I can now at least see past the anger and see the irony of posting this and the next day disovering our Little Miss did this....

Good thing her Grandma has some amazing home-fixes up her sleeve because otherwise we'd have a daughter grounded for life. So how exactly does one get out ball-point pen out of heirloom quilts (or any other fabric for that matter? Good question. According to Mom you soak it in hairspray for 10 minutes, then scrub it out with a cotton rag and repeat until it's gone then you wash it as usual adding a splash of vinegar to the load... guess what? it works! 

Now the quilt is clean and the punishment begins.... this little girls room makeover I mentioned last week has been put on hold until further review of her behavior.

 

oh the joys of motherhood, right?
Joanna  

 

Simple Saturday

A perfect rainy Saturday.... 

Snuggling on the Couch with our little ones and working on Pinewood Derby Cars before heading out on a dinner date to Shakespeare Tavern with Husbandface to see Merchant of Venice. 

It doesn't get much better then this. 

Looks like Santa is Winning...

Fall Fun

Last night Phil and Alicia and the kids came over for some Chili, Caramel Apples and Pumpkin decorating. Soo much fun. We are loving living closer to them and being able to see them more. I mean seriously, do you see those cute faces? 

Instead of carving pumpkins this year we opted to pull out a few craft supplies and paint them instead, the idea was that it would be less messy, less time consuming and the kids could do it on thier own..... WRONG! Paint took forever to dry, they still needed help poking holes for pipe cleaners or adding more glue, and the paint? yeah, it's all over the garage floor (thank you Ethan!) BUT.... that being said. The kids were adorable and it was totally worth the time and effort. Everyone had a blast. 

My favorite pumpkin of the night? Owen's cute little bear. Really, he is cuter then his bear but he loves it so much there's nothing to do but smile at them both. 

 

Traveling with Kids

This cute face makes my 12 hour drive go by so much faster.... Just sayin'.

Cousin Camp 2011

10 days. 7 kids. 5 books. 3 new recipes. 28 projects. 110 juice boxes and too many meals to count... my kids favorite week of the year is over and I miss my nieces and nephews already! 

For Me? For Them?

All this week I've tried to do fun little things for the kids while they've been out of school. Both to keep their excitement for the holiday contained and to prevent them from driving me crazy. It's working so far. Tomorrow we have a few projects planned for gifts for friends, yesterday they painted their own Nutcrackers and today we headed downtown to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

It was adorable, the kids loved it and if you're looking for something fun to do with the kids before school starts up next year it's the perfect afternoon activity. On the drive home I realized something though. I loved it just as much as they did.... if not more. I loved being downtown, I loved exposing the kids to a little culture (well, culture for a 5 year old, right?) and I loved the play. I loved the chance to support the group putting it on and I LOVED the flashbacks... When I was 10 or 11 I went through a 'Theatre' stage. (no pun intended... okay maybe it was intentional. Anywhoo....) I was in about a dozen plays between the ages of 10 and 15 and I loved every single one of them. The little theatre that we had in our town was quaint and had a wonderful group of people running it who were always setting up children's plays. The community supported the shows and we were all grateful for a chance to put on the next one. Ohhh.... the memories. Okay, so maybe taking the kids to this was more for me then them but, we all loved it! 

My little sister Emily is the cute one, second on the front row with the huge hair bow and I'm one the top row of the angel choir, far right. 

That's the way things happen on The Polar Express!

This is the event that makes me happy to live in the South. Every year at this time I am homesick, I am missing family and I and struggling everyday with the fact that I don't live out west. Then I take my kids to a once in a lifetime memorable event that only exists here and I feeI better. Seriously, if you live anywhere in the South and have young kids this is one holiday event that you totally do NOT want to miss!! Last night Doug and I took the kids up to Bryson City, NC to see (according to Owen "The real-live Polar Express!". 

After a 2 hour drive and a quick change into new Christmas jammies we were ready to present our Golden tickets to the Conductor for punching . We were off in a vintage first class dining car ready for an adventure! 

The staff greeted the kids by grabbing them to dance and sing.

Then it was time for the all important Hot Chocolate!

and pastries... and marshmallow treats... and cookies. (Because apparently the kids needed to be even more hyped up for the ride!)

This is when the kids stopped even noticing the grown-ups and really did enter their own magical world. 

Or maybe it was the the grown-ups turned into kids themselves.

 And just when the kids were getting bored... the train ho-bo showed up! 

And the frost set in.

The stage was set for something very magical to happen. 

And someone very magical to meet. 

Do you Believe? 

We do!

If that doesn't get you in the Christmas mood nothing will!

 

*We took the kids to this back in 2007 and I have to say it was WAY better this year! The bells were better, the staff was better, the souvenirs were better.... and most importantly Santa was better. So kudos to GSMRR for up-ing an already amazing experience.*

 

BREAKING NEWS! WHITE OUT SNOW STORM IN BETHLEHEM!

We don't get the same snow storms here that I got growing up. My kids will ever have the joy of getting white washed daily by the cute boy down the street when they get off the school bus, or experience the delight of making morning snow angels in December and they will never get to have a snowball fight with their Georgia cousins and neighbors....  well, unless they come over the day Grandma's annual Christmas package comes because that's the one day a year we're guaranteed to have a snow storm. 

(For the record; Doug saw the mess and thinks I'm crazy....)  

(and for the record; I heard the giggles and didn't care about the clean up.) 

(well.... until about this exact moment. The phone rang. It was  the realtor. She had a family that wanted to come by and look at the house asap.) 

Spikey Hair

Owens new hair cut.