Christmas, Part 2...

We had Christmas, Part 1 with Dad and Laura last weekend. This weekend, we had Christmas, Part 2 with Mom and Sonny, Mrs. Bobby and Mr. Tommy, Kelly, and again with Anna, John, and Lance. Whew! Why do the holidays seem to fly by at lightning speed?

On Friday night James and I stopped by to visit the Trains' on their way out of town and to make a delivery to them. "Anne Marmot" was asleep, but James visited with Champ and pulled out all of AMT's toys. When we left there it was just after six, so I called Eddie and asked him to meet us in the driveway so that we could grab dinner and make a quick Publix run.

I spent several hours after dinner wrapping gifts. I actually only had a few gifts left to wrap but for some reason it took for.e.ver! Got that done, picked up the house a little bit, and Eddie got to bed around midnight. I carried on with packing and cleaning for a little longer.

Funny story, at around 12:30 I heard the pitter patter of little feet. I asked James what he was doing up and he told me he was "wookin' for {his} daddy." I let him snuggle with Eddie while I finished what I was doing and then tried to move him to his bed around 1:30. He woke up so I climbed in with him, but he told me he needed his daddy and just left me in his room! Stinker! Eddie climbed in bed with him and I went to sleep in our room. I'm not sure what went on between 2-5, but around 5:30 Eddie put James in our bed. He said he'd gotten up and almost stepped on him asleep in the floor. :) Sweet thing!

We got going Saturday morning and after what felt like forever to get showered, packed, and our stuff to the car we left to run errands around 11. (There's nothing like being an hour behind, right?) James napped almost the whole time we ran errands and then the whole way to Tifton. Thank goodness! The days when we travel and he doesn't nap are NO FUN.

We spent the afternoon visiting grandparents in Tifton before heading to Supper Club at the Bargerons' house. I did not take the first picture, which is a shame. All the kids had a GREAT time and I am happy to report that everyone behaved and the only tears shed were over getting knocked down during a game of chase. :) They were all sweet to one another and played well!

Sunday morning we had Christmas at Mama's house first thing. We dragged out gifts for a long time until everyone started getting hungry and a few people headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. Present opening was fun and breakfast was FANTASTIC. I ate too much!

Since everyone had coffee, James started calling his milk his "toffee." He'd hand out a few gifts (he was our elf) and then stop and say, "Where my toffee?" After a few sips, he'd get back to work!

A radio flyer racer. It's sort of like a Big Wheels like we had when we were little but this thing makes all kinds of sounds! Can't wait to try it out!

John got speakers for his iPod and my little music nut was OBSESSED.

Two videos of dancing to the music:

After breakfast and showers, we went to have Christmas with Eddie's family. It was also Mrs. Bobby's birthday so we had "birthday lunch" with them. Oh my word, we were STUFFED after this. But not too stuffed for birthday cake and chocolate pie, I guess. (James had NO desire to eat anything until the dessert came out. Then he was magically hungry again!)

Christmas with the Freshes was fun, too! James got this gift and I was SO tickled about it. Eddie told me I couldn't get him one. When I responded that HE vacuums at our house a lot of the time he told me that he wanted better for James. Ha! Little stinker! Can't argue with Grandmama and Kelly, though! James LOVES it.

After all of the gift opening, James told me he was sleepy. When he admits it we know he is EXHAUSTED. Look what happened about three minutes later. He slept almost an hour being held. This NEVER happens anymore!

We had a great "Christmas" weekend! We're so thankful that everyone was sweet enough to be flexible about when we could celebrate. We may do things differently next year, but it's worked out fine this year!

More parties and gift buying this week and then the REAL Christmas next weekend! James really is starting to "get" the gifts and Santa and that it's Jesus' birthday. I can't wait for Christmas morning!

Hammer Time!

Okay, okay...cheesy title. But really, if you had been at my house last night you'd completely understand! My wonderful but frugal husband insisted that he paint the kitchen all by himself and rip up the floor all by himself so that we could save some money and spend it on something else in the house. Have I mentioned how wonderful he is??? Anyway, ripping up a floor is NOT quiet work. As I worked on lesson plans and grading late into the night, Eddie was in the kitchen hammering and ripping away. He's just great!





Things are coming along in the house. Tomorrow the floor will be put into the kitchen and dining room. Cross your fingers and pray that it matches closely enough! Scary!

I have a confession to make...I do not cook. I LOVE to bake! Cooking, however, has just never been fun for me because it's been just for one most of the time. I have been known to cook now and then - and I'm certainly not BAD at it. In fact, I'm pretty good at following a recipe, if I do say so myself! Lately, however, we've been either eating out or eating baked potatoes. The only kitchen appliance we currently have is a microwave. I'll go to Publix (thank goodness for Publix!) and walk through the aisles wondering what to cook because I CAN'T cook. And the funny thing is, that's all I want to do now. I want to come home from school and be able to fix supper without it consisting of take-out or microwaved ANYTHING. Stay tuned for new recipes I'm trying. I hope to have appliances sometime in the next two weeks.

Which leads me to this...if you're a Dinner Club buddy who is coming up for the Dinner Club Weekend/Georgia National Fair Extravaganza...do not come expecting much. Our appliances SHOULD be installed by then...but our kitchen will still be in shambles. Countertops won't be installed for at least a week after that. And my wonderful mama is refinishing my ugly kitchen table and has informed me that I won't have it until Christmas. I don't care how long it takes since she's doing it out of the goodness of her heart and it's one less thing I have to worry about! So how about Gyros and funnel cake just like last year? I'm glad you understand...

Hope everyone is doing well! We miss you guys!

PS - Don't tell Eddie I posted that picture of him...he'd have a fit!