Fantasy of Lights!

Donald and I took the girls to see the Fantasy in Lights at Callaway last week. Lots of fun, but extremely cold! We packed all manner of snacks and let them watch The Santa Clause (an oldie but a goodie) on the way down. They had a great time seeing the lights and meeting all the characters in the Christmas village. They enjoyed Santa but I think their favorite was the giant "numbcracker." So many possible jokes there! Merry Christmas to all of you!

Heading off!

Goofing around as we wait for our tickets to be called.

Scariest light display ever.

It's so much more fun when you wrap up in a blanket and hang your head out the window like a dog. At one point, Emily was shouting, "It's like we're in twinkle-land!"

Very snuggly gingerbread man.

That's not lipstick - it's candy cane residue.

Emily took this one. Fabulous photographer!

Getting sleepy - you can tell by the eyes.

Took three tries to get this picture.

There he is!

Not sure what the faces are all about -

The Nativity on the beach was beautiful; however, I thought I was going to lose the tips of my fingers to the cold.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cats

I caught our boys snuggling in their favorite spot on the landing a few days ago and had to snap a few photos with the Christmas lights in the background. They look awfully sweet lying curled up amid the extension cords; however, in the back of my mind I can hear Uncle Eddie saying, "Hmmm....smells like fried pussycat."

Jingle Bell Trail

My school hosted its annual 5K fun run this December and it was a big one! Over 750 runners showed up to jingle down the trail with us on a very cold morning. Emily and Donald were there to represent the White House - inside the warm library with the rest of the race bag volunteers! We left the race for a huge breakfast at J. Christopher's and then headed home for a three hour nap. Seriously. I must be getting ready for hibernation or something!

Autumn Leaves

While doing a little yard work to get ready for the Thanksgiving festivities, we ended up having an impromptu photo session with Emily. She loves to dive in the massive leaf piles generated by the trees in our front yard. Lots of fun!

Beautiful beautiful Japanese Maple in our backyard

We've enjoyed having a fire at night during this cold weather! Plus, it makes for a cool photograph.

Diving in!

You won't hear me say this often, but she looks like me in this photograph.

Woohoo!

It's shocking to me how big she looks here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at the White House! We attempted to cook a turkey for the very first time and, despite circling cats and lots of nervousness, Mr. Turkey came out looking beautifully browned and delicious! I'm thankful to say that Tom didn't split open and dry out like the bird in Christmas Vacation. Thank goodness for the digital thermometer! What a great day - hope yours was equally full of food and family! Did he think we would just set an extra place for him? Check out Emily's excellent turkey centerpiece in the background. That thing had about a million little pieces.
Hooray!

Emily gets roll duty now. I had to do it when I was her age, so I've passed the buck along to her.

A thousand yums for the homemade cranberry sauce!

Time to eat!

We watched a YouTube video to figure out how to carve it! Honebaked has always done it for us in the past.

Trying to figure out Granddady's new iPad.

My contribution - an orange marmalade cake. I dirtied every dish in the place to make this cake but it was worth it!

Yummy cupcakes

Emily's getting the tired eyes.

Again with the iPad

Trying to beat Uncle David at the Wii

Turkey Jam 2010

We started hosting Turkey Jam a few years ago as an alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Don't misunderstand me - we still have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner all the way down to the cranberry sauce (thankfully homemade instead of the shivery kind from the can - although that's still yummy, too) but we like to have friends over around Thanksgiving and eat an entirely different kind of meal and Mexican-themed foods have been the go-to choice for the last few years. We had an excellent group of folks this year from all over the place - some that we see all the time and some that we hardly ever see at all! Lots of friends brought their guitars and Emily was in hog heaven by the end of the night as she listened to everyone put the "jam" in Turkey Jam. It was great fun to see all the little ones running around in their PJs by the end of the night. I think more than a few adults were sad that they hadn't brought their PJs, as well! Hope to see you all again next year!

Skinner and Adrian get the party started

Emily is trying to figure out all of Skinner's moves

And now Baby Kimber is getting her groove on

Modeling her new dress-up duds. Thanks, Amy W!

Sadie picks up some fresh produce. I don't always have a centerpiece of yams and oranges. I just didn't have any other place to store the stuff for the "real" Thanksgiving dinner! Plus, it looked kind of pretty!

Emily and Ethan have some fun in the girly purple play room. Ethan may be scarred for life! Not a truck in sight.

My lovely girl brought her own guitar to join the music.

All the ladies...well, some of us, anyway.

Merry Christmas!

Amy was poking around in some files on their computer today and found these two cute videos of Emily singing along with her new piano from Christmas two years ago. So sweet! I can't believe how much she's grown. Just a little pre-Christmas post to get you in the mood. Wait....we've gotta make it through Thanksgiving first! Enjoy, anyway!

Emily Sings: Part I (PS - The 2nd song is a beautiful Enya Christmas song that she loved that year. Not familiar to everyone!)

Emily Sings: Part II (I love when she gives Abby the smackdown for touching her piano!)

Happy Halloween!

The whole family converged on the White House for our annual dinner and trick or treating ritual. We were glad that David and Aunt Liz could join us. Nice to have David living in Atlanta now so that he come for stuff like hauling the kids around the subdivision, dodging teenagers dressed as skanky genies, and handing out truckloads of candy to everyone in Newnan who stops by our subdivision to see the pirate house down the street. In case you haven't visited, you should definitely look us up for next year! The hippie and the rock star had a great time trick or treating and were overjoyed when people guessed who they were. We saw one Dad out with his son - he was dressed as Robin to his son's Batman. If Donald and I were better parents, we would have dressed as Slash and Britney Spears to match Emily's costume. Oh well, there's always next year...

Check out the rotten pumpkin. I tried to reach in and turn on the flashing light and a swarm of gnats came out to attack me. He's going down the hill into the creek tonight to be dinner for Rocky the Raccoon!

She insisted that the rubber boots were the perfect shoes to complement her outfit.

Watch out, Yoko. Abby's got flower power!