Thursday, December 25, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS




Finally. Christmas. For Emma (and Denise) the day could not come soon enough. Emma swore that she heard Santa during the middle of the night, but she made sure that she remained in bed so that he would not be aware that she was awake. We made Emma wait for Maddie to awake before she could go see if Santa came. It was pure torture. Finally, the moment arrived. They sprinted to the tree and discovered that Santa came. Emma received an American Girl doll named Mia, and Maddie received her first doll and a doll house. All the excitement awoke the rest of the house and they joined in the fun. For the next hour, we exchanged gifts and plenty of laughs. In the end, a Merry Christmas was had by all.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

CHRISTMAS EVE



Christmas Eve is finally here, and the girls are anticipating Santa's arrival. After attending the Christmas Eve service, we rushed home so that the girls could prepare for Santa's arrival. On the drive home, Santa actually called to talk with Emma to see if she and Maddie were heading to bed. Her reassured her that he would be able to find them even though they were not at home this Christmas. Emma was relieved. Once at home, they placed cookies and milk by the fireplace. Maddie decided that she was not in the sharing mood and promptly snagged one of the cookies. I think Santa will understand. Emma even sprinkled "glittering" reindeer food onto the lawn for Santa's reindeer. See covered all her bases. Eventually, we corralled them to bed and both were asleep within seconds of their heads hitting their pillows. I'm sure visions of sugar plumbs are dancing in their heads.


Monday, December 22, 2008

Heading North

Early Sunday Morning, we loaded up the car and headed north to spend Christmas with Larry's family. We hadn't even left Alabama and soon realized that this was not going to be an ordinary trip. The temperatures had already dropped and the winds were buffeting the car with gust in excess of 30 mph. Nine hours and 20 minutes later (were we flying of what?), we arrived in Indianapolis and were greeted with temperatures of 2 degrees with wind chills around -25. What a way to start our vacation. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Now let's pray for some snow!!



Friday, December 19, 2008

Delayed Blogging Pt IV ....

Not sure when this took place but I think it was a few weeks prior to Maddie walking. Here is the scoop: Maddie likes to climb. On the furniture. And she's somewhat wild as Denise would say. Even Emma takes part in the fun. This one is better with sound, take a look.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Delayed Blogging Pt III ....

This little clip occurred in early fall when Maddie was on the verge of walking. A few notables: Maddie could stand; she crab-walked rather than walk; and finally, if she knew you were on the other side of the door, she would lay on her tummy and look under the door. I guess she figured she might see you that way. Too cute.



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Saturday, December 13, 2008

THE TOOTH FAIRY COMETH



Friday, December 12, 2008

Delayed Blogging - INTERRUPTION !!




We interrupt this segment of Delayed Blogging to bring you this important announcement: Emma reached a milestone today! At approximately 6:40 pm CST, Emma lost her first tooth. For weeks now she said that her tooth was getting loose, but I never thought that she would lose it this soon. As it happened, we were sitting at the dinner table and she said that her tooth was "really" loose. She disappeared into the bathroom , and I told Denise that we had nothing to worry about; she'd shy away from the pain and probably faint at the sight of blood. The next thing we knew, she came running out with a tooth in her hand, blood in the mouth, and a huge grin on her face. Amazing!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Delayed Blogging Pt II - Maddie's Birthday


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing



Grandma hosted Maddie's first birthday over the Labor Day weekend. We had only a few family and friends join us; we wanted an intimate gathering. Maddie ate and ate, and as you can see below, she was drunk on cake by the end.

Delayed Blogging

Okay, we've been negligent about blogging over the past few months. A lot has happened since: Emma started school (kindergarten), Maddie celebrated her first birthday, Emma played soccer, Maddie took her first steps and began walking, Denise walked in the 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk, Halloween, Thanksgiving,....needless to say, we need to catch up. With that we'll do some catch-up blogging in no particular order. We will begin with Emma's first day of school.



She was so excited that she could hardly contain herself. She awoke early, ate breakfast, dressed herself, and waited for Mom & Dad to escort her to school. We walked her into the school and took her to her classroom where her teacher awaited. From there, we received hugs & kisses, and she began her first day. Unfortunately, but due to the excitement we didn't get many pictures. Oh well.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Braves Game



After Emma spent several days with Ms. Amanda, I went to pick her up in Atlanta. As a surprise, I took her to a Braves game. We bought tickets on the street and while they were decent seats, they were in the direct sunlight and we preferred to be in the shade. We parked ourselves in a section along the first base side but right after the first pitch, the seat holders arrived and we found ourselves looking for new seats. Before long, Emma found seats in Section 203, right behind home plate. Sweet!! We made it through five innings and many a box of cracker jacks before Emma decided that she wanted to leave for home. For me it was a wonderful way to spend some time with my Sweet Pea. Thanks Emma.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Bowling




During a recent visit from Xander, Asa, and Grandma, we decided to head out for a bit of bowling. We enjoyed ourselves and managed to post some respectable scores although members of the PBA should not worry. Emma even gave Asa a run for the money. Unfortunately, she came up a little short. A fun night nonetheless.


Friday, August 8, 2008

6th Annual Naples Trip

For the past six years, early July meant one thing and one thing only: our yearly trip to Naples, FL with Larry's family. For 10 days it was nothing but sun and fun. The occasion allowed some to see Maddie for the first time since Thanksgiving. She has grown since then as they discovered. Also, for the first time since 2002, Angela joined us. Some highlights:

Pool Luau
As a change of pace, we decided to have a pool Luau one night. The intent was to have games at the pool in addition to a cookout with daiquiris, pina coladas, and homemade ice cream. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, but that didn't stop us from at least having the cookout. The pictures of Gary hula dancing show what happens when a person spends too much time in the sun. HA!



Sanibel
We altered our routine somewhat this year by taking a day-trip to Sanibel Island. There were shell, shells, and more shells. Oh did I mention that there was surf and sun, too. An afternoon thunderstorm chased us off the beach, but we didn't mind. We drove around the island admiring the real estate and then found a souvenir store, and a Dairy Queen so all was well.



Surf-n-Sun
Thankfully the weather cooperated a few days so that Scott could take us out in the Gulf on the boat. Emma was really excited about the chance to tube, again. She was extremely brave each time out, but she was quick to tell Scott that while she wanted to go fast, she didn't want him to go too fast. She tubed with Angela, Ben & Samantha, Larry, and Juli. Larry soon realized after his time tubing that old age had caught up to him. Not to mention he saw Juli do a face-plant in the water and he wanted no part of that. All kidding aside, it was a great way to spend a couple of days during the trip.


LORDY! LORDY! ROBIN IS 40 !!!!!


Robin turned forty on June 24, and as luck would have it, Emma, Maddie, and I were there to celebrate (mourn) with her. As usual, David and Jackson treated the girls like princesses which they thoroughly enjoyed. On this momentous occasion, I'm not sure who was treated better: Robin, Maddie, or Emma. Happy Birthday, Robin.




Beach Trip

Our summer began with a trip to "Pam's Beach". This was Maddie's first time to the beach and she gave her approval by eating a handful of sand. We enjoyed great food, and resumed a tradition of Bingo Night. Emma (and Larry) cleaned up and walked away with the most loot. One night we ventured over to Sandestin and enjoyed Mini-Mardi Gras. Thanks for a fun week, Pam.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Easter at Grandma's

On our return trip from Disney, we decided to visit Grandma and spend Easter with her. To say that she was pleased was an understatement. Lucky for Emma and Maddie, the Easter Bunny knew where to find them.


Monday, March 24, 2008

Our Disney Vacation

For Spring Break, we took Emma and Maddie to Disney, and although this was a return trip for Emma, we considered it her first time because she was too little the first time.



After a brief stop to visit Mammaw and Pappaw, we headed to Disney for our three-day adventure. We spent one day at Hollywood Disney and two days at the Magic Kingdom. We saw all the Playhouse characters, the Princesses, ate lunch at Cinderella's Castle, rode all the great rides, and had endless fun. The trip was truly magical and we enjoyed every minute of it!!



Birthday Girl - Part II



On March 1, we officially celebrated Emma's birthday, & Emma decided that she wanted the party to take place at the gymnastic place where she goes. She invited a small group of friends to join her for tumbling, cake & ice cream. When the day arrived, she kept asking if it was time for her party, but we had to tell her that it wasn't until the afternoon. As you would guess she kept asking if it was "afternoon yet?"

Before long, the time arrived and we found ourselves among screaming kids running and tumbling in the gym. They ran and ran and ran some more before we indulged them with cake and ice cream. Finally, Emma opened her gifts that her friends were generous to bring. She was very thankful for all that she received and was thankful that she was able to enjoy her party with her friends.


Birthday Girl - Part I

There is nothing like the month of February for Emma; it seems like everyday is her birthday. Case in point: we took a weekend trip to visit our friends David, Robin, and Jackson and wouldn't you know, they decided to treat Emma to an early birthday party. For the whole weekend, they treated Emma to good food, fun-n-games, and cake & ice cream. Maddie even join in on the fun. Larry and I were just along for the ride, but we didn't complain. Fun was had by all. Thanks David, Robin, & Jackson.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

SNOW!!!!!!



On Saturday, January 19, 2008, Emma had her first experience with snow. Yes, you read that right. Snow. We knew it was coming, we just didn't know when, and all day Friday Emma kept asking if she was going to see it. She awoke Saturday morning and was greatly disappointed. Rather than snow, she was seeing rain. YUCK! But as the morning hours passed, the rain turned into snow and before long, our lawn had a dusting of the white stuff. Unfortunately, we were not prepared; Emma didn't own any boots nor gloves, at least not the kind that would keep her hands warm and dry. Actually, neither did I. All the snow gear I had from when I lived in Indiana had been misplaced. I wasn't in any better shape than Emma was. It didn't matter. We ran outside and immediately started throwing snowballs, or should I say slushballs. We managed to create a little snowman to put in the yard, and Emma even made a few snow-angels. We had to go inside to warm up by the fire, but before long we were back outside. When Emma decided that she had had enough, we ventured inside to make s'mores in the fireplace. Although the amount of snow we received was much less than anticipated, it was just enough to give Emma an introduction to life with snow. And what was Maddie doing, you ask? She stayed inside to keep warm and to sleep. She'll have to wait until next time.