A Jolly Christmas

We had a fun, family-filled Christmas! Me-Ma, CC, Day Day, Aunt Kim and cousin Matt were in town. We also got together with the locals; Watson's, Gunderson's and Whitley's. It was a busy and wonderful holiday! Cristie and Tom hosted a great Christmas Eve party. Everybody was there and we had tons of fun opening gifts, playing drinking games (On x-mas eve? I know, but it was so fun!), eating lots of delicious food and just being together. Christmas morning was memorable for sure! The boys were darling! Santa brought a pirate tent which Drew spotted from the balcony as soon as he came out of his room. George and I were awakened by Drew saying, "Santa came and he brought a pirate island! Hold on, I have to get my costume!" So before he even came downstairs to see what else Santa brought, he put on his full pirate costume. So Drew! David moved from one toy the next pretty quickly and found his favorite part of Christmas to be taking the wrapping paper to the garbage can piece by piece. What a cute little helper he was! We hosted Christmas dinner and it was pretty darn good if I do say so myself. We had a delicious turducken and some yummy sides. Christmas night it started snowing and we awoke on the 26th to some pretty good snow! I was thankful for the sled George picked up at Dick's Sporting Goods a couple of weeks ago and the proper winter gear we finally got for the boys! This is our 4th Winter in North Carolina and it has snowed every year so it was about time we got the necessities. We had a ball playing outside. Later that day we had a Nerf war with the Nerf guns Day Day bought Drew. At first I couldn't figure out why Drew needed so many but then I realized all of the guys wanted to play too! I think George, Matty and Day Day were having as much fun as Drewby. I have to say, those things are pretty darn fun. George and I are regularly sneaking up on one another with a Nerf attack. It doesn't seem to get old and for some reason I am always shocked when it happens to me! The Lindsey's came to visit from Virginia on the 27th so we had one more day of food, fun and family before the holiday hustle and bustle came to an end. It was a great Christmas and we are so thankful for spending it with our wonderful family. Happy New Year!

CC and Me-Ma with sweet David.
Drew opens a Spider man figure from Day Day.

David opens a gift from Aunt Cristie.

Another costume! Looks like Drew likes it!

A Star Wars ship from Uncle Tom. Wow!!!

Cousins Brian and Danny with David and I.

Some of the guys.

Cristie and I with two of our sweet Aunts.

Drew, Whitley and David get into the play dough set from Aunt Kim (with the help of sweet Cousin Melanie).

Drew the pirate sneaks a cookie that Santa didn't eat.

David tries out his new grill.

David dressed and ready to play in the snow! He was hysterical in that get-up.

Day Day getting ready to push David and I down the hill. Daddy, who lives in Minnesota I might add, didn't have any snow gear. He made do by putting his feet in plastic Walmart bags before putting on his shoes.

Drew enjoying all of the pretty snow.

Happy New Year! George and I at the Mayes' 3rd Annual New Years Eve party. We had a great time ringing in the new year with our friends and neighbors.

Some of the gals (and one guy in the back) at the party. Happy 2011!!!

The Week Before Christmas

We've had some fun and festive times since my last post. The wintry weather has definitely made it feel like the holidays! There was snow the week before Christmas which resulted in preschool cancellation and a day and a half of staying at home. Good thing we finally got the boys some decent snow gear and a sled this year. We went to Breakfast with Santa at Prestonwood the Saturday before Christmas and actually took a decent family photo! Drew's Christmas school program was held on the 21st. Drew and his classmates were adorable singing Jesus Loves Me, The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rocks and This Little Light of Mine. The best part of the day and quite possible the best moment ever between the boys happened when Drew walked on stage. David was in my arms and when he picked Drew out in the crowd he went absolutely wild. He was squealing with delight and flapping his arms, letting everyone around us know that Drew was his brother. Drew was equally thrilled to see David and let everyone know it by pointing to him and saying, "That's my brother!" while beaming with pride. They were both adorable. Our fun Christmas week with family started that afternoon when Mom and Dad arrived!

Here we are with Santa before breakfast. David wasn't wild about sitting on Santa's lap but he was very intrigued by him. David eyes were fixated on Santa but he finally glanced at the camera when the photographer jingled some bells.
Drew with his teacher, Mrs. M., after the Christmas program. One sweet thing I want to share... I asked Drew what he wanted to give his teachers for Christmas and he so sweetly responded, "Flowers." He was so excited to give the bouquets and gift cards to his teachers. He was downright charming! He will make a sweet prom date someday:)

With Ms. Dale.

Drew and his classmates performing Jesus Loves Me. May I brag and mention that Drew is one of the only kids doing the motions?

Drew's Birthday

Drewby is 4! If you ask him he will say, "I'm already four and next time I'll be five and I'll have a Star Wars birthday." He is already past this birthday and looking on to the next. He's growing up too fast. He had a great birthday celebration spanning over two weeks. CC and Day Day spoiled him with presents and a shopping trip while they were here for Thanksgiving. Then he and I went to see Disney's Toy Story on Ice December 9th with two of his buddies and their Mom's. Me-Ma arrived on the 10th with gifts galore and we celebrated his birthday before George and I left for the Key West wedding. Yep, we were gone for his actual birthday (the 12th). Ouch! Sweet Aunt Cristie came to get him and took him to see the movie Tangled on his birthday. Mae Mae also stopped and he got to play with Me-Ma so he had a great day despite our absence. We returned on the 13th and his birthday party was on the 14th. He wanted to have his party at an inflatable play place, The Jump Zone, and I am so glad he did! I didn't have to do a thing except bring the cake. How easy! He and 21 pals played, jumped and had a blast before finishing up with pizza and cupcakes. Drew said over and over that he loved his party very much. I am happy that he was happy. Happy 4th birthday to my darling, bright and funny best buddy! You are loved very, very much!

Drew and I at Disney on Ice. That cotton candy and Buzz hat cost me $10 just in case you are wondering. Cake on December 10th.

More!

Silly boys after too much sugar.

Cristie and I with sweet David at The Jump Zone.

David liked the tot area. He also liked trying to escape :)

The group! I think 21 out of the 22 sat for the photo. Not bad.

Drew in his inflatable king chair!

Spider man cupcake cake (thank you Sam's Club!) Happy Birthday buddy!

During his 4 year check-up. He thought wearing the gown with only underwear underneath was a riot. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the appointment. He was silly! When asked if he could hop on one foot he not only showed the Doctor that he could but he continued to do it around and around the exam room. When she mentioned that he was muscular he decided to stop hopping so he could flex his muscles for her. Good grief. The Doctor was nice and looked like she got a kick out of Drew.

More Catch Up: Key West

We were only home from Mexico a few days before we headed to Key West. Our friend, Ward, got married there on December 11th. Ward is our dear friend who took us in following Hurricane Katrina. Although we were friends before, the three of us (and Bailey too!) became much closer those few months as roommates. Don't get me wrong, Katrina was a horrendous experience, but George and I always think fondly of Ward and the fun we had living with him when we think back to the Fall of 2005. We were thrilled to hear that he was getting married and we were excited to go to Key West for the big day! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it was a really fun weekend. The ceremony took place on a pier and the reception was on the beach. It was lovely and Ward and his beautiful wife Melanie were the happiest two people on earth! Congratulations Mr & Mrs Wyatt! Thank you for including us. We were so happy to be there! Sightseeing in Key West was great too! I loved that we were able to walk everywhere and it was pretty awesome that we enjoyed two days of mid 70's weather. Judy stayed with the boys and besides the nasty cold weather which kept them indoors, she said everything went well. Thank you so much Me-Ma!!! It wasn't our intention to take two trips back to back but that's how it ended up and we are so grateful for our Mom's who took care of the boys!

Drew was a pirate with a peg-leg this day. Just being a pirate wasn't enough. First he had his leg in an empty paper towel roll (all his idea) but it ripped so he got construction paper, taped it and hopped around. He cracks me up.

David never misses a beat so of course wanted to get in on the dress-up action. He makes a pretty darling Buzz!

Touring Key West. Here I am at the Southernmost Point of the United States. Pretty neat!

Heading down the pier before the wedding. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Us with the happy couple, Ward and Melanie.

We went out on Duval Street after the wedding.

Catch Up: Thanksgiving & Mexico

If I have any regular readers, you are probably wondering what happened to the blog. We have been out of town twice since Thanksgiving so I am finally getting around to catching up on some posts. We spent Thanksgiving in Myrtle Beach with Judy, my folks and the Watson's. We went down on Thanksgiving day after I ran in the Cary Turkey Trot 8K. The boys were very sweet to brave the frigid temps and cheer me on! Thanksgiving weekend was great! We were spoiled with two delicious Thanksgiving meals; a traditional one on Thursday and a casual one (cajun fried) on Friday. The weekend went by quickly, especially since our family headed home on Saturday. We wanted to have Sunday to get ready for our trip to MEXICO!!!! George and I were beyond thrilled to sneak away for four whole nights! My Mom stayed here with the boys and we went to an an all-inclusive resort in the Rivera Maya. It was fabulous! The resort, staff, food and accommodations were even better than we expected. It was just the right amount of time away too. We hated to leave the warm weather and relaxing environment but were excited to get back to the kiddos. I'm sure my Mom was excited too! She handled it like a champ but I know first hand how much work it is and I'm sure she was happy for us to return. Thank you CC!!! We love you!

Whitley and Drew during Thanksgiving dinner. Drew wanted to wear a tie because he said he needed to look handsome for Thanksgiving.

David was tuckered out and fell asleep while watching football.

Mexico...
Doing what we went to do! Relaxing in the sun!

Me too!

Water aerobics! I felt the need to participate since all we did was lay around and eat the entire trip. I quickly realized I was probably better off lounging since there wasn't much more exercise going on in the class. I think George got the better workout while laughing at me :)

Just had to make fun of myself a little bit and share this... I took part in a beer drinking contest and got beat by the lady in the black, blue and green bathing suit. Yeah, the old one. George still hasn't stopped laughing about it! I have to say, the lady was incredible! I thought I had it in the bag. Heck, I love beer. Guess, she loves it even more and has a few more years of experience under her belt.

George lovin' life (and the swim-up bar)!

We went to Playa Del Carmen one day and walked around. It was fun to check out the shops.

During our last dinner. We ate and ate and ate on the trip. We were surprised by how good the food was. The guacamole was out of this world and we've been craving it constantly since our return.

George and a yummy soup trio.