Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk

Yesterday morning, Max had tubes put in his ears. We had been trying to put it off in hopes that he would start to make progress on his own, but we finally gave in and decided to have the procedure done. He was a champ and was back to his old self before lunch and full-fledged silly by supper. Here's a clip of his transition from alert and awake to almost passed out cold before they took him back. Part of me thought it was hilarious, part of me thought it was pitiful, but mostly, it scared the heck out of me seeing a glimpse of my baby as a college-aged party boy. He was a trip!!!

O Little Town of Bethlehem

That is Bethlehem, Georgia, a small town with a population of just over a thousand located about 15 minutes from us. The pride of this town is their annual live nativity each Christmas season. Last night, we went caroling (again) and to Bethlehem for the first time in several years. Despite the cold temperatures, the kids had a ball. Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Program

Here are a couple of pics of Kinsey in last night's family Christmas service at our church.

Fantasy in Lights

Lights, lights and more lights. That is our mission for the season! No, but really, we do enjoy the hunt for the best lights around and while I think the three single-wide trailers just 5 miles from here rank pretty high, Callaway was pretty awesome, too. This was a first for us as we traveled down to Pine Mtn to the Festival of Lights and again met up with the Griners for a ride in the one-horse open Ford. Major difference though as the temperature was pushing 70 Saturday night. Brr! Great fun!

Random Fun

Tonight, Jack was invited to go to a hockey game with some guys from work, so spur-of-the-moment, I decided to take the kids out and hunt down some Christmas fun. We hit the jackpot! I should've known the night was going to be awesome, when, at dinner, our favorite celebrity coach, Mark Richt, came up to my red-clad family and told us how spirited we looked. If you've ever seen "Dirty Dancing" and remember the scence where Jennifer Grey gets tongue-tied and says "Uh, I carried a watermelon", then you can picture how graceful I was when he asked me why we were ewearing so much red. "Uh, today was hat day" was all I could muster up! What a dork. Today WAS hat day at my school, and I'm all about not having to fix my hair, so I wore my UGA hat and sweatshirt. Who knew I would run into Mr. Bulldog himself!

Celebrity sighting aside, we ended up at the Zaxby's HQ Toys For Tots Christmas party. This place was precious! 3 wedding tents--one converted into a mini theater playing classic Christmas movies and two with drinks and snacks. The office foyer was staged as a beautiful, snowy North Pole, complete with a very friendly and photogenic Santa. Max kept going back to see him, each time getting braver and braver, until finally his third trip back he decided to try sitting on his lap. Finally, a caroling hayride through a beautifully decorated neighborhood and a sit by the bonfire wrapped up our night. I hear a new tradition calling!!! ;)

Traditions, traditions and more traditions

After a very restful (and unproductive) Saturday, tonight was "Gingerbread House 2008". Actually, this year it was "Gingerbread House, Caroling, and Cookie Decorating 2008". Regardless, this tradition started last year with the Griners with these adorable kits that Mary gets that are mostly assembled leaving the fun stuff to do! A loud dinner with very excited kids was followed by some neighborhood caroling (Max played the cymbals) and then it was Southern Living--gingerbread style. I must say, Max got a little more involved this year. By "involved" I mean that he was taking off the gumdrops and cramming them in his mouth twice as fast as I was putting them on the rood. He certainly loved the icing, too! The "big kids" have come a long way in their independence with the houses. Poor Mary decided she needed her own house next year because her boys wouldn't even let her get near their houses this year. What a wonderful way to head into this last full week of this glorious season. Can you tell I'm happy about only 4 more days with students?!?

Merry Christmas!

Pecan Pickin'

Yesterday, Kinsey went to Nan's house for the day and boy, did they have a good time! They decided to brave the cool weather and go across the road and pick up pecans--9 pounds to be exact! Nan taught her the art of picking them up, but she ended up being the "keeper of the bucket" by the end of the job. She had so much fun that when she woke up this morning, she said she was NOT going to school, but she was going to Nan's again. Sorry to disappoint, kiddo! Back to school!

Magical...

...Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier, that is. So here are a few of the pictures from Sunday night with the Griners. You can tell how much fun everyone had just by the glow in all their eyes. This is one tradition I won't give up. Bundled up in the back of Jack's truck, cuddled up with tons of kids, watching the live Nativity sipping hot chocolate and making S'mores by the fire pit--I could not ask for more.

On a slightly less positive note, we have two sick boogers at our house. Kinsey has a bad case of strep (never would've known aside from the strange bumps on her chin and around her mouth). Since her strep was so bad, I took Max in to be tested. Wasn't necessary because before they did a strep test, they looked in his ears--ANOTHER ear infection. We are off to the ENT tomorrow to schedule our new, shiny tubes--woohoo!

Tis the Season

Just another cute shot in front of the tree. Last night, we went on a whim with the Griners and crew to Lake Lanier Lights for our annual truck ride around the little pond. Wow, what a difference going on a Sunday night made! There was no one there at all so we were able to go tour the park at our own pace and hang out for a while roasting marshmallows and visiting with Santa at his workshop. Pictures to come soon...

"Why, to the North Pole of course..."

THIS is the Polar Express.






For the first time, we were able to get the golden ticket to ride the Polar Express this year from Bryson City, NC all the way to the North Pole to pick up Santa Claus. We had a nice little surprise when we arrived at the train depot downtown because the Christmas parade was just getting ready to start. So, we watched the Bryson City parade then boarded the "Silver Bullet" club car for an exciting Christmas adventure. The ride was a lot like the movie, for those who have seen it. On the way to pick up Santa, songs from the movie were played over the intercom system while staff dressed in cute train costumes served cookies, candies "with nougat centers as white as snow" and of course, hot chocolate. There was a lot of dancing in the aisles and singing going on. With about 15 minutes until our stop, the story was read over the speakers and we all pulled out our book and read along. When we arrived at "Santa's house" (which for those who have never been there is a very modest cape cod style home with somewhat tacky decorations!), he boarded the train and met with every child and asked them what they wanted for Christmas and then gave them a "Believe" bell. On the way back to the depot, songbooks were passed out and some terribly off-key caroling took place. Santa came around once more and autographed books for those of us who brought them. What a fun trip. The costumes were great, the staff was so happy and sweet and the attention to detail--all the way down to the conductor who punched their tickets--was astounding. I see an annual tradition in the making...



Also, a big congrats goes out to Jack today as he ran in his very first 5K in Winterville (in sub 30 degree weather I might add). The kids and I were there to cheer him on at the finish and we are all so proud of him and all his hard work!

Santa Claus is coming to Athens

Tonight was the annual Athens Parade of Lights downtown. An annual tradition for our family and this year was no disappointment. Starting the evening out with one of our fav Athens restaurants, Rafferty's (which by the way the manager swore they were NOT going out of business), then we hit the downtown nightlife scene. Ha! Kinsey, of course, had a ball, but the highlight for me, was little groove man Max head-bobbing to the high school bands. He was full of himself and couldn't get enough of the rhythm. Nut! To cap off the evening, Kinsey helped me go find the perfect outfit for Jack's company Christmas party tomorrow night. It's gorgeous (thanks, Beth) and I can't wait to put it on.

Oh yeah, notice the intials on Max's red sweater in the family picture. Yep, that is JACK'S little sweater from his childhood. Both daddy and son have been proud of their duds today! :)

Big Christmas plans this weekend as we make our first trip to Bryson City to ride the Polar Express to see Santa. Hope to report a fun trip...

Girl Party

Tonight is Kinsey's first girl slumber party. My friend Tammy's mother-in-law in having surgery tomorrow in ATL, so she asked if her daugther could stay the night with us. Of course, Kinsey was thrilled and has been talking about it non-stop since she heard the news. The girls have had a great night involving a basketball game with my middle-schoolers, AWANA's at church, a make-up session and a little Rudolph on TV to cap the night. Just a glimpse at years to come, I guess... :)

Sloppy Sports and Sleepovers

After a few days at Lake Keowee for Thanksgiving, the kids and I returned home for some Georgia football and Christmas decorating. The tree we got from the farm up near Cashiers is gorgeous. Every year I say this, but this has to be the best one so far. Anyway, we had an awesome brunch tailgate Saturday morning in the dry comfort of the parking deck, but after a tremendously disappointing (and freezing and soaking, I might add) loss to Tech on Saturday, we decided we needed more time to get over our misery and hired a second sitter for the evening while we went with the Griners to see 4 Christmases--hilarious. It even made me forget about sucky defense and stupid special teams for two hours. While we were away, the four kids were combined (amazing babysitter) and had what they called a sleepover (although it ended by 10-ish). The kids were all precious in the Christmas jammies in front of the tree.



This was from this morning just before church.



Busy week ahead with 3 basketball games, but I'm most looking forward to cold weather and the Athens Christmas parade on Thursday. 17 more school days to go...

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving from these three little turkeys!

One (Adorable) Little Indian

Today was Kinsey's Thanksgiving program and feast at her school. It was the most precious thing EVER! The class sang two songs (video hopefully posted soon). The first was the extended version of 10 Little Indians like she sang at karaoke night this weekend and the other was an adorable one called "Albequerque, He's my turkey..." and it was my favorite because Kinsey calls it "AlbeTURKEY!" Then they did a cute little skit and had probably THE best school Thanksgiving supper I have EVER eaten. The kids looked so cute and her teachers had done a fabulous job with everything. I feel so thankful that she is in such a wonderful environment this year. We couldn't be happier.

That being said, it was a day of turning over a new leaf with Max. Without going into great detail, we decided a couple of weeks ago that we were no longer happy with his current childcare situation. So, today was his last day there. Jack and I felt very sure about our decision and are looking forward to his new home-away-from-home next week. Say a little prayer for him and us.

Tomorrow, the kids and I are headed to SC for a short little Thanksgiving trip to Nanny and Papadad's. Gobble, gobble!

Memories to last a lifetime...

Weekends like these are the ones that fill me up and can keep me going for many more days ahead. Our 2nd annual girls weekend at Clear Creek Ranch in NC was everything I had hoped for, and more. This year, Kinsey and I decided to invite the other Putman gals to join us for our trip. Nanny was the only one who could make it, but what a time the three of us had. Friday night, we arrived to a snowy Mt Mitchell. The temperatures were somewhere around 20 NOT including the wind. After dinner in the lodge and some time around the fire, we introduced Kinsey to the game of Bingo. After a few rounds, she was getting bored and NOT liking losing. Fortunately, round four belonged to her and she won a "magic gemstone".

The next morning, right after breakfast, we hit the hiking trail for a walk up to a beautiful partially frozen Roaring Falls of the Toe River. Beautiful, but frigid.





We went straight back to the stable for our first trial ride on Hershey. You technically have to be 6-years-old to go out on the trails, but since she'd been taking lessons on Rosie, the wranglers agreed to sneak her out of the arena. The first trip was a big letdown--at least the 2nd half of it was. Too cold (11 degrees), too long, and too tired, I was afraid she may not want to ride again.



After some lunch and warmup at the lodge, she was ready to try again. This time, a little more conservative, Nanny and I decided just to lead her around on our own, so when she got tired, we could just go back to the barn. Just what the doctor ordered. Kinsey rode Wizard for over an hour.





Next, a lovely 2+ hour nap and back up to the lodge to, guess what, eat again! After Saturday night's supper came one of my favorite moments of the trip. Karoake night. Well, neither Nanny or myself have much singing talent (sorry mom), and Kinsey's usually a little slow to warm up to big crowds, so I was totally floored when she walked up to the emcee and asked if she could sing a song (of course they didn't have the music for the song she wanted) and the microphone was hers. I had tears during all 7+ verses of "10 Little Indians". It was the sweetest thing I swear that I have ever heard. There were probably 20 people, adults and kids alike, in the room and you could hear a pin drop! Precious!



Finally our cowgirl weekend ended with one more trail ride. Kinsey promised she was up for another real trail ride and she kept her end of the deal. She had a blast as we rode up and down hills, through woods, and over rocks for an hour and a half. Her riding teacher would've been proud.

We had so much fun, Nanny!




I'm so sad the weekend is over, but I'm looking very forward to returning again in the warmer months, which we've never done before.

Only two work days this week. Also, one baby shower, two children's Thanksgiving Feasts and two basketball games in those two days. Should be busy. I will be THANKFUL when Thanksgiving is finally here! Yee Haw, yall!