2nd Annual Corn Dawgs

Trying to squeeze as much winter fun into our last few days of break, Mary and I took the kids ice skating at Corn Dawgs today. All four had a great time. John Scott was a pro from the instant his blade touched the ice and Jacob and Kinsey soon followed suit. Max worked hard and braved some skating alone toward the end of our afternoon. Way to go guys!

White Christmas!

After a wonderful, snowy Christmas evening with the Pitmans and Putmans, we woke up and "hit the slopes" for a while. Everyone (including cutie Davis) had a great time sledding (yes, at times, in the dirt!) and basking in the beautiful winter white.

Christmas 2010

It was a beautiful Christmas morning indeed! The kids slept until 7:30 and the four of us had a peaceful morning checking out our stocking stuffers, Santa goodies, and packages from each other. Max was thrilled with his Nintendo and Kinsey loved her stuffed horse, Sleighride, her Chipettes and NY snowglobe and her Udraw from S.C.

After gifts, we headed over to Uncle David and Aunt Brenda's for a delicious breakfast with the Patrick side of the family and then an extra special RTV ride with cousin Amanda. Here's a picture when we stopped down by the river and climbed this beautiful tree branch.



Later that afternoon, we hit the road for SC and were so thrilled about halfway to my parents house, we ran into our WHITE Christmas!!!

The Night Before Christmas

Tonight, we were treated to a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner and Nan and Granddaddy's with the special treat of Jack's Uncle Charlie and Aunt Kathy.



When we got home, we baked some cookies for Santa and spread our Grinch Glitter on the front lawn and headed for showers. After cleaning up we discovered that our crafty little elf, Pipsqueak, made all of us matching PJ's this year!

Shadracks

We tried out a new Christmas event this year. In place of our truck ride around Lake Lanier lights, the eight of us opted to do something a little different. Jack borrowed one of the company 15-passenger vans, we strung up some lights and packed some sweet treats and headed to Gwinnett Fairgrounds for the Shadrack Christmas Experience. It was really quite cool with a musically animated light show. We had some nutty kids dancing around in the "Rudolph Express" van! After we'd worn ourselves out with out singing and grooving, we moved along for some Santa's Village fun. Who doesn't like inflatables, livestock and spider jumps?

Trek to Bethlehem

After the concert, we grabbed the kids and headed on our annual trip with the Griners to the live nativity in Bethlehem, GA (followed by our "tradition" of touring the hatchery and playing with the baby chicks!)

John Berry

Jack and I had a special Christmas treat for ourselves at the John Berry Christmas concert. What a talented man!

Biker Chick

Kinsey learned to ride her two-wheeler today!

Memory Lane

When I was a kid, my parents used to take us to a place nicknamed "Tiny Town." It was a home in a nearby city that was on a pretty big piece of land that was COVERED with Christmas lights and decorations.

Turns out, there's our own little "Tiny Town" right around the corner from our house. Ever since we've lived here, we've watched the decorations get bigger and brighter each year, finally resulting in passers-by getting out of their cars and taking tours. It's actually three or four homes all in a line, working together to create a small piece of Griswold heaven.

Naughty or Nice?

Santa sent the kids some really special emails this morning...

Kinsey's Report

Max's Report

Stone Mountain Christmas

After battling the flu at the first of the week, Jack and I took the kids to Stone Mountain for a little while Saturday evening to get out of the house. The kids wrote and mailed letters to Santa, visited with the Snow Angel, rode the train and watched the 4D Polar Express. After the parade, we left the park for a great dinner with our fabulous cousins Alex and Anna. It was so much fun to hang out with them! There were several more things to do at the mountain that we didn't get around to, so hopefully we will get back there again one evening this week.

Gingerbread 2010

The Christmas traditions with the Griner Gang have finally begun!!! Sunday we had dinner and hot chocolate and enjoyed the annual decorating of the gingerbread houses. I must say that Mary had the best idea as she finally bought her OWN house to decorate. I WILL have my own show home next year! ;)

Field Trip

AFter Lowe's and the jubilee, we hit the highway for a little day trip to Greenville. We met up with Nanny, Papadad and the Pitman crew for Disney on Ice and the twinkinling lights of Roper Mountain.

Girl Scout Holiday Jubilee

Saturday morning, Jack and Max went to Build with Me again at Lowe's while Kinsey and I attended the Holiday Jubilee for all the Girl Scouts in the area. Her troop had a great time swapping ornaments they'd crafted, making Christmas card and book marks and making S'mores in the chilly morning.

Homebuilders

A group photo from our Sunday School Christmas party...

The Last Noel

Max's Christmas program at his preschool. They sang a precious song called "Hurry with the Straw."

Breakfast with Santa

After a fun night out at The Georgia Club for Jack's company Christmas party last night, we hit the club again after church this morning for a delish brunch with the jolly old elf. I shouldn't need to eat for days! Mmmm!

Watkinsville Christmas Parade

Welcome Santa!

Thursday night, we welcomed in the season at the Athens Christmas parade. We were treated to a yummy dinner and fun times with the Loftin gang. The kids had a blast and brought home a nice stash of loot as well!

Wreck Tech

As this fall has had us on the road so much (I just realized yesterday that I'd visited 6 states in 6 weeks) we got rid of our UGA season tickets. Turned out to be a blessing, first because this was a year of, what do they call it--REBUILDING, and second, because we really needed the cash this year (mostly because of the travel mentioned above!) I digress. We went to one game this year early in the season and were satisfied with that. However, while at Disney, we got a call from my bud that she and her husband had two extra seats in their sky suite for the Geogria Tech game, so we hit the road a few hours earlier than we'd planned to get back in time for an ugly win on a beautiful, cold, fall night! Go Dawgs!




Now, THIS kind of tailgating, I could get used to!!! ;)

The 12 Memories of Disney

12: The number of Pits, Pats and Puts who spent a wonderful week in Disney
11: As in "o'clock"--about the earliest we ever went to bed all week
10: AT LEAST how many times Kinsey and Max rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
9: How many meals we ate each day (or at least it felt) on the Dining Plan
8: The number of times Kinsey rode Space Mountain, her new favorite ride
7: How many days we went to Magic Kingdom--until 1 AM one morning!
6: Parades, laser shows, etc (Fantasmic, Celebration Parade, Illumination, Electric Parade, Disney Channel Rocks, and the nightly fireworks shows)
5: Character meals--Chef Mickey's, Cookout at Wilderness Campgrounds, Princesses in the Castle, Pooh and the Gang, and Cindrella Dinner
4: New rides I loved: Test Track, Soarin', Mission Space, and Everest
3: Beautiful villas at Wilderness Lodge
2: Extremely excited Patrick children
1: HUGE thanks to Nanny and Papadad for a MAGICAL experience!

This free scrapbook customized with Smilebox

Thankful

Today I snuck out of work for a bit to meet Max and Jack at the preschool Thanksgiving Feast. We are so thankful that Max is a part of such a loving school family!

Periscopes and Washing Cars

After riding lessons, the kids went to Lowe's for the "Build and Grow" workshop where they made periscopes. Then we came home and had a car wash party. Max was very did a fine job washing the floor mats while Kinsey's forte was scrubbing the carpets. I also have the cleanest liscense plate in town!