Thanksgiving in Tennessee

We were so excited to be invited to Thanksgiving in Tennessee with Jeremy's sister, Tiffany, and her family.  OK, to be honest...we were super excited about visiting them...but totally dreading the 14 hours car ride.  In fact, we were pretty sure it would take us more like 16-18 hours to drive there....and, in early November when we were making plans....it was torture to me to even think about it.  So, I didn't.  I didn't think about the travel (to much) and thought about the nice time we would have visiting instead.

We pulled out of our driveway on Tuesday around 12:30 pm.  This is what the kids looked like while we waited for lunch outside of Jason's Deli.

They were excited...and I began dreading the drive....for real!  The girls were excited because our sweet friends let us borrow their dual screen portable DVD player.  Yes, my friends...each girl had her own little TV screen right in front of her face and personal headphones.  What a luxury.  Really....I think this helped the drive go so well.  NOT because they watched it all the time (because they didn't)....but because they were so excited that they would be able to watch it when we gave the OK. 

Their eyes and ears are already glued to the screen!

Nathan was very happy to finally be turned around in his car seat and able to watch what really happens on the road.  Seriously...this kid didn't stop smiling  for a long time because he loved being turned around.  Every time I looked at him, he laughed.  He's very cool!

So....the drive...was it as horrible as I had imagined?  NOOOOOO.  Here's a quick rundown....we all ate lunch and then we told the girls that they had to take a nap before they would be allowed to watch a video.  They both took a good long nap, then we let them watch Charlotte's Web.  By this time, we were close to Valdosta, GA...we stopped at Chick-fil-a for a quick dinner (on the road) and drove....and drove...and drove.  We had FULL intentions of stopping somewhere around Macon or Atlanta to sleep for the night.  But, Jeremy was awake...the kids were asleep...and we kept driving.  We pulled into the Davis driveway at 2:30am on Wednesday morning (oh...by this time we were both struggling to stay awake...but got a burst of adrenaline when three dear jumped in front of our car about a half hour from their house)  We actually made it to their house in 14 hours...which is incredible time!

Looking out across their backyard.  This was the day the cold front was moving in.

 

Most of Wednesday we just relaxed...took naps...laid around and so forth.  I'll spare you the details...but most of us were sick.  Seth and Chris were getting over a stomach bug...and our family was getting the beginnings of sore throats and a cold :(  So, we all needed the rest.The kids just had fun playing together.  Seth is 3 (he'll be 4 in January), and Susie is almost 2.  Our kids played together so well the whole time...it was great.

By Thanksgiving...we were all feeling better, for the most part.  Tiff cooked us a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner including a Turkey (which she won in a raffle...how cool is that?), a ham, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and corn bread dressing....I made the rolls and the gravy.

 I love this picture...she looks so excited, doesn't she? hehe

 I'm pretty sure Tiffy posed for this one ; )

 Our Thanksgiving Feast!

We had fun cooking together all day. 

 Nathan did NOT like his dinner.  Nope, not even a little bit...can't you tell?

After eating our delicious meal...we enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.  A very cold cold front was on it's way...so we wanted to play outside as much as we could before it actually arrived.

Playing ball in the backyard

I think this is a funny picture of Hannah...I had to share.

Little miss Suzie

And, pretty Nicki

And, this is handsome Seth.

The cold front brought in high temperatures in the low 40s and lows in the 20s I believe...maybe low 30s, I don't know.  Tiff and Chris have a wood burning oven that keeps their home warm...isn't that cool?  ...or hot??? 

One day, we went exploring in the creek behind the house.  Oh, it was so hard not to long for a place like this.  My girls LOVED playing with the rocks, on the trees and "exploring".

We basically just hung out together.  We didn't have any big agenda or To Do list.  We went out to dinner one night...they guys watched the Auburn/Alabama game (OK Greg...here it goes "War Eagle"  see....I'm not that bad, right?; ), Tiff and I did some Goodwill shopping, we went to church with them on Sunday and just had an all around nice time visiting. 

Nicole and Seth really became friends on this trip.  They had fun together.

The cousins....Nicole, Nathan, Susannah, Seth and Hannah

So...what do you think...do they look alike?  We think they do.

Oh, what's that?   You want to know about the ride home?  Was it as perfect as the ride up???  Um...No.  It took us almost 4 hours to get to Chattanooga, TN...it should have been 2 hours.  We were stuck in horrendous traffic (which we expected).  We barely made it south of Atlanta and called our sweet friend Mike and Patti and literally "dropped in" on them. We gave them an hour notice...at 9:30 at night that we wanted to come visit and spend the night.  They were so gracious.  We had big comfy warm beds...yummy food, and a great start for the long ride home the next day.  Yesterday's drive wasn't bad. Traffic was good.  The kids watch a lot more videos...we stopped a bit more often and I read an entire book out loud. 

By the way...you should read "Just Do Something" by Kevin DeYoung....really...you should.  Maybe I'll write more about that later ; )

We had a great time with Chris, Tiffany, Seth and Susannah.  We are Thankful that we could spend Thanksgiving with you!

Potty talk

Nicole has been talking to herself a lot lately.  Maybe not really talking to herself...just engaging more in imaginary play.  She makes up little scenarios and acts them out with her toys or doggies...or whatever she's playing with. 

Tonight, she took her normal mid-dinner potty break.  I heard her singing and peeped in to make sure she wasn't just singing and twirling and dancing around the bathroom to get out of dinner (she wasn't).  She was sitting on the potty singing "Old McDonald".  She sang her last verse, then said (to herself), "hmmm...I can't think of any more animals.  MOMMY...I'M DONE!"

I just thought it was funny that the end of the song determined when she was done going potty. 

Happy Birthday Nathan

Dear Nathan,
I simply can not believe that you are already one year old!  You little life has already gone so fast.  We are so thankful that the Lord chose us to be your parents.  As you stand by me right now, grabbing my arms, hitting my legs and smiling at me....I can not help but be in awe of your little personality.  You have made yourself a place in our family and it would be empty without you.  I am so thankful to have you as my son.

Nathan, you are a sweet and loving little boy...but you are also pretty tough too. You have learned to give kisses...or at least make kissing sounds.  You love to climb over anything you can.  I think you prefer to climb over your sister when they are lying down, and your daddy too.  If I'm sitting on the floor with my feet stretched out, you climb back and forth over my legs.  You have found Nicole's little wooden baby bed, and made it your own boat.  You like to take the long way to your destination, preferring to crawl through, under and around objects. 

Although you are still a baby, it is clear that you love your family.  You love me...and although I get a bit frustrated at times with you hanging onto my leg and crying because I want to walk away and you can't walk with me...I still love it.  I know that these times are so short and that very soon, you will be very independent of me...so I try to take every moment I can to soak you up as a baby.  You love your daddy and generally try to say "Dadda" when you see him.  You know that you can be rough with him and often go to him to throw a ball too or "hit on" when it's time to play.  You love your sisters (and they love you too).  Your favorite game with them is to chase them around they house.  They run around and scream and giggle while you try to keep up with their little legs. 

You also play well by yourself.  You love to sit in your ball pit and throw the balls out, or often times I catch you throwing a ball and then crawling after it...then throwing it again...then crawling after it...and so on.   You also love to play with helium balloons.  I think between a few balls and a balloon...you would be entertained for hours. 

You do some gross boys things too...like when I caught you playing in the toilet water (that was disgusting) or when you put your food on the floor and then lean over and lick it up (that's pretty gross too).  I love to watch your mind work as you try to figure out why things work. 

You are generally pretty happy if you are near someone you know loves you (and to be honest...if I'm around, that person usually has to be me).  You will often sit in the room I am in and play for a long time while I cook  (or type on the computer like right now).

We are looking forward to spending the rest of your life with you.  We hope we can teach you to be a man who love Jesus, a man who is kind and gentle, yet strong and firm, a man who respects women, who is compassionate and giving....a man who makes a difference and lives to bring Glory to God.

Nate...we love you so very much.  We are thankful to be your parents.  We have enjoyed our first year with you, and we are looking forward to many many more to come.  You are a blessing in our lives.

Happy First Birthday Son!

The Happenings

So...what's been going on around here?  Hannah has been practicing sewing...sort of.  She's been weaving the string to our blinds in and out of the afghan my grandma made her. 

Nicole has been doing a lot of this lately.

I scared her for life a few year ago when burnt toast set off our smoke detectors.  Then, a few weeks ago, she had just fallen asleep at Gramps' house when his smoke detectors started beeping for a batter change.  She woke up screaming...and shaking in fear.  She is terrified of all things loud and/or beepy.  Lately she's been seen with her ears covered, in anticipation of another smoke detector going off.  We have had many...many talks (including from a fire man) about how smoke detectors are good...but it's not helped yet.  So, for now...she has her ears covered.

And, the girls were caught playing in the pack n play a few days ago.  Nate was a bit confused when he saw them in there.  They were having a great time together though.  I love to watch my children play together.

Nathan's first birthday party

Noooo....it's not really his birthday, yet....but because of the how busy the next few days are, we celebrated his birthday tonight.

Both grandpas were out of town, so we had Yaya and Mimi, Grammy, and of course The Hale family over to celebrate Nate's first birthday.

Sweet little London.  She is 14 months.

While hamburgers and hotdogs were on the grill, we hung out by the fire and on the swing set.

Nicole enjoyed coloring outside

After dinner, we opened gifts.  Since I was sitting behind Nathan, I couldn't see his face, and didn't realize how much fun he was having.

The "big" kids were into it as well (actually...they kept trying to take the toys away from Nate)

Nathan and mommy with all of his loot:)

Of course, the big moment came...the birthday cake!  He was a slow start...but he came through with a messy face.

Notice the piece of cake flying to the floor on the left.  He started throwing the pieces that didn't have icing left on them.

Of course, like his mommy..he had to make sure he go ALL of the cake and lick the plate clean.

We had a fun evening of celebrating Nate's first year.  We look forward to many many more years of celebration.

Hair in a place it doesn't belong

***UPDATED AT THE BOTTOM***

Did you know

That a piece of Hair

Could do 

THIS!!!!

I spent 6 hours today between the pediatrian's office and the ER trying to get whatever what wrapped about Nathan's toe, cut off.  What we are assuming was hair, was found this morning about 11am.  I went to the Dr. office after I couldn't get the hair cut...even with the help of Valerie.  The doctor was able to get a portion of it off, but it broke, while there was still a piece wrapped around his toe.
So, she told us we needed to go the Emergency Room, because they would have more tools available to help cut the hair out. Poor little Nate.

The hair was wound SO tight...it was SO deeply embedded in his skin, his toe was SO super swollen that it took 4 tries, 5 hours, countless tears...and we still are not 100% sure that the hair is gone.  We left the ER around 6:00 and decided to watch his toe tonight and see how it looked in the morning. We are hoping that the swelling will go down and his skin color will return to normal.  If the swelling is worse and his color is still really red, then I'll have to take him to another doctor.

Crazy...isn't it?  I seriously NEVER knew this could be such a difficult thing to fix!  I am almost positive that we got the hair the last time the doctor worked on it this afternoon.  His toe looked much better just before bed time...however...I found another piece of hair starting to wrap it's way around.  Obviously, I got that one removed...but it's crazy.  That's the only word I can think of...crazy!

***Update***
I feel like Nathan's toe is better this morning.  He has a laceration around his toe from the hair and from the hair removal process.  But, I don't think there is anymore hair wrapped around his toe.  His color looks better and although it is still swollen...it looks like it is decreasing.  He has let me touch his toe today without screaming and he is playing, crawling, and standing just fine.  Whew....what a crazy day!

This picture was this morning in the car.  I feel like the picture makes it look worse than it is.  But, oh well....it's still better than it was.

Six....five and under

Jeremy's friend Bryan is helping Jeremy this week...in a BIG way!  Jeremy hurt something playing softball Monday night.  We think he either tore a rib ligament (the same injury at Michael Vick), or that he very badly pulled an oblique muscle.  It's been difficult for him to lift heavy items, twist his body and do some typical work he does every day.  So...he asked his friend Bryan to help at work (because there were several large item installations this week, including a very large and heavy screen). 

However, Bryan needed someone to watch his children while he worked.  I am always looking for ways I can serve my husband...and this was probably one of the biggest things I could have done for him in a long long time.  So...today and tomorrow, my house and hands are full. And, do you know what....we actually had a lot of fun today!

I had Peyton who is 5
Nicole who is 4
Caulder who is 3 1/2,
Hannah who is 2 1/2,
London who is 1
and Nathan who is almost 1.

Yep...6 very energetic, but smart and sweet children all under one roof all day long (OK, Peyton is at pre-school until 11:30).



Today went W.A.Y. better than I expected it to.  We really had a great time.  We went for a bike ride/walk in the park, we ate lunch,

played with slime,

took naps (can you believe that I had 5 of the six asleep or resting all at the same time????),



did some Thanksgiving crafts,




 (Yep...they made these turkeys out of candy...aren't they cute?  They were pretty hard and required a lot of help.  I would say this is an age 7 and older craft)

and played outside.  We watched 5 minutes of TV just before Bryan came.  Woohoo!  We made it!

Now, for day #2.  I hope everyone (including myself) is in the same great mood today as they were yesterday.