LIGHTS OF THE SOUTH! An Annual Tradition....

We have several traditions over the Christmas Holidays that we enjoy ~ riding around looking at Christmas lights, making a birthday cake for Baby Jesus, decorating the tree as a family while listening to Christmas music, Brad and me giving the girls an ornament to represent each Christmas (and each vacation and event), and many more...! One of our favorite traditions is going to Lights of the South each year with a group of friends. It is a beautiful, lighted winter wonderland that says "Christmas" to all of us. This was our 4th year to go, and you had better believe that we are going to really miss being able to go each year once we move to Savannah! We always start the evening with supper in Mrs. Claus' kitchen and of course a hot cup of some of the best hot chocolate ever! The kids play in the gingerbread house, ride the train, and play in the playhouse (you have to slide your way out!); we all love to roast marshmallows over the fire and ride the hayride through the lighted wonderland that displays everything from GWTW's Tara and The Yellow Brick Road, to Santa's Toyshop and Castle, The Nativity, and a Georgia "G"! This year, the Greggs and the Duckworths joined us.

Patrick and Anna Kay Duckworth, and Ella Reyn

"BELIEVE!"

The Reason for the Season

This is when Boots said, "Go Dawg Dawgs!"

Boots, Addie Dayne Gregg, and Alli Lane, standing in line for the hayride.

Boots, peeking out of the gingerbread house.

Ella Reyn, playing in the gingerbread house.

Brad and Alli, roasting marshmallows over the fire ~ yummy!

As always, we had a blast! We were so happy to be joined by good friends but we missed good friends who have always gone with us in the past ~ The Greers, The Bells, and The Lewises, to name a few....

Boots' Birthday ~ "I TWO!"

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY PRECIOUS ANGEL BABY!!

Boots had her 2nd birthday party on her actual birthday, December 12, at the Pink Dipper, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. We had fun and appreciated the intimate group who came to celebrate with us! The McDougals, Hughes, Duckworths, and Greggs came to the party ~ and Gigi and Dede came to celebrate Boots, as well! We did a whole ice cream theme, and the children seemed to have a great time ~ I know Boots certainly did! And she definitely knows she is two now. Most of the time, she will tell you, "I TWO!" although occasionally, she will grin her mischieveous grin and say, "I not two, Mama. I FIVE!" :) She is a hoot! She has such a sense of humor and knows she is being silly.

The girls standing in the doorway at The Pink Dipper, waiting on guests to arrive.

A kiss from her big sis while we sang "Happy Birthday!"

(Notice that the cupcake cake matches the girls shirts.)

Boots did a great job blowing out her candle, with a little bit of help from Alli Lane.

The children colored on coloring sheets that Dede made and were treated to ice cream and cupcakes!

One of Boots' most favorite birthday presents ~ her new riding toy! It really is cute, but the music (which plays constantly) begins to drive me batty by late afternoon each day. :) But she loves it! And so does Alli.

Boots loves her walking doll from Gigi.

Precious little feet and toes!

Thanks, Gigi, for coming all the way to Augusta for only 2 hours before you had to turn around and leave again!! What dedication!

Thanks, Dede, for coming to the party and helping with coloring sheets and the party!

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate our precious girl's second birthday!!

Thanksgiving and Early Christmas Festivities

We were lucky that Brad was off for Thanksgiving this year!

We had a blast spending the special day with Brad's family in Villa Rica, at Grandmommie's house. The girls played and played with their third cousins. Alli Lane and Georgia are always a cute pair, and Boots and Aniston are getting to be little friends, too ~ neither of them knows they are little and think they are just as "big" as the rest of the children!

Our Christmas Tree this year. We had a beautiful, full tree ~ so unlike the Charlie Brown Tree that Brad and I had our first Christmas in 2004! :)

The Reason for this Wonderful Christmas Season!

I love my nativity from Nana and Papa!

Decorating the Tree....

Boots' ornament from Brad and me this year was a "sweet tooth fairy," to represent our little girl with an insatiable sweet tooth!




We gave Alli Lane an ornament of a little bear drawing on the sidewalk, to represent our budding little artist!

Boots insisted on napping with the balloon (tied to bubbles) that her MDO teachers, Mrs. Sandy and Mrs. Ellen, gave to her for her birthday.

My little girls, being super silly while I was trying to get a cute picture of them!

Bootsie B!

She will tell me, "I not Bis-befs Mama, I BOOTS!"

(Obviously, "Bis-befs" is the closest she can get to saying "Elizabeth.")

:)

For the 3rd year in a row, I took Alli Lane to the Junior League's Mrs. Claus event. She saw Mrs. Claus, ate lots of yummy goodies, and did arts and crafts! We had a blast!

Another big event for Alli was being in the Pre-K production of the Christmas Play at EDS. She was a shepherd. When it was time for the shepherds to "do their thing" during the play, Alli Lane was definitely the "lead" shepherd. They had one line to say as a group: The Baby Jesus has been born! Not only did she lead the group as they said their line, she kept them saying it three times through! And, she apparently decided that she needed a microphone to be heard, because she trekked across the stage to the mike, all by herself. No, this was not "scripted" ~ she just did it! :) It was hysterical!! Look in the picture below at the blond woman on stage, laughing; that is Alli Lane's teacher, Mrs. McGlone. :)

She was a darling shepherd, with curls falling out around her face.

Alli's Pre-K class. They put on the play with all 3 classes, together.

The Gregg girls stopped by one afternoon. Miss Elizabeth brought Addie Dayne and McKay over to our house to visit for a few minutes, and the 4 girls ran around in the front yard.

Thankful Thirds ~ December

There are so many things for which to be thankful, especially as we wind up this year of 2009.

I am thankful for the little, every day things.... double buggies at grocery stores, free cookies at Publix to entertain the girls (at least for the first 2 aisles), my electric broom, the seat warmers in the Maxima.... You know, those little things that make every day life a little more comfortable or enjoyable, or easy.

I am thankful for the big things.... My wonderful husband who I absolutely adore; my two precious little girls. Our health, safety, wellbeing, and the roof over our heads. Our families who are so supportive. Gigi and Dede, who are willing to hop in the car and drive to Augusta for a couple of hours or a day ~ for a birthday party or so that Brad and I can drive to Savannah for the day for meetings about the house. The fact that our "other house" in National Hills sold, the day before Thanksgiving ~ and our agent, Beth Jones, who made it happen.

I am thankful for the sentimental things, especially as our time here in Augusta is getting shorter.... Alli Lane's school, EDS, and the "warm fuzzies" I get whenever I think about the education she is receiving there, as well as the love and support of the entire school. Our church, First Baptist of Augusta, where AL went to MDO and Boots still attends, and we love our Sunday School class, our pastor, and all of the many family events and love we feel when we walk through the doors.

I am thankful for blessings in disguise, as regular readers of this blog will attest (I mention it every couple of months), and for the miracles that happen to us every day. People love to say that God doesn't work miracles anymore ~ that miracles are something of the past, of the Old Testament. I adamently disagree! God works miracles every day, whether we recognize them as such, or not. I have been a part of His miracles more times than I can count ~ meeting my husband and having our two precious girls are just the beginning of a long list. Just the other day, He worked a miracle that saved my life. I was driving down Walton Way with Boots, and a car bolted across the lane of oncoming traffic in front of me, never once having looked my way or seeing me. She was so close, I couldn't see her tail lights. As those of you who are familiar with Walton Way know, it is so narrow that if something like this happens, there is nowhere for you to go. All at once, I had many thoughts, in a matter of a couple of seconds. I had do doubt that "this is it," that my life was over. I wordlessly prayed for the protection of my precious baby in the backseat, that she would be okay and that someone would comfort her until help came. I thought of Brad and Alli Lane, and I thought of our families. I thought of seeing my Daddy, of him welcoming me. I know how dramatic this sounds, believe me. All I can say, is that it is the closest I have come as an adult to the end of my life. Then, before I even knew what had happened, the other car pulled into the middle turn lane, and it was over. I sobbed all day that day, realizing how close I had come, and I am still shaken up by it. Thank you, God! For saving my Boots and me, and all of the other people on WW that day, because this would have been a devastating accident to many people.

Most importantly, I am thankful for my Savior. For God, who makes all things possible. For all of the blessings he has bestowed upon us.

And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for the Mighty One has done great things for me ~ Holy is His name.
~ Luke 1:46-47, 49

The Pain of Missing...

I miss my Daddy.

I don't know why it struck me so fiercely this evening, but it did, as it does from time to time. I don't know what sparked it.... Perhaps it was Thanksgiving. Perhaps it was Louie dying. Perhaps it was my wrist giving me problems right now and I'm wishing he was here to tell me what to do about it. Perhaps it was that we have so much going on right now and I want to share it with him. Perhaps it was all of this together, and more....

Perhaps it was simply that I miss him.

I miss him every day. It is palpable even thirteen years later. But I don't have a "hard time" every day. Of course, I always miss him, but many of the times I think of him each day are happy thoughts and memories. I can barely look into Boots' beautiful, clear blue eyes ~ my Daddy's eyes ~ without feeling that I am glimpsing into his eyes. I often think of him when I think about how Alli Lane always keeps a grin on her face that absolutely lights her up all over, just as his grin lit him up and rarely left his face. I am so blessed to have my girls, so blessed that they have special little traits of his. But to be honest, it makes me sad, too. He would be such a precious granddaddy to my girls. He would absolutely adore them, and they would adore him. I hate so much that he isn't here ~ that I don't have the joy of watching them with him, that they will never have the joy of him.

These little "bad" times sneak up on me from time to time; they eventually pass. I still don't always know what to do when they do. Sometimes I read my Bible. Sometimes I pray. Sometimes I look at pictures and read my journal of memories of him. Tonight, it struck while I was rocking my baby girl to sleep. So what did I do? I kept rocking, I held her a little bit closer, and I cried like the baby that she is.

Halloween Weekend, 2009

Halloween weekend was very busy and very fun! Most of you who follow our blog know that we usually have an annual Halloween Party at our house; this year, however, we were in Atlanta.

The festivities that weekend started on Friday night at Marist, Brad's school in Atlanta. He was inducted into their athletic hall of fame. He had the largest support group of all of the people being inducted ~ there were around 27 of us there, I believe. It was a special night for him. We are proud of you, honey!

Boots

Philip, Stephanie and Phil's little boy, doing a "split"

Alli Lane had fun playing with Georgia, Brad's cousin's little girl who is one year older than Alli.

Elizabeth and Philip were two peas in a pod. :)

Our family,the night of the ceremony

The next day was Halloween. We visited with Nana and Papa, then the girls took naps before the big night. We were disappointed that it was rainy and nasty, but that didn't stop the fun.

The little ones did get tired of having their pictures taken; here, Alli Lane is poised and ready, but Boots and Philip have had enough!

Alexis, Brad's friend, Preston and Brooke's little girl ~ aka Dorothy

Philip was a cute, cuddly bear.

Boots was a precious pink poodle.

Alli Lane was a flower fairy ~ specifically, a ROSE fairy.

Alli participated in the preschool Halloween parade at EDS. So so cute!! It is quite a tradition and I love watching it every year!

Fun, fun, fun!
Gotta love Halloween!!