Christmas Day

Christmas Day started out around 7 am when we woke both boys up to see what Santa left for them. Tyler was super excited about seeing what Santa brought. Matthew, on the other hand, didn't understand why we were waking him up so early. He will grow to understand how busy our family stays on Christmas. Santa brought Tyler a goal post, a punt snapper set, Florida Gator football men, Tennessee football men, and a Nintendo DS. Does anyone see a sports pattern emerging here? Santa brought Matthew a car/train table, a drum, a truck, a cash register, and a car/driving toy. If Tyler's theme was sports, Matthew's theme this year was definitely "things that go" (cars, trucks, and trains). After the stockings were unpacked and all of the toys were opened, many of our family members came over to our house for Christmas breakfast. The boys had a fun time showing off their new toys. After breakfast, it was time to open presents with Granna and Pop-Pop and Uncle T and Haleigh. Matthew was over the whole present thing by this point so Tyler helped him open his gifts. Tyler got a new bike, which he is scared to death to ride right now. I'm sure he'll warm up to it soon and will be riding circles around us in no time.

Matthew got a riding lawn mower and was not a bit afraid of his new toy. He hopped right on and rode around the house cutting grass. My two boys are complete opposites when it comes to things like this. Tyler is more of a scaredy-cat whereas Matthew is fearless. While Daddy and Tyler played with his new toys, Matthew and I were able to get in a quick nap before heading over to Mimi and Perry's house to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We had a birthday party for Jesus complete with birthday cake and, for the final time, the boys opened lots of presents. For the first time all Christmas, they opened some winter clothes just in time for more cold weather to arrive. I must say thank you to Mimi and Perry for Tyler's mini-sandbox set. I've always wanted a sandbox inside my house...ha, ha! No, it's really not that bad. Tyler has enjoyed playing with it and hasn't made too big of a mess thus far.

I must say this Christmas was the busiest we've ever had. Maybe it was the quick trip to Disney World right before Christmas or having two kids going non-stop for several days in a row. It may have been the busiest but it was also one of the most fun. We are so blessed to have two happy, healthy little boys and a family to celebrate with!

Pre-Christmas Festivities

After a quick get away to Walt Disney World for a mini family vacation, we arrived home just in time for the Christmas festivities to begin. On Wednesday evening, we attended A Highland's Christmas, our church's Christmas service. We were so blessed by this service as we were reminded that Jesus understands everything we go through and everything we feel. He was born a human baby and has experienced the same things we experience in our every day lives. What a blessing it is to know that He understands everything about us and can empathize with every situation we are in.

Christmas Eve was a very busy day. Since we were not home the days leading up to Christmas Eve, the morning was spent wrapping presents and baking goodies for Christmas celebrations. After nap, we headed over to Uncle Al and Aunt Yo's house for presents and yummy goodies with Daddy's family. Ally gave Matthew a vacuum that was "the present" for him this Christmas. He loves vacuums and is so happy to have one of his own!

Next, we headed to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Church. It's always nice to go back to our former church and see some of the people we don't see on a regular basis anymore. Nursery is not an option on Christmas Eve so it's always interesting to see how our children will behave. For the most part, they were good. After 40 minutes in a church service full of children, I am even more thankful for nursery and Children's worship!

After church, it was time to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family. We ate dinner and opened more presents at Grandad and Nana's house. Tyler was excited that Grandad and Nana gave him some UAB football men. Matthew's favorite thing was probably the plastic tube that the trucks Aunt Heather and Leif gave him came in. I wish I had a picture of Matthew carrying around the empty plastic tube. Luckily, we made it home without the tube!

By the time we made it home, it was almost 10:00 and the kids were drained. Matthew went straight to bed while Tyler stayed up to make cookies for Santa and sprinkle his reindeer food on the front lawn. Daddy had the pleasure of taking Tyler outside in the cold, blowing rain, under an umbrella, to sprinkle the reindeer food on the lawn. Once again, I wish I had a picture but it was late, raining, and way past one little boy's bedtime. After a busy day and an even busier night, it was finally time for Santa. We set out our cookies and milk and off to bed we went.

Those Mischievous Elves!

The boys enjoyed the elves again this year, Tyler more than Matthew, but Matthew had fun with them, too. Tyler loved waking up in the morning to find the mess the elves made during the night or to see where the elves were hiding. His facial expressions and pure amazement were priceless. I wish I could bottle up his innocence and keep him this way forever! Matthew didn't quite understand what the elves were doing, but he enjoyed playing with Abbott. When the elves climbed up in our tree one night, Matthew pointed to the top of the tree and said "Get down!" Since that day, even after the elves were rescued from the tree, every time Matthew walked by the downstairs tree, he pointed to the top and said "Get down!". What a funny little boy.

On Christmas Eve, we had to pack the elves back up in their special sacks and lay them out for Santa to take with him. The elves have to go back home and get back to work making those toys. We enjoyed our special Christmas visitors this year and can't wait until their return next Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

After paying way too much for Christmas pictures and Christmas cards the past few years, I decided to do my own this year. I enjoyed taking the pictures of my kids one Saturday morning and even managed to get a few good ones. Jason was a trooper, helping me with the boys before leaving for a football game that afternoon. Taking pictures of two little boys is not an easy task! I especially enjoyed learning how to use Photoshop to make my card. This year's card is very basic. Hopefully by next Christmas I will have learned how to import cute backgrounds and other graphics. I think that will be my project for the summer months. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

A Disney Christmas

As if things weren't busy enough around here with football season just ending, getting ready to be out of school for the Christmas holidays, and trying to get ready for Christmas, we decided to take the boys to Disney World right before Christmas. We left Saturday, December 19th, and returned home on Wednesday, December 23rd. We made our Disney plans several months ago before the craziness of the holiday season actually set in. We took Tyler to Disney World for the first time when he was 22 months old so now that Matthew is 22 months old it just seemed fair. Disney World was beautiful at Christmas and the boys had a blast. We even got to see the real Santa while we were there!

Isn't he gorgeous? Once I finish posting Christmas pictures and have a chance to sort through all 307 of the pictures I took on our Disney vacation, I will share more pictures and adventures from our trip. Stay tuned!

Tyler's Class Christmas Party

Today was Tyler's last day of school until January 4th so they had their class Christmas party this afternoon. Fortunately, the party started at 3:00 so I was able to attend! The kids had a fun time eating yummy Christmas junk food and opening presents from their teachers and each other. It's hard to believe that some of these kids have been together since they were babies and next year they will be scattered all over local kindergartens. Tyler loves his school and the kids in his class. We are very blessed to have been a part of this preschool program for the past 5 years. This is one more reminder that my baby is getting older and will be in big school next year.

Snow and An SEC Championship

While Daddy headed over to Atlanta with Uncle T to watch this...We headed over to Grandad's house to do this...

It's amazing how excited we get over a dusting of snow in the South! Grandad has a bigger yard than we do and had a lot more snow to play with. Tyler loved making and throwing snowballs. We even managed to make a miniature snowman in front of Grandad's truck just as the sun came out to melt him away.

Matthew wasn't so sure about the snow. We definitely weren't prepared for any kind of snow this early in the winter. Matthew had to wear socks on his hands and his toboggan was way too small. We have since purchased a pair of waterproof mittens for Matthew and a new toboggan as well. We're hoping for a good snow this winter!

After playing in the snow, we headed home for lunch and naps. We woke up just in time to watch the SEC Championship game and celebrate Alabama's big win over Florida!Snow and an SEC Championship in one day. What a fun day in Alabama!

A Visit with Santa

We made our annual visit to see Santa at the mall today after church. Tyler was excited about telling Santa what he wanted and getting a candy cane to eat. Matthew had no clue what we were doing, but he liked waving to "Ho-Ho" while we waited in line. When it was finally our turn, Tyler sat in Santa's lap first and told him he wanted a remote control crane. Jason put Matthew in Santa's lap next. He took one good look at Santa, screamed once, and then was totally fine. Crazy child! We ended up with a pretty good picture above (although I absolutely HATE the cheesy border they put around the picture) and lots of cute outtakes below. Merry Christmas!

Where'd that bean come from?

Warning: Gross post, but I couldn't pass up posting it! Tyler came home from school today, normal as usual. Aunt Jana, Uncle Tom, and Natalie picked him up around 5:30 to go to the Hewitt basketball game to see Payton cheer and watch some basketball. When he came home around 9:00 and got in the shower, we heard a strange noise coming from the shower. Tyler was shaking his head and blowing his nose, making a funny sound like a dog. When I asked what he was doing, he started crying and said "There's a bean in my nose." Surely not! We got him out of the shower and, sure enough, we could see what appeared to be a small bean in his nose. After some tweezer action and lots of blowing, the bean finally shot out of his nose. It was bigger than we imagined! When asked to explain how the bean ended up in his nose, he admitted that he was bored during nap time at school and there was a bean on the floor from the sensory table. When he was playing with the bean, it got stuck in his nose. He didn't tell anyone and probably forgot about it until the water in his body started making the dried bean swell. He swore he would never stick anything up his nose again. I'm just hoping he learned a good lesson from this whole ordeal. Boys will be boys, right?

Iron Bowl

We took Tyler to his first Iron Bowl in Auburn the Friday after Thanksgiving. He was super excited about going. We tailgated with our "Auburn cousins" and Tyler even kicked the football with his Uncle Al. The game was a bit stressful, to say the least, but we had a great time and were very thankful for the win! Roll Tide!

Special Christmas Visitors!

Look who arrived just in time to bring mischief to our house for Christmas. Tyler's elf, Duncan, brought his brother, Abbott, along to share in the fun. Now Matthew has an elf, too! The past two years, Tyler has enjoyed seeing what kind of trouble his elf gets in to in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and I'm sure Matthew will join in on the fun this year. Thank you, Santa, for sending us two magic elves this year! We can't wait to see what our mischievous elves do this year!The boys have to sprinkle their elves at night with magic snowflakes in order for them to come alive. They leave crackers and water, too, for the elves to eat.

Thankful for Much

Especially these two little boys! Although, they don't always act so sweet to each other, and most of our pictures turn out looking like this...
I think we'll keep them anyway! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ate lots of turkey like we did. We started the day watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade where I was able to see one of my students dancing on the float with Gloria Gaynor. How neat is that? We had lunch at Mimi and Perry's and Tyler and Matthew had fun feeding the ducks and the fish in the pond. From there, we headed home for a quick nap before going to MawMaw's house to have Thanksgiving with Jason's family. Our final Thanksgiving celebration was on Sunday with Grandad and Nana. Our Thanksgiving was busy but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Big Al Kid's Club Stadium Tour

This past Sunday was the second annual Big Al Kid's Club stadium tour. This year we met the James down in Tuscaloosa and Tyler and Daniel had a blast playing a real football game! I love

this picture... The boys are celebrating an Alabama touchdown, complete with head rubbing, a number one in the air, and lots of jumping around. I love this one, too...

Matthew kept pointing to the numbers on the field and saying "Uh-oh!" It's not every day you see paint on grass. Don't they know we only paint, color, and write on paper!

What a fun, cold day at Bryant Denny!

Midweek Zoo Trip

Happy Veterans' Day and a huge thank you to all of our veterans past and present. We are so blessed to live in a free country thanks to those who put their lives on the line every day to protect our freedom. To celebrate Veterans' Day, the boys and I spent our day out of school at the zoo with Tyler's buddy Jeb. The zoo is always fun, but is even more fun now that Matthew is old enough to enjoy the animals too.

Happy Halloween!

Big Al and our own Alabama basketball player made their rounds around the neighborhood trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Matthew loved going to peoples' doors and ringing the doorbell. He even tried to go into a few houses. Tyler was a little more standoffish, especially when one neighbor came to the door in a scary Halloween mask. The highlight of Tyler's night was realizing his sweet friend Olivia lives a street behind us! I have to say that I am so glad Halloween is over this year. Tyler has been scared of anything and everything since the Halloween stores opened and people began putting up Halloween decorations. Hopefully when the decorations come down, this scared phase will pass, for a while at least. Happy Halloween!

Tyler's Field Trip to Camp Coleman

Tyler's class went to Camp Coleman the Thursday before Halloween to visit their annual pumpkin patch. While there, the kids rode on a hayride, listened to Halloween stories, roasted marshmallows, played games, and picked out the perfect pumpkin to decorate at school. What a fun day!

It's Halloween Time!

Last night we took the boys to Trunk or Treat. Tyler dressed as an Alabama basketball player...big surprise, I know. Matthew dressed as an elephant. Once we convinced Matthew to leave his elephant head piece alone, he left it on for the rest of the night. I'm sure the candy and rides distracted him and he didn't realize he still had it on until we got ready to leave. Tyler enjoyed the trick-or-treating and probably enjoyed eating candy the most. Matthew loved the rides and would cry, make that scream and pitch an all out fit, when he had to get off to give someone else a turn. Disney World should be fun in a couple of months! Happy Halloween!

One More Birthday Celebration

Tonight was Tyler's family birthday celebration...the final party for this partied out five year old! He was so excited about wearing his new Alabama basketball uniform we gave him for his birthday. As you know, this child is completely obsessed with Alabama and sports thanks to his Daddy. He wanted another football cookie cake but this time he wanted to put his Alabama football men on there. So, after a good washing with soap and hot water, he decorated the cake with his men.

Before

Decorating (notice the concentration!)

The Finished Product

Tyler had a great 5th birthday with two days full of celebrations and way too much sugar. He is enjoying playing with all of his new toys. Thank you to everyone who has made this birthday so special for him. We are very thankful for our wonderful friends and family.

Tyler's 5th Birthday

Tyler had a great birthday. He was super excited to take his special snack to school to share with his friends. We usually make our own cupcakes for his school friends but when we found this pull-apart cupcake football cake, we just couldn't resist! Grandad picked him up early from school and took him to Sonic and the toy store, Tyler's request of course. He enjoyed playing at Grandad and Nana's until Matthew and I got home from school. When Daddy came home, Granna came over to keep Matthew so Tyler, Jason, and I could go out to dinner, just the three of us. We asked Tyler where he wanted to go, expecting to hear Chick-Fil-A or Red Robin, but our child requested Cheesecake Factory! We went there a few weeks ago and let Tyler order a dessert, so for his birthday he wanted another dessert from there. The thing is, his dessert turned in to his dinner. Yep, we let our child have an entire dessert for dinner on his birthday.At the end of our dinner, the waitress brought him another dessert and they sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He loved all of the attention!

With his early Big Al birthday party, I feel like we've celebrated Tyler's birthday for a month now! We have one more family celebration on tap for tomorrow night. This little boy is going to be all birthdayed out!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Today, at exactly 1:34 pm, my baby turned 5. How is that possible? I remember the day we found out we were expecting our first baby. After close to nine months of trying to get pregnant, I will never forget the morning I saw the positive pregnancy test. I think I probably took a total of 10 tests the next few days just to confirm that we were actually having a baby! We were so excited. No one can prepare you for the first time you hold a baby of your own in your arms. I will never forget the feeling of seeing Tyler for the first time. God is so good! He has blessed me with more than I deserve. Today that same baby is 5 years old. He is a rambunctious, sweet little boy with a heart of gold. He continues to be an avid Alabama fan and a sports fan in general. He enjoys anything football these days. He plays with his numerous sets of football men and has even built a stadium for them in his room. He throws the football with daddy or plays with his tackle-dummy football man. His new football obsession is coloring football pictures. I print football players and football stadiums from the Internet and he actually sits and colors in the lines. He has a great imagination and will play by himself in his room for hours, usually pretending with his football men and cards. He loves his little brother and is such a good big brother. Although he loves aggravating Matthew, he is very protective of him and will do anything for his baby brother.

I am very thankful for my little boy. He loves to talk and you never know what he is going to say next. While he’s not perfect (just ask his teachers at school about his numerous visits to yellow light), I wouldn’t change anything about him. I am very thankful for my happy, healthy, talkative, rambunctious, loving, caring, tender-hearted, curious little boy! Happy 5th Birthday, Tyler! I can’t wait to see how you learn and grow during your 6th year.