All Set for Santa!

Merry Christmas!

The Things We Do For Our Kids......

Eversince the first inflatable went up at the Butler's "Christmas City", Ty has been saying he wanted "that" at his house. I hated to break the news to him that we would never have that amount of stuff in our yard. We've never had outdoor decorations until last year. We did get two lighted deer to put in our front yard. I guess he thinks he can keep asking and we'll keep adding. Well, everytime we're on 55, he talks about "The Butlers." The other day he asked if we could just have one of the blow-ups. Again, I told him that we were not buying that stuff to put in our yard. He just can't figure out why I don't want all that stuff in my yard.

While in the mountains, we saw some beautiful little villages lit up in all colors. We thought we could try lighting some trees in our yard. I did give in and go to colored lights for our tree this year since Ty has said he wanted his tree to be like Nana's. She uses colored lights for the kids and that's what Ty had his mind set on. I do have to say, it looks pretty with all the different colors. We mixed it with clear and it turned out really pretty. At first, Ty wasn't so sure because he wanted all color. It didn't take him long to "realize" (his new big word) he liked it.

Yesterday afternoon Ben got outside to string some more lights! Isn't it amazing at what you'll do to make things fun for your kids? Ty loves his outside lights. And it's a good thing. Cause this is about as close as it gets to "The Butlers".

Getting ready for Christmas

I love Christmas! I love the hustle-bustle it brings with all the parties, plays, shopping and decorating. Even though it often times gets a little hectic, it is still my favorite holiday. This past weekend was yet another busy one getting ready for our Sunday School party. Saturday morning was spent getting the house finished decorated. I love to use real cedar and pine just because of the smell it fills the house with. Since my mother and daddy have cedar trees, we have been cutting trimmings from them for the past four years now to use on my mantle. Real-live garland and greenery beats store-bought any day to me. Ty was at church practicing for the children's Christmas play so it gave us some time to get most everything done. When everything was finished, I was off to The Loot to buy my favorite candle. If you've never tried Mulled Cider by Tyler, you've got to. That's at the top of my favorite things right now. It will definitely put you in the holiday mood. As soon as I got home, I lit this little jewel to work its magic.
Our newly formed Sunday School class met up at David's Catfish for supper, and then came back to our house for cake and several rounds of Catch Phrase. I know several of us have played this game before, but it never gets old to me. It's so funny to watch everybody. We had a good time playing Dirty Santa, although the guys didn't think it was necessary to steal anyone's gifts. Don't worry, we girls made up for that. We had a great time visiting with everybody and decided it needs to become a monthly ritual. We can't wait to do it again.

Early Visit from Santa

Santa stopped by for a quick visit this past Tuesday night. Ty had been sick with horrible congestion and our visitor certainly perked him up for a few minutes. Ty has been asking for a backhoe and a bulldozer for quite sometime now. He got a small bulldozer from Santa on Tuesday night, and I could tell he wasn't very enthused about it. Later, when I asked him if he liked it, he said, "But I wanted a big bulldozer." Well.....maybe Santa will come through for him in a few weeks.

The whole time Santa was here, Ty was more worried about seeing the sleigh and the reindeer. He kept going to the window and looking out. He kept asking where they were. Santa was really good. He talked to Ty about how important it was to mind his mommy and daddy, and even told him that it was Jesus's birthday, and that was the real reason we celebrate Christmas. We thought he did a really good job!

Andrew on the other hand, didn't even know Santa was in the house. He just looked up at him like, oh, it's you. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures.

They're not Mrs. Prindables.....

but they're not to0 bad for the first time. My mother and I thought we would try making some caramel apples for a party and for little Christmas treats. If anyone has ever done this, you might could shed some light on the subject. The caramel package said to let the apples cool for 10 minutes after they've been dipped (before covering with nuts or any other toppings). After the 10 minutes of cooling, we had to really press the pecans, M&M's, and chocolate chips in the caramel. They didn't want to stay on very well, because the caramel had already hardened. This was a trial run, so if anyone has tips, I'd greatly appreciate them.

Ty had fun making his own M&M apple


The finished product

I survived.....

After countless kisses, smiles, cooing, and just a few tears (from mama), I got in my car and drove to work. Man, it was not easy leaving that sweet baby. He woke up in such a happy mood this morning, too. Even though leaving was not easy, it put my mind at ease knowing I did not have to pack up the house and drag him out in the cold. Ben's mom is coming to our house. That is such a huge blessing. When we decided Mrs. Sherry needed time to enjoy Mr. Garner's retirement, we prayed for someone to keep the boys. We also prayed for someone to come to our house. Both prayers were answered. And I wonder why we get in a panic about things? You would think by now I would just be able to say, "It's all going to be alright, because He's going to take care of us."

Thanks so much for the prayers. I know God gave me the strength to get through the day. I had been dreading this day since before Andrew arrived and would cry just thinking about it, but I really did well. I had a good day at school, and the thing I'm telling myself is "just 3 weeks and I'll be back home for 2."

Winter Wonderland

I was a little apprehensive about our trip to the mountains with a 3 month old baby. I can't get over how well he did. I think all the prayers were heard because he was a little trooper throughout the whole trip. Our goal for Thursday night was to make it to Chattanooga to spend the night. Andrew slept from the time we buckeled him in his seat to the time Ben was getting the key for our room. He opened his little eyes as if to say, "Okay, I can wake up now, we're here." He was the best baby. He let us do whatever we wanted to do. We even braved the very cold temps and went to Dollywood on Sunday night. He stayed bundled up in his Snugli inside Ben's jacket and was much warmer than we were. Ty loved the 4D Polar Express ride at Dollywood. Even Ben and I thought it was pretty cool. His favorite, the Dollywood Express was shut down. He was one upset little boy. That may have been a good thing though, with it being so cold.

We did get to play in the snow for just a little while. Ty kept saying, "I want to throw a snowball at you, Mama." Well, he did, and when he did, he started crying because his hands were getting so cold. We were glad that didn't last long.

We went to Cade's Cove and saw the biggest buck we will ever probably see in our lives. We couldn't keep count of the deer and turkeys that we saw. We enjoyed it so much, we went back the next morning. Another day of lots of animals, even a wolf on the second day. And yes, I finally got to see some black bears. We saw a mama and her two cubs and the next day we saw another black bear. That was pretty awesome, too!

We always have to go to Apple Barn. We love seeing all the apples and Ty had to bring lots of apples back with him. The Dixie Stampede has a wonderful Christmas show. They do a real live nativity scene. If anyone is there during the Christmas season, it's definitely worth seeing.

This was the second year in a row that we've been and are hoping it's going to be a tradition for our family. Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

Too cold for Andrew!

The Polar Express Show

Ty taking his ticket from the conductor for the Polar Express ride

My little Eskimo Baby

How Could I Forget......

this little man with such wild hair.



Last night was Crazy Hair night at AWANA. This is Ty's favorite hair-do. This is what he would leave our house looking like {all the time} if he had his wishes. The funny thing is, he thinks he's really looking good! You can tell by that look in the first pic. Just thought I would leave everyone with a good laugh!

Headed to the Mountains

Our family of four is getting everything together for our trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. I forgot just how much you have to pack for a baby!! We'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon when Ben gets home from work. I'm just hoping and praying that Little Andrew will travel well. I guess we'll see! We'll be getting back home next Tuesday & I'll be sure to post some of our pics. Maybe we'll see snow!! Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Little Indians

Today we went to Little Friends preschool to see lots of little Indian girls and boys all decked out in their Indian attire. They were so cute dressed in their tye-dyed shirts, necklaces, headdresses with feathers, and their faces were painted. They sang several Thanksgiving songs and Indian chants using their tom-toms that they made out of oatmeal boxes. Ty held his tooth just about the whole entire time. He finally decided to sing along at the very end of the program. His story was that he thought he had a splinter in his tooth. After they sang, they feasted on a fine meal of turkey and all the trimmings. Here are some of the pictures from the Pow Wow.

This was Ty's "look" through the whole program.

I guess he's trying to figure out what's going on with the tooth.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's just a few pictures from this week

All bundled up for school

Such a big boy. Sunday morning before church with one of his shoeboxes

One tired little fella'

Andrew's Bathtime