The Meaning Of The Season

Last year we started a new Christmas tradition. This was our youngest daughter's first Christmas. Even though she was 3 1/2 years old, she'd never received a Christmas gift or heard the story of Jesus. When I saw the Fisher Price Nativity set I knew that this would be so helpful in explaining it all to her and to her sister who was now 4 1/2 and had been with us for two Christmases. I called my hubby and talked to him about it after I returned home. He said he thought it was a great idea. He stopped and purchased the set on his way home from work that day.We wrapped it up and made a BIG, BIG deal about this being their first Christmas gift of the year. They were so excited when they opened it!! Their daddy sat down with them and told them all about Baby Jesus and read the Christmas story from the Bible. We let them know that this was a very special toy and that after Christmas we would put it away and that next Christmas we would bring it out again. They have already asked several times if it is time to get the Baby Jesus toys out yet. I plan on having the whole nativity set out on the coffee table when they wake up the day after Thanksgiving. They will be so excited!

Our older children enjoyed talking to them about the set. When anyone would give them a half a second the little ones would always run and get these toys to play with and talk about. We hope that the special meaning of the season will become something they are very familiar with just by playing with these toys and that our new tradition will continue for many years in our family.

If you would like to read about more family traditions that bring significance to the meaning of this glorious season, just check out The Inspired Room.

Cub Scouts Haunted Woods

Saturday night Brice and Daddy camped in The Haunted Woods with other Cub Scouts and families. B&B and I decided not to go and enjoyed a lovely time at home. We slept in the living room as our own way of camping. I slept on the couch and B&B slept on an air mattress on the floor. We decorated some of my yummy red velvet birthday cupcakes that Josh and Kit brought me for my bday. We loaded them down with sprinkles and ate them as our camping snack. (Thank you J&K!) We watched Dora and Little Bill and all sorts of fun shows until Bailey Shay crashed around 11 and BinBin checked out around 11:45. They LOVED our 'camping trip'.

Brice came home very dirty in the same clothes he left in the day before so I am pretty sure he had a really good time. Marty enjoyed hanging out with the dads and doing things with Brice but he said he "fought the air mattress all night". He came home and took a nap. Thankfully, Brice came home and took a shower!

I Love Candles!

If you love yummy smelling candles you should visit K & Kompany Kandles.

"The candles are the nine Fruits of the Spirit, each is a creamy white and a different scent.

Love ~ Sweet Pea

Joy ~ Buttercream Crunch

Peace ~ Cinnamon Bun

Patience ~ Vanilla Grapefruit

Kindness ~ Sage & Citrus

Goodness ~ Midnight Pomegranate

Faithfulness ~ Pumpkin Pie Spice

Gentleness ~ Mulberry

I just placed an order for some "Kindness". :) Maybe I'll order some "Patience" next.

Born To Be Wild!

This week Kristen, Bailey and I went out to do a little shopping. I ran in one store and the girls decided to sit this one out. (Kristen, someday you will LOVE shopping in fabric stores!)

Kristen snapped this cute photo of Bailey while they were waiting. I love it! It is so very Bailey Shay!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Brinley's class took a little field trip to a "Pumpkin Patch" sponsored by a local church. Bailey was soooooooooooo excited when Brinley's teachers Miss Cindy and Miss Melissa asked her to go along too! It was a lot of fun and the children were so well behaved. Daddy even met us there! The girls were so excited to see him when we arrived even though they'd just seen him when we left home. When we arrived they met Glenda the Good Witch. She told them several stories and had them all giggling! Then we sang "Five Little Pumpkins" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". After that we all went outside to choose a pumpkin to take home. We found all sorts of pumpkins and the very best tiny pumpkins came home with all of us! The children enjoyed snack time while we were there and then it was time to say goodbye and head back to the school. Bailey can't wait until next year when she gets to make the trip again with her very own kindergarten class. All of Brinley's friends were so nice to her and she really felt like a big girl! Brinley's teachers told me that she is a very sweet girl and that she is a perfectionist when it comes to her work. I love my BinBin and ShayShay!

Time Goes By

This picture of Bailey was taken one year ago. I can't believe how much she has grown!



This picture of Brinley was taken two years ago. It's just amazing to me how much both of the girls have grown and changed. I wish I could just make time STOP sometimes so that we could enjoy more of these sweet days.

My Husband

I am so blessed to be the wife of this man. I never truly knew what it was like to be loved until I met him. He loves me unconditionally. He is my best friend. Sometimes I look at him and wonder how I got so lucky. He is handsome, smart, funny....and he loves God.

As Bailey would say he "makes my heart happy". :)

Sweet girl

I took this photo of BinBin after school recently. ShayShay was sound asleep in her carseat. BinBin and I were just talking and laughing and she looked so cute I just had to snap a picture.

Another Big Day!

Kristen's boyfriend Cameron is a senior at The Citadel. He participated in the Ring Ceremony over the weekend. Kristen and Cameron's parents were there to join in the festivities. Cameron's sister Rebeccca's boyfriend Ken is in Cameron's company so it was one big family party!

Friday night was The Ring Hop, Saturday families could visit the barracks to see where the cadets live. Saturday afternoon was the football game and a cocktail party followed Saturday evening.

Kristen was a tired girl yesterday when she came to visit but she was thrilled to have been a part of this very special weekend with Cameron and his family.

Congratulations Josh & Kit!

Our oldest son Josh and his sweetie Kit were married on September 28 in an outdoor ceremony. They chose a "Fall" theme and everything turned out so sweet. Josh's sister Kristen was the reception coordinator and she sang "When You Say Nothing" during the ceremony. Josh's dad was his bestman. His groomsmen were his best friend Reese, his brother Keith and Kit's cousin Ryan who was very proud to be wearing his ROTC uniform in the ceremony. (Josh and Kit were both very involved in the ROTC program during their high school years and thought it would be nice to have the ROTC represented during their ceremony.) Flower girls were Brinley and Bailey who looked absolutely darling and dropped the leaves from their baskets just as they had been instructed to do. They were so proud! Maid of Honor was Kit's best friend Amy, bridesmaids were Kit's cousins' Alesia and Beth (also proud to be wearing her ROTC uniform). Brice carried the rings during the ceremony and Josh decided that he was just too old to be called the "ring bearer" so he officially dubbed him "Lord of The Rings". Brice seemed to like this title much more!

It was a fun day for all of us! We were happy that Josh's father Steve and his step-mom Michelle could be at the ceremony. Josh was especially happy to see his younger brother Bradley there. Granny Mae and Boss were there to celebrate with the happy couple. Dee came to help us with the decorations and she was our official bow-maker. She makes the prettiest big bows! (Thank you, Mom!!!) Kristen's boyfriend Cameron managed to get leave from the Citadel to be with us.

We had so much fun getting to know Kit's family better. Her MaMaw and PaPaw were right in there with us working on the decorations and so were Kit's dad and her cousins. Kit's mom hurt her back and wasn't able to help as much as she would have liked to but she did as much as she could.

The happy couple decided they wanted a honeymoon that encompassed the mountains and the sea so they started off touring Charleston and ended up in the mountains of North Carolina.

Congratulations, Josh & Kit!!! We all love you very, very much and hope that you will have a lifetime of happiness together! :)

P.S. That's not champagne flowing in the fountain! It's Josh's favorite.....SWEET TEA!