Linlee's 7th Birthday

I gave Linlee the choice of what kind of party she wanted (big party little gifts or little party bigger gifts). She chose to have a family party at home and take the fish to Gatti town when they visited a week later as part of her birthday. She chose the menu of steak, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, green bean bundles, roll and cake. her favorites!
Nana and Papa were the only ones to make it to the party since Grandpa and Grandma were iced in on their RV trip to Gatlinburg and didn't make it back in time.
I make the cake. It didn't really turn out as planned in my head but I think it acidentally turned out pretty cute.




My girl is growing so big!!!
She got an MP3 player with and I-dog, clothes, easy bake stuff and a robe from us. Hello Kitty birthstone necklace from Nana and Papa, clothes and puzzle book from Grandpa and Grandma, Bible from Papa John, Tangled book from Grandma Giles and Bath and Body works hand sanitizer lotions from Annelise. Great Birthday~

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

I am totally taking the lazy way out of this in order to get caught up.

Because Conner got his big gift early, it was only fair to let the girls open one of theirs on Christmas Eve morning. Sidney opened a new stroller and Linlee opened the Wii Party game (which is by far the most played game we ever got. It is sooo fun!) That evening we spent with the great grands and all the Giles family. Lots of food, lots of gifts and lots of memories. Ava and Sidney had a blast together and were so cute to watch.



This Christmas is the first one that we haven't had to drive 5 hours to attend all the festivities. It was so nice to wake up in our own home and have a normal Christmas morning opening gifts with just us. The kids have enjoyed everything they received. The highlight for me was seeing what the kids had put in my stocking. Ben had taken Linlee and Conner seperately to buy gifts for each family member with their own money. They felt so grown up. Linlee got me a new scrub brush which I needed actually. Conner had caught my oven mit on fire a few week before Christmas and so his gift was a new set. Loved the thoughtfulness and I use them daily.


We then headed to my parent's house for the annual Smith family gathering. It is always a mad house when they all get together in one space. We got there a little early to open gifts with Nana, Papa, Unlce Todd, Aunt April and Ava. The Pillow pets were a hit that morning and the robes that Granny made for all the great grands were well loved also. We got to see pretty much everyone this year except Amanda's family. We weren't supposed to see Justin and his family but Uncle Mickey was stranded without car keys and Justin had to drive the extra set down. Nice treat. I love Christmas time and am always depressed for a few days after it is all over. It is soo much more fun with kids of your own as well.

Beginning to look like Christmas.

Ben's parents are going to be out of town over the holidays so we opened presents with them Sat night before Christmas. They came over to our house and we did gifts,



Sid is obsessed with polish. She got some from Grandma so here they are trying it out. Such a little girl!


went to eat at one of our favorite local places, The Wagon Wheel, and then came back home to decorate Christmas cookies.



We all had a great time.

Earlier that morning, we went ahead and let Conner have his Bike that he accidently discovered hidden in the garage. I forgot to let Ben know it was hiding in there....oops!


Sidney inherited Linlee's old Dora bike last week as well so they are both having a blast! She thinks she is soooo big.




I tried really hard to get a good pic of all of them Sunday morning. In every single one, someone is doing something cooky. Oh well, can't win them all. I told Sid that she looked sooo pretty that morning. She replied, "I need a crown."

Traditions

This year for Thanksgiving I really wanted to have it at my new house, so I invited both sets of parents to eat here. I am extremely lucky that everyone actually enjoys being together and gets along. Some in-laws would not and could not do that. As an added treat, Granny came along. We had such a great meal and fellowship. I only got one picture but it is a great one. Nana was reading a thanksgiving story to the kids who dressed up for the occasion.


I haven't done much as far as decorations for Christmas but will add to the list next year.





This time of year always brings out the treat making chef in all of us. We tried an awesome recipe in Parent's magazine for Peppermint Suprise cookies. This is how they were supposed to look:


This is how ours looked.
no matter....they were DELICIOUS and will definitely make the yearly must make list.



We also tried our hand at reindeer cookies. The kids had lots of fun with this and they turned out really cute.





The next night I set up a make your own pizza and salad station. It was a big hit. We will definitely be doing this again!!



Our annual gingerbread house session went great. I left it out on the counter for display only to find that every ant in Petal had heard about it by the next morning so we had to put it outside. Oh well, live and learn. You can't leave ANY food out in this house. They even found a sucker in an old purse in my closet. Not a good situation.

My wonderful husband bought me a new camera for Christmas since my old one stopped taking pictures that required flash. Guess it had been through a rough 3 years. I love my new one though. Thanks Ben!!


Last weekend Ben and Conner did a boy project and built a firepit in our backyard. It is AWESOME.

We still have a few things to do around the outside of it but have already enjoyed a few fires. Love sitting around the fire with family. Peaceful! Hope Flip and Flop aren't scared away by this invasion. I haven't seen them since it was built.

Tyler Photo Shoot

Conner and the Monster Trucks

Conner is a BIG fan of monster trucks. He is always talking about them. Ben has had it in the back of his mind that he was going to take Conner to see real ones one day. It just so happened that we got a flyer from McDonalds one morning for a show going on in Purvis. Ben didn't tell Conner about it, just said that the boys needed to go run an errand. On the way, Conner fell asleep so he didn't see what they pulled up on. When they got out of the truck, Conner saw a little boy with a toy monster truck. He made a comment to Ben that the little boy had a monster truck and he wondered if they would ever get to see a REAL one. Ben said maybe one day. About that time they rounded the corner and bam, there were 5 monster trucks sitting there. Conner (as only he can do)
opened his eyes really wide and with conner excitement said:"DAD.....MONSTER TRUCKS!!!" Perfect! They even got to ride in the back of one before the show. I think it ranks up there in his top greatest days ever!

Flip and Flop

We have loved watching our deer twins meander in the yard. We typically see them at least once a day. It is so cool! WE have named them Flip (the reddish one) and Flop (the brown one).


One night all the kids slept in Linlee's room. Conner and/or Sidney was supposed to be sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. This is how we found them when we went in the check on them...cute. They were OUT!