Holidaze

Seems like I did this same thing last year...finally get around to blogging about the Christmas/New Years holidays around mid-February.

Christmas was incredible this year with our newest gift, Miss Mary Britton.

What a doll.

We visited Santa in Mid-December and I wasn't sure how Quinnlan would be, now that she is 2, and most 2 year olds are scared of Santa, but not this monkey. She loved him. Mia and Chloe had to hold her back from rushing him football-style when she was finally close enough to see him at Lenox.

Everyone is on their best behavior for the Big Man...

Then a couple weeks later, Quinnie had her first "performance" at her Preschool. She did so well and I was so proud of how she did with her little classmates:

When Christmas Eve finally arrived, it was our year to spend Christmas Eve with Kevin's family. We met at Kevin's mom's church for Christmas Eve Mass and then we had an incredible italian feast at Kevin's mom's house with all the girl cousins. How we love our nieces. They are so precious to me:

Our newest addition, Addie, our Goddaughter---2 1/2 weeks younger than Mary Britton...love how she sticks her tongue out! Too cute...

Here's all the "big girls":

Chloe, Quinn, Mia, Katherine, & Mae

After dinner, Santa showed up. This is the best part of Christmas Eve with Grammie...

Remember how I said that Quinnie was obsessed with Santa?

This is her 1st reaction to seeing him.

Love, Love, and more Love.

I even caught her doing the "I love Santa" dance:

As well as big hugs when she was overtaken with affection for her favorite white-bearded man:

I loved seeing Quinnie love Christmas this year.

These 2 six year olds showed such patience waiting their turn for the gifts from Santa's sack on Christmas Eve.

As they say...it is so special seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child.

This is one of my favorite pictures each year...waiting on the stairs on Christmas morning:

Look how sleepy (grumpy) Miss Chloe is! Not happy to be awakened by her sister, Mia!

After opening gifts from Santa and Mommy and Daddy, we went to Nana and Grandaddy's house for lunch:

We missed my brother and his family that are in Africa again this year. We can't wait to (hopefully) have them with us next year!

Then we went to Kevin's sister, Shannon's home for Christmas dinner (and a sleepover since it snowed---a white Christmas in Atlanta??? Crazy!) Here are some pics from the night/next day:

Quinnie with her paper crown. We always have the British "poppers" at dinner and they always have little prizes and a paper crown in them.

Mia & Chloe sledding the next morning with Daddy

Spending a New Years Eve sleepover with the Brownlows at our house. Too fun.

Chloe

Mia

Quinnie

Mary Britton says, "Hey, where's my sundae???"

Fun confetti fire-works in the kitchen (with toasts from the 6 and under crowd) and then sundaes after dinner and fireworks ("real" ones from Alabama!).

It's fun to remember how far we've come...2004 was the the 1st New Years we spent with the Brownlows---when we lived in Duluth and the twins were just 4 1/2 months old and we danced the night away...in our little townhome:

Kev, Me, Kellie & Rick

This picture always cracks me up...

The Elf..revealed

My Chloe has been freaked out by The Elf on the Shelf since last Christmas.

So, we definitely did not even try it again this year. In early December, we were at Kevin's sister's house for her newest daughter's baptism lunch, and her middle daughter was running around holding their Elf on the Shelf doll. Chloe kept telling me that the elf was not going to be able to go back to the North Pole because Mae was touching it (which, according to the book, is against the rules). I just kept changing the subject.

Then a couple of days later, we came home late and with it being dark in the house, Chloe asked me to turn on the light in the living/play room before she'd go in there. I told her that there was nothing to be afraid of and to just go on in and turn them on herself because I was trying to get Mary Britton settled. Well, she just wouldn't go in there. She finally told me, through tears, that Mia had told her that Cindy, the Elf on the Shelf, was in there waiting for her. (That stinker!)

So, she was officially freaked out...again.

I had to make an executive Mommy decision and tell her the truth about Cindy the Elf. I just couldn't let her be tormented by her anymore. So, as I am trying to explain to her that Cindy is not real (like Santa) but that she was a doll and it is all part of a game, she kept saying:

Chloe: "No! It's not true! Where did she go at night when we were sleeping?"

Me: "Nowhere. She stayed here in our house because she is a doll."

Chloe: "Well, how does she end up in a different spot each day?"

Me: "Moms and Dads move her."

Chloe: "Where did she go when you told her to leave last year?"

Me: "Wal-Mart."

She was so confused, but after we talked it out, she finally believed me.

I was nervous that it was a slippery slope of a topic, but I just couldn't watch her get so upset about a little bendable felt-covered, rubber-faced doll anymore.

Celebrating 11 years of marriage and being a Mom

Last weekend, Kevin whisked me away for a wonderfully relaxing weekend in the Smoky Mountains. We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary on May 8th. I am so thankful to Nana, Granddaddy and Grammie for watching our little ones so this Momma could have a break from my "job".

I loved every second...

It was so nice to wake up (my internal clock still gets me up at 7am) and have my coffee in silence on the porch enjoying this amazing view:

After breakfast, I even enjoyed a mid-morning nap...awesome.

We went and had a great lunch on the Nantahala River at the NOC. The weather was GORGEOUS and even a little cool!

When we returned to the cabin, we went on a hike (straight up hill, by the way) to come to a clearing and find this great spot:

And another beautiful view:

After dinner, Kevin got the fire pit going (his favorite) and we settled in for another quiet night.

I felt a little geriatric going to bed at 10:30 when I was on vacation, but Kevin reminded that I am making a human...so true.

We caught some flack for not being around on Mother's Day, but I loved when Mia said, "We love Mother's Day, Mommy! We get to spend the weekend with Nana and Grammie!" I guess that's what they've gotten used to with our anniversary always falling on that weekend :)

Is February too late to blog about Christmas???

I was out of commission for awhile (2 months?) due to my 1st trimester exhaustion, so I thought I'd go ahead and post some pics from Christmas 2009...better late than never!

Christmas was a blast this year! Quinnlan had no clue what was going on, so that was pretty funny, but Mia and Chloe knew full-on what this great holiday is all about and it was a thrill for this Mama to hear them talk more and more about the fact that we were celebrating Jesus' birthday (along with the super-fun Santa stuff too).

Decorating the tree:

Mia wearing ladybug wings while decorating :)

Quinn "collected" ornament wrapping paper (a.k.a. newspaper)

Miss Chloe

Quinnie loved Santa Claus

All girl cousins--Katherine, Mae, Mia, Quinn, and Chloe

Chloe, Mia and Katherine

A Christmas Eve gift---Princess tents!

Waiting to see what Santa brought Christmas morning

Present overload---Christmas night with Kevin's family

Does it look like chaos?

Chloe needed to escape for a little bit---her hiding spot

Halloween 2009

This year, Halloween was especially fun! It reminded me of when Mia and Chloe were Quinnlan's age at Halloween (2005). I remember being at Babies R Us and having them try on costumes and dying laughing at seeing my babies dressed up. I felt the same way with Little Miss Quinnie this year.

The past 2 years, Mia and Chloe have been princesses...Belle, Snow White, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty. This year I was SO over the whole Princess thing. I was thrilled when Chloe told me she wanted to be Wonder Woman---my childhood idol. Yes...

Mia's favorite book is Pinkalicious, a story about a little girl that turns pink when she eats too many pink cupcakes. She decided she wanted to be Pinkalicious.

Quinnie didn't really have a choice, so she was a ladybug.

My friend, Jennifer, and I got crafty and made tutus for our littlest ones (her daughter was a black cat---precious) to wear as part of their costumes.

Because Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, it coincided with the Georgia-Florida game. Some great friends and neighbors, the Shokats, are big Florida fans, so we invited them and some other great friends, the Hickeys to come and watch the game and then go trick-or-treating.

It was so special to see our children play all day with their good friends. Here are some pictures from the fun-filled day...

We FINALLY carved our pumpkins on Halloween Day---better late than never!