Thanksgiving Day Traditions

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The morning of Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. I get so excited for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I know it's awful lip syncing and promotions but I love it. I even record it so I can go back and watch the parts I miss while I am baking or when we switch to the Disney channel because the kids are over it. In fact I am watching it now! Another confession: I almost always cry when the parade starts and when that guy in the red suit show up at the end.

When I was in high school I discovered sweet potato casserole and it is know "my" dish. I love making it and it usually makes an appearance at Christmas too! I don't use a recipe, I just mix in the butter and brown sugar till it's good and I do a pecan topping. Think I will warm some up.

The newspaper, it's always dad's (aka Jesse) job to run out and acquire a coveted newspaper. I know most of the black Friday ads are on the internet now but there is just something about holding them in your hand. We snuggle up the on couch or sit at the table with coffee and flip through the ads marking things that might be worth it.

When we were young and kid-less we would head to the movies on Thanksgiving night. This year Jesse picked up a movie while we were at Target (yes, we stopped for a few things on Thanksgiving!, since my brother works for the company and he needs that extra time and half pay I am all for supporting and well let's be honest I am addicted to the store!) I am not going to name the movie because it's not worth it. But I am making this a revised tradition, where we watch a new movie that night.

We had such a good and busy Thanksgiving that the 2 pictures I took are a blurry mess but we enjoyed our time together. I hope you had a fabulous day and enjoyed all your traditions.

Also ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

Girl's Trip

Watch out here we come! Excited to be heading to our TN campus by way of Savannah today. The girls and I have been planning this trip since September, when I invited myself to tag along with them and then begged asked Jesse if I could leave him with the kiddos for 3 1/2 days.

Our plans include:

  - Lunch at Lady & Sons...yummy
 -  Stroll downtown Savannah (which means pralines from River Street to me!!)
 - All things Apple Barn - I can hardly wait - cider, doughnuts, pie, butter
 - Shopping Gatlinberg - the coffee shop were my coffee obsession began is there!
 - Looking at hiking trails :)

Felicity at 28 Months

Our red headed beauty.

Felicity is becoming our grown up girl. She has really come out of her shell the last few months and is surprising me daily with her vocabulary. For a girl who at 1 1/2 had 5 words she is constantly talking. She is miss happy go lucky, go with the flow...most days. She can sit and read books for a good 30 minutes, or flip thru the photos and videos on my iphone naming everyone she sees. She say excuse me after very sneeze or burp and it's the cutest when she asks you to "skoosch." She wants to be like Aiden and will follow him around the house or copy what he is doing.

There are times when the Whitney temper comes out in her. She will pout and throw herself to the ground, usually if you walk away it will subside or if she see's on of "her" girls she will forget why she is upset. We tried over the summer to interest her in potty training but she wasn't feeling it, didn't even care that she had on wet panties. But in the last month she has showed interest in using the "toywet." so we will see where that goes.

Favorite Toys: Duplo legos, anything that involves a Disney princess (esp. Ariel, Anna, and Elsa), play purse, kitchen and pretending to cook (on her Christmas list)

Favorite thing about daycare/preschool: playing on the playground and coloring/art time 

Favorite Foods: Mac and cheese, well cheese in general, pizza, green beans, gummies, and french fries

Aiden at 5.5

This little boy is becoming such a little man.

He gets so excited about fun things like school, soccer, and craft time. He loves to go into Felicity's room in the morning and help her out of her bed and they play pretend for an hour. They love to sit and look at books together. He is so comfortable on campus and at times I have to remind him that he can't just walk into apartments. He loves a good Disney day and knows his way around the parks like a pro. Core group on Thursday nights are one of his favorite times of the week and he loves going to Sunday school on Sundays, always greeting me with the story and memory verse for the week.

He is finding his words better now but he still gets upset and at times there are things thrown and remotes broken. He doesn't like time out or loss of privileges and those seem to bring on an attitude adjustment. While there are days that he eats constantly he hardly eats anything at school and the mention of eating in public brings on a meltdown of epic proportions. Jesse and I have talked about a therapist and I've read about childhood anxieties and it's common but frustrating for concerned parents. We are letting it run it's course right now and trying to redirect his anxiety.

Favorite Toys: Legos - everywhere!, action figures If there is a marker or glue stick to be found then you can bet this boy will find them and work for hours on projects.

Favorite thing about school - He would say being picked up, especially on a Ms. Ellie day. But he really enjoys art and music class. Academically he is doing well, the teacher says he likes to come in and get right to work.

Favorite food: Corn dog nuggets, Greek yogurt, broccoli, smoothies, couscous, popcorn, smarties

When he grows up he wants to be a construction worker.

Where did the time go? I am so amazed at how much he has grown!

November Goals

But first let's recap October goals, shall we?

Blog more: I did okay but not fabulous.

Eat less, workout more: I mean I was on vacation and a trip to the farm. Also I am an emotional eater so I am just happy I didn't gain 10 pounds.

Finish my 2013 December Daily book: no comment

Host an instagram sale - I gave up on this idea. I just don't have the time so a trip to Plato's Closet (resale shop) is in my future.

Declutter our living room: This is a husband and wife project that we didn't get to.


So basically I kinda stunk at this whole goal thing...well we just keep trying!


For November:

Blog more - shooting for at least 2 times a week.

 Finish my 2013 December Daily book: Yep it's still on the list, I've already decided that for 2014 I will be doing a digital "book."

Family Photos: get these done. We have done these the last 2 years and I really enjoy this yearly tradition.

Stick to our Black Friday List.

 Get us on a cleaning schedule.

Let's see how this month goes!

Here are my cuties all deck out for Halloween

Kristoff & Anna

My mom is amazing and made Aiden's Kristoff costume and Felicity's little cape. Felicity was only coaxed out of her Anna dress by Elsa and Anna pj's. She found her dress the other day and wanted to wear it to school! She is our little princess.

Saying Goodbye

You would think that I would be good at goodbyes - I moved almost every year and half until my senior year of high school. But I am not good at them and 2 weeks ago I had to say goodbye to my Papaw.
       We returned from our Disney vacation on Sunday evening and collapsed into bed, around 4 am I was restless and dealing with a headache and I kept having a dream where papaw and I were talking. He wasn't doing good and I knew he was over cancer treatments, hospitals, and dialysis but I was hopping that he would make it to Christmas. My phone rang at 6 am and it was my mom, I listen to her tell me in between sobs that her "daddy" was gone. I felt numb, I remember asking Jesse to get me Advil and a washcloth and I laid in the bed until Aiden woke up around 7 am. Jesse and I decided to just reload the car and make a pit stop at Target for supplies. We figured we could be on the road by 10 (I later changed this to 12) Telling Aiden was heart breaking, he's 5 - he gets that papaw is gone to be with Jesus in Heaven but he doesn't understand the hurt that we are missing him. He's just so excited that we are getting two vacations and wants to make sure that Uncle Mikey will be there to take him on the tractor. He says things like, "Sissy, do you want to go to Mamaw's house? Mommy I said Mamaw's house because Papaw is gone."
    We reload and I walk over to the office to tell my boss and HR that I will be gone longer than planned. I walk into Heather's office (grateful that my best friend works with me) and cry on her shoulder. I leave a few things for my students workers and we pull off campus. After a Target run (we weren't going to make the 10 hour drive without a dvd player) and a Chick-fli-a lunch we are on the road by 12:45. I was pretty proud of us. We only stopped to fill up the car and eat and that one stop at a RedBox in a Kroger for Frozen (daddy and Aiden didn't pack any princess movies.) As we go over Monteagle I can hear Papaw's voice, "sis, watch the trucks, don't go to fast." We pull into the farm around 11 pm farm time, midnight FL time. My mom meets us in the driveway to snuggle a sweet baby and cry with me before we go in. We go in and say hello to everyone but Mamaw who has already gone to sleep. The kids get a little loud and I try to calm them down so they don't wake her or Papaw - who isn't there. When we wake up the next morning there is Mamaw, sweeping the kitchen like always. Felicity jabbers away with her and I grab a cup of coffee waiting on Papaw to join me and Felicity for coffee and an oatmeal cookie, as we look out at the farm. My aunts and uncles arrive to load up and make the arrangements and Jesse and I are left to man the house. We have to head to town to get Aiden clothes, since mom of the year here left his suitcase in Florida.
I spend most of the day walking around the house just looking at things, remembering him and the times we had, smelling things, warming up food, and wrangling babies.
  The two days that following are tough. There is a viewing - I always hate these but the funeral home did a wonderful portrait of Papaw and I feel like his blue eyes are telling me, "it's okay."  We laugh, cry, hug and remember. We finish on Thursday with a funeral and a graveside song and prayer. They sang old hymns but with a banjo which I picture Papaw just clapping along with and fear for a moment that Aiden may start dancing along. We spend one more day at the farm before we pack up to leave and I spending it soaking in the last bits of Papaw to take home with me. Mamaw allows be to pick a flannel shirt and I soak in their smell before I select one with green stripes.

I've picked that shirt up in the last week to smell it more times than I can count.
I've thought of the time we went to SeaWorld and Papaw's face as Shamu jumped out of the water.
I've remember him clapping along during karaoke at our rehearsal dinner. 
I've eaten sasauge and grape jelly biscuits becuase that's what he taught me.
I've smiled each time Aiden has said after someone sneezes, "scat there tom cat, your tails in the grave."
I've felt his hugs and his big hand hold mine.
I've cherished the memory of that one time he drove me and the kids around the farm and I helped him fish a calf out of the creek and how every time after that I dressed for farm work when we went on a ride and not in my good clothes.
When we pulled on campus Sunday afternoon I could see him riding a bike around the loop with a Papaw grin on his face.

I am not good at goodbyes because I want to hold on to the people that I love. I want to cling to them. I don't want to let go but God needs me to let go. Papaw needs me to love my family and be strong for them and help lead them. He needs me to help Aiden and Felicity remember him and they will.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28