Hope your Christmas was Merry and that your New Year is Happy!

I did not have a chance to post before Christmas so I wanted to pop in and say that I hope you had a good one. Ours was great! Allison loved opening her presents - and helping everyone else open theirs. We had Christmas morning together (Ernie, Allison, Nicholas, and me) and Christmas afternoon with Lisa, Scotty, and Chelsea. Then we went to Ernie's parents' for dinner and Christmas with his brother, his wife, and their two little ones. Now when it's time to go to his parents' house, Allison thinks we are going to open more presents. :)

Ernie and I had a nice gift exchange. He is very a thoughtful person. He gave me a scrapbooking calendar, snowman coasters, a new winter (snowman) sweater and an LSU quilted throw. The LSU throw was a big surprise because he and his family are Mississippi State Alumni. I don't know how long it will take him to tell his family that he bought something purple and gold! BUT, the bigger surprise was the pair of diamond solitaire earrings that were in my stocking. They are beautiful!

He received a new basketball goal (and ball, of course), some new shirts and a bucket from the Tabasco store with different Tabasco flavored snacks.

The kids' big gifts were a new kitchen for Allison (which she plays with constantly) and a new basketball goal for Nick. There were new books, new clothes, and new toys that were bestowed upon them by everyone. They have tried them all out and are enjoying their new treasures.

Lisa and I are excited that our Dad is coming in tomorrow for a visit. I haven't seen him since late July and Lisa hasn't seen him since Feb. or March. We are looking forward to spending some time with him.

One more thing - Happy 60th birthday Mom!! What joy you bring to us!

Hidden Treasure

Today I have been picking up around the house. And I mean really picking up. I've cleaned off the pool table (it is centrally located in our house and is a huge "I'll put this away later" magnet), sorted the magazines and catalogs in my magazine basket and various other tasks. The thing about doing this is what hidden treasures I find that the kids have left behind. I found "bouncy balls" trapped between table legs and the wall, the powdered sugar shaker under my scrapbooking table and a few odds and ends in the pockets of the pool table. I have learned to occassionally check the latter. Allison has taken to putting things in the pool table pockets. I have found rubber stamps, a small cement mixer truck, a sippee cup (thankfully it was one from that day!), and Nick's pacifiers to name a few things. (More on the various locations of Nick's pacifiers in another post). My slippers have their mate again at the foot of my bed and later today, I will put the pieces of various toys back with their friends in each of the kids' rooms. Right now it's on to the laundry that was covering our bedroom floor (and I do mean covering - almost serving as another layer of flooring)...more later...

A Day In The Life...

Today was a little busy, though a little backwards than what I had planned. Why I still try to "plan" my days with two toddlers is beyond me.

Nicholas slept till 10:30 am this morning. (He went to sleep around 8:30 last night.) My plan was to get everyone dressed and get bulletin boards at church done this morning. Well, instead of being able to leave around 8:00 or 9:00 am, I left at 12:30 pm. The boards are complete and the church bulletins are "stuffed." This frees up my Saturday morning and I am pleased about that. This left me with lots of time to get a few things done around the house this morning. Why I bother picking up after two toddlers...again...beyond me. I try to take the advice of my good friend Kim who told me not to bother trying to clean unless company's coming. But I just can't function unless the kitchen is clean. If the kitchen is clean, all is well in my world and I can go on about my day.

Allison is providing a running commentary on the world around her. She tells me that the inflatable Santa in someone's front yard has a "Party hat" on. She lets me know when we pass a "big truck" or a "big yellow bus." She lets me know when Nick is crying, when he falls, and even when she pushes him over ("Alli push Nick, Momma.") She asks for her "Sa, Chelsea, Scotty" quite often during the day. When I say, "They are not here", she lets me know where they all are. "Sa is at work, Chelsea soccer, Scotty working." ("Sa" is her aunt Lisa, by the way, and her favorite person EVER.) She even tells me her daddy is at the office and that she wants to go to see him there. (I want to go see him there, too - he's at the office quite a bit these days.) He works hard and we appreciate him. And she is a sweet and funny little girl and I thank God for her daily.

I'm not sure why I called this "A Day In The Life" because tomorrow will surely be different! But I pray to wake up in the morning and do it all again (though probably not in this order!)

Happy Anniversary Ernie!

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary. Where does the time go?! It has been a blessing to be with Ernie during the last 6 years (one year of dating and 5 years of marriage). He is sweet, patient, funny!, and so loving. He made reservations at Kiva's for tonight as a surprise for me. We went to Kiva's the night we got engaged. We were going to eat there after our wedding (read: we didn't get to eat at the reception) :), but it wasn't open for the evening yet, so we ate at J. Alexander's. We still had a nice meal and quiet time together after the wedding and we made the server cry when she found out we had just been married. :)

Thank you, Ernie, for 5 great years of marriage! I am looking forward to so many more!

On another note, our beautiful niece Chelsea was baptized by her daddy last night! We are so thrilled and happy for her. I know that she has been in thought and prayer for a while now, so I feel confident that she was ready. We are so proud!! We love you Sunshine!