Happy Birthday Nanna!

Christmas Eve is Nanna's (Matt's mom) birthday and every year we have a big dinner for her. This year Brian, Brittan and the cousins were able to come down and join us. I made a roast, mashed potatoes, rice, corn, rolls and salad. Dinner was delicious, if I do say so myself. After we finished eating the kids made a mad dash to the presents. There was much oohing and ahhing over the gifts and hugs a plenty to go around.



Campbell and her ePet



Dax got some awesome swords from B&B. They are foam and make sounds when they hit. FUN! Dax and Uncle Brian had a lot of fun with this gift.




Piper got a beautiful doll crib with her name and birth weight on it. I love it and so does she. It will surely be a family heirloom to pass down.



Everyone was having fun playing with their new gifts except Anna Mae. Poor Annastyn fell off the couch the night before and seemed to be not quite herself. She told Brittan that her head hurt, but when I tried to give her some motrin she threw up all over Brittan. I started having flashbacks of Christmas 2006. We think she had a slight concussion from her fall. Matt and Brian gave her a blessing and we made up a bag full of stuff just in case she got sick on the long drive home. I hate it that they live so far away. I wish they could have just stayed here, but we didn't have any way of letting Santa know that he needed to deliver their presents here. They made it home okay though and Anna Mae is feeling better now.



Here are a few more pictures of the night...

I never realized how much Dax and Campbell look like each other.



This is Barrett's first Christmas. He is such a happy baby!



The two little boy cousins. Dax loves his cousin!!



Barrett was very worried about his sister as you can see...



We love having our annual birthday dinner for Nanna. It is a wonderful to see our family and enjoy the holidays together. We love you, Nanna!

Meet George

We were a little late getting a tree this year, but once we met "George" we knew we found the right one. On Monday night we headed out with Miss Eg (my mom) to look for a tree and surprise Daddy. We needed a few essentials at Target first so we looked there to see if they had any trees and we lucked out. Not only did they have our tree but it was only $35! Last year we paid $130 for our tree!! This was a much easier experience and the people at Target were so nice and even loaded "George" into the van for us.

When we pulled up we saw that Daddy had beat us home and the kids were so bummed. He was working late that night and we were hoping to have the tree up by the time he got home, but alas we were too late. We told the kids to tell him we met a tall guy named George and that he was going to come stay with us for a while. Well as soon as we told him Dax busted out with, "Yeah, it's a tree!". Silly boy!

My mom lifting Piper up to put the star on top of the tree.



Dax measured the tree for us



Looking through the decorations



O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree





Rudy liked the tree as well and decided it made the perfect lookout spot to watch over the kids.

All dressed up

We got all dressed up in our Christmas finest on Sunday for church and I wanted a few pictures to prove it. No problem, right? Wrong! As soon as we walked in the door Dax started shedding clothes. A coat here, shoes there. We had to promise him snowballs (Nanna's speciality) after pictures in order for him to put everything back on. Then we decided we should have Roxy in our pictures. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a 10 month old boxer puppy to cooperate for pictures?! It might have worked out okay if we weren't doing the pictures on the timer with the camera set up on the tripod. She would sit so pretty looking right at the camera/Matt, but as soon as Matt ran over to sit with us she was a wild puppy. That's where the memories are made, right? I know that I will look back at these pictures in years to come and cherish them and that makes it worth the tears, the frustration and the puppy slobber.



My handsome guy. Sometimes when I look at him I just want to stop time and hold him close to me and never let go. I got it bad for this guy!



I know that the reason I want to hold onto Dax is because I look at Piper and see how fast time has flown by. She is more beautiful everyday... inside and out.



Merry Christmas!

Old School

Thursday night Piper's school had a choir concert at my high school. It was quite the flashback to walk into the school. We had to sit in the nosebleed seats in the auditorium to watch the second graders perform the holiday musical. Piper knew most of the songs and happily sang along. After the concert was over I took Piper into the band room where I spent most of my high school days and I have the fondest memories. I showed Pi the banners from the halftime shows that I was in and then we walked into the back of the room where the band photo of my sophomore year was still hanging. I had to laugh as I saw my old picture and Piper happily joined in. How weird to stand in that room with my six year old daughter and look at my band photo from 12 years ago. Maybe one day Piper will be a Rajun Bull just like her Mommy and Daddy.



Here is Piper pointing out my photo. How funny!

Skateland

Piper had a spirit night at the Skateland for school this week. Skateland was the place to be when I was a kid. I spent many Saturdays there for Soc Hops and all night skates. Ah, the memories. Since this event was free I decided I would take Piper skating for her first time. She was so excited to go until she put the skates on. She was TERRIFIED! She clung to me like she was about to fall into a pool of lava if she happened to let go. We were quite a sight to see considering it has probably been 15 years since I last had a pair of roller skates on. It is nothing like riding a bike...you forget! Poor Piper was so upset and stressed out that she managed to work herself into an upset stomach. Poor kid, all of her stress goes straight to her stomach. We spent the majority of the evening sitting on the benches with her head in my lap as we watched everyone else skate by. Maybe next year...



She found her friend, Stephy from church, but even that was not enough to chase the worries away.



It was fun to spend some one on one time with my little girl. Ice skating is next :)

A New Blue

You all remember this bathroom...


I tried to do a good thing and surprise Matt with a newly painted bathroom. It didn't turn out so great and as a result I am no longer allowed to paint anything. When we pained a couple of months ago we tested out a few colors in the blue bathroom. So it has looked like this for the last 2 months or so.


Nice, right?! Well, the day came to finally make a change. Matt was home early on Friday and was ready to paint. I asked Amanda what room we should paint next and she begged me to finally fix the bathroom. I guess it was pretty bad. I picked Pi up from school and we headed to Lowe's in search of the perfect color. I was a bit nervous considering I picked the first color, but Matt had confidence in me. Piper was eager to help, but she was pushing hard for the hot pink. I picked my color and decided to get a new lighting fixture as well. These are the results...




Matt worked all weekend on this bathroom and it looks great. Next up is the master bath (same color), the onto the kitchen and the bedrooms. This place is looking better and better every day.

Bonfire

Last Friday night we headed over to he Darby's and had a bonfire with friends. My dear friend Liz and her sweet little boy were home visiting from Vegas, as well as her sister, Carmen and her husband. The Darby's are very near and dear to my heart and it was so nice for us all to be together again. This was the first time in 10 years that we have all been in the same place at the same time. It was almost ten years ago that I took the discussions at their home and joined the church. That was an amazing time in my life and I carry the fondest memories from those days. I remember for my 18th birthday we had a huge bonfire birthday bash. March is a big birthday month and Liz and I share birthdays just days apart.

This time we were all there with our spouses and children, but it seems like only yesterday that we were just high school girls with the whole world in front of us. I may not be the doctor I thought I wanted to be now, but my life is rich and full, nonetheless. It was fun to catch up and walk down memory lane a bit. Liz and her husband, Patrick, have been married for 4 years and have the sweetest little boy. They live in Vegas right now and Patrick is in his last year of medical school. I had a good time talking with him about medicine. He almost had me convinced I should start applying to med schools. :) Carmen and her husband, Drew, were there from Tallahassee with their cute little dog, Elle. The kids loved walking Elle and playing with her.

We had a great fire going and couldn't resist toasting a few marshmallows. YUM! Thanks again to the Darby family for having us over. It was a great night!

Carmen, Liz and me


Elle in the wheelbarrow


Matt and Patrick hanging out


Roasting Marshmallows over the fire



Marshmallow cheeks


Dax and Momma


Piper and Daddy

Trip to Inverness

Last Wednesday we headed up to Inverness to visit Auntie Brittan, Uncle Brian and the cousins. I didn't tell the kids where we were going, but Piper was able to guess it out of me before we were on the interstate. She is a smart cookie! I was a bit anxious about the drive, but it wasn't that bad. I love having our van, it makes me feel a bit more confident on the interstate. The drive was long, but we had good music to enjoy and we talked about all kinds of things. I never would have thought that a 2 hour drive with my kids alone would be that enjoyable.

This was the first time we saw B&B's new house and it is beautiful!! The girls ran out to greet us when we pulled in and the kids were off to play as soon as they were out of their seats. It makes me so happy to see how much these little cousins love each other. Brian was home early and Dax was so happy to see his uncle. They played and played and played. We love having family in the country. It is beautiful up there and the kids were amazed that Uncle Brian and Auntie Brittan have goats. How fun!

It was worth the drive and we are counting down the days until they are here for Christmas Eve. I love having my family close tome for the holidays. There will be a house full of love here on December 24th.

Piper and Barrett- he is getting so big!


Dax loves his cousin, Barrett. I just know they are going to be wonderful friends through the years.


Dax and Uncle Brian played football. Dax LOVES his Uncle B! They also played a fun game of hide and seek. What a fun Uncle!



Barrett and his Momma played a fun game of catch, too. Well they tried at least.


The girls were a scurry of motion and I didn't get any photos this time, but here is a bonus one of our adorable nephew.

Playing catch up

I have been a lazy blogger, please forgive me. Truth is I am building log cabins out of Lincoln logs, drinking lots of hot chocolate, watching christmas shows all cuddled up under the blankets. Who have I been doing all these fun things with? My little boyfriend, of course. So you see, I have been abandoning all of you, but spending time with my little boy.

I am going to catch you guys up on the fun happenings at Chez Mitchell. We have played with cousins, roasted more marshmallows, braved shoppers on black Friday (okay only I was crazy enough to do that!), enjoyed visits from Rudy the Elf and drank our weight in hot chocolate. So sit back and enjoy...