A Special Chirstmas Tea

My mom, Kassidy and I had the pleasure of being invited and attending a lovely Chirstmas tea hosted by one of our dearest friends and sister in Christ. (On a personal note, she was the one who influenced me to begin hosting my own Chirstmas teas.) It was a smaller, more intimate occasion than ones in the past and it was one of my favorites. We shared with the other ladies present a special moment about the past year that meant something to us, and I admit more than one tear was shed during the afternoon. It was a lovely afternoon out with the ladies.

Ornament Madness

Every year we have an ornament party / exchange / stealing extravaganza, and this years was full of yummy food, funny times, and smiles all around. There is a ginormous ornament (courtesy of Kyle a few years back) that has become the unwanted "Stanley Cup" of ornaments. Last year we weer "blessed" to take it home so I hatched a plan to get rid of it this year. Instead of wrapping the actual ornament (a dead give away), I wrapped up a piece of paper that entitled the opener to it. It was a great play on my part. Only thing I didn't plan on was Kyler. He decided that he really liked it and wanted to bring it home again. He stole to get it - crazy kid! So Jason passed it to Kyler and we all got a huge laugh out of the whole thing. Now I just have to hatch another plan to disguse it again next year!

Generosity

Each holiday season a club at my school sponsors a "Dear Santa" drive where they get names from a semi local source of children and families in need. As in past years several of the math teachers band together asking donations from all thier classes. This year we had 5 families with a total of 28 family members that we were collecting for. As always my students came through. They raised $1353.83!!! Their generosity never ceases to amaze me. The students don't "get" anything from me for participating which makes their donations mean all the more. Combined with the other math teachers we had a little over $9000 to shower on the needy families. I am once again so proud of my kids!

The Annual Christmas Tea

This year marked my sixth Christmas teas where I get to gather my church family and my real family (some of which overlap!) into the living room. We have brunch and tea. I try to make us share a bit and grow a bit and love on each other a bit. I think this year it was accomplished. We thought about all that we can do with our hands and then got a warm pair of gloves to keep those hands warm. It was a nice start to a busy holiday season.

Full of Thanks

(Playing a little catch up here!)

Thanksgiving is traditionally spent at my Aunt Wendy's home. We had a big crowd this year. We ate, played games, watch football, played at the park, did puzzles, planned Black Friday shopping, and had a rather relaxing day being thankful for all that we have. Here are a few pictures. A highlight for me was making the "turkey" appetizer above. I "volunteered" Jason to help me out and I think he got into making it just right even more than me! He is quite a masterpiece, huh?

Drive-In Birthday Bash!

Kyler's 6th birthday was celebrated with a drive-in movie theme. We had cars, treats, and popcorn all befitting of a backyard drive-in theater. We didn't even let a little bit of rain scare us away or damper our fun. There was a lot of friends and family gathered to love on Kyler and I know he appreciated every bit of it!!His cake - a tub of buttered popcorn (actually lots of cake rounds stacked up, covered with white frosting and fruit-by-the-foot stripes, Twizzler writing, and marshmallow popcorn)! One of the easier cakes I have made, and quite possible one of the cutest!!The candy counter was stocked with TONS of goodies to treat ourselves to.The popcorn machine was ready to go - everyone really enjoyed the fresh popcorn!The cars were set out and the decorations ready to out on.There was just a short burst of rain right at the beginning of the party so the car decorating had to be brought inside. It was totally crowded (and a bit chaotic!), but we still got all those cars detailed and ready to roll.We had all the traditional movie refreshments...hot dogs, nachos, and soft pretzels! Yum-yum-yummy!!!The kids all got together and parked their cars to watch the movie...too fun! The kids were so creative with their car designs!We watched Cars 2, which conveniently came out the week before.The birthday boy with his cake. I do hope whatever he wished for comes true!!
Me and my big kid!! Wow 6 years old, Kyler the time has flown by!

Trick or Treat

It is time for trick or treating!! We had an "Under the Sea" theme this year with a shark, lobster and mermaid.

My favorite comments of the night...Kassidy: "Trick or treating is not right without treats" when a house we went to did not open thier door, and Konner: "Halloween is late" because we were walking around at night.

Three Pumpkins are We

With so many little ones, I find the best option for decorating with our pumpkins is to turn them into "Mr. Pumpkin Heads." This year a vampire, witch and skeleton have found their way to our front porch. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius - we just LOVE them!!

Homecoming Girls

Our math department ladies think we have the most fun and school spirit and set out each year during Homecoming week to prove just that.
Monday: Twin Day in our nerdy math book and calculator shirts. Tuesday: PJ Day. Wednesday: White out day in our new bling Griffin tops. Thursday: Tank Day in our homemade tanktops (thanks Kim for the great idea!). Aren't we so fun?!