Our Christmas Travels

On the morning of December 23rd we set out for AL to share and celebrate Christmas with some of our family out of state. My grandmother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and I wanted to see her before treatment started. Her mother, my great grandmother (the girls' great great grandmother), was also traveling to AL with my Great Aunt Patty. I wanted to take this opportunity to see her. I wanted Ella to meet her. (McKenna met her once before.)

We flew American Airlines and changed planes in Chicago's O'Hare Airport. When we left MPLS in the morning there was a lot of fresh snow on the ground, a lot! We were delayed leaving MPLS about an hour waiting on deicing and so forth.

We landed in O' Hare around 11:00am. It didn't take long for us to find out that our flight was delayed. Then our flight was canceled. After a lot of hurry up and wait and a lot of talking to multiple agents, we went standby for a flight to Nashville (about 2 hours north of HSV). That flight was delayed, then canceled. So, more hurry up and wait and then more agents. We went standby for a flight to Chattanooga. That flight was delayed, then canceled. The majority of O'Hare was then grounded. Just about every flight was canceled! Ug.

Thankfully, we were able to get a hotel-at a discount, not free. A shuttle picked us up and brought us to the hotel around 8:45 pm. From the hotel, I called and re booked the soonest flight to HSV.....December 25th in the afternoon. What? Two days in the hotel? What about our bags? Come on, I am with 2 young kids....I need my bags. My toothbrush, makeup, his deodorant. AHHH! The airport and airline agents assured me that we would get our bags in HSV on the 25th. Not now, in the hotel.

In the meantime our cell phones had lost all charge. No problem, right? Wrong! Our chargers were in the checked bags. Double Ug!

No bags, no phones, only costly restaurants around us. I begged the shuttle driver to drop us at the Target down the road on his airport runs. He said no.

Well, let's make some lemonade with these lemons. So, we paid a taxi to bring us to Target to pick up a few essentials to get us through the next day and half. The hotel also had a general store and a restaurant. There was no continental breakfast however, there was a McD's across the snowy highway.

What did we do, you ask? Well, we jumped on the beds, ran down the hallways, watched a lot of TV (specifically the Ice Age marathon that was on one of the channels), we played a lot of Leapster (the girls' hand held electronic game systems). We visited the general store in the main lobby a bunch. By the way, the front desk people loaned us a charger for our phones! Wahoo!


Here's the view from our floor. Those are tables and chairs that you see.

The girls are posing in front of the few toys we had in our carry on and our shoes.

When we got off of the plane, my grandfather AND our luggage were waiting. We went straight to my grandparents house and showered and prepared for the giant Christmas party that started about 90 minutes after we got there.

My mom and the girls in their new pajamas.

Kyle opening his stocking (which by the way is officially retired now that he is soon to graduate school and become a college student).
Santa Nana

Christmas with Mammy and Pa Pa

Today Mammy, Pa Pa , and Uncle Dale came over for dinner and gifts! As usual, my family has tremendously blessed me. The generosity that is bestowed on us is just immeasurable. I am amazed at the love people shower me (and my family) with.

My mother in law recently had surgery on her left shoulder. She is left handed so I set out to do as much of the meal/hosting as possible. There was a traditional turkey dinner then a gift exchange. It was a lovely time. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The girls had a blast opening presents (well, so did I)! They have so much stuff now that we may have to buy a storage unit!

Christmas at Home

Christmas 2008 in our home was a chaotic and wrapping paper filled morning! Was yours? McKenna woke up first. She waited patiently, staring at all of the newly added presents under the tree. Eyeing the Webkinz in her stocking but not being able to touch it, that was the challenge. After some time I decided to hurry thins along by beginning to nudge Ella. She wasn't pleased with that. But, eventually, she woke up and was excited.

Of course, stockings first thing! Yahoo, there's a Webkinz in there!

Daddy, do you see anything else in there?

This present to me is from the girls. McKenna made a coupon for me. The coupon is good for 1 free back massage. I am really excited to use this one!

Ella was happy to get a "real" flash light.

How could I resist posting that face?

McKenna made this for us at school. It is an orange with Clove piercing the peel. It smelled really yummy for some time!

Ella really showed a lot of excitement this year! She liked her mini princess dolls.

The girls sporting their new outfits!

Of course, we are so blessed! It was really fun to watch the girls' reactions to all of their gifts. McKenna showed much maturation from last year. This year she understood that even gift giving comes to an end. She also expressed gratitude and thankfulness for ALL gifts, even the ones she didn't care for. She also waited patiently for others to unwrap. What a big girl? Those things are hard for some adults to accomplish!

Ella's Christmas Program

Ella's preschool class performed a Christmas program. It was the cutest thing. The program was held in the main sanctuary. The children filed in, one by one, down the main aisle. They lined up at the front of the stage and sang their hearts out. A few decided to leave the stage and sit with moms and dads and a few decided to pick their noses or twirl their hair or play with their clothes.

I can't imagine how scary it must be for those 3-4 year olds to stand still and sing in front of 80 picture happy parents!

Ella stood up with her peers. She chose not to sing. That was fine with me. I am so proud that she stood up there the whole time!

The teachers really do a phenomenal job! After the program we all went to the fellowship for snacks and crafts!

Of course, there is a photo shoot before hand! Isn't she the cutest thing!?

Do you see the anti singing determination on her face?

Her teachers, Ms. Shannon and Ms. Deb.

Snacks with daddy (I was there too!)

Our craft (one of them).

This is what she looked like as I pulled into the driveway!

Christmas Cuties!

Cookies and Frosty

Tonight we made Christmas sugar cookies and then watched Frosty the Snowman. It's the first time the girls had ever seen it.

And, yes, they are in their gymnastics leotards....um....just because, I guess.

Oasis

Oasis came to the Target Center the other night and Arthur and I were able to go (early Christmas present from his parents). Arthur has been an Oasis fan since we first met. We had really good seats. Liam (lead singer, leaning into microphone) was missing for half of the show-par for the course. Noel (who carries the greater talent in my opinion), guitarist, singer, songwriter, performed the entire time. They did one or two from their new CD and of course Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova. They ended with I am the Walrus. It was better than I thought. Noel threw his guitar pic right towards Arthur and I. The giant man next to me dove to get it and kicked me, hard, in the process. Seriously, there's a bruise.

Oh, Brudder!

...in the grocery store...

Ella: Mommy, evwewone needs a brudder.

Me: A brother? Everyone?

Ella: Yea. I need a brudder.

Me: So, you want Mommy to have another baby?

Ella: Yea, but...(looking me straight in the eye)...a baby is a biiiiig sponsibility.

Black Friday

Yes, I got up quite early for Black Friday shopping. My first stop was Kohl's, then Target, then Walgreens (then back to Kohl's!). I enjoy the craziness of waiting in a line in freezing cold temperatures to get a good deal.

I didn't think to have someone take my picture in line. Here's one of me by the clock right before I left the house! That's A.M.--remember! It's a bit of a dorky picture....but hey, aren't all 3:41 a.m. pictures a bit dorky?

Ginger Bread Cookies

We made gingerbread cookies, from scratch, for the first time. I enjoy the flavor of ginger but realize that not everybody does. I searched the Internet for a recipe and there are many to choose from. I read reviews and tips and so forth and here's the recipe I decided to use:

INGREDIENTS
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup shortening, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup molasses
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, until they are completely absorbed. Divide dough into 3 pieces, pat down to 1 1/2 inch thickness, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When the cookies are done, they will look dry, but still be soft to the touch. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. When cool, the cookies can be frosted with the icing of your choice.

The dough was pretty easy to work with and the girls loved decorating them. They did not thoroughly enjoy eating them.

Color Your World

Ella and I enjoyed a little art project while McKenna was at school. Ella has always enjoyed peeling the wrappers off of crayons so I incorporated that into my planning.


First we took old, broken crayons and peeled the wrappers. Next we broke them into smaller pieces. Then we put them into muffin tins and melted them in the oven, let them harden again and viola-rainbow crayons.

This is how she rolls...

McKenna's school participates in a yearly magazine fundraiser. McKenna was blessed enough to have sold so many magazines that she qualified for the grand prize, a limo ride to Old Country Buffet for lunch.

Going over the "rules" of the limo ride

The coach sized limo

The leather interior

Yes, I volunteered to chaperoned this event!

Tom Turkey

McKenna's kindergarten class has a turkey. His name is Tom. Each day Tom Turkey goes home with a different student. That student is supposed to help Tom Turkey come up with a disguise so that he isn't found on someones plate for Thanksgiving. She was VERY excited about this project and came up with her own idea for his disguise. After creating his disguise, she had to explain what he should do, where he should go to blend in. She said, "Tom Turkey should hide in a Christmas tree."

As you can see, she colored Tom Turkey in red and green. Then we cut out a green Christmas tree and decorated it with glitter and jewels. We even attached a metal ornament hook to the top.

After the assignment, we pulled out the real tree and decorations! We're a festive bunch here!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

I made a homemade pumpkin pie from scratch (and I do mean that I picked the pumpkin!)-including the crust! I am a little proud of myself!