Bermuda Run 'Dinner with Santa' Night

Jack was sick the week before Christmas, so he missed out on the big Dinner with Santa night at Bermuda Run.  Anna and I left Daddy home with Jack and met Nannie and Pops and Judi and Bren there.  I can't wait for Jack to go next year because it was so cute!  Santa arrived on a lights-on siren-blaring firetruck!! Unfortunately, since it was dark, none of my photos came out of that scene. ;(

Anna led the parade inside,
seeming a little bit in awe.

She talked to Santa
for what seemed like forever...

…twirling her hair the entire time.

Priceless!

Then they had crafts for the kids...

…including icing their own cookie!

Then Pops took her over to get a balloon shape.
We laughed because the guy was wearing a pin
that had an "L" behind the red slash mark circle
for "No L".  Get it-- "Noel".  Funny, funny!

Happy girl with her flower balloon!!

December Doings

Anna and I took a Sunday afternoon to go see
the new Disney movie Frozen...

…best movie ever!!
Finally a movie about family instead of
finding your true love.  So good!

Decorating ice cream cone "Christmas trees".

For some reason...

…they didn't last very long!

Benny the elf showed up again this year...

…and the kids had a blast finding
him in all his crazy places.

They started construction on a house
across the street from us and Jack was thrilled!
There was all kinds of fun equipment to watch.

On December 12th, I finally got LASIK eye surgery!!
Now I can see 20/25 with no glasses or contacts!
I am so ecstatic!!

Cousin lunch with Caroline!

One day after school got out, the girls went for a
morning nail outing.
Anna was hot stuff reading her book!

Can we just open one present?? So ready for Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…Early!

I usually have a "No Christmas Decorations Before Thanksgiving!" rule.  However, since Thanksgiving came so late this year, and we had offered to host our Sunday School Christmas party the very first weekend of December, I had to let my rule fall to the way-side this time.  We really just put the tree up early since that's the most time-consuming part.  I loved getting these photos with the Christmas lights gleaming--so pretty!  I also put up a second, real tree in the dining room this year since we now have room for another.  I regret not taking more photos of our Christmas decorations!

Christmas Card Photos

I am so blessed with several friends who are extremely gifted in photography.  My friend Emily from church held mini sessions the first part of November and I decided to jump on them for Christmas card photos.  It amazes me how you can leave a photo session feeling like there will be absolutely nothing usable and then they come back with some adorable photos.  That is a sign of a great children's photographer!  I was able to get my cards out early this year, which was great for me, but I definitely got some flack about it from some girlfriends.  Oh, well!  Here are some of my favorites...

We also did a photo shoot for the Hege Financial Group card and got a great family shot from it:

UNC vs Duke

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we headed to Chapel Hill for the UNC vs Duke game.  We won't talk about how cold it was or the outcome of the game. ;)

Jack on the curb, eating his oranges.

I was so excited to get to hold Baby Eli
when Michelle and Lucien came by!!

Gotcha!

Silly selfies...

Thanksgiving in Rocky Mount

We headed to Rocky Mount again this year for the annual Thanksgiving lunch at Aunt Lyn's.  We set a record this year with 58 people!!  It was the usual buzz and chaos, but so much fun!!  Anna was enthralled with Emma and Ellie's rainbow looms and Jack had fun playing outside with "allvalum" cousins (according to Penelope).  I look so forward to this day every year!

The ever-growing kids table.  This used to be us!!

Granmama and her five children.

Granmama and her grands (minus Angie)

Granmama and her great grands (minus three!)

All of us--we set a record this year!!

The Collins Zoo

Here's what the kiddos did while the adults
were trying to organize photos...

After the festivities at Aunt Lyn's died down, my sibs and I took our families over to David and Claire's so all of the kiddos could play.  We had the best time catching up and hanging out.  David and Claire are so awesome to open their home up to us each year!!  Fun times were had by all!

Dinner time!!

The next morning Michael and Dawne came by
and their kiddos got to play too!
Top row: Haley, Caroline, and Jack
Bottom row: Anna, Colton, Katelyn, and Penelope
(Hannah was being shy!)

We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for!  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Anna's Thanksgiving Program and Feast

N-O-V-E-M-B-E-R,  that's the month of Thanksgiving!

We were excited that families were invited into Anna's classroom for a Thanksgiving program and feast.  The kids filed in wearing their indian vests, necklaces, and headdresses, looking so proud!  They sang several songs (like the "November" one above) and even did an Indian dance!  Then we all shared warm soup, salad, fruit, and dessert.  It was fun to see all of Anna's new friends and put some faces with names.  Meeting some of the other parents was a plus, too!

Throughout the month, the kids were given opportunities to "earn" feathers for their headdress.  They could review their popcorn words, tie their shoe, recite their school number, address, or phone number, or count by 10s to 100. It was a neat way to reward them for reviewing what they had learned and encouraging them to learn some new things.  Anna was determined to earn all 15 feathers!  She was a little worried in the beginning but was able to do it!  Go Anna!

A proud girl with all of her feathers!