Christmas Day 2011

For weeks, all Turner has said that all she wanted from Santa was a bell from the reindeer's harness, a nod to our reading of The Polar Express. We did finally get her to list a few other things she might like - some realistic like the Disney Princess castle and some not-so-realistic like a stable and a horse.

When people asked her what she asked Santa to bring her she didn't know how to respond, because Turner doesn't like to talk to Santa.  She will look at him from a distance, but as far as crawling up in his lap and talking - not happening.  We have two pictures of her with Santa, one at 3 weeks old, and one holding his hand from as far away as she can possibly stand from him at age 2.  I don't push the issue because quite honestly, I'd much rather her focus on the real meaning of Christmas anyway.  She explained to me one evening, "Mommy, did you know that Christmas is not about giving gifts?  It's about Jesus' birthday!"   So we find a healthy balance between the "magical wonder" associated with Santa and the "supernatural wonder" associated with the birth of our Savior.  

Santa did make a stop by our house, and as you can see below he managed to consume a few cookies, leave Turner a note, and drop off a bell from one of his trusty reindeer.  Turner was very excited about the bell!

She was a little overwhelmed at it all at first...

And as always...it's the little things that make her the happiest.  The glittered, sequined, LIGHT UP sneakers from Payless that she's putting on below  brought the loudest squeal of the morning. 

But, the Disney Princess Castle (which by the way she found in it's box, hidden in the guest room shower earlier in the week) has been a hit. That's an interesting story - trying to explain away what she "thought she saw". 

Mark's Aunt Arlene has to be one of the neatest people I know, and I honestly wished we lived nearer to her so I could sit under her tutelage in both the cooking and sewing arenas.  She looked at Turner's Christmas list and when she saw the Disney Princess castle she decided to put her knitting skills to the test and hand-knit an entire wardrobe of Barbie clothes.  She actually had to purchase a Barbie to determine proper fit, etc.  I was expecting to open the box and find a beautiful knitted sweater or shawl for Turner...and instead we unwrapped tiny shawls, coats, jeans, workout clothes,  evening wear, and sweater dresses for our princess dolls! 

A little later in the evening we found Rebekah and Matt playing Barbies and changing all their clothes... and this is how they were all outfitted the next day.  I have told Aunt Arlene that she could likely open up a shop on esty.com and keep herself quite busy selling these hand knitted clothes!

And this picture is a rare one - when we actually surprise my Dad with something and he doesn't quite know how to react.  I am so much like him so I can identify - he truly didn't know how to express his excitement at his upcoming NASCAR experience.  He'll get to drive around the track at Talladega among other racing things - it's going to be a family affair and I feel certain this event will occupy blog space in the future.  :)

Mark is such a practical man - he was truly this excited over a new griddle and so was Turner!  This means many more of Daddy's special grilled cheese sandwiches in her future!

This little piece of technology - the V-Tech InnoTab - is really neat!  It's a partner product to Turner's V-Reader that she got last Christmas and is basically an iPad type apparatus for 4-8 year olds.  She has amazed us with what she can do on this already!

 And my Mom was also truly this excited about a new Tupperware marinating pan - she's had the same old one (now broken) for 20 years and this replacement was long overdue.  I am grateful that Mark listens well and heard her mention her need for this back in the summertime. 

I love this picture - the proud look on Matt's face and the sheer excitement on Rebekah's that he got her what she wanted for Christmas.  An iPad 2.  :)

And Mom pretended to be surprised at her new iPhone4S, though this was a calculated decision she made to move from Blackberry world into iPhone world.  And the thing talks back to her....all we need is someone else to talk to Tootsie!! 

Matching tiger pants that Mark had a CWE counselor's mom make for us!  They are SUPER warm!

We devoured a yummy breakfast of Paula Deen's Christmas Breakfast Casserole (easy recipe and delicious) and went to church mid-morning, returning that afternoon to enjoy a leisurely day of cooking, snacking, and napping before Christmas dinner that evening.  Post dinner activities focused on throwing glo-sticks (another hit present - $1 a box at Target) into the air outside and seeing who can pick the most up the fastest.  If you'll look closely below, you'll see that Turner did stay in her gown all day - even through dinner. 

It was a marvelous day enjoying the abundant blessings of family.  Merry Christmas - from our camp to yours!

Christmas Eve 2011

We were blessed to host both of our families for Christmas this year!  We can't sleep everyone at our house, so Rebekah and Matt upgraded from their normal spot on the couch/air mattress to our guest room this year while the others stayed in local hotels.

Everyone trickled in to Auburn by mid-morning Christmas Eve and we started the holidays off right with about 6 dozen raw oysters.  It was a beautiful day outside, so my sweet Dad shucked and shucked and we ate and ate!

Can I just tell y'all for a minute how much I love this guy being a part of our family?  People ask me how Matt is fitting in and I can honestly say it's like he's always been a part of our family.  I am so grateful for my brother-in-law and how he enriches our family.

My preferred way to consume these lovelies....on a cracker covered in ketchup.  Yum!

Turner and our neighbor Anderson decided to have an impromptu picnic in the yard - short sleeves on Christmas Eve! 

We all enjoyed the annual Christmas Eve service at church, and endured the obligatory picture fest that ensued once we returned home.

Now let's just keep it real for a minute...all those pretty pictures above.  In between those shots this is more what we all looked like.  Not sure what I am trying to communicate here...but it was obviously important.

And you can tell below that Turner was just about to have had enough of the pictures...

Turner has an "Elf on the Shelf" friend named Gretchen who visits us during December each year.  This year, on the 23rd Turner asked me if Gretchen would go back home with Santa on Christmas Eve.  When told her that she would be going back with him, Turner was quite bothered and said, "But what if she misses me?"  I told her we'd send a note with Gretchen that contained Turner's address and we'd ask her to write us a letter to let us know how she was doing. 

We also made a few cookies for Santa and placed Gretchen nearby so she'd be sure not to miss her ride!

Then Santa's elves went to work!

December

As I mentioned in the last post, we knew that December was going to be a busy month for us.  Because my home was scheduled to be occupied by 65 college students and 10 adults we were hosting our annual Camp War Eagle Christmas party on December 1st I did something I have never done before - I did some of my Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving!  I know some people find that sacrilegious and some find it to be the norm, for me this year it was necessity.  It was nice having the entire house decorated by the first of December, thus allowing me to enjoy the lights and decorations for almost a solid month! 

The party as always was tons of fun, and Turner and I both got in on the Dirty Santa exchange this year.  I walked away with a Starbucks gift card (after having my gifts stolen 5 times) and Turner was the proud recipient of a Justin Bieber calendar.  I guess your particular station in life dictates who you perceive to be the bigger "winner" in this situation.

And so it goes with college students...one of Mark's student employees had promised to "tuck him in" at the end of the evening.  So off to our bedroom we all headed, cameras in hand, to watch this spectacle.

Turner and sweet friend Cooper Dunn.

On Friday, the night after the CWE Christmas party, we had the first of our two winter dances at school and in my new role that means a late evening at work!  Two days later, on Sunday, we had our Christmas worship experience/musical at church during which I was both an instrumental and vocal performer.  And to think...all this fun and at this point it was only December 4th!

The next week of December brought many fun events, such as pajama day/Polar Express day at preschool, parent visitation night at dance class, a school choir performance at my school, church activities on Wednesday night, dinner with a friend on Thursday, and the second winter dance at school another late night at work!

During this particular week we went to dinner with Mrs. Norma, and she gave Turner this beautiful Santa figurine.  I was both humbled and convicted when I went to Turner's room later that evening and found him to be arranged in this manner. Turner explained that she placed him that way, "Because Santa should be looking at baby Jesus."  When the housekeeper turned Santa to face the front a few days later, Turner was quite irritated and asked me, "Will you please tell Miss Susan to not turn Santa around again - he needs to see baby Jesus."  And so he stayed the rest of the holiday season - a nightly reminder to me that my gaze should also be properly focused during the holiday season.

The second weekend of December brought the celebration of Mark's birthday, the city of Auburn Christmas parade, and my performance at a banquet at church - all in one day!!  Turner had been talking about riding in the parade on the Nix Dance Studio float and we really enjoyed seeing the parade from a different angle this year.

The third week of December was slightly calmer, allowing us a little time to start our Christmas shopping, mostly via amazon.com.  On Thursday I attended Turner's Christmas performance at school, as well as my faculty Christmas party in the evening.  Turner was such a sweet performer, and I will never forget the look on her face when she rounded the corner to see us sitting in the audience.

Enjoying cupcakes with friends after the performance.

Turner and Aubrey - who she stays with in the afternoons.

Such a clown...

On Friday the 17th, Mark and I hosted our church Deacon and Staff Christmas Party.  If you know us well, you know that planning and organization come naturally to us, and when we combine our unique talents in this regard it can be really fun. Mark had been working with a caterer friend on the menu for weeks. Thankfully my sweet Daddy brought me bags of fresh magnolia leaves and holly, and Mom and Dad came in to help as usual (both with decorating and childcare for the evening).  I am heartbroken that I don't have a single picture to show of the beautiful lodge after we decorated!  The food and fellowship were perfect and Mark and I couldn't have been happier about how the event unfolded. For us - it was the last "big event" on our December calendars save Christmas.

Turner enjoyed our neighbor Anderson's birthday party the next day at one of her favorite Auburn locations - Frog Legs!  My girl is a champ at air hockey!

It would have been so wonderful if Friday, the 16th had been my last day of school....but alas we had to return to school for two random days the following week not getting out for good until Tuesday the 20th!  Mark was off work so it was not fun at all each morning, leaving the house quietly while the rest of my family snoozed away.

It certainly made for a short time off before family arrived in town on the 23rd, but we spent our days wrapping gifts, making and shopping from the biggest grocery list known to man, and preparing ourselves for a fun filled holiday with family!