Like Fat Pigs in the Sunshine

I know two people who are enjoying their Christmas presents!

  

Yesterday, Abby and Ginger were both trying to squeeze into the little patch of sunshine that was falling on the rug in the living room, so Katie Anne and I got the bright idea of dragging their new beds into the sun.  They immediately both fell asleep...

...until I started taking pictures.  Then, I got the quit it look from Ginger, so this was the last shot of our two happy pups!

Happy Anniversary!

On Sunday, Saunders and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary! 

It is hard to believe that we've been married for six years!  In some ways, it seems like we've been married forever when you think about the daily life things - it is hard for me to clearly remember the day-to-day details from before we were together.  (A lot of that comes from the fact that we started dating eleven years ago this January - wow!)  Then again, it seems like only a year or two ago that we got married when you think about the whole wedding ceremony and reception events - they're all so clear in my mind.

This was certainly the first year that Katie Anne understood what an anniversary was all about.  She told us "Happy Anniversary!" all day long and enjoyed looking at our wedding pictures.  She didn't quite get the concept that she wasn't there when we got married - in almost every picture, she searched for herself and kept asking, "Where was Katie Anne at this part?"  She wasn't a huge fan of us going out for the evening without her, but once she got to my parents' house and got busy playing, she was fine.  She told my mom and dad about a dozen times that it was our anniversary - very sweet!

We had a very fun evening out doing things that we very rarely get to do now with the little person in the family.  We started the evening with dinner at Chow Baby.  It's one of Greg and Jillian's favorite restaurants, so they've told us a lot about it, and I'd eaten there with my book club a few weeks ago.  It's a create-your-own stir fry place, and it is really neat and fun.  Saunders was a little unsure about the whole concept - and about whether or not his stir fry choices would be good once we went through the creating line - but both our dishes turned out to be very good!  We both planned on doing the all-you-can-eat option, but one giant bowl of stir fry was easily enough for us!

After dinner, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dessert and coffee. 

 

I had a yummy white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake with a big caramel macchiato to drink.  Saunders spotted his ultimate dessert the minute we walked in the door - a red velvet cheesecake!  He was in absolute heaven and said it was incredibly delicious ... I'll have to take his word on that because I wouldn't try it!

Then, we headed to the late showing of Avatar in 3D.  Here we are in our sexy 3D nerd glasses.

 

 We were very glad the glasses were not paper - they were actually very comfortable, which was good considering this movie was three hours long!  We really didn't know a lot about the movie other than what Carlton had told us about earlier in the day, so we had very few expectations.  It was a really good movie, and we enjoyed it more than we expected.  The 3D animation was excellent, and there were several times that Saunders swatted flies, thinking they were really flying around him! 

The biggest surprise wasn't the movie ... it was that I stayed awake the whole time!  We couldn't believe it when we left the theater that it was after 1:00 am!  By the time we got home and relieved my poor babysitting parents - who alleviated our late-night guilt by telling us they'd been asleep on the couch - it was 2:00 am when we got ready for bed!  Definitely an unusual, crazy, fun night for us, but what a wonderful way to celebrate six great years together!

Simply Had a Wonderful Christmastime!

We had an absolutely fabulous Christmas!  I've gone back today and posted blog entries and Smileboxes for all our fun events on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Of course, I couldn't actually post during or immediately after the actual parties ... and it took my poor camera a little while to recover from taking all those pictures!  But, for organization's sake, I've put all the posts in the right order and approximately when they happened on the blog.  So, please scroll down to see all our Christmas fun!

The Glawson Family Christmas

On Christmas Day, after Katie Anne's nap, we all went to my parents' house for the Glawson Family Christmas celebration!  The fun started with the guys in the living room playing my dad's new Wii games while the girls cooked up treats in the kitchen.  Then, we had our big Christmas dinner - Honeybaked Ham and turkey, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, rolls, banana pudding, and cherry dump cake!  It was all totally delicious, and we all ate until we were stuffed. 

Then, we headed into the living room to exchange gifts with each other.  We all took turns opening presents, and it was really fun to see what everyone got.  Katie Anne got tons of wonderful things, but she loved her Dora dollhouse the best of all ... she played with it all night long!  We got my parents two "big days out" - one trip to the circus with us and KA and one trip to Babyland General to see Cabbage Patch dolls being born.  We got lots of great presents, too.  There were so many funny comments - very few of which are blog appropriate! - that kept all of us adults in stitches through the whole gift opening time.  Let's just say that Greg and Saunders are very hilarious when they get on a roll!  

Everyone had such a great time hanging out together, eating, laughing, and opening up fun Christmas surprises.  Here are some of the favorite pictures of the evening.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Johnston Family Christmas

After we opened our presents on Christmas morning, we loaded up the car with presents for my extended family and headed toward my cousin Angela's house for the Johnston Family Annual Christmas Breakfast.  This year, there was definitely an important element of the party missing - my grandfather, Papaw, had been hospitalized on Dec. 23 for an intestinal blockage.  So, Papaw and Granny Nelle had to miss Christmas breakfast, and we really missed them a lot!

As usual, there was tons and tons of food ... all kinds of breakfast casseroles, quiches, biscuits and breads, fruit, and sweet goodies.  Everyone had a great time talking, catching up, and hearing what Santa had brought everyone earlier that morning.  One of the highlights of the party is always the adult gift exchange - we draw names, and the person you draw is a complete secret up until the moment you give your gift.  It is always a lot of fun to see who drew whom and to see what they picked out!  I got a great gift in the exchange from my Uncle Johnny B. -  a new black coffee pot!  Saunders also loved his gift from my Uncle David -  a box of really nice golf balls.  Then, the kids got to open their gifts from extended family.  Katie Anne absolutely adored her Baby Dora from Mamaw and Randy as well as her books and Sesame Street movie from Angela, Andy, and the kids.

It was a great Christmas breakfast!  Here are some pictures of all the fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas morning together as a family!  Katie Anne was so excited to go and see what Santa Claus had left her.  When Saunders and I woke her up on Christmas morning about 6:30 am (we have to get an early start to make my family's breakfast by 9:30), the first thing out of her mouth was, "I heard Santa Claus last night!  I heard his jingle bells going jingle-jingle-jingle!"  She was so thrilled about the whole thing, but she was very good and patient, waiting in her room until we got the video camera and digital camera ready.  When we said go, she took off running from her room into the living room, and she couldn't believe what she saw!

At first, she was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, and she just kept running back and forth between everything, not saying a word.  After a minute or two, she was able to process the whole thing and started looking at her individual presents.  She looked at all her Santa goodies for about half an hour, and then we sat down to open presents from each other.  Katie Anne's gifts from Mommy and Daddy were mostly games this year - a Dora game for the Wii, an Elmo and Dora game for her Smart Cycle, Candy Land, Chutes & Ladders, and Don't Spill the Beans.  We also gave her a "Barbie wants to be a dog trainer" set and a Littlest Pet Shop set.  Mommy's gifts were a new cell phone, a Pandora Christmas tree charm, a book, a movie, and an I-Tunes gift card.  Daddy's gifts were a new black suit, several new dress shirts, a cigar sampler, a book, and a t-shirt that says "It is what it is." - which is his favorite saying, bar none.

Here are some of our favorite pictures of the morning!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Santa has been here!

Santa Claus has been to our house, and he sat out all kinds of special treats for a very good girl named Katie Anne!

 

 

A Special Gift from My Dad

When we got home from the Joneses' on Christmas Eve, there was a special package waiting by our back door for me. 

It was a surprise present from my dad!

After Katie Anne went to bed, I couldn't wait to open it and see what it was!

 

It was a cute little black dress from Gap!

Ever since I was a little girl, my dad would always buy me a special dress that he'd pick out himself and give to me each Christmas.  My favorite one from childhood was a swingy yellow dress that he gave to me the year I was in kindergarten, and I wore it to my kindergarten end-of-the-year pageant that spring.  He hasn't done that since I was in high school, but this year he decided to pick up on the old tradition.  I absolutely love the cute black dress he picked out!

It was such a sweet surprise that made my Christmas Eve so special!  Thanks, Daddy!

Christmas Eve Preparations

Before bedtime on Christmas Eve, Katie Anne had a lot of things to do.  She was so excited to get everything checked off her list and jump into bed so Santa could come!

1. Put out the reindeer food that Santa had mailed to her.

2. Set out cookies and milk for Santa.

Mission accomplished!

3. Get dressed in her new Christmas pj's and get into bed!

Now, all we need is the Jolly Old Elf himself!

The Jones Family Christmas

On Christmas Eve, Saunders's family gathered to celebrate together.  We started with a delicious Italian lunch with cheese mannicotti, spinach lasagna, garlic bread, and a big salad.  The highlight of lunch was the old-fashioned poppers Vicki had bought and put out at each place setting.  Everyone got a tiny prize, a paper crown, and a joke out of their poppers.

Then, we opened all our presents in the sun room.  Katie Anne's favorite presents were her name puzzle and picture frame, her jingle bell dog, and all her dress up stuff - especially her cute apron set!  She said, "I look just like a Strawberry Shortcake cooker." 

After we opened gifts, we went home for a little while to let Katie Anne nap.  After she woke up, we headed back over for cookie baking and gingerbread house making.  It was a lot of fun with everyone in the kitchen - even the guys got in on the decorating action this year!  We made two gingerbread houses and lots of cookies for Santa.

After we decorated the treats, Saunders, Katie Anne, Katie, VJ, and Grandmama went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at Sam Jones Methodist Church.  We weren't sure how Katie Anne would do during the service, but she did amazingly well.  She was just waiting on her favorite song - Away in a Manger.  When we got to sing it, she belted it out loud and proud!  So loud, in fact, that the preacher told her how much he enjoyed her singing it after the service was over - he could hear her all the way from the second row!  Everyone thought it was really cute.  Katie Anne enjoyed the service, and she said that she just loved "The Jesus Show" as she called it.

Then, it was time to go home and get ready for Santa's visit!  Here are some of the best pictures from the Jones Family Christmas.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Visit from the Holiday Yard Elf

Remember in this post when I said that I hated it that it didn't seem like Christmas from the front of our house?  Well, a holiday yard elf - known as Saunders's mom, Vicki - has remedied that problem!  When we got home last Thursday, we had two sparkly reindeer and a glittery snowman standing beside the front porch steps to greet us, and more boxes on the porch of fun outdoor decorations.

 

 

This weekend, Saunders unpacked one of the boxes - an inflatable decoration for the yard.   Now, Saunders doesn't like inflatables at all, but Katie Anne loves them, so VJ picked Katie Anne's side (and Mommy's, too) and got a big Noah's Ark for the front yard!  Even Saunders had to admit that the Noah's Ark is really cute (Katie Anne's reason to love them), and the installation couldn't be simpler (which is why Mommy likes them)!

Katie Anne was asleep when Saunders put the Noah's Ark out, and she was totally shocked and thrilled when she went outside later that evening and checked it out!

"Whoa - what's that!??!"

Running around to see it from all sides

She loves the doors - they open and close every few seconds.  When they open, the lion and the bear pop out.

Hugging the monkeys - she loves her inflatable!  Thanks,VJ!

And, if you're wondering what happened to the little tiny snowmen we had on the porch, we just moved them inside.  They're adding a lot of holiday flair indoors, sitting beside the presents under the tree!

Professional Santa Portraits

The Santa pictures are back!

 

I absolutely love them!  Such a change from last year's terrified little face!  I love Katie Anne's sincere smile in both shots ... you can tell she was just totally excited and happy to be with Santa.  I've already got the one of her and Santa together framed in the living room.  I'm sure these are going to be some of our favorite pictures of her with Santa ever... the first year that she really understood the whole process and was excited about it ... such a special year!

**Also, I realized as I scanned these pictures that I forgot to post the official Halloween picture and Katie Anne's picture from her school's Winter Festival, so here are the links to those posts.

Happy Birthday, Ella!

For lunch on Saturday, Katie Anne and I headed down to Jason and Erin's house for Ella's second birthday party!  We were very excited that we got to go and take Ella the special presents that Katie Anne had picked out herself ... and of course the special card, too!  On the way down  - it's about an hour drive for us - Katie Anne amused us both by using a wipe to make different faces.  Here's her using it to make a Santa Claus beard!

Of course, I would've loved to take more pictures of the hilarity coming out of the backseat, but I was driving, so I didn't.  ;)

Ella is one loved little girl - her house was packed with friends and family!  There were about 40 total adults and kids there, and Erin had so many great things for the kids to do ... sippy cup decorating, coloring, mitten frame making, a Christmas tree ring toss, Christmas books to read and even one for each kid to take home!  Katie Anne had a blast trying out each of the stations and playing with Ella's big gift - a new play kitchen just like hers at home!

The house was all decked out for the party, and there was lots and lots of food to eat!  Ella looked precious in all the handmade things Erin had created- a "2" hairbow, bib, and birthday hat.  The birthday girl had a blast, too.  Ella had a terrific time running around, seeing all her friends, trying out all the activities, and hanging out with all her family.  It was a great party!  Happy second birthday, Ella!

Playing ring toss with the birthday girl

A sweet friends hug

Decorating her sippy cup

Making her mitten frame

Enjoying lunch with Handley at the kids' table

Here come the candles!

Whoosh!  She blew them both out herself!

Katie Anne ate her whole red velvet cupcake

Helping Ella and Erin open our present

Ella loved her new baby doll and pack-n-play!

Playing with the babies

After Ella and KA put the dolls to bed, they couldn't resist putting themselves to bed, too!

Silly Jason in Ella's new tunnel

One more hug, and then it was time for Katie Anne and I to head for home.  We had such a great time celebrating with Ella and the Jollys!