We Wish You A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

We have had a WONDERFUL Christmas break! I am so thankful that we were able to spend time with family and find time to relax with the kids. When the kids got out of school the last day, I was most looking forward to spending time with them without having to worry about who had to be where next... and that is exactly what we did. One of our "projects" was making gingerbread ornaments... something I thought would be a quick & easy project... but wasn't. The recipe I used said it would be easy to cut into cookie shapes.... wrong. After putting the dough in the fridge overnight (much to Jacob's dismay)... and almost doubling the flour the recipe called for... we were FINALLY able to cut shapes. THEN... the recipe said it would take 20 minutes to bake... wrong again... it took over an hour. With 3 batches of cookies... the oven ran ALL day. Time to paint, thanks to help from Geri... time to coat w/clear coat (which almost knocked us out every time we went in the garage for several days b/c of the smell)... time to add ribbon thanks to help from Nana... finally done! So... if you received one of these ornaments, know that it was made with LOTS of love... and the kids really did enjoy having something to give that they had made... here is the final product from one batch (next year, the kids might just make cards??!!)

We also had lots of Christmas celebrations! We had a WONDERFUL dinner with Londa, Troy, & Hunter (our neighbors). We have been blessed with the BEST neighbors... when we moved from Wake Forest I thought we would never get that lucky again... thankfully, I was wrong...

The kids & I were also able to spend a couple of days with Geri at the beach. It was nice to get away and have time to relax... we did make it out to the beach for a few minutes... but it was COLD!

Making Santa cookies!

Papa & Memommy came to stay with us at Christmas... we went to the Candle Light Christmas Eve service at our church. I love, love, love this service... but was nervous this year because Jamie & Jacob were going to sit with us the entire time... on Sundays they get to go out after ~20 minutes to children's church... and it can be a challenge to get all 4 to sit still & quiet. Thankfully, they were perfect... Jacob sat beside Papa and all was well!
This year, we decided to let the kids open gifts from us and from each other on Christmas Eve (well... I'll just be honest and tell you that I promised this to the twins if they were on their BEST behavior at church, which they were!) I think this will become a tradition for us (not the bribery, just the opening of family gifts on Christmas Eve...) Then we checked Santa's whereabouts via Norad, and put out the reindeer food, Santa cookies, & eggnog (yes, we have discovered that Santa LOVES eggnog... more so than plain old milk...)

We have a "rule" in our house... don't get out of bed before the sunshine comes up if it isn't a school morning... but that obviously didn't apply on Christmas morning b/c as you can tell by the window... it was still VERY dark. The kids were delighted to find that Santa was good to us once again... thanks to Jingle's nightly reports to Santa of good behavior (our Elf on the Shelf).
Even Black Jack & Raymond were on Santa's list... they were invited in the house and had a few goodies in their stockings!
The weekend after Christmas, we finally made it to the light show at the zoo. This was our first time, and we loved it! Unfortunately, Jamie & Jacob had to stay home with a sitter... they would not have made Santa's good list on this day... Jamie promises that next year she will be good enough to go see the lights!
The lights didn't impress the girls (or me) nearly as much as the baby koala!!!! Momma & baby were awake and eating... I guess that is an advantage of going to the zoo at night!

We headed "home" to Raleigh for New Years! We were able to see James' family and celebrate Christmas with them... and, as always, eat lots of goodies!
Then we headed to Nana & Papaw's to bring in the New Year and celebrate Christmas with Shelly, Jan, & Sydney! Jessica & Jaycie stayed awake until midnight to celebrate the arrival of 2010!!!!
Relaxing time... this is what I was so looking forward to most... time to enjoy each other... and that is what we did! I love this picture... it sums it up... when I came downstairs this morning... this is what I found on the couch...

We hope that YOU had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you & yours ALL of the best in 2010!!!!

Kiawah Island Half Marathon

We signed up for the Kiawah Island Half Marathon in early August and began training a few weeks later! We have been spending much of our free time training... and it all paid off! The race was on Dec 12th and we had a GREAT time! The weather forecast was calling for cold rain... but fortunately, the rain held off until that afternoon. We added layers of old clothes to discard after we began running. James' goal was 2 hrs or less and his time was 2:00:00!!! My goal was 2:30 or less and my time was 2:19:10!!! It was a great weekend away... thanks Mom & Jim for keeping the kiddos!!!

Troy, Me, & James before the race!

Leslie, Trey, James, Me, Kyle, Angie, & Troy after the race!
The girls... we have been running together for a year now... thank you both for keeping me motivated and always reminding me that I can go one more mile!

We did it!!

Catching Up!

We have been busy this fall and I have gotten behind on the blog... here are a few pictures to catch up!

Raymond: We love having Raymond! The kids enjoy playing with him and he lets them do anything to him. His favorite place to lay down is on the kids' picnic table?? He is a great dog!

Tooth Fairy Visit: Jaycie had her first visit from the tooth fairy!!! She left her a $2 bill and buttons to add to her collection. We are expecting another visit any day!

Halloween: This year for Halloween, Jessica was Hermoine Granger (Harry Potter), Jaycie was Peter Pan, Jamie was Tinkerbell, and Jacob was Spider Man. Jamie refused to go Trick-Or-Treating... she enjoyed handing out all of the candy! Dad & Ann came to visit for Halloween!

We did many pumpkins this year... including a vegetable pumpkin Jessica did with her book club, a horse, a cat, and my favorite... Baron, our boxer. Jessica & James worked for hours on our Baron pumpkin... Baron passed away in October. He was 13 years old and we still miss him a lot.

The "J" crew with Papa & Memommy (my dad & stepmom).

The ZOO: We took the kids to the zoo on a teacher workday... perfect weather and NO crowds. It was a perfect day at the zoo... we loved feeding the giraffes and the lorakeets!

Papa is Jacob's best friend... and Jacob is Papa's shadow!

Thanksgiving: We had a VERY busy Thanksgiving... but we are thankful that we were able to see so much family! Jessica played Huate again in her school's Thanksgiving Drama... all of the kids did such a wonderful job! They set up a Pilgrim village and a Native American village to re-enact the first Thanksgiving. Jamie & Jacob were turkeys in their preschool's Thanksgiving celebration... they did a great job (no surprise... they act like turkeys all the time at home - ha!) For Thanksgiving, we headed to NC to spend time with James' family, my grandparents, and friends and family in Raleigh for the NCSU vs. UNC football game (way to go Wolfpack!). At the end of the trip, we were exhausted!

Happy Birthday, Sage! (my niece)
Jaycie & my Grandmom
The kids & Seth (my cousin)
Jessica & Sydney (my niece)

My grandparents with some of the great grandkids!

Girl Scouts: Our Girl Scout troop award ceremony! The girls received badges and Jessica officially became a Junior and Jaycie officially became a Brownie! They really enjoy Girl Scouts... this year I am their Assistant Leader... I have really enjoyed getting to know all of the girls!

Getting ready for Christmas: The kids went to a Polar Express Party at Colin & Anderson's house to get everyone ready for Christmas!!! We had a blast! Geri also came for a quick visit to get a little bit of shopping done and to help us make our Gingerbread Ornaments!

Everybody Loves "Raymond!"

The short story, well maybe not so short:

1 - Jessica, Jaycie, & I volunteered at the local animal shelter last weekend.

2 - James trusted us to go "unsupervised" with the intention of returning home w/o any new furry friends.

3 - While there, we played with all of the animals... bathed most of the puppies... and met the sweetest dog EVER... "Raymond"... a yellow lab mix... not quite 1 yr old. He was VERY scared and stayed snuggled up to my leg the entire time I was with him... a police officer had picked him up and brought him in to the shelter.

4 - We DID return home... no new furry friends in hand!!!

5 - James was relieved (as we already have 2 dogs, 2 fish, 2 frogs, & 4 children!)

6 - Jessica could not sleep that night... she has a HUGE heart, especially for animals. She was sad and said she kept thinking of their lonely barks and the fact that none of them had a real home (yes, she can play with the heart strings and have a bit of drama!)

7 - I kept thinking about Raymond and told James about him... I thought he would be a great friend for Black Jack in the back yard... our stray we found earlier this year. I bet you can tell where this story is going!

8 - James does NOT say "No!" He just kept asking me if I REALLY thought it was a good idea???!!

9 - We decided we would wait the week... and call the animal shelter on Friday. We told Jessica that IF he was still available for adoption, our whole family would go visit him at the shelter this weekend and we would seriously consider adopting him.

10 - We prayed every night that Raymond would find a good home... be it ours or someone else's... well, Jessica just prayed that it would be ours!

11 - Friday comes... I call the shelter... he has been ADOPTED!!!! Somewhat sad, somewhat relieved... I tell Jessica and she cries.

12 - Saturday comes... James brings home Raymond!!!! It was my dear, sweet HUSBAND who adopted Raymond!!!!!! I just love this story!!! The kids think their Daddy is a hero, and so do I!!!!!

Now, Raymond does not sound like a great dog name to me... James & I wanted Carter or Finley (Carter Finley Stadium is the home of the Wolfpack!)... or Walter... or Sunny. But, all the kids like Raymond... so, Raymond it is!!!

The first meeting.... Surprise!!!

Meeting Black Jack... I was a little worried b/c Black Jack plays ROUGH... but, they get along GREAT... I think they will enjoy each other's company!!!!

I guess it IS true... Everybody Loves Raymond!!!! And to James... we love YOU!!!!!