A Belated Christmas from the South!

I know it's already January 4th, but when I saw this video I KNEW I had to post it!

My mom's family gets together at Christmas each year...
When we sit down to eat it is tradition to sing "The 12 Days of Christmas".
My grandmother has a set of "12 Days Glasses".
If you are fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough... depending on how you look at it) to get one... you get to sing that day of Christmas.

We (Brandon, myself and the girls) were not able to be there this year... we were celebrating Christmas morning with Brandon's parents.

I was so excited to see that Erin (my sister) had made a video this year and her husband, Joel, posted it on youtube!

In case you are curious...
My dad sings the 1st day of Christmas
My sister, Erin, sings the 7th day
Her husband, Joel, sings day 11
My mom sings day 12

I would tell you who everyone is, but you probably don't really care that much... just know that they are all aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side of the family. :)

And yes, you may recognize Brett... the cousin who wants a post all about himself... standing with (more like trying to get away from) my sister as she sings.

So, here it is...
A merry belated Christmas from the southern United States... more specifically, Georgia!!
**Enjoy the accents!!

A New Year, A New Door...

We have needed a new front door since.... oh, before we bought this house! Today, 3 years after buying our home, we went shopping for one.
The nice guys from Lowe's should be calling me sometime in the next 2 business days to schedule a time to come out and measure our space. :)

I'm declaring this the year of serious home improvement.... maybe?

So, today's picture is typical of our family... especially on the weekends:

3/365

Chandler and Riley (still in their PJs) attacking their dad. :)

Sorry this post is so short...
I went to Walmart tonight. When I got home their was a Mexican lady sitting on my sofa and a strange kid playing in our playroom. :)
Apparently, she backed her car into the neighbor's yard and got stuck.... that actually happens a lot. I wish I was keeping track of the number of times... I'd say at least 5 times since we've lived here.

Anyway... that caused the girls to get into bed late and that started a chain reaction...

It's almost 11pm and Brandon is waiting for me to finish this post so we can watch a movie. :)

A New Year... A lot to do!

So, it's 2009.

Time to get serious about all of the things I need to get done!

My list of 30 Things to do before I'm 30.... Gotta get started on that.... Pronto!

I'm also going to try this Project 365 that several people have mentioned... I don't know all of the "rules", but my goal is to take a picture each day that tells you a little bit about our day.

Here's today's photo:1/365

We took Chandler (and Riley) to the bowling alley. It was a 1st for her. She was surprised when she realized where we were.
She's been enjoying the Wii bowling game so much that we decided to try it out for real.

All in all she had a good time. She was frustrated that she couldn't get a strike, but she did manage to get 1 spare in each game that we played.

Well, I better get back to cleaning my kitchen! It might be a new year, but some things never change!

O Christmas Tree!

Ready for picture overload?

Brandon and I FINALLY got into the Christmas spirit (sort of) and got a tree. He and Chandler went to Lowe's last night and picked it out... perk of waiting so late? Our tree only cost $17 with tax! :)
We are still not doing our full blown decorating... no lights on the house... no Christmas dishes on the table... I just don't want to watch Riley like a hawk for the next few days while hoping and praying that she doesn't grab the table cloth and pull all of my Christmas China onto the tile floor! **I'm sure you moms can understand that!

So, we decorated the tree and SOME of the house tonight...

Yes. I am one of "those moms" that fixes the ornaments that her children put on the tree. I really didn't move too many of them... we have LOTS of heavy ornaments and they must be hung "just right" to keep them from crashing to the floor!

Chandler HAD to put the star on this year... it's the 1st year she hasn't complained that we have a star and NOT an angel.
I have no idea what kind of face she is making!

The finished product!!
I told you my presents are all wrapped and ready to go!

All lit up... anyone know how to get a picture like this that ISN'T fuzzy?

So, I've read TONS of blogs lately that have had pictures of trees and homes all decked out for the holidays...
Since I don't have much to show as far as home decor is concerned, I've decided to show you some of my favorite ornaments. :)

These first 2 are gifts from my mom and dad.
They are from Hungary and they bought them on one of their trips through Hungary headed to (or back from) Romania.

Brandon tells me every year to remind my mom to look for more while she is there... he wants an entire tree FULL of these bells!

I'm pretty sure they are one of a kind since they are hand made out of porcelain. :)

Ok, every year we try to buy an ornament that reminds us of something we did that year.
If we go on vacation, we buy an ornament while we are there... it's my favorite vacation tradition!

This one isn't from a vacation, but we bought it to remind us of our very first UGA game!
Gooooo Dawgs!

This one is from a trip I made to Kennebunkport, Maine.
I made the trip with the choir at church a few years ago... back before Riley, but I'm not exactly sure what year it was...
Kennebunkport is BEAUTIFUL! If you live in the U.S., you NEED to go... I recommend going in the summer... the weather was PERFECT!

This ornament was the very first one that Brandon and I bought after we were married... it's from our honeymoon to Aruba.

This little lighthouse is from our first vacation to Jekyll Island with Brandon's parents after we were married.
I had been with them to Jekyll before we were married, but we didn't start the ornament tradition until after our wedding.

This cute little Santa is from a trip we took to Myrtle Beach in 2002. It's the only vacation the two of us have ever been on alone.

The candy cane is from 2004. We vacationed on St. Simon's Island that summer with my parents and my sister.

Bet you can guess where this one came from!
We took a vacation to Disney World with my parents and my sister back in 2006.

This one is from another vacation with my parents. We spent 2007 up in Gatlinburg.
Fortunately, we did NOT see any bears!

**I do not have an ornament from my trip to Australia. I looked for one while I was there, but didn't find anything that I really loved. I've sent Evan on a "Australian Christmas Ornament Mission". We'll see if he succeeds.
I'll keep you posted!


These next 2 ornaments are special because they have pictures of my babies in them!
Brandon's mom got each of the girls a photo ornament to celebrate their 1st Christmases.

Chandler in 2003

Riley in 2007


I mentioned last year how much I love my nativity.

It's the one my sister and I grew up with and it's VERY old.
The bottom of each piece is stamped, "Made in West Germany".

It is chipped. It is scratched. Some of the people have had heads glued back on, but I wouldn't want a new one... even if it was a duplicate set.

A few years ago, my sister in law Lainey, bought me this Flurryville set.
It's Santa's Workshop, but all of the pieces are snowmen... I LOVE IT!
Thanks Lainey!!! It's one of my FAVORITE Christmas decorations!

So, that's all in my livingroom.

Next we have our kitchen...

My Gingerbread Welcome sign... a gift from my sister. :)

A cute little gingerbread man hanging on our French doors.
My mom found him at a yard sale... thanks mom!

Another gift from my sister... a little gingerbread family pillow hanging out in an extra kitchen chair.

Chandler and Riley's tree got moved to the kitchen so we could keep an eye on it.
I mentioned last week that Riley is just a tad rough on it!
Now it is wedged between my china cabinet and the fridge.

Riley went to bed before the decorating got under way tonight so here are a few pictures from the night we decorated the little tree... it was still in their room at the time.

"Puppy Mom!"

"ohhhh... I can take the ornaments off all by myself!"

Free kid to a good home!

Yeah, that's right... I thought about advertising a low asking price, but now she's just free.
Only serious inquiries please.

This was one of THOSE days!

Yeah, this picture is from this past January when Riley tried to bake me a birthday cake, but you get the idea!

The first time I attempted to make dinner was at 3:00...
I rounded the corner in the kitchen to find Riley ankle deep in grits... yes, grits!
I tried to sweep them, but that just wasn't working.... so I pulled out my vacuum cleaner.

The second time was about 3:30...
I went to pull the chicken out of the microwave and hear, "MOM! Riley's pouring milk out!"
I round the corner into the living room to find Riley had managed to unscrew the lid on her sippy cup and has poured her milk on their coloring table.
I soaked up the milk and disinfected the table.

The third time was about 4:00...
I again tried to get the chicken out of the microwave when I heard the toilet lid in our back bathroom...
I RAN to the bathroom to find that Riley had dumped an entire box of feminine products all over the floor.
I started towards her and FELL! Why did I fall? BECAUSE THE FLOOR WAS WET!
Apparently she was using Chandler's brand new knit beanie hat (with silver tinsel on it) to soak up all of the water in the toilet and transport it to my bedside table!!!
It was only 20 minutes later when I discovered the hat laying on my bed... still soaked!

From 4:30 till Brandon got home just after 5:00 I sat on my bed and then on the floor in my room using a hair dryer to dry the mattress and the carpet... not because I was overly worried about our old crappy carpet, but because if I didn't do something I was afraid my head would explode!!!

In 2 hours, Riley managed to destroy my house!!!

However, over dinner we had a lovely chat with Chandler about the current happenings in the love life of kindergarteners.

C: "I have another boyfriend now."
B: "Oh yeah? What's his name?"
C: "I don't know."
J: "Is he in your class?"
C: "Yes."
B: "Then you should know his name!"
C: "Ethan."
J: "Ethan C. or Ethan M.?"
C: "The one with the yellow hair that sticks up like this." (As she pulls her bangs straight out from her forehead)
J: "C or M?"
C: "C."
B: "Is he the one that eats breakfast with you in the mornings?"
C: "Yes."
B: "Does he go to church?"
C: "Not to my church."
B: "Does he go to another church?"
C: "Yes, but he didn't tell me which one."
B: "Chandler. I forbid you to see him again!"
C: With big round eyes "I always see him at school!"

We just died laughing...

As she was saying all of these things I grabbed a coloring book (don't you have coloring books laying on your table at dinner time?) and started writing down everything she said.

C: "Um. Are you writing down everything I'm saying?"
J: "Yes."
C: "Why?"
B: "Because you are funny."

A few minutes later...
C: "I want to marry Ethan C."
J: "Chandler don't ever get married."
C: "Look at my eyes! I'm so mad at you that you won't let me marry him!"

Looks at me...
C: "Are you gonna write that down mom?"

Halloween Happenings!

So, my real life friend, Christina, thinks that her family waited late to carve their pumpkin this year... Um, we carved ours when Chandler got out of school ON HALLOWEEN DAY! :)

The girls helped scoop all of the insides out...

Well, Chandler helped... Riley was too grossed out!

She kept making this face and saying, "Blech!"

Our happy little pumpkin!

Then it was time to get ready for a night full of friends, candy, costumes, and cries of outrage!

My Tinkerbell and Belle!
Chandler's hair was MUCH easier this year... although all of the pin curls under the wig took some time.

Chandler wanted to recreate last year's Halloween photo... You can view it here.
I think her exact words were, "Mom? Would you like for Riley to look at me like we did last time?"

Me and my Belle!
And I told Chandler that I actually AM in costume this year...
Um Hello? Did you not expect a Twilight themed Halloween?
Yes, I am Alice Cullen!
I thought about going as Rosalie Hale since I had a long blonde wig from a party we went too the previous weekend, but my dear friend, Evan, informed me that I do not pull off blonde very well!
Thanks Evan! :P

Me and Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell was too busy running around the yard to get a good picture!

We stopped at Zaxby's for dinner... it's turning into an annual thing, I think. :)

Then it was off to Trunk or Treat...

We paused for a photo op with Dorothy and a Flying Monkey (aka Katelyn and Sean)

Chandler got her photo with JoJo again this year!

Riley started figuring out this Trunk or Treat thing...
"Ummm... I do believe they have candy over there!"
By the end of the night she would hold her bag and say, "pweese".

The Allen's are big FSU fans...

Their trunk came complete with a grill Florida Gator!

It was a good night, but we headed home early this year! No mall, no block party, a few tears, but we survived!

Happy Halloween?

I'm not really feeling the Halloween vibe this year.
Maybe it's all of the craziness that has been my life over the past month and a half.
I haven't even decorated my house for fall... and you know what? I may not do it at all this year... I think I just heard Brandon give a sigh of relief!

I LOVE to decorate for the different seasons. I have all of my seasonal boxes full of decorations all color labeled and stored away in the attic. I have my fall boxes. My Christmas boxes. My Valentine's day boxes. I have one box with St. Patrick's day and Easter decor... it's hard to decorate for those two holidays for some reason. MAYBE because I'm NOT Irish... and at Easter time I'm so overwhelmed with the Easter program at church... maybe. :)

So here's a glimpse back at Halloween 2007....

I would like to make a few notes...
*This year I will NOT be rolling Chandler's hair... You'll see why when I post the pictures from Trunk or Treat tonight.
*Riley will probably STILL be eating grass in our photos! :)
*We are ONLY going to Trunk or Treat tonight... I don't think I can handle the mall crowd again this year!
*Riley's costume this year is probably the most precious thing I've ever seen her wear... mainly because it shows off her potbelly!
*Chandler has already asked me if JoJo will be there tonight
*She also reminded me that I did not dress up in a real costume last year. UGH!

Out on the farm

We have some friends who live on a farm. (I've written about the farm before... you can find it here.) A few weeks ago we received an invitation to come out and see the newest addition to the "farm family"... a baby donkey.

Now, I don't know about you, but I had never seen a baby donkey before. I had no idea what to expect.

We knew before we went out that there wouldn't be anyone available to "take us out to see the baby" and we would be on our own. Here's what I DIDN'T know.

Brandon would be taking us out to find the baby on this...

You are probably thinking the same thing that I was thinking...
1. Does he know how to drive a 4-wheeler?
2. WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE JENNIFER AND THE GIRLS GOING TO SIT?!?!?!?

Answer #1... yes and no. :) He had a general idea of how to make it go and he played around with it before the girls and I got on.
Answer #2... you see that VERY small metal "rack" just behind Brandon? That's where we sat!

We did manage to make it out to the donkeys. No there was NOT a trail and we just went bounding blindly into the tall grass. We hit MORE than a few gigantic holes!

Here we are with the baby...

Riley is squealing with joy, NOT screaming in fear or pain! :)

Chandler was a little nervous... truth be known, Brandon and I were too! The mother (the large brown donkey) was QUITE aggressive. She didn't want us to touch her baby and she made that very clear as she pushed herself between us and the baby.Brandon had a bucket of "donkey treats". We were told that they would keep the mom happy while we were out there.

It worked, but she did NOT want the father (the grey donkey in the background) to get any!
I think this photo was just a few minutes before Brandon attempted to feed the father a snack. How did the mother react? She pushed him away so she could eat and then SHE KICKED HIM IN THE CHEST WITH BOTH OF HER BACK HOOFS!!!

That made me even more nervous... I couldn't really see myself successfully defending my children from an irritated donkey!

Chandler was flat out scared at that point. She had been excited up until then. When the mother unleashed her wrath Chandler calmly said, "I'm going to wait on the 4-wheeler."

I didn't blame her one bit... Riley was anxious to get down and run around so we decided it was time to head back.

Ignore my Mardi Gras beads! Riley had been wearing them and decided she wanted me to wear them for a while.

Chandler's favorite part of the day...

Climbing over the fence. :) She looks like a natural doesn't she!