Eating Again!

One of the great things about spending time together at Christmas is the opportunity to sit down and eat together too! As you can see, this group has eaten about all they can and are actually stuck in their seats. Josh (in the red shirt with Katie) actually stayed in the same chair for about one hour because he could not move! I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

Toboggans Anyone?

Everyone in this picture will certainly have warm heads in preparation for winter! They each got a different hat for Christmas!

Christmas Eve at Dustin and Jennie's

We spent part of the afternoon on Christmas Eve with Dustin and Jennie at their home in Wake Forest, NC. Jennie prepared a great meal for all of our family and we opened gifts together. In the picture they are looking at footage from a digital camera. They are all laughing so it probably was me (dad) they were looking at. I usually get that kind of response!

More Christmas Fun!

Me-Me paid TJ and Ellie an early visit on Christmas Eve and surprised them both with new bicycles. What a surprise that was to them and they loved them (me-me too of course.) They have been riding almost everyday since they got them. Thanks Me-Me!!!

More Christmas Fun!

I caught these pictures of TJ and Ellie playing together on TJ's train set. Julie built the train track for TJ so it would surround the Christmas tree (not holiday tree) and make it more fun to watch. TJ's favorite Thomas the Train Engine car is Percy as you can see in the picture.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

We put up our Christmas tree tonight. This is always a special event at our home. It has been a tradition for many years beginning with our oldest kids and now passed on to the younger children, to put up the Christmas tree together. TJ and Ellie were so much fun to watch as they played with the ornaments before placing them on the tree. That is an excitment that a child seems to never forget no matter how old they are. I helped Mom and Emily too and we were able to get the entire tree decorated in one evening. Not always an easy thing to do! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Fun!

One tradition at our house is to build and decorate Ginger Bread houses each year. We have been doing this for many years. Julie cooks the dough in order to prepare the houses and then all of our kids spend 2-3 hours decorating the houses with everything from m&ms and peppermints to "snaps" which are a type of pretzel to other candies. This Christmas season, Jennie and Dustin, Katie and her friend, Josh, TJ, Ellie, and Emily all took the challenge of decorating two houses. Dustin and Jennie took the one they decorated to their home in Wake Forest. We had a great time eating "junk" while lavishly decorating these ginger bread houses. They really turned out quite nice as you can see in the pictures.

Birthday Party

On November 20th, TJ celebrated his sixth birthday. We had a great party at our home for TJ and several of his friends. He had a great time and it was fun watching him along with all of his friends playing together. It has been a fast six years and also a good six years. He is a dear little guy to all of us in our family and we love him very much!

Symphony Visit

Today, TJ and myself visited the NC Symphony in Raleigh. They were offering a concert to parents and their kids that helps kids better understand the make-up of the orchestra and what the different sections of the symphony are. TJ also had the opportunity to make his own instrument just prior to the performance. There were different tables set up in the lobby where kids could make home-made instruments to keep. TJ made a percussion instrument. It was very enjoyable and TJ really liked it too. The homeschool group we are a part of (Classical Conversations) bought tickets together and met at the Memorial Auditorium for the event. It was narrated by David Hartman, who was if you remember, the former host of Good Morning America many years ago. I remember him back in the early 70s when I was in junior high. After the event we went to America's restaurant, MacDonalds and had lunch together.

Everything is "Upward" for TJ!

Tonight TJ went to his first meeting about playing Upward Basketball this fall and Winter. He had a great time! When we arrived at the church we got a brief introduction to the Upwards Basketball program and then TJ was fit for his uniform, measured to see how tall he is, and also went through an evaluation to see how his skills measure up. He had to dribble the ball through a maze, shoot baskets and display his running abilities. He did great! I think he is really going to enjoy this. Afterwards we went to Chick-fil-a together. He always enjoys going there and so do I. What a great little guy!

Early Christmas Music

This morning I left home at 4:30 to take two friends of mine to the airport in Raleigh. They left on a missions trip to Bangladesh and will be away for two weeks or so. They will be working with new church plants among the native people there. What an opportunity! Interesting enough on the way back home at approximately 6:30 am I was flipping around on the radio and what do my listening ears hear? Christmas music! It is November 5th and already...Christmas music! Now do not get me wrong...I am not complaining in the least. I love Christmas music. My family loves Christmas music...my kids love Christmas music. I am always surprised every year at how early the radio stations will actually crank out the great festive songs! There is something about it for sure! It brings back good memories of my childhood when Christmas was such a special event in my home. I hope I have passed that along to my chldren! By the way, the picture you see is one I just ran up on and thought you would like to see my youngest two...Ellie and TJ!

Introduction

Greetings!