Christmas Baking

The last couple of days, we've been doing some serious cooking around here... getting ready for the holidays..

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 4th!

We celebrated the 4th on the 5th, actually, with our friends John and Christie and their kids. The evening was capped off with sparklers and firecrackers in the driveway. The kids were nervous about the loud bangs and sparks at first, so they hid out in the back of John's car.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

July Fourth, Part 2

Phase 2 of our Independence Day celebration involved going into town to watch the Nashville downtown fireworks display with Aunt Laura, Aunt Frances, and Uncle Wyatt..

The downtown skyline before sunset..
Aidan's not sure if he's gonna stick it out in the outdoor viewing spot..
..with Frances and Wyatt..
Aidan's uncertainty about staying outside for the fireworks was confirmed about an hour before the display started when two F-16s roared past, flying right over our spot. The roar of those jet engines, I'm sorry to report, turned both our boys into puddles on the mulch.. and they quickly decided to take up viewing positions inside the office building nearby where they could watch the display from a third-floor window.

And then...

Happy Fourth of July!

Fourth of July Part 1

Our Fourth of July this year came in two phases.
Phase I: an afternoon picnic (once it got cool enough for anyone to set foot outside), complete with slip-n-slide, with the neighbors..
Nothing says July 4 like a Nathan's Hot Dog!

Blaine and Aidan on the slip-n-slide..
Aidan gets ready for another run on the slip-n-slide..
Big splash!
Blaine..
Maddie..
The babies (Blaine's brother, Drake and Maddie's sister, Riley)on the lawn..
Have a popsicle and a smile..

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Easter!

The day is winding down now and we've finally got a few minutes to make some notes about the day here.
I'd have posted some pictures of the day's festivities, but Mom left our camera in a neighbors car the other night and we have yet to retrieve it.. so we used Aunt Laura's camera for picture taking yesterday and today.. and we've got some good ones!.. but the battery died before we could upload any. Oh well.

But take my word for it, it was quite a blow-out bash!
Aunt Patty came down last night to spend the night with us and help us get ready for the Easter Bunny's arrival.
Aidan and Bryce came downstairs this morning at about half-past six to find the overstuffed baskets the Easter Bunny had left for them. Then we had to get dressed and dash to church for 8:00 mass. Then back home for egg hunting.
Later in the afternoon, Grampa came to visit, as did Uncle Wyatt, who brought Great Grandma Edith. So we had quite a full house-- and lots of good appetites for the big meal we had prepared!

The menu included a gigantic HoneyBaked Ham, DelMonico Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, home-made baked beans (thank you Wyatt!), squash rolls... whooah boy! and for dessert-- home-made apple pie (thank you Patty!) and carrot cake (thank you Wal-Mart bakery!)....

It's a good thing my arms are so long-- I might have trouble reaching the keyboard over my big belly after all that!

Gramma wasn't feeling so well, so she wasn't able to come up to share in all the hoopla with us today-- but we were certainly thinking of her all day today and hope she's feeling better! We sent Grampa home with a few heaping plates of left-overs, so hopefully she's been able to enjoy some of the good food we had today.

Aidan and Bryce were at a pretty high excitement level-- and they managed to maintain it through much of the day (although, getting up that early, Bryce was about ready to take a nap on my shoulder right in the middle of church this morning!)-- I know they said some pretty funny things during the day, things I'd really like to record here; but I'm honestly so tired, I can't remember what any of them are; maybe tomorrow I'll remember-- so they're sacked out now and we're hopeful, of course, that they'll sleep soundly through til morning..

Well, we can think wishfully, can't we?

Happy Easter, everyone!