Christmas Trip to Dollywood- 2014

Since my kids are so blessed with a large family that loves to spoil and buy for them at Christmas, Eric and I don't get a gift for them from us. Santa gets them a few little things that each of them has been wanting (seriously- nothing that will break the bank), and then Eric and I like to take them on a little trip as our Christmas gift to them. My parents had given us Dollywood season passes last Christmas, so we took the kids to Pigeon Forge the last weekend in December. We went down on Sunday, and we couldn't believe how empty the park was (which we were grateful for since we heard that it was super crowded on Friday and Saturday). We were able to walk on every single ride, and the attendant running the ride would let us ride 2 or 3 times in a row if we wanted. We also got to meet Rudolph and the other characters there with no wait time at all. We went back Monday afternoon, but it was more crowded that day, but we were still able to do quite a bit. Here are a few pictures of a quick little Christmas trip!

This trip was Vada Belle's first time riding the "Shooting Star." She absolutely loved it, and giggled the entire ride. They let them ride 3 times in a row before they had to get off. Elsie was so tired by this point, and didn't want to ride, so I stayed off with her. Vada Belle kept yelling at Elsie, "Are you a scaredy cat, Elise?" That kid! When they stopped the ride and she had to get off, you can see her reaction- she was not very happy.

I love little get a ways with our sweet kids!

December & Christmas 2014

We love the month of December and the Christmas season, even if it is non-stop running and going. Besides the girls dancing in The Nutcracker, Jackson and Ansley's Christmas program at school, our Christmas play at church, and meeting Santa, we were also busy with decorating for Christmas, going to several Christmas parties, and spending lots of time with our family.

The kids pretty much decorated the Christmas tree by themselves this year. That might mean that the majority of the Christmas decorations was about 3-4 feet high, but that is the way that it stayed. It was Vada Belle's year to put the topper on top of the tree (her first year doing this), and she chose the star to place on top.

A few random pics:
Eric playing with the kids, me and my little guy, Ansley Kate's Christmas party at school, and the kids all dressed up in their Christmas outfits for church:

We always have our Christmas party with the Phipps side of the family on the Sunday before Christmas. This usually works out so well because Christmas Eve and Christmas day are busy with other Christmas parties for all of the grandchildren, so this way we can hang out, enjoy a delicious meal prepared by my grandmother, and just spend time together without anyone having to rush off to another party.

Our Christmas Eve is spent hanging out and opening presents with cousins Abigail and Amelia, and then that night we have our Watson Christmas party. This year our Papaw Nulan had rolled an oil barrel over himself and had several broken ribs, so we all missed him not being there, but we still had a great time with that crazy side of the family.

 When we got home on Christmas Eve, Simon (our Elf on the Shelf) had left his note saying that the kids could give him a quick hug and kiss before Santa stopped by to drop off their presents and take Simon back to the North Pole with him. (Notice the girls make-up that they enjoyed doing while at the Watson Christmas party). They were so sad to see Simon go because they loved looking for him every morning.

 The kids continued with their yearly tradition of having a sleepover in mine and Eric's room on Christmas Eve, and once they were all snuggled in and asleep, Santa came and dropped off their presents!

On Christmas morning they got up, read some in their little Christmas Bible Story book, and then were so excited to see that just about everything they asked for (which thankfully wasn't much), Santa had brought for them.

Ansley and Elsie instantly had to paint their pictures that they got in their stockings, and Jackson was beyond thrilled with his new Lego mini-figurines (even if they were some off brand), and had to put all 24 together immediately. Vada Belle was thrilled with her new backpack and Ariel doll, but nothing can quite take the place of her beloved Lovie.

 We then went up to Mamaw Di and Papaw Fred's house to exchange gifts and to eat brunch:

 and then drove to Sparta (which thankfully gave all four kids a chance for a much needed nap), and had our Leftwich Christmas party.

 We spent the night there, and then came home the next day to sort through and put up all of their new toys, clothes and books. The kids spent the entire rest of that day and all of the next day putting together Lego's, playing some of their new board games, reading their books, and non-stop playing with their new toys.

As you can well see, our kids are very blessed to have such a huge family that loves to spoil them. :)

The Nutcracker & Christmas Programs 2014

This was a very exciting year for us to go watch The Nutcracker because Ansley Kate was a gingerbread kid (which is one of my favorite parts of the ballet), and it was Elsie's first time dancing on the "big stage." She played a kid in the toy store, and both girls (and all of the dancers) did a fantastic job. I still am so amazed at how a little local dance company can put on such an amazing, wonderful ballet with fantastic choreography, costumes, props, etc.

Ansley in her third Nutcracker- this year as a Ginger Kid

Here are some pics of Elsie in her debut in The Nutcracker. How precious are these little gals!

Vada Belle insisted that she, too, was going to go dance on the "big stage" and be in The Nutcracker like her big sisters. Before going to Elsie's dress rehearsal, Vada Belle had to put her hair into a bun, put on a hand me down ballet costume, and had to show off some of her moves to us.

 My Beautiful Little Dancers

The kids were really excited that Mamaw Di, Gramma Winkie, and Uncle Gerald came to watch them in the ballet:

Jackson and Ansley Kate had their Christmas programs at school a couple of weeks before Christmas, and had a great time singing some of their favorite Christmas songs.

We also did a short little Christmas play at church, and Jackson played the role of Joseph, Elsie was Mary, and Ansley and Vada Belle were angels. Before church that morning Elsie got her purse and Minnie Mouse heels to wear with her Christmas dress, and everyone got a little laugh out of when she propped those Minnie heels up on the manger scene during the play. Who knew Mary wore heels!

I decided that since our first visit with Santa didn't go so well this year (since Vada Belle wanted nothing to do with him and Elsie had an ear infection and could of cared less about meeting him at that moment), that I would take them to a local bank so they could meet him again. This time it went much better, and Vada Belle even walked up to him and sat on his lap! Jackson told Santa that he wanted a boomerang, Ansley asked for some Merida Lego's, Elsie only wanted a Tiana dress, and Vada Belle just kept her fingers in her mouth the whole time. 

November 2014

November Moments:

Elsie, Vada Belle and I enjoyed pretty fall days outside while Jackson and Ansley were at school:

Voting in the November Elections;  

Vada Belle somehow climbed to the top of the kitchen counter to sneak candy out of the candy bucket- little stinker!

Elsie and Vada Belle "cooking" and Elsie snoozing with her Cinderella and Prince Charming;

Vada Belle loves to read books in her bed, but she can be very picky about which exact book she wants to read. One night I asked Eric to go give her a book, and when I went to check on her this is what I found. Eric said he got tired of asking, "this book?" so he just gave up and gave her all of them. So funny. 

The kids love packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, and this year they wanted to each pack their own box before we went to church and helped pack boxes there. They were so proud of their boxes, and had a great time "designing" the box and praying for the child that would receive it.

Ansley helping with the grocery list; Vada packing shoeboxes at church, Jackson and Elsie dressing up, Jackson with his cracker creation (he is definitely his father's son); Jackson and Caleb reading some books

We also made our second batch of molasses for this fall, and ended up with 32 gallons between the two batches.

We took the kids to visit Santa, but Elsie and Vada Belle were not a fan and wanted nothing to do with him. Elsie wasn't acting herself at all, so I ended up taking her to the doctor a couple of hours after this to find out she had an ear infection.

We spent Thanksgiving once again with so many of our family members at my mom and dad's house. As always, there was more than enough food, lots of fun stories being told, and the kids were entertaining as always.

Just a couple of days later we celebrated Papaw Fred's birthday! The kids loved having their cousins here to play with for several days. 

Halloween 2014

Once again our kids came up with a theme that they wanted to do for Halloween. They went back and forth between a couple of ideas (which was all them), and they settled on doing "The Little Mermaid" theme. So, here we have Ariel, Prince Eric and his dog Max, Flounder, Sebastian and Ursula.

On Thursday, October 30th, we went Trick or Treating at the dorms at ASU. Vada Belle was all about running down the dorm hallways and getting candy from the college students- that girl loves her sweets! They also had a princess party in the student union, and at first Jackson refused to come in. One of the girls told him there was plenty for guys to do and that he could just come in and get his face painted and then walk back out. He thought the shark she painted on his face was pretty cool, thank goodness.

 Flounder, Ariel with her dingle hopper, Ursula and Max the dog

We went to several of the local church's Trunk or Treats, dropped the big kids off and let them run into many houses by themselves (this is the first year that we've really been able to do this so they were thrilled), and we went by the local high school for their trunk or treat. By the end of the night we had plenty of candy to last us a long, long time.

The kids already say they know what they are dressing up as next year for Halloween. We love dressing up and seeing so many of our friends and family on Halloween!

October 2014

Some October Memories:

Ansley Kate lost her very first tooth on October 5th, 2014. Eric, Vada Belle and I were actually in Hickory, and Jackson, Ansley and Elsie wanted to stay at Mamaw Ollie's house. Ansley has had this loose tooth for quite a while now, and somehow Mamaw and Bella finally convinced her to just jerk it out. She was so excited when we came to pick her up.

-Vada Belle sweetly sleeping

-One day when the little girls and I went to school to eat lunch with Jackson and Ansley, Elsie jumped out of the car and said, "Hold on, mommy! I need to take a picture of this beautiful tree." What have I created?! :)

-Elsie and her sweet friend, Bailey, at Bailey's Frozen birthday party

-Elsie riding on their new ride from their Clifton grandparents

When Eric told some friends (back in the summer) that had to find a new home for their pet pig, Vidalia, that we would take her, I was at first not very happy. Soon enough, the kids and I all became pretty attached to her and she was a wonderful pig. The only problem with her though, was that she was too smart and would always find a way to escape from her pen. Eric had worked and worked and tried many different things to keep her from getting out, but she always managed to figure out a way to escape. It seemed that every time we would be gone out of town somewhere, that is when she would get out, and she always went straight to the antique store by our house or to the highway. When we were trying to deal with our flat tire on our van on the day we were leaving Disney World, Eric gets a call from our neighbor saying that our pig and puppy kept trying to come into the antique store. Eric posted a status stating, "Free pig. She loves people, puppies and shopping" but we couldn't get anyone to take us up on the offer. He ended up taking her to the farm sale before she got hit by a car, and the kids and I were all pretty bummed about it.

 Ansley Kate and Elsie had watch day at dance, and we loved watching their sweet little classes do ballet and tap.

We also had several gatherings and celebrations for friends, Fall Festival at school, and we went to Lazy 5 Ranch with a group from church.

We went to Lazy 5 Ranch on October 26th, which was also Mamaw Dianne's birthday, so all the kids celebrated her big day with her while we were all together.

Fall Pictures 2014

For the past two years I've taken the kids to a couple of places near our house to take some fall pictures, so I had to do it this year, too. I decided to go back and look at the blog post from the past two years, and my heart is aching with how fast they grow while at the same time bursting from pride and love I have for them.  Just a reminder of how fast time does go by, look at these two posts first:

Fall Pictures 2012

Fall Pictures 2013

Pictures from this year: