A little bit of everything and then some
Now that we get home from spending Thanksgiving at Gatlinburg with Hilary's family, I feel like my life is going in fastforward. Lots of life is just moving so fast that I'm forgetting to live it.
Back to reality for a moment.
The boys and I spend most of today decorating for Christmas. It is abnormal for me to start decorating after the start of Advent. This year, I got the boys involved in the decorating by letting them put their ornaments on the tree. While that was great fun and they did so well, it may have been a bad idea allow them to touch the tree to put their ornaments up. Because, after helping decorate, they keep wanting to touch the tree. ugh!
Jakob had one small situation with the decorating. The ornaments look so much like his toys since they are some of his favorite characters, he did not want to put Venom on the tree which result into a mild tantrum.
Thanksgiving at Gatlinburg was lots of fun. We stayed at a beautiful cabin with the entire family. The boys hand fun sleeping on the bunkbeds. Bailey loved the top bunk and claimed it right away but each night, he made certain that Jakob was right below him. Our room was neat too. It was M&M themed. Jakob slipped and slide all over the hardwood floor with his cowboy at on, entertaining everyone with his Woody impressions.
After the boys went to be, we spent each night playing Apples to Apples with the family, and for the first time, I really felt like I got to know some of the other family members. It gets easier doing your own thing once the boys get a little bigger and want to do their own thing.
Thanksgiving dinner was great, as was Pancake Pantry, which is always my favorite part of our Gatlinburg trip. Bailey completely cleared his plate of his three huge M&M pancakes. Jakob ate most of his eight silver dollar pancakes. And, of course, I loved the pumpkin crepes and Hilary enjoyed his Sweet Potato pancakes. Did I mention, Hilary is doing great on his diet. He didn't gain a pound and has lost a total of 35 pounds. He fits into some of his old favorite t-shirts. And, did I mention, he's hot.
The Russian dinner was interesting. Everyone raved about Hilary's soup. Memaw even went for seconds, which she never does. The cookies I made were okay. They were a little too chewy for my taste; it was like a gingersnap but thicker. Maybe that's why it's called tea and biscuits. The funniest part of the meal was the messed up apple cake. For some reason, since there was no measurement for cinnamon, Hilary cousin used 3/4 cup of cinnamon to balance out the 1 cup of sugar. The cinnamon was so thick, it looked like chocolate syrup across the top.
We were able to catch the annual craft fair which was fun. The lady who does petit point jewelry was there again but nothing else was really that spectacular. Also, on our way home, we did stop by Berea's Artisan center. I love it there! They had miniature wooden carvings, blown glass and hand-painted ornaments, metal sculptures, and pottery, lots of different kinds of pottery. Alley Cat pottery from Richmond is now at the artisan center.
As I said earlier, so much of my life is going in fastforward. Chas and Jeanne are getting married next week. This weekend, I am going to a Christmas party with my sisters. The semesters not over. Christmas is right around the corner. Ugh!
I did finish the second book in the Twilight series. It wasn't as good as the first book but it's still a descent enough plot to continue. I had trouble with the Werewolf plot and how it took 400 pages to get back to the vampire characters which are immensely more interesting.
Back to reality for a moment.
The boys and I spend most of today decorating for Christmas. It is abnormal for me to start decorating after the start of Advent. This year, I got the boys involved in the decorating by letting them put their ornaments on the tree. While that was great fun and they did so well, it may have been a bad idea allow them to touch the tree to put their ornaments up. Because, after helping decorate, they keep wanting to touch the tree. ugh!
Jakob had one small situation with the decorating. The ornaments look so much like his toys since they are some of his favorite characters, he did not want to put Venom on the tree which result into a mild tantrum.
Thanksgiving at Gatlinburg was lots of fun. We stayed at a beautiful cabin with the entire family. The boys hand fun sleeping on the bunkbeds. Bailey loved the top bunk and claimed it right away but each night, he made certain that Jakob was right below him. Our room was neat too. It was M&M themed. Jakob slipped and slide all over the hardwood floor with his cowboy at on, entertaining everyone with his Woody impressions.
After the boys went to be, we spent each night playing Apples to Apples with the family, and for the first time, I really felt like I got to know some of the other family members. It gets easier doing your own thing once the boys get a little bigger and want to do their own thing.
Thanksgiving dinner was great, as was Pancake Pantry, which is always my favorite part of our Gatlinburg trip. Bailey completely cleared his plate of his three huge M&M pancakes. Jakob ate most of his eight silver dollar pancakes. And, of course, I loved the pumpkin crepes and Hilary enjoyed his Sweet Potato pancakes. Did I mention, Hilary is doing great on his diet. He didn't gain a pound and has lost a total of 35 pounds. He fits into some of his old favorite t-shirts. And, did I mention, he's hot.
The Russian dinner was interesting. Everyone raved about Hilary's soup. Memaw even went for seconds, which she never does. The cookies I made were okay. They were a little too chewy for my taste; it was like a gingersnap but thicker. Maybe that's why it's called tea and biscuits. The funniest part of the meal was the messed up apple cake. For some reason, since there was no measurement for cinnamon, Hilary cousin used 3/4 cup of cinnamon to balance out the 1 cup of sugar. The cinnamon was so thick, it looked like chocolate syrup across the top.
We were able to catch the annual craft fair which was fun. The lady who does petit point jewelry was there again but nothing else was really that spectacular. Also, on our way home, we did stop by Berea's Artisan center. I love it there! They had miniature wooden carvings, blown glass and hand-painted ornaments, metal sculptures, and pottery, lots of different kinds of pottery. Alley Cat pottery from Richmond is now at the artisan center.
As I said earlier, so much of my life is going in fastforward. Chas and Jeanne are getting married next week. This weekend, I am going to a Christmas party with my sisters. The semesters not over. Christmas is right around the corner. Ugh!
I did finish the second book in the Twilight series. It wasn't as good as the first book but it's still a descent enough plot to continue. I had trouble with the Werewolf plot and how it took 400 pages to get back to the vampire characters which are immensely more interesting.