Later Christmas Eve

Sara got the giggles while opening presents.

Madeline too.

Daniel got the jacket he wanted.

Grandmama and all of us.

Madeline and Grandmama

We spent time with Grandmama and Madeline. We had lots of fun opening presents and just laughing together.

Breakfast with Nanny

Christmas Eve brought a visit from Nanny at breakfast time. We ate some warm sausage gravy and biscuits and grits before opening presents.

Sara is about to open her warm peacoat.

Owen knows the sound of Legos.

My mom and I are thankful to share another Christmas together.

Happy Hollis-Day

Our Christmas celebration usually begins with a visit with the Hollis family before things get too crazy. We all had some yummy spaghetti and Jon's special "Cool-eo" dessert before opening presents and having some fun times.

It's the most chaotic time of the year...

OMG! My brain is frazzled from all this semester's end activity, my fingers and toes are numb from the bitter cold, and I'm just plain worn out from all of the running around, but as Andy Williams keeps proclaiming from my iPod, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." It should be and it could be and it would be if we didn't try to cram EVERYTHING into it, but we try our best to make it PERFECT. Well, perfect isn't in my vocabulary this year. Imperfect can be wonderful too.

Let's look at a few examples:
Christmas cards - I've only done these a few times over the years and always when I planned WAY in advance (you know, buying and addressing them in September). The last time I bought them to send out to "everyone" I had them all ready ahead of time and never got around to putting stamps on them and sending them. The solutions? 1) Cards for folks at work I love and depend upon daily to keep me sane (no stamps needed either). 2) This very personal message:

Hey, you. Yes, you on the computer.

Merry Christmas!

3) Facebook. If you're my friend there, you'll receive two very personal messages from me this year. Wow, two! Better than a real card because all of your other friends can see how much I care about you too.... 4) a real gift. If I love you that much, you're getting something tangible from me already. I hope you like it.

Shopping Trips and real life - One of my favorite YouTube videos is "David and the Dentist" where after a medically enhanced trip to the dentist, seven year old David asks his father, "Is this real life?" Yes, David, it is but when Mama has to run around after work shopping for gifts for teachers and friends, clothes for guard or band concerts, etc., you can expect a very real dinner of something simple that evening - like Hamburger Helper. Hey, it's Christmas-y-ish...okay, so maybe not, but it's warm and quick and the best part Owen loves it. Owen is in culinary heaven this December :)

Housecleaning -My normally clean-ish house is a bona fide WRECK right now. Christmas, two busy parents, two busier children, and two rambunctous kittens have destroyed any sort of order that once existed there. It's not dirty, just scattered, smothered, and covered. Christmas break is coming. My three helpers and I will have it cleaned up before YOU come over and it'll look all "Leave it to Beaver" and you'll say on your way home, "How does she do it?" ;)

Happy Thanksgiving

Daniel put Sara in charge of the Thanksgiving pictures this year. Here's her photographic essay of our day with family.







We had quite a crowd - Granny & Pa, Devin, Cameron & Austin, Grandmama & Madeline, Grandpa & Zeb, Nanny, and the four of us, but apparently none of us was as exciting to Sara as the guests featured here. :)

Guard: Fall '10

Another marching band season has just wrapped up. The Rebel Regiment presented "To Boldly Go", a Star Trek themed show which was terrific. The music was great, and the guard was fantastic, as always. It was a powerful and moving show. We had lots of fun following them to competitions locally, in Tennessee, in North Carolina, and to State at Irmo. They won several Grand Championships, and placed 5th at State. They were disappointed at the State results, but overall it was a great season.
And so as one season ends, another begins. Winter guard tryouts (for the vets) were held yesterday and Sara made the JV guard this year. She is so excited and we are so excited for her. Way to go, Sara!

Launch Delay

Okay so Friday we learned that the Shuttle launch was delayed from Monday to Tuesday because of some leaks that were found during an inspection. That eliminated me from the trip because I had to be at school on Wednesday. I said a big no to driving home from Cape Canaveral Tuesday night and going to work on Wednesday. I did check airlines, but found no cheap flights that would be any better. Anyway, the trip was delayed from Saturday to Sunday and we were all able to go to Charlotte to see the Rebel Regiment claim another Grand Championship!
So, on Saturday, we found out that the repairs were a little more extensive than expected and that the launch was delayed until Wednesday. That meant the gang couldn't leave on Sunday. We gave Owen the okay to miss two days of school for this and nothing more than that. So, the plan was reformulated so that everyone would go to work/school on Monday, but leave early (for Owen that meant missing band and computer lab - I can deal with that) so they can leave at about 2 this afternoon.
Hopefully there will be no further delays and they'll take lots of pictures for us all to see. I'm not too sad about missing it. There is so much going on here this week - State this Saturday so lots of hub-bub leading up to that and its Homecoming at my school so lots of hub-bub associated with that. I won't be lacking for excitement one bit.

UPDATE: So, the launch still hasn't happened. A series of cracks in the foam of the fuel tank is being investigated. It looks as though it will be mid-December at the earliest for a launch or even some time in February. The gang made a valiant effort "suffering" in Florida until Friday of that week, but jobs, school, and real world responsibilities called them back home. They did manage to see some of the sights (Sea World, Cape Canaveral, Daytona Beach) and have some fun times together.