New Year's Eve

Tonight was New Year's Eve! Jon had to work all day, but we were able to celebrate as a family tonight. I got sparkling grape juice, party hats, and NYE champagne flutes. I was pumping up the "special juice" all day! The kids were begging for it by midnight. I asked them if it was the best juice they had ever had and Kaitlyn told me "no". I guess she didn't think it tasted any different than most of the juice we normally have. :) We had some fireworks that my Aunt Trish had given Jon for Christmas too. We went out and shot those off around 9:00. We hung out around the house watching Peach Drop and Times Square celebrations on TV. I cleaned the collards and got them on for the next day and soaked the black-eyed peas. We all made it to midnight and drank our special juice and kissed each other. HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!!

Zoo Atlanta

We went to Zoo Atlanta today with the Beeler Family. I bought a family membership with the giftcard I got from my mom for Christmas, so we will be going a lot over the next year. :) We got to see flamingos, gorillas, lions, frisky kangaroos, elephants and all sorts of other animals. Alex liked the panda bears best and Kaitlyn liked all the different birds. We had hoped to see the new baby gorillas, but the zoo worker told us it was a little too cold for them to be outside. At least with our year passes we can come back and try again!

I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight and it was awesome! It would be great as an appetizer or for parties. I served it with grits (love those grits!) and celery stalks. YUM!

Cajun Crabmeat Au Gratin

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS:
2 egg yolks
12 fluid ounces heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
1 large yellow onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded American cheese
1 pound cooked crabmeat
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 bunch green onions

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish. In a bowl, whip together the egg yolks and heavy cream.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion and celery about 5 minutes. Season with salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and Creole seasoning. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender.
Mix the flour into the saucepan, and cook and stir continuously for 5 minutes. Mix in the egg yolk mixture. Stir in the 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese and American cheese until melted. Remove from heat and fold in the crabmeat. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Remove from heat and top with the sharp Cheddar cheese and green onions. Allow the cheese to melt before serving.

My New Quesadilla Maker!

Alex loves his new portable cd player! He has been taking it in the car everywhere we go. Here is a picture of him rocking out!
I tried out my new quesadilla maker as well. It is really cool. All the drippings go into this little tray, so my quesadillas aren't as soggy. This was the recipe we tried on it's first run.








Pico de Gallo Chicken Quesadillas
Serves 4


INGREDIENTS:
2 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup sour cream, for topping

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken and saute until cooked through and juices run clear. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
Put the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the hot skillet and saute the sliced onion and green pepper until tender. Stir in the minced garlic and saute until the aroma is strong. Mix in half of the pico de gallo and chicken breast meat. Set aside; keep warm.
In a heavy skillet, heat one flour tortilla. Spread 1/4 cup shredded cheese on the tortilla and top with 1/2 the chicken mixture. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese over the chicken and top with another tortilla. When bottom tortilla is lightly brown and cheese has started to melt, flip quesadilla and cook on the opposite side. Remove quesadilla from skillet and cut into quarters. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve quesadillas with sour cream and remaining pico de gallo.

Worrell Family Christmas

We spent the day after Christmas with the Worrells. There was more delicious food! Will had North Carolina BBQ for everyone. Since I am not a huge BBQ fan and Ann doesn't eat pork, we had shrimp and cheese grits again. I could eat that stuff every day for a month! I love anything with grits! Amanda and Ciera were also there. Ciera had gotten a new cell phone for Christmas so she was text messaging her all her friends. The kids received a great gift from Grandma and Grandpa. They all got annual passes to the new Georgia Aquarium!

www.georgiaaquarium.org

We can't wait to go!

Harwell Family Christmas

We had dinner on Christmas at my Dad and Teri's house. My stepsister Rachel was also there with her son Bryson and boyfriend JJ. We had another delicious dinner by Teri. One good thing about Christmas is getting to eat delicious food several days in a row! The kids sat at the little table and made lots of noise all throughout dinner. They were more concerned with the presents wasting away under the tree. After dinner, they tore into the gifts. They all got some new toys and clothes. Jon and I got more giftcards which are always useful. Teri got me the most "interesting" gift of Christmas. It was a strange purse on wheels that could fold up into a small bag. I wasn't even sure what it was at first! We played with Teri's new plug and play Atari game for much of the night. I loved those games as a kid! And Alyssa slept on.....

Christmas Morning!

Alex woke up first on Christmas morning. He slept until almost 9:00, so we all got a good night's rest. He came into our room and informed me that it was time to wake up. I asked him if Santa had come and his eyes got wide and he nodded. He was so excited! We all got up and went downstairs. The kids opened their stockings first and then went to work on their presents. Alex's favorite present on Christmas morning was a robot that my mom had gotten him. It is remote controlled and can pick things up off the floor and bring them to you. It was really cool. I don't think Kaitlyn had a favorite. She got lots of dress up clothes and other girly items. She went from one thing to the next every few minutes or so. Jon and I received gift cards from my mom. I also got perfume and a quesadilla maker. I am sure that will get a lot of use in our house. Jon got me an mp3 player and I got him an electronic Soduku machine. Ahhh....the age of electronics. :) Baby Alyssa fell asleep a few minutes after the kids started opening presents and slept for the rest of the morning. It was a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve with Family

We rounded up Christmas Eve at my mom's house. For my whole life, my mom's side of the family has come together for Christmas Eve. We have done it at my mom's for the majority of the last several Christmas Eve's, but when we were kids we would go to the house of whoever had the youngest child to make it easier on the baby. Since I am the only grandchild that has started having babies so far, I have the youngest! My mom was there, Uncle John and Cousin Ryan; Aunt Trish and Cousin Laura; Aunt Kim and Uncle Jason and their 3 kids--Michael, Matthew, and Ian; my mom, of course; Jon and I with our 3 children; and the matriach of the family--my grandmother, Pat. A friend of the family for 25+ years, Keith, was there as well. My mom had quite a spread of food, so there was lots of eating, drinking, and being merry. The kids opened a couple presents. My mom got the 3 Smith boys air rifles, so that was sort of the hit gift of this Christmas Eve. Don't worry. They were wearing goggles, so as not to shoot one another's eyes out. :) My husband, after a couple shots of Patrone, thought it would be a good idea for one of them to shoot him since it isn't supposed to hurt that much. Silly men. My favorite gift was from my aunt Trish. She made a beautiful necklace for me. I LOVE homemade gifts, even though I rarely make any myself. They just require so much more effort than the standard gift card. She also gave me the book Wicked, which will be next on my "to read" list. I love spending Christmas Eve with my family! After everyone left, we got the rest of the presents wrapped and under the tree. We only made it to bed at about 1:30 in the morning. Christmas--here we come!

Atlanta Vineyard Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

On Christmas Eve, we attended the Atlanta Vineyard Church's Candlelight Service. They played amazing Christmas worship music and Johnny Crist delivered a short message. It was a family service, meaning all the kids stayed in the big sanctuary during the service. It was a little crazy. Alex and Kaitlyn had no interest in sitting still during the message, but enjoyed the music. Alyssa nursed almost the whole time, like usual. The candlelight was beautiful. I have never been to a Christmas Eve service before, so I am hoping we can make this a family tradition for years to come.

www.atlantavineyard.com

A Freakin' Sweet Santa Visit!

So I wait until Christmas Eve to take my kids to see Santa at Towne Center Mall. We are supposed to be at church at 4:30, so I was planning to get up and take them first thing in the morning. Didn't happen. We didn't leave until about 12:50 and Santa was taking a break from 1:30 to 2:30. I was totally freaking out. I was thinking we weren't even going to get back home until 4:00ish. I also needed to have everything ready to go because were spending Christmas Eve night at my mom's and wake up there Christmas morning. But then the mall traffic wasn't that bad. In fact it was no different than normal mall traffic. Freakin' Sweet Occurence #1! We got to the mall parking lot and immediately got a spot right up front. Freakin' Sweet Occurence #2! We zipped through the mall to get to Santa and there were only 3 kids ahead of us in line. Freakin' Sweet Occurence #3! The kids smiled, the baby was awake, beautiful picture. Freakin' Sweet Occurence #4! I left my house and was back in under an hour and a half. I call that a Freakin Sweet Santa Visit!

Kangazoom

We went to Kangazoom today. This place is awesome! We went for the first time on my birthday last summer and we had a ton of fun. I especially like it because there are seperate play areas for toddlers and big kids. This way the little ones don't get trampled by all the older kids. Many of our Atlanta Mommas friends were there, but we also actually coaxed our friend Melody ALL THE WAY over to Cobb County. She lives about 30 minutes away. :) She came with Devin and Baby Jay and fell in love with the place. Jay almost esacped a couple times. :) Probably by the next time we go, he will have to move from the baby to the toddler area since he is getting so big. Alex, Kaitlyn, and Devin played in the big kid area. Alex and Devin got into a little fight. When I investigated, I discovered that Alex had given Devin a little lip in Kaitlyn's defense. Then Devin got mad at him. That is a fight I can live with! It is so sweet when he protects his sister! It makes up for all the times he is mean to her. Well....most of them at least!

www.kangazoom.com

We finished up the day at the McDonald's playplace with Tamara and her kids. Her middle daughter Cecilia is almost 3 and quite an accomplished escape artist. It doesn't matter where we are, but that girl can always find the "out" doors immediately! :)

Gingerbread House Playgroup

Today Kaitlyn, Alyssa, and I went to a Gingerbread House Playgroup. All of Kaitlyn's best friends were there and they decorated little gingerbread houses made by a couple of the other moms the night before. The hardest part was for the kids to get the candy pieces on the houses before going into their mouths. :) Kaitlyn's house looked wonderful as always!

We tried a new fish recipe tonight. I don't normally like ginger-y tasting stuff, but this was pretty good!

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, crushed or to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 (6 ounce) mahi mahi fillets
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:
In a shallow glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistently. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

Growing Everyday!

Baby Alyssa is growing so big every day! I can't believe how quickly the first 7 weeks have flown by!

First Haircut!!

Kaitlyn's hair has been getting a little wild and crazy, so I decided to take her for her first haircut today. We went to Kids Kuts in Marietta. I think the first one should be at a really cool kiddie place. Guess who we ran into there? SANTA! He was there today taking pictures with kids and giving out some small gifts. Kaitlyn told him she wanted a puzzle and he just happened to have one in his bag. :) Baby Alyssa sat in Santa's lap too, but she slept right through it. When it was time for Kaitlyn's haircut, she was a little nervous. She was scared that they were going to cut her with the scissors. I always cut Alex's hair with clippers, so she assumed hers would be cut the same way. She did a wonderful job and has a nice, neat haircut now. Hopefully when it grows back in it will be a little thicker. Once it was all over she told me that she was only a little shy. :)

We tried a new recipe for dinner tonight and it was awesome. We had Shrimp and Cheese Grits. The recipe called for the grits to be cooked with water and cream. They were the best grits I have ever eaten. I have discovered the secret to perfect grits and that was the cream! I am going to try making them with milk next time to see if they are just as good.This is the recipe:

Shrimp Over Cheese Grits
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

4 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup cream
1 3/4 cups hominy grits
6 ounces processed cheese, cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1 Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 dash hot pepper sauce (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the water and cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and stir in the grits. When the grits start to thicken, stir in the processed cheese, and simmer, stirring occasionally until grits are thick and ready to eat, about 10 minutes.
While you are waiting on the grits, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the green and red peppers with the onion and garlic. When the grits are almost done, add the shrimp to the saute mixture, and cook for about 5 more minutes, or just until the shrimp is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the cheese grits with a generous helping of the shrimp saute over them. Add a dash of hot pepper sauce for heat if you like.

Alex's Holiday Party

Today was Alex's Holiday Party in Mr. Pritz's class. He and his classmates (and Kaitlyn!) decorated Christmas tree cookies, read Christmas stories, played Christmas BINGO, and put together snowmen crafts. Alex always loves a party, so he definitely had a good time.

Mountain View Christmas Performance and Party

Kaitlyn's Christmas performance at her school was this morning. She looked absolutely beautiful in her red, satin-y Christmas dress. I even let her wear my perfume this morning since it was such a special day. Her class performed the song Away In A Manger. Kaitlyn sang loudly and clearly. She even danced around a little. :) During one part they passed out little bells for them to shake. My little diva demanded a blue bell. Lately blue has been her favorite color. The kids did a wonderful job!

After the performance, we headed back to the classroom for the party. Kaitlyn was the first child seated to eat and the last one to get up. :) Her teachers were joking about her healthy appetite! Then they worked on a craft. She made a beautiful wreath out of a green paper plate, paper leaves, and red cotton ball "berries". She then headed over to the Pin the Nose on the Reindeer Game. She got the nose almost exactly in the right spot! They danced around to jazzy Christmas music and then read a Christmas story. Kaitlyn had such a good time!

Baby Alyssa slept through the night for the first time last night. I am sure it was some sort of fluke thing that won't happen again for three years, but I definitely got a good night's sleep for one night!

Dinner with the Knutsons & Perkins

Tonight we had dinner with the Knutson Family and the Perkins Family. Josiah was rocking on the guitar. I swear this child is going to grow up to be the next Jimi Hendrix! He has been fascinated with guitars for as long as I have known him. His baby sister Eden is so adorable. She is about six months old now and looks like a little pixie. Alyssa almost weighs as much as she does already! I can't believe how much the Perkins boys have grown since we saw them last either! Gideon and Isaac are so cute. If they weren't different sizes I would think they were twins. Lynn's third pregnancy is coming along, She is now 31 weeks and feeling good. Andy Perkins made a delicious strawberry and spinach salad. I don't normally like fruity salads, but this one was absolutely delicious! I made our favorite spagetti sauce. This is the recipe:

Brian's Favorite Sauce
Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 (16 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 pinch cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large saucepan over medium heat saute chopped onion and garlic in the oil. Break up sausage into small pieces and brown. Add tomato sauce, ground black pepper, dried oregano, dried basil, chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper; stir well. Let simmer uncovered 15 to 30 minutes.

I usually double everything except the meat so I have enough to freeze and use in lasagnas and such later on. It was a great night of friends and fellowship!

Ta'tyana's 3rd Birthday Party

Today we went to our friend Ta'tyana's 3rd Birthday Party at Chuck E. Cheese. The kids always love Chuck E. Cheese, so they had tons of fun with their friends. I had a coupon for buy $5 in tokens, get another $5 free. I ended up with about 40 tokens that I split between Alex and Kaitlyn. I explained to them that that was all the tokens they were going to get. After awhile, they ran out. Kaitlyn came and asked for more coins. I told her again that I had bought all that I was going to. A little later, I saw her with her cup and it had a few tokens in it! I asked her where they came from and she said that her "friend" had given them to her and she ran off. Then a little while later, I saw her with an older girl that was not part of our group putting a token in a ride for Kaitlyn!! She started to walk away and Kaitlyn gave her an impish little smile and told her to come and ride with her. She was totally hustling that girl for her tokens! I swear that girl was working the whole Chuck E. Cheese! She didn't run out of coins until about an hour after she had really run out! Should I be worried??

We left Chuck E. Cheese and went home to get our things and then fought Atlanta rush hour to go to the Happy Grandmommy's house. We ate fried chicken for dinner and spent the night. Jon had his company Christmas party at Taco Mac and didn't get home until 2:00 in the morning. :) Must have been fun....

With the exception of Monday, Alex made good choices 4 days this week at school!

My First La Leche League Meeting

Alyssa and I attended our first La Lache League meeting today while Kaitlyn and Alex were at school. We learned about nutrition for nursing mothers. We got a recipe for Spinach and Muchroom Crepes that we will have to try soon. It is always nice to be around other mommies!

www.lalecheleague.org

Later that afternoon, Christine and Catie came over to visit with the kids and I. Alex and Kaitlyn love when other babies come to play. (As long as they don't cry too much!)

SST Meeting

I had an SST (Student Support Team) meeting with Alex's teacher, assistant principal, and counselor today. The teacher sends home notes everyday to let me know whether or not Alex has been making good choices or needs to think about his choices for that day. Well, we figured out that all of those notes have not been making it all the way home! I would have never thought to be sneaky like that at 6! Alex is too smart for his own good sometimes! We devised a new email system for me to receive a daily report instead. I got my first report today and he had an excellent day. Hopefully the rest of the week will go as well!

Pajama Potluck Dinner

Tonight we went to a Pajama Potluck Dinner. We all dressed in our pajamas, watched Christmas movies, and ate dinner! After dinner the mommas ate fondue. Someone said that all you have to do to make a group of women happy is to put a bowl of melted chocolate in front of them. I think she might be right!!

Cookie Decorating and Ornament Exchange

We hosted a Cookie Decorating/Ornament Exchange Party today. The cookie decorating was for the kids and the ornament exchange was for the moms. We baked gingerbread men all day on Monday. We used a new easy recipe that didn't call for molasses and they turned out great! The kids had tons of fun decorating!





Gingerbread "People"

Yields 1 1/2 dozen


INGREDIENTS:

1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture. Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets. On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into man shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks.

A Naughty Boy!

Alex had a hard day at school today. I got a call from the principal that Alex was not making good choices at school. He was having a hard time completely an assignment for class. He gets frustrated if things are perfect and doesn't want to complete them. He ended up with the principal and I came up there to have a talk with him. By the time I left, he was finishing his work and back on track. I have his SST meeting tomorrow, so we will see how that goes.....

Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees is a big holiday tradition in Atlanta. I have only been once before the year before last. I volunteered as a costume character (Curious George) and walked around sweltering in a huge costume for several hours. It was really fun! This year the kids and I went with my friend Christine, her husband, and daughter Catie. It was amazing! Here is a link:

http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?ID=2081

There were beautifully decorated trees everywhere you looked, lots of rides for the kids, and plenty of activities. The first display we looked at was a huge interactive choochoo train. The kids could press buttons and make different parts of the exhibit move. Alex pushed one button to make a tiny Harry Potter fly around a Hogwartz castle. The kids and I bought some tickets to ride the carousel. An attendent and I convinced Kaitlyn to ride one of the horses. I stood in between her and Alex and the attendent stood on the other side of her. It was seriously the fastest carousel I have ever been on. I had to hold on to Kaitlyn and Alex or the baby and I would have gone flying! We stopped to feed the babies and the kids watched some girls ice skating on a mini indoor rink. I think they were more interested in the fake snow than anything else. Then we walked around a huge gingerbread house exhibit. There were probably at least 50 different ones donated by different companies in Atlanta. We saw a huge sandcastle construction of Santa. Kaitlyn wanted to go play in the sand. She was bummed when we told her it was off limits. Kaitlyn got her face painted and both kids rode a train. It was super crowded, so we didn't stay much longer. We babysat for baby Catie that night when we got back to our house, so we had a full day and weekend!

Putting Up the Tree

We finally put up our Christmas tree and decorations tonight. The men (Jon and Alex) put the actual tree together and Kaitlyn and I got the tree and house decorations together. We let both kids take turns putting the star on top and then Jon straightened it out. We are ready for Christmas now!

A Day Out with Santa in Kennesaw

Our Christmas activity for today was to go to the town square in Kennesaw and see their parade and then see what sort of Christmas acitivities were going on. I made a wrong turn on the way and ended up in downtown Acworth instead. In the time it took to double back we missed the parade. :( We still had a lot of fun doing the activities though. The kids rode on a trackless train that drove around the square. It made me a little nervous because I could ride with them, but Alex kept his arm around Kaitlyn the whole time like a good big brother. There was a nativity scene there as well. The kids really like to see the baby Jesus in the manger. I forced the kids to pose for a few holiday pics for me standing by various trees and blown up snowmen and such. It wasn't until one of these pictures that I noticed that Kaitlyn's pants were on backwards. (I let her dress herself. Obviously.) We watched a few minutes of a Civil War reenactment. I tried to explain to them that there had been battles right in Kennesaw about 150 years ago. They were actually more interested than they had expected they would be. The actors were shooting their guns and there was lots of smoke everywhere. Kaitlyn was concerned that they were going to hurt someone. She didn't believe me when I told her the guns weren't real. :) We played on the playground for awhile and I saw one of the dads from our moms group. He said that two of Kaitlyn's friends were about to do a ballet performace in a nearby tent, so we stayed to watch them. Kaitlyn was very excited to see her friends on stage. We really need to look into ballet lessons for her because she LOVES to dance! Finally we stopped to look at some live reindeer they had tethered to a sleigh full of presents. Alex and Kaitlyn sat in the sleigh for a moment. Kaitlyn tried to go pet the reindeer, but their caretaker told her they weren't used to children. Only Santa and the elves. :) Another fun day was had by all!

Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier

Tonight the kids and I went to the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier with Grandad, Teri, and Bryson. We followed them up to Teri's aunt's house which is right near Lake Lanier and all piled into my van. We stopped at a gas station on the way so that everyone could use the restroom before we entered the park. Bryson has been really excited about peeing outside lately and pulled his pants down and started peeing on the sidewalk right in front of the gas station before Teri could stop him. She was so embarrassed, but from the safety of the van it was the funniest thing I have seen lately! We loaded back up and headed for the park. We started through and the lights were amazing! There are a couple pics on this link to Lake Lanier's website:

http://www.lakelanierislands.com/mnol/

I am usually so good about taking pictures, but my camera batteries died. Teri took a few, but didn't get any of the lights since she was driving the van. I was in the back with the kids so that I could tend to the baby. The children were all amazed by the lights and making lots of potty jokes through the ride. I will never understand why peepee is hilarious to those ages 2-8ish.

We stopped at the live Nativity scene on the route. There were real people acting out the night that baby Jesus was born and real barnyard animals, including a camel. There was beautiful music playing. It is nice to remind the kids what Christmas is really about.

We got back in the van and drove through some more lights. Then we stopped at Santa's Workshop. There was a place to roast marshmallows, a huge store full of ornaments, a place to take pictures with Santa, and a mini carnival with rides. It was freezing, but really neat. We roasted marshmallows for awhile. I took Kaitlyn and Alyssa into the store to get out of the cold for a bit. Kaitlyn was really excited to see Santa. We have been seeing him everywhere lately! We went back out and decided to let the kids ride one ride before we left. They chose the carousel. Grandad watched from the side and Alex and Bryson chose horses with Teri standing in between them. Kaitlyn was a little nervous about the horses, so she, Alyssa, and I rode on one of the sleighs. After that ride we had to leave before our fingers and toes started freezing off. :) We drove through more lights on the way out and then stopped at McDonald's for an extremely late second dinner. The kids and I didn't get home until almost midnight, but we had LOTS of fun.

Dinner with Carrie and Joshua

Carrie and Joshua came over for dinner tonight. Carrie hasn't seen the baby since her hospital visit, so she was anxious to see her and the kids again. They brought pizza from Mellow Mushroom. Their spinach pizza is my favorite! Alex said it was his favorite too, as long as the spinach was mostly picked off. :)

Holiday Cookie Exchange

Today we went to the Atlanta Mommas Holiday Cookie Exchange. There we tons of cookies everywhere. The cookies in the picture were baked and decorated by my friend Allison. I thought the kids would really enjoy making these sometime before Christmas. :) We brought chocolate chip cookies. I made these for the first time in 2002 and they were seriously the best chocolate chip cookies I had ever had. Ever since that first time I had never been able to make them as well as that first time......until this time! They were awesome! This is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields 6 dozen

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Delicious!!

We also had to take Baby Alyssa back to the doctor today. I noticed a little nodule in her neck that concerned me. I was little and hard, so I called the doctor and went in for an appointment. They told me it was just a lymph gland and that all was well. She made me feel sort of silly. I am not usually one to freak and rush the kids to the doctor, so it was obviously very strange to me. Oh well. She is fine and that is the important thing. BTW-Big girl gained another two ounces from her Tuesday appointment to her Thursday appointment. :)

Alyssa's One Month Check Up

Alyssa had her one month checkup this morning. She is certainly thriving! Remember she weighed 7 lbs, 9 ozs at birth? Well, she is now weighing in at a grand total of 11 lbs, 7 ozs!! She is in the 91% for her weight. The doctor said they like to see babies gain around 2 pounds in the first month and baby Alyssa doubled that! They couldn't believe that she is exclusively breastfed. My friend Allison said that I must be producing breastcream instead of breastmilk. :) Alyssa is also now 22 inches long (73%) and her head is 14.5cm (39%). She has a little peanut head like Jon's! Otherwise she is very healthy. She has a touch of reflux, but nothing that requires extra attention. She also has a touch of the baby acne, but it is already starting to clear up. It is almost like baby Kaitlyn all over again, except bigger. Our next checkup is at 2 months and she will get her first booster shot. I am not looking forward to that one at all!

ALL CLEAR!

Dad received his test results today! He is clear of the hepatitis C virus after four long years of illness and treatment. There is a 99% chance that he is completely cured! There will be a BIG 50th birthday/All Clear party coming in May! Details to be announced!

Our Own Baby Doll

Kaitlyn thinks of her sister as her own baby doll. Tonight she was putting her actual doll in the carseat with Alyssa. Amazing how much they all look alike, isn't it?

A Visit with Grandma Flo

After Baby Jay's party, we had to rush back home to meet Ann, Will, Ciera and Grandma Flora. She was visiting all the way from Indiana. We haven't seen her in just over a year and she had never met baby Alyssa before. She caught us up on all the news from Indiana and the Hayes family. Alex tried to teach her to play Monkeyball on his Nintendo Gamecube. He ended up just having her "watch him win". It was a really nice visit. We all wish Grandma lived closer so that we could visit with her more often.

Baby Jay's Birthday Party

We spent the night at the Happy Grandma's house after riding the Pink Pig on Saturday. On Sunday we woke up and got ready for Baby Jay's 1st Birthday! His actual birthday is the 29th of November, but his party was on the 4th of December. Jay and his big brother Devin are Alex and Kaitlyn's best friends. Their mommy Melody and I have been friends since we were 11 years old! Kaitlyn was really excited once they broke out the cake. I kept wondering if she was going to help Jay eat his fist cake. :) The kids had lots of fun!

The Pink Pig!

We were supposed go to the parade that jumps off the Festival of Trees today, but Dad wasn't feeling too well. Teri and I were sort of nervous about taking 4 kids downtown by ourselves, so we decided to go to Lenox Mall and ride the Pink Pig instead. For those that aren't familiar the Pink Pig is a roller coaster (sort of) that they put up in Lenox Mall every Christmas. It has been there every year since 1953, so it is a tradition for many Atlantans. I myself had never ridden it until this year though, so it was a first for all of us. Except Teri, but she didn't ride. She held baby Alyssa and took pictures. We rode around the track a couple times while a loud, piggy voice told a little story. The kids seemed to really enjoy it! I think we will make this a holiday tradition!

Rocky Mount Santa's Workshop

After the BabyWearing Playgroup, we headed home for awhile and then to pick Alex up at school. He had stayed after in ASP for a Santa's Workshop where he got to make Christmas gifts for his friends and family members. He isn't too good at waiting yet, so I got a bracelet and he kept the rest for himself. The spirit of giving, right? :) He wasn't quite done when we got there, so Kaitlyn, Alyssa, and I followed him around to different centers. Everyone oohed and aahed over his new baby sister. Alex and Kaitlyn even got to sit in Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas!

BabyWearing Playgroup

Today we attended a BabyWearing Playgroup. Everyone brought their baby slings and we tried each others on, got tips about carrying the babies in them, etc. I brought a borrowed sling from www.walkingrockfarm.com . Alyssa really liked this one at first because it cradled her and that is how she likes to be held. I also have a meitai. Mine is an ABK Go Go Baby Tote. She is starting to like that one now since she is gaining more head control. One of my friends, Julie, brought her Ergo carrier. You can easily carry a baby up to 60 pounds in that sucker! I could still be carrying Alex around. (Not that I would, just in case anyone was wondering.:) But I would still carry Kaitlyn at times and that would be perfect. So if anyone needs any ideas for Christmas-- www.ergobabycarrier.com . While we were trying on slings, the older kids decided to play doctor. (Nothing naughty going on now.) Kaitlyn was the patient and the others gathered around her and were checking her temperature. It was really cute. Another time, my friend Tamara caught Kaitlyn and her little girl Cecilia climbing up the staircase--from the outside of the stairs! You just can't leave them alone for one second!

Kennesaw Tree Lighting

Today was Jon's day off, so he took Alex to see Harry Potter, The Goblet of Fire. Kaitlyn and the baby stayed home with me. I thought it might be a little too scary for Kaitlyn on the big screen. I will probably let her watch it when it comes out on video though. After they got home, we all packed up and went to the Tree Lighting in downtown Kennesaw. We got a late start. By the time we got there, got everyone out of the car and in their strollers/jackets/etc, and headed over to the tree--we heard the countdown. 3, 2, 1.........and all I could see was the star at the top light up. We walked over anyways and looked at the tree and heard 1 or 2 Christmas carols before it was over. It was pretty cold outside too, so we didn't hang out long. Maybe we will try again next year and get an earlier start. :)