Avery's Christmas Party

 I spent the morning with Avery at school for her Christmas Party. They did a 9 AM party and cooked breakfast. Thought it was a great idea. We served pancakes, fruit, and bacon. 

Avery's classmates each brought a stocking or a decorated bag to school last week. Then each child brought a stocking stuffer for everyone...

 We played "hot potato" with a singing Rudolph.

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 enjoying her breakfast

 class picture

 They covered sugar cones with frosting and candy to make Christmas trees.

Reindeer Antlers!

Christmas Party Playgroup

 We hosted a Christmas party this morning for our playgroup friends. We had a great turn out and everyone enjoyed themselves!  Avery was sick yesterday so I kept her home from school today...so she was super excited to be able to participate!!

 Our playgroup is mostly boys...but Lacie is the oldest girl in the group - and she's 3.  Didn't matter to Avery though - the 2 of them hid in Avery's room and played doll houses for a long time!

Even Carsyn was entertained by friends!

 The boys took over the playroom!

We are thankful to have great friends to play with !!

Lights of the South

 We have had a great family weekend. Brent came home early from work on Friday so he cooked dinner. Then we watched a Rudolph/Frosty Christmas movie with the kids. ( Graham just harassed everyone else as they tried to watch it.) On Saturday, Griffin had his first basketball game so we went to that. Brent spent the afternoon making the kids a Christmas present - a big 6' x 6' sandbox. They will love it!  And then, Saturday night we headed out to dinner and then on to see the Lights of the South.  

 headed off on a hayride through the light display

 mommy and carsyn (she enjoyed some of the lights but we were out way past her bed time!)

 Griffin playing on the train

 sitting in Cinderella's carriage

We had stuff to make s'mores in the fire pits at the lights place...but we had 3 melting down children so we settled for eating marshmallows in the car on our drive home!

SBS Cookie Swap and Scarf Exchange

Since moving to Augusta, I have met basically all of my girlfriends through Side By Side. This is a branch of CMDA (Christian Medical and Dental Association) - the organization through which I met Brent! Side By Side is a group of spouses of medical/dental students, residents, and faculty. We meet weekly for a Bible study; we have weekly play dates; and we do girls night out every now and then. We had our first annual Cookie Swap and Scarf Exchange this week. It was a fun night - full of food, laughter, and fellowship.   I came home with a container of delicious cookies and a new scarf! 

 Kristine, Brooke, Ashley, Merritt

 One of my good friends Emily

 the whole crowd

The Beach

 We walked down to the beach on Saturday afternoon so that the kids could play in the sand and collect seashells....we stayed for about 30 minutes and by the time we left, Avery and Griffin were soaking wet - including their hair!!  But they all enjoyed it and tolerated the cold wetness without complaining!!

 7 months old already!

the crew

Kiawah Island1/2 Marathon

Brent and few friends from work decided last spring to run the 1/2 marathon on Kiawah Island and 1 friend ran the full marathon...so we packed up the crew and headed down on Friday afternoon. Brent had been sick with respiratory junk for weeks so we weren't sure if his lungs would cooperate....but we all knew that his competitiveness would win out and he would run! 

We rented a 2 bedroom villa and Brent's partner Barbara stayed with us!  She is a brave soul for surviving a weekend with 4 kids in a 2 bedroom villa!

 Barbara and Brent, pre-run

 Brent and the big kids

 I had the challenge of entertaining children all morning in the villa and at the race site....which was a challenge in itself!  Out of fear of Graham escaping our villa while I was in the shower, I brought his booster seat so that I could strap him in front of a movie...which I did, but the sound on the TV didn't work!!  So the kids watched Nemo in silence!!  I did find a great spot right at mile marker 13 of the race to park with the kids. The boys had  some trees to make a fort in and do their thing....and Avery and I could watch for Daddy.   

 here we all are....knowing it was about time to see daddy come by

 ...and here he is!

 Brent, Barb, and Kelli after the race

Great job guys!!  

Christmas Kick-Off

We enjoyed kicking off the Christmas season this weekend. Thursday evening, Brent and I enjoyed a nice dinner with friends and then went to Mannheim Steamrollers for a totally 80's Christmas flashback. The place was filled with white-haired ladies (I'm sure some of Brent's patients were there!)...the music was wonderful and the Mannheim guys are incredibly talented musicians.

Friday night we bought our Christmas tree. The tag said 8'-9' but when we got it home we measured it and it was 10 1/2 feet tall!!!  Brent had to do a hack job to get it short enough to get inside the house!  (and we have 9' ceilings!)

On Saturday we went to a PTO fundraiser at Avery's school. It was a pancake breakfast, pictures with Santa, and a performance by the school chorus. We spent the next few hours decorating the Christmas tree and the house. 

 enjoying their pancakes

Graham was not a fan of Santa. (Why didn't I think of this ahead of time? )  I just picked him up and sat him on Santa's lap and he totally freaked out!  My bad! 

 this was the only way to get Graham any where near Santa

 but surprisingly, Carsyn didn't seem to mind him!

So the tree is decorated...my shopping is done...I just finished wrapping presents...already mailed gifts that needed it...Christmas pj's are in use...next up, Christmas cards!!  Excited for this special season!