Christmas in Alabama

The week after Christmas, we headed to Alabama to see the rest of the fam. I didn't get to see everyone but we saw my mom and Granny, which are the ones that matter (since they will both hunt you down if you don't visit often enough). :)

I am in LOVE with this picture. It was taken next to the pond on my grandparents farm. It looks so serene and beautiful and dignified... looks can be so deceiving.

See? I took this picture just a few minutes later. The cow (I can't remember if this is Bobbi or Whitney) just kept mooing at us because she wanted to eat, and eat now! I just thought it was hilarious that I could walk right up to her and take a picture with her staring dead at me. She was not amused.

Reid had so much fun that day - playing on the tire swing, chasing the boat around the pond, roasting marshmallows in the fire with his cousins.

Oh yeah, and herding chickens. I kid you not. Reid decided to try and herd the chickens by screaming at them at the top of his lungs. You must watch the video to fully appreciate this - seriously. :)

And we finally got around to putting together that ginger bread house that I bought like two weeks prior. All Reid wanted to do was eat the "chimneys" (aka gumdrops).

I got to see my girl Sunshine - yay! This was taken right after we got locked inside Bath & Body Works (hey, it was after-Christmas clearance) - which was when Reid decided to take off running outside, leading Ross to chase after him. This scene caused some alarm to the security guard, who then came over to quiz Reid about where his mommy was and what she was wearing. Never mind that Reid looks like Ross' version of Mini Me. Ross was not amused, but I sure was! At least the guy tried to do his job...

Good times - Happy New Year!

Our First Christmas Morning at Home Together

We stayed in Greenville this year for Christmas, which made it the first time we have woken up in our home on Christmas morning. Also, the first time in my 31 years that I have not had Christmas breakfast at my grandparents' house with my ENTIRE family. Needless to say, it was much quieter here.

After the gifts were opened, we had a big breakfast that included biscuits and chocolate gravy - which is part of what my Granny makes very year in Alabama. Of course, the Weavers celebrate with a Christmas dinner, so we also had a huge dinner, too, with brisket and all that goes along with it. Yum! (And now Ross and I are hitting the gym... )

Christmas Eve Day: Reid mixing up some "reindeer food" to sprinkle in our yard before he went to bed.

Ross' parents drove up to spend Christmas with us. Here's grandpa helping to stir the reindeer food.

Reid left gingerbread cookies in the shape of airplanes and trains for Santa by the fireplace.

The view after Santa came. Don't worry, there's lots of loot inside the tent.

Opening gifts on Christmas morning. I could post more pics of this but, you know, they all look pretty much like this. :)

Fast forward a week or two... Reid is not happy about taking the tree down and is protesting by having a sit-in in the tree bag.

Random December Highlights

So, I have some catching up to do on the blog. I know, I know. Here are some fun things that don't necessarily fit into any other category but deserve to be shared:

12/20/08 was declared "No More Diapers Day!" After several failed potty training attempts, I decided to make it a household holiday. Lots of build-up, a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls with a candle to blow out, and the ceremonial throwing away of the diapers. We have been diaper-free since, though not necessarily poop- and pee-free. You know how that goes... but so far, so good!

Reid and me at the crazy Christmas house in Mauldin. LOVE that place!

Bundled up to watch the Mauldin Christmas parade. It was C-O-L-D that day.

We had great seats right at the beginning of the route. (Notice the big jug of hot chocolate, too!)

Four Generations... my mom and Granny came to visit on the same weekend Santa came to our house for the party. Here were are at Falls Park.

The Santa Chronicles

We were so lucky this year to have the opportunity for Santa himself to come to our house a little early, so I planned a little breakfast/brunch party around it so Reid and his friends could meet the big guy together. And, not have to go to the crazy mall to do it. :)

Since he was old enough to have an opinion about it, Reid has not been a fan of sitting with Santa. We have a few shots of him and the big guy from last year where he never actually touched or really looked at him. There weren't any tears that I recall, but we also aren't those parents that will try and force him to do something he so obviously didn't want to do.

Reid with Santa in 2007. He was like "Whatever, I'm not even gonna look at you, weird man. But, I'll be happy to take that candy cane." :)

Even just a few weeks ago, Reid saw Santa at a Chick-fil-a here. He SO wanted to talk to him, you could just tell. He would tip-toe up behind him, so brave, but when Santa turned around and they got face to face, Reid was outta there. They ended up having a nice little chat with Reid sitting on the floor about three feet away.

Reid actually ended up touching Santa's boot on this day. There was a jingle bell on it but, again, when they looked at each other... no way.

So, when Santa arrived at our house last weekend, I didn't have very high hopes. I personally LOVE Santa so if all the kids ran away, more time for me. As always, some of the kids came prepared with detailed explanations of what Santa should be bringing and some hid in another room for an hour. Reid was somewhere in the middle, which is still better than I anticipated. He wasn't afraid but didn't want to sit with him. He just watched from afar for a little while. However, his tune changed quite a bit when he saw Santa's bag and it appeared there might be some toys. He figured out quickly that face time with the big man might have some perks.

Here are some pics - he was AWESOME!

The grand entrance, as kids run in all directions.

After a few tries, and after the "sack" was spotted. Reid actually said, "Hey, what do you have in that sack?!?" Not so subtle.

And even a hug!

After gifts were handed out, Santa read "T'was the Night Before Christmas."

And, Reid, ignoring the story to play with his toy. It was an awesome visit though!

Reid's First Public Performance

Today was Reid's Christmas program at his school and his first "official" public performance - not counting tantrums in the grocery store. The program began with mini-performances from the K-2's (Reid's group) and K-3's, then a play by the K-4's.

Reid's age group sang a cute little song about ringing the bells for Santa. Since they are kind of hard to understand (What? Twenty 2-year-olds singing at the top of their lungs hard to understand?), here's the gist: they are ringing the bells for Santa, then they quiet down because it's time to sleep. Then, the alarm clock goes off - there's a visual here - and they get up and ring the bells for Christmas Day.

At least, that's my interpretation - you can judge for yourself.

The video is not too long and is pretty cute. I was sure Reid would clam up when he saw the people but he did great. He was kind of zoned out at the beginning but you can see his lips moving. He was really concentrating. Then, he notices the microphone in front him and thinks, "hey, I know what that's for." He really was the star of the show. It's hard to hear on the video but, at one point, he was singing right into the microphone so you could hear his little voice over everyone else's. Too cute.

(Disclaimer: We had the camera zoomed in a little too much at one point so it's overly shaky and kind of grainy- but still cute!)

Merry Christmas!

Operation Christmas Child

I have been meaning to post this for a week or so now, but Reid and I have been fighting off some seasonal yuckiness...

Reid's school participates in Operation Christmas Child every year. For those of you not familiar with the program, click here: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/. (It is a fairly widespread program, especially in the Bible Belt, but I know some folks may not know about it.) I liked the idea of trying to teach Reid that he could help someone that he doesn't know, though it's kind of a hard thing to explain to a 2-year-old.

So, in 2-year-old terms, I told him that there was a boy like him who lived very far away - I used the photo of the kid on the brochure, since I thought a visual might be helpful - and that the boy did not have toys or a cool toothbrush like Reid has. Then I asked him if he would help me pick out some things that the boy might like so we could put them in a box and send them to him. After some more discussion, he thought that sounded like an okay idea.

We took a special trip to the Dollar Tree to pick out things for the box. I decided to make a "boy" box because I thought it would be easier for Reid to select the items. We found cars and play dough, and crayons and a coloring book among other things. I also put in some hygiene items like a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, etc. The very lucky boy also got a book of Dora the Explorer stickers. Now, I realize that wherever this box ends up, the child will likely never have heard of Dora but every kid loves stickers. There were lots of other kinds to choose from but it just HAD to be Dora. Reid figured... I love Dora, so how could the the boy far away not also love her? (Well, to put that in 2-year-old speak... "No! The boy likes Dora! He likes Dora!") You just can't argue with that logic. :)

So, we brought all our goodies home to put them in the box. I had wrapped a shoe box in white paper so Reid could decorate it. We used markers and stickers - it was a mess in the end but he was very proud of it. We filled the box and took it to school the next day. He carried it in so proudly but almost had a meltdown when I told him he had to give it to the teacher. He wanted to give it to the boy himself. I had to remind him that the boy lived far away and that Miss Barb (the school director) would mail it with all the other boxes from the other schoolkids. In the end, he gave up the box willingly.

Just this morning, when we got to school, he looked at the poster in the entryway and pointed at "the boy" I had used as my visual. The poster is now surrounded by a mountain of shoe boxes waiting to be shipped out. He still remembers putting the box together and why we did it, though it's only been a few weeks. Hopefully we can grow upon this experience into something more meaningful as the years go on.

Inspecting the selection of toys to choose from...

Decorating the box.

The completed masterpiece.

Putting all the items in... yes, I had to rearrange. :)