Ice CreamIER

Belle's field trip to the IMAX left Ashton feeling a bit left out. He kept saying that he wanted to take a field trip with Daddy. We decided to do something that we want to make a new holiday tradition for our family. The first Monday after school was out, we picked up Grandma and the five of us headed to Athens to the Mayfield Dairy. We thought that we were going to see cows being milked and the whole nine yards. Actually, what we got was a short video followed by a tour of the plant where they bottle the milk and package the ice cream. They have a cute little gift shop and an ice cream parlor. The best part was the red hair nets that we wore on the tour. It was really a fun day. It was so cold, but here we were gobbling up our ice cream. FUN, FUN, FUN!!! I can't wait until school is out in December this year. I wonder what new flavor they will have for us to try this time?

Fun Sunday

School let out on Friday the 19th. Nana and Papi came to visit that weekend and deliver their Christmas present to the children. That Sunday, the kids also sang two little songs at church. This is also the same Sunday that they received their reply letter from Santa. Needless to say, it was quite a weekend. Both sets of grandparents were on hand for the wonderful song and dance (literally) at church. If I can figure out how to upload the content from my video camera, I will post video of that as well. In the meantime, here they are in their beautiful outfits and having fun on the trampoline!

Christmas Goodies

Some of us love to bake and create at Christmas time. I am one of these people. Here is a picture of the lovely Rice Krispie Christmas Tree that I made for Belle's Christmas party at school. January is almost over, and I am still making homemade Chex mix (a long tradition in the Woodard family line!). I realize that Valentine's Day is upon us, and I'm still wrapping up Christmas. Without internet service at home, it can be a little trying to keep you updated at time. Sometimes, I think the people at Panera get tired of seeing my little face.
Oh, the kids at Belle's school also had a lovely little program for us that day. I will post video later on. I'm sure that you will love it. Meanwhile, bask in the glory of my creation!

Reply Requested...and Granted

Well, I think these last few posts will be short and sweet to get us caught up to the new year. I think the pictures and the videos will say a lot.
This is a picture of the kids at the Cleveland Post Office. They set up this nifty little box where kids of all ages can drop off their letters to Santa. Both of my kids wrote their letters. This year, Belle was actually able to write it all herself. She did have to have some help with spelling, but overall she knew how to do it herself and was proud to let us know! The nice thing about this specific box is this - if you write your return address on the outside of the envelope, you actually get a letter back from Santa (with a lovely coloring page too). At the end of the holiday season, the Cleveland post office actually sends the original letter that the child writes back to the parent. Someone in the post office is certainly thoughtful and thinking of all of our scrapbooking pleasures. The kids received their letters back on a very cold Sunday. They were very excited that Santa thought enough of them to write them back.
So, for those of you who don't do "Santa" with your kids...PLEASE, don't ruin it for mine. These years go by so fast. I love to see the excitement on their little faces. Besides, I've decided that I'm like the guy from Polar Express - I may be 35, but I still hear the bell ring. Hopefully when my kids are 35, they will still hear the bell too!

The Polar Express

Belle's December field trip was to the IMAX in Chattanooga to see the Polar Express. We had never seen the movie before. What a great way to experience it for the first time. We loved it so much that we took both kids back with a couple of their friends after school and work were out for the holidays. It is one of our new favorite movies. Although, I must admit that sometimes the animation seems so real that it creeps me out a little. One of the best parts of watching it in 3D with youngster is watching them constantly reach out to try and touch things! Belle kept sticking out her tongue to try and catch the snow. It was also a consensus that it was really cool, neat and awesome when the train almost smashes into your face. The video below is of the kids playing in the lobby before the movie. We all brought sack lunches and ate them in lobby before the movie. I forgot how much I loved field trips as a kid. It was just as much fun, if not more, as a Mom. I love seeing her smile. As a result of this fantastic field trip, we decided to take one of our when school was out. More details in a post to come. I tried to upload some cutie patootie pics of us in our stellar 3D glasses, but kept getting error messages. I'll try to add them again later. For now, you can enjoy the v v video.

Decorating the Tree

...gets more fun every year. I'm so glad that we have a "makeshift" tree full of the wonderful treasures that our children have made. I wouldn't have it any other way.
We started decorating Thanksgiving night at Papa and Grandma's and moved the fun to our house the day after. Thought you might enjoy the pics of our fun. The first picture is a tent they made at Grandma's while we were decorating the rest of the house. Don't you just love the way they decorated the outside with stockings?






I just love this time of the year. Honestly, I'm sad it's gone.

Lee Christmas Tree Lighting

The Christmas Tree Lighting at Lee was our first "official" event of the Christmas season. It was a cold night, but we had fun. The kids got to meet Santa and Mrs. Clause (although she was a bit overbearing and certainly a "FEMINIST" - even I was weary of hearing her talk of how Santa got all the glory while she did all the work!). We drank cider and ate cookies. At one point, we weren't sure if the tree was really going to light up, but alas it did. Grandma joined us for the grand event. Afterwards, we took the kids inside to warm up and play a little. The Christmas Tree became the "Kissmas" Tree as the college students cozied up for a intimate dance party. Let's just say that PDA certainly didn't bother them. All in all though it was a fun way to kick off the season, and we got a free photo opp with Santa. Who can beat that?

The Gingerbread House

Our second grand event of the Christmas season was building our very own gingerbread house. It was so much fun. The kids ate as much candy as they put on the house. You know you're in trouble when you see your kids scraping sugar off the counter with their fingers. (It's even worse, when Dad swipes the sugary candy off the iced roof every time he walks by! By Christmas' end, our Gingerbread house looked like it had been through a hail storms because of all the holes left where candy balls once held residence.) It was a great experience. The kids loved it so much that they made a second house with their Nana when we went to SC to visit. Making a Gingerbread house will definitely be a new Christmas tradition in our home. Maybe next year, we will try the Gingerbread Sleigh or Christmas Tree or have a Gingerbread making party. I seem to be all about having parties at our home lately. If you're lucky, maybe you will be invited (HA! HA!)

Catching Up...

Well, it has been well over a month since I've written anything.
I was told to "get to it". So, I'm back.
I'm going to split up the past month into several blogs. That helps us both...you won't get bored with one long post. And, I can take my time writing them.
Hope you feel all caught up in the end.