Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

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Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers

Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers

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Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Christmas Spirit

We've had a very busy weekend, full of Christmas spirit. On Saturday morning, we woke up to snow...in Alabama...in December! Unheard of! Needless to say, Will and I had to enjoy it before it melted, so we went outside (in our PJs, coats, and mittens) and had a quick snowball fight and took pictures. Then, Will came inside and ate "snow cream"--snow with maple syrup on top. Maybe it was the sugar, or maybe it was the excitement, but after that, he was CRAZY the rest of the day.

After snow cream, Will declared he had already eaten breakfast, but in my book, sugar and ice don't count as breakfast. So, we headed out to Chic-Fil-A for some oh-so-healthy food and some indoor play time. Then, we were off to find our Christmas tree...yes, in the freezing cold weather. I need to remember that the realities of activities with children rarely match my expectations or imagination. I had visions of us wandering through rows of trees, picking out the perfect one, taking a few pictures where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera. Instead, Julia was screaming, running away from us, and falling on the wet, dirty ground every few seconds. Will, still hyped up on sugar, was darting all over the place and (as usual) asking a million questions. Needless to say, it was not the scene I envisioned, but we got a great tree and went on our merry way. Well, some of us were merry...for a variety of reasons, Julia fussed ALL DAY. This is not an exaggeration. If she wasn't asleep, she was fussing, whining, crying, or screaming. Poor thing--she has a cold and cough, had just gotten her shots on Friday, and is teething. So, I can understand why she was upset, but it still drove me out of my mind.

After the tree was up and in the house, Will was still out of control, and we had to get out of the house. So, he and I left for an "adventure"...we stopped at Hulie and Bubs' house to play for a little while, then Hulie joined us on a trip to Wal-Mart to pick out the stuff for our angel tree child. We really wanted to involve Will this year, so we got a little boy about his age who likes cars and trucks. I want him to understand that we give to other people, and that not everyone is as fortunate as we are. He was pretty good and helped pick out some toys (and to his credit, only asked for one thing for himself), but I still don't think he fully understands the concept. Hopefully these are ideals that he will see us live out as a family, so he will grow up valuing helping others and being grateful for what we have.

Wal-Mart wore us out--even Will! So, after we got home, we relaxed a bit while we decorated the tree and watched Alabama beat Florida. Zach and I had a wedding to attend Saturday night, so sweet Hulie came over to watch the children. I think we were both VERY thankful to be out of the house after the day we had had (a few drinks didn't hurt either).

Whew! I'm exhausted just writing about all we did, and Sunday was just as busy. I'll have to leave that for another post.

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