And on the Sixth Day of Christmas...

we went home. But before that there was the first five days.

On the First Day of Christmas was one ugly golf sweater!

Two Turtle Doves and lots of love by the Second...

On the Third Day of Christmas we had three Christmas celebrations!

By the Fourth Uncle Guy was just trying to survive staying under the same roof with the Nick Family!

We saw the five Choate boys leaping... 

And on the Sixth Day we packed up our two car loads and headed home!

We can't give enough gratitude to our family for making so much time for us this Christmas season and for showering us with such generous gifts. We have much to be excited about and thankful for in 2011!

Daddy

Sunday was Chris' birthday. Caroline kept asking who was coming to the party and what kind of cupcakes we were having. The 'party' was low key - just the three of us:

Another reason to celebrate...congratulations to Chris for finishing this past semester with a 4.0 gpa! The light is at the end of the tunnel Mr. Nick!

A Week Before Christmas??

I can't believe we are a week away from Christmas! Where has December gone? There is not one single wrapped gift under our tree! AH! Luckily vacation has started for me so shopping and baking are on my to-do list for Monday and Tuesday.

We have been celebrating the season with lots of Christmas cookie swaps, pagents, and parties, including Caroline's class party at FLICC. Here is her crew from the party (minus one kiddo swapped out for a dad). It's pretty hard to believe she's been there two years now and has been with most of the same class since...including her two boyfriends Carter and Wyatt!

P.S. Happy early birthday to my wonderful (old!) husband!

Christmas Time

 Time isn't something that we've had a lot of lately so that's the reason of the blogging hiatus. Chris finished up his semester finals last week and is now off until January when he starts his student teaching in 4th grade at Marion Elementary. I have been super busy at work (so much for the holidays causing a slow down) and was planning our company holiday party which went off without a hitch on Friday at one of my favorite downtown restaurants, Itta Bena.

But time is the key word for me. My pyschologically savvy mother tells me that my "Love Language" is 'time', not gifts, touch, acts of service, or words of affirmation, but true, undivided attention from someone; their time. Saturday was an early Christmas present to me because I had the precious time of my mother and daughter for our girls' day to see Ballet Memphis' Nutcracker. Caroline LOVED it! As soon as the curtain closed she said "can we watch it again now?".

Looking forward to spending much more 'time' with all of our friends and dear family during our Christmas vacation!

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

We hope your Thanksgiving was as joyful as ours!

Monday night

I love how perfectly ordinary this moment was. I took this with my camera phone last night thinking how great it was to be sitting at the kitchen table with my daughter coloring. The picture only hints that the table was a complete wreck, that we had to push back space to put the colors and book down. It doesn't show that underneath the table was handfuls of cut up newspaper which was left-over from Caro wanting to use her scissors. It doesn't show all her babies and Barbies which she had laid-out across the house (face-down of course) for their nap. It also doesn't show that she is wearing one of her many tutus which she wore to school and gymnastics yesterday (why fight it?). The picture can't show you that she was telling me which colors to use --all in Spanish. But it does let me hold on to this moment for just a little bit longer, and reminds me to be thankful.

We're back!

Sorry for the blogging hiatus! Last week the three of us went in three different directions but are happy to be back home together today -- drinking apple cider and watching the Grinch!

Chris finished up his last week in 6th grade at Tyronza. On his last day he came home with lots of love notes and even an invitation for a sleep-over (just bring your sleeping bag!). Evidently 6th graders like him!

I went to Sin City. I've now been there a couple of times and always come back saying that I'll be perfectly happy if I never go there again; that place is just too over the top for me! The good thing about this trip is that I stayed at the new CityCenter in Aria - a hotel with 4000 rooms! (Below is a pic of CC with Aria being the tower in the back right.) The hotel is super nice and I got a little spoiled with the i-pad that controlled everything from the lights and music to the floor-length curtains that unveiled the view of the Strip.  

Today, in addition to catching up on laundry, homework, and smells from the refridgerator, we took advantage of the nice afternoon and put up the Christmas lights. Yes, this is probably the earliest ever but our neighbor put up her Christmas wreath in mid-October so we've been feeling the pressure! This is not to overlook our favorite holiday - Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

It was good to be home.

  

Trick or Treat!

Party Pics! FLICC Fall Festival

Orange teeth on the little witch!

With our good buddy, Carter!

Happy Halloween everyone! Sending birthday wishes to Poppa Willie! Wish we were there to celebrate with you!

Mom forgot it was picture day.

Dad and Caroline dressed themselves thus the Razorback shirt (which matches with anything!).

Pure sweet.

Pumpkins!

I love Fall and this week I was reminded of just how beautiful God makes this season as I visited Knoxville and East Tennessee. In between watching football with friends today we carved our Halloween pumpkins, one of my favorite Fall things to do!

Scary face!

Mr. Nick Survives Fourth Grade.

Caroline's favorite song: every morning...ALL the way to school..MAS, MAS!

You Tube it: Cinco De Mayo In Memphis


To Sing Along with Caroline:

Meanwhile down on Beale Street
Drinkin’ in a Beale Street Bar
There’s a fog rollin’ off the Mississippi
Has anybody seen Arkansas

The deckhands from the towboats
Came ashore wearin’ Mexican shoes
Headed straight for Graceland
It was the first thing they wanted to do

Chorus
Cinco De Mayo in Memphis
Mariachis singin’ the blues
Soul sisters huggin’ senoritas
All sportin’ blue suede shoes

Pork pie hats and sombreros
Hangin’ on a downtown street
Swingin’ pool cues at piñatas
Don’t that river smell sweet

They all came to get’em some Memphis
A little somethin’ for their soul
Lowriders lined up with limousines hey
They all came to rock-and-roll

Cinco De Mayo in Memphis
Mariachis singin’ the blues
Southern Belles and senoritas
All sportin’ blue suede shoes

When in Rome...

...and when in central Arkansas on an October Saturday then you better sport your Razorback colors!

THANK YOU to all of our different families for making time to see us this weekend! Even if it was for just a short time we really enjoyed it! Love you all. 

CSN hearts gymnastics

I didn't realize when I signed Caroline up for the Mom & Tot gymnastics class that it would wear out mom more that tot! She has an endless supply of energy!

Happy Birthday NeNe!

NeNe, thank you for letting us celebrate your birthday with you a few days late! We love you!

My mom is a true choc-o-holic (and of course I blame her for my addiction) so for her birthday I tried to find the most chocolatey recipe out there! A Rich Chocolate Tart courtesy of Southern Living. Chris described it as 15 Hersheys bars at once! It was good but I am sending it out of this house tomorrow before we eat it all!

Yesterday

Yesterday I came home to an exhausted husband and an energized little girl. Mr. Nick had his first day of being "Mr. Nick" the shadowing teacher of a 4th grade class and the only strength he had left was to turn on the TV to watch football! Poor thing!

Caroline, on the other hand, was a little Energizer Bunny and I captured some of that here:

What a glorious day outside!

Yes, we are so glad that the horrific summer is over! We spent today bike riding to a new playground to make burritos in the play house. Welcome Fall!

Taco, Mommy?

Gitty Up!



Our little cowgirl with Clint Black shepparding!
He was in town for the county fair!

Cousin Norah is here!

"Skinny' Pumpkin Muffins

Did you see this recipe in the Parade magazine on Sunday? I knew it was a must for our family because 1) we love bread and 2) weird-picky, eater husband loves anything pumpkin for some strange reason! They are pretty tasty but not too pumpkin-y. They make me think fall is on the way!

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup milk
Sunflower seeds, optional (I stirred in pecans instead.)

 

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside. Fit a regular muffin pan with liners. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gently fold in the pumpkin puree and the milk. Add the flour mixture and blend into batter.
3. Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Bake until muffins are puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Four Stars

As part of my job recruiting potential employees to Memphis, I usually am asked the question at least once a week "what do you like about Memphis". Over the last couple of years since becoming a parent my response has changed a little bit but the core of it is the same: this city embraces its arts and culture. From music to the outdoors there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of and over the last week our family has had some free time to do just that.

I had been hearing about the Botantic Garden's My Big Backyard for a while now since it's opening last year and Caroline and I finally had the chance to meet sweet Rhodes and Emily there on Friday. The weather was perfect and the setting was amazing! Caroline's favorite area was "Playhouse Lane" where she was able to sample some sticks:


and make music...

and learn about birds...

We give the Big Backyard four stars, especially for it's price!

Last week we realized the summer was passing us by and we hadn't made it to a Redbird game yet so we headed out to the ball park. Sidenote: Caroline's favorite song right now is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" although if you sing any of the lyrics beyond the first line she gets mad. A night at the ballpark is always four stars especially if you have the BBQ nachos!

Have you ever seen a giraffe's tongue? It is literally the longest muscle ever and it can curl around and around! Last weekend we headed to the zoo to see the giraffes and their friends and as always had a four star experience. We have enjoyed our membership to the zoo over the last year thanks to a dear and generous friend.

We hope everyone has a four star weekend! Thanks for reading!