It's Practically Here!

No, I'm not feeling Grinchy, but after watching that movie atleast once every day since November 29th I think in Grinch speak. I don't have a lot to say...just Merry Christmas!!!!! Every day that it gets closer I get more excited! I hope you guys are having as much fun this week, and that you have a great Holiday.
-Ho, ho, ho!

P.S.-Tell me your ways of not going overboard on your kids-we are having a hard time with that!

Thanksgiving!

I know...we are pretty behind in our blogging, but Christmas is coming upon us so quickly we needed to take a minute and talk about Thanksgiving. Each year, for Christmas and Thanksgiving, we rotate between our families. We just about drove ourselves crazy the first several years of being married, trying to make it everywhere in the short weekend's for the Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays. For us, it works because we spend the actual holiday with one family unit, and celebrate with the other family unit(s) on another day close to the actual holiday. Much less stressful! Anyway, we celebrated this past Thanksgiving holiday with my parents. My sister and her husband came up from Charleston SC and we all stayed at my parents house in Oak Ridge. It was super fun, the boys love playing at Nana's house and getting all the attention from my parents and my sister. I got to hang out with my Dad and Mylin and watch the Vols beat the crap out of Siena and Georgetown in the Old Spice Classic tournament, which I thoroughly enjoyed. On top of that, we had an outstanding dinner with all the standards...turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, and of course my favorite, greens....then we had some pumpkin pie and some insanely good chocolate pie. The next day, Jennifer got up with the other crazy people out there and went shopping at 4 in the morning. Not to be outdone, Mylin and I went to Walmart and fortunately survived...even though it was a madhouse. Mylin picked up a new TV and I got several items for the boys...including a new Wii system that is going to be from their Pop. Unfortunately we did not take any pictures of the festivities to share on our blog...so hopefully I'm doing it justice by my ramblings! Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving as we all have so much to be Thankful for.

Draven's Report Card

Draven got his very first report card from the 1st grade last week and he did outstanding! He made all A's and E's! In fact, the lowest grade he got was in science, which was an E-...and he's said that is his favorite subject. As a reward, my Dad and I took him to a UT Mens Basketball game last Wednesday. Tennessee was playing UNC-Asheville and since Draven is a Jr. Vol, he got in free and me and Dad got discounted tickets as well. Granted, they were in the nose-bleeds...but that didn't matter, we had a great time. Draven enjoyed the game...the funny thing is that he was probably most fascinated with the scoreboard and how it worked. He kept asking about it so I basically explained every statistical catagory to him and how it worked. When Tennessee finally pulled away in the second half, Draven kept saying off the wall stuff like "UNC better get their act together!"....and "Boy, UNC is pretty slow" I'm not sure where he gets that from ;o) Anyway...he had a great time hanging out with the fellas, eating popcorn, M&M's and Coke, and probably most of all...staying up past his bedtime....and oh yeah, he got to meet SMOKEY!! ~Pierce

Holiday Cards

I have started taking orders for Holiday Cards! Please check out my card blog to see the 5 new styles I have created this year. Thanks-Jenn

Happy Birthday Draven!

On Tuesday, November 4th, Draven turned 6! My first little baby is a big 6 year old. It's fun and sad at the same time-you'll probably have to commit me when he leaves on his mission. On Tuesday he was off school for the election, so we went to the library and met Grammie for lunch. When Grammie asked if he was excited to be turning 6 he said, "All the kids in 1st grade are 6, and now I am too." He also chose pizza for his birthday dinner.
On Friday we surprised the boys and took them to Disney on Ice. Pop had gotten tickets for Pierce, Draven, Brody, and me as part of his birthday gift to Draven. It was an Incredibles themed show, and Draven and Brody had a fabulous time.
On Saturday we had our family over to celebrate the birthday boy. Grandpa, Pop, Grammie, Aunt Carol, and Uncle Bill were here. Draven picked corn on the cob and green beans to go with the chicken for dinner, and chocolate cake with strawberries on it for dessert. No superheroes this year, just strawberries and chocolate! Unfortunately Draven was still feeling a little sick-we've all had it this week, and didn't want any of his birthday cake. He got a big piece at lunch today though! Draven got Superhero Guess Who, Cranium Cadoo, a set of Magic Treehouse Books, a new wallet, a Veggie Tales movie, a Cadoo book, two comic books, and a savings bond for presents. When he opened the comic books the "sensative" older brother in him said, "I don't think Brody can read these. They look like they are made for 6 year olds." We agreed he should read them first and decide if they were appropriate for his little brother!
Draven, you are wonderful boy! We are amazed by your kindness, your thoughtfulness, and your talents. Your brothers look up to you, and you are a blessing to our family. We love you.
Like father, like son.

Our First Fieldtrip

On Halloween, before all the Trick or Treating began, Draven had to go to school. The wise professionals at the school realized it would be difficult to teach anything to a bunch of Halloween crazed children, so they planned a field trip to The Little Ponderosa Zoo for Oct. 31st. This was Draven's first field trip, and I was really excited that I got to go along with him as a chaperone. We used to live in Clinton, but I never knew they had such a fun zoo back in the woods! The kids got to touch African foxes, goats, camels, Zonkeys (Zebra/Donkey mix) and lots of other animals. They also got to ride on ponies. We spent the whole day there and the kids seemed to love it. I am definitely planning to go again and take the other boys; if anyone wants to go with us let me know!Zack, Draven, & Dominic

Halloween 2008

This year we started Halloween two weeks early. Draven & Brody first wore their costumes on Oct. 19th to the Halloween Train Ride on the R&R Railroad. My Aunt Carol took them and her husband's grandson's family. John-the grandson-has three kids; two boys, ages 7 & 5 that the boys really enjoyed playing with.

Then on Oct. 23rd we joined Aunt Carol and John's family at Boo at the Zoo. The Zoo set up a short trail with stops along the way for candy. The highlight though, was the ride on a camel! Draven wasn't going to do it until he saw his younger brother getting ready to climb on; then he thought it might be fun.

Finally, we all planned to attend a Halloween party and Trick or Treat at Travis' house. Travis is Pierce's friend from the gym. The boys were dressed up as Boba Fett (Draven), Mr. Incredible (Brody), and a "Little Devil" (PJ). I finally got with the program this year and dressed up as a witch-wart, fake eyelashes, and all. On the way though, PJ started throwing up :{ So, we turned around and Pierce dropped PJ and me off at home and took the other boys to the party. I was feeling a little sorry for myself, so I ordered Papa John's pizza (Pierce doesn't like that brand), and I ate more than my share of Halloween candy. Later that night I got sick. The big boys really enjoyed their party though. Pierce said the neighborhood was crawling with kids and everyone decorated for the event. Next year we are thinking to find a theme that the whole family can dress up in-Star Wars or something!