Jingle Bells....

Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..... Ahh Christmas with a 4 and 5 year old. And what a great Christmas we had. I don't know if it was the fact that the children are older this year and are really "into" celebrating Christmas or maybe it was the great company we shared over the Holiday-either way it has been a fantastic week and we are sad to see it come to an end.




This year we were fortunate to have many special guests join us for Christmas. Our "littlest but not least" guest was Kiara AKA my children's only cousin. Kiara celebrated her first Christmas with us and we were thrilled to meet her for the first time.
Also visiting us from the frigid North were D's parents, and Uncle Dennis.

The Green brothers show off their fabulous new Koozies
Over the past week we have had a great time "catching up". We have eaten way too much and the children have been thoroughly spoiled. Sounds like the makings of a Terrific Christmas.


Happy New Year Y'all

Turning Blue at the Zoo

Since several of our Holiday guests were delayed due to bad weather up north we decided to spend Sunday at the Zoo. Our local zoo isn't the biggest or the best but I am amazed to see something new and fascinating each time we visit. This visit was unique because it was VERY cold out. The advantage to visiting the zoo when it is near freezing-no crowds. The disadvantage -it is freaking cold!

Inner City Safari


Pandas Love the Cold Weather


All Aboard


Geek in training-notice the sandals with socks and back-pack.



No pictures please

Deadliest Catch

No crabs were harmed in the making of this blog-oh wait-they were!

A big Green Family Thank You to Jim and Patty for our Christmas Eve Eve king crab feast. "D's" sister's in-laws were generous enough to overnight 10 pounds of king crab legs for the whole clan to enjoy. While I don't personally enjoy crab (makes a gaging face like my 5 year old does when asked to eat vegetables)-I loved learning to prepare it and I enjoyed watching the Green gang dig-in! Bon Appetit

AWESOME


Big Smiles and Full Tummies

I Want Candy

I have been making Gingerbread Houses with my children ever since they were old enough to stick a gumdrop in a glob of icing. One year I hope that a few hours (if not days) passes between the completion of the Gingerbread House and the inhalation of it. We made the gingerbread houses yesterday-today they have been eaten down to the frame.

"J" demonstrates proper use of the pastry bag


"T" gets the M&M placement "Just Right"



My inspiration (Mom and Me) circa 1975.

Bronze Medal Winner

Wow! "T" won his first award at school. This fall he entered the National PTA "Reflections" contest. This program allows students in grades K-12 to enter their work in both the visual and performing arts as well as composition. "T" entered the photography portion of the contest. "T" took about 200 hundred photos and he had a very difficult time narrowing his entries down to three. The pumpkin photo (courtesy of a pesky little sister who insisted she place one orange pumpkin right in the middle of the white ones) was the bronze medal winner. Congratulations "T".

Under the Sea

After Thanksgiving we headed to Chattanooga (a short drive) to meet up with a friend of mine from college whom I hadn't seen in years. We had as-good-a-time-as-can-be-had trying to catch up on the past 10+ years with kids in tow. It went something like this "oh my gosh did you hear that so-n-so got divorced...stop hitting your sister." We visited the Tennessee Aquarium which while not as flashy as the Georgia Aquarium...is much less crowded therefore way more fun.

Amy's son Kai and "T" and "J" in a brick boat (a brick boat?)


Jill at the Butterfly Garden


In the Shark Tank

Hanging with the Penguins




Amy (aka Chia) and Me Before



And After.....

Ho Ho Ho

It's Santa time at the Green house...or basically time to make the earliest possible appointment to see Santa. Yes they have appointments now and yes we go even before Thanksgiving. I hate lines. The advantage of going to see Santa early is that he is fresh....early in the day he has plenty of energy, no one has peed on him yet, and he takes his time talking to the children.

Our time with Santa may be limited. This year as we were driving to the mall "T" said "is there more than one Santa? Because there has to be one at every mall" then later as he was looking over our Santa photos from previous years he said "Mom, I think there are four Santa's because I see four different Santa's in these pictures". Oh, so that is why parents make such an effort to go to the same "Santa" each year...duh...wish I had thought of that.

Pie in the Sky

Every now and then I try to make up for my failings as a mother by doing something "fun" with the children. I love having make your own pizza night. It is dinner and an activity all in one.

The (Obligatory) Family Photo

Well we survived it again, the annual obligatory family photo session. The photographer this year was a saint. You have no idea how difficult it is to get my children to smile (and at the same time). What follows is the result of many threats and bribes.





J's School Pictures

Crash Bang Boom

This has been an eventful week. On Monday afternoon I was driving "J" to speech therapy when I was seriously rear-ended. Apparently, according to the witness, the other driver was talking on her cell phone, tail gating, and not actually looking when she slammed into me. "J" and I were OK. My car suffered minor damage considering how strong the impact felt. The other drivers car was totaled. She bounced off of me and crashed into a really large thick metal mail box post. I only wish I had a photo of her car to share. Suffice it to say her car looked like she hit a telephone pole.

On Tuesday we woke up to discover that D's car had a dead battery.

Then today we woke up only to find that the rental had a very flat tire.

I am not sure what will happen tomorrow but I plan on getting a good nights sleep so I can be prepared.

While you were sleeping

This could have never happened if "D" were awake. But while he was napping "J" lured the neighbor's cat into our playroom. "J" absolutely loves animals. She especially loves the orange and white cat that lives across the street. This poor sweet cat was abandoned by his owners and now the lady across the street feeds him. I am sure he enjoyed his little nap on the chair with "J". Update: the orange and white cat now uses our cat door and comes and goes as he pleases. Whoops!

Boo

Wow! what a GREAT Halloween. Maybe it was because for the first time "D" and I let the kids walk up to doors alone while we waited in the street-yelling out "say trick-or-treat" and don't forget "thank you". Less walking for mom and dad is always good. Or maybe it was because for the first time neither child had a complete meltdown 1/2 a mile away from the house. Whatever the reason the evening was a complete sucess. There were tons of families out-kids running around everywhere. One neighbor had created a haunted "lawn" with a lighted spooky trail and multiple special effects. Awesome. The kids loved it. The key to our success was going over to the other side of our neighborhood where more kids live. I love our secluded corner of the neighborhood-but when it come to trick-or-treating....it isn't too great. Jill had a party at school-thus the two costumes.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

It happens every year. I see a cute magazine photo and decide to try to duplicate it at home. The project in question this year was "bug cupcakes". What a fun project for the children to make one afternoon. But sadly each year I completely forget that someone makes 100K a year to artfully design and create fun to do at-home projects that are completely impossible to actually make at home. First of all it is impossible to actually find the "easy to find" ingredients at any store. Secondly the project is difficult for an average adult to complete and not even a possibility for a child. And the magazine article never mentions that your kitchen will be a complete disaster when you are finished. Here are our results. Enjoy.
J's creation

T's cupcakes

What they are supposed to look like

Cupcakes for the Fall Festival at school