Gymnastics & Football!

This past weekend was busy, but aren't they all?

On Saturday we went to Southport (southside of Indy) to watch our niece, Hailey's gymnastics meet. A little perspective, Hailey will be 9 this coming Valentine's Day. She was one when we got married. She was the first one of our nieces and nephews that I got to visit in the hospital (Miranda was almost two when Andy and I met and McKenzie was born in Texas). Watching eight nieces and nephews grow up just really makes our heads swim sometimes! They have all been full of personality all along but the girls have grown into young ladies with individual interests and the boys aren't far behind. I really hate to sound old here, but I can't believe how fast time flies!

Anyway, back to the gymnastics meet...we were so excited to see Hailey compete, even if it meant being packed in like sardines! We were very close to the action, especially the beam. Hailey did a great job, scoring her first ever score above 9.0 on the beam!! Her mom was next to me and as all moms know, it was as big a deal for Amy as it was for Hailey :-)

So, here are some pictures, check out her stuff!

Each girl performed the same routines on each rotation (floor, bar, beam and vault).

The dismount! Hailey placed 5th for her age group, a GREAT finish! We are so proud of her!

Here's Hannah, passing the time with a sucker. Aunt Dawn (Andy's older sister) is in the green jacket, obviously focused on the action.

Abigail and Grandma

On Sunday, we were psyched for a 3pm kickoff between the Colts and the New York Jets! We invited two families over for chili and snacks and we all watched the game. It was a great afternoon, cheering our Colts to the AFC title! Altogether we had 6 adults and 6 kids running around the house, it was busy and we all (the adults, anyway) ate too much! After our friends left, the girls went to bed and Andy and I stayed up to watch the NFC championship game. Next up...Super Bowl!! I don't know what our plans will be for the big game, mainly I wish it didn't start so late. I do know that Andy has promised wings...mmmmm mmmm!

A Weekend Full of Learning

This weekend Andy was really excited to take Abigail on her first real hunting outing. She has hiked the woods with him before, following our beagles, but never away from home. They went along with a good friend of Andy's, Jeff Mullins, who has two sons that are 6 and 10. The event was a Youth Hunting Day hosted by the Hoosier Tree Dog Alliance at Camp Atterbury, only 30 minutes or so from our house. They listened to a short talk about hunting safety and then hunted squirrels for a couple of hours and afterward had lunch. In the linked photo are (L-R) Abigail, Levi Mullins, Austin (a friend of Levi's), Lane Mullins. Click below to see the photo, taken by one of the hosting conservation officers:

www.mypicturepage.com/icopressrelease/photo_gallery_pop.html?recid=1&pn=22

Andy and Abigail both had a great time and were thankful for warmer temperatures, in the mid 30's.

While Abigail was out learning about hunting and conservation, Hannah and I stuck a little closer to home. Her learning for the weekend was all about potty training and she did great! While this is definitely a work in progress, we had some definite success and a couple of minor accidents. She seems to have the concepts down but at only 22 months old, I know it's going to take a lot of practice and wardrobe changes. Here she is, headed upstairs for clean clothes:

It's cold in Mississippi!

Every year that we've lived in Charleston, we have had a light snowfall sometime after Christmas. This year, ours came a bit earlier than usual and was precipitated by extremely low temperatures (for the deep south, that is). It hasn't been this cold here for this long since the 80s. We've had several days in a row when the high temperature was below freezing! So, our little snowfall has stuck around for a while and we've enjoyed it! Here's the evidence...

The kids enjoy reading a book from my childhood called The Littlest Snowman.

We thought ours was just right for the book!

Playing with our neighborhood friends, Libby & Walton

Christmas and New Years in Mississippi

This was the first year since Clara was born that we have not traveled on Christmas Day, so we tried a few new things and experienced the celebrations of our friends in Charleston. We have missed the snow and of course seeing our loved ones, but it was also nice to be relaxed and not hurried after such a busy month. Here are a few representative pictures from December and following...

In mid December, I planned and directed both the women's Christmas celebration and the children's program...

Here are Clara, Benji and their friend Abbi practicing for the show (Clara and Abbi played Christmas carols on the keyboard as part of the program)

The following Sunday, we hosted our 4th annual Christmas Open House

(This picture is especially for Keith--just look at all that food! Yum Yum, y'all come--next year!)

And here's our first attempt at making a gingerbread house

(Thanks to Laura for the inspiration!)

The only real mishap is that prior to completion, Rosebush ate part of the chimney, so I had to do some surgery on one of the gingerbread boys that we had made to fill in the missing piece--let's hear it for organ donation!

Christmas Eve before the worship service

Christmas morning opening the albums from the Bridges

And the pillowcases from Polk

We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Andy's parents for Christmas--they arrived on Christmas Eve and stayed through the weekend. We also celebrated Andy's birthday on the 30th and attended a slew of parties for New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and, of course, the Cotton Bowl (go Rebels!)

Here are Clara and Benji with their friend Edi Rose eating the traditional

New Year's Day lunch at Edi Rose's grandparents' home. The home is one of the few surviving antebellum homes in our area. This is likely due to the fact that it is owned by the Sherman family and thus was spared during General Sherman's infamous campaign.

Happy New Year Everyone!

A White (after) Christmas!

The afternoon that Keith and Kristi were leaving for the airport, it snowed for a few hours. A pretty snow that immediately stuck. The big, fat flakes that we immediately know will be really fun to play in. As Mom and Dad were heading out to drive Keith and Kristi to Indy, the four of us bundled up to go out and play. The girls had a ball! Both of them begged and begged to stay out longer, until their cheeks were really pink and we had to come in and warm up. Here are some pictures of the fun!

Shouldn't every girl have a strong Daddy who can pull two kids at once?

I still have lots of other Christmas pictures to post about...cookie baking, a visit with the Rogers, Christmas morning, etc. We'll see if I can get to that this weekend.

Happy New Year!!