Getting Ready for Christmas!

So, I have 1,100 lights on the tree and counting.  We found the most awesome deal on Fraser Firs at Costco where you could get an 8-9 foot tree for only $30.00!  However, the trees were wrapped up so you just had to pick one and hope it looked good.  We got ours home and, yes it looks great, but it is massive!!!!!!! By far the biggest tress we have ever had...nearly 10 feet tall.  I will post pictures of it when I get it all lit up (which could be a while since we have already made 2 Christmas light runs and it still needs more).  I am trying to re-vamp my light stringing method because it is taking me forever.  I grew up with artificial trees and my grandmother taught me how to go up and down each branch to give the tree depth.  However, with real trees, that is proving to be a challenge since the branches aren't exactly symmetrical.  Oh well... we will see what happens.   

If you are familiar with Snapfish, then you know they were running a special that expired yesterday for 500 prints for 1 cent apiece and 50% off the entire website.  Well, Ben and I were gonna get everyone hooked up with photo gifts AND get 500 pics printed (since we are backed up to 2007 with no pics printed) and just get sooo much accomplished.  Well, we put it off too late (trying to get the tree lit) and fell asleep with the computer between us while we were waiting on the photos to upload!  However, here are a few old shots of Mason (and one of Poodle) that I never got to post.  They are from 4 months old and 5 months old.   

Fingers crossed, I will be back soon with tree pictures! Fingers crossed.....

Grand Babies (and Mason vs. Neely)

This past Monday we went to Russ and Jessi's new house in Auburn to have dinner with Ben's whole family (as in immediate family).  Jessi cooked an awesome meal and we all enjoyed getting to spend some time together.

Here are a few photos from the evening... remember how I said I am learning to shoot on manual?  Well, forgive the quality of these photos because I was wedged up against a couch trying to get both babies in the frame and shooting quickly so as not to miss any of the fun.

Heeeeyyy... I'll have some of that milk please.

No Mason, That is Neely's milk.  

Mimi is about to feed you some baby food in just a minute.

But I still want that milk.

Me and my skinny jeans are taking the milk some place safe from that baby.

Blast!

Now I can enjoy my milk in peace.

Curses!!!!

Cate, Adalyn, and Cole are so big now!  

Russ and Jessi are loaning Mason their walker and HE LOVES IT!!! It is perfect for this little man who wants to walk everywhere but can't quite do it on his own.

After several attempts at getting all 6 grand babies to look in her general direction, Tori successfully snapped this photo.  Mason thinks his Uncle Russ is hilarious!

Then we attempted to get a photo off all the kids and grandkids....

Mason is still depressed about the milk.  Bentley wants Pop and doesn't want to sit on the couch.  Neely has the cutest belly!

And.... almost complete success! This time next year, there will be one more on the couch!! (Tori, not me.)

We had such a fun night together and it is so fun to see all of the kids playing and laughing.  Mason is going to have such a good time growing up with his cousins!

We all have so much to be thankful for... especially family and friends!

Blue Ridge and Other Things

Happy Thanksgiving week!  I am sure everyone is gearing up to cook and/or eat lots of food here in a day or two.  I, for one, am super excited about spending Thanksgiving with my family!  I haven't spent Thanksgiving in Florence since I got married so I cannot wait to see a lot of relatives I haven't seen since my wedding and introduce Mason to everyone.  I am also very much looking forward to my Aunt Marva's macaroni and cheese and my mom's seven layer salad and my grandmother's (Mamaw) chicken and dressing, fried okra, and potato salad!!!!! I am so pumped! (Big Fat Fatty)  Notice I only mentioned the food and nothing about the thankfulness.  I am very thankful for so many things, but I will save that for a future post, Lord willing I have time to do another one soon.  

Now, let me wrap up the Blue Ridge vacation with these pics from the last full day we had at the cabin...

Here we have Ben's artistic photography capturing his "perfect s'more."

Ben and Mason are going to kill me for putting this one on the blog, but I love it!!! Mason doesn't favor us in many ways physically (the bright blue eyes and blonde hair), but he has so many of our other characteristics.  I love their sleepy head looks early this morning.  We didn't get much sleep on the trip because Mason had a hard time sleeping through the night for some reason.  Special thanks to mom and dad for staying up with him a couple of nights.

Ahh, I am so sneaky capturing this picture of Matt.  Cara brought her cool travel hammock and I think I need one of those as well... maybe for Christmas.

Cara was forcing Matt to share the hammock with her.  

Not exactly the correct focus, but I think this picture of Berkley is hilarious.

Mason is always thrilled to walk around.  I am learning to shoot on Manual and I forget I have the camera set to manual and just start shooting.  This pic is over exposed and unedited but I love the expression captured on Mason's little face.

Berkley Boo my mountain dog.  He is such a rugged poodle.

The sun made the leaves light up like they were glowing!  I love fall because of all the beautiful colors!

It was all in all, a wonderful trip and we had so much fun! I definitely recommend Blue Ridge as a fall vacation spot for any family.  I wish I had captured a few shots of down town Blue Ridge because it is such a quaint little town.  I also need to share our experience at the store "Gypsy Eyes, Mystical Shop." Yes, didn't know that was the name of the shop until after we went in there.  You can just imagine....

I would also like to share this link with you.  It is from Women's Bible Cafe which I stumbled upon while searching for a good Bible study.  The Women's Bible Cafe offers several on-line Bible studies that you can follow along with every week.  I did Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and I loved it! I highly recommend this website if you don't have time to meet weekly with a group or another individual but would like to participate in a study.  It was a blessing to me even though I did struggle to keep up with the reading.  The link I shared is a really uplifting article about gifts that we can all share with others such as Joy, Strength, and Peace.  It reminds me that "small" things, as simple as praying for someone or just being there for a friend going through a tough time can have such an impact on another person.  Check it out if you have time!

Goose River Rapids

Goose River Rapids, this year's chosen cabin for our fall vacation, has provided us with lots of natural beauty as well as a fun venue for family entertainment.  

We have spent many hours sitting out by the creek, around the fire pit, talking, laughing, and roasting marshmallows while Mason plays with leaves and tries to walk around.  

This year we decided that the guys would be in charge of one breakfast and one lunch and the girls would do the same.  For their breakfast, the guys surprised us with their version of breakfast burritos.  I was impressed! The picture below is Ben's burrito and it was slightly bigger than the one I ate.

 In addition to the blue bear suit from the previous post, Mom and Dad bought Mason a brown reindeer outfit.  We basically put an outfit on him, talk about how cute it is, and then take 500 pictures. That is the routine.  Somehow, it never gets old. 

 This is how Mason spends most of his time..... and how all the grown ups spend most of theirs...

 Notice the tennis shoes.  I figured that if he was going to be walking around all the time, I should probably get him some shoes.  They are so tiny, yet stylish, yet rugged.

 The dogs are having a blast chasing the ball down in the creek.  Berkley has discovered his inner bird dog and is retrieving like a champ.  The ladies in the cabin next door told me that they thought Berkley was a black bear when he was outside the night before.  Hmmm, black bear or giant poodle? Both equally intimidating and horrifying.

Playing with dead leaves is Mason's new favorite past time.  They provide about 15 minutes of entertainment.  Also, please notice my hot outfit.  Only the most stylish new trends for vacation. 

Also, Mom and I challenged each other today to go all day without speaking "Southern."  That means no "fixin to," no "I wont it," no "I'm gonna," no incomplete sentences, etc.  That means perfect English all the way.  Lemme tell ya, I ain't doin too good. :)

A Fall Update

Hi Friends!  I am on vacation and now I have time to do a little bit of documenting! We have had a lot off fun this fall and I have a lot to catch up on.  Mason is SIX MONTHS OLD! What in the world?

I can't believe how fast the time goes.  All Mason wants to do these days is get to where he wants to go by himself and immediately.  However, he doesn't know how to crawl or walk yet, so this presents a bit of a problem.  I don't think it will be long before he figures out how to get around, but I am not sure if that will be good or bad for me.  This little man is into everything already!  

We were lucky enough to get away with the family for a few days to Elijay, GA where we visit every year. There is something about a cabin in the mountains that just brings a sense of calm and relaxation. Here are a few pictures I have taken so far.... 

Mom and Dad bought Mason that little blue bear suit and we just had a fit over it.  I probably took 50 pictures of Mason in the bear suit.  Ok, I would've probably taken 50 pictures of him anyway, but I did love the bear suit!  We got out early this morning and watched the dogs play in the creek behind the cabin.  The leaves have all changed colors hear and they all fall down when the wind blows like it is snowing leaves. It was beautiful!

                                 

    

The dogs love to play in the creek and they are so much fun to watch!  Berkley was too fast for me to get any good pictures of him but I will try to get some good ones before we go home.  

My mom is the one who always finds the awesome cabins.  She is extremely picky about the cabin and it usually takes her many hours of searching to find the perfect one.  She hasn't failed us yet! 

Little Punkin loves the outdoors and he loves playing with the leaves.  He sometimes tries to eat them so you have to watch him closely!

Speaking of Punkin, we got to take him to a pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago and we had the best time! I will try to do a post on that and Halloween a little later.  Here is Mason playing in the corn box which I thought was so neat.  I just knew that he would try to eat the corn, but to my surprise, he just played in it.  I can't wait to get him a sand box!  Oh, and does this child need a hair cut?  Yes he does.  Did I mention that he had his first hair cut at 4 months old?  Out of control.... our friends say he has a comb over and I think that is pretty funny.  Most of his hair is concentrated on the very top.  What color is it?  Not sure, but it isn't the same color as mine!  Some people think it is blonde, some think it is red, some think it is brown.... I think it is more brownish blonde.  My hair was light like that when I was a baby and has gotten darker as I have gotten older.

I am really happy to have a few good pictures of Mason and me together.  Since I am always behind the camera, I realized that I have very few pictures of him with me.  I prefer to be behind the camera, but I want him to look back and see pictures of us together one of these days. 

My sister-in-law, Tori, took the picture below a couple of weeks ago.  Tori is very talented and I was glad that she was able to take some family pictures for us!  I will post more as soon as I get the other proofs.  

We are loving this fall weather and we spend as much time outside as possible.  Mason is more content to just sit and play on a blanket when we are outside.  Indoors, he is always grunting in frustration trying to get somewhere else.  However, the dogs provide a lot of entertainment for him wherever we go! Mason LOVES Pete and Berkley and always smiles and laughs at them when he sees them.  He tries to crawl or walk over to them and touch them.  The dogs leave him alone for the most part, walking up to lick him occasionally.  They don't mind him pulling on their fur.  Berkley, however, could be a little more aware that there is a baby in the room; he thinks he is the baby.  When Mason and I are playing on the floor, Berkley tries to sit in my lap and lay on me.  I love them, but sometimes they are a lot to handle on top of taking care of a 6 month old.

Here are some of my favorite shots from playing outside. I took these a week or so ago when Matt and I were outside doing some yard work.  Ok, Matt was doing yard work and I was instructing him on what to dig up and where to plant.  I love yard work. :)

This is Mason doing his "dance."  It is actually his, "I am moving my arms and legs and hoping I go somewhere" dance and I think it is hilarious!

We have the privilege of hosting my little brother (I always call him my little brother even though he is about to be 23), Matt, for a little while as he takes some time off from school to get a little work experience.  He has been extremely helpful, especially since Ben has been working extra, and it has been fun getting to spend time with him. Matt and I haven't really lived in the same place since I left for college when he was 12.  Can't believe it has been that long.... Oh yeah, Matt hates it when I take pictures of him so I have to be sneaky and do it when he isn't looking... like above where he is carrying the hundred pound root ball of the tree that was previously in my flower bed. Thanks Matt.

So, Halloween was hilarious!  My friend Haley let me borrow her son, Sam's, costumes that he wasn't going to use this year.  We got so many comments and compliments on our little octopus. Thanks Haley! Mason and Ben are posing with our friends Adam and Caden (who is a monkey).  I think this picture is too funny and will probably end up coming back to haunt Caden and Mason many years down the road.

 We really enjoyed a visit from Aunt Sissy this past weekend.  She got lots of quality time with Mason and says that he is "her baby" since he looks more like her.  I have to say, I can't claim those pretty blue eyes!

And hopefully it won't be another month before I get to post again!  I just discovered that I can upload big pictures to my blog strait from my computer instead of uploading them to the internet!! What a time saver. 

I am off to start The Hunger Games.  I have heard good things about it but have no idea what it is about.  Hope it isn't too scary! (It sure is nice to have round the clock in home baby-sitters!)