"Update your Blog"

December 10, 2009

Alright, alright folks, sorry I've been away from blogger, but hopefully now I'm back. Let's take a quick run through the last several weeks.

After Halloween we took a trip to Gatlinburg for our annual shopping extravaganza. It was fabulous, but as Jay informed me, I couldn't keep up this year. I had as many cranky moments as Max because I needed a nap too. Max and I were in bed by 8ish the whole trip because we were exhausted. We left poor Jay in the living room alone watching TV. We did get alot accomplished and purchased the bulk of our Christmas presents. (Now I have to figure out how me and my belly are going to sit in the floor to wrap . . .another post.) In the mountains we had lots of fun on top of our shopping. Jay and Max rode the alpine slide . . . . lots of times . . . you see, Max is still free and Jay bought a unlimited wristband. So I sat at the bottom as the photographer and they rode and rode.

Another day we gave Max a chance to play in the arcade. He won lots of tickets and got some great junk when he cashed them in. What ever makes him smile, right? We stopped at the go-carts twice because we lucked up on some 2 for 1 tickets there too. Max is so proud that he can ride now. When they would pass me he would yell and lift up his hands, "No hands Mama!" It was great . . . and with Mary Kate in my belly I got to be the photographer here too. My fun came when we got to eat at the pancake house. Yummm! I can put away some maple syrup right now and my little chicka likes it too.On the way home from the mountains, we stopped and spent the day at the Knoxville Zoo. It was a beautiful day and actually a little hot. Below is a picture of Max riding a camel. He also got to feed it, he enjoys learning about all the animals.
After our trip it was almost Thanksgiving. We got to celebrate over 3 days . . . lots of good food. Thursday we spent the day at the Kelley's with Jay's family. Max spent the night and Jay and I got up to shop Black Friday. We left our house at 4:30am. We got some good deals on tennis shoes and some toys. We really didn't have to go shopping, but we are crazy and like the rush. I don't know there is just something about being there when a store opens. We don't stand in the cold like craziness, but we do get there early and wait until the mob starts moving to get our of the cozy warm car. I have such a great honey . . . he participates in alot just for me. Friday afternoon we went to the Boro to eat at JP and Holly's house. Her family was in town and we got to meet her uncles. One of her uncles is serving as the minister for the wedding, so it was nice to finally meet him. Saturday Thanksgiving was the Parsons at our house. All my cousins, aunt & uncle, grandparents, and lots of kid-os came over for the day. We enjoyed some more great food and time together. I felt like I cooked all weekend, but Max helped me each day. Here he is making our BTS cake for the Kelley's dessert. We also whipped up 2 caramel pies, "ricey krispie treats", candy carrots, mashed potatoes, and cornbread dressing. Jay took off a day of work during the Thanksgiving week. Being the wonderful wife I am . . . I left a honey do list when I went to work. Really, it was quite simple . . . I just wanted the Christmas lights put on the house so that we could turn them on Saturday of Thanksgiving. (You see, because we have a Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Saturday, Jay absolutely refuses to put up any Christmas decor until the dinner is done, so . . . I thought he could get them on the house and we just wouldn't turn them on until Saturday night . . . ) So. I went to work and Jay had his dad lined up to come help him with the lights. Well . . . . slight problem . . . our roof is apparently super steep and Jay could not stand up there to get all the new lights up. (That's another story . . we also shop early on Dec 26th to get any good Christmas decor sales . . . like I said fabulous hubby. Last year we bought lots of new lights for the house . . . so for a year I've been dying to get them up.) Back to the original story . . . . after multiple failed attempts with getting the lights to the top . . . . someone came up with the idea that Jay's brother could help with his Truck. I hate I missed it, but I am so glad they were so determined . . . because we I drove up on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving my terrific Jay had the lights ON and my house looked like a gingerbread house from a Christmas story. I love it . . . even though my babe had taken lip from his male buds about turning on the lights before Thanksgiving. Over the past several weeks, Mary Kate has continued to grow. This picture was taken on Sunday as we started our 32nd week. On Dec. 3rd, she measured to weigh 4 lbs and 5 oz . . . SO? I suppose she's racing her brother for the birth weight. Have to wait and see . . . only 8 weeks . . . or less. We are all anxiously awaiting her arrival. While I've been away from the blog, I have still been writing as I composed our Christmas Letter Oh-Nine. You should all be receiving that in the mail soon . . . if you don't usually get one . . . pass me your address and I will put one in the snail mail. Be back soon . . . . .