The Nutcracker

I was picked as the lucky parent to chaperone Caitlin's field trip to see the Nutcracker Ballet at the Von Braun Civic Center on Friday. Thank you Mrs. Boyer! We were afraid it was going to be cancelled due to the delayed start of school because of bad weather. Luckily, they just pushed the performance time back to 11:00, and we were able to attend. I met the class at the Civic Center and got to sit with Caitlin and one of her best friends Kaleigh. Huntsville Community Ballet performs the Nutcracker every year for the third grade classes in all of Madison County, and it was beautiful! Randy and I took Caitlin to see it when she was five years old, but she enjoyed it so much more this time because she was with her friends. I was very impressed with how very well-behaved the students were. It was a tw0-hour show, and they sat still and quiet during most of it. Of course, now Caitlin wants to be in the Nutcracker!

Happy Birthday Uncle Scott!

Last night we went over to my parents' house to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. I won't tell how old! We ate one of our favorite meals--Dreamland Ribs, and then had birthday cake. Oh, and I can't forget the presents. Scott is a big duck hunter, so all he wanted was gift cards to buy what he needed for hunting. The kids had an absolute ball playing together especially since it was a school night (that rarely happens). My sister and I sat and looked through my mom's old recipe box for yummy Christmas goodies to make. It was a fun night spent laughing and trying to keep up with the kids.

Santa!

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures from when we took Caitlin and Harrison to visit Santa. On the way there Harrison was extremely chatty and was telling us all the many things he wants for Christmas. But when we walked into the mall, he said, "I don't know if I'm going to like this man." My heart sank! He hasn't been the one to have stranger fear like his big sister. She wouldn't let any costumed person come up to her until she was over three years old. He has always run right up to those types like Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Mr. Snowman at Santa's Village last year, and Biscuit at EarlyWorks. However with a little coaxing from Big Sis, he walked right up and sat on Santa's lap--not to say one word! Oh well! At least he wasn't screaming his head off like his big sister did when she was 18 months old. Thankfully no one else was behind us in line, so Santa spent a little extra time with them. Santa even played his harmonica for the children and gave them jingle bells to play along with the song. It was really cute!

A Griswold Christmas

Randy spent a good part of Saturday morning putting up Christmas lights on the outside of our house. I have to say that I have been bugging him about doing it because I think it makes the house look so much more festive. He kept saying that he just wasn't in the Christmas spirit yet because Alabama was still playing football. Well on Saturday morning while the kids and I were out doing fun Christmas errands, Randy was out in the bitter cold putting up Christmas lights. It looked so pretty on Saturday night when it got dark out. I wish I had taken a picture then because when I turned on the lights early this evening, one of the strands had gone out! Randy kept trying to fix them, but he had his faculty Christmas party so he really couldn't. Anyway, it just reminded me of the movie Christmas Vacation when Clark Griswold is trying to get the lights on his house to come on.

Visitors' Day

Caitlin at 4 years old in her 1st dance costume


Caitlin at 8 years old tap-tap-tapping away



Can I dance with you?

On Friday, Caitlin had Visitors' Day at her Dance Class at North Alabama Dance Center. She has taken dance there since she was five years old. She is currently enrolled in three classes--ballet, tap, and jazz. We were also invited to come on Thursday to watch her ballet class, but she did not want us to go to that one. She wanted to show off her tap and jazz moves that she has learned so far. It's amazing how far she has come and how much she has learned since her first dance class four years ago! We are so proud of her and all of her abilities! After we watched Caitlin, we went out for pizza and then on to Wal-Mart for some necessary items. We were all tired, so it was home and straight to bed after that.

Like Father, Like Son

Anyone who knows Randy well knows that he is a funny guy, and that is one of the things that made me fall in love with him in the first place. Well Harrison's sense of humor is starting to come out also. Last weekend as we were driving in the car, the kids were being VERY loud as usual (does anyone else have this problem?). Randy asked them to please turn it down a little, and they did--for about 2 minutes. I then asked who was going to be the quietest one in the car. Harrison says, "Not me!"
Then last night Randy was getting him ready for bed when I overheard this conversation:
Harrison: Wanna hear a joke?
Randy: Sure
Harrison: Why did the bee get married?
Randy: I don't know. (And I know he's thinking there is going to be some silly answer)
Harrison: To have his honey (And Harrison throws his head back and laughs his loudest laugh)
Wanna hear another joke?
Randy:Is it a good one too?
Harrison: Why did the bear take off his socks?
Randy: I don't know.
Harrison: To be Bear Foot (Another head thrown back with a loud laugh)

We were both amazed because we have not taught him jokes, and it amazes us that he could remember the punchline so well to both those! All I know is...he will most likely end up being the class clown!

Christmas Pictures

We had our annual Christmas pictures made this afternoon with my niece and nephew. Every year I look forward to it, but I also know that it is going to be a lot of hard work to get 4 active children to take a great picture. I think we got some good pictures. My sister, Dana, and I were pleased with how they turned out. We always go to eat at Wendy's after taking pictures, so of course we had to continue that tradition as well. It was a very tiring afternoon, but we will get to treasure the memories forever.