12th Annual Carolina Christmas

I never forget how lucky I am to have such longtime dear friends. The 6 of us attended UNC together and, thankfully, we all live somewhat close enough that occasional Girls Nights or weekend get togetherness happens.

Something that always happens is our annual Christmas party.


It's one of the few nights that the guys get to tag along. :-)


Mustaches optional.

We rotate around hosting so this was actually the first year we hosted the party in our second home. It was a great time with fabulous food and, thanks to Loryn's Minute to Win it holiday games, TONS of extra laughs.





Those were the only two game pics I could post publicly. :-)











We did something different this year and did Our Favorite Things. Each person bought and wrapped 5 of one of their favorite things (under $5) to give to the others. We definitely know why we are friends. Our gifts all revolved around holiday soaps, lip gloss, and alcohol. :-)

Brooklyn's Rockin Tradition Presentation

(Note: I've started digital scrapbooking through Shutterfly and its now become more important than ever to stay chronological in my posts so I can add to my scrapbook and not lose my mind. Ill get to Christmas soon. Ha!)

Brooklyn's class had a Tradition presentation the week before Christmas where they invited the parents and spoke for 1-2 minutes about a family tradition. Brooklyn chose our annual beach trips to Ocean Isle and, as her visual, requested my help with a PowerPoint. She did such a great job presenting and you could actually hear her! :-)








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Girl Scout Candlefest 2012

Each year, Girl Scouts in our community participate in Candlefests at local parks. The girls set out luminaries (white bags with candles) throughout the parks and the general public drives through the display after giving a canned food donation. It's a great service project and gift to the community.

This year, Jake and I tagged along to help Brooklyn's Brownie troop.




















The girls did a great job....and Jake managed to not get in TOO much trouble.


Later that night, we drove through the display. 3000 luminaries later, it looked great!


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The Best Christmas (2 Song) Pageant Ever

Jake's school had its annual Christmas cuteness Sunday the 9th. His class did Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Must Be Santa.

Jake had a minor pre-show freakout when he didn't know where we were but once we led him onstage and he saw the family, he was fine.

They all did a GREAT job!

Our Kick Off to Christmas Shout Cousins Christmas Party

Last Saturday, we hosted our "Shout cousins" for our first annual Christmas party. (Since Jake entered the scene and Kyle and Silas followed, they can no longer be called the Shout sisters.) :-)

December 7 at lunch was the magical date/time that worked for everyone and we had a spaghetti meal that all seemed to enjoy.

There were 9 kids so we had them do a secret Santa gift exchange which was super fun and very cost effective (especially since two more Shout babies will be here next Christmas).

I told them all they had to sit and take one picture before they could get their presents. I know, I'm so mean.



Then the opening began. It was simple chaos for a moment but cleaned up quickly and the kids went back to playing.






They all did so great and with having kids ranging in age from 11.5 to 23 months, there is always someone to play with somewhere in the house.

We are very blessed to have so many "aunts, uncles and cousins" in our faith community for our children to know and who love our children.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Before we left for Bald Head Island we tried to do a little decorating. The kids helped with our 5 foot chrismon tree.

Then, last Friday we went out to pick out the perfect (that one can find on a 24x24 covered lot in 7 minutes in the drizzly rain) tree.













They did not stay as focused decorating this one but it was still a fun family tradition.

Santa visit (1 out of 2 ain't bad)

So, Santa came to Jake's school last week. Jake went with his class during the day and was very brave.


I also had an afternoon appointment for both kids to meet Santa and take a pic.

Fail.

Brooklyn completely melted down when we walked in the room.

So, I compromised with a snowmen pic or three.









Couldn't let those cute shirts go to waste. :-)

A (Long) Weekend in Paradise

Thanks to a fabulous family we know, we had the opportunity to visit a little piece of NC coastal heaven. Last weekend, we visited Bald Head Island and took our four parents.

Getting there was half the fun! Our first ferry ride...








Once you get on the island there are no cars. The kids LOVED the golf carts.


The beach was beautiful...and deserted.

We looked for shells...


...went fishing...


...and played in the sand.


The kids even practiced their fishing skills.





We toured the island and found Old Baldy.


It was four days of nothing but playing, relaxing, and loving on each other!


I hope we get to return one day soon!