Darren's First Deer

This year Darren started deer hunting for the first time.  So, at age 39, Darren killed his first deer.  I was so excited for him, especially when he texted a picture showing not just a deer but a buck. 

Nate was excited too!

Snow Tubing

Part of our Christmas from my parents was a trip to Snow Mountain (Stone Mountain) and Callaway Gardens Fantasy in Lights.  It was such a fun trip.

Nate loved sitting up high above everyone on Uncle Chris's shoulders.  This was good entertainment while we waited for our tickets.

Please excuse all of the moving sidewalk pictures.  It takes several minutes to get to the top of the tubing lanes and you have the beautiful stone mountain in the background.  So, you might as well take a few pictures. :)

After our two hours of snow tubing was over, Nate played in the snow play area.  His favorite thing to do was wait on people to finish building a snowman and then knock it down (after they were gone, of course). 

I love this face.

After we finished tubing and playing in the snow, we headed over to Callaway Gardens for Fantasy in Lights.  This was a new experience for us and it was so much fun.  The lights were beautiful and very entertaining.

Saturday evening my entire family spent the night in a cabin at Callaway Gardens.  My mom cooked homemade potato soup and cornbread for us.  All of us played Phase 10 (except my dad and Nate).  We haven't played Phase 10 in years.  We laughed and laughed and laughed some more...and I won!  The next morning my mom cooked eggs, bacon, biscuits, and grits.  We enjoyed breakfast together and headed back to Alabama.  This trip was an awesome end to our Christmas vacation/celebration.

Christmas

I must confess that this Christmas was not one of my favorites.  I had zero "Christmas spirit."  I just kind of put on a happy face so Nate wouldn't think his momma was a big ole Scrooge.  Of course, we still had lots of fun and made lots of great memories.

We continued our tradition of visiting the local Christmas tree farm.  I love doing this, it reminds me of my childhood.

This was the day of the 2013 Iron Bowl.  Auburn was the underdog, but they pulled off an epic win.  I know the whole world knows this and is sick of hearing about it, but it's a good memory for the blog.

We got to spend time with these pretty girls.  :)

We made our first gingerbread house.  It was so much fun!  Nate was very particular about the decorating.  He picked out an example from the directions and we had to follow every single step.

We enjoyed another Christmas Eve with my family.  This year my dad read the Christmas story from my mom's grandfather's bible.

One of Nate's gifts from my parents was a box of change.  Nate loves to raid my dad's change when he's at their house.

My parents also gave Nate a Ninjago lego set.  Ashlyn was very sweet and kind to help Nate put it together.  She is such a blessing to our family and we are very thankful for her. :)

This year Nate asked for a star wars lego set, angry birds go telepods, and star wars telepods.

Nate also got a four wheeler.

Now to my favorite part.  Darren asked Nate what he wanted to get me for Christmas.  Nate said a broom.  Darren told Nate that was a good idea, but brooms aren't really appropriate gifts.  Then Nate suggested a dress.  Darren told him that was also a good idea, but buying clothes for girls is not always easy.  Darren told him to think on it a few more days and let him know when he had some other ideas.

A few days later, Darren asked Nate again what he wanted to get me for Christmas.  This time Nate told Darren that he wanted to go to Kay and buy me every diamond in the store.  How sweet is that?  Seriously.  A few days later they went to a local jewelry store to buy my gift.  Darren totally let Nate take the lead and pick out whatever he wanted.  Darren said he was very thoughtful and took his time making his selection.   There were several things he liked, but he finally decided on these amethyst heart earrings.

He told Darren that he chose the heart earrings because hearts represent love and "we love mommy."  These earrings are my very favorite Christmas present...ever.  I will cherish them and this sweet memory forever. 

Co-op Christmas Program

This is Nate's sweet class from our home school co-op.  They performed a song based on Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

My "Black" Friday

While lots of other people were shopping on Black Friday, I was trying to put out a fire I accidentally started in the pasture behind our house.  I burned a few boxes in our burn area and it quickly got out of control.  Oops. 

Several family members live nearby, but no one was home to help me. It ended up burning about five acres of pasture and a little section of my sister-in-law's yard.  It was very scary dealing with something like this alone.  I was very thankful when the fire department arrived. 

This is only about half of the final damage.  Thankfully, my in-laws and the fire department showed me lots of grace and mercy.  At least this part of the pasture will be nice and green this spring. :)

Thanksgiving

November has been my favorite month of school, so far.  Nate and I both enjoyed learning about Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the first Thanksgiving.  We try to live each day with thankful/grateful attitudes, but we really focused on thankful attitudes during November.  I found several cool Thanksgiving activities and crafts on Pinterest. I also learned about three great books to read along with our activities: The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving, Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving, and If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. 

Our very simple Mayflower

We dyed pasta noodles and made a Native American necklace and bracelet.  I don't have an after picture, but the pasta turned out great, very bright colors.

Nate's handwriting has improved such much the last few months.  Even more important, his attitude about writing has improved.

My sweet friend, Theresa, kept Nate one morning so I could go to an appointment.  She teaches her daughter, Sarah, who is Nate's age.  Being the super awesome person she is, she planned for Nate and Sarah to make a cool Thanksgiving wreath.

We spent Thanksgiving eve with my family.  We had a great time eating, taking pictures and playing Taboo.  Every single time, my dad said a word he wasn't supposed to say.  It was hilarious.  Thanks to him, the girls took the victory.   

Thanksgiving day we celebrated with Darren's family.  We had more wonderful food and fellowship.  It was a beautiful day and the kids (and some adults) had a great time playing outside.  We are so thankful for our families!

Stitches

We made it over six years with no major accidents.  Last Wednesday, Nate fell down our back steps and cut his head.  He was obviously upset and it bled a lot, but we did not think he needed stitches.  I was rinsing the blood out of his hair so we could go to small group when I saw just how deep the cuts were.   They were small, but deep.  We texted a picture to a friend that's a nurse and she said he would need stitches.  Glue or tape would not work since the cuts were in his hair.

We were thankful to get to go to Children's after hours clinic instead of the ER.  Nate was obviously nervous as we waited.  Darren and I were nervous too.  Neither of us have had stitches so this was a new experience for us as well.  A sweet nurse came in to put the "magic" solution on Nate's head and wrapped his head to keep it in place.  She said the doctor would be back in twenty minutes to do the stitches.  

The doctor who did the stitches was awesome.  Seriously.  She saw Nate playing Angry Birds Star Wars.  She started talking to him about Star Wars as she got things ready.  This obviously made Nate feel more comfortable because he was totally calm and remained calm the entire time.  He sat at the end of the bed playing Angry Birds and talking to the doctor and nurse about Jedi Training, his Christmas list, and other things.  There were no tears.  I had imagined several adults holding down a screaming child during this process.  Darren and I were so thankful to have a positive experience.   

He ended up getting three stitches.

Easy peasy. :)