Merry Christmas!!

Lights of the South

So we made it to Lights of the South tonight, and it was AWESOME!! Shilo even said "That was fantastic!" probably mainly because it wasn't crowded - woohoo! (Everyone else must have decided not to brave the slightly damp 40 degree weather on a school night.) But we didn't have to wait in line to see this guy . . . well worth just that. (Although my 2 youngest children couldn't seem to think of what they wanted for Christmas - good, at least they aren't picky. Except we've been hearing about a certain "pink pewter" (ie pink computer) for a while from Eden. Guess the pressure got to her and her mind went blank.)



And then we did the tractor-pulled hayride through the Christmas lights - (Mommy's favorite part of that was when Eli said "Sit by me Mommy." SURE BUDDY!)



And then a train ride for the kiddos . . .



Eli said his favorite part was the "arsh-ell-ohs" and I'm pretty sure Eden's favorite was playing in the gingerbread house since we could hardly get her out of there. She told everyone to 'retend wash their hands - my sweet little germaphobe.

And Eve said her favorite part was spending time together with the family - I'm gonna have to agree with her on that one.

Snickers

No, not the candy bar . . . the guinea pig! We baby-sat our neighbor's pet over Thanksgiving. The kids loved it! (But he did bite Mommy TWICE!) Anyway, I'm dead set against getting a dog (which the kids keep asking for - been there, done that - uggg). But I'm liking this small animal in a large cage idea - contains the mess. AND I did promise Eve a guinea pig when she turned six (which was last April -oops.) That was one of those Mommy mistakes - when she was 3 years old, six seemed very far away and I can't believe she remembered. Well, somehow I got out of that situation, but I still feel a little guilty. Now I'm thinking maybe a bunny for the seventh birthday- they don't bite do they? Sssh! Don't tell Eve.

Here she is with her friend S and Snickers! (And by the way, Shilo acted like he didn't like him, but then I'd be in the bedroom at night and I would hear him talking to Snickers - Ha! A grown man talking to a guinea pig - it was really cute!)

The GASPING Gobbler

So, I think this all started when Mommy decided to try to do the Couch to 5K running plan. It's supposed to get you from being a couch potato to running a 5K in 9 weeks. The former description suited me perfect, so I thought it sounded good and might actually work. And besides the minor detail that it took me 6 months instead of 9 weeks to finish the plan, I did it! And so did Shilo! - he got recruited as my running coach/partner. And not surprisingly, it turned into a little friendly competition (and a little side bet) as to who could finish first. (We "tied" by the way - he had mercy and ran with me.) Anyway, The Gasping Gobbler 5K was November 21st. It was a blast! I won't mention our finishing times though - it's a little embarassing . . . BUT we finished, and we RAN 3.1 miles!! (I figured out where they got the name of the race from because the whole time I'm GASPING to Shilo - how much FARTHER? we have to go up THAT hill?!)

Anyway, there was a 1/4 mile Fun Run for the kids beforehand, and Eve got FIRST PLACE for her age group (6 and under). I just realized by looking at these pictures that she was WAY AHEAD of all the others too (probably encouraged by the fact that Daddy bribed her when she was in the lead by telling her he'd buy her a doughnut if she won - a little boost of motivation and energy. . . probably not a good example of a healthy living as practiced by all these other running-type folks but it worked nonetheless.) She was so much taller than all the other kids that I wasn't sure they would really believe she was SIX! Anyway, we were very proud of her! Here are the pics:

Lining up . . .


Last minute advice from Mommy . . . (I was telling her 'Please be careful and don't trip and fall.' All I could envision was multiple knee abrasions.)


And we're off . . . Mommy ran with the little ones . . .


And she can see the doughnut in her near future! Go Evie Go!


And Jessica our neighbor did a great job too!


A victory hug!


"Look Mommy! I got a medal!"


You Go Girls! Good Job!


And the older kids' race - Go Nicholas!!


And Mr. Family Y - I first thought he was a tooth or something . . .


Not sure if this picture will actually turn out (I tried to swipe it off Facebook) but that's me and Nassab (my colleague Dr. Ahmadie's wife). She did great (code for she finished WAY before I did!)


So that's it - our first 5K. (Well, since we got out of college and old, that is.) Hopefully in the next one, our time will be at least publishable to the public. :)

A Whole Lot of Turkeys . . . Oops! I Mean Pilgrims and Indians!

We had lots of pre-school and 1st grade Thanksgiving festivities to attend. I think they were supposed to be pilgrims and Indians, but they sure look like turkeys to me!! :)

Too Cute!

Ok - here's my goofy boy that thinks HE should go in the toy box instead of all the toys!!
I think I only looked away for about 5 seconds and all those toys were out of there.


And other cuteness - a card I made for a friend's baby shower - you have to remember I am creativity-challenged so I am quite proud of me! (Oh - all images copyright Stampin' Up!)



And a few Dennard family notable quotables:

Eden says after falling: "I think I broke my ankle to my elbow." (That's a lot of bones to break!)

Eden says at dinner out: "Can I have a piece of Coke?" (As long as you mean Coca-Cola . . . )

Eve says to Mommy in the car: "Well, if you had your brain working you would have known . . . " (if you kids hadn't sucked away all my brain cells during pregnancy . . .)

Eli (ok- so he can hardly talk - we get to play the guess-what-consonant-sound-is-supposed-to-be-in-those-vowels-he-just-said game frequently) BUT the other day when Mommy and Daddy were driving home separately from dinner and Mommy pulled in the driveway first he said (quite clearly): "Beat Dada home." (Competitive already at the age of 2?! Guess he got a double-dose of that gene!)

And during the day (arms up-stretched): "Hol' me." And bedtime: "Lay down me." (Who could resist such cuteness?! Gets me every time!)

And the Results!!

Can you guess which one Mommy did? Eve did hers all by herself - I was impressed! And Eden and Eli did the fingerpainting. :)

Pumpkin Carving (and Painting) 2009

A Big Boy Bed and a Breakdown

Tonight we had a monumental occasion in the Dennard family . . . Eli moved into his big boy bed, and the breakdown was not Eli's - rather Mommy's. (Ok - maybe not a breakdown, but definitely a sad moment.) It's the first time in 6 years we haven't had a crib up in our home, and not just any crib - this crib. (OK - I'm just gonna go ahead and get nostalgic.)

This crib - the one I can remember Daddy working on in the garage at our house in Greenville - cutting, sanding, and painting himself. The crib that was so clean and ready- carefully prepared, adorned in gender-neutral Noah's ark bedding, head-positioner precisely in place (like THAT thing was actually going to get used!), waiting for that first baby on the way . . . then baby Eve sleeping soundly, easily in it . . . then months and months later getting disinfected because she decided to smear poop all over it.

Then getting moved back to Augusta and decorated to the hilt for a GIRL on the way - pink and flowers all around. Then baby Eden in the middle of it buckled snugly in her car seat because that was the only way she would stop SCREAMING!

Then waiting on baby three - leaving the pink just in case but YAY! A BOY! - getting to decorate in blue and cars and trucks. And then all those times since . . . Eden climbing in there to be with her baby brother and Eve dragging, I mean helping, him out in the morning. And most recently, Eli running in there to "climb" in by himself.

My goodness, so many naps, so many 'Nite-nite - I love you's.' So many times Mommy sneaking in there to check on her babies late at night . . .

Well, at least that part will stay the same . . . just new memories in a new bed - it already has a good start I suppose. Mommy's Uncle Chris hand-crafted it for Mommy's cousins when they were little boys almost 20 years ago and now it's passed down to the next generation. (Daddy still has to put the top bunk up - tomorrow's to-do list.)

And as some friends pointed out, there is another way to get that crib back in use . . . I think I'll hang onto it . . . just in case. :)

Eli Did It!

I guess Eli thinks you learn to read by osmosis. If that's the case, he should be a genius very soon!

Wow!! That was soooo COOL - and FAST!!

Testing out blogging from my phone . . .

Playhouse Disney Live!

Last weekend Mommy and the kids went to see Playhouse Disney Live! It was fun - especially watching Eli 'pat, pat, pat' and then blast-off! (Any mother with little ones knows this is from Little Einsteins.) Eden's favorite (no surprise) was Mickey Mouse. Anyway, we had a blast! (No pun intended.) :)

Trying to do some blog catching-up . . . only 2 more relatively big events to blog about now - our trip up to Ashville last month for the Apple Festival and our trip to Kackleberry Farm yesterday. Hopefully can post the pics soon - they are CUTE!!

Miscellaneous October

So I never got Ei's BD pictures posted, I told you I have trouble with the big events! So here are just a few random pictures.
If you can't read the shirt, it says "Genius in the making." He's taking after his mother - ha!




And our beautiful ballerina - she's taking lessons (and LOVES to twirl) but says it's soccer next time!