They grow up so fast....

Look at this little old lady:

Doesn't she seem to have aged a wee bit?!?  Well, luckily this was only temporary.  Lily Clare's class celebrated the 100th day of school by dressing up like 100 year olds.

Here are the senior citizens after they got off of the bus in the afternoon!

Pass the Metamucil~

Laurie

Blessed are the peacekeepers....

for they will be called sons of God.  Matthew 5:9

OK, I know that is not the scripture, but I think this story plays a little twist on it!  Meet our resident "peacekeeper"!    Sam!

Sam and Lily Clare's school started a program called "Peace Keepers".  This group acts as a student branch of the school's counseling office and help with smaller student "riffs" that may be able to be worked out with some input from an "upperclassman".    Students have to apply to be selected as a peace keeper and must have recommendations from teachers.  Last Spring, Sam decided that he would like to be a part of this program, so he put in an application.  Being one of 80+ students was a little daunting, but guess what?!?!

Sam was one of the seven who were chosen!!!!  

He has a folder in the counselor's office that he needs to check to see if there are any cases that he needs to mediate.  He has had a few situations where he has had to lend his "knowledge", but we are not privy to the details.  (Which he loves!)

But, you know what? Who cares!!!  We are so proud that he wanted to be a part of the program and even more so, that he was chosen!  I feel that he should be blessed .... whether a peace maker or "peacekeeper"! He's doing a great job!

Peace~

Laurie

Rapunzel, Rapunzel.....

let down your long hair!!!  That is what I have been saying for soooo long!  Well, more like, Lily Clare, Lily Clare...be still while I brush your hair!  And gosh, my arms were getting tired every night I would brush and dry her hair!  

Well, all of this paid off on Jan. 8th!  Miss Lily went to the local salon (ok, actually, I drove her) and got a new "do"!  Even better - she donated her hair to Locks of Love! This organization provides hairpieces to children suffering from medical hairloss.  

Here is Lily Clare at home before we left!

They had to divide her hair into small pony tails.

Next comes the ruler!  Guess what?!?!  10 inches!!!!

And the cuts begin....

This was Lily's favorite part! Can you tell by the look on her face?

Precious!  Look at that ponytail!!!

And Miss Sass emerges!Such a perfect cut!

What a brave girl Lily is for doing this!  We are so proud!  We pray that the child that receives this hair feels the love that comes with it and knows that our family prays for healing for them!

One proud Mama~

Laurie 

Hometown tour

This was the first year that John took off the week between Christmas and New Years.  We were all so excited to have a few days of family time with nothing to do and no where to go!  After we laid around the house in our pj's for a couple of days and played with all of our new toys, we decided to get out and take advantage of the beautiful weather.  One thing that I have been wanting to do and just haven't gotten around to is to take the kids downtown and tour some of Atlanta's sights.  So on Thursday we hit the road and headed ITP (inside the perimeter)!  For those not familiar with Atlanta, there are two places to live: ITP and OTP (outside the perimeter).  ITP is for the "hip" crowd, OTP is for the "we were hip at one time, but have decided to live further out to save money and put our kids in awesome public schools; but we really are still hip...really, we are" crowd! 

Our first stop was the Georgia Capital!

Can you see those two specks on the beautiful marble staircase?!?!

What? Huh?  Are they really?!? Yes, those are my kiddos standing behind Gov. Deal's desk!!!  He was not in for the day, but we talked with his administrative assistant and she gave us a private tour of his office!

Well, I waited and waited for a boot shine, but no one ever showed up!

We finished our tour and look at the wonderful, southern inspired treats Mr. Deal gave us!!  Perfect!

Our next stop was the Historic Oakland Cemetery!

We did get a few odd looks when we told people that we had gone to a cemetery, but seriously this place is incredible!  It is so full of Southern history, the monuments are beautiful and some pretty famous people are buried here.

Case in point....Margaret Mitchell!

This is the "Lion of the Confederacy" statue.  Carved from marble from North Georgia and by someone from Canton, GA.  It represents the Confederate soldiers who died fighting for their beliefs.  Such a beautiful work!

It was so odd to be standing in this cemetery and look over and see the skyline of Atlanta.  I guess us "OTP-er's" aren't used to stuff like that!

Another famous person buried here - Bobby Jones, the golfer.  As you can tell, several people come to pay him respects.  

Complete with a putting hole next to his headstone!

Next, our journey took us to Peachtree Center.  Well, actually, we were headed to Peachtree Plaza, but the restaurant wasn't open yet, so we toured around for a bit to waste some time.

Cue the violins, please.......

Back in 1987, John and I , freshmen in college, had gone downtown to meet some friends for some dinner and fun.  Well, to spare the details, John and I had our first kiss in this spot!  It's amazing that the picture turned out so clear since the kids were laughing and saying "Ewwwww" with such emotion!   

Finally it was 4:00 and the Westin Peachtree Plaza restaurant - The Sun Dial - opened and we were able to ride the 73 floor elevator to the top and spend some time in the rotating room!

Who knew chips and salsa could be so classy!  Even more so at such a high altitude!!  (My two favorite boys in the world!!!)

What a spectacular day!  Atlanta is such a great city and there is so much that we haven't seen or done, but was a great start!  And to spend this day with the three loves of my life...priceless!

Proud to be a Southern Belle~

Laurie

Believe it not...

our holiday fun continued!  (Seriously, this is the most stretched out blog story ever.)  

Our next fun took place in Alabama, the weekend before Christmas.  We went down to celebrate with my side of the family. It was beautiful weather which took us outside for a while; and what do you do when you're out in the woods in the South!??!?  Well, shoot guns, of course!

Sam brought his BB gun and was chomping at the bit to get out in the woods and shoot at something.

Then the "sharp shooter" transformed into an elf and we were ready to exchange gifts!  

Not sure how it happens, but every year our gift exchange gets louder and crazier!  I guess next year I'll have to post a video.  Pictures just don't do it justice.  

Lily Clare doesn't leave Maddie's side for the entire time we visit.  Thank you Madison for being such an awesome game partner, Polly Pocket playing, coloring and craft making cousin!

And what's the other thing you do when it's a gorgeous winter day  in the South?!?!?  You go outside early in the morning, still in your pajamas, and feed ducks!!!!

Quack!~
Laurie

Holiday fun continued...

So after our visits with Santa and all of the Christmas parties at school -- well actually, they are called "holiday" parties, but I'm a rebel and still call them CHRISTmas parties -- we continued our fun!  John and I attended our first Ugly Sweater party! It was so fun and guess what?!?!?!

John came home with the 1st Place trophy!  I think is was the pants that gave him the edge!!!!

December 14th brought some of the most horrible news that I've ever seen or heard....the Sandy Hook shooting.  Actually, I didn't really know all of the details until Monday the 17th, because I didn't want to watch the news while the kids were home.  But I still have't been able to find the right words to express my thoughts on this tragedy!  My heart breaks for everyone involved and all I can do is feel blessed to have my healthy kiddos right here by my side!  After I let the news soak in and the kids heard an abbreviated version at school, I wanted to do something to honor the sweet little souls that were now in Heaven.  So, the kids and I made tin foil hearts, Sam and Lily wrote the names of the new angels and we hung them in our front yard Crabapple tree from bright colored strings.

The pictures don't really do it justice,but at night, the hearts shimmered from the street lights and it was beautiful!

Our next adventure was going to downtown ATL to the Coca Cola corporate offices with my friend, Pam.  She works there and asked us if we wanted to join she and her boys for lunch at the company cafeteria and to look at all of the decorations!  Well, of course we did!!! So, we headed in town and had a great time!

Lily always making herself comfortable with a group of boys!

Taking care of a little business.  (Psst -- if you are nice, I'll let you know the secret formula!)

Great decorations!

Beautiful tree!

Yes, there are unlimited Coke products everywhere and yes the kids were in Heaven!  Thanks Pam for including us!

The week before (after the news of the Sandy Hook shooting) we found out that one of our neighbors had been hit by a car at the entrance to our neighborhood.  She was in the ICU for several days, but sadly didn't make it.  So our neighborhood, along with other neighborhoods in the area coordinated a night of luminaries for the Sandy Hook victims and for our neighborhood, in honor of our neighbor.  It was a crazy afternoon of filling paper bags with cat litter and candles and then placing them around the curbs, but the result was beautiful!  (And actually, when you have a gaggle of young kids and form an assembly line, anything seems possible!)  

Our next adventures will take us to Alabama, Tennessee and into the Georgia Capital.  So keep on reading.....

Nonstop~

Laurie