love always....Sweet Pot

Christmas morning was amazing at our house! Wait for it....wait for it...yes....we had to WAKE OUR KIDS UP! It is all on video, just for proof! But once they were up and going, we had a great morning of digging through stockings and tearing into gifts! Craig, Todd, Hope, Hunter and myself enjoyed opening gifts and the excitment was really fun! Hope would rip into a gift, and then another and then another; while Hunter would open one gift and want to play with it. We found ourselves pleading with him to opening gifts and explaining he could play with them later on. It was so funny...Santa brought Hope a Barbie dream house ("it is not the one I wanted, but it is bigger and better"-Hope) and Hunter a Black and Decker workbench and a spiderman chair. Spiderman was the thing that rocked his world this year! Funny story about the workbench-Hope is playing with it more than he is.

Around 11:30 I got the call from my mom that my grandfather had passed away. The thoughts that came to my mind were 1-he waited until my brother was able to visit him (he arrived to his house at 2:00 am and stayed for an hour or so that morning) and 2-what an AWESOME Christmas gift for Papasan...he was reunited with Grandma! I left as soon as I could and headed to Georgia. I was so thankful for the two previous weekends we were able to share with him (he was very lucid and with it and what great memories were made)! I spent the next 4 days cleaning out and doing some serious bonding with my brother. We would start going through items and old pictures and laugh and laugh and tell great stories. I will treasure those times I had with my brother as we worked together and shared memories with each other.

Losing Papasan is very hard, but I know deep inside that he is so much happier, at peace and with his loved ones that have been waiting on him in heaven. The one thing that I said to him when we had our Christmas the week before his passing, was to be sure and tell my Grandma hello for me and that one day I will see them all again soon(knowing that this was the last time I would see him). We will be having his memorial service in a couple of weeks, but I am already at peace in my heart that he is singing his heart out and walking the streets of gold!

Papasan-I love you and thank you for being the rock that held this family together! When I think of you, I will miss you, but I will not be sad-I smile and think about where you are!
Love always,
your Sweet Pot

that's not right...

We are SO excited around here...lots of energy and spirit is filling this household. I am loving being on Christmas break and I am taking full advantage of it! I think I am just being lazy, but try to make myself feel better by justifying it as my Christmas vacation. I really think this is going to be one of the best Christmas mornings ever!
Last weekend we got to celebrate Christmas with the my dad's side of the family and then with my mom's side of the family. Good times were most definitely had and the kids loved opening up gifts. However, our little Hope still knows the reason for the season. At my Aunt Bobette's house, all the adults were in the kitchen-with the exception of Craig. He was with the kids in the living room and I am so glad he did, so he could be a witness to this...Hope walks over in front of her tree and sings happy birthday to Jesus ("since there were all the presents there and all") all by herself. That made my heart so happy!
Today, while we were sitting around the table eating breakfast today, Hope says, "I love you Hunter". He responded with "thank you Hopey", in which she says "that is not what you are supposed to say! You are supposed to say I love you, too!" Craig and I just cracked up!
I hope to have wonderful Christmas pics to post the next time I do post. Here are some pics from this past weekend.

safety patrol

Hope is the child that looks out for the family: safety first! She always is looking out for Craig's safety-typically this comes with the constant harassment of "put your seat belt on!" every time we get into the car. Of course, she worried who would remind daddy when she wasn't in the car with him-thus, she wrote him a note as a reminder...it eventually flew out the window. And yes, he eventually got a ticket for not wearing his seat belt.

Apparently today Hope spilled her drink on the kitchen floor. She got the mop and cleaned it up herself. Again, she felt it her responsibility to make sure Craig was safe, "Daddy, be careful and don't run in the kitchen because I spilled my drink and the floor is still a little bit wet." We got tickled for all the times that (apparently) Craig runs in the kitchen. Have you seen our kitchen? It is so small that it takes about 4 steps and you have crossed it. Not sure how much "running" is being done in there by Craig!

jingle bells...e, f, g...

As you can see, I am not doing so well on updating the blog. I think about it, and then get distracted doing something else. Anyway, the Christmas season is upon us, but not before a wonderful trip to Gulf Shores, AL with Grandaddy and Nonna! We had such a good time swimming, fishing, running on the beach and even taking a tour of the USS Alabama. Not to mention the quality time we had with family!



We had a great time putting up our Christmas tree! This is going to be "the year"! I can't wait to see the kids faces on Christmas morning! Hunter is already so excited-the newness is amazing to him; as is Hope. They both go around singing Christmas songs, Hunter's specialty is a mixture of Jingle Bells and The alphabet song. It is great! Hope has been busy practicing being a teacher. She is too cute! I was able to film her last night as she would read to Hunter and then have him repeat words (placing her hand by her ear, saying "I can't hear you, say it louder!", in a "teacher tone"). She also uses the pointer and has him name shapes and colors as she points to them. I see a video coming for when she graduates with her education degree :)