Getting Ready for Santa

First things first, the girls said goodbye to Clyde. He has become a member of the family! How will we get along without him? Clyde is the reason Samantha gets up every morning!

I don't think even Christmas gifts from Santa tomorrow morning will compete with the excitement of finding Clyde in each new hiding place over the past few weeks.

 The cookies are out along with oats for Rudolf!  Sweet dreams...

Christmas Eve at Nana and Paw Paw's House

This year Christmas was especially special because we had a very special little man with us. That's him peeking through Hanna's hair.

 Caden wasn't as shy as he was letting on. He made sure he was the center of attention when the camera was in my hand.

 Here he is in mid-air.

Somehow I managed to NOT get any pictures of Dewayne, Linda, Hanna, Drew, Mandy and Caden together! UGH!

 It was so great having Drew back from Kuwait for Christmas.

 I went shopping with Nana for Jess and Sam's gifts this year to save her some leg work but it didn't save her pocketbook! I think I went a little overboard. It's so easy to spend someone else's money!!!

 Samantha with her Paw Paw.

 Daddy opening his gifts. I completely surprised him this year, that's hard to do.

 Here's Hanna opening the gifts Jessica and Samantha got her from the Christmas store at school. They love shopping at the school 'store' because the gifts are just from them.

iHope Christmas

This year's musical was about group of kids who create their own web show called "iHope Live", based on the name of the main character – Hope. They want to do a Christmas special but feel like they need more inspiration and information before going "live." To find what they're looking for, they seek out Hope's great aunt, who used to be in show business. Hope and her friends find themselves with some pretty eccentric "showbiz-type" people who inspire them. 
The dancers welcomed everyone to the show with this tune: 
Welcome to, welcome to, welcome to our show
We're really glad you made the trip, so turn off your cell phones!
Sit right back, settle in, get comfy and relax. 
Enjoy the Web show iHope Live, starring Hope and Max. 

Callie's stage name was Swirly, Maleah was Jingles

 and Samantha was Twirly.

  And now it's time for "Random Dancing"

Jessica had a much bigger role this year. She, Hayden and Maddie played the iHope groupies. Jessica especially loved getting to be silly the whole time with Hayden and Maddie.

The 'groupies' sang "You Are Jesus (I Am Yours)" and they did a beautiful job. It was probably my favorite song of the whole play.

There's Jess in the back with Hayden and Maddie swaying and dancing to Emily's song. Emily did an amazing job.

And then the grand finale was "A Little Hope." The kids really out did themselves this year and so did Nikki and Tara. I know I say that every year but even Clint said it was the best Christmas play yet!

Ozark Christmas Parade 2011

This parade was much more enjoyable for me because I remembered the crown and banner this time! After the P-Nut Parade I doubt I will ever forget them again!

The Ozark Christmas Parade beat the P-Nut Parade hands down. It probably had something to do with the number of entries!

Girl's B-Ball Night

We went to see Blake's team play the HA girls tonight in Dothan. The girls had the time of their lives!

 

 I usually would rather have a root canal than watch girls basketball (Yes, that sounds mean but if you'd been to my high school girl's games you would understand.) BUT this game might have been the most exciting game I've ever been to ever!  Trinity fought a good fight and led the entire night, but unfortunately HA pulled out a win the last second of the game! It was disappointing but still an awesome game.

 After the game we went to Arby's to eat and it was so late the girls had gotten just plain SILLY!

 As you can see we had the place to ourselves and the girls took advantage of the situation and showed out!

 Oh I wish we could have more nights together like this one!

Decorating Dilemma

Jessica and Samantha don't get along on a regular day. They both think they can do everything better than the other. Throw in tons of Christmas decorations, way too much to manage with sanity and it's The Nightmare Before Christmas! 

Samantha just broke one of Jessica's homemade ornaments! That's not a smile, she's gritting her teeth!

 We are ready for Santa. I just hope our elf, Clyde, wasn't watching them decorate or he might not be ready for us!

I'M ready for a silent night.

Elf

We were just watching the beginning of the movie Elf when all the elves are busy making toys in Santa's workshop. Jessica turns to me and asks "Where are they, China?"