So Much to be Thankful For...

I am hopelessly behind in posting, so am going to try to catch up just a bit tonight. We are now in the midst of the Christmas season (I could not be happier!) but I do want to reflect on our wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We were able to drive down to Shreveport on Tuesday evening for a longer-than-usual stay. On Wednesday, Kendal and his dad fished at the lake while Ms. Julia Claire, the twins and I got busy with Thanksgiving preparations. I got to help make Bebe's famous "Cracker Salad" as well as the cornbread dressing - it was a huge responsibility, but I think everything turned out okay! I also spent several hours during the twins' naptime pouring over the Lands' family albums. I tried to scan in a number of old photos for us to keep - photos are my favorite family treasure and I'm so happy that the Lands (like my parents!) documented so much of their kids' growing years.

From Collages

Thanksgiving day was wonderful. The weather was nice so we took the cousins outside to play for a while, hoping that would lead to a nap later but no such luck :) The meal was wonderful and the kids really enjoyed both turkey and dressing. That evening, our best-est friends and god-twins (George and Abigail) came over for a much-needed visit. The kids have all grown so much since they were last together over Labor Day and it was so much fun to watch them interact and play together. It was a drama-free, twin-filled night!

From Collages

The next morning at 4:15 am, Ms. Julia Claire, Shannon and I set out for some holiday shopping. Ouch. Wal-Mart was a complete disaster and an experience I wish to forget due to crazy crowds, but once we got to Target all was well! I got a great dual DVD player for the car for a steal, so we're looking to get the kids on the road soon to test it out! We also picked up tons of cheap DVD's and finished out the twins' Christmas shopping (and more!). And, of course, a Sonic run for Diet Coke and breakfast burritos was in order! We had such a good time and I love this holiday tradition! Yes, we are absolutely crazy but we had fun so that's what really counts!

Thanksgiving weekend, we were able to celebrate the marriage of some wonderful friends, Margaret and Marc, with their friends and families. Kendal was honored to lead the wedding ceremony and we had such a wonderful time celebrating with them throughout the weekend. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Doose!

Waffles and Collages

I want to start by bragging on my husband. Yesterday, as I came downstairs in a tizzy with hair half-straightened and babies singing in screeching tones "Get me up!" through the monitor, I found him up to his elbows in home-made waffles! Not only that, he concocted a fan-tabulous bananas foster topping that rivals anything you can dish up in New Orleans. All this on a Tuesday morning! Not only that, he braved the wilds of Toys 'R Us to pick out the perfect kitchen set from "Santa" (this from the guy who claims to be a Christmas scrooge). Unbelievable. Really, can a girl be more lucky?!

Finally, I figured it out! I have viewed my friend Carly's blog for quite a while with a great deal of envy (she's the most fab mom, you should read her blog every day!). She posts absolutely precious collages of her photos, which can be so much nicer than wading through a slide-show. I found that all I had to do is download the beta version of Picasa web albums, and poof! So here we go, my first collage! Plan to see many more in the days to come. I looked through our "Fall '08" photo folder and chose some of my very favorites... clearly I have a lot of favorites.

From Collages

Also from Carly's blog, I have discovered a blog that makes me feel inspired as a lady from the Deep South, yet horribly frumpy and messy all at the same time: A Little Loveliness. The recipes all look fantastic and her creativity is staggering. My hope is that I can take a few, a small few, of her tips to heart while trying to be a Christ-centered, loving, creative, full-of-joy-and-laughter mom. (However, I really am more like these poor, unfortunate souls. If only you could see my kitchen, where I've been making pilgrim hat cookies and chocolate cake for a party tomorrow. Yeesh!)

Okay, one more. I am totally, completely, fa-la-la-la-la-tee-dah in the Christmas spirit and so ready to get my house decorated in all its sparkly holiday glory! I just can't wait to experience the holiday with these growing babies - they are so curious, so excited by simple things. So, in honor of the twins and Christmas, here are a few shots taken last year around this time. Oh, my bald beauties!!

From Collages

Mead

Last weekend, Kendal decided to take on a grand experiment and cook up some Christmas Mead. The mead has now been in our "ale closet" for a week and looks to be fermenting well, so we'll see what happens! It's chock full of fabulous Christmas flavors like oranges, honey, cloves, cinnamon and golden raisins.

Kendal's inspiration was our friend Mary Beth, a professor at one of the local universities. Her class is hosting a Medieval Fair in a few weeks and she needed some real mead for a recipe. Kendal was happy to oblige! Mary Beth, hubby Chris, kids Rose and Viv and our friend and brewmaster Drew all came over to help with the cooking. We had a great time! Our kids will all most certainly be well rounded!

Staying Busy!

We had a great weekend - two dinners out with friends (once with a sitter!) and lots of chill time at home. On Saturday, we bundled up the kids and took them to a neighborhood park. They loved it and even wore their winter hats about half of the time. These kiddos hate hats, so that was quite a feat! After the park outing, Kendal and I grabbed Sonic drinks and gave the kids a snack. Then back home! We made "Tastees" for dinner - they are glorified sloppy joes that we became addicted to while living in Russellville, KY. Kendal cooked up the Tastees then we ate them on wheat buns with tons of mustard and pickles - yum!



We also discovered (or, really, confirmed) that Jackson Camper has his daddy's love for the guitar! Carlisle loves to dance around while Kendal plays, but J.C. grabs for the cords and tries to play. I guess we'll need to start saving for another guitar!

We are planning to get the twins a play kitchen for Christmas (thank goodness they can't read the blog yet!). We are debating between two Little Tikes kitchens (#1 and #2) and would love input if anyone has it to share! We're trying to keep it in the $75-85 range if possible.

This morning, we took the kids to the Heifer Mission Fair that the local Methodist Church hosted at the fairgrounds. They set up a large stall with tons of farm animals (goats, a furry cow, fancy chickens, rabbits, etc.). The kids were able to interact with the animals - at first they were hesitant but they soon warmed up to their new farm friends. They particularly liked the nubian goats (I've wanted one for a pet for some time, so maybe now is the time!). Afterwards, we took part in their "Story Time" and then bought a few Christmas gifts for family.



Yesterday, after a ridiculously long nap (Three hours! Unheard of!) we loaded up for Little Rock. Kendal dropped Car-Car and I off at the annual Holiday House for the best shopping of the year! We managed to talk the volunteers into loaning us a real shopping cart and we were off! We got almost every Christmas present taken care of and had a blast. Thank goodness she is my little shopper!! In the meantime, Kendal and Jackson Camper bought some liquid yeast at the "Fermentables" store and toured Gander Mountain where our boy had a field day with all the fishing and outdoor equipment. Our "shopper" and our "camper" are exactly on target :)

This afternoon, our wonderful friend Meghan took some photos of the family in the fall leaves. We are hoping they will turn out perfectly for our Christmas cards. Meghan is a fantastic photographer - check out her blog listed to the right!

Tonight, we watched our proud LSU Tigers lose a heartbreaker to Alabama. They played a strong game and almost pulled out the win (darn that Saban!). Tough season, but we still love 'em. The high point of the night was when both Carlisle and Jackson Camper successfully fed themselves with their spoons! There is more practice ahead but they were pretty good this first go around. Carlisle does like to pick up her food, put it in the spoon THEN feed herself, though :)



And - we haven't talked about this yet - but we do want to mention how excited we are about the recent and historic election of President Barack Obama (though Kendal still holds out for a Green Party candidate one of these days). We know the road ahead will be a long and bumpy one, but I really do believe he is exactly the person our country needs at such a time as this...

This weekend, I loaded up the kids (and almost every outfit they own!) and headed to Hattiesburg to visit family. We left around 6AM on Wednesday morning and - thanks to the Eldridge's DVD player and plenty of "Veggie Tales" - we made it without any major outbursts. We were able to spend several hours with great friends Emily Kines (we've been friends since we were three!) and her kids Anne Elise and Ava on our way through Jackson. She treated us to yummy Chicken Salad Veronique and mac 'n cheese for the kids. Three hours quickly flew by and then we headed for Hattiesburg!

In the meantime, Kendal was back in Arkadelphia. We missed him so much during our visit but took lots of pics so he feels part of the action. He had a nice time at home, I think, helping some friends move into their new house and celebrating the recent engagement of friends Aaron and Rachel. Next time, he's coming with us to MS!

It was a pretty packed few days, but we had a great visit. We spent lots of time with my grandmother, Mama Diket, who recently turned 96 and is one of the most special people in the world to me. The kids were a little wild during their visits, but they did settle down enough to "bump heads" lovingly with Mama Diket and give us good time to visit. I truly believe she prayed the twins here and I am so, so grateful for her love.

We had a great time with my parents, sister and her boyfriend Matt over the trip. The twins enjoyed their first sushi dinner (well, chicken teriakyi and fried rice) during my dad's 59th b'day dinner - you can see Carli playing "chopsticks" above! Jackson and Carlisle really liked the miso soup, too! They also got to enjoy a Hattiesburg treat, Gold Post, as well as Bianchi's pizza. But their favorite part of the trip by far was trick-or-treating at Southern Miss! We dressed the kids (again!) in their bumblebee costumes and headed to the college campus. The students were getting ready for Homecoming and set up candy stations as they decorated their floats. The kids were a hit, especially in their USM black and gold! They are pictured here with the Tri Delta ladies, my sister's sorority. Good times!

We also had time to do a little shopping... Mom and I found a fantastic children's clothing trunk sale and got some precious outfits for the twins - look for photos soon! We also found the cutest rocking chairs for toddlers at Big Lots, my new favorite, favorite store.

The Last "Land" Turns One!

Just a few days ago, we were able to celebrate our nephew Michael's very first birthday! We all drove down for the big pre-Halloween bash. Shannon (M's mom and Kendal's sis) went all out with "monster cupcakes," Halloween decorations, hubby Patrick's 5-alarm chili and a fantastic "ghost cake" designed by our super talented sister-in-law, Jennifer. The twins were so excited to celebrate alongside their other one-year-old cousin, Casey Land. The house was packed with kids and friends and we had a fantastic time! We absolutely cannot believe all of these "babies" are now toddlers, but watching them play together just gives us precious glimpses into what is to come!

After the birthday bash, we took all the kids to the annual "Trunk or Treat" party at the Land's church. The adults all decorated the trunks of their cars, then invited the decked-out kiddos to grab as much candy as they could. The twins were again in their bumblebee costumes and looked pretty darn cute!

Carli with the other girls (I think she had too much candy!)