Valentines Day

Don't know how much longer Gradyman will think it is fun to help me bake/cook...  but while he still thinks it's cool, I am taking advantage of it!  We started the tradition of having a special Family Valentines Day Supper last year and continued it again this year.  Grady helped me decide on the special dessert...  We made a strawberry pie with a heart crust.  Thankfully, Vera was entertaining herself while all the baking was going on...  Don't know if I could have handled all of the help that she would have offered!  ha!

Happy Valentines Day from two little clowns...

Mississippi Snowstorm 2014

Today we had no school due to the gobs and gobs of winter weather present here in Mississippi....  HA.  Poor Josh woke up really early and left for work at like 6:15 a.m. because he figured it would take a while to get there.  When he pulled up at his office, his boss called and said they were closing today.  So he made the trip back home, going on side roads to avoid the standstill traffic on the interstate.

Oh well, I guess 6 snowflakes is better than no snowflakes...  (Just kidding...we had more than 6, but I am sure Jenny, Eric, and PawPaw will be laughing at these pictures of all of our snow!!!) 

We stayed inside all morning and just watched it, hoping that we would get at least enough to cover the grass and have a decent amount to play in.  After lunch, Josh decided from watching the radar that we probably had all we were going to get.  So we went out to play for a bit.  It was COLD!  This Mississippi girl lives down south for a reason...  I HATE to be cold!  So we didn't play very long.  But Vera and Grady thought it was great!  They looked just like Ralphie and Randy.  

 Vera thought it was hilarious when Josh threw snowballs at her!

 Of course my little eater had to taste some snow...

Now...let's hope for some warmer weather to come our way soon!  This cold is the pits!  I am ready for the beach!

Memphis Trip

For Christmas, we gave Grady and Vera tickets to the Fresh Beat Band concert in Memphis at the Orpheum.  My kids LOVE this show!  They watch it when it comes on tv, but they also have one of the season's DVD's and so we can watch it all the time...  ha ha.  When I first heard they were coming to Memphis, let's say that Josh didn't jump right on that as fast as I did...  It took him a while to give in and agree to get tickets for them for Christmas.  It was so worth it because they had SUCH a great time, and we did too.  They put on a good little show and there should just be more things like that for kiddos with positive messages and such.  Here are a few pics from the concert...  Neither of them were very interested in taking pictures as usual.

Josh sure looks pumped up about the Fresh Beats, doesn't he???  HAAA!  (He had a good time...even if he doesn't admit it!)

 Grady totally got into the music and actually danced and tried to sing along with the songs he knew...and we did know most of them!  V. even clapped and tried to sing along, too!

 We got seats right on the aisle as we had read reviews about the band encouraging kids to get up and dance in the aisles.  Grady and V. got in the aisle a few times, but were more fascinated with the big girls dancing behind them than the band on stage.  ha.

 Back at the hotel...  Aren't their little guitar shirts so cute!?  And we have already broken one of the fabulous light-up sticks!  Oh well!

 We spent the night and then took them to the Children's Museum of Memphis the next morning before heading back home.  This children's museum is the first one I ever went to when I was a kid and I had such great memories of it.  It did not disappoint!  It was SUCH a great children's museum and these two little kiddos (and two BIG kiddos) had a ball!  We hope to be able to take them back really soon as they thoroughly enjoyed it and didn't want to leave!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning at the Hammer house brought lots of squeals and excitement!  Watching Grady and Vera see what Santa brought with utter elation brings back so many memories of Christmas mornings with my sisters when I was little!  They are so funny and get so very excited over everything in sight!  I love it and wouldn't trade seeing those sweet little faces/smiles for anything!

Some of Santa's gifts were wrapped and stamped with the North Pole seal, just like last year! 

We had Christmas Day lunch at Susan and Jon's house this year.  Will was so cute in his Christmas outfit!  I just love this kid so much!

 This was too funny not to get a picture of!  Guess having little kids simply wears a guy out!

We went to Grana and Pops' house for Christmas Night Supper and Grady and V. enjoyed getting to hang out with Samantha and Gavin as usual!

 

Hope yours was merry, too!  :)

Christmas Eve

This was the first Christmas Eve in my entire life that I have not been to Yazoo City and spent it with my parents and sisters.  Since Jenny and Eric were here earlier, we did not do our normal Fulton Family Christmas Eve thing...  Mom and I talked about it and it was kind of nice to have a little "break" between what we normally do on Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day's celebrations.  So anyway, I kind of enjoyed our quiet little day around the house...just the four of us!

 

We made cookies for Santa  (Disclaimer...I am definitely not Susan, nor can I even attempt to be.  Poor kids.  When Vera is a little older, maybe I can try a little more advancements in the cookie baking department, but for now, when you have a 4 year old who just wants to slap it on there, and a 1 year old who wants to eat everything in sight, you do slice-and-bakes...  well, not even that...it's more like "drop-the-cubes" HA!  Oh well, Santa eats anything, I hear!!!)

 And then we REALLY got fancy...we added red and green m&m's to the tops!  Whoo Hoo!

 Then we had to sprinkle our front and back lawns with reindeer food.  I have made this stuff every year since I began teaching...  but this year, I lucked up and one of Vera's little friends at school gave her some.  I didn't even have to make it!  Whoo hoo again!

 

 We wrote our letters to Santa.  So lovely that my son decided to change his list and ask for things I'd never heard him mention EVER wanting.  Hmmm...  Guess we are going to have to write those letters a little bit earlier next year and tell him that he has to stick to what he says.  ha.

Here they are putting out those fancy-shmancy cookies we made for St. Nick... 

 

"Cookie!  Eat?"
"No, Vera...those are for Santa.  You've already brushed your teeth."

...the stockings were hung by the chimney with care

in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there!

 More to come soon on Christmas Day fun!!!