A Clover Christmas

We spent Christmas in Clover with both of the families.  Christmas Eve we got all dressed up for church in the adorable dress we bought at Craig’s boss’ store.  Too bad we couldn’t keep our hair bow in for more than 5 seconds!

After church we went back to my parents’ house where we eagerly awaited Santa’s arrival!

After a few minutes of waiting at the window our short attention span gave in and we decided to just play with the toys already at Nanny and PoPo’s house instead.

Christmas morning we headed over to my sister Erin’s house for presents and an early dinner.

From Erin’s we headed to my mother-in-law’s house for yet another meal.  Apparently we were so busy with all of the presents and food that we forgot to take out our camera.

Christmas night it began to snow (which hadn’t happened on Christmas Day in almost 50 years)… and it continued most of the day Sunday.  The snow was so pretty and really made it feel like Christmas!

Unfortunately, we had to head back to Tennessee Sunday afternoon so we didn’t get to play in the snow very much.  We were a little nervous about what the roads would be like… especially in the high mountains around the NC/TN border!  Thankfully, in spite of a couple dicey moments around Buckner Gap and Sam’s Gap, we made it home!

What a busy, fun-filled holiday weekend!  Now… it’s time to rest up for the New Year! 

A Seuss-tastic 1st Birthday!

Yesterday was Bailey’s 1st birthday!  We decided to have a Dr. Seuss party to mark the occasion. 

Oh my!  There were so many fun things to do with this theme… Oh, the Places We Could Go!

Of course, any good party must start with a great invitation!  Here’s the invite I whipped up…

…filled with Seuss-style rhymes and characters!

On to the decorations! (which are so super easy to do for this theme!!!)

The entryway, where guests were greeted by Fish from Cat in the Hat…

…the living room, which was filled with lots of fun things to look at and explore…

…such as the mantle covered with characters (Thanks so much Jordan for letting us borrow them!) and books (Courtesy of the Greater Kingsport Public Library!)

…the TV area where we played Horton Hears a Who and other Cat in the Hat cartoons!

…and the My Many Colored Days coffee table coloring station!

We even created a little retreat in the kitchen for the Grandparents to eat and escape the chaos of the kids in the living room!

Now… let’s talk about the food!

Guests were invited to enjoy the spread with a modified rhyme from Dr. Seuss’ Happy Birthday to You!

We served Green Eggs and Ham sandwiches…

…Sneetches PB&J star sandwiches…

…One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish crackers and cheese…

…ABC Cheez-It crackers…

…Seuss juice…

…and, of course, a wonky Seuss-style cake complete with the rhyme “I am what I am!  That’s a great thing to be!  If I say so myself, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!” from Dr. Seuss’ Happy Birthday to Me!

The kids (and adults) all seemed to have a lot of fun!

There were lots of wonderful presents…

…which had to be tested… immediately!

And, of course, no party would be complete without ice cream and cake!

Each child at the party was presented with a Dr. Seuss book and character as their favor so that they wouldn’t leave the party empty handed!

We had so much fun!  And although it makes me a little sad to think that Bailey’s already 1 year old, I certainly had a blast celebrating with her!

Deck the Halls

Saturday we packed up and headed out to Roan Valley Tree Farm in Johnson City to pick out this year’s Christmas tree.  This is the first year that Roan Valley Tree Farm has opened their grounds up for “Choose and Cut”, and we were very excited to check it out!  The trees were gorgeous… and their facilities (although still under construction) were really cool.  The gentleman there said that next year they plan to offer hayrides, hot chocolate/apple cider, roasted marshmallows, and even visits from Santa! 

I hate to say it Fall Branch Christmas Tree Farm (which we’ve been patrons of for the last 4 years), but I think we have moved on.  Thanks for all of the good times, but  we’re totally over you!

Anyway, back to our new love… Roan Valley Tree Farm!  We cruised through the many rows of beautiful trees, searching for the perfect one.

Bailey found one that was just right for her… too bad we don’t have any place to put it or we might have ended up taking it home too.

Eventually though, we settled on the tree that was meant for us!

We think it looks right at home in our den!  We both agree that this tree is the prettiest yet we’ve had in this house!  Oh yeah… and best of all… Bailey isn’t the least bit interested in it!!!  I mean she likes to look at the tree while I hold her up next to it, but she crawls right past it anytime she’s on the loose in the den! 

After completing the tree I moved on to other areas in the house.  I pulled out the bronze elk statue that we bought while visiting in Jackson, Wyoming several years ago.  I think it looks great on the entry table accented with some greenery and a few lights!

Next stop was the dining room where I set up my hand made ceramic nativity set.  We figured it would be safer in the dining room than in it’s typical home on the entry table, which Bailey enjoys climbing on the bottom shelf of. 

On to the living room where I hung a strand of icicle lights from the mantle and decorated with some simple ornaments.

I LOVE how the living room now glows!

I only had one strand of icicle lights left and I was determined to put them somewhere!  So, I decided to light up the black hole which is our kitchen by stringing them around our Christmas card board.  Again, I like the extra little glow this has created… especially since it basically doubled the amount of light present in the kitchen!  Nope, not kidding about that one!

The only thing left to do is hang the wreath on the front door.  Unfortunately, some birds ate about 1/4 of the fake berries off of it last winter, so I’m going to have to make a few minor repairs before I can get it up on the front door.

But despite this minor set back, I think the house looks fantastic!  This will definitely be a very merry Christmas!