Merry Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas.

Santa came!

Peter is ready for duck hunting with Daddy!

American Girl dolls were at the top of the girls' lists. Caroline got the newest historical girl "Caroline" and Helen got a Bitty Baby, which she named "Helen".

Santa remembered to leave a treat for Tigger.

This was one of the only things Helen asked for - a "blow flute" just like her music teacher's at school.

Peter got lots of wheeled things. And balls. Hooray for boy things!

Princess karaoke

Our gift to each other was a new piece of artwork for our family room.

It was unintentionally a merry "Grizz-mas", due to all the gifted Grizzlies items. It just kind of happened. Peter got a mini Grizz from his sisters. Helen wanted to get Daddy a flag (no idea where that came from), so I ran with it and got him a flag pole set up and the official NBA Grizzlies flag. Not pictured is Kevin's new Grizzlies polo shirt Caroline picked out for him. Helen's favorite player is Mike Conley. Kevin found this jersey on sale several weeks before Christmas. She is really proud of it and has hopes of meeting Mike to show it to him. And I love scarves, so of course I love my Grizzlies arena scarf! I'd say we're all fixed up for game days!

Evidence of Christmas good times

It was just the 5 of us here at our house for Christmas eve and Christmas day. Kevin worked through Christmas day, so we celebrated with our families both before and after the actual holiday. Honestly, I kind of like stretching the holiday out for as long as possible. I think the kids do, too. Who doesn't love 4 different celebrations with loved ones?

~~~~~

As for all of the musical happenings, they all went well. I closed out Christmas Eve services with a midnight postlude that, although quiet, was so fitting. This tune appeared again and again in my musical involvements throughout the month. I took that as God giving me a not-so-subtle reminder. I don't know that I did the best job, but I tried throughout the month to reflect on the words of this hymn and remember that my ultimate goal here on earth not only at Christmas but every day is to rejoice in Him!

In dulci jubilo:

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say:
Jesus Christ is born today!
Earth and heaven before him bow
And he is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

And because I'm a good music nerd, I looked up the English translation of the original Latin. I love the line about our hearts' joy lying in the manger.

In sweet rejoicing,
now sing and be glad!
Our hearts' joy
lies in the manger;
And it shines like the sun
in the mother's lap.
You are the alpha and omega!

May He be our hearts' joy not just at Christmastime, but every day! (And I'm counting that as my happy 2013 to all of you!)

Thanksgiving

We had a really quiet Thanksgiving. With the busyness of the Advent and Christmas season right around the corner, I was very thankful for the restful and relaxed atmosphere!

We are incredibly, awesomely, unfathomably blessed!

My menu included cranberry bourbon turkey tenderloin, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied carrots, and brussels sprouts. It was all a hit, except for the brussels sprouts, which no one but me cared for. Oh well. It was worth a try. For dessert, I made pumpkin bread pudding. Yum.

We took the kids down to the Peabody to see the ducks march. It's kind of crazy - you wait and wait and wait and the actual march takes all of 5 seconds. But the kids thought it was the cutest, most exciting thing ever and spent a long time watching the ducks swim in the fountain.

Fail

I'll close with a little Thanksgiving entertainment from turkeys numbers 1 and 2. (It's kind of long - you'll get the idea after the first or second verse.)

Halloween

I have to admit that Halloween is not my favorite holiday. But watching the kids enjoy it makes it worth it.

I got to make some special jack-o-lantern cookies for Helen's class party. These are special cookies. My mom's babysitter used to make them for her and her siblings when she was a little girl. My mom in turn used to make them for us when we were little. Now I get to make them for my little ones.

We went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins. Everyone was still for about 3 seconds.

The girls decided they wanted to be fairies - Caroline was a snow fairy and Helen was a Tinkerbell-ballerina-princess. I didn't really have anything planned for Peter, but remembered that I still had the duck costume both girls wore. The girls were not very happy in it, but Peter loved it. He started giggling and grinning the second we put it on him. He was happy, happy all night long. So cute.

Happy Halloween!

Valentine's recap

We didn't really do anything extraordinary for Valentine's Day, but it was still special in a simple way.

Kevin was off of work, so he got to go to Caroline's class party. They had a great time.

Helen got still for 2 minutes and awkwardly fell asleep.

Dinner was my personal interpretation of surf and turf. I took my friend Laura's advice and made this awesome shrimp chowder recipe. It is ridiculously simple. I kept thinking, "This is too easy. Is this all I have to do?" And it was so delicious. Thanks, Laura!

The girls loved every bite.

And no day is complete without getting a few of these from my smallest valentine.

 

Hope your Valentine's Day was just as sweet!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so thankful here at the Garrett house. I can't even begin to count all of our blessings. We have been blessed beyond any measure. Our hearts are happy and singing His praises today for all His goodness in our lives.

Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

These little turkeys are most certainly among our biggest blessings.


They are awesome. I love them so much and am so proud of each of them.

Wishing all of you turkeys out there a very happy Thanksgiving!

The Day of Resurrection

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We've been preparing for Easter all week long. We hunted Easter eggs. We dyed eggs. We made special treats like marshmallow sheep and bunny rolls. And most of all, we are so grateful to celebrate by serving a risen Lord! We hope your Easter celebrations were as special and blessed as ours were!

The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness, the Passover of God.
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over, with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright
The Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light;
And listening to His accents, may hear, so calm and plain,
His own “All hail!” and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful! Let earth the song begin!
Let the round world keep triumph, and all that is therein!
Let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend,
For Christ the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end.

Loveliness

Happy Valentine's Day!


Craft time: Valentines for classmates, family, and friends


I added an embroidery floss tail and wrote "Have a MICE day!" on the back. Then Caroline signed them herself.


Sweet treats: sugar cookies with glaze, decorated with markers


Favorite: roses


Silliness: a "pacy" found in her safe-to-play-in kitchen cabinet

Happy New Year!

From January 2010

We had a very quiet celebration at home and got two of our New Year's Eve kisses a little bit before midnight. It was perfect.

Every year, Kevin and I have a champagne toast. And every year at midnight we are bewildered as to why we choose to toast each other with a beverage we just do not like. There. I publicly admit it. Next year we're toasting with Blanton's or Disaronno or even Lorina. Remind me next year.

2009 was a fantastic year for us, full of change and adventure. I wish I could eloquently write about all God did for us last year. I see His work in so many little aspects of our year together and I am incredibly awed and grateful. We are eager to see what He does for us in 2010!

Halloween 2009

We had a very fun Halloween! Doing little things like making sucker ghosts and having a spooky meal make Caroline so excited. That's so much fun for us as parents.

Caroline (with a little prompting) decided a long time ago that she would be Emily Elizabeth from "Clifford, The Big Red Dog." I ordered a little Clifford for Caroline to take to her preschool Halloween party. Dogs don't go to school, according to Caroline. And then Kevin and I decided it would be fun if we could dress Tigger as Clifford by painting him red. As you can see, it worked really well! Tigger is such a good sport. Caroline - I mean Emily Elizabeth - and Clifford were a neighborhood sensation! Everywhere we went, people wanted to take their picture! They laughed and thought it was the best idea for a costume. And of course, they wanted to know how we made our dog red. Kevin and I really didn't expect the costume to create such a stir. We couldn't stop laughing!

It was really sweet to get out the cute duck costume for Helen. She stayed toasty warm in her suit and was very content riding in the stroller, taking in all the activity.

This is one Halloween we'll be talking about for years!

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Independence Day

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About a week before the 4th, I bought tickets to the Cincinnati Pops concert on the river. I purchased lawn tickets and had grand visions of lolling around on a picnic blanket, enjoying the music. No one told me to plan on rain and temperatures in the 60s on the 4th! We decided early in the day to upgrade our tickets to pavillion seats. We were still able to make it a very enjoyable evening. Caroline got a tattoo at the kids' station - very exciting. Caroline really enjoyed the music, but was scared to death of the fireworks (even though she told me as she was headed up for bed, "Mommy, I really liked the fireworks!"). Helen was good and relaxed in the sling for most of the evening. I don't think she fussed once - not even during the fireworks. It turned out to be a fun evening and I'm sure we'll always remember it!

(If you're getting this update as an email, make sure you click on "View All" to see our pictures.)

Memorial Day 2009

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Memorial Day was a great family time for us. We spent the morning relaxing and having an impromptu photo session on the porch. That afternoon we spent some time at our friends' farm. We had fried catfish. Caroline rode a horse for the first time. She loved it! The little girls got to feed the chickens and the horses. It was so much fun! We're so blessed to have friends who share their lives with us!

Easter 2009

It was a great weekend here at the Garrett house. We had special visitors - my family and Kevin's sister all spent some time with us. Caroline had the best time with her cousins, her aunts, and her Mimi. We all had fun together!

We made it to church. I really missed singing in the choir. But on the other hand, it was really nice to enjoy listening to the beautiful music. Helen slept blissfully through the whole service. Big sister actually sat through the whole service, too. We were impressed.

Helen wore the daygown I made. I say prayers over every dress or appliqued tee-shirt or daygown I make. So it was really special for me to see Helen in her gown. God has been so faithful to the four of us.

I hope each of you had a blessed Easter weekend!

February fun

The weather has been so lovely this past week! We took a trip to the zoo with Elizabeth. Here are the girls at the sea lion show.


Caroline and I made conversation heart cookies to give to her friends. I ordered special food markers. I think I had more fun than Caroline did.


Caroline had a great time with the markers. (No pictures of her actually decorating...bummer. I guess I was trying to keep red food marker from getting all over her clothes. I'm not sure the markers are washable!)


And here's the packaging...

And today we went to a birthday party for a little girl in Caroline and Elizabeth's class at school. It was at this place with all these blowup activity stations for kids. I didn't feel like I should be bouncing and sliding around at almost 8-months pregnant. So I owe Bryn in a huge way...


Happy Valentine's Day to all! XOXOXOXOXO

Big Christmas

We had a great Christmas break. Santa stopped by our house in Memphis early. He knew we were going on a trip and brought Caroline a suitcase of her own. Smart Santa... We started in Mayfield and then headed down to Paris on Christmas Day. Caroline really got into the whole Christmas season this year. Santa brought some baby doll things, which are proving to be a big hit. Other favorite things were a doll house, Dora dress-up clothes, books, games, and a dance cam. It was so much fun watching her get so excited over every gift.

I made the girls' Christmas dresses. The pattern was really easy and I'm hoping I'll have time to make Caroline another for the spring. I kept the dresses away from the red and green theme so they can wear them through the spring and into summer. They really remind me of something Shirley Temple would wear -- especially Caroline's. I got the hem a little bit short. Very cute.

And, as usual, I wish I had taken more photos. My New Year's Resolution, perhaps?

More fun

We've had some more December fun! Caroline loves helping me in the kitchen. I love finding little tasks for her to do. She takes her job very seriously!

My friend Bryn and I took the girls down to the Peabody hotel to see the ducks march. It was so fun to see how excited the girls got when the ducks got off the elevator. Then we watched some older kids from our church play Christmas songs on their violins. It was a beautiful morning and we girls loved every second.

We went to Zoo Lights again this year with a group of friends. It was cold, but we still had a great time. I think everyone's favorite part was the quick train ride through the petting zoo.

We want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! We pray that your hearts and homes will be filled with the joy and peace and hope that can only come from our Savior - the Christ child. He was born for each of us - what an incredible gift from God!

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
-Isaiah 9:6

Trick or treat

Caroline was really into Halloween this year. She had a costume party at school on Wednesday and got more candy than she did trick-or-treating tonight. We did some fun crafts here at home to celebrate. We carved pumpkins and even painted two little ones. I planned a spooky meal - mummy dogs, witch fingers, cobwebs, and ghost cakes. I was pretty pleased with myself over the silly meal plan. She had a great time saying, "Trick or treat! Happy Halloween!" at all the neighbors' houses. And then our little kitty helped hand out candy to the other kids.

I'm not sure how many trick-or-treaters we had this year. We always get a ton. Kevin got 1200 pieces of candy and gave out all of it - mostly two pieces at a time. I think he was a little more generous toward the end of the night.

Overall, it was such a fun Halloween for all three of us!

Independence Day parade

Our neighborhood association always has a fun parade on the 4th of July. It's so much fun to see all the kids with their bikes and scooters decorated. Caroline entered the parade this year with Daddy as her partner. I had to make a shirt for Caroline. I wound up using beads ("beans", as Caroline says) to make it a little more interesting. Our friend Richard always makes an outrageous creation for his girls - this year it was a real parade float, complete with real flowers and royalty sashes. It was incredible! Caroline had a great time. And Mommy and Daddy did, too! We finished the weekend by celebrating at KY Lake with Kevin's family. It was a very fun weekend!

Memorable Memorial Day

We had a fun-filled weekend! We went to a Redbirds game Sunday night. This is the first time since Caroline was a baby that we've been. She had the best time. She loved the music, the clapping, the wave, the people, the ballgame, the food... Her enjoyment made it that much more special for us. The game was long - 3 extra innings and we still lost by 1 run. The fireworks didn't start until almost 11pm - thank goodness for a good afternoon nap! The fireworks were the one thing about the game that she didn't really enjoy. But she still talked about them all the way home.

Here's a video of Caroline dancing to "Sweet Caroline". She danced and clapped anytime there was music. She had the best time.


Monday we went out to our friends' parents' house for a cookout. They live out in the country. It was great to get out of the city and enjoy some fellowship with friends. The favorite activity for the little girls was the swimming pool! The big boys got to shoot some skeet. So everyone got to relax a little bit.

Hope your weekend was just as good!

Easter

Here are some pictures from our Easter celebrations. I had the pleasure of making the kids some very pretty Easter frocks. I had so much fun. Ian was sick on Easter morning, so I didn't get to see him in his outfit. Hopefully, he won't grow too much and he can wear it next time I visit! We had a great holiday weekend and hope you did, too.