Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

Our Sunday School Class had an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party and White elephant gift exchange (which are completely funny gifts only) As you will notice in the picture below Kyle gave away a picture of himself. We had the party at an Airplane Hanger and we all had a great time.

The Winners Ashley and Chad

All of us that had on Ugly Sweaters (We are missing a few in the picture)

Nicky and Tanya (Nicky was making his political statement)

Kyle and I in our Sweaters (Kyle had lights attached the the back of his that lite up)

Theres Kyle's Picture (I think he was disappointed it didn't get stolen)

How ironic :)

Saluda Shoals with the Delaney's

We went with Joey, Leslie and Carlysle to see the lights at Saluda Shoals for the the kids to ride the Cho-Cho train (which is what Gavin is into right now). We had a great time and the kids really enjoyed it. Afterwards we went to the Delaney's to exchange our gifts. I think we have a new tradition. (Thanks Les I stole the pictures from your blog since I was the bad mother without a camera).

Decorating the Tree

Well we put up our Christmas Tree tonight and I couldn't even get the lights on it without the kids wanting to pull out the ornaments. Madison was really interested in putting the ornaments on the tree. (It should be interesting over the next several days to see how many ornaments we lose). We only lost one ornament while decorating, which I thought was pretty good.

Then......the tree fell over - luckily the dining room table broke the fall. Gavin got upset at first but we were able to get it straigtened back out. We only lost a few ornaments to the fall even though a lot of them fell off the tree most of them made it. I will just have to spend some time glueing some ornaments back together over the next several days.

Halloween

We decided not to go to the churches Fall Festival and to take Gavin door to door trick or treating this year to test that out. We went with some friends of ours from our Sunday School Class (The Waters, The Breedloves, The Crapps, The Price and The Adams) to a subdivision in Gilbert. We pulled a trailer behind the polaris and put blankets out for the kids to ride in the back. Gavin had a blast. We just didn't know how he would do considering he didn't want to wear a costume and ended up in his Spiderman PJs and he hates masks but he did great. Madison had a good time to dressed as a ladybug. I have a few pictures but will post some more later.

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to Harmons Tree Farm last week before Halloween. Neither of them were interested in having their pictures taken.

Gavin and Madison

Everyday I am amazed with these kids. It has been interesting to watch to see their different personalities. Its funny just how different they are.

Gavin has always been an easy child to take care (despite the fact that he didn't sleep through the night until he was one and has never been a good napper) but otherwise he has been so easy. He is my layed back child but is very independent. He is very sensitive and is a great listener. I can discipline Gavin my just raising my voice at him. I never have to count to 3 twice. He loves to watch out for his sister but is really good about not aggrivating her too much. He loves to go to preschool but I have learned he does not like anything to do with dressing up (tonight for Halloween we are wearing our Spiderman PJS).

Madison on the other hand is quite opposite of Gavin. She likes to be the center of attention. Always on the go. She keeps me on my toes. She is also very independent (I guess thats what happens when you have parents that are independent). She drives Gavin crazy. She is always messing with him and stealing his toys and pulling his hair. She does not sit still, she will not watch TV. She will not sit still long enough to read a book and last but not least she does not listen. She will be my child who tests me to my limits. She laughs when she gets yelled out or spanked so we will have to come up with alternatives that work for her. However, she is extremely loving and really has the cutest personality. And you should see her dancing. She gets that foot stomping(its very funny).

They have a new sitter that comes and stays with them some during the week while I go to work. The practice is going well and it has gotten to the point where I have to be in everyday (since I do insurance and billing). God has truly blessed us. Also we were released from the kidney doctor a few weeks ago. Gavin's bad kidney has scared down completely and his right kidney has doubled in size so while physically he only has one kidney his right kidney functions as two. Still not contact sports and hopefully he will never have any kidney infections.

Sorry I haven't posted pictures lately my digital camera is broke and I am having to use my old school camera. Should have some pics soon to post.

Beach Trip

We just got back from a week long vacation to Wild Dunes in Charleston with Jonathan and Misty Koon and their kids Saylor and Kennedy and Tanya and Nicky Waters and their son Austin. We had a great time and I really didn't want to come home. Madison was not a fan of the beach sand and we couldn't take Gavin back out to the beach because he got a bad rash. So we spent most of our time at the pool. We also to the kids to College of Charleston for the first time. We took the kids to James Island County Park's water park and they had a great time until someone pooped in the pool and as Austin would say "The Party was Over."