The Bright Eyed Brunette

Tonight was our annual Christmas Program at church.  I knew absolutely nothing about it, I didn't even know what the name of it was until I put it in the bulletin last night!  This was our first Christmas program with our new pastor, Bro. Jon Landers.  Everyone really likes him and we had an awesome crowd this morning.  And to top it off, one of my Discovery kids came before the church this morning telling everyone that he asked Jesus to come into his heart!  He has been asking a lot of questions about salvation for over a year now.  I am very proud of him :) Three of our four angels: Emaleigh, Brooklyn, and Kynnlea Collin the cow Part of the manger scene.  Makena was Mary and the little boy in the green, Gage was Joseph. My Dad played the Janitor in the play Everybody got a kick out of his hat! Trey had a small part in the actual play, then played a king in the manger scene. He really liked being a king, but did really well o...

Tonight was our Garrett family Christmas in DeWitt, but it was a special Christmas because today was also my Papaw's 75th birthday!  We all kind of played it off like we were only celebrating Christmas and then surprised him with a money tree and cake and ice cream!  I forgot my camera, so I only took pictures with my phone(I really hate it when I do that!) and they are not the best quality. Carlie found sweet baby Greyson first thing!   Papaw with his cake Papaw, counting his money on his money tree!   Makena, Eli, and Ellie Kate were having fun playing Cootie Carlie with her fuzzy ball And Makena got one, too!  This happens so often that they are mostly okay with it.  At least they're different colors :) Trey with his new lunchbox....we'll see if he uses it for that or a storage container for his many, many, toy cars!  You never know about T Carlie with her new lunchbox.  It has her name on it too. S...

Today started out pretty rough.  I am tired.  Tired of waking up early, tired of getting my kids up early and kicking them into gear, tired of school (work).  Just tired.  So I may or may not have been in a grouchy, sluggish mood.  I had to get Makena's stuff ready to go to a friend's sleepover, nobody wanted to move fast enough, packed lunches at the very last minute, then had to turn around and come back after we got 1/4 of a mile down the road because Carlie forgot her purse!  By the time we got to school everyone was good to go and I was ready to get the day over with start my day.  About 8:30 I heard someone walk through the doors and when I looked up there she was....my best friend in the whole wide world, Jill, had come all the way from Ashdown to visit me!  I talk to her weekly and we email each other all the time, but I haven't actually seen her sense June.  I cried.  My terrible morning had suddenly gotten much better!  Sh...

One of my very favorite Christmas movies of all time is Home Alone (the first one, the second is also good, but they lost me after that!).  The kids also enjoy it, so one night after baths, we all sat down and had our popcorn, hot chocolate (or coke), and our movie.  Trey really gets into all the tricks that are played on the bad guys :)  I'm telling you, he was taking mental notes! They really do LOVE each other! Although Makena isn't too sure about what Carlie has up her sleeve! One of my favorite parts!! OH YES SHE DID.....lick the butter from the popcorn bag!  Gross! This was my view, hot chocolate in hand :)    Now on to the randoms: So far, the only animals Carl has killed are a hog and a bobcat....still waiting on some deer meat! Our dog, Sam got to come inside for a picture, which by the way, was pure chaos!  Finally they were all looking!   Beth        

BONFIRE!   Doesn't everybody eat a banana at a bonfire?! Carlie didn't really want to join in our fun, but ended up having fun anyway! This girl was completely full of herself!!  We were photo-bombed by Makena!  Goofy Girl :)   The Friday after Thanksgiving we had the first bonfire that we have had in a very long time.  It was a nice cold night and the kids had lots of fun swinging and just goofing around.  It was a great family night!   Beth        

My three sweeties!   I'm not a very good outdoors picture taker because I always squint! Carl says it's because I always wear sunglasses, which does make sense, I guess :) We spent Thanksgiving lunch at my grandparents in Casscoe.  My kids had a blast hanging out with the Simpson kids and making and playing in leaf piles!  It was such a beautiful day to be outside. This was crazy, but we were on our way to my Papaw's in DeWitt when Carl saw this owl.  So (ya'll know how much I love owls) we turned around and snapped this picture before it flew away!  I thought it was soo pretty.      

Today we had our annual Thanksgiving Banquet at school, only I didn't get to go because T was up all night with the stomach virus and my stomach wasn't feeling it's best :(  I haven't ever missed anything of the kids but at least Carl, Nanny, Grammy, and Papa got to be there.  My dad was in Texas on a work trip. Carl took pictures and a video for me which means that the pictures are not the best and there aren't many of them.  But I know he did his best :)  Makena's class said a Thanksgiving Day poem. Carlie was in the choir this year.  She got moved to the second row, so it was a struggle getting any pictures of her, much less a good one!  They sang three songs: "10,000 Reasons,"Come Unto Me", and "Jesus Is My Firm Foundation" and they did a great job on all of them.    Terrible, blurry, picture!  Bless her heart, I didn't know it, but evidently she was getting sick too!  After the Banquet, my mom took the girls ...