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We are about to leave for our Christmas tour of 2006 though this year it is much smaller than in previous years. We are headed to Statesboro to have a Martin Christmas and then to LaGrange to visit Great Grandy. We hope you all have a great Christmas and for those that we can't be with on the actual day we will be thinking of you! Here are a few pictures to fill the void of us not being there in person.



Kate reading the paper. Doesn't it make it appear that we have a very quiet sophisticated household??













Emma playing in the leaves. This is her favorite activity when we are outside (in the front yard). And no comments on the need to rake... we are working on that.















A good clown car type of picture. This is a downstairs basket we use for toys but the girls decided at the same time that it was imperative to sit in it. This would be a shot James got in before the struggle broke out over who got to stay in the basket.


Have a Merry Christmas!!

Yesterday Kate suprised me with a new skill of hers. I walked into their room after nap time wearing a bright colored sweater with stripes all over it. She was staring at me trying to figure the sweater out and I decided to quiz her. I asked her to point to a red stripe... she did. Then I asked her to point to a green stripe... she got that one right too and lastly a yellow stripe and she got that one also. I would never have guessed that she knew her colors!! It's great to realize that inspite of me and our constant on-the-go lives they are still learning things. Especially when I haven't even sat down and really worked with them on colors yet. Will they teach themselves how to read and do math also?? That would make homeschooling even easier :)

On another subject... James and I looked up the weather last night for the rest of the week and learned that Friday night it will get down to 18 F which the weather site said was also -8 C. I don't care what unit you are measuring in - the weather should never be a negative number!! We thought we still lived in the south but we have changed our minds. This is definitely the north to us. In Bluffton things might freeze once or twice a winter, here we have already had our first sleet storm and ice.

So, I thought to get everyone in the holiday spirit, I would post some pictures of us decorating the house. I took off from work early on Wednesday and we went to pick out a tree from Hollow Creek Tree Farm in Lexington. Jenny says she never got live trees when she was little. I think my parents always got live trees and there were only a few years that I remember not going out to a farm to cut one down. My dad had his favorite farm that we would always go out to. We found our favorite farm in Bluffton before we moved and that is one thing I'll miss. Nice folks make all the difference in the world and we loved going to Lancaster's in Beaufort County.

Last year, we left Kate and Emma sleeping in the car while we picked out a tree. Then we went to a birthday party for Harriet Hoyle. We picked the tree up on the way back. This year, they were actually awake and old enough to help. They don't quite know how to find a good tree yet either. I'm glad they didn't force us to buy any 12 foot monster trees.

We got there at 5 and they closed at 5:30 so we were trying to hurry. We didn't take the camera so we didn't get pictures of the girls being cute making their way through the maze of Christmas trees and tall weeds around them.

Emma and Kate got free coloring books from the tree farm. I think they are our first. We don't normally let them color in the living room (danger to the upholstery and all) and that may be why Emma looks like we caught her.

Kate is a bit of a ham. Why the chose they mat that we put under the Christmas tree to sit and color is beyond me. We may have to get a "coloring mat" when they go on clearance after Christmas.

You know, as we pull things out of storage, it may be evident to some that our dog really has been forced down in priority a few notches. The last few years, the reindeer ears have immediately gone on Nevi. I don't think she has even worn them yet this year.

Jenny took this because, well, its the holidays and Kate looks a little like she's in a play as the mother of Jesus or a little shepherd. C'mon, use your imagination.... the girls always amaze me with their ingenuity.

Hope this starts off your Happy Holidays!!