Christmas Recap {The Longest Post in History}

I feel like I have been cooped up way too long without being able to blog.  We have been out of town, and my husband and my dad frown at me when I announce those things on the blog and facebook.  So….I have a lot of things to share, and I thought I would be an overachiever and do it all in one post:)

The first Christmas event that happened was Cade’s school concert.  I wish I would have videoed some, and my pictures aren’t that great, but I have to post this particular picture because he looks so dang cute! (He’s the short little fella in the front row.)

Let me tell you, that boy was serious about his singing.  He even said a verse in the microphone like a pro!

Then, several days later, we went Christmas shopping with Grandma Sandy (Rob’s mom).  Every year, she gets him the mandatory supply of underwear and socks.  This year was no different.  Rob has expensive taste in underwear.  Under Armour sells these dry-fit drawers and they are $20 each!  So we went to Sports Authority to buy the underwear.  But….they come in two different lengths.  You would think that since the boy wears them every day, he would know exactly which ones to buy.  But…he didn’t.  He sat and pondered the boxes trying to decide.

And at $20 each and a No Return on Underwear policy, we couldn’t afford to be wrong.  So what did this  loving wife do…

See this guy?

I had no other choice than to pull him down off of his shelf, strip him of his current attire, and try on the two different styles.  To say my husband was totally embarrassed is a complete understatement.  But guess what!  We got the right size!!!

Speaking of Grandma Sandy, I hosted her, her mom and both of her children and families for a traditional Christmas dinner.  This was a first for Rob’s family, so it was really special.  The menu was fried turkey (courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law), homemade cornbread dressing, Aunt Wimmy’s sweet potato casserole (the biggest hit of the night!), fresh green beans, mustard greens (courtesy of my sister-in-law), Sister Shubert’s yeast rolls, a homemade pecan pie and 4-way delight.  I felt like Betty Crocker, and was dang proud of the fruits of my labor.

But cooking wasn’t the best part.  The best part was getting to use my fine china (the third time in 13 years).

 

I joke all of the time that this was the only good thing that came from my starter marriage:)

We had a great time spending time together as a family, and I’m so thankful I was able to host it.  I can’t wait to do it again next year.

Then it was time for Christmas.  I’m sad to say I didn’t take any pictures of the actual gift opening, but I did enjoy getting to watch everyone open their gifts.  We draw names in our family for the adults, and of course, I get my dad EVERY YEAR!  He’s so hard to buy for because if he sees something he wants, he just goes and gets it.  So I have to be creative.  This year, I enlisted the help of our friend Jack.  I had a vision, and he made it happen. 

This is to hang over the front door on the outside of the house, to let everyone know they are at the “Hun-Tin House.”  Let me just tell you that my dad was beyond thirilled.  Success!!!

The kids got way more than they ever needed, and frankly it should be a sin to get so much stuff.  But one of the most fun gifts we did was the outdoor playhouse.  Some dear friends of ours built it for her sister several years ago, and she has since outgrown it.  They gave it to us, and boy what an experience it was getting it home.

On Friday, I enlisted Mr. Elzy and his helper to play Santa and the elf to pick it up.  We met at the stock yard, loaded the tractor and headed to pick it up.  Santa’s sleigh was finally loaded and ready to deliver.

   All I can say is Thank Goodness for O’Steen Bros. because we would have never been able to get that thing home without them:)

We had no way to hide it, so this was our lame attempt.

I’m pretty sure the space shuttle could see that ugly blue tarp from the outskirts of the universe.  However, let me tell you that we had epic success at hiding it.  The kids never saw it:)

Christmas afternoon we headed to the Hun-Tin House for the week.  We did a lot of hunting and eating.  We always look forward to going to the pizza joint there in Fitzgerald, Ga.  It is the best pizza (besides Mrs. Rizzi’s) I have ever eaten.  They have this wonderful chocolate cake that Cade just loves.  He had been talking about that cake for weeks.  Earlier that day, he had helped Papa work and earned $5.  What did he spend his $5 on?

He was so excited he ate it before his pizza even came.

It must have been really good!  He’s in a food coma.

Hunting was fun this weekend.  I hunted a couple of times by myself, and this is one of my favorite scenes from the weekend.  This is why we call it “Hog Heaven.”

This picture is dark, but there are 8 hogs there, and 2 more that didn’t fit in my camera phone.  These were all too little to shoot, but I was amazed at how many there were.

I also got to hunt with this guy some…

He’s a pretty good hunting partner, as long as you let him shoot at everything that comes out, and you let him be in control of the binoculars, and you take a gourmet buffet of snacks, not to mention a pepsi or two.  Even though he’s a little high maintenance, I enjoyed the time I got to spend with him.  Even if he did get a little mad that I killed something and he didn’t.

The hunting was fruitful as you can tell by our cooler.

We brought home 8 hogs.  Two of those are mine!!!  That should replenish our sausage supply for a while.

You may notice that Miss Priss is missing from the hunting pictures.  That is because she decided to go home with Granny in the middle of the week, and she stayed 4 days with her.  I missed her terribly, but I know that she and Granny made memories that will last a lifetime. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and we’re praying for a blessed 2012!