Birthday Luau

A few years ago, my parents prepared this unbelievable seafood meal for supper one night, when our whole crew was together.  We got the biggest kick out of Nana, because for whatever reason she said she felt like she was at a "luau."  So now we refer to this particular meal as our "luau" meal and when my birthday rolls around each year, it's the meal that I request.

Grandaddy White's house is just around the corner from my parent's house, both on Grandaddy's farmland.  My Uncle Kevin's family also built a home on the farm, several years ago.  All three of Daddy's other siblings have seriously discussed building a home on the farm at some point or another.  We say it will become the White commune, but it's neat to have family so close together. 

I really can't believe that I am 35 and deep in the throes of my mid-thirties.  I used to think that was ancient!  I guess you're only as old as you feel.  I hope that bodes well for me ;)

Canaan loves to be close to food....my little grazer.  Grandaddy was so proud to get to hold Canaan, but he had a hard time preparing his baked potato with one hand.  I had to pry Canaan away from him.

We totally did not plan this, but when we arrived at my parent's house, we realized that Addison and Hadley were wearing matching outfits.  Hadley's outfit was a Christmas gift from Aunt Tiffany and I like to try to let the kids wear things that people give them when we are around them.  I know it always makes me feel good when someone does that for me.  The kiddos played in the garage and ran off some of their energy.

My birthday dessert was a hot banana pudding with super thick meringue.  As much as I enjoyed ALL the food for my birthday meal, having my family together was the best treat of all.  Here's hoping that 35 will be a blessed year!

Snow Day

The morning after our Regional All A win, we awoke to a beautiful snow-covered ground.  Even the road was covered, which made being stuck at home even more exciting.  We couldn't leave the house even if we HAD to, right?  Hadley was beside herself with excitement and couldn't wait to head outside to play in the snow.

I finally settled on three layers of pants, three pairs of socks, and three layers of shirts before I felt like she would be comfortable.  I just wasn't quite ready to send Canaan out in our unbelievably frigid temps.  Luckily, he didn't even notice that Sissy and Daddy were gone. 

 Justin's big win the night before put him in an extra-good mood. Although, he's always more than willing to have fun with our kiddos.  Don't know what I'd do without him.

 

 We had to explain to Hadley what a snow angel was and then she and Justin practiced making them.  She was wearing so many layers, though, that she had a hard time moving very easily.

 "Do you want to build a snowman?"  Oh, how we love the movie Frozen at our house.  Justin and Hadley built a child-size snowman and we just had to put a Lady Scotties t-shirt on it.  Hadley was so proud.

 Then came the best part of all:  making snow cream.  Justin has always told me that he would concoct recipes like mountain dew or root beer snow cream, when he was a kid.  I like to just stick to old faithful:  sugar and vanilla.  Eating this sweet treat was the perfect ending to our snow day!

All A Regional Title

  

 January, February, and the first week of March we were up to our eyeballs in ballgames.  We have recently wrapped up a record breaking basketball season and couldn't be prouder of Justin's girls.  On this particular night, they won the All A Regional Title.  In Kentucky, schools are "classed," meaning they are put in categories based on the enrollment of the school.  The smallest schools are considered Class A...the category that we fall in.  It's nice that a separate tournament is offered for these schools to level the playing field a bit. 

 This group of senior girls are especially special to us because they are the first group we have had all four years.  Watching these girls blossom from freshmen to seniors has been so special to us.  We love these girls.  

 This was our first set of nets to cut down this year, and Canaan's very first set ever.  Hadley had the privilege of cutting down a couple of sets when she was the ripe old age of two.  Now it's Canaan's turn!  



Justin could seriously have gotten the big head over the past few months with how much he has been on the news.  Seems the reporters love my man.



Hadley continues to enjoy doing the post-game radio show with Justin.  This time she even got to wear a set of headphones and listen to the show going live.  Justin was presented with the "game ball" and Hadley is clinging to it for dear life.

Now it's off to the STATE All A Tournament for our girls.  We are so proud of them!  Go Lady Scotties!

Merry Christmas

 Christmas with the kids at four and one was perfectly magical, if I do say so myself.  That's not to say every moment was perfect, but all in all it was perfect with my family and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

 







 Run, run as fast as you can...you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.  Trust me, that is so true with Canaan.  His Christmas outfit suited him perfectly!





I am thankful for the blessings of the past year and am looking forward to what 2014 has in store.  Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas at Nana and Poppy's

 

 The Sunday before Christmas took us to my parent's house for Christmas with my immediate family.  This is our second year for our "new" tradition and we loved it again.  We arrived at their house at lunchtime and it was around 9:00 before we left.  I love being able to spend so much time with family at such a busy time of the year.

It was so sweet seeing my sister's first Christmas with her new family.  That was extra-special for all of us.

Levi is such a perfect mixture of his mama and daddy, but reminds me so much of Bradley at that age.  Is his bow-tie not over the top adorable??



The kids were so excited to tear in to their presents, but not until we put first things first.  Singing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus and blowing out the candles on the pecan pie.

Then Nana read the traditional books she and Daddy always read to us the night before Christmas.

Finally, it was time to open all the presents.  I still had to open Canaan's this year as he wandered around playing with wrapping paper and boxes.  Hadley, on the other hand, had no problem opening her presents.  I love getting to watch my nieces and nephew open their presents and seeing how excited they get.



We had such a wonderful Christmas at Nana and Poppy's house.  They always do way too much for our families, but I know they love every minute of it.  From the food to the fellowship, it was a Christmas to remember.



Breakfast with the Grinch

One of Kentucky's State Parks, Barren River, offers a fun Christmas activity:  Breakfast with the Grinch.  Although Justin had a basketball game later that day, we decided to fit in some family time that morning.  Justin doesn't turn down a good breakfast, no matter what.  Especially a buffet with all the fixin's. 

 

Of course green eggs and ham had to be on the menu, but fortunately there were regular yellow eggs for those of us a little skiddish of the green ones.  Hadley was a big fan of the green eggs, though.  During breakfast someone would take the microphone every few minutes and announce the Grinch's whereabouts.  "He's on the state park property and will be here any minute."  This just added to the anticipation for everyone in the room. 

When the Grinch did make his appearance, he made his rounds, table to table, in the big banquet hall.  We waited patiently for him to reach our table.  The entire time I wondered how both kids would respond to him.  After all, he was really big and really green.  You can imagine how surprised I was that Canaan didn't scream.  

I was really surprised when Hadley gave him a hug.  She was just in love with the big green guy.

 

A park employee read How the Grinch Stole Christmas to the kids and then we waited in line to actually sit in the Grinch's lap.  We got to make a Christmas craft and visit with Santa before we left, too.  We really enjoyed the tasty breakfast and another reason to get in the Holiday spirit.

Trimming the Tree

Decorating our Christmas tree is always a festive occasion for us.  I think it's mainly because we purchase live trees, which dry out somewhat quickly, so we wait a little longer to purchase them.  Therefore, we are super excited when we finally get to decorate our tree.  Stringing lights on a tree and hanging ornaments is way more exciting when you're playing defense with a 15 month old. 

Hadley is so proud of her tree; this was the first year I actually let her hang her own ornaments.  Look at that serious look on her face.  Those hooks had to be just so so for this little girl.

Oh my...she's about to be as tall as her tree.  That's gonna really make me sad when she surpasses her tree in size. We love the glow that the pink lights make against her lavender walls.  She doesn't even need us to leave the bathroom hall light on during the month of December.

Amy Grant's Christmas CD blared as we gave our home its finishing seasonal decorations.  The tree really is the icing on the cake, isn't it?

Hadley is loving opening a new Christmas book each night, for her bedtime story. 

I am really enjoying displaying our family Christmas cards, from one year to the next.  Watching our family grow and change is such a blessing.  I keep meaning to find one when it was just the two of us....before kiddos. 

I decided that a sweet treat was definitely in order on this festive night.  Who am I kidding...I look for any excuse for sweet treats!  Chocolate oatmeal cookies are always a hit with our family.  Our little baker helped me every inch of the way...especially when it came time to lick the spoon.

It doesn't get much better than this. Loving this Christmas season!  Merry Christmas!