Worn out!!

Ok...I know you're wondering why I haven't posted Christmas pics yet. Well, I am...I've just been extremely busy today. I promise I will post them in the next day or two. We did have a wonderful Christmas. We had Christmas with the Cassels' on Tuesday night at the church. I think it is so good that the whole family (all 15 grandchildren and 39 great grandchildren) still gets together for all of the major holidays. This year was so much fun...the grandsons sang, the granddaughters sang, then all of the grandparents sang Christmas carols. Of course, we always eat too. Afterwards, we went to David's parents' house to open gifts. We went to my mom's on Christmas eve day to eat and open gifts. Then we headed back to Arkansas for Santa to come. Santa was good to us this year. He brought the girls a boxer puppy...and boy is he a handful. It's like having another baby! They also got other toys, Ninendo DS, Nintendo DS games, etc... Their Uncle Mike and Melanie even bought them a Wii. David and Morgan have just about worn the Wii out today. Their Aunt Emile took them to the Build-A-Bear workshop in Monroe and they had so much fun. That was their gift from Uncle Heath and Aunt Emile. Uncle Eddie and Aunt Ruth got them lots of cute "girlie" stuff that they love to play with. I surprised David with an LSU golf bag and an LSU golf shirt. He got me an LSU Fossil watch and a North Face jacket. Now, I know you're wondering why I titled this post "worn out". I have been cleaning out closets today. You would not believe the clothes that I got out of both of the girls' closets that don't fit any more. I have to bag Lauren's up for Lainey and box Morgan's up for Lauren. I have clothes hangers, bags, and boxes everywhere. We got the tree down today, but all of my ornaments are on the coffee table waiting to be put away. Actually, David has to get the Christmas storage boxes down out of the attic for me to put all of the decorations away. I guess I'll close for now. We're supposed to go to a pet store tomorrow to get some "pet things". Hopefully I can find time to upload some pics on here tomorrow and post them. I still need to post pics of when the girls saw Santa. Bye for now!!!

P.S. Remember when I said that I was going to buy a tree before Christmas, but wasn't going to pay $298 for one (which is why we bought a real one)??? Well, my mom (bless her heart) went to Monroe today and bought a $300 tree for me, pre-lit, for $65!!!! What a deal!!! Of course, I'll pay her back, but THANKS MOM!!!

Christmas break is FINALLY here!!!!

At last, Christmas break is here! We dismissed from school yesterday at 2:00 p.m. It was a very busy day. It all started with a program for the students in the cafeteria from 8:30 until about 9:45. The teachers from each grade level had to perform a skit for the students. The fourth grade teachers (which is my group) danced to "All I want for Christmas is you" by Mariah Carey. It was fun and the kids loved it. If I can figure out how to put a video on here, I'll put it on here for you to see. After the program, we had parties from 10:00-11:00, a movie, lunch, more movie, then home. I still have some pics to share from the girls seeing Santa at the country club Thursday night. We had "Supper with Santa" and he brought them a toy. I'm at Mom's right now so I'll have to wait until I get back home to put the pictures on here. I just finished up my shopping today...thank goodness. David plans to take Morgan hunting while we're in Louisiana this time. He bought her a 22 at Simmon's. She's so excited. I'll let you know how that goes...I hope she likes it, but who knows. I mean, she'll be staying at the camp and the whole nine yards. It's supposed to be real cold...I told David to be sure and keep her warm. I'll post more when we get back to Arkansas. Hopefully I'll have lots of pics to share.

Gone but not forgotten

David's grandmother, Cleora Cassels, passed away last Tuesday night, December 9th. She was 97 years old. David was in Denver about to board his flight to Idaho when we received the phone call. He was not due back until late Friday night, but changed his flight plans and was home late Thursday night. We went to Louisiana on Friday for the funeral. Mamaw Cleora has 15 grandchildren (plus spouses) and 39 great grandchildren. The Cassels' family filled up half of the church. She will be greatly missed.

Christmas card preview!

As usual, I'm always late about getting pictures taken for our annual Christmas cards. I always say every year that I'm going to do them in November...WHATEVER! I just did these tonight right after bath and getting their hair washed. Notice their matching Christmas gowns. I bought them just for this picture. Now I'm trying to decide which pose to choose.



I can't decide if I want one of them looking at the camera and smiling...OR Morgan actually reading the book to Lauren. The only thing...Lauren looks a little scared in the ones where she's looking at the book. She's not as camera friendly as Morgan. Which one do you think?

Dancing with "Cinderella"

Ever wonder what the song, Cinderella, on my playlist is about?? Well here it is? Listen to the song and you'll understand. The girls were saying, "Daddy, dance with me...dance with me." I looked at him and said, "Dad, dance with Cinderella." They were having a ball!



I know you're probably wondering...what in the world does Lauren have on? Well, she decided she wanted to dance in her swimsuit. Why...I have no idea, but she looked cute!

Monticello Christmas parade

Monticello had it's annual Christmas parade on the square last night. This was one of the best floats by far!


Morgan is all bundled up here waiting for the parade to begin.


Here's Lu Lu all bundled up on the Pre-K float. I even sent a blanket to keep her extra warm. It was COLD!!! Doesn't she look sweet???

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Well, we broke out the Christmas decorations yesterday and spent the whole day decorating. The girls were still in Louisiana Saturday so David and I went to Pine Bluff to buy a pre-lit, artificial tree. Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not paying $298 for a tree!!!! Soooo, we bought a real tree there at Lowe's AND a stand for $50. I plan to shop the day after Christmas to get the tree I want. Anyway, I wanted us to have a tree by the time the girls got home Saturday night so we could decorate it on Sunday. I let the girls (or should I say, Morgan...Lauren was too busy "playing" with the ornaments) put the ornaments on the tree. I left them where they put them because to me, that's more special. I had to go to Wal-Mart to get a few things and while I was there, I couldn't help myself...I had to get the little purple, pre-lit tree for the girls. AND they had Disney Princess ornaments and a Disney Princess miniature tree skirt. When I got home and showed it to them, they were beside themselves and so anxious to get it decorated. Here are a few snapshots of our decorations...and to me, pictures don't do justice to how the trees actually look in person. I love to sit in the living room with nothing but the tree lights on.