New Years Eve

We had a fun New Years Eve with the Draffins, Davises and Thompsons. It certainly helped that Clemson beat LSU in the ChicFilA bowl. It was a nail-biter until the very end, but a great way to ring in the new year.

We had activities for the kids to keep them entertained while we watched the game. I found lots of ideas on Pinterest.  The mustaches were a hit with grown-ups and kids!

The Elephant March - We put a tennis ball in the leg of a pair of panty hose and had to swing the ball back and forth to knock over cups that were lined up across the front porch.

The kids kept busy with the Elephant March for a good little while!

Movin' On Up - Two kids started out with a stack of gold cups with a red cup on the bottom.  The first person to move the red cup all the way through the stack was the winner.

Stack Attack - Two kids each had 36 cups.  The first to build a triangle-shaped tower was the winner.  Anna was the first winner!

That's Will and Katherine prepping our delicious dinner in the background.

Bon Hommes

Bon Hommes invited Catherine (and 20+ other girls her age in Macon) to make her debut.  Parties started last spring end ended with the Yule Ball the Friday night before Christmas.  Nanoo and Pop hosted a cocktail buffet at their house the evening of the ball.  The YaYas all came to Macon for the festivities.

 We couldn't resist taking a picture that we had taken 20 years ago in this very same spot on our way to the Junior League Holiday Market party.  

It was great to have a table right on the dance floor so we could see the stage easily.  Grandma Janet was more than happy to pose for a picture with Olivia, McIver and me.

We raced downstairs after the Father-Daughter Dance to get some group shots.  Since the photographer wasn't there yet, we took advantage of the opportunity to use his backdrop...

... and so did David and Mark!

Christmas Morning

This was our earliest Christmas morning in years ... I woke up at 4am and don't think I ever got back to sleep.  Mac woke up at 6:30, but I gave him my phone to play with in his bed until a few minutes after 7 when we finally woke Olivia up.

McIver was THRILLED to see the Harry Potter Diagon Alley Lego set in his stack of goodies.

Charlotte decided to join in the fun.  Poor thing ... she's been around the longest, but never seems to make it into any pictures.  I think she just wanted to be near the fire!

Will had a pretty good Christmas ... Santa gave him some necessities for our anniversary trip next summer, some long underwear for our ski trip next month and his very own Nook.  He wasn't nearly as excited about the Nook as the children and I hoped he would be.  We later found out that was because he knew he had gotten me an iPad for Christmas so we didn't really need the Nook after all.

Olivia and I got two tickets to the Carrie Underwood concert next April.  We're going with lots of girls and mamas and get to see the concert from a box in the Colonial Life Arena.  It should be a really good time!

McIver had a Very Lego Christmas!

More clothes for Hannah, the American Girl doll.

Christmas dinner, just the four of us, was perfection!

Christmas in Macon

Our trip to Macon was a bit of a whirlwind, but we managed to have a great time squeezing in all of our activities.  We celebrated Christmas on Thursday night when we arrived.

Cacoo with Olivia & McIver

Surprise!  The latest Vince Flynn book ... not a surprise at all, but a most-anticipated gift from Nanoo to Will each year.

Pop was glad to have an updated Merritt family picture for his office.

Nanoo came through in a big way!  I had ordered a Lego set for them to give McIver, but somehow forgot to pack it to bring to Macon.  All was well, though, because she had also gotten McIver his very own microscope, set of slides and make-your-own slide kit.

We love an "As Seen on TV" gift ... this year it was the X-hose.

Olivia's wish for an American Girl Just Like Me doll came true.  She also received several cute outfits and accessories.  The ski outfit was my favorite!

In addition to the remote controlled helicopter, Nanoo and Pop gave us this really cool Drone.  You control it with an iPhone or iPad app and it even has a video camera so you get a bird's eye view.  We joked that we're going to spy on our neighbors!

Visit with Grandma Myrtle

We were glad to see Grandma Myrtle while we were in Macon last week even though the visit was quick because Will had to get to the Bon Hommes rehearsal.

My French Hen

The all-school sing-a-long was last Wednesday at school. Each grade from 1st through 12th sings part of the Twelve Days of Christmas. McIver wore a mustache as he and the rest of the third grade belted out "three French hens." Olivia's grade was too far away for me to get a good picture. They brought in five hoola hoops spray-painted gold as their props. It's one of my favorite Heathwood traditions!

Lego

It took McIver just under three hours to put together his newest Lego Ninjago set... The Ultra Sonic Raider from Nanoo and Pop.

More Elf Antics

Houston set up a "Kiss"ing booth this morning.  It was a good thing McIver guess-timated the number of Hershey Kisses in a jar in his classroom at school so Houston had the props he needed for this set-up.

Bungee-jumping

The ice maker was a good hiding spot ... it took the kids a while to find him hiding in there.

Hilarious!

Fun with Q-tips

Even Houston likes going for a golf cart ride.

Houston's Elf Antics

Houston has been up to some serious funny-business around here the last few weeks.

He grabbed McIver's Air Hog and got it stuck in the chandelier over the dining room table.

He left a little reminder to "Be good" on the bathroom counter.

Getting in a little early-morning work-out to keep off those holiday pounds.

Houston had a little fun with the Lite Brite.

He brought Krispy Kreme doughnuts and YooHoos for breakfast ... something mom and dad would NEVER allow!

Another little snack from Houston that Mom probably wouldn't buy.

We have become HUGE Duck Dynasty fans around here.  Houston got in on the action with some camo, face-black and a marshmallow gun.  There's even a nod to Uncle Si with the jelly jar full of sweet tea, Jack!

He probably got a little dizzy rolling down the stairs in the toilet paper tube.

Houston

Houston arrived, as predicted, on December 1. He brought the new Lego Advent calendar for McIver and a new nativity set for Olivia. His hiding spot wasn't too hard to find so I didn't snap a picture.

The first sign of mischief started today. Houston was all tangled up in lights in the tree because he didn't wait for us to start decorating.

Christmas Tree

After Olivia's first basketball game of the season and Mac's first game ever, we headed to Creech's to pick out our tree. It didn't take us long to agree on the perfect tree.

Creek House Farewell

 The first time I ever went to Myrtle Beach was to celebrate New Years Eve with Will right after we started dating.   Will's parents built the house with three other couples 19 years ago and there are so many memories of good times spent there.  The house will be sold next week so the Singletons took the opportunity to host a farewell oyster roast for everyone.  It was a beautiful night ... the oysters were delicious, but it the best part was seeing so many fun friends.

Thanksgiving

Sadly, none of my Thanksgiving pictures turned out.  But, we had a delicious lunch with Uncle Jay and his family and GranGran's brother Uncle Jim and Will's cousin Jimbo.  Ginny made the most delicious turkey and dressing, oyster pie (it's not Thanksgiving if we don't have oyster pie!) and GranGran's biscuits.  I made deviled eggs, roasted sweet potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts which all seemed to be well-received.

GranGran and GranDaddy took a quick walk after Thanksgiving dinner.  

Will and McIver hit the creek for some late afternoon fishing.  McIver got to practice again with his casting net.  Sunday night, Will cooked the fish and McIver was WAY impressed with his catch.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2012 was filled with family and friends.  We went to the 'new' creek house in Murrells Inlet.  Will convinced Mamoo to ride down with us and we were so glad to have her there to celebrate Thanksgiving with us again this year.

Thanksgiving Day was GORGEOUS!!!  Olivia and JuliAnna went down to the dock to check on the pelicans.

The Singletons stopped by for a visit.  The porch is perfect for hanging out and enjoying the beautiful view.

Olivia loves spending time with her sweet godmama, Jane!

McIver is a fan of the giant swing.

McIver's 9th Birthday Celebration

McIver's birthday comes during a hard time of year ... fall break from school and football/soccer season.  It's hard to schedule a party for him because so many of his friends go to USC games and we also have to work around his soccer schedule.  We finally found a day, though, that worked for everyone...

Frankie's Fun Park!!!

The boys met at our house at noon so that Will could take them to ChicFilA while I took Olivia to her soccer game.  (This picture makes me laugh ... I don't think boys will ever pose for pictures like Olivia and her friends!)

Olivia and I met the guys at Frankie's after her game.  Everyone was having a great time - they had already taken a turn on the go-carts and were working on blowing through the tokens on their arcade cards.

'Spending' tickets on straight-up sugar is always fun!

Will has a few pictures on his phone so I'll have to post those later.