Mrs. Claus

Baylie has loved singing with the Irmo Elementary School chorus. She had the opportunity to choose between strings or chorus and she has been really happy with her choice.

They put together a really fun Christmas program and she got to be Mrs. Claus! It was such a fun part and she really got into it.

The chorus had the opportunity to go on a field trip (and I was a chaperone).

First, they went to a retirement home. The people there were so happy to have these kids come sing to them.

Next, they went to the airport. It was such a pretty setting and the acoustics were great.

We love the new chorus director, Tania Turner. We're on the same team at work and I love working with her.

That same day, the chorus put on three performances at the school! One in the morning and another in the afternoon for students, and then another one in the evening for parents. They did such a great job.

Mrs. Claus!!

I love watching her sing. She gets so much joy out of it.

Here are some videos of the performance: Video 1, Video 2

Home for the Holidays

It has been 13 years since David and I spent Christmas in our own home. While we have been very blessed to rent beautiful homes, there is something special about being in our own home. Decorating it this year was so much fun.

Family room.

The "conservatory."

The kitchen.

There's truly no place like home for the holidays.

Our Little Scientist

Baylie has been very excited about the science fair. I was really proud of her for choosing something that she is already excited about. She decided to study how cookie baking was impacted based on the temperature it was baked at. She cooked some at 250º, 350º and 450º. She learned about something called the Maillard factor, which is why things are baked at 350º. I didn't know that! She also learned that while the cookies look funny at 250º, they are still safe to eat since eggs are safe after 160º. I learned a lot from her experiment!

We had a bit of a mishap because she brought samples of each cooking temperature and had planned on handing out the good ones. Some of her classmates were starting to sample them when the teacher reminded us that you can't hand out baked goods at school. Baylie was in tears. I completely forgot about that! Mom fail! Baylie recovered though and was very proud of her experiment.

We were very proud of her!

Holiday Happenings

Baylie joined the IES Chorus for the annual city tree lighting, one of our favorite Christmas traditions. Her chorus sounded amazing.

It's always a fun night with free pizza, hot chocolate, cookies, and friends.

I have been blessed with the dearest of friends here in South Carolina.

So have my kids.

The choir was even on the front page of the city paper!

David joined me for our faculty holiday party. I am so grateful to love the people I work with. I can  honestly say there is no one at my school that I wish weren't there. They are all supportive and kind. The location was charming - a former horse barn converted into a hunting lodge on what used to be a plantation - Belle Grove Plantation.

It's been a wonderful beginning to what I hope will be a fabulous holiday season - our first in our new home.

Saying Goodbye to Gigi

We recently flew to Texas for Gigi's funeral. She has been so good to us and she is the first close relative that Baylie and Jalen have lost. Jalen had a really rough time at the funeral.

Gigi was a Methodist. She chose to have her memorial at a little old chapel that was built in the late 1800's. It was a wonderful setting.

Gigi elected to be cremated. She selected this urn prior to her death.  

Jalen had fun getting to know his cousin Ezekiel.

Jalen ended up with two left feet.

Alisha has been going through Gigi's photos. She found this great picture of Janis, Ellen, Alisha and GIgi.

This is my favorite picture of Gigi and Waylan.

Gigi's birthday is in December. It seems weird not to be making her a birthday or Christmas present. I think of her often and miss being able to call her. But I am happy she is with David's grandpa again. They had a sweet relationship.

David's 38th

I just realized that I forgot to post about David's 38th birthday. We don't have much money because we're buying a house so it was a pretty low key affair. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse the night before.

David is always very enthusiastic about his presents.

A football from Jalen.

A BB-8 from me.

A race car from Baylie.

His favorite candy.

David wanted a red velvet cake, but a whole cake is a bit much for our family so we got desert cups. Baylie's was red velvet.

Jalen's was chocolate.

And David and I had red velvet cup cakes.

I think he had a pretty good birthday. After all, he got a house and a dog!