...to Grandmother's house we went. We had a really good time in Alabama. Traditionally we have spent Christmas Eve with Mother's side of the family. Grandmother makes loads of goodies, we eat until we are stuffed, make a big family portrait, and then open presents, all the while listening to commentary from Granddaddy on where he picked out each item. It's amazing how he forgets what he got until you open it, but then he always "remembers" some long story about where he went and how much he went through to get that one gift. We had a wonderful time together. Britt especially loved Grandmother's fiber optic snowman, and the carousel that plays Christmas music.

Britt hates anything that make noise, vibrates, and moves. He is terrified of "Big Mouth Billy Bass". He doesn't like the "Vodoo Witch Dr. Dog". He runs away from his vibrating, reving dump truck. He screams when I turn on the vacuum cleaner, kitchen aide mixer, or the hair blow drier. So naturally we decided to get a Santa hat that sings Christmas tunes with reindeer antlers that move. Later on to be sure that he didn't have to go back near it, he hung onto the door frame, anytime Daddy tried to turn the corner. Is it wrong that we enjoy torturing small children this much?

Ruth was doing so much better before we left for Alabama. She was eating 4 or 5 times a day, sleeping through the night, and even giving me one regular long nap during the day. Starting about Tuesday of last week she went back to eating every two hours or less for at least 45 minutes, and waking up anywhere from one to three times a night. Let's say I'm tired of feeding that baby. All week I've been debating "Is my milk supply giving out like with Britt? Is she getting enough to eat?" or "Is it just a growth spurt, so that I produce more?" or "Is she getting plenty of milk, but still hungry? Should we start solids a little earlier than we planned?" After a week of waffling and still not having decided anything, I was trying to eat supper on Sunday, and she started fussing, so we told Rachel to offer her some mashed potatoes. At first she didn't want to have anything to do with them, but after Rachel finally got some in her mouth, she couldn't suck that off her finger fast enough. We aren't quiet ready to start regularly giving her solids, but she can have as much in the way of mashed potatoes as she wants over the next month. Tonight we may have discovered why she's wanted to eat so much, she has two bottom teeth coming in.

We arrived in Alabama safe and sound really late on Friday night. It was a long trip. I napped some, and I watched some movies. We stopped for Steak and Shake for supper, and I got to order my first meal. To tell the truth, Daddy only let me have one since kids eat free there on the weekend.

This past weekend we had a wonderful time with our Church family in MacClenny. On Friday night, we all gathered down at the Church, where Sis. Sherri had worked wonders turning the place into a magical winter wonderland. Britt wanted to walk around and touch all the deer, trees, and other decorations, and Ruth just looked at all the twinkling lights. We got there a little late, since Gary worked down to the wire getting a final excel project done for one of his classes. But as soon as we arrived, we grabbed us a plate of food (because really Primitive Baptist can't do anything without eating) and found us a chair and got to visiting. There were not only members from MacClenny but a couple of the other sister churches, and we had such a good time. Sis. Sherri loves to decorate and buy gifts for Christmas. She went all out finding a couple of somethings for each of the kids. Britt got a stuffed lion and a book. He carried that lion around all weekend, shouting "ROAR!" every few minutes. He did share the lion with Ruth though when he read his book. This book has been the biggest hit, because as you turn the pages it reads itself to him. He has played with almost nothing but that book all week here at the house. It just made his night to get those gifts.

After everyone left, we stuck around and helped take down decorations and lights and stuff, and visited some more with a few of the other members. Eventually, the kids were beat so we loaded up and headed over to Bro. Lee and Sis. Dina's house where we talked and visited some more before heading to bed. The next morning Sis. Dina made a great big breakfast with orange rolls, bacon, eggs, grits and tomato gravy. She told me to try the tomato gravy on the grits and it was great, best tomato gravy I've ever eaten. Eventually after Gary made sure that she didn't have any leftovers to put up, we got ready to head to town.

MacClenny Church has the tradition of getting together the 2nd Friday in December at the Church for Christmas, and then the next day gathering to go into St. Augustine to see the lights in Old Town. Some of the super industrious sisters left out early to hit the extensive outlet malls over there and do most of their Christmas shopping. Their menfolk and other members meet up with them later in the day for an late dinner/early supper and then go to see the lights. Gary and I headed over about half way through the day to walk around and see St. Augustine, since I've never been. It might have been the most interesting place I've ever been. It's not as pretty as the mountains, but the charm of the place (and of course the history) was fascinating to me. If you ever get the chance you should go.

First we stopped and checked out the light house. We didn't go in, but we did take some pictures outside along the grounds. Apparently it's actually a light station, because they have alot of other buildings, and a separate house for the keeper's family. It's also the 10th tallest in the United States, and is still in use today. After that we drove across the bay and saw alot of ships (including the Pinta) decorated for Christmas. We ended up at Old Town where we didn't get to walk anywhere near the entire area. There were shops with clothes, and shops with jewelery and shops with hats, and shops with lawn decorations, and wineries, and restaurants, and candy shops, and everything you can think of! Most of these are in old style history buildings of Spanish or Greek or Colonial influence, here and there among them there are tons of little museums and historical stops - there was the oldest wooden school house in the US, the oldest Spanish building in Florida, a Greek Orthadox shrine, and tons of others. One of the neatest things, is since they have taken this whole historic district and made it a walking tourist area, from all these old houses, as you walk through them, lots of them have these beautiful garden areas behind them, there were courtyards, and fountains, and wild yards, and manicured gardens. Let's just say it was amazing, and the beauty and magic of the Christmas lights and decorations made it even nicer. I would like to go back sometime. They even have these hotel suites upstairs of many of the shops, so you can stay in Old Town. Gary and I decided we would love to stay at St. George's Inn but we figure that it's super expensive.

We met up with everyone at Cracker Barrel for dinner, and had a good time. Ruth and I sat over by Bro. David and Sis. Sherri and Amber, and boy they are always funny, but they were in fine form Saturday evening. Oh, I hadn't laughed that much in a while. Gary and Britt sat over with some of the other members on another table. There were over 30 of us, and I'm sure Cracker Barrel wasn't entirely thrilled, but they did a great job taking care of everyone.

Afterward we headed back over to Old Town. While it had been a little cool during the day, it got cold next to the water after dark. We had failed to bring a stroller or the front carrier, so Gary and I had taken turns holding Ruth and Britt. Luckily for us Amber had a stroller and since Emma was running and playing with the big kids Britt got to ride in style. Meanwhile, everyone passed Ruth around, if she wasn't spoiled before then she is now. Somehow I had managed to leave her little tobaggan back in MacClenny, so Sis. Sherri fashioned her a turban out of her scarf. Ruth wasn't sure that she liked that at all, but we just laughed and laughed about it.

On our way back from the seeing the lights, we stopped in at Kelwyn's (I think that's how it was spelled) and got the best carmael apple. Sis. Dina had been telling us we had to try one, so we did. Gary loves those things, but I only want them from time to time. This place did a WONDERFUL job. We tried their carmeal fudge apple instead of the normal carmeal apple with nuts. It was end to the evening wonderful evening. We made the trek back to the Whiteheads' house, and spent the night again.

Sunday morning we all got up and Sis. Dina fixed another wonderful breakfast and we got ready for Church. We enjoyed a good service hearing Bro. Jay and Bro. David speak. We truely feel so blessed to have such a wonderful group of people, who have taken us in like we've lived here forever. We had a wonderful time, and look forward to seeing everyone again after the holidays.

Last Saturday while we were in Plant City, we decided to head over to Christmas Lane. Gary and I have been every year since we got married, but even though Mr. Lane Wetherington has been doing it since 1985, Mom and Dad had never been. So, they decided to gather up all the grand youngins and head over there with us. Gary and I usually wait till closer till Christmas to go, and we usually wait until about 9 at night. However, this time we went around 6:30 (because it was half time in the Auburn - S. Carolina game). I told Gary we had learned our lesson it was crazy there, to try to keep up with three toddlers, it was so busy.

We had a great time. It was so fun to watch the kids dart from one side to the other pointing out all of the raindeer, trains, bears, presents, snow, stars, you get the idea. Britt was super funny about the tree this year. They have a 35 ft tree that they put up each year, and Britt stood at the bottom of it, pointed to the top and kept asking to touch the "lar" on top. I just laughed and tried to tell him Momma couldn't reach it either.

The biggest hit of the entire night was when Mister and Memaw got them all a bag of cotton candy and a cup of popcorn to share. Britt refused to eat the cotton candy and he ate WAY more than his share of popcorn to make up for it. It all worked out though, since Brystal only wanted cotton candy.

Afterward on Saturday we of course had lunch and visited. After a cold snap toward the end of the week it was nice out on Saturday and Sunday. So the kids mostly ran wild outside, while all the adults caught up with each other. Only in Florida!Alot of folks went with Bro and Sis. Wells to visit afterward, and I would have loved to have gone to hear more about Bro. Micheal's trip to Africa, but Gary was ready to take a nap. We headed back to Mom and Dad's for the evening.

Lately we have been going on lots of long road trips - Memaw and Mister's, Church, and next weekend we will be going to Ahna and Grumps. When I'm in my car I like to sing songs. I tell Momma what song I want to hear and either she sings it, or Daddy does, or sometimes they both do together. I sing along with the words that I know. We sing lots of nursery rhymes like "Kin-cul, Kin-cul" (Twinkle, Twinkle), "Pie-dor" (The Itsy Bitsy Spider), and "Row Row" (Row, Row, Row Your Boat). Sometimes we sing real songs like "Pooh" (Return to Pooh Corner), other times when I ask for Pooh, Momma cheats and just sings the song from the Disney Cartoon. I always make sure to let her know that I didn't mean that Pooh. My very new favorite though is to sing "Moo Moo" (Old MacDonald Had a Farm). In fact, I plan to make Momma and Daddy sing "Moo Moo" all the way to Alabama and back. I like it that well.

Britt has a rocking horse that Granddaddy made for me my first Christmas. He needed a new tail, since somewhere along the five grandchildren he had lost his tail (a little like Eeyore, though I'm not sure I've ever hear the rocking horse complain like him). I was on the thing before a year, though me walking at 9 months might have made a difference in that. Britt has played with it some, but has needed help getting on and off it, and doesn't want to stay on it long. Part of that too might be that until recently he was riding wildly and walloped his chin on the poor horse's head several times. In the last two weeks, he has figured out how to get on and off by himself, and rides more gently now than before. Some days I wonder if he is going to rear and flip off the poor horse, but other days he takes calm rides while drinking his milk.

Last Sunday we celebrated Sara's 22nd birthday with a Pirate Party. Most everyone dressed up, and while I thought about it, with everything going on for Granna's funeral, I just didn't have any time to put any further thought into and pack up more stuff, so Gary and I crashed the party without costumes. Pirates of the Caribbean is a great movie, and that's why Sara got the idea. Isaac makes one stellar Captain Jack Sparrow. We knew that he does a great impersonation. What we didn't know is how erry the resemblance is after the girls did his eyeliner and he donned a costume.

When we arrived they had already broken into the pizza and chips, and had the movie running on the tv. So we grabbed a plate and visited. After food it was time for cake, so we sung happy birthday and Sara blew out her candle and we all dove into it. They thought of everything from the movie, there was plenty of drift wood, treasure, jars of dirt, and even rum! Ok, not really it was root beer, but that didn't stop us from quoting great lines from the movies like "What happened to all the rum?" and "Aye the Rum."

After that they all played music chairs while I held Britt and watched and took pictures and video. Oh were they funny. And of course, my husband was the worst of the lot. Faking people out so that everyone was scrambling for a chair before Kelly had ever stopped the music. Able running around the chairs as fast as he could, Kelsey diving between chairs for a seat, and the general mayhem and laughter. Britt crouched for a while in the floor next to me just watching them, and then when they all sat down, he would jump up and screach with laughter. He thought they looked funny, and I had to agree with him. Later he thought Kelly needed to hold him while she ran the music, and everytime they stopped, he felt the need to point out to her where "Dada" was.

After that they turned on some music and line danced. I would have loved to have gotten out there then, but Ruth decided that she needed to eat supper. We visited a little more after that, but had to hit the road on the way back to Gainesville as they pulled out the games. We had a really good time. It was nice to hang out with some of our friends, since we don't get together as often now that we are in Gainesville.

I'll give you the sad news first, Bonita Varnum passed away about 2 weeks ago. Gary would especially like to ask that you keep his Grandfather in your prayers at this time, as he lost his wife of 51 years.

Now on to the great news. Bro. Randy and Sis. Paula have brought home little Jonathan Foster Miller. I'm hoping that we might get to see the little feller this weekend at Church. It would be so wonderful to hold a little tiny boy again.

Hope everyone stays safe this holiday season as we are all traveling for Christmas and New Years and all the gatherings between now and then!

Little Miss has been rolling right along. That's what I affectionately call Ruth... "Little Miss" I called (and still do) sometimes call Britt "Little Man" so I guess I have a think for little even though she's not so little. Seriously, you know the Geco commerical where the little gecko has a cell phone, and his partner is wondering where he keeps it, and after he turns away for a split second and looks back to see the gecko with a wallet bigger than he is. Well I think in a similar fashion, somewhere on her person, Ruth is carrying a purse that is heavier than a ton of bricks. She's getting so big, but I digress.

She has been rolling over for right at 4 weeks now from back to stomach, and has almost managed stomache to back a couple of times now. I have finally been able to catch her at it on camera. She's not near as serious as she was either, infact she flirts and flirts to be picked up and then just sits and grins, ever so pleased with herself. She has spent quite a bit of time laying on her back watching the lights on the Christmas tree this week, so I guess she likes it.

Britt is getting more and more independent these days. He wants to put his shoes on by himself even though he hasn't figured out that you have to open the Velcro to be able to fit his foot in. He wants to use a fork, and gets upset when you stab his meat for him. He doesn't like for you to give him something on your spoon, but he wants you to sit it in front of him, and let him pick it up. Most of all he is getting to the point that he wants to use a spoon for himself. I HATE the mess so I don't let him work at it very often, but for lunch he gets a cup or two of yogurt and I let him eat it himself.

Along with this new found independence he is starting to be more vocal. He knows saying "peas" almost always gets him what he wants, he is starting to say "danku" more and more though he is using it like "Your Welcome" not "Thank you." It's still terribly difficult to understand most of what he is trying to say, but it's obvious that he understands most of what we say.

Meltdowns are more frequent these days, I suppose it has alot to do with the fact that he wants to do so much that he can't yet, and isn't able to explain to me what he needs when he says "holp." When he's in a good mood though, this age has been the most fun by far. When he's trying to do so much and succeeds, or when he is able to say something that gives me a glimpse into what he's thinking, or he grins that silly, mischievous grin; then it's truly a good day.

Gary decided last year that we should get a real tree, but I wasn't sure what I thought about all that work, and besides we already had a fake tree that I had gotten for free from Aunt Melanie and Uncle Clint. Granted it was a bit on the small side, and really old and shedded more than a long haired cat, but still I didn't see a need to go buy another one that would have to be thrown out after Christmas when we had one already. Well last year our little fake tree had to branches break off, leaving a huge gap, and I even had to admit that it was time to throw out the little tree.
So this year we decided to get a real tree. My family has never had a real tree, at least not in my memory, and it had been awhile since Gary's folks had a real tree, so he really wanted to get a real tree, besides a real tree for $26 or a nice fake tree for $200. I told him if we were going to get one, I wanted the biggest one we could find, after all we have 12 ft ceilings in the living room. So after driving around town on Monday to see what we could find, we bought a 7 and 1/2 ft Douglas fir from Home Depot. We brought it home, got it all set up, fluffed it up (I managed to break two branches in the back doing this), filled up the water and pulled out the boxes of ornaments. All this, only to discover that our lights didn't work any more. After piddling with them for a little while, we determined that we would need some more so off to town I went. (Gary says this was the first mistake sending me to town with the debit card and without supervision, haha.) Not only did I come back with lights, but a new tree skirt, and some garland, and stuff for our banister. When I finished decorating though, even Gary had to admit that the house looked nice and Christmas-y.
While I decorated, I turned on the one Christmas cd I have (An Irish Christmas). Scrouge, I mean Gary grumbled, and put on his headphones to watch a movie online. Somehow the lets get excited about Christmas gene didn't pass from Granna and Mom to Gary. He mutters bah-humbug till the last possible moment. Not that I want to listen to Christmas music from now till Christmas or anything, just while we are decorating, and wrapping presents. Britt mostly climbed up and down the step ladder and pointed out all the balls on the tree, during all of this time. He especially likes to pet the tree, and was very excited when he realized we were bringing it in the house. He was sure to point out every one of the "lars" (stars), balls, and "shhhhh-no" (snowflakes) that he saw go on the tree. He even pointed out a "turt-tle", "ful-fly" (butterfly), and "Ti-Ti" (Tiger). Last year he never tried to take anything off the tree or unwrap any presents. The only thing he really messed with was the tissue paper in the one gift bag under the tree. This year though, I can see is going to be a whole nother story. He keeps bringing me the "af-fle" (apple) from off the tree and trying to take off all the balls. Not sure that I like having to water it all the time, but it does look and smell really nice.