Christmas Summary

I typically don't get overwhelmed...mostly because I'm a pretty organized gal, my calendar is my best friend, and I have a slight addiction to highlighters and post-it notes.  With that being said, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the fact that I'm almost a whole month behind on blogging.  So many pictures to sort through, so many fun details I want to share, but alas, I've waited until there are almost too many pictures and too many fun details!!  So, with that being said, and to let myself off the hook just this one time, I'm going to pick a few picture and a few details from the past month to post and hope to get back on track with my weekly posts as soon as this particular post is behind me :)     Hold on, here we go!

Atticus was very eager for Christmas this year...he learned very quickly how to unwrap presents...

 Aaron's parents and Merinda and Daniel came for a few days before Christmas and we had fun celebrating Christmas with them in our house.  I made a breakfast casserole in the crock pot that cooks overnight for the morning we opened presents - it was really nice not having to cook breakfast, we could all just relax and enjoy each other (I'll post the recipe in a separate post).

 Here are some pictures from the morning we opened "most" of the presents....Grandma and Atticus.

 Daniel finally got his 6-cup stoneware muffin pan thanks to my mom!!!  He loved it!

 Atticus was more interested in the wrapping and tissue paper...He and Guffman had fun rolling around in it.

 Yay!  I got a nook tablet...love it and all the fun stuff I can do on it in addition to reading books!

 Atticus showing Uncle D and Grandpa how to play his new e-reader...pretty much the equivalent of my nook, but for toddlers.  He loves it and is catching on very quickly to all the books and games.

We spent some time at the park (we had an unseasonably warm Christmas)...so we took advantage of the nice weather and played outside when we could.

 Aaron was tickling me at the park...somehow he thought that was funny...

 Atticus with Uncle D and Auntie M....they are so fun!

Playing with Guffman...

Stocking Time!!!

We decorated gingerbread men to leave out for Santa  - Atticus was in charge of the buttons :)

Reading about the true meaning of Christmas...Atticus was very interested in the animals in the manger and the stars and the angels.

  

After Atticus had gone to sleep on Christmas Eve I went in his room and snapped a picture..."sleep in heavenly peace"

 

We saved a few things for Atticus to open on Christmas morning.  One of Atticus' favorite presents was his Let's Rock Elmo....Every time we would walk through Target he would ask to go play with Elmo's drums.  Now we have three drummers in the house...Atticus, Elmo, and Daddy!

 Evan came up for Christmas day, it was really nice to have him here... Aren't these matching hats they each got just precious?? 

On Christmas day I made Shrimp and Grits... thought it was fitting for our first Christmas in South Carolina... Aaron said it was delicious and we should make it a new family tradition...Home run me!  

I also made a spinach salad with pears, walnuts, feta, and crasins with pomegranate balsamic...delish!!

 On Christmas night, after a long nap, we went to our local Chinese restaurant for dinner..a tradition we started last year in Arkansas. 

We headed to Nashville for a few days after Christmas and stayed with our friends Chad and Aubry.

I'm so blessed by their friendship and am very thankful that our paths crossed during our time at Vanderbilt.

 

 Atticus and Aubry were best buds for the weekend... He liked being wherever she was!

 

We rang in the new year by watching football and all sorts of funny You Tube videos...Chad's mom made a ton of yummy snacks for us to munch on while we were waiting for the clock to reach mid-night - thanks Carol!

... Atticus was pretty content playing with the bean bag toss all night :)

 

While in Nashville we stopped by a few of our favorite spots when we lived there, like Dragon Park, Vanderbilt's campus of course, and even stopped through Sewanee on our way home (so now Atticus can say he's visited all of the schools his Daddy has taught at).

 

 And when came back home Atticus was ready to tear into his new drums!!!  He's really not too shabby for a two year old! 

 And check out this comparison from last year when he got his first drum...WOW, what a difference a year can make, huh??

 And now for your listening pleasure....Atticus on his drums for the first time...

OK, I feel much better and less overwhelmed.... Crazy that these were only a "few' of the pictures, huh?
Hope you had a merry Christmas too!!!  Happy New Year!