Our 8th Anniversary

After celebrating Maggie’s birthday on Monday, Jason and I celebrated our 8th year wedding anniversary on Tuesday. I let it go by without a blog, and for that I am sorry. He is far more important than most of the things I blog about. As many of you know, I’m usually not short for words, however, when it comes to things emotional, I usually get stuck. If I’m talking, I immediately cry. If I’m writing, I get blocked or feel too mushy. So, I’ll make it short and sweet….. There isn’t another person in this world I would rather spend time with. I love being alone with him more now then ever before. He is my husband and my best friend. I love him, trust him, depend on him, support him, and believe in him. He is the head of this household and a Godly leader to my children. He holds me accountable and knows me inside and out, and, for some reason, loves me no matter what. I can not wait, to spend this weekend alone with him at the Opryland Hotel!!!!! I love you Jason Keith!

Maggie's 2nd Birthday Party

After having such an eventful Christmas, I wanted to have a laid back birthday party for Maggie. We invited a few close friends and family to celebrate Disney style! We ordered a platter from Chick-Fil-A and had apples/caramel dip, carrots/ranch dip, coleslaw, and chips! Very easy! I also had lots of help.
Mom helped with the activities and coleslaw and Jackie made the cake. For Maggie's 1st birthday mom gave her a beautiful cake server and knife set engraved with her name and 1st birthday date. I knew it would be something special to look forward to each year, and, for me, it was. Maggie will grow to love this special tradition too.

Not many decorations this year. I set out birth pictures as well as 1st and 2nd year birthday pictures. We had Maggie's pictures taken on Sunday in a cute new sweater dress that Nana bought ten minutes before the pictures!

Princesses Anna, Madelyn, and Maggie

Aunt Aprile bought Maggie her first Cinderella dress from the Disney Store. It is a beautiful one! She put it on immediately.

The kids decorated circles and added a die cut of their first initial to the center. Mom turned their creations into buttons.

Oh no! Pluto lost his bones! Luckily, the kids were here to help him find them! Nana cut out (at least) 30 bones and taped candy to them. Pap hid the bones in the basement. After eating and making buttons, the kids ran to the basement to find Pluto's bones.

Princess Maggie has new panties!!!! You know what that means!!

Making a birthday wish!

Birthday Girl!

Woo! What a night!

December 28th

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!

We love you!

Our Merry Christmas

We truly had a special Christmas this year. Spending time with family was the highlight for me. Christmas Eve we went to Granny and Jesse’s house in Clay County. We had a huge dinner with turkey, ham and all the fixings. Christmas was complete with our large box of Godiva, traditionally sent from Cousin Steven in San Francisco. It arrived with perfect timing on Christmas Eve. We look forward to this yearly as we search the chocolate guide with pictures and descriptions for our perfect piece of chocolate. Mine this year had a smooth coffee filling.

The Cousins!

Aunt Aprile and Cousin Anna


Jason's Aunt Chris, Aunt Wanda, and Uncle Marion

Maggie already loves all things princess! Here she is opening up a purse with all the necessities. She and Anna loved playing make-up with the play eye shadow and lipstick.

We arrived back home late Christmas Eve. We purposely tried to keep the boys awake the ride home by watching a movie on our new dual DVD players (thanks Granny !and Grandad)! We wanted the boys to be awake when we got home so they could set out milk and cookies for Santa. After putting them to bed, the fun began! We had everything perfectly arranged before we crashed. It looked so good with the lights turned out and the tree lit up.
Christmas morning the kids were great. They opened all their toys with excitement. Our only surprise was Austin saying (about the Jeep), “Hey, Nana and Pap have one of these too!” Note to self….. next year hide things somewhere else or cover it up!

After playing with toys and trying to clean things up, we headed over to Mom and Dad’s. We had a relaxing day over there. We had a great lasagna lunch (as requested by my brother and me). I don’t know why, but I love having lasagna on Christmas. Maybe because we’ve had lots of traditional food the night before? Mom and dad gave us a big, beautiful Doug Prather Horse print. We wanted this for the stairway to the basement. We already have it up, and it's perfect! The kids received a Wii from nana and pap. Jason and Pap set it up and the fun began! Jason and Pap were very patient while teaching the boys how to bowl, play tennis, and baseball. I enjoyed playing Rook with mom, my bother, and ma-maw. Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I got the Rook 6 of 10 rounds!

Nana and Maggie

Ma-Maw and Maggie

Nana started Maggie's American Girl collection this year by giving her a Bitty Baby.

After coming home we set up the Wii and Wii fit (from Granny and Grandad). We didn’t enjoy the thing telling us we were out of balance and weak! I guess we need a little more work!
It was a wonderful Christmas. Now….. on to Maggie’s 2nd Birthday, then, our 8th anniversary, followed by New Year’s! The fun never stops!

Here are a couple of pictures from my surprise birthday party. I stole these off of mom's blog. The second picture is one of me and my good friend Jessica (co-worker too). I talk about her in several blogs, so I thought it would be good to put a face with the name. Her husband Matthew is in the picture too.

Six parties in one post!!

Stinnett Family Christmas

Friday, December 18 we celebrated Christmas with mom's family. We gathered at Eastland Church of God for delicious soups, sandwiches, and appetizers. Pa-paw wasn't able to come this year, but was remembered by all. All of my cousins were able to come except for Christopher. He was called to Eastern KY with the National Guard to help with all the power outages.

My Cousins

Ma-Maw and my big brother Jason

Keith Family Christmas

Friday night after Stinnett Christmas, we headed to London. Saturday night we celebrated in Clay County with the Keith Clan. I have a photo below of one of my favorite Keith family traditions. Every year one of the Keith men reads the story of Jesus' birth from Luke, we pray, and eat. After eating we draw numbers and open and steal, open and steal, and (1 1/2 hours later) open and steal some more! This year I ended up with a cute Vera Wang purse.

Greene reading the Christmas story

The boys opened new transformers. It took Jason and I half the night to figure out how to transform them!

Maggie opened a travel Aquadoodle. It was perfect for her! She played with it all night.


My 30th Birthday Surprise Party

Jason (with mom's help) pulled off the perfect surprise party! It totally caught me by surprise! I was so confused as to how it all happened! Jason treated my closest friends and family to a brunch at Equestrian Woods Clubhouse. The food was delicious, and the timing was perfect. We have been so busy, and I know my friends are too, so having a brunch was the best idea. It was simple and sweet. Mom made the table decorations, and I wish I had a picture of them to share. She made little balloons with my baby pictures on them. One picture looked just like Maggie. Most people didn't realize how much she looks like me. Everyone thought it was a picture of her. I don't have any pictures of the day as I didn't come prepared with my camera! Thanks to all who made my birthday extra special!

Christmas with Kimmie

On Tuesday night we headed over to Kimmie's to visit with M's family. She and her family constantly show us love and support. Christmas was no exception! We brought home 2 guitars, 2 pair of cowboy boots, 2 hats, sock hats, gloves, 6 movies, pants, socks, cars, hot wheel tracks, Lincoln logs, money, a baby doll, purses, pink boots, and more! Oh my! Jason and I brought home some goodies too! A very nice card table and chairs and a pottery bowl, beer cheese mix, and silver spreader! Needless to say, the Envoy was full! We enjoyed our time and conversations with his family.

Christmas at Granny and Grandad's

Jackie traditionally puts together an amazing Christmas Eve brunch and we head to Granny's for Christmas Eve dinner, so the 24th is rather busy. The last couple of years we have opened presents with Jason's immediate family on the evening of the 23rd. It was so fun! Caleb, Anna, M, Austin, and Maggie went to town! Caleb is the best at showing excitement! As a result, the boys followed. Every gift brought a huge YEAH!!!! I love this!! I really, really wanted this! Of course when it was over, they were disappointed they didn't have more. I pray this is normal for 4 year olds. I wish they would show a little more appreciation for what they are given, but I assume this is normal for their age and understanding.

Aunt Aprile bought all three boys a Nerf gun!

Maggie was busy playing mommy with her new stroller, baby Belle doll, and princess necklaces.

All three boys got Lego sets. Jason helped the boys put theirs together.

Caleb is a talented Lego builder! He didn't receive any help putting his together... and it had a ton of tiny pieces. He has been working them since he was the boys age. This is a hobby I hope the boys take after.

Austin's 1st Lego!

Anna and Maggie cuddling watching a Princess movie.

Jackie's Christmas Eve Brunch

Yum!

On the way home from Clay County last Saturday, M saw a deer crossing sign and said, "Look!!! This is where Santa crosses the street with his reindeer!"

30 years!

Today I am celebrating my 30th Birthday…30! It isn’t that I am no longer in my twenties that bothers me, it is that life is moving at too rapid of a pace. I loved growing up, my time in high school, college, newly wed years, and having babies. But, my babies are growing up too fast. This year I want to breathe, relax, and take in every moment.

Here are the 30 things I want to enjoy in my thirtieth year:

1. Jason- quality time together and watching him play and wrestle with the kids
2. Austin- his sweet words and actions
3. Maggie- her fun laugh
4. Matthew- his excitement and curiosity
5. Parents- time together as a big family
6. Brother- him living in Lexington!
7. Grandparents- everyday is a gift.
8. In-laws- the fun we have at their home with the family
9. Sister-in-laws- talking and laughing, sharing time together
10. Close friends- accountability and love
11. Kindergarten- well, not sure I’m going to enjoy the first day, but I want to enjoy talking with them about school everyday.
12. Home- my new basement!
13. Winter- snow days!
14. Spring- Spain
15. Summer- time off with my kids, the beach, and fishing at Granny’s.
16. Fall- orchards and Gatlinburg
17. Music- Steven Curtis Chapman. Maybe even a concert…
18. Coffee- my new Keurig…yum!
19. My bed- getting in at night and laying with the kids in the morning.
20. God’s word- enjoy deepening my knowledge and growing the faith of my children
21. Sunday pizza- our new tradition fits perfectly between church and naptime.
22. Books- I never get to read, but I sure enjoy it when I do… Twilight series?
23. Movies- romantic comedies or kid movies with popcorn and cheddar sprinkles.
24. Date nights- my favorite nights!
25. Sweatpants and soup- enough said!
26. The beach- sun, sand, relaxation, and restaurants.
27. Great Wolf Lodge- so much fun!
28. Minivans- Oh yes, I want to become a minivan mom this year. Thirty is the perfect time.
29. My job- it’s easier to enjoy when I’m doing my best... planning with Jessica too.
30. Scrapbooks- time to start back!

Playing in the snow!

We had a blast out in the snow today playing with Aunt Amy, Caleb, Anna, Granny, and Grandad! We made a huge snowman!

Southern Lights at the Horse Park

Among the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, one of my all time favorite things to do is take a ride through the Horse Park for Southern Lights. There seemed to be several new additions this year. My favorites are 12 days of Christmas, Santa waving from the Limo, and the nativity.

Once through the lights, we feed the animals, rode a train, and walked around all of the train displays. It was a great night with Nana, Papa, Uncle Jason, Cassie, and Thomas.

Carrot sticks did the trick! Austin is not a fan of animals licking food out of his hand. He usually will not feed the animals. This year, they had carrot sticks. This gave Austin a few more inches for comfort!

Taking a family ride in the little train.

The boys had a great time looking at the train displays. The men working the booths were very kind. One even came around and let Austin stop and start the train. That made his night!

Tot's Landing Christmas Program

We have been preparing since early November for this year's Tot's Landing Christmas program. The boys came home one day singing, "I'm a little Christmas tree tall and straight. Here are my branches for you to decorate..." All together they sang three songs.... motions and all! As expected, they did much better at home, than on stage! I didn't know they were wearing Santa hats, so when they came out, it took a while to figure out which ones the boys were. The shoes helped a lot. Austin's height helps too.

This year the theme was the Christmas tree. Each classroom was a different part of the tree. As you can see in the pictures, the boys' classroom were the ornaments. Every room was too cute! It was fun to see our good friends the Crum's and the Coleman's little ones sing too. They also have bigger kids in the boys' room too.
Mom had bunco at her house, but dad came and was a huge help with Maggie. She sat with her Pap the whole time. Uncle Jason came too. Afterwards we went out to dinner. It was a great night. M also had a nice surprise with seven family members there to watch.

From the left, the boys are the 3rd and 7th.

As you can tell, their ornaments are beautifully decorated with glitter paint. Austin decorated all over, M decorated around the center star. They made these at school, and hung them from the ceiling to decorate their classroom.

Great Time at Great Wolf!

I have been counting down the days till Great Wolf Lodge. I LOVE that place!!! Jason read about all of the Christmas festivities going on at Great Wolf, and we couldn’t wait to take the kids. It was beautiful. The lobby had snowflakes and Christmas trees everywhere. While the guys were checking us in, there was a Christmas show in the lobby that ended with a snow fall! This was a perfect way to welcome us to the Lodge! After playing in the water park for several hours, we took a dinner break. As we walked to the restaurant, Santa and Mrs. Claus entered the lobby! Santa’s elves were also there painting faces. The guys and babies ordered while Sara and I took Austin, M, and Ellie to see Santa and have heir faces painted. After dinner we went back to play some more. I think I have as much fun as the kids. Maggie is going to be more like M when it comes to adventures. She quickly decided she wanted to go down the toddler slide instead of the baby slide. She had so much fun, and looked so precious going down it.

Only at Great Wolf Lodge can you sit on Santa's lap in your swimming suit!