Christmas Morning

Walking together to the tree

Baby Stella

A dog that walks and barks on command and doesn't shed- it could be Sam Wiggins!

Baby Lila!

Very excited about a new duffle bag

This pose happened when I said, "Give me a Star Wars look."
They were loading the "airplane" aka our kitchen island to take a plane to Virginia with AG's new duffle bag.

Trip to Savannah

Two weekends ago we visited Savannah, Georgia for a job interview for Jason. The school reserved rooms for us at The Mansion- which was across the street from Forsyth Park.


While Jason was interviewing, Anne Grace, Jane, my mom, and I went to eat breakfast at a little local dive and we passed a sweet private garden. Anne Grace took a picture of the gate because it had a squirrel in the design.

A trip to The Pirate's House
Trying on the mustache

Jane didn't love the hat

Jason- post interview, outside our hotel
Anne Grace loved the bathroom in one of our rooms because it was gi-normous and also because there were doors that opened to the bedroom. The other favorite thing about this room was the glass shower. Anne Grace and Jane would go in the shower and play and sing and laugh!

By the river

Considering Anne Grace's love for Paula Deen- we had to visit The Lady and Sons.

Anne Grace took this one- doesn't Jane look excited to see Paula?

Jason and the girls

I lived in Savannah when I was one and we found the apartment where we lived that year.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time over Thanksgiving! We spent a few days in Murray and then in Danville. Anne Grace helped my dad cook the "Willie Bird" for Thanksgiving as well as helping make a pecan pie, fruit salad and more. In Danville, Anne Grace helped make perfect parfaits along with creating wonderful cards for everyone. On Wednesday we met my dad at LBL and had a great day seeing bison and elk on the trail. We also got to see animals at the nature station such as a bobcat, red wolf, many owls, snakes, etc. It was a beautiful day and the girls enjoyed seeing so many animals! Anne Grace also got to "work" at Vintage Rose with her Nan which she thinks is great.

On Saturday we visited the Kid's Exploreum in Lexington with Jason's family. The girls adored this kid centered museum/playcenter. Jane loved the toddler area and the ball thing (for lack of a better word). Anne Grace was most excited about the buble center where we all made

gi-normous bubbles. We got to eat out in Lexinton and visit the mall. It was a big day!

Over the break Jane perfected her skill of climbing and is now climbing on chairs, sofas, tables and anything else she can throw her leg on to scoot onto it. She is talking so much and a great deal of it is understandable now. She has added so many words to her vocab. such as no, mine, up, down, out, open, duck, vacuum (which comes out bac), broom, shoe, sock, Jack, Nana, ho ho ho, and no no no. It is truly amazing to watch her soak up so many new words!

The Girls

Open Dance Class

Dancing before class started...

A few weeks ago we got to attend one of Anne Grace's dance classes. They have been learning about The Nutcracker Ballet in class so the girls showed us different dances from the story. It was very sweet.

Playing in the leaves

Swinging, reading and pole dancing

Swinging outside in the cold weather (finally!)

We like to teach the children pole dancing at a young age. Jason and I actually saw the other day on West End a billboard advertising pole dancing classes. Interesting...

Last week Anne Grace decided to do a little light reading so she grabbed a book from our bookshelf - A Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. Truly though- Anne Grace is so excited about reading. She admitted her theory to us not too long ago that you could read once you turn 5. So we have been showing her how much she is already reading and doesn't realize it - from signs to names to all kinds of things. She is beyond thrilled. She also read two little readers to us this week that made her so excited!

Some sisterly fun here.

Election Night

A group of us that have gathered for all of the debates over the last few months, gathered again last night to watch the election returns. There was an amazing sense of excitement for all of us. I have to admit, I went to bed late last night comforted in the idea that our country is continuing to grow and make such important strides- that our electoral college works and the people of the United States can ban together to be heard. I was comforted in the fact that my children will see that love, kindness, and acceptance can win over hatred and greed. This is what we talk about with Anne Grace every day. Even if we don't agree, we must listen and learn from one another. This is what I believe our country is all about -so many people coming from all over the world, such as my family from Germany to this land for freedom- freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to live peacefully, freedom to work hard and in return help those in need.

Halloween

Anne Grace has wanted to dress up as Cindarella for so long! So, Halloween was a big hit for her. She looked beautiful- of course.

Just hand Jane a ball and she's happy.

Scat

Last week I went on a field trip with Anne Grace's class to Owl's Hill. There we saw many great things in the woods, but we happened upon some deer poopy- which the guide explained to us was called "scat." Fast forward to last night's dinner. Jane was eating mashed prunes at a fast pace and Anne Grace got in a few bites too (what can I say- our children love prunes). Then Anne Grace announces, "Prunes help me scat." Jason and I busted out laughing- yes, prunes do help you scat.

Voting at 92

No pictures- but a great story...
My grandmother is 92 and lives in Nashville. She had wanted to vote in this election, but isn't driving now. So Jason called yesterday from school to say it was the last day for early voting so we needed to take her. After school, we picked up Jason and headed over to Old Hickory. She was excited to get to vote. Thankfully a friend told me that elderly could go to the front of the voting line. We arrived at the Hermitage Library to find an enormous line. Anne Grace, my grandmother, and I walked right up to the front. I explained she was 92 and here to vote- which brought one woman to cheer, "She's 92 and here to vote!" and everyone started clapping. Bishy (as I call my grandmother) was pleased with this. After this, she got the royal treatment. She signed in and the woman said to her, "What pretty handwriting you have." (which is true, she does have very lovely handwriting and always has) to which Bishy responded, "And you have beautiful teeth." I started laughing and explained to the woman that my grandmother worked as a dental assistant for many, many years. In fact she really just stopped working this last year. The woman working the polls gave us the details that she flossed everyday and Bishy replied, "Well, I can tell." Okay...funny.

Then we moved onto the voting station. Another worker started reading the presidential candidates to Bishy (maybe thinking she couldn't see them) and Bishy said, "You don't need to read any farther. I know who I'm voting for." and pushed the button for Obama. The lady was surprised and laughed. Anne Grace got to push the green button to place the vote (her third time this election). As if this all wasn't enough for the story...Bishy says to the woman, "It's amazing how many people there are here." She explained to us that there polling station had seen 20,000 people over the early voting days. Bishy then asked, "Were most of them voting for Obama?" At this point I am cracking up. The woman answered nicely, "Well, I don't know because I don't really look." but she smiled and said, "But I think many are!"

Edward's Wedding

My little brother, Edward, and Rebecca were married two weekends ago in Nashville at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. The wedding was beautiful and everyone had so much fun! I wanted to share some pictures.

The whole "Morgan" crew

The lovely flower girl!