Ramblings about Christmas

OK, I've been a slacker, AGAIN! Sorry, I've been really busy, I took a new job with another home health agency and I now do the work that it used to take 3 people to do at my old company.....at least this company pays me well! BUT, with me working so much, I am exhausted when I get home and I don't seem to find the time to write anything on Tabitha's blog. I'll try to do better!
Christmas was really nice this year. Tabitha was really into it. Everyday she'd ask me, "Mommy, how many days 'til Christmas? Then she'd ask as she had every other day, the sequencing of how many days were left..."so there's 2 weeks left 'til Christmas today?....then tomorrow there will be 1 week left?" Every morning I'd have to go through the SAME questions over and over! It was cute though, and she was SO excited when she got up and saw what Santa had brought.
Santa was good to me too, he brought me a new washer and drier. Yes, I know, some of you may wonder HOW a machine that requires you to do some work would be a nice thing. I've always sort of had a little envy of people who had those front loader machines that are really popular now---until I started to think about. What happens if you forgot to put something in the washer and you started it...you can't just open up a front loader and add something, water would get all over the floor. So, I decided on the big Bravo XL by Maytag. It's a high efficiency machine so it's sort of like a front loader, but it loads on top. It uses a third of the water that my old machine used and it it super quiet when it runs. I love it so far! The drier has a steam option...I still have to read the book on how to use that option! Santa also left some pretty jewelry for me too!
Tabi got exactly what she asked Santa for: Barbie and Ken, a Toy Story 3 toy--the landfill, and a trampoline. She got some other things too, LuLu a Furreal cat that meows, moves it's head and purrs. Christmas morning it was meowing in it's box and Daddy had Tabitha convinced that a cat had crawled down the chimney during the night and was hiding in the Christmas tree!
So enough of this rambling. Here's some pictures of Tabi on Christmas morning...you don't fool me, I know you all just look at my blog to see the pictures!






looks like a wrapping paper explosion!


dressed for church

Favorite Foto Friday #128 "Fall"???

The theme for this week may be fall, but it feels more like spring around here! I'm going off the theme path this week and want to share what Tabi did last Saturday.
Tabitha has been bugging me for quite some time to get her haircut. I'm not sure why since she used to say she wanted to be Repuzel. I kept putting her off because I wasn't sure if she was serious or just wanting something because someone in her class has short hair. But, she persisted. So, we had to convince Daddy. He was not an easy one to convince, but we finally did when we told him that Tabi wanted to donate her hair to "Locks of Love".
We had some lunch then went to the hair salon. We went to Sharkey's Hair Salon for kids and were pleasantly surprized when they said that the cut was free because Tabi was donating her hair! Kudos to Sharkey's!















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Favorite Foto Friday #127 October

Wow! October! I haven't done a favorite foto Friday since May!! Yes, we've been busy, but not that busy; I've just been lazy. To me, nothing says fall and October more than apple picking and pumpkin patches. Tabi actually requested that we go apple picking last weekend. I'm not sure where she heard about apple picking because we've never been before...it could have been at school or in a book, I'm not sure. At any rate I mentioned it to her BFF Z's mom and she too, thought it sounded like a fun outing for the kids. Apple orchards were easy to come by when I lived in the midwest, not so easy here in South Carolina. We had to drive about and hour and half away up toward the upstate of South Carolina where there are mountains. It was a crisp Saturday morning, one that made me think of being back in the midwest. You have to understand that "crisp" and South Carolina weather don't usually go together in the same sentence! It's hot here from April until November. But, we were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL autumn day and we all had a blast!













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Myrtle Beach: Alligator Adventure

We decided to wait until end of summer/fall to go to Myrtle Beach this year. So we went the 23rd of September for a long weekend. We actually got a good deal from the timeshare people that we own a timeshare with. They gave us an excellent price for a 4 day, 3 night package, but the sweet part of the deal was....if we brought another couple with us, we'd get reimbursed what we paid! 4 days, 3 nights in a 2 bedroom 2 bath villa for nothing; I think that's pretty good. Of course we had to "talk" to the service guy in "sales" to see how we could "improve" our timeshare. An hour and a half with "Joe"... small price, to get our vacation for free. I wish that the weather could have cooperated a little better. It rained, poured is more like it, all the way from Columbia to Myrtle Beach on Friday. Saturday started out alright, we got up and all of us went to Barefoot Landing to the Alligator Adventure. Tabi, Tim and I had been there last year and my friend Debbie thought it sounded neat so we went again this year. It was so much fun. They fed the alligators and the big crocodile while we were there. I'll let you be the judge from the pictures as to whether or not it is a neat place.

Tabi wasn't too sure about sitting on the alligator


"Feeding time"

Summer 2011 recap Part 3...Anniversary Celebration in Charleston

Tim and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year. We decided that we'd celebrate by the three of us--Tabi, Tim, and I taking a long weekend and going to Charleston. There's so much history in Charleston and a ton of things to do.
We started the weekend out by going to the aquarium. It is an aquarium that showcases the kind of fish that you would find in the rivers, lakes, and along the shores of South Carolina.







We then had lunch at one of the many restaurants



Walked through the markets--amazingly I didn't buy anything!



We then went on a horse drawn carriage tour







And that was just the first day! I'll not bore you with pictures from the next day---Tim got to do what he wanted to do---genealogical stuff at the cemetery!

Summer 2011 recap Part 2

July brought fireworks, and Tim's birthday. I unfortunately did not take pictures of the fireworks except with my cell phone. I do not know how to post picture from it! We kept it low key for Tim's birthday. It was just the four of us.

Toward the end of July we were involved in Bible school. The theme this year was "Beach Blast". And....Tabi had a blast! Her BFF Zach came this year and Tabi was in seventh heaven.

Summer 2011 recap Part 1... Family Visit in Tennessee

Wow, where does the time go? Tomorrow is October 1st, how did that happen? I realize that I haven't posted anything here since May! It's not like we've been too busy for me to post, I've just been lazy. I'll try to give a recap of the summer here for you.
In May, we made a trip to Tennesee for Tabi's sister-in-law's graduation from UT.

Sorry about the picture quality...




We enjoyed spending time with the family. That's Tim, Me holding Tabi, Chris with the beard, Julia the graduate and Tabi's niece and nephews.



And while I'm not a huge fan of driving/riding in the mountains, I must say that they are beautiful to look at.