Special Cookie, Spicy Crustaceans, and Santa Claus

The last 24-plus hours have been fun and exciting and we've been awake for most of those hours!  I hope you like pictures because this post is full of them. 

Several days ago I took the kids to Wal-Mart for them to pick out what they were going to give to Betty.  I like for them to pick out their own gifts because it makes them even more special instead of me picking out gifts for them and sticking their names on them.  McKenzie decided on her gift first.  She said she knew what Mommy likes and said that Mommy would like a new doormat for after Christmas.  She picked it out herself and did a great job.

Matt was up next.  I asked him what he wanted to give Mommy and he thought for a second and said, "A special cookie!".  I tried to steer him toward pajamas or a new kitchen garbage can but there was no budging him.  He was determined to get Mommy a special cookie.  We ran into Jan, Andy, and Caleb while we were discussing the special cookie and Jan thought it was so sweet and wanted to help.  So........Christmas Eve, I took the kids over to Jan's and they made the Special Cookie.

I love this picture.  You can just see the love going into that Special Cookie!

Matt didn't like getting flour on his hands!

Even Dah (Caleb) joined in on the fun.

Matt was very involved in the making of the Special Cookie.  Here he is checking on the progress and helping decorate it.

Here's the finished product.  McKenzie was a big help, too.  Of course, they couldn't have done it without Aunt Jan's great help.

In addition to a piece of furniture Betty picked out weeks ago, my gift to her was this beautiful painting of our old house.  Our former neighbor, Betty Byrd, painted it, which makes it even more special.  It's no Special Cookie, but I think she liked it! :)

The Spicy Crustaceans were at Marty and Kenny's house where we celebrated with some of Betty's family.  Kenny cooked some amazing (and spicy) shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes, while Marty filled out the feast with chips, dip, and desserts.

I'm not sure what Granny and Matt were talking about, but it looks pretty serious.

The kids were about to go crazy waiting to open presents!

Somebody hold me back!  I want my presents!!!!

Here are some family pics with rare appearances by me in front of the camera!

Jordan was experiencing Christmas overload!  (Or was that Chirstmas overload, Jordan?) :)

 

BettyWard and Ward.

Justin, the Christmas Hippie!

Sisters.  "Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister. And Lord help the sister, who comes between me and my man!"  Sorry, I watched White Christmas on Christmas Eve.  Maybe we can get Gail and BettyWard to sing next year!  Or maybe Charles and Ward! 

Matt got a football and drafted Parker as his holder.

After we got home, we let the kids play with their stuff a little and then got ready for bed and Santa.  We all got to bed around 11:00.

McKenzie decided that Santa gets plenty of milk and cookies and she wanted him to have a healthier snack at our house so she left him a PB&J sandwich and milk.  The note is wishing all of Santa's reindeer and Mrs. Claus a Merry Christmas.

Santa came!  Here is Matt's stuff.  A Wolverine hand, tools, and a lot of train stuff!

McKenzie was so excited she got up at 3:00!  Yes, that says THREE o'clock.  In the morning.  A.M.  Before the sun comes up, 3:00.  She did go back to bed after playing for a little over an hour and then got up when Matt got up at 7:00.

Here's Matt on a short night's rest.

And here's Wolverine!  Look out!  Matt said he's going to cut down trees with his Wolverine hand.

Dah and Jan came over to see what the kids got from Santa and Caleb played trains with Matt for a little bit.

Here's the Cummings Family Trio rehearsing for our upcoming 2010 tour.

McKenzie ditched the trio and is going to go out on a solo tour.

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas, too!

Christmas in Eupora

Wednesday night we celebrated Christmas in Eupora with my family.  We usually have Christmas with my family on Christmas day but we moved it up because my Mom and Dad will be leaving Christmas Day to go to El Paso for my Uncle Sam's funeral.  More on that later.

It was really good to get together and talk about Sam a little bit and then just have fun visiting in our silly Cummings way.

Matt and McKenzie slept on the way to Eupora and the only person Matt wanted when we got there was Dah (aka Caleb).

I somehow caught everyone in mid-blink.  It looks like they're asleep, but we're really not that boring!

McKenzie acted as "Santa" passing out the presents.

Cassie getting a gift.

Grand enjoying all the activity.

Betty and Jan waiting for their loot!

Nana made a wonderful meal.  Here we are during dessert.  Andy is telling some story that obviously had an effect on Betty.  Check out her expression!

Chunch lovin' on Bobo.

I think Cassie had too much cake!

Nana and her second favorite son.  :)

Mom's brother, Sam Morrow, was struck and killed by a car Monday night in El Paso.  Sam was a month shy of his 86th birthday and was such a nice and caring man.  We have Morrow reunions every three years and it was always good to see Sam.  Sam was captured by the Germans on his 21st birthday in January of 1945, and spent six months as a prisoner of war.  He was very active in his church in El Paso and sang in their Christmas musical Sunday and then went caroling with a group from the church Sunday night.  He was just a really good man and he will be missed.  Here are a few pictures of Sam from our Morrow reunion last year.

Anniversary (and/or Birthday) Trip

You know, back 16 years ago, I thought it was pretty neat to be getting married on my birthday.  I thought it would make our wedding and anniversaries even more special.....which it did.  But it also means that I have to give Betty a present and plan special things for HER on MY birthday!  That, my friends, is The Law of Unintended Consequences.  So, I'm not sure whether mine and Betty's trip to Memphis this weekend was for my birthday or our anniversary.  Whichever it was it was fun!

We started our Birthiversary Day trip after I took a half day off on Friday.  We ate lunch in Batesville and then stopped in Southaven for Betty to go to a few stores.  We got to our hotel, The Westin, around mid-afternoon. 

We love The Westin.  It was built downtown a few years ago and is in a great location where we can walk to all the stuff we like to do downtown.

For supper, we went to our favorite place in Memphis, The Side Porch.  It's actually in Bartlett, and they have the best steaks and grilled chicken we've had.  I got a steak with grilled shrimp and Betty got the grilled chicken.  They also have homemade garlic rounds that Betty could've eaten her weight in.

After supper, we went to Barnes & Noble to relax a little bit, look at books, and let Betty get a Caramel Apple Cider drink at the Starbucks there.

Next on the agenda was our FIRST trip to Target.  It was about 8:30 when we got there so Betty asked one of the workers what time they closed and she said midnight.  Betty was excited while I looked for a comfy chair in the snack bar....

Saturday morning, we walked down to Beale Street for breakfast at Miss Polly's.  They have a great little breakfast and we usually get to hear about the previous night's activities on Beale Street by listening to the waitresses' conversations.

After breakfast we enjoyed a couple of cups of hot chocolate from the Starbucks around the corner from the hotel.

After we checked out, we had to make a trip to another Target.

More eating!  This is Neely's BBQ in downtown Memphis.  We were a little hesitant because of the bars on the windows and there weren't many cars in the parking lot.  We decided to go ahead and try it because we'd seen the Neely's on the Food Network and wanted to see how good it was.

I got the ribs and Betty got the humongous pile of BBQ chicken nachos.  The food was pretty good, but the ribs are no where near as good as Hamil's in Madison.  I think we'll need to visit Mama Hamil during the holidays!

We had a great time on our Birthiversary Day trip and we appreciate Nana coming up and keeping the kids for us.  Nana had to go it alone because Grand was sick.  Nana said she asked Matt if he needed to go potty and Matt told her, "No, we need a grown up like Dah to do that."!  Maybe next time we'll get a grown up to help Nana watch the kids!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, Betty!  It is hard to believe that 16 years ago, we were two young and skinny kids about to get married.  Now, 16 years later one of us is old and fat, but you still look as beautiful as ever!  Thank you for being a wonderful wife and mother!

Christmas Card Carousel

I found this fun blog party and I had to share it with you. My absolute favorite thing about Christmas is Christmas cards. I love to make them and get them. I am linking up to this blog to share our Christmas card from this year along with many others. Its fun to look at and get ideas for next year's card. Everyday I can't wait to go to the mailbox and get cards. I am always so sad when it is no longer Christmas time and my mailbox has nothing fun in it other than my magazines!
I want to share our card and also how I am displaying them this year. Last year I hung all the cards on a garland around a door, but this year I am doing something different. I found a wide, pretty ribbon and tacked it to the top of each of the doors that lead into our den. I am attaching the cards with paper clips. I love looking at them everytime I pass there. I am also going to get one of ours framed to add to our growing framed card collection in our hall. This was started McKenzie's first Christmas.

I usually make our cards but this year just couldn't come up with any ideas, so I went the digital route and found this design on Minted.com. They were great to work with and I was very pleased. Every other year we do a family picture. I found this old tin building over by the depot and enlisted the help of my friend Amanda to take it.

I love to buy cute address labels every year from Doodlebugs Paper. Kasey always has unique designs.
Here is our card...

Be sure to check out all the cards at Christmas Card Carousel.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

We would like to wish a special little boy Jack a very happy birthday! I can't believe he is already one year old.  I remember this time last year, Amanda was texting me most of the day from her labor room.  Amanda and John we hope you have a great time with your little guy today! I think this is my favorite picture of Jack at his party a couple of weekends ago. Happy Birthday!!

Parent Night at Dance

Monday night, McKenzie's dance night, we were able to go and watch her in ballet class and jazz. We had so much fun watching her. Matt enjoyed it, too.  Ms. Reagan and Ms. Sarah played really neat Christmas music while the girls danced.  Here are some really great pictures David took at parent night.