Merry Christmas

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;

he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you:

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared

with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace goodwill towards men."

Luke 2:10-14

A Marshside Tradition Continues

Every year on Marshside, we get a visit from Santa himself on an Old Fort FD Fire Truck.

It starts the same way every year, we hear a very faint siren....and always assume it's a fire truck, police car or ambulance passing by on the way to an emergency. We tend to forget about it and go on our merry way and then we hear it again and again and FINALLY someone in this house remembers....

the FIRE TRUCK.....WITH SANTA.....IT'S COMING AGAIN THIS YEAR!!

Last year, it was an early discovery and the Grant children spent the better part of a very cold day waiting on the front porch. I have photos of them last year wrapped in blankets drinking hot cocoa and later eating lunch while they waited. We waited ALL DAY LONG last year and finally around 4pm, we got our long awaited visit.

This year was slightly different....this was a good thing. Lilly had a birthday party to attend and we had evening plans so we waited only a short while before the truck arrived at the top of the street. Still the wait required the blanket on the porch -- we are NOT experiencing the balmy and humid temperatures we often do even for this time of year...it's COLD here.

As always, Santa remains behind the reins on the top while our local firemen pass out candy to the neighborhood children. It's always a treat and puts many smiles on the faces of our little ones.

Thank you to the firefighters of Old Fort Fire Dept! We appreciate the job you have each and every day and the tradition you continue at Christmastime!

Tis the Season

What a fun last week of school before the Christmas break began...

First it was Lilly's turn, Joe and I went to her Christmas program and class party. It was adorable as always and lots of special moments captured on the trusty video camera that will become more and more precious as the years pass.

At the urging of their teachers, in lieu of teacher gifts, the families or our class came together and adopted 3 families very much in need this Christmas season. It was such a wonderful thing to do and a special way to show the spirit of this season to our 4 year olds. I am not at all surprised that Kathy and Perry wanted to think beyond themselves and extend their blessings to others. We purchased gifts and made gift card donations in their honor and it was quite a touching and tear-filled moment in our classroom when we presented the gifts. I love that this was our Christmas finale at Bethany CDC.

Lilly was as sweet as ever on stage singing and she was very excited to present the votive that she made for us. I am thrilled to have a complete matching set -- Winston made the same gift 2 years ago! That has been a very special part of this year for us --- Lilly brings home the same ornaments and decorations that Winston made during his final year there and I love having 2 of the same things.

We arrived home from round 1 in time for me to go to round 2 at BHES. Joe stayed home with Lilly so I could go spend some quality time with those sweet first graders in 1D.

When I arrived at Winston's school, the energy in those hallways was electric....most of the Beacons were sporting their Christmas pajamas and skipping, not walking, everywhere they went.

Ms Luciano had an awesome day of activities planned. She had set up 4 activity stations where the children made different ornaments and Christmas books. The class did this while they waited for the pizza delivery. After pizza, there was an endless sea of sweet treats to eat. We were lucky enough to have a Christmas music "dance off" before they went to P.E. so SOME of their sweet intake was burned off before we took our sugar-laden angels home with us after school!

An exciting day for some very excited Grant kids.

Just a Few of My Favorite Things (Christmas Edition)

It's never hard to list my favorite things about the season. My lists are usually hard to narrow down. This year is a little different....

It's like a veil is over my eyes and things aren't quite as bright....not as joyful....my mind always returns to my Dad and all that he and Mom are faced with as a new year approaches that will likely be filled with chemo treatments, Dr visits and lots of time recovering and praying.

They certainly don't want it this way for me...they'd want me to enjoy every thing about the season that I always enjoy....and so....even though it will require alot more effort on my part...I am going to try to make this a Christmas full of happy smiles and grateful hearts just like all the years before. And the first step is to change my focus, even if only for a little while, to those things that bring me joy.

And these are just a few things that make me smile with gratitude...

Decorating beautiful sugary creations with friends....because really, is there anything a pile of sprinkles, sugar and butter can't fix??







And how artistic a certain someone's cookie creations get with each passing year....



Time spent in the kitchen with 2 peeps I love so much....it seems our kitchen is always in full swing this time of year....


So we can make plates like this to share with those we love and appreciate all year long...



And gazing at some of my favorite Christmas treasures....most of which came from my favorite store on earth - The Gingerbread House. It's in my hometown and although the name implies simply CHRISTMAS offerings....this wonderful store offers everything from gourmet foods and wine to all things holiday. Their items are very unique and always make me feel we have a little bit of VA here in the Lowcountry.


I'm a sucker for new ornaments....

I love having pictures of Christmas seasons in past years....

Really is there anything else to say here...the greatest gift of all....

This one is new this year -- came from our Autumn Tea Room at church....I do love a cute reindeer this time of year and now no matter where we might find ourselves each Christmas, we'll have a little piece of SC in our home...it's made from a palm tree frond.

This little guy came home from a business trip with Joe from Munich Germany and is a limited edition Nutcracker. We love him...his name is Santa Mac Nic.

A mini version of the beautiful nativity set my Mom has. She bought this for me my first Christmas out of college. I love this so much.

And what's not to love about this beautiful angel right here having some birthday cake in honor of Jesus at Sunday School.

And to repeat something one of my favorite bloggers wrote the other day...if only my mailbox was like this year round!! How fun to see the faces of family and friends this time of year. I've got to put my thinking cap on for a new approach next year....have this ribbon completely full as well as another card holder full....any ideas for a fun creative way to show ALL the pictures??

And yes here she is again but I can't ever forget this...even though her preschool class didn't officially have Pajama/Polar Express day this year. The girl was rather insistent on the PJ's and piggy tails for school this past Thursday. She was very specific as to shoes, ribbons in her hair and the pajama selection. She was one of very few dressed for bed that day but she was definitely the cutest!!

The look in Winston's eyes when Santa gave him an extra candy cane to give to his best friend Hampton. He said "Wow Mommy - he IS Santa!!"....worth every minute spent waiting in line for a visit with the man of the hour.

Here's to a Happy Christmas.....we certainly wish that for all of you.

Another Queen City Weekend

Weekend before last we gave Winston his very belated and highly anticipated 7th birthday present. A trip to Charlotte to see his beloved Carolina Panthers in action for a regular season game. This was his 2nd trip to BOA Stadium – we took him summer before last for a PRESEASON game; which in my opinion (and his) isn’t technically the same. Something special about being at a game that COUNTS…against a DIVISION Rival …now that’s a football game.

We loaded up the crew on Saturday morning (Hampton too – taking a friend was part of the gift!) and headed to Charlotte for the 2nd weekend in a row. We arrived back to Janet’s house for a steaming bowl of homemade potato soup. Joe ate 3 bowls of this soup and has requested the recipe – I think maybe he liked it just a little!!

We loaded everyone back in the van at dusk and headed to Christmastown USA, aka McAdenville just a few minutes away for some beautiful Christmas lights. It began as a sweet family drive through town until the kids found it hilarious to yell “HOLLA” out the window to each passing car. We laughed at first too then decided it was obnoxious and requested they change their greeting to “Merry Christmas” instead. MUCH BETTER!!



We went by Harris Teeter for Tailgating provisions….and let the boys select their game day fare…..are you ready for this?? LUNCHABLES…..they wanted LUNCHABLES. So lunchables they got.

Sunday morning dawned with cloudy but DRY skies (sigh of relief….a rainy day on Saturday made us nervous). The kicker….low 40’s for temps. ALL THE DAY LONG….the temps hovered around 43 degrees. I think my toes are still thawing out!!













It was a c-c-c-cold day but a super duper fun day for all. There’s just nothing like it if you ask me. Shivering in the stands screaming loudly – warming up with hot chocolate. The Panthers won – clearly they heard all the screaming from the little Grant boy next to me. He screamed DEFENSE until I almost got tired of the word and he banged his seat against the seat back to create the extra noise which clearly was the key to the victory if you ask Winston! We had great seats in an end zone and saw lots of action up close and personal.























It was an exciting game with a great score (Panthers beat the Bucs!). The boys loaded up and headed back to SC while Lilly and I stayed the night so we could travel on to VA the next day for some time with Mom and Dad.

While we were cheering for the boys in blue, Lilly had her own special “YES” day with Auntie and Unc Unc. She got to choose the restaurant for her special YES lunch – clearly after the Lunchable news nugget you won’t be surprised to hear that my other culinary prodigy selected McDonald’s!! (Even funnier if you know that Janet was a vegetarian for many many years and has only recently started eating some chicken again!). After lunch they took Lilly downtown to Imaginon to see a Christmas play. She was also sporting a fluffy pink Hello Kitty doll and matching purse when we got back from the game. Quite a YES day indeed!!

It was a great weekend with lots of shivers but mostly smiles. Happy Birthday Winston…..hope it was worth the wait!!

From Base to Summit, Gay and Bright, There's Only Splendor for the Sight

No pre-cut frazier fur tree for us this year....the year has ended so differently than we ever thought it would so really, it's only fitting that we took a different approach to the Christmas tree too. And this particular change in plan -- well as it turns out, this was change of the GOOD kind!

We loaded the Grant kids plus our surrogate son Hampton and headed to Tomlinson's Tree Farm the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We were in a bit of a hurry as we had 2 boys anxious to return for some Gamecock football but once we arrived, all thoughts of the game faded as the kids loved running around the tree farm checking them all out in search of "the one". So many choices....lots of varieties including our traditional "go to" Frazier fur but after looking and looking....and looking some more.....we opted for a gorgeous and very large Leyland Cypress.


Joe commenced with the saw - each little person had a turn with Joe....and they sawed....and sawed....and sawed.....even the farm helper with the trailer offered to help finish the cutting job. Joe would have none of it -- he wanted all the satisfaction of a job well done.





So we loaded her up and brought her home and she is absolutely perfect, enormous and gorgeous. I LOVED hanging ALL of our treasured ornaments this year; usually we are choosing which ones have to be re-packed but not this year, the tree is so big and dense, there are still prime spaces for more.

Every year I forget how happy it makes me to start each day by turning on the lights...I love the way our family room looks and feels when the tree is lit. So cozy and happy. One of my favorite things about Christmas -- the warmth a lit tree can bring to a house.


The kids had big fun unpacking the ornaments -- they love looking at each one almost as much as I do. It's great to share stories with them about where the ornaments came from and why they are so special. I do love a Christmas ornament and the most special ones....the ones with glitter and glue overload....handmade by some precious little hands.




It was Winston's year to place the angel on top...he's getting awfully heavy for this job but Joe is no worse for the wear after some VERY heavy lifting!! Beautifully perched, this angel was purchased the 1st year we were married. She's made of cardboard and felt but she's worth her weight in gold. 14 years she's been watching over our Christmas trees and if you ask me, she has the best view in the house.




I'll have to dedicate a post to the children's little tree. They have their own that sits in the kitchen and this year, it was completely their project to decorate. Winston made a cardboard star last year for their tree and I imagine 30 years from now, I'll still sift through paper and packing peanuts to find that sweet creation of his.


And so it goes....it's here....Christmas is around the corner. I have lists a mile long of gifts to buy and wrap, sweet treats to make, and cards to mail but for now, I plan to sit for a minute or two and take in her beauty....cuz she sure is a keeper!!