Christmas Holiday

We had such a great time in El Dorado over the holiday weekend! We went to church on Sunday morning and a candlelight service Sunday night (the girls were dying to see Alvin & the Chipmunks, so they got to do that in between services). We went to Grandmommie's house on Monday - what a houseful!! These are all of Grandmommie's grandkids and great-grand kids, minus a few who weren't in town for the holiday. We had TONS of food and got to catch up with the people we only see once or twice a year. After we left Grandmommie's house, we drove to Ruston to visit with Uncle Alex. We all gathered around and sang Christmas carols - it was beautiful!
And when we got back home on Monday night, we opened all of the presents. Here's Payton and Holland with their most favorite things from M'laine and Papa - Payton's Arts & Crafts set and Holland's Barbie Girl. We had them open their backpacks/tickets for the Disney Cruise last. I honestly thought that they'd find out about it before Christmas since EVERYONE else knew, but they were truly surprised. It's pretty much all they talk about now, so I'm so glad we only have 7 days left until we leave!

And then there was Christmas morning. Thanks for finding us in El Dorado and leaving such cool presents, Santa!!

It's Party Time!

There's nothing more chaotic than a school full of kids loaded up on who knows how much sugar, 2 days before Christmas vacation. I thought I'd go and help out with food and games, but I was struggling just to keep my sanity. God bless all the teachers in the world.

Here's Holland with her good buddy, Marley.

And hanging out with the fellas.
Payton taking a break from her snowflake craft to put on a big cheesy.And Payton's whole class full of crazies!

All Aboard!!

Payton and I had a fabulous time together today! All of the 2nd grade GT students got to go on a special field trip - a train ride just like the kids had on the Polar Express! We rode, had hot chocolate, talked to Santa, and sang Christmas carols. It was the first time either of us had ever been on a train, and it was great fun. After that, we went and had lunch at Cracker Barrel (sure beats school lunch!). The one-on-one time that I had with Payton was wonderful. What a great day!!

My kind of house

At the girl's school, the GT teacher, Mrs. Little, allows each student to pick a topic that interests them the most instead of everyone working on the same project all the time. Holland picked Photography, which she loves, and Payton picked Sweet Architecture. Her group got to make a model store out of candy that looks just like the old feed store in Elm Springs. They did such a good job, and it smells as good as it looks! It was on display this weekend at Shiloh Museum, so we went down to check it out and take some pictures.
This is most of Payton's GT group with Mrs. Little. They were all so proud!