Monday, December 12, 2016

Party, Retirement, and The Nutcracker

We made a family schedule of events for the next two weeks and we are pretty much booked until December 26th. And we don't even do all the "Christmas things" but  it is still enough to keep us busy and hopping from event to event. We will rest in January.


Nearly all of our sibling pictures end like this <3. They sure do love each other. He wakes up every morning asking about "Dorda" and she is so good to play with him even though most of the time he is destructive and rough. They're a match made in sibling heaven.
 

 
This child has more social obligations than me. She was invited to the WRECC Christmas party with her Uncle Jake and Aunt Shanna. She was very excited for it and I let her pick out the Christmas dress she would wear and this was her choice. She has good taste :)

 
I love how her new haircut shows off her profile now. I had to capture it while she was mesmerized by her tree.


And then on Friday the big event of the week happened. We threw mom a SURPRISE retirement party! We tried to do it a little early to throw her off but she was too smart for that and figured it out. She said she could tell when I called to get her to the destination with my big made up story that I was smiling while I talked HA! Only a mom could pick up on that.
 

My poor mom had just returned from a doctor's appointment where she had some follow-up tests run after a scare she had a few weeks ago (all came back normal hallelujah!!!) and she also had pink eye. It wasn't the best circumstances for her but those things you can't help so we carried on anyway!
 

Her 27 year career of teaching business at Butler County High School ends Friday. She started teaching the year after I was born. She has her Bachelors, Masters and Rank I degrees and always set high expectations for us academically.   

 
Congratulations, Mom! We are so proud of you. I have so much admiration for how you balanced a career and raised a family. I know you will enjoy your days of leisure and travel. Oh and keeping your grandbabies some too! :) 



 
We had 44 of her family and friends attend her surprise party! A true testament to her. She is loved by so many.


 
When we got home from the party we put Jack to bed and let sister stay up a little while. She is a night owl. And I would put her up against any adult on her abilities to hold a conversation.


The days we are in our jammies until noon are the best ones. We needed a slow morning at home to rest us up for the craziness that is coming.
 

While Jack spent the evening with cousins Payton and Elijah, Georgia got ready for her first Nutcracker ballet performance. Back in November she picked out a Clara nutcracker as her prize after her four year shots. She loves her and said that she wanted to look just like her. The right person heard that request and Grandmomma made her an outfit that looked just like Clara's! It is 100% hand made. She was smitten!
 

We went to TPAC for the performance. I've learned that they now offer the Nutcracker at SKYPAC in Bowling Green so we might do that in the future but it was nice to see Nashville's Nutcracker. It is the original Nutcracker but has a little Dixie heritage storyline that is added to the beginning.
 

 

The show was 45 minutes for scene one, a 20 minute intermission and then 45 minutes for scene two. She was glued to the stage for the first scene. During the part when the mice and nutcracker were sword fighting she yelled out loud, "GO!". Marcus and I just looked at each other and smiled. It was money well spent.

During intermission the girls went to get a snack and the dancing bear was now at the photo spot so we had to get a picture with her too.
 

Ready for church the next morning! Payt and Elijah brought Jack back home when it was time for bed so he was already there and fast asleep when we got home. I think he requested every book in his nursery be read to him though before he turned in :)
 

We were still in the spirit of the ballet so she wore her Nutcracker dress. This is one of my favorite dresses ever on her.
 

Sunday afternoon Jack helped bottle feed one of the twin calves on my grandparent's farm. In the past couple weeks they have had four calves born! He only has around four heifers so it's crazy to see so many calves all at once in the field. Cows (and cow poop) is all he talks about!
 

 
Sunday afternoon we went to our friend Analin's birthday party. These two loved playing together and Jack enjoyed playing with her three brothers plus all the other kiddos. We had the best time!

I'm 95% done with my shopping. I have done 100% of it online. I don't think I picked up one thing in a store. I need to make one trip to pick up a few stocking stuffers and odds and ends but for everything else, I'm letting UPS just drop it right off on my doorstep :) I love Christmas shopping!

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