On the 9th day of Christmas....

While some folks (even our own children) were experiencing the hustle/bustle of Christmas shopping tonight, Ronnie and I were chillin' out at Knob Hall Winery. It was calm, peaceful, quiet and very quaint...

The barn looked beautiful, with Lauren always making us feel very welcome -

the Christmas songs were my favorite -

and the owner insisted on taking our picture by the tree -

Yep, it was a pretty good night, ha!

Season of Giving.....Take 2

Day 7 - Tonight some members of the 4H group went shopping for a 'Christmas' family. As always, we pick a family member and split up. Chase, Damian and a few other boys picked the 2 year old. Clothes were not a 'wish', only learning toys. Chase seemed excited to learn that they had $100 to spend. Hmmm. I caught up to them in the toy section and they had two items. Both, good choices. Very educational. When I asked what else they were going to buy, there was hesitation. They had already spent $50 and only had two toys. Wow. As they began searching and calculating, Chase quickly picked up on the fact that realistically, today, $100 doesn't go far. Regardless, they figured out how to make some little young man happy =) And.......the club is going to make some people happy, yay! In some cases, it was sooooo close........

and at the end of the shopping excursion, we decided we would have one happy family! Great Job Country Clovers!

A Season of Giving -

Countdown to Christmas - day 7 (already?!)

This year's parade theme was "A Season of Giving" so the 4H group combined the Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, St. Jude, Make a Wish, our local Animal Shelter and Food Pantry to make one GREAT float =) -

The kids had a great time putting everything together - and Santa's helpers?! Well, they were more worried about their hair being messed up by the hats, lol!

and look where "Mr. Cool" rode this year, ha!

while this one was enjoying the ride (with her Princess wave, no doubt)!

And speaking of the princess, check out this castle!

And I recognize this little princess!!

she even has 'the wave' down pat -

What a cute Christmas pony -

and then there's the grand finale' -

Now that Chase and Cierra are older, Ronnie and I are able to 'watch' the parade versus walking along side the float (either Scouts or 4H), we enjoy seeing all the different groups and people. (are we just getting old, lol?!)

Day 6 - Countdown to Christmas!

I love the sounds of Christmas and a sound that isn't heard in our house too much throughout the year is my sewing machine. However, this year won't be any different than those in the past as I will be making some special gifts. Although there won't be many, I still love hearing the music playing, having the lights on and the sewing machine clicking away. Hmmm wonder who the luck one(s) is this year and what it will be =)

Day 5

On this 5th day of Christmas I'm loving my Mickey house! For some reason last year we didn't get out one particular box that held a memory from one of my favorite places on earth. So when we dug through and I found it this year, I quickly remembered how much I missed it. It's happily placed on our breakfast nook tree so I can look at it during every meal we share there.

it even flashes three different ways -

It's just too cute and I can't wait for Kayden to see it =)

Christmas Countdown - Day 4

I am a follower...... Yep, in this case I am. Two of my 'blog friends' have signed up for this challenge so I guess you could say I drank the kool-aid =)

I'm missing 3 days but here's my iPHone pic for the day. I guess you could say I'm dreaming about being there, dressed just like this snow man, lol!

Bring it on!

That's right....we transitioned from Thanksgiving to Christmas all in a matter of 8 hours!  Shew...that was a lot of bins, a lot of cleaning and a lot of moving but it's all done and we are GLAD!

Merry Christmas ya' all =)

and, just think.....three weeks from today, it will be Christmas day!

A week already?

It doesn't seem like it's already been a week since we were on the 'Jersey shore' but it has been!  So here's what we did the last day we were there.

Once Cierra heard we were camping in New Jersey, her head went to "Jersey Shore".  She LOVES that show (a long with a few others in our family =).  She asked what our schedule was and if we would have time or even be close to Snookie's house.   I went right to MapQuest and sure enough, just about 12 miles away was 1209 Ocean Terrace, Seaside Heights.  Needless to say, she was very excited to learn that we could go there on Saturday.  The weather was once again beautiful....sunny, 60, not a cloud in the sky.

Ronnie Googled the address and found that there seems to be some controversy over the exact address.  Some say 1209 and 1215.  He decided to go with 1209.

Our first indication that we were in the right area was the water tower -

Then the sign -

we headed 'right' -

and then from the back seat I hear not Cierra, but CHASE - he said "THERE IT IS!". Totally cracked me up that he was as excited as Cierra.

Cierra knocks -

and Chase tries the door -

and eventually come to terms with no one being there, ha!

so we took some pictures and I listened to the kids talk about the show, where things took place and how it felt really cool to actually be on the same porch. They talked of the hot tub and deck where fights took place -

and even called about renting this house -

and found out that for $15,000 they could 'live' here from Friday to Monday. Yes, fifteen THOUSAND. I'm thinking just a view of Snookie's house is more reasonable, haha! (and they even have "clean" rooms!

We eventually make it up to the boards to visit the store where these girls/guys work -

And $100 plus later, Cierra now can dress just like they do =) She was one happy girl.

Well, I guess they all were -

even the 'rents, lol!

Black Friday!

We didn't spend Black Friday the way Cierra typically does. We actually slept in, had a good breakfast, had a mini-photo shoot - the weather was perfect!

then headed to the Ferry.

The view was wonderful -

and once ashore....check out the building =)

we headed to the subway....Chase and Cierra don't recall ever riding, ha!

it was an interesting ride, to say the least. And......we get off on 42nd street and Broadway. Wow...Yep, it's BLACK Friday!

Chase and Cierra remembered Toys R Us but Damian had never been so.....we attempted to go inside -

but exited right after we entered.....TOO many people =)

The shopping was all about Cierra. She only had a few stores on her list with this one on the top -

and right after this picture was snapped, the 'big, bouncer' approached me and said "NO pictures can be taken" hehe......needless to say, that was the last of the pictures in AE and there were SO many things that were picture worthy. lol! We played around a little as we walked down Broadway -

and even ran into Mickey and Elmo, ha!

I even got my picture taken in my FAVORITE studio!

And, check out this Gingerbread house -

And I thought our's was good. Geez..... But....Cierra enjoyed her day in Times Square -

And the view back home was just as spectacular!

All in all, it we had a GREAT Black Friday!