Christmas Eve - Family Fun and a New Tradition

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christmas Eve at the Boling's brought lots of fun, laughter, and a new tradition.

While opening presents Abram kept counting his, then walking over and getting presents from everyone else's pile, taking them back to his pile and recounting. He would get so excited as his pile got bigger!

Present Time --- Eli opening one of his Star Wars Lego sets. (Have you ever seen how many pieces those boxes have ?!?!), Emma getting a look at her new camera, and Abram tearing into his train set.

Fountain of Chocolate ~~~ Charity brought her Chocolate Fountain and you would have thought that it was the best present all evening! Everyone wanted in on the fun. Abram wanted me to snap a pic of his chocolate covered cake, but his face offered a better photo! The fountain was a hit & it is something that we will have each year!

The 2 Santa's

Despite Eli's resistance* to wearing the Santa hat, I was able to get a photo of them!

*for some reason he thinks he is too old now!

Man I so love these wonderful children that God has so lovingly Blessed us with!!

Christmas Past - 2000

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Family Photo at Nana and Papa's - Christmas Eve 2000

Christmas Past - Papa George & Christmas Eve

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Out of all the photos I have taken of Papa George with Eli & Emma over the years, these from Christmas Eve 1998 and 2000 are my absolute favorite!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 1st set is Eli & Papa in 1998. Papa is introducing Eli to the Toothpick!
Papa always seemed to have a toothpick in his mouth
and Eli used to be simply fascinated with it.

In this photo, Papa was tickling Emma and each time

I look at it I can still hear her giggle of absolute Joy!

Eli has his own agenda!!

So since I am allergic to the Christmas Trees we normally cut down to decorate, this year we decided to try a different kind which was cut in North Carolina and being sold by the tree farm we have been going to lately. Well everyone was on board with this except for Eli. He was having major issues that we were changing our tradition just because "your arms get a rash when you put the lights on!!" He kept insisting he was not happy with the change but decided that in the end I wasn't going to change my mind.

A few days later Eli comes in the door with a huge branch he had found on the mountain. He took it in his room, propped it up against the wall, added some lights and then some ornaments. He quickly came to figure out that each time he walked by it or really even breathed that the branch fell over and that wasn't going to work at all.

On Saturday afternoon I went outside and saw Eli up on the mountain behind the house. I asked him what he was doing and he said "I am starting my own tradition!!" He was chopping down his own tree and was as happy as can be while doing it!

This time however he got a pot to stand it in before decorating.

All in all I think we were both very pleased with his hard work!

Christmas Past --The 70's

While I was in the midst of some cleaning tonight I came across some old photos of Shalena and I. I looked to see if there any of us and Santa in the box and ding-ding-ding...since Mom was a Full Fledged Paparazzi back then there were!! YAY Mom -- Now I can prove to the 2E's that I got my camera-happy skills naturally!

This 1st two are missing the big man himself but I just love our outfits!!


I loved that ole plastic Santa! I would actually like to have one if anyone comes across one!!




Mom looks like she is enjoying Santa waaaayyy more than Shay & I were!!




Ok -- Now it seems like we got the hang of it!!

We have been Elfed!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dahlonega Christmas Parade

The annual Christmas Parade was this evening in town. We met Erica & Kyler (and what seemed like the whole county) to enjoy the holiday festivities. The square looked beautiful all decked out in red and green for the season! Despite the very cold weather we all had a great time.
The kids all loved the candy that was tossed out and we ran into more than a few our friends, which is always nice!

Emma, Eli, and Cole Mayo watching the Lumpkin County Marching Band go by.

Walter & Barbara Norrell

Dahlonega United Methodist Church!

The Grinch & Max *Cindy Lou Who was in a trailer behind him but I didn't get her photo*
It was our favorite!



Me and Eli


Eli and Kyler smiling for Erica

Emma entertaining Kyler before the parade started!

Emma & Eli in Santa's Sleigh

Christmas Past - 2007

I have been coming across photos from Christmas's Past and will be sharing them the next few weeks.

Todays post is all the Christmas Trees that we "visited" last year.

Our Tree

The Cochran Tree

The Boling Tree


The Cochran Tree (One of many!)

~~SNOW~~

Even though we had a few snow flurries in November today we had some that actually stuck! School was even closed an hour early(even though that was needless)

We sure did have a pretty view out the living room window today however!

The kids went to bed excited tonight in hopes of a Snow Day tomorrow
but that remains to be seen.

2008 Boling Christmas Tree Decorating

We went down for dinner and tree decorating at the Boling's on Sunday night.

There were some funny moments from Abram as usual -- he seemed to "accidentally" drop ornaments and then would stare at them in shock :):)
(Sorry Charity - but it is cute even if he is pantless!)

I had to get the requisite "ornament placing" photo of all the kids in :)

~~Happy Thanksgiving~~

We hope that our family and friends have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

We are so Blessed to have each of you in our lives!

40 Things NEVER Said by Southerners

40. Oh I just couldn't. Hell, she's only sixteen.
39. I'll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex.
38. Duct tape won't fix that.
37. Lisa Marie was lucky to catch Michael.
36. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken.
35. We don't keep firearms in this house.
34. Has anybody seen the sideburns trimmer?
33. You can't feed that to the dog.
32. I thought Graceland was tacky.
31. No kids in the back of the pickup, it's just not safe.
30. Wrasslin's fake.
29. Honey, did you mail that donation to Greenpeace?
28. We're vegetarians.
27. Do you think my gut is too big?
26. I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
25. Honey, we don't need another dog.
24. Who's Richard Petty?
23. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
22. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
21. Spittin is such a nasty habit.
20. I just couldn't find a thing at Walmart today.
19. Trim the fat off that steak.
18. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
17. The tires on that truck are too big.
16. I'll have the arugula and radicchio salad.
15. I've got it all on the C drive.
14. Unsweetened tea tastes better.
13. Would you like your salmon poached or broiled?
12. My fiance, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany's.
11. I've got two cases of Zima for the Super Bowl.
10. Little Debbie snack cakes have too many fat grams.
09. Checkmate.
08. She's too young to be wearing a bikini.
07. Does the salad bar have bean sprouts?
06. Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" that we haven't seen.
05. I don't have a favorite college team.
04. Be sure to bring my salad dressing on the side.
03. I believe you cooked those green beans too long.
02. Those shorts ought to be a little longer, Darla.
01. Nope, no more for me. I'm drivin tonight

Seems I was always the Queen

Ok so not really but that was the 1st thing that came to my mind when Shalena sent this to me yesterday! haha I love it!!! As many differences as Shay and I have had over the years photos like this make me thankful that I have a Twin Sister I love so much!

*Don't ya dig the red sunglasses??

My New Toy

Yea so I am pretty much behind-the-times in regards to cell phones versus a blackberry but due to the fact that the School Bus ran over my old cell phone a few weeks ago I decided it was time for an upgrade anyway!

While I waited for my "upgrade" date to arrive(which luckily was only about 2 weeks since the tragedy) I looked around at what was available these days. My fave was the the Blackberry Curve because I wanted something that I could use to check the biz email on if I wasn't at my desk and it seemed to fit the bill --plus it has all kinds of bells & whistles!

When we got to the Verizon store we noticed that the Curve was on sale so we(I) was like YAY! Then the salesman said they had 2 different rebates for it- 1 from Verizon and 1 from Blackberry. Once the rebates were figured in with the sale price we will actually be getting money BACK! Who doesn't LOVE being paid to get a new phone? Seems we went phone shopping on an excellent day!

Now I don't have to worry that we may miss a biz email when we go to town or to see a customer! That in itself makes the past 2 weeks on a lovely loaner(Thanks Erica!! and I promise your number is in the new toy now!!) worth it!--Plus the giggle ring tone was a hoot!

Some people...

..... are not particular at all about who share their pillows with!

We have come to the conclusion that Daisy thinks she is a human! Heck we treat her as one most times so I guess that is why haha

Space Camp

Eli had so much fun at Space Camp in Huntsville, AL! It was his first "trip" like that and I admit I was alittle worried - turned out it was needless worry as he had the time of his life. He got to see all sorts of cool rockets and space shuttles, learned about all the space missions and astronauts, and even walked in the "footsteps" of some famous ones!

"It was a perfect experience for me and I loved it!"--- Eli Boling Nov '08

On a Parent Note: I had numerous parents/chaperones tell me what a polite and well-mannered fella he was *Gotta LOVE that!!*

* I also have a cool video if I can figure out how to link it!

UPDATE: As promised *not for those prone to motion sickness!!!!

Fire on the Mountain

The mountain over on the other side of our valley caught on fire yesterday and when we went to out earlier we can see where it has spread even more!! Ack! Thankfully the wind is blowing away from us!! Hopefully the Forest Service will get it under control before long!

This is what you can see coming in from the main road.

Friends, Fun, and Flying Corn

We recently enjoyed an evening out at the local corn maze with the Cain and Caudell Families. This was our 1st time experiencing a corn maze in the dark and it was great! It is something we will be doing each year now.

Hayden and Kyler were gung-ho running in the dark. They didn't seem to care that all they could see was cornstalks and knee-caps! Courtney and Erica got their workouts in chasing after them! BTW--did you know that if you ask perfect strangers if they know where the parents of the cute little kids standing near you are that they look at you with funny looks?

CJ being a "Scarecrow"

Eli, Emma, and Hunter trying to lead the way!

The only downside was the flying corn that was being tossed by unruly teenagers that is! Erica got hit in the hand and Emma got pegged right smack on the head! Lucky there was no bleeding involved, just some bruising and Em had a terrible headache the rest of the evening. I was proud because both my kids commented later (grain of salt here) that they just couldn't see why some parents let their children run around and do things that that!! (Yea so I only really included that comment here so that I can have a record of it)

Afterwards we had Emma's fave thing--Boiled Peanuts!

Then we headed by to the Cain's to roast some marshmallows. Did you know they bubbled up like this when left by the edge of the fire? --Me neither, but then again I prefer not to waste a good roasted marshmallow!




*I love this photo of Craig & Emma*