Field Trip!

Ms. Ginnell, our fabulous, gift-from-God daycare provider, took the kiddos to see Santa last Friday.  Ben had the day off and was already planning on keeping Hadley home, so the two of them packed up and headed out to the mall to meet her friends.

According to Ben, they had a fabulous morning.  Babe even gave Santa a hug...willingly!

We are so incredibly thankful for Ms. Ginnell and all the love, support, encouragement, and fun she provides for our family!

A New Favorite.

"Daddy, you wan' sit on the stairs with me?"

The Polargk Express.

I have no idea why, but my sweet boy Harry can't pronounce the word "polar."  It always, always, always comes out of his mouth sounding something like "polargk," so that's what we rode this year.

We headed up to Trenton about a week and a half ago to have dinner with Mimi and Poppa before heading over to the Tennesee Valley Railroad Authority to catch our ride to the North Pole.  The kids had an absolute blast, and I even managed to talk Ben into wearing his candy cane pajama pants just for fun!  There were tons of kids decked out in their pj's, but Ben and me were without a doubt the only adults dressed for the ride...but hey, when you're cool, you're cool.

And it was cold.  And snowy.  Our hour-long ride even got extended due to the fact that ice and snow built up on the track...and on our van, and in the parking lot, and on the roads...I'm very, very thankful for Ben's super awesome driving skills.



While we waited to board the train, Harris and Babe really enjoyed watching the model trains running in one of the upstairs station rooms.  I'm pretty sure Ben did, too.  When I was uploading pictures, I found twenty or so that he took of the track!



Once on board, we settled into our seats to enjoy a reading of "The Polar Express" by Merry Winters, Christmas carols, and a special snack and "chocolate-y drink."

Yep.  Chef Thomas served lukewarm yoohoo.

Once we made it to the North Pole, we were able to see where Santa stores all the toys and we even got a glimpse of the house where our Elf on the Shelf, Herman, lives!  Santa boarded the train and brought everyone a jingle bell, and pretty soon we were headed back to Chattanooga.

The conductor even came around on the return trip and made sure to punch everyone's ticket.  Hadley preferred the conductor and Chef Thomas, maker of the special chocolate-y drinks, to Santa Claus.

Ben preferred Merry Winters.  She might have liked him back if her reading had been intended to illicit laughs.  Thankfully we were seated near the rear of the car, so there's a small chance she didn't notice the man laughing uncontrollably at how the North Pole seemed to be portrayed in a slightly redneck way.

Just a small one, though.

Rudolph and Clarice.

Ben took us on a fun family outing to Build-a-Bear to stuff our very own Rudolph dolls.  I made sure we arrived as soon as the store opened; I was incredibly afraid of large crowds, but we ended up getting in and out in under twenty minutes.  It was perfect!

The kids had an absolute blast.  All Hadley could say, over and over and over, was, "I love her.  Look at that Clarice.  I love her."  Harris snuggled and hugged and bathed and brushed Rudolph, and both kids have not let those deer out of their sight since leaving the store.



They also have not stopped making the deer "talk" (I'm so stoked the dolls make noise!), so I've pretty much heard the following conversation a thousand times:  "Hi, I'm Clarice."  "Hi, I'm Rudolph."  "I think you're cute."  "I'm cute, I'm cute...she thinks I'm cute!"



They are pretty cute.  All four of them.

You Could Call It Child Cruelty...

...but we just call it visiting Santa.

It's pretty safe to say that Babe is still not a fan of the Big Man.  We won't be visiting him again this year...mostly because now that I've gotten my photo, I really don't have a need to put her through that kind of torture, but also because I don't want to take a chance on having Harris change anything on his wish list.  I'm done shopping.

Before you judge me, know that the tears didn't last long.  We quickly moved on to the Elf Workshop, where the kids were able to make ornaments for our tree, and the dreaded Santa experience was forgotten.



Santa did tell Harris, just before BeBe lost it, that he knows our "Elf on the Shelf," Herman.  Santa said that Herman has been telling him what a silly, funny boy Harris is.  The look on Harris' face was priceless!  We have had tons of fun with Herman this season...but that's another post for another day.

After completing our crafts, we headed outside to peruse the decorations before hitting up Wendy's to try their new homestyle fries.  (Which, by the way, are really pretty good.)

I didn't get the shot I wanted of the kiddos and me, but I was able to capture the following picture, so I left feeling pretty satisfied.



You gotta love Auntie.  We sure do!

No Title Necessary.



Funny Big Cooper.

A capella singing rocks.  Even Harris thinks so.

We've spent lots of time this Christmas season listening to "Big Cooper" and the UGA Accidentals break down some Christmas songs on the iTouch.  Both Harris and Hadley seem to have an uncanny knack for memorzing lyrics, and the songs are only better because we actually know someone singing them!  When we found out The Accidentals' Christmas concert was scheduled for a decent time this past Tuesday night, Ben and I jumped at the chance to take Harris up to "The Georgia School" to hear a few of his favorite tunes live.

Harry LOVED it.  He got to hear the boys' and girls' groups sing songs he recognzied, help Big Cooper run sound, take a trip backstage to meet the "guys," and even earned a shoutout from the stage!!!!

The Accidentals ended the show by singing a silly version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," which has quickly become one of my kids' favorite things to listen to.  It's a crazy conglomeration of lots of different songs, and Harris has the whole thing memorized.  I would have given a million dollars to have been able to record the look on his face when he heard someone say, "And this last song is for a special fan in the audience.  He's four years old, and his name is Harris, and this is one of his favorite songs.  He's helping run sound tonight, and he knows all the words, so Harris, if we mess up, will you help us?"

My sweet boy answered with a loud, "I will!"  And then proceeded to sing along with the entire song.

It was awesome.

And, FYI, if you're into watching "The Sing-Off," just like I am, you should totally go check out the next Accidentals show.  It's "The Sing-Off" in real life, and is tons of fun.  Seriously.