7 Days of Snow in....Cleveland, TN

After 7 days, we still have snow on the ground, but we haven't been out in a few days. Snow is fun, but have you ever tried to dress three small children for it? It takes longer to dress them than they are willing to stay out in it.

Josiah dressed as Rapunzel

During the day, he had told me a secret, "I'm going to give Granna all my "sug" and he tried, but he'll never be able to give it all away.

Elisha on the phone and Kit Kat in the basket.

Caleigh as Rapunzel, frying pan and all

Elisha shoveling snow

Josiah actually down in the snow. The first day he kept crying any time I put him down. The third day he actually got down, but kept toddling, then plopping, toddling, then plopping.

No, snowman. A snow motorcycle, but Elisha didn't like sitting on it. I'm sure it was freezing his crotch.

We didn't have a sled. We tried a garbage can lid, cardboard, and several other objects, but the turtle sandbox lid worked best. Rusty would push the kids down the hill. They would spin a few feet and stop, but they had fun. Josiah and I even tried it.

Caleigh, Little Red Riding Hood. She despised getting bundled up. The first day I left her in the house crying, but she finally decided come out.

Josiah warm in his jammies next to Elisha cold in his undies

Christmas at Dollywood

Season Passes to Dollywood were about to expire...We had been planning to go to Dollywood since September, but we hadn't been able to make it. We wanted to go when the Christmas lights were up, and we finally did. We got down to the last week, and we were planning around the weather, and the weather kept changing, and our days kept changing. Finally, we planned on the 31st, but thankfully, I checked and it was closed. Glad we didn't make that trip.

So, on the 30th we headed out in the mini with our family plus Grandma, Geez-Paw, and Cole.

Under the heart posing, but not quite as perfect as Katie and Dave

The family minus Josiah. My mom kept him for us, which was great considering the freezing temperatures, but I missed him since we were separated two nights.

Everybody but me.

Elisha making a face while Rusty and I were trying to upgrade MJ and Steve's tickets to season passes, which didn't work.

We went to watch Dollywood's Babes in Toy Land, and Elisha passed out. How sweet.

Caleigh and Cole waiting to watch Polar Express. Caleigh didn't wear a coat for about the first two hours in the park. When we got out of the car, she had a Caleigh tantrum over putting on her coat. She was left with Grandma, and I hoped Grandma would sweet talk her into wearing it with me having go down to the battle of the wills. That didn't work out. Grandma let her go with out, thinking she would relent in the cold and put it on. No. Not her.

All of us with the conductor at the Polar Express

Other interesting points of the trip.

• Steve and I walked a mile (almost) to procure chicken fingers for the children. I came back with drinks strapped to my blue jeans.
• I rode in the front seat of Blazing Fury with Cole. Somehow I ended up drenched. My hair, my shirt, my jeans, and I had to walk around in the 30 degree weather like that.
• The kids made it in the car back and forth very well until about the last hour and a half when Caleigh wanted to lie on Cole and he didn't want her to touch him.

Christmas Bliss

Rush. Rush. Busy. Busy. Isn't everyone's holiday season as busy as ours? We started December with 3 church function in less than a week, which only led to more parties, cooking, baking, shopping, wrapping--exhaustion. While we were busy and had to put off some of our normal activities, we tried to point our children to the birth of Christ and the significance of his life. We did a daily, simple advent calendar and the construction paper Jesus Christmas tree we had done in the the past. Even Elisha could say, "Jesus is the bright morning star. Jesus is the lamb of God. Jesus is the Good Shepherd." (I shouldn't be surprised that he is able to do this, but his reluctance to learn his ABCs makes me wonder sometimes.)

The week before Christmas the stomach bug hit, though mildly praise the Lord. I figured all my ungodly anxieties about us all getting sick that I had been having for 2 months were coming to fruition, but thankfully, all were well for the start of Christmas gatherings, which began Christmas Eve Eve with the Mitchells. It was the first of 8 with the other 7 occurring from 4:00 Christmas Eve to 10:00 Christmas Day.

I don't even know what to say about what the kids received. No one needs near as much as they got. Caleigh received a camera, princess suitcase, and a princess barbie-type doll collection. Elisha received a real toolset, camo, guns, and a train set. Josiah received a ride toy, a pushable tricycle, and a Little People zoo set. Rusty was surprised by a Kindle from my parents, and I was surprised by a Shark steam and vacuum, which I took back in hopes of purchasing a Kindle for myself. We are too blessed. I pray that the Lord helps us to bless others in the same way. He is so good.

The Barn at the Langfords

A white Christmas in Chatsworth (and Cleveland). We woke up at about 7:00 Christmas morning and it was snowing. By the time we left our house, we had almost 3 inches in Cleveland. It really didn't lay until later in the day in Chatsworth, but because of the potential for slippery spots on the road we stayed with my in-laws until Monday.

Although everyone dreams of snow for Christmas, our family realized that it can have its negative aspects. My father-in-law and brother-in-law had to work until 3am Christmas Eve and almost all day Christmas day for the city of Dalton cleaning the roads. Not until 8:30 in the evening were they finally convinced by my prompting and reminding them the kids wanted to open presents that it was time to ask to come home.

Jo-Jo giving Elisha a ride on the 4-wheeler Christmas Eve

My mom bought me, my sister, and herself the same pjs for our Philyaw Christmas party, and we had our picture made with my lovely grandmother, Meme.

Caleigh in the zone in front of the TV. Question: Who can guess how much time she wasted in front of the TV during the holiday instead of playing with her new toys?

The boys on the sit-n-spin at Granna and Poppy's. Sometimes they have so much fun together.

Caleigh helping me test out the "Kids & Pets" mode on my camera. It worked better than on Auto. I actually caught her jumping up and down in excitement.

Besides a Barbie container, which still remains questionable on what it is, all Caleigh wanted was a Rapunzel. She received the dress-up outfit Christmas Eve, but she had to wait until the last of 7 Christmas gift opening sessions to receive the the doll. After receiving that all she wanted still was a Rapunzel wig. I made her buy that with her Christmas money.

Daddy Walt with his "littler" grandkids and great-grandkids

You should have seen Caleigh's face as the gifts piled up in Granny's lap. Our lectures on how to politely receive gifts apparently had no sunk in. She didn't understand why Granny received more than she did, but she was glad to help her open some of them.

Josiah's favorite Christmas item: tissue paper. Here he was playing peekaboo underneath it.

Angie (aunt), Katie (sister), Cassie, Kristy (mom), Tonya (aunt)

The Philyaw girls decided to provide some entertainment for our Christmas shindig. We all dressed up 70's to 80's-ish and danced to a certain (rather inappropriate) song. Our family didn't know what to think about us, and all my daughter could do was cry because I hadn't brought her any high heels to wear.