Jolly Old Santa Claus

My Christmas mantra this year is "let's do this!" I'm not waiting til the last minute on anything. I'm organized, I'm ready, and I'm going to make the most of my November so I can really relax (as much as possible, working crazy retail hours) and enjoy December. As usual, I want to create family traditions for the boys. Devon is old enough that he remembers EVERYTHING and looks forward to each event. Each Christmas event that we do is so special and I love to see the look of joy and excitement in the boys eyes!

The Santa at Phipps Plaza really is a magical childhood tradition. He is the REAL Santa Claus of course, traveling each day from the North Pole to visit hundreds of good little girls and boys. He is the kindest Santa and is so interested in talking to all of the children. Devon and Dean were pretty much in awe!







Devon worked very hard on his list this year...







And he even wrote his wish list himself...



Dean has only one wish this year... a tuba! I think it was from a Curious George episode, but he has been obsessed with getting a tuba. Have you ever tried to find a child sized tuba??? Looks like Santa had better work his magic!











In front of the Tiffany Christmas tree...



The we walked around Phipps to experience some Christmas wonder...

This is an elegant tree that my Mom would love...







So happy with their candy canes from Santa...









In my Christmas red...



We always start putting up the Christmas tree the week of Thanksgiving. We want to enjoy all the Christmas decorations for as long as possible and it makes the house so beautiful. Here's how it all got started...

With the boxes, brought in from our shed and some excited boys, waiting to begin...



With each ornament, the boys want to remember when we got it and is it theirs?!



So happy with our cheery little tree!



Our beautiful nativity, the centerpiece of our Christmas decorations.



Playing with the baby safe nativity. We wouldn't want baby Jesus to get broken!



My Russian nesting dolls. With sweet little Christmas fairytale scenes handpainted on each one.



Our Christmas book basket is finally full. I have been collecting books for the past six years, so I could read a different Christmas book for the entire month of December. The boys love reading them and looking at the pictures on their own too, so we put away the dinosaur books and keep these out.



Our downstairs has the new addition of a little Christmas village that glows.





For a special Christmas treat, the boys and I made "reindeer munch" together. Mmmm...



And of course, we had to continue the tradition of making a gingerbread house. But this year, we made a little gingerbread village.



And one of my favorite things to do is to change our my dining table decor to match the season. It is the first thing we see when we walk into the house and the boys even get excited to see the "new table." So, up went the Christmas tablecloth and candles.



With all the Christmas decor up, Firoze and I even had an all-day marathon Christmas shopping day and for the first time EVER, I can say "I'm done!" before November is even over!

All this shopping deserves a reward...



This was my favorite picture from the last two weeks. Firoze and I took Deanie with us for a little Farm Burger delight! Sometimes you have to grab your chance for a break, with the best burger and fries in town. It feels good to relax...



And now, I'm off to start enjoying December!

And if all this Christmas craziness starts to stress you out, remember, you can always turn your house into a 5-star resort and have a little pampering...

Abundance

We have all that we need and more than we need. We have our health, our gorgeous boys, wonderful family and friends, a beautiful house that keeps us cozy, and an abundance of good food on this Thanksgiving day. Thank you God for all these blessings.



A Thanksgiving Centerpiece. Real antlers and pinecones.





Thanksgiving snacks... pimento cheese, sausages cooked in the slow cooker, baked brie with cranberry, pecans and rosemary, and olives.



Ready to eat!



I am thankful for my plate.



Cheers to another Thanksgiving, with chocolate martinis and pumpkin pie!


(why oh why can't my iphone take pictures as good as my camera?)

Orange Crush

Did you ever see a sea of orange? How about a 70 year old man wearing bright orange dress pants? How about babies with tiger paw pacifiers? How about orange and purple striped bow ties and bright orange dress shirts? How about orange convertibles and tiger paw flags proudly flapping on every car? If you haven't seen this before, then you haven't been to tiger country! Aka Clemson University. It's my school and no matter how uninterested in football I am, I am moved by the school spirit at MY school! It is something to behold.

And so this year, we had our first family trip to experience Clemson football with Guillermo - the most passionate tiger fan in the world! We met up with Court and G and our sweet nephews and niece to rock our orange and purple.

Look at our little football team!



The boys loved playing football while we were busy tailgating.





Before we arrived at the game, our first stop was Clemson's sport shop. Land of all things orange and purple. It was an orange and purple ZOO!



We got Firoze properly attired in his orange t-shirt. I wouldn't want him to get beat up at his first Clemson game! At Clemson, if you're not in orange... you're not a tiger!!











The boys got to play some beanbags too.





And then it was game time! Look at the sea of orange pouring into the stadium!



Look at the cutest Clemson couple. Ha! These two had the time of their lives at the game and lucky for them, Clemson won!



While they were enjoying their $150 seats, Court and I took the kids on a tour of the campus.



And we had some bubble fun.



Then it was on to the Homecoming displays. These were amazing and the boys treated them like huge jungle gyms!



















After leaving Clemson to head to our hotel, Courtney and I had the best jacuzzi in the world. There is nothing better in the world, to put all your kids in a hot tub and make a big bowl of "kid soup" as Court called it! We got in there and stayed until we were prunes and it was perfect. The kids loved their swim time with each other.

On Sunday, we had the best day in Greenville. It was absolutely perfect. Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect setting and perfect photos. I loved Falls on the Reddy and could see so many beautiful photo shoots if I lived in Greenville.

















Is this gorgeous or what?





We couldn't pass up a river without going Sri-Lankan style...







And finally, with all this stunning scenery, I got to have a mini photo shoot with Viviana. She's so sweet and I couldn't pick a favorite picture. Which one do you like the best?

Look at this little tongue!