The day after Christmas...

Every year we look forward to December 26th, the day the Buchanans come together for a Holiday visit. I need to remember to ask what year this annual tradition started. Curt says as long as he can remember, but it could have started before he came along. Since we're talking about Jr. anyway, let me share this special picture of these guys representing three generations: Curtis Allen Buchanan I, II, and III.

And how about this special little guy, our nephew, Carson Branton!

And how about these ladies? (yours truly, Kelli, and Kaye-Kaye)

Never too far away from each other....Mollie and her daddy!

Not only cousins, but buddies too, Sam and Thomas! (and today they shared with us their reservoir of untapped talent on the keyboard.)

Sweet little Aidan.

And the pretty sister-in-laws with the random cousins' wife in the purple shirt. haha.

I wish I could have gotten more pictures of everyone, but the kids were literally running out of the front door. Thanks Keith and Kathy for opening your home to us all again. We enjoyed spending time together!

Fa-la-la-la-la!

Well, it's the day-after the day-after Christmas and I'm sitting here in the midst of a million-plus toys scattered all about with no proper place to put them. We are now officially through with Christmas 2010, but I am still basking in the glow of our full holiday weekend with our families. The presents are all unwrapped, leaving the once fresh bright-bulbed Christmas tree with a naked skirt and brittle branches. The children are visiting their grandparents, the husband is traveling with work, and I should really be putting our post-holiday home back together. But instead I am taking a minute to reflect on our holiday and post a few memories that made us really happy.

In the wee hours of Christmas morning, Curt drove the dark streets of Flowood searching for aluminum foil to tightly cover our turkey. We'd like to thank the fine folks at Cefco for being open at this hour, and saving us from consuming a very dry bird.

But off to the fun stuff...... Curt was able to return home before the children stirred to see what Santa brought them. He sat in the hallway drinking his coffee, in hopes that he could stall the children long enough to grab the camera. I wish I had captured a shot of him waiting. :)

This is Mollie playing with her new pink mini-van, equipped with a car seat for her infant, and a big-haired mommy driving to the, uhm...stable with Baby Jesus?...and an angel... and a sheep? Wait, I think she's getting her new toys mixed up with her nativity set. She's also been ringing a few handbells this morning too. The little children play handbells on one of Tripp's Barney Christmas DVD's so she asked Santa for her own set. Uncle Andy thought these handbells were a little loud for so early in the morning. I wish I could have gotten that picture too.

Tripp is really studying this Thomas the train book. It's not often he sits this still.
We had a great lunch and enjoyed spending the morning with GranJoe. The kids got so excited when he drove up and ran outside to his car. (Why didn't I take a picture of the kids with him?). Mollie was so cute riding around on her new tricycle he gave her, and she even let Tripp join her on the back of it for a stroll around the den.

Afterwards, the kids took long naps with full bellies, and then woke up in just enough time for Kaye-Kaye and Sashee to come over!

Sashee, we don't know why your back has been bothering you? Joking, but he's always such a good sport, and loves to play with them anyway! haha.

Shortly after we settled down for the night, we realized that we were completely out of diapers. As in, there were none left. Not even in the diaper bag.

So once again,....late in the night hours of Christmas night, Curt drove the dark streets of Flowood searching for size 6 diapers. We'd like to again thank the kind folks at Cefco for beng open at this hour, and saving our boy from his first ever attempt at potty-training. It would not have been a good experience!

But speaking of Curt, let me share with you this sweet picture of him reading a story to Mollie. (Tripp was too busy to accept their invitation to join them). This was Christmas Eve, and Mollie was really sleepy. This is when she remembers her thumb. I know I shouldn't, but I just love that she sucks her thumb. You see, when Mollie was an infant, I really wanted her to be a thumb-sucker, so much that I would even show her the way. But she was disinterested. Until last Christmas when we did away with the pacifier, and Mollie found her thumb instead at the ripe old age of two-and-a half. I love it.

Pictured below is a funny progression of "Tripp, stand by Mollie, and say cheese".

He won. He got away, so we just took a shot of Mollie alone instead.

Later the same evening, another shot right before he fled.

Curt and Mollie wrote Santa a note by the cookies they left him. Santa ate all the cookies, and left Mollie a little note too!

And we close with a few quick shots from one night we took the children to see the Christmas lights in Canton. Mollie and Tripp were so excited to ride the carousel!And she really loved riding the train around the square, all the while keeping her eye on the horses pulling the carts. She couldn't believe it when she saw one do you-know-what in the middle of the street!
And now, buckle up folks 'cause here comes twenty-eleven....!

Winner's Park with four little munchkins

We had the best evening at Winner's Park in Flowood with Natalie and her girls, Shelia and Courtney. It was the last night to see Santa and ride the train, and the weather was warmer than usual so there were lots of people at the park. We ran into a few friends and enjoyed getting to catch up.

As soon as we arrived, our little Tripp was determined he was going to ride the train. Immediately. However, there was quite a line so Tripp had to exercise a little patience, along with the rest of our gang. We didn't know that Tripp even liked trains, so this whole trying-to-jump-ahead-of-everyone-in-line thing was news to us.

Here is a picture of us right after we all got loaded up. As we got going, Natalie and I both decided this was the fastest kid train we had ever been on...like riding the Amtrak through Winner's Park! The guy running it made $6 alone just from our little car, so I'm sure he was running that train along that sidewalk as much as possible. haha. But we really enjoyed it, and could have riden a few more times. I let Tripp stand by the outer window and hold on and he loved it! Looking back, riding that little train was a lot easier than running after our four little munchkins, ages three and under! :)

Above is a shot of some of us as we waited in line for the train. Tripp had just finished his major "I don't want to wait" meltdown, so I was quick to whip out the handy-dandy emergency "nanny" (pacifier). He's gotten so big now, so he REALLY looks silly with that in his mouth. Courtney and Mollie were enjoying hanging out with Curt.

Mollie is so glad her daddy is back in town!

I'm so glad my camera shot fast enough to capture this HUGE hug Courtney gave Mollie! We laugh at how Mollie bosses all three of the younger ones. Tripp and Shelia just ignore her commands, and Courtney just loves her anyway!

As I am typing this now, I can feel how sore my biceps are today from this workout in the train line last night. Let me explain this one. Little Mr. Tripp could not stand to wait any longer for this train, and wanted to be held in line. He really weighs a ton. That is why I am fake-smiling in this picture. We don't typically walk around holding him anymore. We just pretty much run after him, but tonight was different. And his heaviness was not the only issue, he kept working against me by leaning down. I thought he wanted to get down at first, but then realized this is how he wanted to be held. And then he closed his eyes and was saying "baby night-night"! Hilarious. But it worked, and he entertained himself until it was our turn to ride. And I got a little gym-free muscle burn in the meantime!

Courtney and Shelia had the best time playing in the Candyland.

Shelia was so funny trying to "ride" this electrical light-up dog!

My camera was set on a special night-time setting, and turned all the Christmas lights into a visual fireworks display instead, but this is a shot of Mollie and Tripp waiting for their turn to see Santa (in the background fire pit, haha!). Courtney and Shelia were terrified to be near Santa, and decided they would just stick close to their Mommy.

This is Courtney running up to Tripp to give him a big hug! First time EVER, and he ran away. Typical for a little fellow. :)

And then we finally made it to see Santa. Tripp was SO disinterested but he stayed in his lap until we let him down. And Mollie told Santa all about that scooter she wants for Christmas.

She would have never dreamed Santa was coming to her front door later on that evening! We really enjoy hanging out with our families and making memories for these little ones. And can't wait to do it all again next Christmas!

"...he knows when you're awake"

We had a great treat last night...a visit from SANTA at our front door! We were so excited! Thank you SO much to our friend Raymond for giving the kids such a special surprise. We owe you BIG! "Santa" was going to be at the Back Yard Burger close to our house, and "Mrs. Claus" offered a front door visit, so in preparation we put a little impromptu gift out for Santa to give the kids. After you see the pictures, you'll know we should have put a little more thought into the gift for Mr. Tripp.

Last night, we sat in the den and talked about how Santa had a naughty and nice list, "sometimes, Santa will stop by houses to check on kids". "Will he go down the chimney or knock on the front door?" Mollie asked. "He goes to the front door before Christmas.". As we discussed Santa's Christmas strategy, Tripp was more interested in playing with his shoes and catching glimpses of a cartoon on tv. Mollie face had a look of "maybe, just maybe, he will come here tonight.". After a few minutes of Mollie pondering this idea, we heard a knock on the front door. Mollie looked up, mouth and eyes wide open. Mary said "Mollie, go to the door!". She opened up the door... "It's Santa!"

We all were jumping up and down with exitement! "Hey Mollie and Tripp!"

This is so much fun! Tripp is smiling so far.

Uh-oh, Tripp spots something in the corner...

Yeah, it's a gift from Santa! Mollie loves her Snow White doll, and at first we think Tripp is teased by his friends from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...

But then, Tripp leaves in protest as Santa shows him his gift...

Not a good sign when he walks away as Santa is showing him a gift....

Tripp went back inside! How rude. But afterall, it was just a dumb poster and not even a good toy, and not even BARNEY! What was Santa thinking? :)

Notice Tripp watching from inside, pouting about his toy. :)

Mollie to Santa: "Some boys and guls are not on the good list, but they'll lun (learn) one day." She's such a sweet little girl. And so is her brother. Even if he was SO over Santa tonight. We really should have put out a Barney toy.

Merry Christmas!

Preschool Praise "Sing and Share"

"asleep on the hay..."

What a gift to be able to watch these little preschoolers share their songs they've been working on this year in Preschool Praise at First Baptist Church, Jackson. We were so proud of our Mollie and her friends. Above is a picture of all the children and one of their teachers, Mrs. Anna on the back row.

Mollie is so happy to be singing for us!


They are signing the word "praise". Notice how they are really focusing on their teacher, even though the room is full of parents. So sweet. I was working on Mollie and Tripp's baby books last night and noticed that a lot of these children were also in the same Baby Dedication service with Mollie. It's really sweet that they are still together in Three Year Old Children's Choir.

"the Bible tells me so..."

Mollie is sneaking a peek at her Daddy to make sure he is still watching her sing. So sweet.

"The wise man built his house upon the rocks..."

Mollie loved having Mrs. Judy Tharpe as her choir teacher! Judy did a great job with these preschoolers this year, and we're thankful for all that she taught our little girl. (and she's kind of special to us anyway because she also directed our wedding!) These other little sweeties are Ella and Anna. Precious little girls.