Maddie and Ethan

Mads has double reason to celebrate since her birthday is on Christmas Day. She, Brian, and Ethan were lucky enough to spend the holidays with their families in England. They live in Nightcliff, Australia.

Christmas Dinner at the Tingle's

It's a tradition to have dinner at Grandmother and Granddaddy Tingle's on Christmas evening. As usual, it was a great meal with a great group of people. The kids are all just old enough this year to have a little fun on their own. Last year, I remember it being a room full of babies...this year, it was kids....all of whom were well behaved. I was proud of them. Jennifer and I discussed "borrowing" pictures from other people's blogs. I try very hard to always take lots of pictures myself, but I'll admit that this shot of the whole family is from Jennifer and Neil's blog. We didn't think we could keep the kids still long enough for too many shots. So thanks for the picture guys.

Hosts: Rabun and Mary Tingle

Guests:

Grandmother Ethleen Tingle (celebrating her 90th Christmas this year!!)

Adriene, Taylor, Molly and Anna (Locust Grove, GA)

Peyton, Bobbie, Michael, Destiny, Sabrina and Samantha (Fayetteville, GA)

Joel, Lisa, Mitchell, Katelyn and Lisa's mom (McDonough, GA)

Galen, Marisa, Maddie, and Dylan (Rocky River, OH)

Neil, Jennifer, and Tyrus (Locust Grove, GA)

Owen, Amber, Riley, and Kenna (Cary, NC)

Santa Came to Our House

Merry Christmas

This is our fourth Christmas together. Since we became a family in November of 2004, the very first thing we did was celebrate Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I remember how truly happy I was when the kids arrived...and then just a few weeks later...suprise....two more were on the way. On Christmas Eve Night, we settled down to watch a Christmas Carol. Sam and the Bean fell asleep in Daddy's arms. After putting them to bed, Destiny, Michael and Peyton built a Gingerbread house. The twins didn't help to build it, but they thought it was the coolest thing ever and they LOVED eating it. Speaking of eating, we caught Samantha eating SANTA's cookies after we put them out for him. Very funny the way our Christmas morning unfolded. The kids and I bought Peyton a 37in LCD television and I was so excited about surprising him with it that I couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve. I woke up at 5:00. I held out until 5:15 before sneaking down stairs to wake up Michael. I had covered his gifts from Santa with our Christmas blankets. I didn't want to ruin his Christmas by having him help me setup the TV. Peyton woke up when I got up. He knew I was up to something so he called out and asked if he could come and get a cup of coffee. I told him, since he was up we might as well have Christmas. Michael and I brought Daddy in to see his new TV. Then Michael went down to wake up Destiny and then we all woke up the babies. It was about 5:45 when we woke them up. They DID NOT like it. They rolled over, fussed and moaned. Finally, after the 50th time that we told them that Santa Claus came, they went into the living room. They were excited about their "bikes(tricycles)" and have ridden them non stop since Christmas morning. By the early afternoon, they were both pedaling and by the day after, they were pretty good with steering. They are also adorable in their high heels and princess outfits...complete with gloves, purses, and earrings. Destiny got a wagon full of gardening tools....REAL ones. She loves to work in the yard and plant things. She really has a green thumb. She also got an MP3 player. We had to return it a couple of days after Christmas and she ended up with an upgrade to an IPOD. She also got Heeley's. I got a Garmin for the car...which is all have wanted since last Christmas. It's also been one of my largest accounts at work this year, so it was really nice to get one of my own. Peyton got me a great digital picture frame for my desk at work. Michael got a Ripstick and a really nice combat style paintball gun, complete with protective gear. The one thing that will always stick out in my mind was Sabrina opening her presents. EVERY SINGLE gift got the same response: "Oh....Look what MY got."

Christmas Vacation

Papa and Sabrina. She stuck to Papa like glue on Christmas Eve.

This past week has been really nice. I took the whole week off of work to spend with the kids and Peyton only worked two days. We really had some down time. I have a few Christmas pictures for the blog, but I was surprised to realize that we didn't take very many. We had Christmas brunch on Christmas Eve at our house. My SD card was bad and I lost all of the pictures I took that day. Somehow, I just didn't make it back to taking them. I only have a couple of pictures from the brunch.

Christmas Brunch Guests: Mom and Dad, Jordan and Jace, Kim and Chris, Chelsey, Mattson and Anna, Brittany and Chris (the fiance who took my niece all the way to Arkansas to live), and of course, Peyton, Michael, Destiny, Sabrina, Samantha and me.

Food: Ham, biscuits, croissants, quiche, three kinds of breakfast casseroles and my all time favorite. Mimosas...Kim and I finished off a bottle and a half of Champagne...Daddy and Peyton shared the rest.

Sausage and Egg: Chef Michael

Sausage and Egg with Tomato and Chillies: Chef Bobbie

Sausage and Egg with Jalapenos and Habaneras (really hot): Chef Peyton

Destiny made Cheesecake.

Kraft: The Real Mayonaise

Poor little Samantha is trapped in the mess she created from the Mayo jar.

Marc and Liz Carlstrom

Christmas on Callaway

Check out our new penguin and Santa Claus that Mema Lorelei bought for us. Sabrina came up to tell me that Santa Claus looked cold outside. I told her that Santa had on a big hat and coat and wasn't cold. She told me the penguin didn't have a coat. I told her penguins live in the snow and they are used to the cold. She said, "No Mommy, Penguins do not live in the snow, they live in the WATER."

Just like her Momma. A little know it all.

Cavity Free

Samantha had her first trip to the dentist last week. No cavities for this little girl. She was very good at the dentist. She didn't bite anyone.

Bluesman Bill

Bill "blew" us away with his harmonica playing and singing. His group will have a whole new respect for him come Monday morning.

Undisputed Texas Hold Em' Champ

Mr. Lucky Ben Bloodworth with his winnings. Ben started the night out with 10,000 like the rest of us. See the orange chips...worth 5,000 each...yellow...1,000, green 500, and black 100. If there had been a prize for highest winnings, Ben would have won it.

Peyton, Robbie and Jennifer

Last pot of the night. Peyton, Robbie, Jennifer, me and Ben. Everyone all in. Cards dealt face up. Jennifer wins. Over 100,000 in the pot.

Briana and Robyn

Bianca and Bobbie

DHL Global Fowarding Christmas Party

This is the fifth year that Peyton and I have attended my company Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. We had a live band, great food, and a casino theme.

Santa Claus

The girls were so excited to go see Santa Claus. They told us they were going to tell him that they wanted bikes and baby dolls....and Samantha added that she wanted a baby bed for her baby doll. Then we got there and they both shut down. Sabrina refused to touch him. She stood in front for the picture. Samantha let me put her in his lap, but she was very leary of him the whole time. After the pictures were over, they did take candy from him and waive bye bye. Sabrina even looked back and said, "Merry Christmas, Santa Claus."

Third Place Win

Michael took home the third place ribbon at the Fayette Middle/Fayette High Science Fair. He will be competing at the county level sometime next month. His topic: Do non primate mammals have a paw preference? He tested ten dogs to see if there was a pattern.

Sabrina at the Big Park

Sabrina begins to laugh when she talks about being out "all by herself." She is NEVER alone with just her Daddy. It's always her, Daddy and at least one of her sisters.

Sabrina's First Trip to the Dentist

Peyton and I have been feeling like terrible parents. Sabrina has a cavity. Peyt immediately made her a dentist appointment. She went with Daddy all by herself. She loved the nurse, but bit the dentist. She looks like such a big girl. I think it felt a little weird to be without Samantha. She talked about her sister not being there the whole time. I guess at some point, they have to learn to do things alone. Beanie will go back to the dentist the first week in January for a filling. I read horror stories, but the dentist is not asking to put her to sleep as so many do. She did so well on her first visit that they will give her a little nixtris and then a shot and a quick filling. Should be over in no time. Samantha goes for her first cleaning one day next week.

Twelve kids and the ZOO....12 kids are a ZOO

The conversation on Thanksgiving turned to Peyton's visit to the zoo with the twins a couple of weeks ago. The next thing I know, everyone is talking about going to the zoo the day after Thanksgiving. Look how many family members made it to the zoo. Really, the only ones missing are Jennifer and I (both at work) and Joel (also working, only at home...laying tile). From conversations with Peyt, I have gathered that not one of the following children had a bad moment at the zoo. They were all well behaved and it proved to be a great outing. I get excited just looking at the pictures. Wish I had been there with: Taylor, Molly, Anna, Michael, Destiny, Samantha, Sabrina, Mitchell, Katelyn, Riley, Kenna, and Tyrus. (Adults attending: Grandmother Tingle, Granddaddy Tingle, Peyton, Adrienne, Neil, Lisa, Owen, Amber, and Amber's Mom.) Remember Sabrina's conversations with a goat. Here she is again, with the same goat. She told Peyton on the last zoo visit that this goat was trying to talk to her. Ty really got down on their level. Katelyn and the girls loved grooming the sheep and goats. Samantha told me last night that she saw the pig, but the pig was sleeping. Sabrina saw elephants in the water and zebras. They both saw the panda bears....and the baby and daddy turtles.

Turkey Carving

We had three turkey's and three turkey carvers. Jace, Ty and Samantha.

Thanksgiving Day

My mom, Rustie, Jace and Jordan all came to Thanksgiving at the Tingles. We had a huge clan this year. Jennifer and Robbie Baker dropped by for dessert. Grandmother Tingle spent some time playing Monopoly with the kids. Overall, it was a very pleasant Thanksgiving evening. Dinner was delicious. I made two of Paula Deen's top ten recipes this year. Double gooey Chocolate cake and Southen Cornbread Stuffing. Both recipes were really good...I did come close to disaster with the dressing when it just didn't seem to want to stick together. I think the recipe should call for a little less chicken stock. Which I actually said while I was pouring it into the mixture. I should have gone with my instincts on that one. After 40 minutes of cooking, I took it out of the oven, added a sleeve of crushed Saltines, and put it back in for another 20 minutes. It firmed up nicely.

Double Trouble

The girls are too cute sometimes. I know that I am not the only mother who feels this way. I just read Jennifer's blog this morning and she said the same thing: I can't believe I was involved in creating these little girls.

Thanksgiving at East Fayette Elementary

Thanksgiving lunch at Destiny's school..It's the first time Peyton and I have been able to go to dinner with her together.

Home for the Holidays

I love the Christmas season. It is my favorite of all holidays. I love the lights, glitter, decorations, snow men, Santas, cookies, angels, and the nativities. This year, I drug out the Christmas decorations a whole week earlier than normal. We put the tree up last weekend and decorated on Monday night. The girls are so excited about the tree. It has lights and it spins....what more could a two year old want. They don't know about the presents yet. Although, I did have some present ornaments that they UNWRAPPED.

APPED. They really liked decorating the Christmas cookies. Samantha and Destiny helped me cut them out with cookie cutters. Destiny and Sabrina decorated them. Sam did a couple, but she was WAY more into eating the frosting than to decorating with it.