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.

O' Christmas Tree

Zoo Atlanta

Peyton had this Thursday off, so he bundled up the girls and took them to the zoo. When I came home that afternoon, I couldn't figure out why the girls were trying to tell me about monkeys and elephants, until I Peyton showed me the pictures of how they spent their day. We bought memberships last spring. We should really try to get back up there a little more often to use them. Sabrina thought the baby bronze monkey was cold. She wanted a blanket to cover him up. She also told her daddy that she thought the brown goat was trying to talk to her. Samantha loved grooming the lambs. I still think Sammi will be a vet when she grows up, or a dog groomer. She loves all animals...except the snakes...she thought they were scary.

Lego Land

You end up with towers taller than you are when Daddy helps with the leggos.

The Queen of Hats

Samantha has been the queen of hats since the day she was born. She loves them....all of them...and she should. Look how adorable she is in her hats. These pictures were all taken within a 24 hour time period...and they don't include the two baseball caps that she wore before and after dinner.

Weekend Visit with our cousins

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures this weekend. My mom came up for the day on Sunday. It was so nice to visit with her. We haven't seen her in a while. She spends her weekends arranging visits with Rustie and the kids. The girls just love Jace and Jordan. Samantha and Sabrina tackled Jace several times and just hugged and kissed him. He is very protective of his little cousins. It's so hard to believe that he is going to be in school next year. Jordan got a computer from her friend's mom. I hooked it up and then un hooked it all and let her hook it up herself to be sure she would be able to do it by herself when she got home. Mema and Papa are good for a lot of things, but computers are NOT on the list. If you want a new front porch swing, call Papa. A flower arrangement, cake or a pan of cornbread call Mema Lorelei...if it plugs into the wall....call Aunt Bobbie or Uncle Peyton.

Visit at Grandmother's House

The girls are so funny these days. When they want to get out of the house, they will say...."I want to go outside, to the park, to the store, to play at Grandmother's house." They want to cover everything in one sentence just in case we decide to take them ANYWHERE outside the house. Unlike kids who spend time at school or daycare, life for the twins, pretty much occurs inside the little white house on the corner of Callaway Road. They are home all day...everyday. They really look foward to going bye,bye on the weekends.

Sabrina our little baker girl

Destiny's Watermelon

Destiny and Peyt planted their garden and took care of this little watermelon themselves. It was delicious and quite juicy. You would never have guessed it grew in a draught.

Something's Missing

......haven't been able to nail it down. It's a lot of things. It's riding around in my first car with Codie, Tammy, Derek, JH and Brian. Listening to the Black Crowes and N.W.A. (Who would ever guess that I STILL know every word from Straight Outta Compton?) There are just some things you never forget. Volleyball games at Swan Lake, lying on the merry go round at midnight, the Taco Bell parking lot on Friday nights, ridiculous nicknames and falling in love for the first time.

Then I was older and it was:

Trivial Pursuit games at Betty and George's. Concerts...everything from Bon Jovi to Metallica....even Reba, Garth and Travis Tritt. Mosh pits. Cut throat Monopoly with Rustie, Adam, Heather, JH and George. Debbie's cookouts. Taylor Mae crawling into my bed to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. Jessica, Michelle and Alexis at the swimming pool (there was never a better job than being a nanny to those girls). North Carolina every other weekend.

....and then I met Peyton...
.
The Irish Bred, (picture your favorite episode of Cheers). Jeff's Kamakazi's. Waffle House at 4am (if you know the staff by name and they know what you are going to order before you walk in the door. Your life is either very pathetic or very fun.) Karaoke at B52's. Volleyball at Hammers. Fire extingushers (don't ask). Josh's guitar, Tim's laugh, Eric's jokes, Lance's arrogance. Jessica's smile. Maddie's British sense of humour. Dancing...all night, every night. Late night talks with Dexter. Willie's Bear Hugs. Dave's Dewars. Playing pool and "being with the band." Last minute trips to New York City, Vegas, Biolxi, Cherokee,Cancun. The dog track (Victoryland). Sunday's in bed. Sleeping next to my husband with no little people in between.

...and then we were SIX.....

I already know that very soon I am going to miss little girl giggles, trips to the park, middle school football games, baby dolls, pig tails, colorful "artwork" on every wall (not always on paper, but on tables, chairs, the wall, the floor). Spelling tests, swing sets, and little fingers holding my hand.

Kathy Jaques called me yesterday. It was wonderful just to talk and catch up. Jessica and Michelle are off at UGA. They're adults now. Alexis has found herself an only child....with parents who have too much attention focused on her. And then right after we hung up, I went out to dinner for Bethany's birthday. She turned 21. She's the baby of our family, so this is a BIG deal. Bethany.Jenny, Codie, Tammy, Jessica, Jessie, Stacy, Melissa and several of Bethany's friends. It was a nice surprise for Beth, but an even bigger treat for me. I am still where I began in so many ways. I had as much fun last night at Provino's as I did riding around in that old Mercury Lynx...the soundtrack has changed, but the characters are the same. They rotate into and out of my life, and when we reconnect, it's like we never lost sight of one another.

....so nothing is really missing.....it's just what Peyton is ALWAYS telling me. "...life moves in cycles...one after the other." Everything always comes back to you.

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy was at our house last night. She somehow "forgot" to visit Destiny on Tuesday night, but made up for it on Wednesday. Tonight when I got in from work, Destiny comes running up to me...,"look Mommy, I lost another tooth today." Looks like the tooth fairy will be back tonight.

My Journal

I realize tonight that I don't really use this blog the way I thought I would. Originally it was just going to be my private thoughts about my life...a real online journal. Then I found myself worrying about what I post...what if I forget to mention somthing that is important to someone else? I'm usually too busy posting pictures to worry about the words that go with them. I am going to try to post more of my thoughts. When the kids look back at this, I want them to really "feel" what life was like during 2007. You can say a lot with pictures, but I've always preferred words.

We had a temper tantrum tonight at bedtime. The girls are just starting to really hit the "terrible twos." We are having to put our foots down and be very stern. I had to let them cry it out....and once they both calmed down, I went back into their room took turns snuggling with them for a minute until they each fell asleep. Peyton and I both stuck to our guns and stayed away until they were ready to cave and lay down for the night without all of the tears.
I can't get over how beautiful these little creatures are...they are so sweet and loving. I think....wow...they are really part of us. You can see the Tingle, Dennis, Campbell, McGarity and Bryson in them when you look into their little faces. Sometimes, in the quiet moments right before they doze off to sleep, I just want to freeze time. Just hit the "pause" button and hang on to the moment.

$200.00 Watermelon

Here it is guys. All of the time, hard work and money that went into the garden last year. Then the draught came. I decided today to mow over the whole area and reclaim that part of the yard. But hidden in the dead weeds was this one perfect little watermelon. We also found two baby gords and plenty of half grown dried out corn cobs. I am sure that Peyton and Destiny will try again next year.