Santa Train

This past Saturday, we headed to the NC Museum of Life and Science with the Herman Clan for the museum's annual Santa Train.  It is such a great idea and had it not been raining and 30 degrees, I think we all might have enjoyed it a bit more.  Don't get me wrong, it was fun, we did enjoy it and the kids enjoyed it but I think had it been a bit warmer and not drizzling, we would have stayed and enjoyed some of the activities set up at the various booths.  The most exciting part, obviously, was the train ride to the "North Pole".  We arrived just as the train was pulling into the station and then began loading for the 5:40 pm trip (we were on the 6:00 pm trip).  Emerson didn't quite understand why we didn't get on that train and was so sad when it pulled away from the station.  She had the saddest look on her face, even after we explained that we would be on the next train.  I think she thought that she wasn't going to get to see Santa Claus.  She was so excited when that train pulled back into the station and it was our time to board.  All Aboard!!  We all found our seats and soon we were on our way to Santa's house. 

We came to a stop in the woods to find a house lit up with lights and lots of "blow-up" figurines depicting the North Pole.  An elf came out to greet everyone, he gave all the kids candy canes and let them know that Santa would be by to see them soon.  Santa made his rounds to all the girls and boys.  When Santa finally got to Emerson, she was shy at first but soon warmed right up when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas; she said, with much enthusiasm, a doll, a kitchen and a present.   She's still confused on the whole present thing!!  He repeated her list back to her (even the present part) and said, he would see what he could do! Before we pulled away from Santa's house, he told us to look in the woods for Rudolph as we continued on our adventure; he said we would see his flashing red nose.  Sure enough, about half-way back to the station, the train slowed down a bit and all of a sudden in the dense trees, a red flashing light went leaping through the brush.  All the kids squealed with excitement when they spotted Rudolph's red nose. 

After the train ride, we had a quick minute for thawing out under the standing warmers and some sips of hot chocolate, which Emerson LOVED!!!  Then we made a mad dash for the warmth of a heated car and heated seats (I just love when we can use our auto start on the car and it's toasty when we get to it!)  Nothing can top off a cold night visiting Santa better than Bullock's Bar-B-Que, at least in Dale Herman's mind, so we headed to Bullock's for some good 'ol Southern Bar-B-Que.  All-in-all, it was a great night with great friends and that jolly old guy in the red suit!!!

Picking out a Christmas Tree

Last Friday, I rushed home so that Danny, Emerson and I could go pick out our Christmas tree.  It had rained pretty much all week, so we were taking opportunity where we could get it, especially since rain was in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday.  For the past seven years, we have gotten our tree from Scott's.  (We actually get out pumpkins from them for Halloween as well.)  Emerson was very excited to go pick out our Christmas tree.  She has pretty much been excited about all aspects of this Christmas this year.  Holding Emerson's hand, we headed toward the trees to start searching for just the perfect one, when all of a sudden, we came to a standstill.  Emerson's heels dug in the ground like a bulldogs and she wouldn't budge.  She spotted the fake, blow-up Santa that was sitting in his chair waving and she wasn't moving one more inch.  I had to pick her up to walk past him.  We eventually got closer and closer to him, eventually touching him and even hugging him but it took awhile to get there.  (Emerson was very leary of Mall Santas last year but this year she has seemed more interested, especially since you have to tell him what you want for Christmas so he can bring it to you. We will see how it goes when we attempt a "Mall Santa" this weekend.)  We walked around the entire tree lot until we found the perfect tree and until Emerson approved of it.  We think we found a great one...smaller than some of ours in past years, but it fits in our living room corner perfectly.  You can see it on display Monday when I participate in The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes.  Check back Monday for The Dever's house tour. 

Thanksgiving

I realized the other day that I never posted anything about our Thanksgiving.  I guess I got wrapped up in preparing for Christmas.  We had a pretty low-key Thanksgiving.  We all got up and had breakfast together, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, cooked and baked, napped (well, the toddler napped), got Christmas decorations out (while the toddler napped), then headed to Grammy and Papa's for dinner with Grammy/Papa, Mimi/Birdie, and Danny, Emerson and me.  It was a great day; very nice to spend time with the most important people in our lives. 

Baking isn't so bad, when you have

a fun assistant to help you!!

Dinner at Grammy and Papa's

Show-and-Tell #18 - Rudolph Book

Every Thursday is Movie Day at Emerson's school.  All the kids bring in a movie and they watch some of them throughout the day in their movie room.  On the way home from school last Thursday, I asked Emerson what movie they watched today.  She said, with much enthusiasm, "Rudolph Red Nose."  So when it came time to pick out a Show-and-Tell item that night for the next school day, I asked her if she would like to take her Rudolph book to school.  She was very excited.  This is the first installment of the December Christmas-themed Show-and-Tell items:

Show-and-Tell

December 4, 2009

Rudolph's Bag of Toys

Flashback Friday

Yes, this is a day late...my computer literally took 3 hours to upload the pictures last night, so at 11:45 pm, I called it quits. 
Without further ado...Flashback Friday (a day late)!!

It's Flashback Friday, Y'all!!!

October Update

October was a crazy month for us...CRAZY!!  You know it's a crazy month when you look in your Picasa folder and the month of October has 2,816 pictures.  (Yes, my friends, your eyes didn't lie, it really did just say 2,816!!!)  Granted, some of those were from a birthday party (so not all of Emerson), some were from my "photog in crime", Amy, and some were from my mom, but for the most part, I was pretty click-happy in October for all of our gazillion outings.  Here's a recap of our October:

 Note: Click on any of the subject links to take you directly to the original blog post, in case you missed it the first time, (in red) or the reference website (in green).  Sorry, this post has lots of links!!

*Danny went to Vegas to help his brother and his company, SDF Strapping,  for a huge trade show.  I think it went really well, and I hear that they really WORKED the whole time.  Of course, Emerson really missed her dad but was so excited to get her Pink Presents and Monies upon his return. 

*While Danny was in Vegas, Emerson and I attended Cameron's 4th birthday party.  My mom came along to take care of Emerson, so that I could get some pics of the party for Monica. 

*For the past two years we have gone Pumpkin Patchin' with the Hermans, let's hope it remains a tradition.  Always a good time, and always a lot of great pictures!!!

*Picture day at school.

*Dinner with our favorite biggest losers, Ed and Heba!  (check out their new website here)

*It was a family affair as we helped set-up (Emerson got to come help) and attended Roy Williams Fast Break for Cancer that was put on by Lineberger Cancer Center and our friend, Mary Seagroves.  You can read more about the success of the event here.

*We followed the North Carolina crowd in mid October to the NC State Fair and had a blast, BOTH TIMES!  Yes, that's right, we didn't get enough the first time around with the clan that went (The Beales, The Cherrys, and The Hermans), so we went again for Round 2 later in the week with the Wisconsin Devers. 

*Danny and I headed to the first ever Thursday night ESPN Primetime college football game at Carolina.  This was a big deal folks, UNC closed the campus at 3:00 pm in anticipation of a huge crowd.  Carolina unfortunately lost the game to Florida State (27 - 30). 

*Another fundraiser, Danny and I were invited to attend and be the special guest of Ed and Heba at the Pay It Forward Fertility First Annual Gala.  We are now the proud owners of a Captain'sTable dinner experience at the Angus Barn, all  thanks to Danny's very quick bidding arm during the live auction.  (Although, we haven't gotten that in the mail yet, guess I need to make a mental note to check on that.)  We had a blast and even got to enjoy a tour of the Angus Barn wine cellar afterward!

*Every year, my friend/college roommate/sorority sister, Ann and I attend the A Shopping Spree sale, put on by the Junior League of Raleigh!  It's become a yearly tradition and this year was no different.  We met in Raleigh for some SHOPPING and we found some great stuff; maybe some of you will be getting Christmas presents from our adventures!! 

*Another fundraiser!! This year I was lucky enough to get to help out with another famous Lineberger Cancer Center annual event....Tickled Pink (sorry, I had to do this link in pink, not green)!!! I am so happy I was able to be involved this year! (Gosh, the Devers were some philanthropic-in' fools in the month of October! We are so glad that we can give back in various ways, shapes, and forms.)

WHEW!!! and last, but certainly not least....

*HALLOWEEN!!!!  Emerson was the cutest ever ladybug this year!

Oh yeah, and one more mention, in the middle of all of this craziness, we found time to book a trip to Disney World with the Hermans, Yay!!!  Mickey Mouse and his gang have since invaded our home!  We can't wait!

I hope you enjoy the pictures from this month....

you might want to get some popcorn and a soda, because there's a lot them!!

October Pictures

Reminder: the captions for pictures are below the picture and if the caption is too long

and gets cut off, just mouse over it and you can read the whole thing!!