Christmas in Gatlinburg

Wow, I'm not sure where to begin. Let's just say that this will definitely be a Christmas to remember. I had this bright idea that we should all have Christmas at a cabin in Gatlinburg. I imagined a less-stressful, event-filled, memorable Christmas. We even invited my Grandmother to join us from Winchester. Well, it wasn't quite what I had in mind. Our cabin was stinky, smaller than it appeared on the website, had a mouse problem, there was a chipmunk that lived somewhere in the kitchen walls and would occasionally jump on top of the stove and also somehow climb underneath the stove and make a racket, there was what I think was a small blood stain on my bedspread, and well, I could go on. HOWEVER, I think that it will also be one of the most memorable Christmas's that we will ever have.

Our girls had so much fun playing with their cousins. I must say that I enjoyed holding a very cute baby boy and really, our objective was achieved. The girls had a blast. They made a gingerbread house together. One day we all walked around some of Gatlinburg's cute shops. My favorite was the candy store. We at lunch on top of a cheese store which was also interesting.

This is Emma throwing a penny in the fountain with Grandmother and below are both of the girls admiring a toy display in one of the windows.


Christmas Eve we first celebrated Emma's third birthday after which we siblings did our traditional gift exchange. Later, Santa (Poppy) made an appearance. The girls were entranced. We took video footage both from outside and inside the window. It was pretty cute.
The fun did not stop there, though. Christmas Eve, in the middle of the night, Emma started having really bad chest pains. We could not console her except by putting her in a warm tub. Mom, Dad, John, and I were up with her through much of the night. We almost took her to the ER, however, there was also a yucky storm going on outside and we were on the top of the mountain. Below is a picture of her and Bella in the loft looking down ready to go down the stairs Christmas morning.
In all seriousness, this was a neat Christmas, maybe a little dirtier than I imagined, but special just the same. I really enjoyed getting to see my grandmother, as well as the rest of my family, and having a reason to be reminded of how much I have to be grateful for. At one point during our stay, in a moment of frustration, I remember thinking, "This is not what I had envisioned for this Christmas with my family." Then later the thought occurred to me that Mary probably did not imagine giving birth to her son in a stable. I was sickened by a chipmunk and mice, but she gave birth to her son in much worse conditions. I don't think that I would have had my mind reflect on those things if I had been staying in a comfortable, luxurious, perfect cabin. It also didn't hurt that we were refunded a good portion of our money for our troubles! All in all, we had a special Christmas and two little girls had the time of their lives. I hope that all of your Christmas's were wonderful as well!

I know

I realize that I have neglected my blog. I'm blaming it on the holidays, which I do enjoy, however, they do not enjoy me. Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving. We went to Nashville and visited my Dad's extended family. It was nice to see cousins and aunts and uncles that I haven't seen in a while. I must say that they do a nice job of hosting holidays without panicking. I could learn a thing or two from them. It's nice that we have a holiday devoted to thanks and nothing more, well, nothing more than giant meals, however, nice just the same. I am thankful for my family. I have been thinking a lot about them and what kinds of things are most important in my life. It was pointed out to me that it's not the huge parties or craft projects, but the little things, like spending time playing with the girls and just being able to talk to John that are so important.


By the way, we also were able to see Ad'Lynn and Bella and Josh last month. That was fun. I think that Josh is the most handsome baby boy I have ever seen. What a doll!


Lastly, we recently enjoyed our first snow. As I am sure you can tell, it wasn't a huge one, however, it was enough to excite two little girls. Ally enjoyed just running in it and making a tiny snowman. Okay, really I made it under her supervision. It was still fun. Emma kept tasting the snow flakes and touching the snow with her hands. Sweet girls.

Happy Halloween!!!

We had a very fun Halloween this year. I was a little bummed that it rained, however, our church planned their trunk-or-treat on Halloween evening which worked out great given the weather. Ally and Emma were Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, respectively. Emma had a hard time deciding between Cinderella and a kitty cat. I'm rather glad that she chose Cinderella.


We were not the only ones in Princess mode! These are our sweet princesses before candy......

.....and after!

Isn't this sweet?

I realized this year that if you are a cool parent, you dress up for Halloween as well. I didn't get the memo. We passed from trunk to trunk which was decorated so cute with adults handing out fun candy. Then we came to John and Doug in front of Doug's van where John was handing out smarties and dum-dums (cheap candy that no one wants). I don't know why that was so funny to me! The girls didn't seem to mind.

We then came home and ate halloween themed food with a group of our friends and played games while our kids played in the living room. It really was a blast! Hope you all had a fun evening as well!

Just can't get enough

Did I mention that I love the pumpkin patch? Throw some cute girl scouts in there and we're talkin' some sweet memories! Ally's girl scout troop went to the pumpkin patch where they took a hay ride, went through a corn maze, learned about how pumpkins are grown, and drank apple cider. It was adorable. We have a rather large girl scout troop. Thankfully, all of the moms are so kind to help and volunteer. I think that it's going to be a great year!

Winchesters!

Two of my favorite places, home and Winchester! Winchester is where my mom grew up and where my grandmother as well as extended family members live. When I was little, it was my favorite place to visit. I loved everything about it. It was bliss. When we were little we used to call it "Winchesters". My daughters now do the same. My mom has said that every child needs a place outside of mom and dad where they feel unconditionally loved. Winchester was that place for me. My grandmother used to drive us to this old country store where we picked out red hots and lemon heads every time. One the way over she would sing, "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go!". We looked forward to going to church with Poppy and taking trips to Wal-mart with Aunt-Mel. My grandmother would cook anything that your heart desired. We would also get to see my great, great, Aunt Hazel who lived next door and go shopping with her and Grandmother. Even in her 90's, Aunt Hazel loved to shop. My favorite pastime in Winchester, though, was prowling through my grandparents' closets! I could spend hours doing this and must admit that at times I still wish that I could! It's neat to see how my daughters are now getting to experience those sweet memories. Here they are during our visit for fall break!

Pumpkin Patch!

I loooove fall! I love the colors, the beginning of the holidays, the weather, I just love it! We went with some friends to the pumpkin patch. I love this little fruit and berry patch that we have here in Knoxville. I go as often as I can. I would describe the man that runs it as a good ole' boy who looks like Santa Clause. There are little animals as well as every kind of fruit at this place. You can also buy homemade BBQ, honey, and fried pies. In the fall, though, you can go there to pick pumpkins, take hayrides, go through a corn maze, and drink apple cider. It's heavenly! We're going back in a few days with the girl scouts. You can't get enough of a good thing! Anyways, here are our pictures.

Maybe it was something we ate?

We just took Ally to the doctor today-yes, we have swine flu. What a yucky name, swine flu. I hate even saying it out loud. Her doctor said that she does have this particular strain, so, here we go. Poor girl, she's so sick, but she's such a trooper. She doesn't complain. Rather, she just does as she's told. It's pitiful. As for Emma, she's downstairs right now taking a nap. She doesn't really take naps anymore so she's probably getting sick as well. Oh yeah, I'm not feeling well either. Good times in the McCombs house! Can I just say, though, that I have the sweetest friend who has been taking care of us already. Karen called around finding out which pharmacy still had tamiflu in stock, offered dinner, dropped off popscicles. Even though we're all a little green, I've felt so touched by her kindness and others who have called to check in on us. So sweet. It's funny, it really is the simple things in life that are so special like having good friends and having family. I've been thinking about that today. By the way, is this picture hilarious or what!

I vowed I wasn't going to do it-

I am now Ally's Daisy Girl Scout troop leader! I had just told Mom that I had too much on my plate and was not going to take this one on. I guess I'm eating crow now. Of course, no one else would do it, and I wanting Ally to experience girl scouts have signed up. I'm not bummed though, rather, I'm pretty excited, in an exhausted sort of way. I've already planned a year's worth of activities, ordered a girl scout t-shirt, and am arranging our float for the Christmas parade! The program really is a sweet and uplifting one. If any of you have any ideas, send them my way!

A nose job and weight-loss

So most of you know that I have severe Sleep Apnea. Runs in the family. Well, I just had an appointment with my ENT. Guess what the remedy is-surgery to correct my deviated septum in November and lose 30 lbs! Thirty pounds! Yikes! I have been laughing to myself thinking about a Brian Regan clip on youtube where he talks about how we pay doctors to insult us! It's a pretty funny stand-up video. Anyway, yeap, I need a nose job and weight loss so that I can sleep better. Oh well, we'll see how it goes! I wonder if a tummy tuck or breast augmentation would help my GI problems!

Tennessee Valley Fair

This was the first year that I have taken either one of my girls to a local fair. I realize that fairs are full of cheap thrills, are dirty, and don't always draw the best crowds, however, I HAD to take Ally and Emma and let them experience a small-town, Southern fair. This was the first vendor that we came to as we entered the park-


How funny is that? I love it. Can I just say, though, that my girls loved the fair! Especially Emma. She does have an affinity for farm animals. Not quite sure where she gets it from, but she loves cows, ducks, sheep, goats. We walked past all of these dairy cows. Some of them were so big. I thought that Emma might be a little intimidated by them. Oh no! She would get right up in their nest and pet them!
It was pretty cute. Ally, on the other hand, held her nose and almost cried if one of them even looked at her the wrong way.

My camera went out on me, but later when we were in the petting zoo pin with all of these baby goats, Emma went around to each one and laid her head on their backs. It was sweet. As for Ally, she took more pleasure in the candied apples and the merry-go-round. She and her buddy, Alex, were so cute walking down the pavement with candied apples in their hands bumping into people because they were so intranced with their treats! This is a picture of Alex's sister getting excited as she sticks a nutrigrain bar to her forehead. What's so funny, though, is Ally's face in the background! Good times!

She is her mother's daughter

I walked into the office today only to see an email which read, "Congratulations, you bought this item on Ebay."

WHAT! What item? For those of you who know me well, I do have an Ebay fettish. I love finding retired items, great deals, ect... However, I did not spend over 100 dollars buying this particular item. Ally was in the office. I asked her, "Did you play on the computer?" "Yes, I was typing my name and Emma's name." "Did you see something that looked like this?" I showed her a picture of the item that I had supposedly "bought". "Uh huh." Now look at what item it was and tell me she's not her mother's daughter?

At least she has good taste.

My cute little booger

I just had to post this for no other reason than because it was so cute!

Ally's 1st Day of School!!!!!

Okay, this day has been dreaded as well as anticipated for quite some time now. It is surreal to say the least, that we are finally here. Our daughter has started kindergarten.

Some thoughts: How nice to have some quiter time to myself...Will her teacher be able to keep track of all of those kids and spot mine as she tries to run out of the classroom?....Packing lunches and buying supplies will be kind of fun....Did we really have this many school fees when I was in school?....She'll make lots of friends....What will I do when she comes home crying because someone made fun of her?....What kind of security does her school have?....I can finally get some more cleaning done.....

You get the picture. Well, as for Ally, she is stoked! We woke her up this morning and she asked why we were going to school in the dark (6:00 AM). She jumped up anyway, though. She ate yogurt and granola and told us, "If there is a kid who is scared, I'm going to go up to them and say, 'Hi, I'm Ally. It's okay.'". Cute kid. We won't have to worry about her getting scared. She asked me not to park because she didn't want me to walk her into the school. Yeah, that didn't sting. She picked out an outfit that Heather noticed at the store.

I still enjoyed my time with Emma who just followed me around and played quitely. I found time to make this and update my blog! It's a tote with miniature stuffed dolls that have pictures of our family. I'd say it's been a good day so far!

Joshua's Blessing

This last weekend we drove to Louisville for my nephew's blessing. Ad'Lynn really is fun to visit. She always has wonderful food planned and fun things to do, while keeping everything relaxing at the same time.

Nana and Poppy had a slumber party at their hotel for the three granddaughters. This picture speaks for itself.

Lastly, Marty gave Joshua a beautiful blessing. I'm so jealous that Ad'Lynn goes to church right across from the temple.

We had a great time, but were exhausted by the end of it.