Yeay!!!

What a great surprise!  Santa and Mrs. Claus invited us over for a photo!  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Lunch On The Nice List

Look who just sat down next to us at Jim 'N Nick's!

All Aboard For The North Pole!

On Friday, we took our annual trip to the North Pole, via the North Pole Limited, departing from Chattanooga, Tennessee.  It was really special for us that Wowo (aka Laura) moved here in time for the big trip.  We had a great time, and we already can't wait for our visit to the North Pole next year!  These photos tell the story of our magical night.

The station

Matty, me, and Wowo

Me and the Chipster with our gingerbread men

Matty and Chip enjoying the ride

Enjoying the lights along the way

Mary Winters came aboard to read The Polar Express

Hoppity-hop-hop, hoppity-hop-hop:  up and down the aisle for a sing-a-long

Arriving at the North Pole

Whispering to Santa his wish list

G and one of Santa's helpers - she was passing out tickets and bells behind Santa

G and the conductor, who punched his ticket

Hmmm...

This is a woman in a FedEx jacket shopping at a UPS store.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

So much to talk about! We have photos from Chip's Thanksgiving recital, I did a craft show, and Wowo moved here, to name a few things.

First up, we thought this face was so funny, and for some reason it also really freaked us out.  Welcome to dinner at the Angle house.

We went to Tellus last Saturday for Member Appreciation Day.  They gave us lunch (hot dogs and cupcakes - yum), did special activities, and gave members free planetarium passes.  There was also a great solar house on display.

After Tellus, we went to the mall.  Chip made a bunny for his godsister at Build-A-Bear Santa's Workshop.  After the bunny was stuffed, he bathed it, brushed it, and applied its lipstick.  He was so thoughtful!

On Sunday, we went to the Pink Pig for the second year of our new annual tradition.  It's about an hour wait, but it is so cute that it's worth it.  We loved that they had a paparazzi board. 

G sometimes takes photos of things he feels are beautiful.  We really, really, really, really love his vision.

Yesterday, the Chipster brought home the Christmas present he made us in school.  It's a pinch pot, a beautiful piece of pottery that we will forever cherish.  Even his wrapping was so beautiful; every detail was thoughtfully planned and painted.

This morning, I attended a holiday craft fair at Winnwood.  It was a fun way to spend the day, and considering I only had one week to work I think it turned out well.  I sold a few things and enjoyed relaxing and soaking up the holiday atmosphere.

Tonight was our Christmas celebration and gift exchange with my Paulding Purlers knitting group.  Stephanie (next to me in the group photo) made me a fantastic hat - the thing that was number one on my list to make myself, even though I don't think she knew that.  I love it so much!  I think this is the first thing anybody has ever made me (other than my mom's Halloween costumes), and I know that it will keep me warm and cozy all winter long.  It feels like a big hug on my head.

Tomorrow, for our next adventure, we will travel to the North Pole via the North Pole Limited, departing from the Tennessee Valley Railroad station.  We hope that you are enjoying every moment of this holiday season.  It seems like it's been a difficult year for so many people, and I think we really need and deserve every moment of joy this year.  We are soaking it up and hope you are too!

Happy Birthday, Ushi!!!

Today, we wish our baby Ushi a very happy birthday! On this day, three years ago, we fell in love with him and brought our little guy home. Happy Birthday, Ushi-boosh!!!

Make Way For Stars & Strikes

G and Typifer on the roller coaster machine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We took advantage of the week off school and went to Tellus Museum with Danielle, Lily, and Quincy; and Terry, Derek, and Ryan. Here are G and the girls outside, in front of the giant tractor and in front of the museum, and a video of all of the kids panning for gemstones.

G really liked the way his toy cars all fit together and thought they looked like a big puzzle.

We were all excited for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV and hope to see it in person one year. Chip decided that all of his animals would like to watch, too, so he brought them all down from his bed. It was a good thing, too, because Spiderman and Beary (from Build-A-Bear Workshop) saw themselves on TV.

We are THOSE kind of people, who are fanatics about their favorite recipe. We use this recipe, which involves brining, variable heat, and aromatics. Here are before, during, and after photos of our bird.

We went to Jack's, Jen's, and Baby-In-Belly Kelly's house for dinner with Bun and Papa, and Jen's parents and brother. We had lots of great food, wine, and dessert and played a few games. The favorite game of the night was Euchre, for which it is hard to find players here in Georgia. It was a great day, and we hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too.

Soccer Video

This was taken the last game of the Fall '09 season.

Getting Ready For Thanksgiving

Well, the fall soccer season is over, and what a fun season it was. We had a bee-yutiful day for our last game, and then we had a fun party at Steak 'N' Shake. We can't believe what a fun and interesting group of people we were blessed with as teammate families.

At school, Wednesday was Goofy Glasses Day, to celebrate their letter of the week, G. Of course, G is our favorite letter, too! He chose to make his sunglasses into Santa glasses, and he even thought to make the beard removable so he can put the glasses back together as sunglasses.

Our soccer team banquet was on Tuesday evening, our usual practice day, at Steak 'N' Shake (but we'll still call it a banquet - it was delicious). I was Team Mom again this season, our coach was Tara, and our assistant coach was Heidi. We all thought that we had a relatively close-knit team this year - both the kids and the parents all got along so well. We think it was a sign of the great group of people that every single family attended the banquet (except for one due to illness). We can hardly wait for next season. Go Raiders!

We are realizing that for elementary school, Thanksgiving is a really, really big deal. They have been doing Thanksgiving-themed activities since November first, and yesterday they did Thanksgiving centers through all of the kindergarten classrooms (centers are educational activity stations). All of the kids had the opportunity to have their faces painted. We really like how Chip's turned out, and we wore it all day, even through his trail dance class. Today is his Thanksgiving show, and we are so excited to see him in his first recital.

Speaking of dance class, we found a dance studio and will tell you all about it soon. He will start the Monday after Thankgiving. We think he is going to do great!!!

Fall Climb

It's such a beautiful, warm and sunny autumn day, that we decided to enjoy Kennesaw Mountain.  We have great views of the colors, and the animals are in full frolic today.