She may look like Lee.....

Sophie looks a LOT like her daddy, but she definitely proved my brain genes are present. Specifically, her ability, or lack there of, to decipher song lyrics. I have a long history of misquoting songs. Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Til You Get Enough usually has an extra word or two. Dixieland Delight took me on a road trip from Viriginia to Huntsville to fix the wrong words. The other members of my family have similar issues. My sister used to sing the hymn at church "Baby I'm Constrained to Be" instead of the more appropriate word "Daily".

Today we were taking our daily jaunt into town and listening to Christmas music. Since she has learned several popular songs the past two years she was telling me which songs she knew and was singing along. Finally one came on she apparently just decided was her absolute new favorite. She said "Oh, mommy. This song is my favorite favorite song. Walking in the Winter on the Land is SUCH a good song. It makes me ready for Christmas." I didn't have the heart to correct her. Maybe next year.

It's the final Countdown!!!

So, I have had a song stuck in a head, along with Christmas songs... that final Countdown song! ( If I was clever I would put music on my blog and have it playing, but that takes effort... ehhh...) We are down to HOPEFULLY 6 days in transition mode until we get to close and move to our house in Spanish Fort! Words cannot describe how READY we all are to be in our house with our stuff... our pillows, our build a bears, our cups, our plates, our TV, our towels, well, you get the idea. The past few days of driving back and forth to make commitments and Christmas events has honestly worn us out. Today was the breakthrough moment I knew we would have, but now that hopefully our "oh my gosh I don't know how much more I can take" moment has passed, it will be up hill from now.

So- to make me appreciate our last week in Montgomery, I have a list of things I will miss:

- ELREY- Who cannot resist El Rey and the basic bean, pintos, with sun dried tomato wrap and mango tea? oh my, I will miss this meal so much. It was a staple my Senior year of college, and has been since then.
- Huntingdon- This school brought me here, and seeing Flowers Hall everytime I drive up College Street always reminds me of some college memory, good or bad. I loved my time there... it helped me become a strong person. AUM was a great Master's program with awesome professors, but it doesn't hold a candle to picnics on the Green, knowing who you pass on the way to class, or a graduation service more beautiful than others.
- Jalepenos- Not because I love the food, but this is where Lee and I first met over trading our favorite parts of birthday cake. That boy gave me his icing. I knew then it was meant to be.
- Frazer- I cannot say ENOUGH about Frazer or the people there. LOVE our Sunday School, LOVE all our friends, LOVE all the children workers, and LOVE the preschool. It honestly is the one thing that almost kept us from moving. That says a lot about the people we have grown to love there. We have been challenged to do things we not normally do by some strong individuals, and we hope we find this type of family in our new area! It will be tough to replace...
- Swim times- Although I know we will have access to beaches down there, you can't beat the good ole' YMCA and Deer Creek pool. Always a buddy to swim with, always a Capri sun to share, and always a mom to talk to while kids swim.

There are WAY more things, but this is my list for now. Talking about El Rey has given this baby a craving... I need to catch Lee before he heads up to the Lake!

Starting the Holidays

So, the past few weeks have been a crazy time in our, well, NOT house. We sold our Crestwood Lane house and had to move. Lots of fun times the week of Thanksgiving! But, it was done, we spent six nights in five different places as we had no furniture in our house, went to visit family, came back to Montgomery, then finally have landed at our home for the next three weeks at Lake Martin.

However, once we got to our new residence as they prepare our new house things have been easier. We got to announce our big news of a new baby due late June, find out another niece or nephew is on the way, and we can finally celebrate the future we have coming to us! Of course, with our girls, Christmas is a BIG deal. We had to bring a little tree to the lake to decorate, and Scooby the elf found us to much glee!

Tuesday we decided we should attempt a gingerbread house.... The best the house looked was still in all that wrapping in the box, because we slaughtered the poor thing, but had a blast!

Sophie picked out the kit based on the candy inside. A girl of my own genes...

One of the two worked really hard at making a pattern on the house, while the other filled her cheeks and now and then would put a banana on the house, because she didn't like the bananas. You guess who is who.

The finished product. Unfortunately, this is probably the best house we have ever made. Maybe next year I will just find a bakery and have one pre-assembled and claim it.