Christmas Fun with Friends

Rebecca held her annual Chrismtas party with her friends. They started out by opening gifts. It was a Webkiz World in our house. Each girl received a different animal. After that, they ate pizza and giggled. The big project of the evening was decorating gingerbread houses. What an adventure. There was white icing all over the table, in the groove in the table, in the bathroom, under the table, and on the girl's faces. They had more fun playing with the icing than anything. Their final products were displayed with pride. I left them alone for the rest of the evening. They had fun playing games with each other on Webkinz. I think they finally went to sleep around 2:00.

The Christmas Concert

Rebecca performed in her first concert at school. The chorus, band, and orchestra performed some Christmas songs for the school and parents. They did an awesome job!!

Charleston Lights

We spent the weekend in Charleston again. The highlight was going to see the lights at St. John's Island State Park. It was a little drizzly outside, so we enjoyed the drive around the park looking at the spectacular light displays.

Champions Wear Gold and Black-Go JK

We traveled to Chapel Hill,NC to watch the James Kenan Tigers take home the state championship. We've watched them over the years and supported them all of last season. Eric was determined to see a few of the games this year. We actually made it to 3 regular season games and then the Big Dog Daddy Game-State Championship. It was exciting to watch the boys bring it home.

After the game, we visited Margaret's dorm room. Rebecca ws supposed to spend the night with her, but she came down with an ear ache, so we all headed back to Warsaw.

I don't think I've ever seen Eric drive so quickly. We were in a race to get back to Warsaw to watch all of the fanfare. The fire trucks in Kenansville, Warsaw, and Magnolia escorted the team buses through each town to give a champion welcome. It was all very exciting.

We're proud of the Tigers!

Decorating for Christmas

Rebecca began having her own tree a couple of years ago. This year, she didn't have enough room in her bedroom,so we put it in the hallway upstairs. She and her friend, Lexi, had a good time decorating the tree. It turned out really cute.

We have a live tree this year. We continued with the tradition of Eric and Kelli putting on their Atlanta Braves ornament and Rebecca putting on one of hers. I love getting out all of the ornaments every year. They bring back memories of former students, places traveled, and Rebecca's homemade goodies.

We added an artificial tree in the den. It is complete with nothing but "s'more" ornaments.

11th Annual Santa Shoot

While we were at the Festival of Trees in Knoxville, Rebecca was able to visit Santa. She wasn't too happy with the thought, but she did it for Mom. She did, happily, tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. Since her list was long and expensive(Imagine that), Santa told her that if she was good, maybe she would get some of those things. We'll see....

The Festival of Trees-Knoxville

Mom treated me and Rebecca to a morning at the Festival of Trees. We all enjoyed all of the sights and sounds. We went early in the morning before it got crowded. Boy were we glad when we left and saw all of the lines.

Thanksgiving At The Brown's

After visiting Donna's, we headed to Knoxville, TN to see Mom and Dad's new house. Dad sent us the back way(over the mountains) and we managed to get lost. WE missed a turn that took us about 1 1/2 hours out of the way. The good part, it was a beautiful drive.

Jennifer and her family(minus Anthony-he had to work) came over. Mom invited Aunt Beckie and Uncle Bill to eat with us, too. We enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Mom. The dressing was her best ever!!! Beckie brought her famous chocolate and coconut creme pies. We were stuffed.

Before dinner, we watched a nail biter between UT and Kentucky. UT pulled it off in 4 over times. Way to go Big Orange.

After dinner, we watched the other orange team, Clemson, play South Carolina. It was another excellent ballgame. The tigers scared us late in the game, but pulled it off in the end. Rebecca was on the phone with her friend, Lexi, constantly discussing their teacher having to wear a Clemson shirt on Monday.

On Sunday, Deke and his family came over for a short visit. Aunt Barbara came, too. It was great getting to see relatives I haven't seen on a regular basis in the last few years. I look forward to more of it when we visit Mom and Dad.

Wii Match Up

Eric was a good soul on Friday night. He took me and one of my friends, Kelley, to eat Mexican. We had a great time laughing at the little girl dressed in her pajamas and many other people. It was great to get out and just laugh. Kelley and I needed it after the week we had at school.

After we picked up Rebecca from a birthday party, we went home to a Wii challenge. Rebecca really wanted Kelley to play with her. Since Kelley is a tennis player, they started with tennis. It took Kelley a little while to get the hang of it, but once she did...watch out!!

Taking a Swing at the Tennis Ball


Getting a few Tips From Rebecca


Eric gives us a demonstration of the boxing game.

Such an intense face!!




After playing the sports games, Rebecca turned on the Boogie game. Let me just tell you, Kelley is awesome at karaoke. She knew all of the words to the songs.

Sing it Kelley:



Come back and play again, Kelley!!

The Annual Clemson/ South Carolina Rivalry

Every year South Carolina is buzzing the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It is the date of the annual rival football game of Clemson vs. Carolina. The winner of the game is given bragging rites for the next year.

Rebecca's teacher is a huge South Carolina fan. We are big Clemson fans. The two of them have jabbed each other all year about which was the best team. Before the Thanksgiving holiday, Mr. Mishoe,made a bet with his accelerated math class. He said that he would wear a Clemson shirt to school on Monday if Clemson won the ballgame. If the Gamecocks won, Rebecca and her Clemson buddies (including me) would have to wear garnet and black to school.

Rebecca could not wait to get to school today to hand over a new Clemson Tiger ORANGE t-shirt for Mr. Mishoe to wear. He took it all in stride and was a good sport. Rebecca thought he was the coolest teacher for doing it.

Maybe next year, Mr. Mishoe......

Thanksgiving-Round 1

We began the whirl wind Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday with Eric's family. We saw cousins, aunts, and uncles that we haven't seen in years. The food was overflowing and fun was had by all.

Eric's Fried Turkey


Rebecca and Katie


Brian Masters the Wii Boxing Game



The Gibbs Clan: (BR)Randy,Kathy,Deb, MawMaw, Becky, Perry (Front)Donna


The Liles'


Corey Checking Out the Girls on MySpace

Doughnuts For Dad

Our elementary school hosted Doughnuts for Dad this week. Eric brought Rebecca to school this morning and they went to the media center for doughnuts. They were treated to yummy powdered doughnuts.

After eating, they visited the book fair. As usual, Rebecca talked her daddy into "just one more book". They also filled one of my book wishes. They do it every year. I love them for it.

Tiger Time

Eric scored free tickets to the Clemson vs. Wake Forest game on Saturday. We took along Rebecca's friend, Lexi. It was Lexi's first visit to Death Valley. We had incredible seats. We were lucky to park right on the front row of parking at the stadium. Our game seats were behind the glass. What a great view of the field. The girls enjoyed watching the cheerleaders, the band, and all of the orange.

The Tiger Does Push Ups For a Touchdown


Future Clemson Girls

Home, Home on the Range

Eric had the opportunity to go to South Dakota on a pheasant hunt. He and his boss, Alan, caught an airplane on Tuesday morning. They enjoyed hunting for 3 days in the South Dakota Plains. The main purpose was to hunt for pheasants. On Friday, they threw in a coyote hunt. They saw A LOT of land, pheasants, buffalo, cows, and the Missouri River.

A Beautiful South Dakota Sunset


The Missouri River


Pheasants on the Hay


The Brave Hunters and Their Kill



Eric and his Friends


The Almighty Buffalo

Happy Halloween

We have a big neighborhood, thus a LOT of trick-or-treaters. I had 2 large bowls full of candy. I put the dog in his crate and sat outside to give out candy. It was so much fun to see all of the cute trick or treaters.

Eric and Rebecca walked around the neighborhood with Rebecca's friend, Lexi. They had a great time.

Rebecca wanted to be a pirate again this year. She came up with the poses for the pictures.
The Pirate

The Dead Pirate

I'm Ready to Go

Rebecca and Lexi

Pumpkin Carving

Rebecca and I hurried home from school on Wednesday to carve our pumpkins. Pumpkin carving is NOT one of my fortays, so I purchased a special kit at Wal Mart. The kit contained the carving tools and stickers to help you carve. Rebecca and I selected the pattern we wanted and got started. Rebecca was not too excited about cleaning out the pumpkin.

Then, we put the stickers on the pumpkins and carved around them. Let me tell you...that's the way to carve a pumpkin.

Rebecca's Pumpkin

Kelli's Pumpkin

The Final Product

Glasses

Rebecca is so much like me. When I was young, I would hound my mom about appointments. She tells me that I would ask her about going to the dentist exactly 6 months from the time of my last visit. I wouldn't let up about it until I knew when I was going. Rebecca is the same way. She has been after me forever about going to the eye doctor.

I finally took her a couple of weeks ago because she couldn't stand it that I was going to be going. She had a slight need for glasses. The eye doctor said she could/could not wear them. it wouldn't hurt her if she did/didn't. She assured me she would wear them if we got them. She has been true to her word so far.

3 Charleston Chicks, and a Guy

We had a blast in Charleston. These are just some candid shots of the fun.

SC Aquarium

After visiting Edisto, we headed to the SC Aquarium. What a beautiful place. It is located right on the water. We enjoyed viewing all of the fish, picking up several sea creatures, and acting goofy at photo ops.

Releasing Edisto

The SC Aquarium has a turtle resue section that they take in turtles found around the area. They nurse them back to health and release them back to their natural environemnt.

While in Charleston, we were lucky to see a rescued sea turtle released back into the ocean. Edisto was found in May near Edisto Beach. He had a crab net wrapped around a back flipper. The Edisto Fire Marshall helped in the rescue efforts. He was one of the six men that lifted Edisto off of the truck and bring him down the beach. Edisto was a little reluctant to go into the water. The director of the Turtle Hospital wet a towel and squeezed it out over his shell. It made him move every time. He eventually made it to the water and went back to where he belongs.

Congratulations, Edisto.