A Hunting They Will Go

     This is one happy PePaw...You see, he has a passion for hunting and always has.  But also has three daughters, who never caught that passion.  However, he now has four grandsons and one granddaughter who all love to "hunt" with PePaw :-)  (that's right, I said one granddaughter...I reckon Ellie just couldn't help it having two brothers!  Princesses to deer, she loves them all!)

 

     My boys were especially excited to go to Mississippi over the Thanksgiving break because it would be their first hunting experience.  PePaw had been telling them about it, and they were ready to see what it was all about!  We actually originally had not planned for Drew to go, but he caught the fever and sweetly said, "I big now.  I go huntin with PePaw."  I mean, how do you say no to that??  So on Black Friday while the ladies shopped, the boys plus Ellie went hunting.

 





Don't miss that pink hat peeking out over Sam's shoulder.  That would be Ellie :-)

The first "huntin" trip consisted mostly of riding 4-wheelers and scoping out the land

And of course Drew had to bring the Pirates of the Caribbean gun.  He would proudly say, "I shoot five deer."

Potty break in the woods!

Uncle Caleb so kindly took the camera and captured some shots for the mamas waiting back at home

 

Riding the Ranger

Helping PePaw get all of the gear ready for the trip

How Many Pictures Can You Handle??

We had our fill of pictures over Thanksgiving break!!  But I always believe it's worth the trouble because you end up with good pictures and memories...even if its just one good photo for the trouble!  The week of Thanksgiving we split with visits to Sam's family and mine.  And we took pictures at both spots :-)  Our boys were pictured out for sure...and so was Sam! haha

A long overdue picture with Sam's family...our last one was before we had any kiddos!

Every group photo calls for a silly pic!

Mim and Pop with Ardsley, Mac and Drew

Trying to look happy despite frigid temperatures outside!

My sweet babies

Mac does not sleep or travel without blankey and Doggy, and he was insistent upon taking a picture with them

The whole crew at my parent's house...all of the Singleton Clan, Martino's, Momo and Papa, and Uncle Chuck.

My grandparents with all the grand and great-grandchildren.

Singleton Crew

 After this the boys had had about all the saying "Cheese" they could stand

After all those pics, we celebrated by combing the Black Friday sales and coming up with our game plan :-)

Christmas PJ Tradition Still Going Strong

The year 2013 would not have been right if our Christmas pj tradition was not a part of it.  So what do you do when the whole family can't be together for Christmas (for like the first time ever)??  That's right, you get them ready early and wear them over Thanksgiving!  And that is exactly what we did!  Lia picked out super soft pjs for the girls, Jess made super cute shirts for the kids, and the guys pulled out their usual attire from the bottom of their dresser drawers :-) 

Funny to me that a "crazy" pic for adults obviously just means opening your mouth real wide. haha  I mean, can you get any crazier??

The girls and the tough guys.  Boys way outnumber girls these days!

Kiddos with CeCe and PePaw

The Taylor's 

Oh my...getting one good picture of this wild bunch takes lots of patience and attempts! They were really into the karate poses this year.

We got one!

Mac...love this one

The Brasher's, complete with Ralphie and The Hill's

Always reminded of how blessed I am with two sisters!!

Christmas!!

With Baby Clara scheduled to arrive on Jan. 27, I was too close to my date to be allowed to travel home for Christmas.  We were a little bummed but also a little excited.  The Christmas holiday is usually crazy, fun, busy and a bit chaotic for us as we travel home and quickly make the rounds to family before we have to return for Sam to work. We knew we would miss being around our family but were looking forward to being able to spend leisurely time at home.  Santa was actually able to arrive on Christmas Day, and the boys had plenty of time to play with their new toys.  

Sam's parents came the weekend before Christmas for a few days, and we received packages on almost a daily basis from my parents :-)  And with great technology like Facetime, we were able to at least see and chat with our families.  And we will soon see most all of them again after Clara is born!

We took our time Christmas morning, played all day, and the boys even took their nap that afternoon.  Christmas evening we went to see the Disney movie "Frozen" which we all four loved!  It was Drew's first full length movie at the theater, and he did surprisingly well.  He paid attention the entire time and ate lots of yummy movie popcorn :-)  It was a pretty great day!

Opening their gifts while Mim and Pop were here.

Anything "Angry Birds" and you have one excited little boy

Santa's goods for the boys, complete with stuffed stockings.  Bless Mac's heart, he was so excited when he woke up and thought Santa had brought him one present.  Even more excited when he realized the bag was filled with presents!

Somehow we managed to find the time to bake and decorate cookies for Santa, which he clearly loved.  

Digging in their bags for a gift

Overjoyed with his "Angry Birds Cheggo Pirate Ship Mac Attack"

And Drew was thrilled that he received his "Big Nerf gun"  He is very loudly saying "Cheeese" behind that box

They so kindly and patiently opened gifts together.  Mac enjoys being a "good big brother"

Swapping hugs after exchanging the gifts they bought for each other at the Dollar Tree :-)

Ready for some Super Hero fighting action!

Playing with his Cheggo set

Showing off his Nerf gun

Boys loved these great uniforms from Momo...and so does Sam!  They always love to play football and tackle and now feel like they are the real deal doing so!

That's a match up right there!

 

Making their tough football faces and showing off their huge muscles :-)

Silver Dollar City at Christmas

Another Christmas must is a visit to Silver Dollar City.  They have lights on literally nearly every square inch of the park with lots of Christmas shows to see.  The majority of December in Branson this year was freezing weather covered in snow or rain, but we got lucky and were able to go on a rare, mild evening.  We met our friends, the Albritton's, and had a great time.

Waiting to see the Frosty show...yep, front row seats!

The little monster eating snacks.  He says "I a monster.  I scary!"

During one part of the show, they call up the kids to come on the stage to listen and help sing.  Drew was quick and eager to go up.  Mac never worked up the courage.  Drew was so proud of himself. I think he thought he was so big and that it was his time to shine, since we had watched Mac in his performances at church and school.  Drew sang and laughed and laughed.   

Checking to see if we were watching :-)

Overall the show was a bit...um, odd.  But the boys sure thought it was great!

Mac wanted to ride the roller coaster since he so successfully rode them at Disney back in October.  He didn't love this one quite as much as the ones at Disney!  He soon buried his head and kept it there until the ride was over. 

Brave britches Drew getting ready to go on his turn on the coaster.  Since I can't ride such things these days, Sam had to ride twice and switch the boys out.  Drew barely made the height mark to ride and tried really hard to convince himself that it was fun! haha

Mac and Abbie

Drew and Daddy

Mac and Abbie piled in a bug together and left poor little Drew to ride alone...he didn't mind!

High-fiving characters in the Christmas parade

 

Walking together to ride on a ride :-)  Sweet friends

Getting ready to shoot some targets

My shooting partner

 

Fun night at The City!  Last ride was the bus to the parking lot!