Christmas 2017

It's January, and I'm finally posting pictures of our Christmas. It was a celebration that extended over 2 weeks, and we are exhausted but fulfilled. Santa was really good to the kids this year as well as to Worth and I. It was wonderful to spend time with (most) all of our family members, and we also celebrated a UGA win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl. Next up for the Dawgs, the National Championship in Atlanta!

A little fire side reading by Emma. We did amores this night and rode around and looked at Christmas lights in our neighborhood. 

Mack in his classroom before his class Christmas party      

The spread of sweets for the Christmas party

Mack and I went out for some Christmas shopping one morning when the girls were still at school. This is what he wore. 

Before the Christmas Eve morning service at St. Anne's in Tifton, I took the kids to see "Little St. Anne's." This is the church I was baptized in as a child and that my ancestors built. It sits on the same campus as the bigger "new" St. Anne's sanctuary. It is a beautiful building that reminds me of my childhood. 

Even baby Hardy joined us for the service Christmas Eve morning. He was so good! 

The new parents and baby Hardy. 

Grandma and Papa with their grand babies. 

Hardy was all dressed up after church and ready for a Christmas Eve lunch. 

Meanwhile, Mack and Amos were busy sword fighting 

Back in Valdosta, throwing out the reindeer food to make sure they found our house! 

To say Mack was excited about Santa coming this year, is an understatement. 

These three were a hoot Christmas Eve night. 

 I got some great video of Mack in his room once we made him go to bed. It took him FOREVER to get to sleep. Ignore the dark video, I was standing in the hallway outside of his door. Just listen to him!

Santa came! 

The Bowers kids lucked out this year!

Ipods for the girls and a Batman utility belt for Mack

Emma was thrilled with the Vivo Fit watch Santa brought her. 

These trucks kept Mack busy ALL morning. Santa knows how to make this little boy happy! 

New boots from Mama and Daddy

Emma got Mack a back scratcher. 

Worth and I scored giving the girls a box FULL of Bath and Body Works goodies. 

The girls shopped at a Candy Cane store at school in which all items were $2. (All of the items were from the Dollar Tree and it was a PTO fundraiser.) In this picture, Worth is opening a gift from Ellie which is a small bluetooth speaker. 

iPods were a hit. 

The Tifts came for an afternoon of gift opening, then dinner.  Baby Hardy was once again a charmer.  (He doesn't get this from his father if you can't tell.) 

Emma was obsessed with a baby in our house. 

More Batman gear for Mack. 

Uncle Amos is known for his crazy Christmas shirts/sweaters. 

a Mermaid blanket from Grandma

Grandma and Papa also gave the kids this mini claw machine. The song it plays while the kids tried relentlessly to get candy out of it will never leave my head. 

Ellie got her own lab coat, 

and she got very serious doctor play set. She was so surprised and excited about it. 

More fluffy things to go in the playroom baskets. 

The biggest and littlest of Tift cousins. 

Emma in full mermaid attire and Poppy (not boppy) pillow in place is holding Hardy for Aunt Anna. 

This kid didn't lay anywhere all weekend. He got held the entire night by everyone! 

Mia and Dubs came to our Christmas Day dinner. On the menu: Whole Beef Tenderloin, lobster tails, bacon wrapped carrots,  baked potatoes, salad, and green beans. We had pecan pie and German chocolate cake for dessert. It was all DELICIOUS! 

One of his Christmas presents. He has followed in his sisters' footsteps and LOVES to be in costume! 

Our annual Chancey family Christmas gathering was held at our house in Valdosta this year. The theme was "Mele Kalikimaka" because it's normally 75 degrees in south GA around Christmas time. This year, it was around 55 at the warmest, but the family still pulled out all the stops with their costumes. This is my cousin Mark. 

My mom with the girls. The girls had really cute T-shirts, but it was a little too chilly to go without their jackets. 

We had tables near the fire pit and my Dad brought his stand up heater for outside dining. 

From left: Ginger (wife of Mark,) Mark, Micah (Mark's son.) 

Mack and sweet Will. These two are best buddies when they get together and are growing up so fast! 

Grandma and Papa

My cousin Matthew (dad to Will, Mack's buddy.) Oh, and Worth to the left in the background. 

These were the winners: Matt and Haley with Molly Grace. Matt's belly was actually a  fanny pack. It was hilarious! 

It became even funnier when my Uncle Courtney decided to compare his belly to Matt's fanny pack. 

Everyone that made it this year! 

The kids got to do their white elephant gift exchange first. 

Molly Grace really liked her gift. 

Mack got a poop emoji pillow. Just what we need, another poop pillow in our house. 

Will picked the blue bag! 

Emma was the last to pick, and since we don't let the kids steal (mainly because they are too young to understand and not fight about it) she got one of the gifts we brought. She was less than thrilled but ended up being ok with the tattoo pens that were inside. 

Getting ready for the adult gift exchange. 

From left: Uncle Dale, Aunt Telie (ok, I invited some Tift family as well since it was at my house this year) Uncle Jim, Lou (Uncle Jim's new wife,) Grandma, Papa, Worth, Chancey, Mark, Courtney. 

Chancey, Micah, Mark, Courtney, Ginger

Mark scored a poop mug which Worth promptly stole later

Matthew got a good gift, a drill. 

Haley got the gift I bought. Potty basketball with a bottle of poo-pourri. Yes, poop is always a recurring theme in our family. 

Grandma got some chocolates and a waffle house gift card. This was also later stolen. 

Ellie just wanted to do hula dancing. 

Ginger got a double sweater. This one got stolen later 2 times!!

Uncle Jim got a blanket. 

Papa got a head scratcher. I'm pretty sure no one stole this one, because he is very skillful  in his ability to immediately put his gift in a safe place. 

Ellie recruited MG to hula dance with her. 

My gift. I stole it. A MERRY sign. I thought it was cute. 

I can't remember what she got, but Aunt Telie looks excited/scared about it! 

Round 3 - New Year's Eve at Mia's to do Christmas with the Bowers/Berryman crew! 

A yummy lunch started us off right! 

Emma loves a baby! 

Never a dull moment!

Sweet Cousins! 

Emma was able to do the reading from Luke this year. 

It was pretty hard to get everyone to sit still long enough to listen, but they did it!

We let the kids open gifts first this year and we opened after they went to bed. This is the aftermath of kid opening. They all open at the same time. I'm pretty sure we didn't come home with 3-4 gifts and a gift card was lost in the mix. It was crazy!!

Auntie Kate got Emma a pogo stick. She is obsessed. 

We gave Banks and Bo these blocks. They kept the kids entertained the whole time. 

Lots of team building skills here. 

The cousins once again before heading up in the cousins' bedroom to watch movies while the adults rang in the new year. 

A little dance party before settling in for the night.

Worth popped our bottle of champagne from Buena Vista winery for the new year. It was really good.! As you can see in the background of this picture, the kids had yet to go to sleep. 

New Years Day we had to hunker down for the Dawgs. I was hoping these earrings I got as a Christmas present from Amos would bring us luck! 

Worth was beyond emotional during this game, but it was worth every jump, scream, fist pump, and couch hurdle. The Dawgs won the Rose Bowl and we are headed to the National Championship!!

Not only did the Dawgs win this week, but God delivered snow to Valdosta. The first time since 1989!

The girls were still asleep, so Worth had to go wake them up.

It started getting heavier, 

and heavier. 

Then it started sticking to everything. 

Footsteps on the front porch

We then gathered enough for a small snowman. 

Mack had to take a short break inside just before this. Us being south GA people and all, excited about the snow, and running around in it, we didn't make him wear  gloves. He had frozen hands that we had to pack adult gloves on and fill them with hand warmers. Poor thing was on the verge of frost bite. 

Then we had enough snow for a snowball fight. 

It was a good ground covering. 

A real snow angel, not a beach sand angel! 

Mack was more interested in throwing snowballs than making snow angel. 

Sown the street in our neighborhood. 

The front of our house. 

We were able to make an even bigger snow man! 

Mack was learning about tire traction in the Frozen jeep. 

I didn't realize that we have never bought Mack  gloves. All we had that would fit his hands were Minnie Mouse gloves. He wore them without complaining though, he was cold! 

Performances All Around

This week was the week of music performances. Last Sunday night Ellie sang in her her children's choir group with the adult church choir and the local orchestra. It was beautiful! Monday night Mack had his preschool Christmas program, and he certainly put on a show. This pageant is my favorite of the year.

Tuesday, my friend from high school and I met up in Jacksonville to see Janet Jackson. This was originally a 38th birthday gift to me 2 years ago from Worth, but Janet cancelled the show due to pregnancy (at 50 years old!) As soon as she hit the road again my friend, Neilie, and I got tickets as soon as we could. We were huge fans as kids, and at one point were determined to be backup dancers for her on tour. (A kid can dream, right?) We saw her previously in Atlanta in 1998 and compared to last Tuesday, I can honestly say Janet still has it. At 51 she can still move on a stage and entertain. We had a blast!

Thursday, Ellie had her music program at school. I only shot a small, short video but it was so cute! It was only 2nd and 3rd graders that performed with a cameo appearance of Frosty and Santa. The kids did good, and I was impressed with what the music teacher had done with those 300+ kids.

Friday, the school Christmas parties for Emma and Ellie took place. I have decided that I'm a terrible room mom. I'm doing my best, but it is really exhausting. 

Ellie's group that sang last Sunday night. She is 3rd from the left on the 2nd row. She has a huge red bow in the back of her head. 

our little sheep in the preschool Christmas pageant

That's his best friend, Luke to the right of him. They are quite a pair, and the loudest ones on stage. 

My favorite picture from the night. 

Emma dressed for the occasion

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Of course his sisters wanted to pose with the performer. 

Mack has never been a big sleeper, but due to all of the Christmas excitement, he has really been up throughout the night, not napping, and not going to bed at a decent hour. This happened in carline when we were waiting to get Ellie and Emma on Thursday. He finally gave in, even if it was for only about 15 minutes. He does sleep.

Several years ago, I posted a video of Ellie's nativity from Ms. Jennifer's 3 year old preschool class. Well here is Mack's version: 

Ellie's class had an ornament exchange for their Christmas party in her class. She got a beautiful wooden snowflake. 

Emma got pizza and LOTS of sugar! 

Ellie's school Christmas program short video:



A little bit from Janet:

December or Bust

The holiday festivities are in full swing. This week, we had Worth's work Christmas party, Ellie and Emma had their K-Kids choir Christmas concerts, we celebrated Worth's 38th, and we visited Santa.

Ellie had a solo in the K-kids concert this year. All the grandparents came, and even Worth made it just in time for the show to start. Ellie did a great job, but was disappointed in herself because she said she sang the wrong part. I honestly had no idea. You couldn't tell because they all moved through the solos so quickly. She did so awesome, even if it was the wrong part. Worth and I told her we were so proud of her because neither of us ever had the guts to get up and sing in front of anyone by ourselves.

Worth's birthday was Friday. He was on heart call, of course. He didn't want to try to go out to eat because of the risk of having to leave because of being called in. He, therefore, requested a dinner of tacos at home. I gladly made them for him, we sang, had cookie cake, and he opened his gifts. It was a very relaxing birthday despite is "house arrest" heart call.

Next week will be packed full of activities, so there will probably be a picture overload here on the blog.

It was hard to get a good picture of Emma, she was behind a big bow!  She is the one in the glasses. 

Ellie on the right end of first row. 

He turned the big 38 this year! Man still loves a cookie cake! 

The kids were trying to talk to Santa and this little girl just wandered up and wouldn't leave Santa (we were in our neighborhood clubhouse.) No mother claimed her, so the lady with Santa just carried her around until she found the child's mom. Come to find out, it was a little girl in Mack's class. She is the 4th of 4 children, so mom was not worrying herself at all about where this one was. Thankfully, she was in a place that was safe. 

We finally got a good picture. Mack and Emma rattled off their wish list, but Ellie froze. She said, "I couldn't think of anything. I need more time!" 

Goofing around in the clubhouse while we had doughnuts and hot chocolate 

It was around 40 degrees outside, and they still had the train ride. Our  neighborhood does not disappoint kids. I  thought my kids were crazy for riding it though! 

Ellie's solo:




Part of one of Emma's group songs:

Advent Calendars, Nutcracker, and an SEC WIN!!!

This weekend not only was the start of Advent, it was the annual Nutcracker ballet. Emma was in it for the first time this year as a mouse. Ellie participated in her third year as a toy soldier. It is always a very busy week as they prepare for this, but it is such a great kick off to the holiday season. The dancers work so hard, and it shows onstage. I'm partial to the performance since my best friend from college, Allison Shenton, is the director. I know how hard she works behind the scenes to prepare the dancers and the performance, and the guilt she feels for being away from her boys during this season to put on this 40 year tradition in Valdosta. I'm so proud of her and everything she puts into it. I was also proud of my little mouse and toy soldier. They both didn't miss a beat and did exactly as their teachers asked them onstage.

The Nutcracker has 4 shows all weekend with 2 different casts. Each cast performs in 2 shows. This year, I lucked out, and both girls were in the same cast. Ellie and Emma both performed for the Friday night show and the Saturday matinee. Mia and E.W. came to the Friday performance, and Grandma and Papa came to the Saturday show. I apologize for not having great pictures this year. I deserve a D- on taking pictures, it was really hectic trying to dress and make up 2 girls in the chaos, let alone take tons of really good pictures.

Saturday, Worth headed to Atlanta to watch UGA play Auburn again, but this time it was for the SEC championship. Worth pulled the Dawgs through and we came out with a win! So proud of my Dawgs and the coaches! Georgia is now ranked in the top four and will play Oklahoma on January 1st for the playoffs. GO DAWGS! It's been a long time coming, y'all. Georgia hasn't won an SEC championship in a long time, so it was good to see it happen. I'm also very glad my friend Allison cast my girls so that I could be done with the Nutcracker just in time to watch the game. I don't think that was something she intended, but it worked out well for me.

December 1st (Thursday) was the first day the kids could break into their chocolate Advent calendars. They were so excited! These little calendars come from Hobby Lobby and have become a big tradition in our family. Mack had to wait on his candy though. He had been warned to stay in his bed (he tends to get up 1-2 times per night, then again at 5am just to chat, need water, want breakfast, etc.) He was told if he got up out of his bed that night and came out of his room he would lose his Advent candy that day. Well, he came out of his room twice. The second time announcing it was ok if he didn't get his candy, he just couldn't sleep anymore (at 5:30am.) 

My 2 girls getting ready backstage. 

Emma's dance teacher applying her whiskers. 

Mia and E.W. were there Friday! Grandma and Papa came Saturday. I never got a picture of them, but we were thankful they were all able to come see the girls dance. 

Friday night, Ellie was so serious as a soldier. When I reminded her to smile when she was on stage, she informed me that she was a soldier and she was supposed to be serious. Emma was beyond hot in her 20+ year old mouse costume. Alison wants to get new ones, but these were all handmade and it would cost her a fortune to have them all redone. 

I got a better picture of them before the Saturday performance. 

I was backstage for the Saturday show. I didn't get a good picture of Emma coming out on stage, but the little horse/mouse booty facing you in this picture is her. She was waving some other mice onto the stage. 

Emma's entire class waiting for their cue to run and steal presents from under the tree. Emma is leaning slightly forward in the upper right of the picture. (Her costume is almost covering her eyes.) Her  class was huge this year. There were 22 mice on stage in her cast. They barely all fit on stage. 

Stealing the Christmas gifts. 

Ellie is waiting patiently to go on stage. She is the first one in line. 

There were 3 soldiers that started the dance off. Ellie is the tallest one. You can see her face slightly forward of the other girls. 

They had a lot of very difficult lines to maintain in this intricate dance. I hate to brag, but this  group of 3rd graders NAILED it. They all did so good! 

Such crazy lines and formations. They did awesome! 

The cannon shoot and fall is my favorite. I think the girls liked it as well. 

Meanwhile, Worth sent me this as the Dawgs entered the field. 

GOOOOO DAWGS! SIC 'EM! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!