Merry Christmas from the Harrisons!

SANTA!

We finally saw Santa tonight. Hank was not thrilled about it. In fact, we pretty much had to talk him into it. Hayden was so excited. She thinks Santa is a friend and is not shy at all with him.

When I told Santa that one of his elves was at our house, he immediately asked which one (apparently, someone has clued him in on the Elf on the Shelf). I told him it was Zeppy, and he said, "That Zeppy! He's such a crazy elf. I bet you've found him sitting on top of your fridge, haven't you?" Hayden loved this. Her eyes were big, and she just nodded her head like "Oh. My. Gosh. Zeppy and Santa really are big buddies!"

Here's the pic. You can see just how happy Hank was - he wouldn't even sit on the big guy's lap.

100

Last night, Jay celebrated his 100th career win as a varsity soccer coach. He was very surprised after the game at the hoopla - a banner from the cheerleaders, a personalized clipboard and cookies for the team from me, a signed picture from the players, and confetti. He was also surprised that we were there (I had told him we weren't coming). And H&H got to enjoy their first cold soccer game. Thank goodness Jay's parents were there to help me keep them in line.

There may be more pictures to come - there was a photographer there, and I'm hoping to get those pics soon.

Happy 100, Jay!

A Special Holiday Visitor

Zeppy, our Christmas elf, made his first appearance at our home on Saturday night. Apparently, Santa sends his elves out to some of the homes of little girls and boys during the Christmas season. These elves are adopted and given a name by the family (Hank named ours). Each night after the family goes to sleep, the elf flies back to the North Pole and reports to Santa about all of the day's activities and whether his family was naughty or nice. And when we wake up each morning, it's a race to see who can find Zeppy in his new spot in the house. He's been on the mantle, on a shelf, and on top of a lamp. Rumor has it that he will get into the cookie jar tonight, even leaving some little crumbs around him! So far, Zeppy has provided us with lots of fun, not to mention a little leverage during discipline times. I'm really glad Zeppy chose us as his family, and that we have started this fun tradition. You can check into adopting one of Zeppy's friends as your own special elf by going to www.elfontheshelf.com

Note: There are a whole bunch of new posts below - I got a little 'blog happy' tonight!

Fun with Food

One Saturday morning, Spiderman and Hank helped me make cupcakes. Then Spiderman tried to help Hank lick the batter.

Here's Hayden peeking through her Happy Meal box.

And we (meaning "I" for the most part) made a gingerbread house. It was my first time to do one, and I LOVED it... I might just do another one before Christmas.

Zippity Zoo!

We took the kids to the zoo a couple of weeks ago... The kids loved it. Their favorite part was watching the elephant tinkle and poo (he chose to do so RIGHT in front of us). Also, everyone within shouting distance knew that, apparently, this particular pachyderm had a tallywacker - something the kids just HAD to point out and haven't forgotten about since. Lovely.

Cousin Fun

Jay's cousin Scott lives just down the road. A few weeks ago he, Lauren, and Davis came over to watch football and eat pizza. The kids had snacks outside, played a little soccer with the big kids, then settled in for some VeggieTales during half-time. H&H love having Davis nearby!

P.S. In case you didn't make the connection already, you Ruston peeps know who this Lauren is. I don't want to divulge their last name in case they might freak out having their name on the 'net, so I'm trying to think of a good hint: RHS, AXO, Temple... got it?

School Picture - Fall 2007

Where's Hank?

That's a question I find myself asking quite often these days...

The other morning, I couldn't find Hank for a few minutes. I passed by the laundry room and noticed some clothes on the floor in front of the dryer. The door to the dryer was cracked, and I knew I had found him. So, I ran and got my camera and when I walked back into the laundry room with my camera raised, I heard a tiny muffled voice from inside the dryer say, "Cheeeeeeeese".

Busted.

Neat News

One Saturday afternoon Jay, the kids, and I hopped in the bed for a little nap. We had just moved into our new house a week earlier and our mattresses were still sitting on the floor! Anyway, I was the only one who didn't fall asleep, and when I got out of bed I noticed everyone looked so peaceful that I decided to take a picture (of course).

Later that afternoon, I read online about a photography project called America at Home. They wanted everyday pictures of homelife in America. The topic for photograph submission that particular day was "Your Sanctuary". On a whim, I decided to submit the photo of Jay and the kids sleeping (which by the way was not one of my favorite photographs, but I thought it fit the topic). Imagine my surprise when I learned today that it will be included in the America at Home book to be published in March 2008!

Here is the photo... To learn more about the book and the project you can go to http://www.myamericaathome.com/ Now I wish I had submitted more pictures - y'all know I have tons!

Halloween - Part 3

As we predicted, our no-nap kids were not in the partying mood last night. Actually, it was pretty awful. It started out great but just went down hill. They were so whiny, but we did have fun for about an hour.

Here are the kids with their cousin Davis, the peacock.

Hayden petting a goat!

H&H riding the horse and buggy (I guess that's what you call it).

Halloween - Part 2

Afterwards, 48 three-year-olds went to Pizza Inn for pizza, kool-aid, dessert and pretended to play video games. They were all exhausted when they returned to school. When I picked them up that afternoon, I was stunned to find out that none of the children had napped. My first thought was "Oh No! How are we going to survive tonight?!?"

Halloween - Part 1

Hayden & Hank's class went to a local retirement home to celebrate Halloween with the residents. It was so cute. The kids sang a few songs, then went around the circle and "trick-or-treated" for candy. The residents told a couple of stories and surprised the kids with a haunted house they had created - complete with a fog machine and black lights... a little scary for 3-year-olds, but we survived.

Here is our little pirate. He actually wanted to be a 'pirate ship', but settled for just the pirate.

Hayden was a Madison Central cheerleader. I didn't have to instruct her on the pose - she just does this when she puts her 'cheerleader' on (which she almost had a stroke today when I told her she couldn't wear it again).

Hank didn't meet a stranger at the retirement home. He loved on every one of the ladies. Hayden, on the other hand, hid behind me the entire time.

Some of the kids showing off their costumes at the retirement home.

Caught Orange-Handed

We've moved!

I added more pictures to the Sept album below (9/22)

We made the final commute to Madison last Friday, closed on our house that day, went to McComb for my grandmother's surprise 75th birthday bash, and moved on Sunday and Monday. I took a few days off of work to get the house in order, but you'd never know I did anything - we still have a garage full of JUNK! One of these days it will get organized or thrown away. But for now, we are really enjoying our new home and neighborhood. The kids are loving their new upstairs playroom, mainly they love walking, hopping, sliding down the stairs. Jay and I are enjoying the peace and quiet of our new neighborhood. The neighbors have been wonderful and welcoming, and we can't wait to meet more of them.

I don't have a lot of time for blogging right now, but here are a few pictures to pacify you until the next post... Enjoy! Oh, if anyone wants our new contact info for Christmas card lists or whatever, just email me at sallyfharrison at gmail dot com (I didn't want to type the actual address out so I won't get spam and viruses and such).

September 2007

Click the picture above to open the album.

Way off topic...

I love a pageant - I don't want to be in them (my first and last was when I was three), but I LOVE to watch them. I used to make up score sheets and "judge" the Miss Mississippi and Miss America pageants when I was growing up. One of my favorite things about living in Vicksburg is that it's home to the Miss Mississippi pageant, and seeing it in person is way better than on TV - not to mention all of the hoopla that goes on during the week (parade, autograph parties, newspaper coverage) - love it. I don't have the time to do the whole score sheet thing anymore (plus, it's probably just a little bit weird), but I still love to watch. If there's one on TV, you can bet I'm watching.

So, Friday night was the Miss Teen USA Pageant. I TiVo'd it (since I don't have the time watch anything LIVE anymore), and finally sat down to watch it tonight. Y'all... it was so bad. The girls were cute (a bit too sexy for a TEEN pageant thanks to Mr. Trump, but whatever) and who can resist a little A.C. Slater as the host? But poor Miss South Carolina BADLY screwed up her on-stage question and tainted my whole Sunday night pageant experience. It was like a trainwreck - you really don't want to keep watching, but you can't help but be riveted! Jay had to cover his eyes midway through her answer (I rewound it and made him come watch). Bless her heart, she was my #1 pick up until the interview. Afterward, I quickly changed my mind, moved my #2 (Colorado) to #1, and thankfully she won. Sweet Carolina ended up as 3rd runner up (should've been 4th, though).

For your enjoyment, I've included a clip of Miss South Carolina's transformation from my #1 Miss Teen USA pick to the #1 Most Viewed clip on You Tube. Watch at your own risk.

Good old-fashioned fun

Playing with the hose Saturday afternoon...