3rd Annual Christmas Craft Party

This is the 7th and final post for the day--surely I am caught up after this!

Yesterday we had a couple of friends over for the annual Christmas Craft party. However, things were so busy I didn't even get a picture of the angels they made!

Rosalyn, Katie, Sara Beth playing after lunch

Forrest (turned around), Knox, Tucker, and Leigh--these four babies were so sweet and seemed to have fun hanging out and being passed from one arm to another!

Rosalyn, Eady, Sara Beth, Andrew, and Katie decorating their cookies

9 months

Our sweet little Leigh is 9 months old today! I can't believe it while at the same time it seems as if she has been here forever! She is the happiest child ever! She loves to laugh and smile and is perfectly content being held! She is already a daddy's girl and cries everytime he leaves the room! She is 18 lbs 9 oz (50%) and 26 1/8 inches (20 %)! It looks like she is going to be tiny! She isn't crawling but she can scoot all over the room! She absolutely loves to stand up and is doing a really good job standing! She has two bottom teeth in the middle and her two vampire teeth on the top! Hopefully the four top middle teeth will be coming soon! She still is having difficulty eating. We have been working with the best speech therapist for 2 months and will be seeing a couple of specialists in the next week or so! Lord willing, we will be able to get this problem solved soon!

Mrs. Beth patiently working with Leigh!

Are you watching me, Daddy?

Can't get any cuter!!!!

I love this video of her laughing!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Yea! It snowed! Yesterday the weatherman said that it was going to snow and I didn't believe him! We never get snow--much less in December!


I kept Sara Beth home from school so she could play! My May couldn't resist so she came over and played in the snow with Sara Beth!


Here is the final product of their work! I'm impressed! They actually made two before they decided it was too cold!
Poor Leigh just had to watch from the window! She didn't seem to care! When she got tired she just took a nap! She actually slept the whole time My May was here!

So...while the front of our house is covered in a beautiful blanket of snow, the back of our house is flooded! One of the main creeks in the area runs behind our house and the rain in the last 36 hours was just too much! Zeb spent a lot of time in the yard on Saturday cleaning up! Now it is littered with debris! I am so glad we didn't go buy plants on Monday like we planned--they would for sure have been washed away! (You must know that typically we can't even really see the creek!)

Pajama Day

Tuesday was pajama day at school. Sara Beth wore a pair that Honey (Sandi) made! All 6 grandchildren have matching pj's! Warner, Sara Beth, Eady, and Mrs. Collins showing off their pj's. Mrs. Collins said when she announced that it was time to go to the gym Sara Beth panicked because she had on her pjs and couldn't go to the gym in them. Sweet Mrs. Collins was able to rationalize with her and explain to her that they all had on her pj's and that it was okay!

Christmas Parade

Last Saturday was the Madison Christmas Parade. Sara Beth really got into it. She enjoyed dancing with the bands, picking up candy, and waiting on Santa. I think her favorite part were the police motorcycles that went in circles!

Sara Beth, Zeb, Sandi, Leigh, and George waiting on the parade to start!

Sarah's Birthday

Sarah is in Sara Beth's class and she turned 3 last week. She had a princess party at the Natural Science Museum so they could go see the dinosaurs! I wasn't exactly sure how Sara Beth would react. I had not taken her to see them because I thought they would scare her. Her friend Warner came running up to her and told her to come see the dinosaurs and off she went running with him--no big deal at all! She enjoyed seeing them and roaring at them. Her favorite song is "We are the dinosaurs" so she went around singing that and marching!

Here is a cute picture of Prince Warner and Princess Sara Beth!How cute is this cake! It was delicious as well! Sarah's mom made it! I might be copying it one day since we have two girls!

Thanksgiving

Psalm 106:1 "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good..."

God is so good and we have so much to thank Him for this year! We were able to spend time with both families on Thanksgiving and it was a wonderful time! We went to the farm for lunch with my family. Here Aunt Sara is trying to talk Sara Beth into riding the tractor! (Noises do and always have scared her!)

It worked! At least for a little while! They didn't get far, but I am proud of her for going a little ways! Leigh on the other hand will do anything as long as she is being held. She had a great time watching Sissy on the tractor. She didn't ride this time, but she rode a few months ago!

After lunch, we head out to the Hensons for a fun afternoon with cousins and dinner! Sara Beth and William were so cute in these cars. They were taking turns saying when to start and stop. And they didn't even have to share cars, because William only wanted in the motorized one and Sara Beth only wanted in the coup! Laura and I decided that this was the easiest afternoon of mothering ever!

Our Latest Target Trip

Those of you who know my girls know that Sara Beth absolutely adores Leigh. Yesterday at Target Sara Beth wanted to ride in the front holding Leigh in her lap. They rode all around the store for about 30 minutes like this! The wind was blowing in this cold air, so the picture is not great.

Family Vacation

The McDaniel family loaded into a rented 15 passenger van and headed to Blue Ridge, Georgia! We had a great time. Here is Sara Beth riding high in the van. Zeb commented at one point that the new Sequoia's must be smaller, then he realized that we were just much bigger! Someone even asked if Dad was in charge of a daycare!

My camera messed up on the trip so most of my pictures are ones that my dad and sister took. The Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad ran behind our cabin and we climbed down and played on the tracks one afternoon! Don't worry the train only runs on the weekends during the winter! This is the last decent (if you can call it that) picture that my camera took!

We went to the Cabbage Patch Factory and saw a "baby" being born. The nurse let us name it and this little girls name is Sara Katherine--after SB and Katie. You can tell by the girls' faces they meant serious business as they were passing her off.

SB is checking out some of the new arrivals!

Mom found this great three story cabin. It was a great size for our family. The main floor was where the kitchen, den, and my parent's room were located, Zeb and I, and our kids had the basement, and Elizabeth's family had the upstairs. These are my two sisters, Sara and Elizabeth.

My Mom with the two girls getting ready for the train to start. You can tell they were giddy with excitement.
I am trying to locate pictures from the Chattanooga Children's Museum as well as a few others. More to come in a later post.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Happy 30th Birthday Daddy! You are a wonderful husband and father. We appreciate all you do! We love you! (Nov. 17th)

Halloween Activities

Sara Beth had a lot of fun dressing up and getting candy this Halloween. Here is her sweet class with her teachers, Mrs. Collins, and Mrs. Mary.
These are classmates that are also go to chuch with Sara Beth. Fireman (Warner), Dragon (Richard Lewis), Flower (Sara Beth), Little Bo Peep (Eady)

Playing in the leaves at Eady's house. Eady had a few friends over to play on Halloween. Unfortunatley I didn't get any good pictures of all of them.

We went to Winner's Circle Park on the 30th for the festival. Rosalyn, Katie, Eady, Sara Beth, Katie, Walker

As tradition goes, Daddy carves the jack-o-lantern. We had a special family night with a favorite dinner and then everyone helped Daddy.

And the final product...

10 Must Have Things to Make it Through a State Game

We went to a State game a few weeks ago with both of the girls. They were great and it was a lot of fun-but very busy!

10 things we must have to make it through a ballgame!

1. Pre-game jumping



2. Watching the band from Daddy's shoulders!

3. Rice crispy treats-Sara Beth ate 3--no telling how many William ate
4. A little football of their own!

5. Two boxes of popcorn

6. A little cat nap

7. A Yummy cowbell

8. Marshmallows

9. Honey

10. An empty row behind us, capri suns, parachuters, skittles,pom poms...okay so we need more than 10 things! We had a great time!

Just a few from lately...

Yesterday was a gorgeous day so after naps we got out to enjoy it. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but Leigh is trying to be happy, but not sure what to think of the grass--she is holding her legs up!

So, we went to The Farmer's Market to check out the pumpkins. Yes, The Farmer's Market--we couldn't come up with anywhere else that had pumpkins and then to the park.

Our sweet Leigh!

I just had to get a picture of these rolls--I know they will be gone soon!


Our baby is now standing and can pull herself up if she can get the right grip!

Going for a victory lap around the neighborhood after State won a few weeks ago!