Home Again, Home Again Jiggety Jig!

I hearby do solemnly swear NEVER to move right before Christmas again. Ever. I love that all I have to do when I get back tomorrow is unpack boxes, but December 23rd was NOT a happy day. At all.

I did not get home until Christmas Eve at around 5:00. It's a long story, and I'll be glad to relay it in person, but basically, it involves an ATM that ate my check card, a bank teller who could not help me, movers who were an hour late and REALLY slow, and some really last minute Christmas shopping.

When I finally got here, I was an exhuasted emotional mess. ESPECIALLY after I discovered I'd left all my dress up/hang up clothes at home!!! My sisters all came out to the driveway to help me get myself (still crying) inside. They loaned me clothes for the dinner Saturday night and snuck me in without anyone seeing me. (We had LOTS of family over, and I just was not in the mood to see anyone yet.) It ended up being a really fun night. All 4 of us slept in the same room - a tradition and this year, a necessity! We wrapped presents, and stayed up talking. We fell into bed around 12:00 I think.

Boone girls on Christmas Eve.... thank goodness for sisters!!

I'm still amazed that I was able to put on some of Kadee and Nattie's clothes! :-)

Boone family on Christmas Eve.... SO GOOD TO BE HOME!!

Christmas Day was really relaxed and just plain lazy. We had another Boone family dinner that night at my uncle David's, and of course I got to see the gorgeous, adorable, precious and perfect Baby Boone Redding!!!! I'll post pictures of the tables I got from Mama and Daddy this year once I have my apartment set up. It's funny, I never thought I'd be excited about getting tables for Christmas, but I am! :-)

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm not sure they get any cuter than this!!

Boone cousins on Christnas night

Front Row: Kevin, Kadee and Tyler

Middle Row: Baili, Abby and Lori

Back Row: Nattie and Jennie

I head home tomorrow, but I may be bringing more than just my tables with me! Daddy and I are going to look at new cars tonight - woo-hoo! I LOVE my truck, but I can't stand the gas guzzling it does any longer. I'll definitely post pictures if I have a new vehicle in the next few days!

Teachers Gone Wild.... and Not So Wild

So these pictures are from a few weeks ago, but I've wanted post them to show what my friends and I do when we are NOT molding the young minds of tomorrow... :-) Everything you've heard about those wild, crazy, sexy schoolteacher girls is true!!

My friend Nikki is married to a rock star. No, really! Her husband is in a band called 7Sharp9 and they are REALLY great. Check them out here and make sure to go see them next time they are in town!!

They play all over the country and once a month or so, they come to Hemingway's here in Scarietta. The last time they were here, they put on a benefit concert for our school's Relay for Life team. It was so much fun!! Even a few of our stay at home mommies came out to "throw down!"

Natalie and Nikki (a mommy and a rock star's wife!)

Natalie, Danielle, Nikki, Chelsea and Catherine

Abby and Sherry... The only single hot mamas in Kennesaw!

On the other hand, I do act like a normal well-behaved person from time to time during the weekend. That same weekend, Eugene and I took my two all-time favorite students out for a big night on the town. Estefania and Dayra both met a really big goal I set for the both of them last year (learning all their multiplication facts 0-12) and have made all A's so far in 4th grade.

Estefania and Dayra at Pappadeaux's

To celebrate, we went to see Chicken Little and then had a big dinner at Pappadeaux's nearby. We had a BLAST !! My kids don't get to go out to eat very often, much less go see a movie so this was a really fun treat. I was impressed with how adventurous they were at dinner. Both girls tried calamari and mussels for the first time. They loved the calamari, but they spit out the mussels almost as soon as they took the first bite. :-)

Alright - Back to packing! I move in next Friday --- WOOHOO!!

Thanksgiving (A Little Late)

Boone girls.... We are so cute!

I was sooooo homesick and ready to be home. This was the first time all six of us had been together since Easter (in Atlanta), and we couldn't remember the last time we were all in Weaverville. My visit home made me all the more ready to be with everyone again at Christmas. I do not look forward to the day when one of us gets married and has to decide where to spend the holidays.

We spent Thanksgiving day with Daddy's family. My Aunt Tanna and Uncle Tim were going to go to Greensboro to spend the day with Boone, but they stayed and she brought my favorite... broccoli casserole!!!

The Boones on Turkey Day... Did I mention it was SO good to be home?

On Saturday, we drove to Greensboro where I FINALLY got to meet Boone Richard Redding! He is, as my Aunt Tanna says, perfect, gorgeous, sweet and precious. DeeDee and Baili rode up with us and spent the day with Lori while we went to my Uncle Tommy's house for lunch with Mama's family.

Dee-Dee, Lori and the perfect, precious, gorgeous and wonderful Boone!

Aunt Abby and Boone

Front row: Kadee and Abby

Couch: Jennie, Baili and Boone, Dee-Dee

Back Row: Lori and Nattie

My sister's boyfriend Jevone braved the day with us in Greensboro. He is stationed on the naval base in Memphis right now, and had a few days leave for Thanksgiving. Kadee went to his house to see his family and they met us in G-boro. I was so excited to see him - he is one of my favorite people!! I'm hoping he can stay and hang out longer when he gets time off at Christmas.

JP and Smooch!

I have bunches of pictures to be published in another blog, another time??? Right now, I need to work on MY LAST 2 PROJECTS for this semester of grad school. One more week and I get a BREAK for a month.... woohoo!!