december in orlando.

i can't believe that christmas is almost here. this will be the first year we have stayed in orlando for the holidays, and i think i am finally accepting the fact that it just isn't going to be bundle up with blankets and drink hot cocoa weather around here. we are actually experiencing a 'cold front' right now, which has caused the highs to dip into the mid 60's, but i'm not exactly counting on a white christmas. anyway, i thought i would give a quick update of what we have been doing in the month of december.

the grapefruit on our tree are now ripe and delicious! we are trying to keep a count this year of how many we actually eat, and so far we are up to 28 with an additional 10 picked and in the fridge. we have yet to try any new grapefruit recipes, but hopefully some will turn out well this year. anyone who wants some...feel free to come for a visit!

last week my mom, aka 'mams', came to visit for an entire week! we had such a great time while she was here. almost every day was spent shopping for christmas, wrapping gifts, or decorating our house. we were even finally able to find a real mini christmas tree for mary claire's room, which had alluded me for the previous couple of weeks. also while she was here, we welcomed a new addition to the extended kennedy family....luke andrew cave was born on december 10! (congratulations matt and amanda, i can't wait to meet him!!!) needless to say, mom left here to fly to north carolina to see the new baby a couple of days later. as always when mom leaves from a visit, mary claire continues to ask where mams is every morning.

the following sunday, we spent the day at the park! it is really hard to believe that christmas is so close when you are spending an afternoon in shorts and sandals playing on swings and the like.

mary claire is getting really excited about christmas, which makes me even more excited! every morning when she wakes up, the first thing she does is look at the christmas trees and say "oh man"...this is because the lights are not on. then she promptly tells me to "plug it in". she is constantly reminding me that santa claus is coming to town. she has even learned a christmas song, which i plan on recording and posting in the next few days because it is just too cute!

this afternoon was spent making a rather large quantity of gingerbread men. mary claire absolutely loves helping us cook, so she had a blast. we plan on boxing up a few for several of our neighbors, bringing some to the child center at our ymca, and of course, eating quite a few ourselves. that is it for now...i hope everyone is enjoying getting ready for christmas as much as we are at our house!

thanksgiving.

we had such a wonderful thanksgiving week, so i thought i would share. the saturday before thanksgiving, we flew into chattanooga where my parents picked us up and brought us to their house in athens. emily anne drove up from auburn the same day. that evening we went to the "downtown old fashioned christmas" celebration in athens. mary claire had so much fun! we saw santa and his reindeer, watched dancers perform, walked through a petting zoo, and enjoyed funnel cakes, which are my personal favorite! once we got home, we got to watch ole miss defeat lsu (l s who?)....hotty toddy!!!

the following day, we drove to gatlinburg where we spent the remainder of the week in a 7 bedroom cabin in the mountains complete with pool table, arcade games, air hockey, hot tubs, etc. we were so blessed to be able to spend the week with a rather large amount of my mother's side of the family. (Uncle Jim, Aunt Camille, Mary and Robert Marshall; Mom, Dad, Keith, and Emily Anne Kennedy; Michelle, Scotty, Hal, James, and Loudon Scott; Patrick and Jason Kennedy-Wahn; Uncle Robert Marshall; Uncle John Marshall; Uncle Terry, Aunt Pri, Alex, T.J., Todd, Kelly, Katie, and Caroline Danner; and a family friend of the Danners, Mason.) the drive to the cabin was very beverly hillbillies-esque . imagine five people, one car, five suit cases, and a weeks worth of food and supplies for 30 people from sam's. the week included lots of hiking, shopping, horse back riding, aquarium visiting, game playing (i always won of course), and just spending quality time together as a family.

on thanksgiving day, we made the traditional turkeys out of oreos, icing, peanut butter, whoppers, red hots, and candy corn. mary claire participated less in making turkeys and way more in eating the pieces. oddly enough, red hots were her favorite!

that evening we had a delicious meal consisting of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, mac-n-cheese, cranberry jelly, rolls, and a plethora of pies for dessert. the kids gathered leaves, twigs, and berries for decorating the tables, and the danner girls made place cards and assigned the seats. the following evening we ate leftovers, which ended in dan and i being dubbed "potato pancake king and queen", due to his excellent potato pancake making skills. he even made a green bean casserole pancake which scotty and keith all thoroughly enjoyed...haha. of course, this resulted in our names being changed to "green bean casserole pancake king and queen". i'm pretty aunt pri was the one who came up with such clever names.

we were very sad to part ways with everyone at the end of the week, but hopefully we will all get together again soon. the only thing that could make it better would be if Uncle Mike Marshall and his family, Aunt Sarah Marshall, and Amanda and her family would be able to join us as well! next, we have christmas with dan's family to look forward to!