Globetrotters!

We pretty much crammed a whole lot into the few days we had off for Christmas, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up!

I entered my name into the drawing for suite tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters before I left for Christmas.  I was not expecting to win at all, but I was so happy when they called me from work to tell me that I had the tickets!  We decided to take our neighbors with us (including little man, of course), and it was SO much fun!

This was my and Anthony's second time seeing the Globetrotters, so I knew Nolan would love it.  The music and game is just so much fun, that I was super excited for him to get to see it.

Yep, he was excited!!

There were a couple of people in the suite with us, which made it really fun.  Nolan danced and hollered and thought it was really cool.  He also spent a lot of time eating, but that's part of it right?!

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this picture later...this kid I swear!

Even though we were exhausted from our travels and it was a late night, it was so worth it!  I think our neighbors had a great time and it was nice to be able to share something like this with others too.  Hopefully, we can get some tickets for other games in the future too - Nolan isn't going to understand what it's actually like to have to PAY for tickets to stuff - ha!

Christmas at Granny's

I am SO SO thankful that we are still able to have our large family gathering at Aunt Mo's and that Granny is able to come.  All of the kids are growing up SO fast, and it's just so nice to have that time with family and for Nolan to get to see all of his big boy cousins.

The Twins and Bryson...

What was even more special was the fact that Granny was able to continue her tradition of reading us the Christmas Story and leading us in prayer.  I have heard this story for as long as I can remember, and I cherish it each time and I am so glad Nolan has been able to hear it for the last several years as well.

Memo and I planned that she would get him tickets to the Christmas Lights Show at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, so we left a little early since we only had one night in town and knew that it would be a great time to take Nolan.

It did not disappoint!  We messed up and actually entered the "express line," since Aunt Mo told us she had an employee pass, but when we reached the gate it turned out that didn't work for employees anymore but they let us cut in line anyway - ha!  It was still a good long wait to get in, but they kept you moving and Nolan was happy to get out of his seat and be able to ride in front with us.

It was so much fun driving him around and watching him.  They had a huge TV in the middle of the field that was playing The Grinch, so he would watch that and then whatever lights we came upon.  I think it was a huge hit and may have to become another tradition each year!

Christmas at Gie and Ollie's House!

We always have lots of Christmas celebrations, and this year was no different.  We started things off with dinner and fun and Ollie and Gie's house this year, and we decided that we didn't want to get dressed to we all showed up in pajamas.  Wasn't exactly the dress code, but we were comfy and that's all that mattered!

We saw an amazing rainbow after school on the way, and Nolan had to show it who was boss :)

I didn't get too many pictures because the lighting wasn't very good and we were chasing a puppy and just having a great time.  Nolan got an awesome massive crane, and he was super excited about it!  It works on a remote control and is actually really cool.

We had Aunt Diane, my cousin Jake and his wife Lauren, plus Tommy and Jeremy over so there were lots of folks for Nolan to entertain.  It's always fun with a crowd!

It was also the day before my birthday, so mom made sure to have plenty of sausage cheese balls for my present - ha!  Who needs cake when you have sausage cheese balls?!

Christmas Cookie Party 2018!

Yep, we had our third (fourth?) Christmas Cookie Party this year and as usual, it was crazy!  I always have so much fun doing this that it makes all the mess worth it :)

We had our neighbors over this time, since we had to do it on a Sunday and wanted to keep it easy.  Well, as easy as it gets with tons of sugar, sprinkles and cookies in the mix!

My little elf...

At least he still likes to kiss his mama!

I used some of our standard decorations, but got so excited when I saw these chair covers at Hobby Lobby - they made the table so much more fun!  And as usual, Elfie had to supervise - can you spot him?

So much fun - I wonder how many more years I/we get to do this?! :)

A Visit with Santa

My mom figured out a day and time to take Nolan to see Santa this year - the Cabelas near our house had a pretty good setup, and Nolan was excited to go!  I actually forgot that she was taking him, or else I would have dressed him a bit nicer, but who cares when you are meeting Santa! :)

I am sure he was telling him how great he has been and all the toys that he wants :)  I am so glad he went to this Santa, because when we went to the Christmas tree lighting he wanted nothing to so with him!  So much better than the mall Santa too :)

Annual Clayton Christmas Tree Lighting 2019

Honestly, I thought I was nuts when I put my Christmas decorations up so early this year, but Clayton beat me I think!  I felt like it was a bit early to have the Tree Lighting in November, but we didn't pass it up that is for sure!

Nolan started the night off in a bit of a mood, but perked up pretty quickly (that seems to be the theme of 5 years old...)  He surprised us when he refused to go see Santa.  I was shocked!  There wasn't even a line and he wanted nothing to do with him!  We rode the train first and then decided we would try again later, but nope!

Instead, he saw a dancing, singing Elvis and decided he wanted his picture taken with HIM.  Ok buddy - here you go!

By far the highlight of Nolan's night was the music store.  All of the local shops stay open and let folks come in a visit, but the music store was new to us.  They had a stage set up and all of the instruments out for kids to play on.  I really thought we were going to have to let Nolan sleep there!  He did not want to leave the drum set!

Most of my pics from tonight were of this - ha!

We slowly made our way down the street to the Square and the tree.  We haven't ever actually stayed to see it lit yet.  It's just always been too late at night and a school night, so maybe next year when he is older we will try it.  And, we are always so hungry by the time we walk down the street that we would rather eat than sit there. #priorities.

Our last stop was the final building that always shoots out fake snow.  Really, I think it's a bubble machine, but the kids love it regardless.  Until it gets in your mouth...

...so we took him to pizza and that made it all better :)  Until next year, Clayton!

Election Day

No more important election than this one running for President right here :)

He was so excited for the parade and Election Day, and the school actually had each kid "go to the polls."  They all had a ticket and got to put it in the box of their choice.  I was so happy when the school called me to tell me that our little man indeed WON!

 Can you tell he was excited for the parade?!

 VOTE FOR NOLAN!

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing "You're a Grand 'Ol Flag."

Clayton Fall Festival

It felt more like WINTER than Fall this year for the Harvest Festival, but at least the sun was shining!  We decided to go earlier in the day this year since we had a birthday party to go to later in the afternoon, and that was part of why it was so cold!  The lines weren't too long for any of the rides, which made this guy plenty happy!

The folks from the CAT plant were super nice, and I am pretty sure Nolan could have stayed with them the rest of the afternoon and climbed on all of their equipment...

We didn't eat a whole lot this year since it was earlier in the day, but I did cave and let him basically have a funnel cake for brunch - ha!  It was so worth it.  The last year we went it was so hot we were dying and were drinking lemonade from a pineapple...this year we were looking for coffee and something hot - thanks, North Carolina!

Halloween 2019!

I tell you what, each Halloween gets more and more fun each year.  Even though we have the same costume as last year (just in a different color - ha), it was still so exciting!

Nolan basically saw these two huge swords and decided that whatever costume he got HAD to go with the swords, so another Power Ranger it was!  He wasn't in the mood for pictures in the beginning (can you tell?!) but he perked up when we got the gang together!

Third Halloween in a row for these guys!

Next year I think we will be adding even MORE neighbor kids to this picture...so fun!

We did our usual "loop" around the same circle, but since the kids were getting older and it wasn't too cold, we decided to hit a few more houses down the street as well.  Some of the neighbors had lots of fun decorations, and the kids loved racing from house to house.  Nolan definitely got his fill of candy and it was such a fun night.  Only a couple of more years until Halloween is on a WEEKEND again so we can really live it up!

Vote for Nolan!

While we were at Great Wolf Lodge, we got an e-mail from Nolan's school telling us that he was nominated to run for President of his school.  We were thrilled, but also a bit surprised, to say the least!

It turns out, his classmates voted for 4 kids to run for office - each child would "campaign" for their votes, and on actual Election Day, the whole school would vote for their choice.  It was neat how the school attempted to give the kids a look into the entire election process.  Nolan had to create campaign signs (Ok, I did), speak during a school-wide (televised) debate, and represent himself during the school parade.  It was a lot of work, but we were so excited to support our guy through this process.

He/we decided to go with a Superhero theme...my thought being that 98% of the kids in his school can't read yet, but they would remember the Superhero signs...hey, my advertising degree taught me something!

His official campaign photo...lol!

I was so impressed with the whole ordeal.  They made campaign signs, had a LIVE debate (which was broadcast on Facebook), and had a parade.  I created a login for FB JUST so I could watch his debate.  He was a total HAM and had no problem at all speaking in front of the room and of course, acting goofy.

A photo from the school's website announcing the candidates.

The parade was also adorable and G, Ollie and I were able to make it.  Essentially, Nolan's class and the other three candidates walked from the back of the building around to the front, where all of the rest of the school was lined up parade-style.  They carried their campaign signs and waved and all that good stuff :)  When they got the end of the line, they gathered around the flag pole and said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang songs.  It was THE cutest thing!

[ADD PHOTOS]

And on election day, he was ready to go!  So proud of my little guy.  Just not sure I want him to make a career out of being a politician...ha!

A Surprise Trip to the Great Wolf Lodge

Since I knew October was going to be crazy this year, it didn’t seem like planning/throwing a big party at our house was feasible.  I mean, I would have done it but I didn’t want to give Anthony a panic attack J

SO, we still had to do something special since it was Nolan’s first birthday, so we decided a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord was in order!  The plan was to completely surprise him with the trip, so we decided that he could miss school Friday and we would head up there to beat the weekend crowds.

Growling...of course!

Howling...of course!

We simply told him that we were going to visit Granny (which we actually did), so he was just happy to be along for the ride.  He didn’t actually get what we were doing until we pulled up to the Lodge like I was lost, went inside, showed him the HUGE pool, and then TOLD him we were staying there for the night!

I still don’t think he really got what was going on until we checked into our room and told him to grab his swimsuit J

Tricks on the dirt bike...haha!

After we swam for a while (it was freezing in there), we headed up to the room for a quick nap and then got ready for dinner with Memo!  She came to visit us and to follow us around while we let Nolan Trick-or-Treat in the hotel.  It was actually great timing since we were there around Halloween, that they had some pretty cool things set up and a neat tour around the hotel with candy stops along the way.

Memo was a great guest and we picked a buffet place to eat and enjoyed a great dinner.  Once dinner was over, we watched the show in the Great Tree, played around while getting ice cream, and then headed back to our room to watch TV.  It was hilarious that since we don’t have cable that Nolan was just as happy to sit in the room and watch his shows.  Not going to lie, I wasn’t bummed when I saw The Pioneer Woman was on either J

Overall, it was a great trip and he is already talking about going back there for his 6th birthday, so I would say it was a success!