It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we began decorating for Christmas.  Charles pulled down all the boxes and had them waiting for when I was ready for them!  I began with the living room tree and mantle...

I love the way the tree looks all lit up with lots of solid and twinkling lights...

and I love this year's new addition to the tree from Mama - Christopher Radko's train - it just sparkles on the tree!  I like that our ornaments have special memories and stories that go with them...

I kept the mantle simple this year with just the addition of nutcrackers and Santas...

Our travel tree found the perfect spot in our breakfast area...

It is fun to look at the ornaments and remember our fun adventures!

It is hard to decide which tree I like the best, but it may just be our little Charlie Brown tree in the bedroom...

it is filled with our painted ornaments...

Once the trees were decorated, I moved to the entry way and was glad Charles helped hang the garland!

I decided to simplify this year, but I had to place our Nativity in the living room...

and place the bunny bell Daddy gave me so that I can see it all through Christmas...

I really like the speckled poinsettias too.  

I added just a couple of snowmen to the bookcase...

and kept the breakfast table simple this year too...

I had to add a little Etta B. pottery to the kitchen counter...

and to Ma's tea cart...

The ornaments we painted this year arrived...

and found a special spot on our painted ornament tree...

Painting Christmas Ornaments

Saturday, November 24th, Charles and I enjoyed lunch at Whimpy's 

and then headed to the Mud Monkey to paint our 2012 Christmas ornaments.

It took Charles a little while to decide what to paint, 

but once he decided, did a great job!

 

He had to make sure each layer of paint was dry 

before he added the next layer...

The dryer was really hard to turn off, so he also had to get up and turn it off each time I used it!

It took me a while to determine what to paint as well...

but once I decided, I had lots of fun painting!

 Charles's ornament turned out great!

 His ornament this year is reversible!

I think both of our ornaments turned out pretty good!  

I can't wait to see them once they have been fired!

We both had such a fun time!!

Visit with the Dillons

After the disappointing MSU - Texas A&M game, 

our evening brightened up thanks to a visit with the Dillons.  

We traveled from Starkville to Tupelo and met Matt, Mary Ann, Nathan and Peyton 

to watch the end of the Ole Miss game.  

Nathan kept me thoroughly entertained throughout dinner, 

and he and I had a great time spinning pennies!  

We heard all about his soccer games

and all about Peyton's dance lessons.

After dinner, we headed to the mall for some yummy frozen yogurt 

and watched Nathan and Peyton...

have a blast playing...

while Charles and I had more visit time with Matt and Mary Ann.

What a great way to end the day!

MSU vs Texas A&M

On Saturday, November 3rd, Charles and I woke up early to drive to Starkville 

for the MSU - Texas A&M Snow Bowl Reunion Matchup

We did our part to white out Davis Wade Stadium...

The Bulldogs looked good...

during pre-game warm-ups...

The Famous Maroon Band then...

took the field...

for the pre-game show...

 After giving them an S - a T- an A- another T- and an E...

it was time to ring our cowbells... 

and welcome our Dawgs...

to the field...

The stadium...

looked great whited out.

The teams were set...

for kick-off...

Although the Bulldogs...

came out sluggish,

we still saw some exciting plays and a few good stops.

We also saw and heard some interesting A&M cheers.

Members of the original Snow Bowl returned and were recognized during half time.

It was great to see Chris Rock/Wayne Madkin back at State and 

hear the names of the players called - especially Pork Chop Womack- 

and all fans, both MSU and Texas A&M gave Jackie Sherrill a cheer. 

Right after the half, a lady bug landed landed 

on my cowbell...

It brought a little luck as the Dawgs scored soon thereafter...

but not enough luck for us to win the game.

Even though the playing and outcome were disappointing,

Charles and I still had a great time back in Starkville and catching up with some college friends.