Wii're Having Fun

You can tell from the title, that we have joined of the ranks of those that own a Wii. But, our Wii is different from all those thousands of Wii's owned by others because of how we acquired it. My husband had the idea about a week and a half ago to buy 5 Wii's to resell for a profit in order to purchase one for our kiddies free and clear. We sold 4 of the five, plus a few other things on Craiglist and ebay, and totally paid for the fifth Wii by embracing the entrepreneurial spirit of America. Then we bought 3 more Wii's and made enough of a profit off of these to purchase 3 games for our children, after also trading my son's xbox games to a local gaming store. We let the kids open it on Monday so they could enjoy it. (They also were with us when the other Wii's were purchased, so they knew the plan.) Tonight, we acquired the three games, Lego Batman for Caleb, Petz Horses 2 for Bethany and Winter Sports for my hubby. Wii!!!!!!!

Christmas 2008

This year has been one of the best Christmas seasons with the kids. I don't know if it is their ages, or maybe I just have more patience with everything. (Some days, anyway) We have been able to do a lot of fun stuff with family and friends. This weekend, we were able to go to "Walk Through Bethlehem" at a local church. There were shops throughout the town and a semi-live nativity scene. (Baby Jesus was a doll!) What made it even better is we are studying this time in history this week. The kids got to see men dressed up as Roman soldiers from around 0 A.D., the time of Caesar Augustus. I am loving how we have been able to tie real live (in this case)things into our history curriculum.

Decorating Cookies

Today, we were invited to help some friends make and decorate Christmas cookies. So much fun!


Ms. Holly cutting out the cookies!



Yum!!! Icing!!!



Thanks Holly for your hospitality!

Terra Cotta Soldiers

The kids and I had the opportunity to head down to the High Museum yesterday today to see a collection of the Terra Cotta soldiers from China. A couple of weeks ago, we studied about emperor Chin who created this army in Story of the World. So cool to be able to be near artifacts from ancient Chinese history! I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the actual soldiers, but I got the kids to pose in front of this close to life size replica in the gift shop. You could take it home as yours for just $1800.

Leaving Tennesee

Before we left, I took a minute to take a picture of the cousins and one last family picture. Yes, we had to go, but not before being able to see the beautiful snow covered trees and piles of snow on top of the mountain.

The Carousel

One of the rides the kids rode at Dollywood was the carousel. When we arrived there, I started to take a picture of my daughter as the ride was standing still. Because of the ride's lack of motion, I was able to get a perfectly posed picture of my daughter.

As the ride began to move, Ron and I jumped in front and got a rare picture of us together. When we were done, I began to snap pictures of the then moving ride. I couldn't tell as I clicked the button on the camera if I was getting my kids in the pictures or not. I crossed my fingers that I got at least one good one.

When I arrived home and uploaded the pictures, I discovered that two of the pictures contained people I had never met or laid eyes on. The people in the pictures spoke to me because of the presumed ages of the riders and the there obvious determination to have fun.

The 3 ladies that appear in the 2 pictures are probably in their 70's or later. One is in a wheelchair, yet she found a way to ride. The other 2 ladies, probably friends, possibly discussing the day or maybe memories of their own childhood rides appear in the second.

Gatlinburg

We are back from a fun week with Ron's family in Gatlinburg. The kids had tons of fun with their Halverson cousins. We shopped, played games, ate out, lounged at our cabin, went to Dollywood and rode all the rides the kids could handle, and just enjoyed each others company. Many wonderful memories were made.

The two pictures above are taken from the deck of the cabin we stayed at. Such a beautiful view!