Program Video

Here is the video of the Thanksgiving Program.

Thanksgiving Program

Our little turkey getting ready to go on-stage

Nanny and Mary Mac
Pancake (aka Aunt Kate) and Mary Mac

This morning was Mary Mac's annual Thanksgiving Program at school and here are some pictures. Sam and I weren't real sure if she was really going to "perform" or not since lately she has had a little stage fright at other events (refer to posts about Halloween and ballet). So we were delightfully excited when she did actually perform instead of the usual hands-in-mouth! Her class were turkeys and we've been practicing the songs for a while now! Anna's class does not yet get to perfrom, although I think Anna would do better than some of the older kids! She will get to do it next year, so stay tuned . . .

Random Video of Mary Mac

I have been trying to load this video of Mary Mac singing in the car for months - since her birthday actually - and this is the first time I have been able to get it to upload with errors! Hope you enjoy as much as I do! This was the morning of her birthday party and she had gone with me to pick up her cake. She just started singing this and it made my heart melt because it was so heartfelt and a perfect song for her day! This Is The Day! Please notice how she says "have's made" instead of "has made" - too cute! Oh, and yes, I was driving and taping at the same time but be assured that I just pointed the camera back there hoping to get her face in the picture and my eyes were on the road the whole time! Promise!!!

More Photos

Just a reminder that the Family Photo Album over there on my list of friends is a link to even more pictures of our family. I add pictures all the time to it and there are more pictures there than I usually post on the blog! Enjoy!!!!!

New Music

I keep forgetting to post that I've added some new songs to my playlist! I love these songs so much that I open our blog everyday at work just to hear the music AND read new posts! So if you are reading via Google Reader, click on our blog and hopefully you will hear the new songs! Hope you enjoy!

On a side note, I am happy to report that I have completed my Christmas shopping! Woohoo! I did a lot of it online so that helps speed up the process. I am only lacking a few last minute things for stockings and gifts for school/teachers. I'm going to wait until they all decide what the class will do before I buy anything though. Oh, and Sam and I haven't decided what we are doing for each other - probably not much since we are trying to cut back this year. The girls are getting one big thing each and a few small things and that is it! Mary Mac is pressuring me daily to start decorating (after seeing a neighbor who has already decorated), but I think we'll wait until Thanksgiving weekend when we have more time! There's just too much going on this week to even think about it.

Two Words . . . Roll Tide!!!

Ok, sorry for a delay in posts! We have had a crazy week or so with 2 deaths of family and like-family and trying to play catch-up while also attending to the daily chores! I have not posted yet (and can't believe I haven't) on the excitement of our football team !!!!! ROLL TIDE!!!! We have been to all the home games and will go to Auburn game! And if Sam's letterman status will allow, we have ordered our tickets for both the SEC Champiuonship and bowl game (whichever we make it to). However, I will not get to go to the SEC game because my sweet mother-in-law wanted all of the Collins girls to go to Opryland for A Country Christmas and we just happened to plan it for that weekend - this was planned way before we even had an inkling (is that a word?) of the success. Oh well, I'm sure Sam will have a ball and I am looking forward to my girls trip!

As for Mary Mac and Anna, they are great (as usual)! We had a bit of a melt-down last week at ballet with Mary Mac. For those of you who know her, this is SO Mary Mac! Anyway, it was parent visitation day at ballet and I had totally forgotten! Sam had a meeting so he was no where to help or watch and Anna had to tag along. Anna could not understand why she couldn't participate (she is taking on Thurs. mornings) at this class. Well, the class starts and Mary Mac is just standing there staring at the parents and not making a move while all the other little "princesses" are gracefully dancing and showing off for their families. I look at her with those "mommy" eyes to say, "you better start participating or we're leaving!" She then proceeds to yell that she has to "TEE-TEE" - never fails! Makes for a great giggle from the crowd. Since I had Anna in my lap one of the teachers had to take her. Well the teacher comes back in, but no Mary Mac in sight. When she finally creeps back in with her hands in her mouth, she runs to me to tell me her stomach hurts. So who knows? Does it really? Not sure so I take her outside to try and keep her from disrupting the other dancing beauties! We have a long talk and she loudly proclaims that she hates ballet and never wants to come back. Stomach is suddenly better! Needless to say, we leave the studio AND forget her bag with her tap shoes in it. So, the next day I decided to have a serious talk with her about it and see if she really wants to quit or if she just didnt' like the parents watching. She, finally after my little speech about committment (you think a 4 year old "gets" that?), looks at me as seriously as possible and says, "Mom, I have a new thing now?" Taken aback by this statement I ask, "Well, what is your new thing?" She says in a "like duh" kind of way - "Horseback Riding!" So, I guess it's settled - she is not going to be our little princess ballerina - but, honestly, she's never been and I really don't see her ever being like that. We'll stick with horses for now!
Maybe there is hope for Anna! I did notice Anna last night (as I watched Dancing With The Stars) that she picked up her babydoll by hands and started spinning her doll around like she was dancing with her - sooooo cute! And pretty smart too! She just kept saying"dance, dance dance".
I'll have to post on Mary Mac's horseback riding lesson yesterday - she actually got her horse to jump! And she's only 4!

Finally Halloween Pictures

Ok, so I have to admit that none of these pictures are great, but these days we are finding it hard to get any good pictures of the girls together. Mary Mac has mastered this lovely fake smile that she does in almost every picture unless I take it while she's laughing or talking. She must get this from her Pop! And Anna is constantly on the move these days so she is usually trying to run away or busy doing something besides posing for pictures. Just a reminder . . . Anna is Dorothy (the cutest Dorothy I've ever seen) and Mary Mac is a unicorn (I wasn't very creative with the rest of her costume, but she didn't care). She was happy as long as I painted a rainbow on her face and she could take her rainbow ribbon with her. I really wanted to a paint her whole face into a rainbow, but she wasn't so sure about that. Oh, and the deal with the rainbows is that she always says that unicorns are magic and that they are the ones who make all the rainbows in the world. I think we've watched a little too much of My Little Ponies!

Dorothy (aka Anna) - doesn't she look so old with her hair in a pony tail?

Rarity (aka Mary Mac) - caught her before she could give her fake smile!

At the Parade/Pizza Party

Mary Mac and her friend Marion dancing to the Blue Brothers (story below)

And here's Anna Gettin Jiggy With It! (is that even still cool to say - just kidding I know it's not but it's the only funny saying I could think of to go with her picture!) She had a ball dancing with the Blue Brothers and was trying to get to the front (um, I'm having flashbacks of my childhood - OHHH, Sam and I are in trouble!)

Halloween

With all of the excitement of Election Day and after our weekend with the stomach virus, I almost forgot to post about our Halloween fun! The girls looked so cute in their costumes (I forgot my camera to upload pics, but I will soon, I promise!)! After picking them up from school, we rushed home to get all of our "gear" on and get ready for the neighborhood parade and trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood has an awesome tradition (a tradition that many neighborhoods around the area have tried to copy, but ours is still the best) that has been taking place ever since I was a little girl living in the same neighborhood. On Halloween night, all the kids and parents gather together (and a local firetruck) and have a costume parade down ones street and then we have a pizza party for the kids before the trick-or-treating begins. This year was special because it addition to the tradition, one of our neighbors (whose family has had a band for YEARS) and his dad were dressed like the Blues Brothers along with his twin 6 year old sons - so cute!!! Well, next thing we know we hear loud music coming from one area of the cul-de-sac and notice that they have broken into a scene from the Blues Brothers and are dancing and lip-syncing to the music. It was so much fun and the kids all had a ball dancing around with them to the loud music. While I told this neighbor that he had now raised the bar for next year, there was a true purpose to this performance. The elementary school that is adjacent to our neighborhood (where all the kids go and ours will go) is in the process of re-building a community playground. They had to tear the old one down last year due to it being un-safe and falling apart. They've had big fundraising events and have almost raised all of the money, so this little impromptu performance was done in an effort to raise more money for the playground through tips! What a great idea! I'm not sure how much they raised, but I saw just about everyone putting money in the tip buckets, so maybe they raised the final amount!

After the parade and party in the neighborhood, we then took off on our Halloween pimped out golf cart. I found battery powered lights in purple and orange that we hung on the golf cart to look like a spider on the top. It was too cute! The girls thought it was so cool! We made it down 2 streets and decided it was too cold for Anna (who had on short sleeves) and so we dropped her and my parents off at the house and Sam, Mary Mac, and I continued on to more houses for more candy (just what we needed). Our final stop was to one of Mary Mac's friends in the neighborhood who was also having a party for the kids with blow-up bouncy things, more pizza, candy, etc. You get the picture!!! We then went home and were able to spend a little time with Sam's sister and her triplets (yes, that is 3 six year olds - 2 girls, 1 boy) who had just come in town for the weekend for Alabama's Homecoming. It was a great night and I am so thankful that we are able to provide such fun for our family and spend it together!

By the way, we had big plans to take the girls to the Homecoming festivities on Saturday, but Anna woke us up in the middle of Friday night with the stomach virus! YUCK! Hopefully we are all done that now!

It's Election Day!

I have to apologize for Sam's comment about voting for Obama and not being welcomed at our blog. Although it is no surprise that we are hard-core Republicans and McCain/Palin supporters, I still welcome you even if you are not of the same opinion! So with that said, do your civic duty and GO VOTE! I've already voted this morning and am anxiously awaiting the results!

GO VOTE!

This is Sam once again wanting to remind everyone to go vote tomorrow and if you vote for Obama you are NO LONGER WELCOME AT THIS BLOG!