Meet Nicholas the elf!

Meet Nicholas the elf, our new Dunlap Christmas Tradition.  It was priceless!  I am so glad we did this!  You should have seen Brayden's face as I was reading him the story. He couldn't believe that I let him in on the big secret.  We chose the name Nicholas as in St. Nicholas......  Brayden first came up with AntaClaus.... but thankfully chose Nicholas.  We placed him on a shelf and Brayden whispered to him what he wanted him to tell Santa.  As I was walking away to get the camera......  I heard Brayden whisper to Nicholas "you are pretty cool."  Brayden said he even saw him nod his head yes.  It is memories like these that will stay with us forever.  He will always remember Nicholas the elf....  Oh, the magic of Christmas in the eyes of a child.

Southern Living Recipe

1 Dodge Truck

2 Kids full of candy

2 Car Seats

3 Tired Adults

2  Dogs

2 King Size Pillows

Mix all above ingredients.  Stir well.  Ignore lumps.

Add to the above mixture 5 handfuls of luggage.

Baking Time: 2 1/2 hours

Results:

It wasn't too bad considering.... Making memories.  

We got to Aunt Joy's house late and didn't go to bed until almost 1:00 am.  The best part was that Bailee decided she wanted to wake at 5:00 am.  Saturday was an interesting day to say the least.  Thank goodness we had a much better night Saturday.  The restful night was evident on everyone's face.  

We had a great time down South.  It is so wonderful getting to visit with family.  The kids had a great time too!  

Bailee went through her brother's bag and took out all is clothes.  She then proceeded to try them on.  I have to say, my favorite is the picture of her with his underwear on her head. Thank goodness they were clean!

Our Little Man

We had Brayden's parent conference yesterday with his Kindergarten teacher.  It went well and we were told that Brayden is a leader and is a great friend to everyone.  He is absorbing everything and is doing well.  

For those of you who know me personally, you know the worries I had about Brayden starting school.  I was constantly worried about his behavior and how he would do in "real school" considering he had visited the office twice in preschool.  The first visit was when he was 2! Well as many of you had reassured me that he would be fine.... you were right, and I was wrong.  That is something you don't often hear me say, just ask Justin!  Anyways, thank you for the reassurance you gave, you know who you are.....

To celebrate Brayden's good report, we visited the bookfair.  I didn't get the impression that Brayden had it in his mind that we would celebrate by buying books.  What else does he expect from his mom, the book lover?  Anyways, we paid for the books and headed home.

I ended up getting a sub this morning and going home.  I woke up with one side of my face hurting and my molars hurting... never experienced something like this before.  I have been fighting a nasty cold for about five days.  I figured I had a sinus infection.  Went to my wonderful Dr., Dr. Nelson, and sure enough, that is what it was....  I was given a steroid shot and antibiotics.  I am telling you....  that shot in my BUTT hurt like the dickens!  No Kidding! Ouch!  After about 10-15 minutes the pain in my face subsided.  Still feel yucky but I am mending.    

A little info on Bailee bug:

She is getting closer and closer to walking.....  she is a great crawler, that is for sure! Hopefully one of these days she will take off walking, considering she is almost 15 months!  She will stand for a second by herself and then ever so easily sit down.  That is our sweet girl, everything is on her own time, she doesn't follow any development schedule.... I am thinking I have a non-rule follower on my hands... ha ha ha....  

Hope all is well with everyone!  We will be going down South this weekend to visit my brother. We are leaving Friday evening and will return on Sunday.  His birthday is Saturday!  He is going to be 36!  

Justin of course will be hunting since it is opening weekend of deer season.

Mom, will you wait for me?

Okay, I have been meaning to post a conversation that Brayden and I had the other day. Guess what, it was on our way to school..... again, the greatest conversations happen then.... The new song by Brad Paisley came on.. Waiting on a Woman.... well as he usually does, Brayden asked me what the song was about.... he had seen the video before but....

We were talking about the part where when he gets to heaven he knows he will be waiting on her... and that he hopes she takes her time..... Well Brayden's next question was one that brought tears to my eyes..... "Mommy, when I get to heaven, I am not going in until you get there." The tears immediately came and I told him that I was much older than him and that I will get to heaven first. He then asked me to promise that I would wait for him before going on in. I told him (okay, the tears are flowing as I write this...) that I would always wait for him. I also said that I would find a bench outside the gates and wait. I would tell everyone in heaven that I am waiting on my son... no matter how long it took. He got the biggest smile on his face and thanked me for waiting on him.....

It makes me think about what things kids have on their minds constantly. Where do worries like this come from in a 5 year old? Justin would say he gets it from me...... Who knows.