Other Christmas Festivities

Making Christmas Cookies:

Making Christmas Gifts:

Here is a pic of the kids, all wearing their hats from Memaw:

We hope you are all having a great Christmas season!

Christmas Tea Tradition

One of my favorite events of the Christmas season is going to Tea with Sophia. This year my mom came along:

Our Day of Rest

Thanksgiving Fun with the Troutmans

We were so blessed to get to spend Thanksgiving with our best friends, the Troutman Family.
Lily & Sophia got along so well, and had lots of fun playing dress-up, Polly Pockets and collecting snails...you know girly stuff:) It was freezing and the trees are all dead, but that little Sage can make your heart melt when she offers you her tiny little hand while you're walking!

We had lots of fun in the park
Kids and adults alike!

We had a delicious feast, which really began in the morning with Lindsay's delicious palmiers, then she prepared a Havarti cheese appetizer and a Shrimp w/ Bacon appetizer...yum-O!

We were all a little stuffed before the Thanksgiving meal even began!

The night before Thanksgiving we got to go out, just the adults, for a fabulous evening with great conversation and good food

So Thankful for these friends! There are some friends that when they come into your life, change the course of your character for the better. These are those friends.

New Business

For those we are horrible about keeping in touch with....here's our newest venture! We are doing well so far, and can't wait to see what happens with this new business. Great ideas for Christmas gifts! Check us out: MamaGoesGreen

More Snow Fun!

Winter Wonderland

This is a lot of snow! Last year we didn't get nearly this amount at one time! The kids are going to wake up to this white wonderland and oatmeal:)
We hope you have a wonderful day!

Guess I'm not going anywhere!

Halloween Fun

This is the first year we did the costume thing, so I thought I'd share:
The kids went to the library for some candy and fun. Zane was a Ninja complete with bloody swords, Sophia was none other than a princess, Toby was Ben 10 and Jude was a pirate.

I was a loose version of Anne Boleyn:

And here are Frank & I at the end of the night....very tired as Anne Boleyn and Abe Lincoln. We had a blast, but I was soooo tired!

What's Happening? Where did the babies go?

First there's this one turning 8! What's that all about?! I definately told him to stop growing....they never obey!

Then there is this one: He looks like a miniature teenager! I'm suprised the girls aren't already knocking down the door....charming, sweet, thoughtful, and wild as a hog!
Then there's this one with his sister: No diapers, talking back, telling me stories like he's a genius!

Then there is this princess: sneaky and crafty, her new obsession is http://www.noggin.com/. She plays video games on the computer. Need I remind her I use this contraption to work?!

What can I do? I can't stop them can I? I need another one.....

Date Night

Last night Frank & I got to go on a wonderful date to the Tavern. It is the oldest building in Abingdon, and has served as a stagecoach stop for the likes of President Andrew Jackson, and the King of France! When you walk in you see that the walls lean and the floor slopes, but it just adds to the charm! Monday night was hopping, and we were so glad we called in our reservation...or we may have been eating at McDonald's! Some of the McCain camp were sitting near us, fresh off a rally held in Abingdon earlier that afternoon. We ate delicious meals, I had the surf & turf, and Frank had the prime rib. YUM! Definately a place we will recommend to others, and a favorite now for celebration meals...this one was a late celebration for Frank's (gasp) 31st b-day. Here are some pics:

Afterwards we saw the movie Fireproof....so moving! The beginning was a little slow...(read: cheesy)...but then it picked up and the acting got quite good. It was a fresh breath of air to walk out of a movie theater encouraged and feeling thankful for your partner!
As we pulled into the driveway we stopped to admire the symphony of stars that the Lord had laid out for us. A perfect ending to a spectacular night with the love of my life!

Who says Hicks aren't into Politics!?

This is a local corn maze in Bristol that we plan to go to:

Stickley Farm Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch

12 weeks 'till Christmas

I know! I can't believe it either! We have been actively trying to pare down the crazy of the holidays, and amp up the meaningful memories and traditions here at the Cardinale house. I love this post at SimpleMom.net, a great timetable to help get ready for Christmas. Some of our new traditions include:

• Advent Calender and devotions together every evening
• Making and bringing meals to a family once a week
• One heirloom-type gift for each child, & one "this is what I want" gift each child from mom & dad
• Local Christmas Tree farm, followed by hot chocolate, homemade cookies and a movie first week of December
• And this year we hope to find some more opportunities to minister to others. As the children get older, hopefully this will be easier!

What kinds of traditions does your family love?

Jude says Good Morning!

This is how the comic of the family woke me up this morning! There's nothing like this cuteness to start off your morning right!

This is Weird

I have just discovered StumbleUpon. If you don't know what that is, you're really missing out. It's basically a little gadget that you download onto your computer, you tell it all of your interests, and then you click the button and it "stumbles" you onto something you never knew was out there. So here are some of stumbles this week:

List of Big A*s Holes: I feel like a dummy not knowing that any of these existed....crazy what man does to get at diamonds!
The 12 year old McDonald's Hamburger. This was just put in a Tupperware, never preserved in any other way. I do believe I'll never eat at McDonald's again!

The Dollar Shirt:

Of course, these are the weird ones, there were several interesting and helpful links and blogs I found that I liked. Definately addictive, especially when you're stuck at the computer working like me!