Christmas in North Carolina

I know, I know, it's only November.  But the Christmas shopping season has begun, so our local shopping center had its holiday open house last night.  We saw Santa, stuffed our faces with free cookies, candy, and cider, enjoyed holiday tunes, participated in a magic show, and even went sledding, Raleigh-style (i.e., with fake snow and a fake hill).

Anson is starting to realize that he is too old and too cool to participate in some of the "kiddie" events. He was mortified that I made him get his picture taken with Santa. One store made the kids go through the pathways from the Candyland game board before entering, but when the kids were greeted with a table of sweets, they realized it was worth it!

I volunteered to have the magician throw a ginormous knife at my head and try to knock an apple off.  (Russell, are still sure you want to cancel my life insurance?)  Anson thought it was hilarious, but only Charlotte was slightly scared for me. Luckily, I am still here to tell the story.

Hope your holidays are shaping up to be good ones!

England on the Brain

Let's see, it's the third week in November and it finally looks like fall.  Every time I pull into my driveway, I get a glimpse of the side of our backyard.  With the hint of a misty rain, it got me thinking about England.

You'd be proud to hear that I have started drinking hot tea every day.

Last, but not least, what do you think of the big royal engagement? I remember when my mother woke me up in the wee, dark hours of the American morning to see Charles and Diana tie the knot. She told me I may never see another royal wedding in my lifetime. Is it OK to Tivo it this time around?

Wishing...

I couldn't leave those pictures up all weekend, so here's one until I post again...

Lots of people have been asking about the lake house, so I'll put together a post on it soon.  Here's Anson chilling on the dock, with Charlotte and I chuckling in the background.  Perfect!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

We all know that only the cutest, loveliest, and most flattering of pictures end up on our facebook pages, Christmas cards, and blogs.  Well today that is going to change.  It's been a pretty crazy week here at Casa Ford, and I'm up for some laughs.  So I decided that at least once a week I am going to post a really funny but "thought-I-deleted-that" photo or two.  Be very, very thankful that Russell is the key holder of most photos.

Here's a little something to start us off.

This is how we do it at Sally and Philip's for Christmas.  If you don't participate in the annual Christmas cracker pull, you'll have to deal with Morgan.

Charlotte was having truly wonderful time on the boat this particular Thanksgiving.  I knew the moment I saw this snapshot that she had a lock on the child modeling gig I was hoping for.

Rock Me Like a Hurricane

We share season tickets with some friends for the National Hockey League Carolina Hurricanes (former Stanley Cup winners). Anson and his friends Wesley and Wells rocked and rolled at a game last week, where the Canes crushed the NY Islanders 7-2. Wes (the guy whom everyone thought was Anson's twin brother) came with us, and Wells (the redhead) was there with his hockey team, which played in between the first and second periods.

I wish I could say the boys were mellow and chill during the game, but in reality, this is what they looked like.

Now to see some serious dance moves, tune back in to the next post for some video of Anson and Wes during the game.

Halloween Roundup

As you know, it's been a busy Halloween season. Now on to Thanksgiving!

Charlotte's Rock Star/Princess/Fairy/Hannah Montana costume for the preschool party was a big hit. Thanks to Emma for the electric blue wig.

Emma as Poison Ivy from the Batman movies (note: I wasn't able to stay until she finished getting dressed, so we missed out on the FULL effect!)

The easy way out, aka Vampire and Equestrian...strangely the kids were not even weirded out by Russell?! Charlotte did ask me if that was all I was wearing (not pictured: black leggings and riding boots), and where was my horse?

We sort of trick-or-treat as a group in on our street. I think my single neighbor was wondering if she ever wanted kids after this group knocked on her door!

Anson decided to stick with the skeleton and Charlotte is Glinda the Good Witch. She did ask if she could wear some of Russell's vampire blood with it, but we decided against it.  :)

Whew! A successful evening. Happy Halloween!