Football, Birthday Parties, Santa and NC!

I always seem to be about 1 month behind on this blog.....these pictures were made on December 17th, so in my typical belated blogging style, here is a quick look back....I promise I'll get to actual Christmas pictures soon!

On December 17th, 2011 our day started bright and early with Payton's 2nd Flag Football game of the season - 9:00 am on DI.  Payton, Holman and the rest of their team did great!  Payton improved from his 1st game to his second and scored 2 touchdowns and pulled several flags as a defender.  Go Sharks!

These boys are ready!

Holman (5), Payton (3 1/2)

I snapped this shot about 1 second to late - Coach Rusty had the team lined up in between plays and was telling them something very important....Payton has his hand wrapped around Holman's shoulders...completely adorable!

Payton's turn as running back.  Notice his offensive lineman, Holman, clearing a path for him.

Payton blows past the defense and runs into the end zone.

Luckily, there are no penalty flags in flag football....our little sports enthusiasts might have been hit with a fine for spiking the ball in the end zone!  Mommy's fault....I think he might have learned that from Steve Smith.  We've corrected his excessive celebration since this play!

After the game, we rushed to Ginny Cate's 3rd birthday party.  We were surprised to find that Santa had come to celebrate with her!  The kids enjoyed sitting and talking with Santa.  Of course, my kids refused to sit on his lap but we did manage a group shot.

Emma, Lila, Graham, Payton, Holman, Sully, Anson, Geni

George, Sam, Ginny Cate - the birthday girl!, Reese, and Campbell

John Warren, Jack and Owen dodged the camera on this one!

After the party - and after we spotted Santa's sleigh marks in the sky directly above our neighborhood - we loaded up the car for the "first leg" of our holiday travels.  Grandma and Grandpa met us in Columbia for a kid swap - we had an easy exchange - Payton and Owen headed North to spend one night in SF and 4 nights in EB before our arrival.  Mommy and Daddy headed back to Charleston to begin our Christmas shopping.  We missed the kids for the days leading up to Christmas but I'm certain that they had more fun in NC with our family.  With work, Bible study, packing, shopping, and wrapping I barely made it and there is NO way they would have fit in our car with all of our stuff when we finally headed to NC on Thursday.