Holiday happenings

Last night, hubs, my dad, and I took Clay to the Clinton Christmas parade! What fun!

I hadn't been to a small-town Christmas parade in YEARS. I realized with a start this year that we hadn't taken Clay to a single parade his whole little life. So, we called my dad, picked him up, and headed to Old Town Clinton. The weather was really mild, and since we got there about 20 minutes early, we found a great spot to watch from, right near First Baptist Church. We threw a blanket from the car down on the grass and prepared for the festivities.

It was so cute to watch Daddy and Clay together. After we got there, they took off to explore before the parade got started. They walked all over downtown Clinton, scooting right back to our blanket just as the parade began. We saw tons of lit-up floats, caught candy and treats, and clapped our hands to the music of the marching bands before Santa and Mrs. Claus came by in a horse-drawn carriage. "I've been very good this year!! Very good!!" Clay shouted out, letting Santa know that he was extremely deserving of any special toys that might be on the wish list.

After the parade, mom came to meet us all at The Irish Frog for dinner. After a very filling meal (I had the grilled shrimp, AFTER I downed nearly an entire order of queso and chips.) and lots of kisses, it was home and to bed. It was a really great night!

Clay and I also spent some time this weekend making a gingerbread train from a kit I bought at Target. It was awesome! All the gingerbread pieces are already baked and ready to go inside, as well as the icing and the candy. The kit came with a handy tray to mount your creation on. All we had to do was glue the pieces together with the icing and decorate! So fun! Clay insisted that we use EVERY PIECE of candy that came in the kit, so our train is quite encrusted! Heh.

Also this weekend, I got the chance to go to the Preview Party for the Chimneyville Crafts Festival. So nice! I invited a good friend of mine, and we headed out on Friday night to check out all the handmade items on offer.

While sipping drinks and nibbling on spinach dip, little roast beef sandwiches, chocolates, and other delights, I bought a beautiful piece of yard art from Pearl River Glass Studio, a gorgeous dogwood bracelet, two lovely handmade pottery items (a jar for honey and a pretty teal berry bowl), and a hilarious clock for Brian made from a piece of computer motherboard. I also found some delightful little pottery Christmas trees that Clay has loved rearranging into different formations on the TV console.

I really enjoyed the show this year! There were tons of gorgeous things for sale, and I took lots of cards to refer back to one our bathroom remodel gets under way. (Yikes. Pray for me.)