BEST.CHRISTMAS.EVER!!!!

Hi friends and family! I'm Sweet Georgia Brown England! Most people call me Georgia and Mama calls me Sweet George B or Georbie! Mama said I get to write the Christmas blog since it's my very favorite time of year EVER in the history of the world!

We had such a great Christmas this year! Daddy talked Mama into getting a real live  tree instead of decorating house plants and it looked SOOOOOOOOOO pretty! It was the prettiest tree ever ! The best part is that we get to plant it in the back yard so that in the summer time when I miss Christmas, I can go back and visit our tree any time I want!

Oooh! Did I tell you that Santa came, too? We thought he might skip us this year since Iggy knocked 3 ornaments off the tree and I ate a whole box of baklava... but it wasn't bad enough, I guess, because he still came! I got a new red bed and a pretty pink collar and some new toys and a raw hide. Stella got a round bed, purple collar and some new toys and Iggy got a new blue square bed and a bunch of mice toys... but Daddy got the best present of all... Mama had Daddy's old trombone polished up and guess what?!?! Santa brought him a NEW MOUTH PIECE... Daddy played a little bit in the living room and I got to sing along! Mama said I have perfect pitch!  Oh! Guess what else? Santa brought Daddy SEA MONKEYS!!! I am SO EXCITED that I can't even stand it one bit! I'll tell you all about them once they hatch!

Wanna hear the best part? Mama and Daddy have not had to work very much at all which means that we can all play even more! That's the best part about Christmas ... spending time with the people you love the most in the whole wide world!

Love,

Sweet Georgia B.

super fun!

Last night we went to dinner with Kip, Valerie, Seth and Laura (Ben's brothers and sister-in laws). My marvelous, super-sweet mother-in-law gave us all tickets to a fancy-schmancy super-yummy buffet at Crown Plaza hotel. The food was lovely but I think we would have had just as much fun if we met up at McDonald's or Chic-fil-a as it was just so much fun with all of us getting together.  I really wish we could get together more often.

The fellowship...

Ben has his sports medicine fellowship interview today... Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

love,

Katy

Now, I'm not one to gossip...

Hey ya'll! It's me, Stella, your girl with her ear-to-the-ground! I have GOT to tell you what I just saw around the house today. 

 Ok, So first off, Iggy has been trying to pick fights with Georgia and me ALL DAY but we have totally put him in his place. Most OBNOXIOUS little brother EVER! He runs up and swats at Georgia's face with his paws. Mama says "He's boxin' her ears!" but she never tries to stop him. He's been trying to take me down, too, which is totally ANNOYING! Whatever.

Ok, So what else... Daddy's trying to be super handy around the house tonight. He pretty much just made the kitchen sink explode a few minutes ago. All I heard was a loud WHOOSH sound and then Mama got up and ran to the kitchen... I was rightbehind her and we saw water shooting everywhere. Mama and me were laughing soooooooooo hard that we couldn't help. Daddy got so totally soaked.

Here's another... Mama's been trying to get Daddy to take her ice skating for about 2 years but he never would because he was afraid that since Mama took lessons when she was my age that she'd be better than him. Well today, Daddy finally took her. She fell TWICE but Daddy didn't fall even once! Mama said he did great!  I totally had to babysit Iggy and Georgia all day,though, so that was kind of lame. Ok, that's totally all the juicy stuff I got today! TTFN!

-Stella K. England. 

Valerie...

I bought some hairpins today... These two are yours! Love you!

I have this friend...

This is a picture on the City of Knoxville website of my dear friend, Cheryl, and her sister, Kate (Kate is my friend, too, but this particular blog is more about Cheryl).

Every year, Cheryl and her sister, Kate, wrap up boxes in red and green Christmas paper and cut holes for their arms and heads and parade along in the Knoxville Christmas parade as dancing Christmas presents.  They aren't a sanctioned float nor are they paid to do this (although, they oughta be!) and the first 2 years they did it they were afraid they might get arrested. Somehow, these two manage to be in EVERY commercial promoting said Christmas parade AND are now on the City of Knoxville website...

More than once she has convinced me to strike some random yoga pose in the middle of a bar or belt out Loretta Lynn tunes on a karaoke stage. As a swim coach, she makes small children feel like US gold medal olympic contenders and brooding teenagers come out of their shells and into a world chock full of possibility. She gives random people the courage to express their hidden talents and for the last five years she's convinced her beloved sister, Kate, to dance around dressed as a giant Christmas present for the whole city of Knoxville to enjoy. 

I'm pretty proud to know her and when I saw her picture on the website, I got a little teary eyed... I felt I needed to mention my famous friend(s). Cheer extra loud for the dancing Christmas presents tomorrow night.

Two years ago today...

I met Ben. He called me "creepy" because I was singing "Baby it's cold outside" as I did my charting. He made my heart explode. He made my faith increase 100 fold. He made December 1st my favorite day of the whole year. He made September 6th my other favorite. 

Oh, how I love my sweet husband!

Testes one, two . Is this thing on?!?

Yo Home-Ezzzzz (get it?!?! Neither did Mom but it sounded LOLcats in my head). It's your favorite McEngland, Ignatius J. AWESOME here. I'm back from the Vet and two testes lighter! (What WHAT!!! I said it!). The vet said I was AWESOME the whole time and purred and purred practically non-stop the entire time I was there. I know it made Mom proud when he told her that but I think I'd rather he told Santa instead of Mom. PEACE OUT, Yo!

-Iggy

Back from the Great White North....

Well, We are all officially back ... except for dear Iggy who is still at the vet until tomorrow. We went to two Buffalo Sabre games while we were up there. We also went to a very fun party held in our honor  since my parents' Buffalo buddies couldn't come down for the wedding. All in all, we had a great time (except for poor Iggy) and a great trip (except for poor Iggy) and we each had our fill of the cold (except for Iggy). I have to say, though,  that we are awfully glad to be able to sleep in our own bed tonight. There really is no place like home and as our dear friend, Meredith, once said (and I'm totally paraphrasing here)..."As much fun as it is to travel, nothing feels better than getting back home." 

Love,

Katy and Ben and Stella and Georgia England.

Ps. We'll hear from poor Iggy tomorrow.

Shuffle off to Buffalo!

Tomorrow after work,  Iggy the cat is going to the vet for boarding/vaccines/neutering and Stella and Sweet Georgia Brown are going on a road trip with Mama and Daddy and uncle Jamesy to Buffalo. 12 hours of night driving fun with 3 grown-ups and 2 dogs or castration? Keep us all in your prayers, please. 

We'll be heading home on Sunday after we have sufficiently been frozen/hockey-fied and family-timed out. It's sure to be a good time, though. See ya when we get back!

Love,

The Ben and Katy and Stella and Georgia and Iggy Englands!

the washer/dryer party...

I have been doing laundry at the laundromat or at the big house(my parents' Knoxville home) since I moved into the little old house in South Knoxville.  It didn't have washer/dryer hook-ups and it didn't have a dishwasher when I bought it and I was OK with that. I didn't have many dishes and I didn't produce tons of laundry... This was fine...

Enter Ben into the equation. Shortly after Ben and I started dating, I started cooking more and accruing more dirty dishes in the process. I assessed the situation and decided that Ben was becoming a permanent fixture in my life and that I should buy a dishwasher. Since my cabinets were not deep enough for a built-in, I bought a portable dishwasher and  life became sweeter.

Several months later, Handsome Ben marries me, moves in and the laundry TRIPLES (don't ask me how). Laundromat trips began costing $40 a week! Totally obnoxious! One Sunday while packing for another trip to do the clothes, we looked at each other and decided it was time...that we'd had enough of sketchy folks trying to make friends with us while we were just trying to get our laundry clean and that it was time to give the little old house in South Knoxville a laundry room.

We got on craig's list and found a great set. We picked it up and brought it home. My uncle got us in touch with an electrician who could help us out...(btw, we paid DEARLY for the luxury of 50 more amps and a 220 outlet.) and today, we have a laundry room! Ben still has to fill in the hole, move the machines and hook everything up but still! I'll be washing clothes at home by bedtime!

The sad part is how excited I am about this. SICK!