Thanksgiving '09

These days are over. For this year at least.

Because it is officially the Christmas season and Fall is nearly over.

These days are over too.

The days of letting the kids use my camera to take a gazillion pictures of whatever 8, 6, 4 and 2 year olds take pictures of.

The days of blurry, frustrating, useless pictures.

That one is so creepy.
Because Black Friday I found myself at Wolf Camera with cash in hand to buy this:
and there is no way I'm letting them play with this one.
I just can't post any of the beautiful photos I've taken since then because I can't download the coordinating software onto either computer so that I can transfer pictures from the camera to the blog. You'll just have to wait on pins and needles... which I'm certain you're not really doing.

But before Black Friday can arrive we have to have Thanksgiving first.

I hope yours was stress-free, drama-free, guilt-free, hope-full, heart-full, and joy-full.
Ours was most of those things. I'll let you guess which of the above descriptions I can't use for our Thanksgiving.
; )
I'll give you a hint: it starts with a 'd'. Right now I just don't feel at liberty to say why.
Maybe one day.

Ragamuffin Garland

Last night I made a Ragamuffin Garland. Brian says it looks more like a Bag Lady Boa. He's kind of right. But it's cute in a shabby kinda way, right? It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Of course, if you don't have a fabric stash somewhere in the house then it probably would take you longer but I have this semi-addiction to fabric and so I had plenty to work with. I just tore each piece and then tied it onto a ribbon long enough to stretch across the mantle and attached ring clips to each end. The Nester has a tutorial on her blog if you want to know how to make your own.

This is the first time I have ever decorated for Christmas before the day after Thanksgiving. (You like all that time travel in that last sentence?) I went ahead and finished the mantle today and maybe tomorrow I will put up the tree or outside decorations. The kids are so excited. The only problem is that they don't realize that Christmas is still a month away.

Do you see those stocking hangers up there? Yes, those pictures are three years old which is why Baby Bug doesn't even have one in his hanger. You'll all be so proud of me. I changed the pictures right after I took this photo.

Also? The cute clock display thingy majigger in the 1st photo way up there at the top? Yeah. That didn't work. I had it rigged up there on that black candle holder/platter thing (don't you love how I use all the correct decorating terminology?) with Play-Doh. Guess what came crashing down 18 minutes later?

And broke into about half a dozen pieces?

So now I have this. Not as cute or unique but it will have to do.

And while we're on the subject of cute and unique... This is what Baby Bug did with his dinner yesterday...

He skewered his bread with carrot bits from his salad.

Yes. That's my child.

22 Things I'm Thankful for Today (Nov. 22nd)

1. Chocolate. Dear old friend.

2. Mistakes and what can be learned from them if you can only stop beating yourself up for having made that mistake. Like cleaning the bathrooms in one of your favorite sweaters at 8:00 at night and getting toilet bowl cleaner on it because a certain toddler was pouring the cleaner all over the floor while you are trying to clean up. Bye bye, sweater; maybe you'll make a good purse.

3. Courage.
4. Encouragement.
5. A clean house.
6. The energy that it took to get the house clean.
7. Pastor Johnny.
8. Mrs. Janet.
9. Our church staff.
10. Ministry opportunities. Like keeping those two little boys from hurting eachother in the preschool playground this morning. Yikes! Whose children are those?
11. Snuggles.
12. Finding something you thought was lost.
13. A good book.
14. Hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows.
15. A fire in the fireplace on a chilly, rainy Sunday afternoon.
16. Time for quilting.
17. Music.
18. That love letter from God called The Bible.
19. Redemption.
20. Children.
21. Family.
22. Friends.

Silver Linings

I haven't mentioned it yet but this last week has been emotionally draining. But even with all the drama and questions and concerns it still has been a great week. God somehow is helping us weather this storm by allowing some sunshine and rainbows to break through the clouds and today there have been more sunshine and rainbows than gloom. And for that I am so thankful.

Here is just one of my favorite examples of His grace today. Just one word of warning: If you get motion sickness don't push the Play button; I really need a tripod.



Gosh darn it, she's cute!!!

By-the-way, here are the lyrics if you're not familiar with this song:

Give thanks with a grateful heart.
Give thanks to the Holy One.
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ His Son.
(repeat)
And now let the weak say, "I am strong."
Let the poor say, "I am rich."
Because of what the Lord has done for us!

P.S. Be thankful that I trimmed the last minute where I started to sing. I couldn't help joining in but I didn't think you deserved having to listen to me warble my way through it. Remember Scuttle from The Little Mermaid? ...Yeah, we're related.

Friday the 13th

How ya'll doin? Are ya good? 'Cause I'm good.

I got all the kiddos in bed by 7:30 tonight! Brian is out with "The Boys" and I'm sure they are only speaking in Simpsonese (as in The Simpsons cartoon Simpsons) and having a grand time. I purposely didn't give the two little bugs a nap so that I could get an earlier start to bed time and... bwoohahaha! ... my evil plot has all come together so nicely! And now Mom is telling stories about people I will never meet and the crazy days that they all had this week. And we're sharing stories about all the craziness within our own families. And I'll admit that after such a long week I was kind of like, "What do I care? I don't even KNOW these people you're talking about." Which is hysterical and highly hypocritical because what do I love doing every day?! Reading my favorite blogs about people I don't know and all the craziness in their lives! And I do the exact same thing to her. I read her all the funny posts about stuff that has happened to these people and I'm sure she's thinking, "What do I care? I don't even KNOW these people you're talking about!" I think we all have to hear about someone else's crazy stuff just so we know we're not alone in our craziness. Ya know what I mean? So, it's always good to know that I'm not the only one in the world who...
- locks their keys in the car while it's still running or...
- let's their car run out of gas because you left your wallet at the restaurant and you had to go back to get it so that you can pay for the gas or...
- that two people you love are horrible at communication and all the crazy stuff that happens as a direct result of all the assuming both parties have done or...
- fill in the blank.

It is, after all, Friday the 13th so the craziness is universal right?
Solomon was so right when he said, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Cozy

It's raining today. It'll be raining again tomorrow. Or so they say. And right now there is a warm, fuzzy, twitching, dreaming kitten in my lap and a warm, half-dozing, smooshy, blanket caressing munchkin at my side. We're squished together in this chair by the fireplace watching Diego. Diego's cousin Dora is consulting Map in the other room because Baby Bug can't make up his mind about which cousin he likes best. So, it's to this preschool melody that my heart sings this morning.

I'd quilt right now if my supplies weren't across the room but there's no way I'm disrupting this kind of sweetness.

Instead, I'll go back over to Chatting at the Sky and read some more Tuesdays Unwrapped posts.

I did. I do. And I will.

I had had enough. It had only taken 6 months, which really isn't a long time at all, but it had been long enough or too long, depending on how you looked at it. I told him we were through. We  seemed to always be arguing.  What a good decision that was to make for a girl of 20 years. Especially a girl who didn't own a lot of self-assurance.

Monday morning found me doubting that decision and telling my coworkers about the break-up. Brian came in and requested patient files and asked how my weekend had been. I told him, "Not so good. I broke up with my boyfriend." I don't remember how he responded outwardly but inwardly he was doing the equivalent of a hefty defensive lineman doing a touchdown jig in the endzone because he had recovered a fumble by the other team's star receiver. In other words, he was thinking, "SCORE!"

He consulted his buddies later that day. "How long should I wait before I ask her out?" "At least two weeks." But 4 days later he asked me out. I said yes. I told myself while preparing for that first date, "I'm gonna grill this guy. If it doesn't seem like this could turn into a seriously fantastic relationship then I'm never going out with him again. I'm tired of wasting my time." Remember, I was only twenty but I was ready for "the one". One date turned into many dates and transformed into that seriously fantastic relationship I had only seen on the movie screen.

He asked me to be his bride on December 23, 1996. I said Yes I would and I did on November 8th twelve years ago.

These twelve years haven't been the easiest or the calmest or the prettiest but I wouldn't take back those "I do's" for anything in the world. I love this man.

And the really amazing part? He loves me.

I had the jeweler engrave "It Only Gets Better" on the inside of his wedding band before I placed that ring on his finger 12 years ago. I had no idea how true those words would be.

Beauty-Full

We took a spontaneous trip to Amicalola Falls on Sunday. God was showing off in a big way. By-the-way, He's allowed to. He made it all.

He made these views...

These trees and these colors...

this water...

and these faces...

And I'm so grateful that He lets me be a part of it.