Good Friday

It's only Friday but Sunday's comin'.

Four! It's like his last year to be a baby! (kind of)

My baby is four years old today!

He is quite a handful at times but he is full of kisses and "I love you"s and lots of silliness so it all balances out in the end.

Last night I interviewed him.  I wanted the picture to be of him, naturally, and I wanted to get it on video so I will always remember how he talks at this age but he wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with that!  He showed his tush to the camera (literally) and cried, "NO!  STOP  TAKING PICTURES  OF  MEEEEE!"   The only way he would agree to answering my questions at all was if he was holding the video camera.  In his defense, it was way past his normal bed time and he was especially ornery.  But being "especially ornery" is not at all unusual for him and he's actually turned it into a higher art.

So, if you are prone to motion sickness, get a barf bag ready...

And, yes, I have a zit on my chin...

Happy Birthday, Landon!  We love you so much!

Last Post of 2010

Happy New Year, everyone!  2010 was wonderful and I am anticipating that 2011 will be even better!

If you're reading this in a reader, you'll have to click to my blog to see the video.

Christmas Summary

This will be the shortest Christmas post in blogland because, quite frankly, I don't feel like dragging it out because I'm ready for 2011!   Year 2010 was wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it will be nice to have a fresh start.  Ya know what I mean, jelly bean?!

Anyhoo.....

My mom puts a little treat in the advent calendar for each of them to open everyday.

 

 Landon turned this Christmas paper wrapping paper tube into 1.) a sword 2.) a gun 3.) a telescope and 4.) a horse.

 Parker saying the blessing before Christmas Eve dinner.

We were supposed to do Christmas Eve with my side of the family at our house but one of us had been sick just the day before and we couldn't afford to give that nasty bug to one of my frail grandparents so we cancelled.

Cameron and Parker opening up presents on Christmas Eve.

My aunt and uncle were brave enough to quickly drop the kids' presents off.

Obviously I didn't take this one, Mom did.  We didn't get our picture taken on Thanksgiving like we usually do but I love this one of all of us in our Christmas clothes.

We felt like everyone was feeling well enough to go for a little while to Brian's parents' house for Christmas and we didn't stay very long and kept them away from his granny.   Brian's sister, Lisa, always comes over from London to visit.  Unfortunately, because we had been sick we didn't get to have a Scrabble Smackdown rematch.  I'm the reigning champ, from earlier this year, thanks to Brian suggesting I put down "lad" as my last move!

And the most fun of all was had the day after Christmas because we got snow in Atlanta on Christmas Day!

I've lived here in Georgia for 23 years and never had even snow flurries on Christmas so I felt like a kid again.

And the [pants] were all hung by the chimney with care...

in hopes of drying them out so we could go back outside and  play some more!

Go to Beth's blog for more Holiday Favorite photos.

 

Goodbye Grinchy Feelings

 It's been 11 days since my last post.  That's how long we've been at war with The Vomit Bug.  The Bug claimed victims #4 and #5 today from our family of seven.  Needless to say, blogging has not been high on my priority list.  Laundry and holding puke buckets and keeping people hydrated and comfortable have been my life for the last week and a half.

But I have managed to squeeze in some time during naps to take a few pictures of the house so I could link up today to The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes.  

To be honest, I didn't feel much like decorating this year.   Let me rephrase that.  I didn't feel like decorating very much this year.  I wanted it to be simple.

I wanted to buy some white quilted stockings this year but the kids really wanted their own stockings up so of course that's what I did.  One day, a decade or two from now, their stockings will hang over their own fireplaces and then I can choose some different ones and I will still probably hang up the old ones anyhow. 

I didn't want to move any furniture out of the family room this year and the only other place for the tree was in the dining room.  But I had to move the table around and take out the leaf and hang the pictures on a different wall.  And I've decided I like this arrangement better.

There is a small tree in Anna's room and the boys each got a little tabletop tree for their rooms this year. 

Yesterday, God added his own little touch to the overall look.

I had been feeling kind of Bah-Humbuggish until we went to our church's Christmas program last night.  This year there were no dancing reindeer, no Christmas shoes, no carols and no glitz.  It was all about The Lamb and it restored my Christmas spirit.  Because He came for me.

And He came to live sinlessly and He came to die so that I might live.

 And He has given me wings and He has given me Peace.  And I couldn't ask for anything more. 

 

Weekend Recap (6 Days Late)

I have a good excuse though.  My neck has felt as stiff as a redwood tree all week and I have barely been able to move it all week.  You could drill a hole in my neck and drive your car through it and I would never know.  Does the Redwood Forest charge admission?  Maybe that could be a nice little side job for me.

Saturday  (last Saturday, as in 7 days ago) - Brian took a much deserved weekend off and stayed in a hotel and did whatever a 39 year old guy wants to do when he doesn't have a wife and 4 kids to think about.  Basically?  He got to relax.  While he was gone the rest of us split up - Mom with Anna and Landon to fireworks and Cameron, Parker and I to a friend's house for games, food and fun and then fireworks afterward. 

Adults and kids alike played four-square. 

I may never learn how to take good fireworks pictures.  I laid on my belly trying to use my elbows to keep the camera still and I hurt my neck somehow while keeping my head still watching the fireworks and taking pictures. Brian has had to work on getting it back in shape every day this week.  I'm still not back at 100%.  It's getting there, though, and I have never been more thankful that he is a chiropractor and not a plumber.

Sunday we went to the Duttons' and lit firecrackers in their cul-de-sac and ate Stephanie's scrumptious peach cobbler and Marc's delicious ribs...well, not Marc's ribs (that would be cannibalism) but some animal's ribs that Marc cooked... you know what I mean.  Landon, of course, was the only one to get hurt but it was only one of about a dozen times in 3 days that he was injured in some way.   I really should invest in stock in Johnson & Johnson so I can get some of my money back from all the Band-Aids we use on him.

 

 It's kind of been a long week and I'll post something tomorrow about our adventures from Monday - Friday but for now I just have a confession to make:

I'm kind of ready for school to start.   It's hard to believe that there are only 3 more weeks of summer for us, especially when I realize that other schools around the country just started their summer breaks a couple weeks ago.  I think we've done a pretty good job this year of keeping the kids busy and also giving them time to just chill out at home.  Brian wrote a sweet post about it the other day and I honestly don't know what our summer would have looked like if he hadn't decided to take Thursdays off for the summer.  He's a huge blessing.  

And that is the understatement of the century right there, folks.  Talk atcha tomorrow!

 

Easter Tuesday

Easter was Sunday - lots of pictures taken.  Lots of activity.  But it didn't really feel like Easter to me because Brian and I didn't get to go to our church service.  It just so happened (unfortunately) that this was our week to work in the preschool department.  They assigned us to the 8:30 service and I had already told a friend  several weeks ago that I would fill in for her in preschool during the 11:00 service.  Stink Stank Stunk!  So I feel a little bit cheated since Easter is my favorite holiday.  I wanted to be there to be reminded of what He did for me. To be reminded that He lives.   

Thankfully, He sends those reminders my way all the time.  

I Want One!

I don't usually do this because I like this here blog to be my own space and to always be doing posts in order to win contests would definitely make this here blog into someone else's space BUT...

It's Saturday and no one will be reading this anyhow, right? And if you do read this then you absolutely must go to The Vintage Pearl and remind your sweetheart that MLK's birthday is Monday (and we could really all start a tradition of giving "Dream" gifts on this day because doesn't every holiday need some commercialization? {i know, i know, not a word})-{Oh! Look! It actually IS a word!} and Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and then there will be Mother's Day and surely some of you will be celebrating a birthday between now and May and, well, enough rambling...

I Should Be Folding Laundry is giving away $50 to The Vintage Pearl and I really want the Dainty Eclectic necklace with 4 hearts with L-O-V-E spelled out and 3 squares for the boys and a flower for Anna with their initials on each and a pretty little pearl to dress it all up! Gorgeous stuff - go take a look!

Whooosh!

I wanted to name this post: Just Yell "HELP!" Out the Window for Disaster Relief. But I knew I would feel guilty if someone who seriously needed disaster relief was misdirected by a Google search.

I'm calling this holiday mess - Hurricane Noel. And I'd say from the looks of it that she was close to a Category 4.

And it got even worse than these two pictures reveal because these were taken before our last gift collection. Don't worry, FEMA came in and helped clean up on Saturday.

Hello, just call this mama FEMA. It's nice to meet you. Oh! Brian helped, by-the-way; he did the kitchen.

And I have already begun taking down and storing the Christmas decorations. I don't usually do this until after January 1st but I was in a "putting things away" kind of mood (starting with the wrapping paper that was all over the dining room floor) and ended up taking down all the things off the mantle and I think I will take the tree and outside lights down tomorrow.


And in completely unrelated news:...

This was the turkey I cooked for Christmas Eve. Isn't she beautiful?

All my favorite bloggers (with the exception of Bye Bye, Pie!) have been taking a sort of Christmas holiday and I'm missing everyone. Hope you'll all be back in the groove real soon and if I don't see you before...

Happy New Year!

"You'll shoot your eye out"

Lady Bug and Baby Bug have been so fun this year and I've already warned them all (Cuddle Bug most of all) that this will not be the Season of Complaining. They have given their lists and I have checked them twice but they will not be getting everything on their lists. They will be quite spoiled, though, don't you worry.

June Bug asked repeatedly for Spike the Dinosaur this year. We told him several times, "It is much too expensive and we're worried that Baby Bug will be afraid of it." The thing stands 3 feet tall and makes noises and walks around and does who knows what else. I told him that he really needed to think of some things that he wanted more and to make sure those things were on his list. But when the big day came to tell Santa what he wanted he whispered in Santa's ear, "I want Spike the Dinosaur." Spike the Dinosaur had become our Red Ryder BB Gun! There was just no way I was NOT going to get it for him after that. So, I can hardly wait for his expression when he finds it under the tree tomorrow morning! And my wallet was so thankful to have gotten the crazy thing for $50 less than the original price! There are lots of surprises in store for them this year and so I will have to have my camera surgically removed from my hand this weekend.

I should really go get dressed and get the sleigh van packed. Cooking is all done and the children are clean and napping. The scents of Christmas dinner are wrapped around my head like a gauze - turkey and ham Mmmm. I can hardly wait to post pictures from tonight.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

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.