A December to Remember

We are still recouping from the hustle & bustle of Christmas. We had a wonderful and blessed Christmas time full of family, friends, gifts, and of course food. Oh, the food. I took around 800 photos for December (what?!) with my new super duper Canon Rebel camera (love), but I posted several to recap our festivities.

Christmas morning - Santa & I cook Christmas breakfast for our parents. A tradition I started when Ellie was 1 year old. And Santa left her new trampoline in the shop b/c it was sooo cold. Yes, those are my outdoor wreaths in the background that I didn't get put up.
Ellie roller skated for the 1st time @ her Babysitter's Christmas party. She did really well.

Ellie received an adorable tu-tu (Thanks Courtney - she loves it!) Yes, we had Christmas in a garage. Jamie's side of the family has gotten so large that his grandparents have to close in the garage for Christmas. Ellie's reaction when she sees Santa. Yep, she must have been on the "naughty list" a few times this year w/ that reaction.

It was a "Pillow Pet" Christmas (Thanks MeMe & Pepaw). That is Julia, our niece.

We ate a Christmas staple - Hummingbird Cake (Thanks "Auntie") Ellie received a new scooter - which she has been whizzing all over the house on (Thanks Gran)

And, Jamie finally made a decent picture - yes, he has me in a headlock-ha!
All & All we had a blessed Christmas ... now to reclaim my home from the Christmas havoc!

Wild for Christmas!

We went WiLd for Christmas this year - literally - by taking a trip to the Memphis Zoo for the Zoo Lights! What was I thinking ???- accompanying 10 children (13 & under), sitting butt-to-butt on a 15 passenger van, and passing out fruit drinks/food because children are basically human garbage disposals. But - it wasn't THAT bad! They all were excellent, well-behaved, and had little complaining (well except for El & her legs hurting. Such a drama queen).

We arrived late afternoon & toured the zoo b/c once the lights come on, the exhibits close and animals are put up from viewing.

After refueling on pizza, we came back & rode the "zoo tram" around to see the lights!

There were stops along the way to see a Magic show, go ice skating, and of course visit Santa! Ellie wanted no part in Santa - but she did want her photo taken w/ this toy soldier--maybe he can get her list to Santa?

During the zoo light hours, The Farm exhibit was open. And guess what? Dasher & Dancer were there visiting before their upcoming trip. A train ride later and we were D.O.N.E! But, I did try one last attempt to get a photo w/ Ellie in front of the entrance Christmas tree. Yep, that would be me waving the flag of surrender and giving up; Ellie in a full run!

From our Family to Yours....

Wishing you & your loved ones a Holly Jolly Christmas! And, to remember the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas!

Above is our 2010 Christmas Card, which I must say has been one of my personal favorites. My sweet friend, Lindsey, dedicated about a 2 hr afternoon to test her photography skills and I loved her pictures so much that they made an appearance on our Christmas card. I love the photo of Ellie - can't you see the mischief oozing from her eyes. A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

So from our family to yours - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This post is brought to you by the letter "T"

Today is Hub's Birthday - Happy #32 Birthday!

Today is only Wednesday - but so much has happened this week for it to only be Wednesday.

The wonderful winter weather we received Sunday has caused a little heart-ache for us.

The water froze on Sunday night = no water for Monday morning = going to the in-law's home to get ready for work.

The Hubs, my dad & his granddad saved the day & got it fixed - no problem.

The dog's leg is broken (I may or may not have accidentally ran over it while I was on vacation)- $60 later she has a cast to chew on.

The electricity went out for approx. 2 hrs on Monday night right at bedtime.

The night-time books were read by a camp lantern.

The house feels pretty cold, pretty fast when you have no central heat.

Tuesday night = little water pressure on Wednesday morning - humm...

The well is not frozen, but we do have a busted pipe - Yippee!

The call has been placed for the plumber - hopefully he will make a service call tonight (I'll even feed him supper!)

Tomorrow is Thursday - let's hope/pray/beg for a day w/o incidents.

The weatherman is calling for winter weather - so I doubt Thursday will be uneventful.

That is a post of our week so far & did I mention it was only Wednesday!

{This post is not complaining or whining - life, as much as I love it, happens all at once at times. I am very blessed to have the life I live and am thankful for even busted pipes :)}

Knee Slapping, Loud Chackling, Laughing until your Eyes Water Night of Fun

That is probably the longest title ever! Friday night I hosted the ladies of the office at my home for a Christmas Party! On the agenda :

Starving yourself all day, so you can stuff your face on the yummy finger foods

eating 2 helpings of food

Team Christmas Trivia fun

Replaying Christmas movies in your head to come up w/ answers

Friendly Competition

Renaming the Christmas Song to 'Deck the Flippin' Halls'

Going back to eat more Cookie bars, Oreo cheese ball, or something sweet

Having to now eat something salty to get the sweet taste out of mouth

DIRTY SANTA! (my chosen gift got stolen 3x!)

Learning what is in every one's purse by playing the 'purse game'

Oddest purse item: Kitchen Knife Sharpener!

Not leaving until 8:30

Having good times & great memories!
I am one lucky girl to work w/ a great office group!
Note: most pictures were taken when lots of laughing was occurring, hence the closed eyes and funny looking faces :)

Destination: Santa's Village

Ellie's MDO preschool class took a trip to Santa's Village in Martin, TN this past week. I was fortunate enough to be able to join her. Of course I'm sure it helped that she reminded me no less than 10 times the day before. Personally, I wasn't that impressed with it, but Ellie seemed to have a good time, so that was the main thing. They had a enchanted forest w/ lots of Christmas lite trees and other winter wonderland animals, some kiddy rides and petting zoo.

'Tis Better to Give...

In the spirit of giving, our church recently made another trip to the TN Bapt Children's Home to help Santa out w/ gifts. Each time we visit, we fall in love with the house parents, directors, and children all over again. We saw lots of new faces as well as some familiar ones. It is such a humbling experience for our youth and adults alike.

Like last year, we were able to get each child a gift from their list and had enough to give each house couple a stocking full of goodies as well. Of course, before we went we had to wrap the gifts - which would best be described as controlled chaos! But when we arrived each member of the church was able to take an arm load of packages in ...

Our Hands of Praise team (H.O.P.) performed our program, we played games, gave gifts, and just fellowship w/ one another! Hopefully, we were able to make their Christmas a little brighter! Yep...God is Good!

#7

{Disclaimer: I am playing catch-up w/ blog posts. There may be an overwhelming amount of posts that may cause dizziness, headaches, or multiple views. Please seek medical attention should you feel light headed or any other abnormal health conditions during viewing.}

Our nephew, Jaxon, turned 7!

Wow! The year he was born was one of the hardest years for our family, but when he was born in Dec 2003 the beginning of some new, happier times to come. And, he certainly hasn't disappointed us. We love you Jaxon!

For his party, he decided to have a bowling party - yahoo! It was a lot of fun to watch the kiddos literally throw the heavy bowling balls in a baseball style manner. This was Ellie's 1st time bowling & she had a lot of fun. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have Pappy setting you up for strikes either!
Our side of the group did really good for 1st timers. Of course they had the device that they could put the ball on & push it off & the bumpers were up. But perhaps the most fun was waiting for the bowls to come back in the return - the kids thought it was magic & were amazed!

It's The Most Busiest Time of the Year!

Wow! I can't believe it is already Dec. 8th & this is the 1st Dec. blogpost, but we have been super busy! Since I last posted we have (short list):

--taken a vacation from work to have a stay-cation at home
--babysat nephew Tripp
--Christmas shopped
--repainted entry doors
--ran over Ellie's new "Heniz" puppy named Ruby
--catched the movie "Tangled" (super cute - Ellie recommended)
--had Christmas at the TN Bapt Children's Home
--enjoyed some Business Open Houses
--prepared for Christmas parties

I'll have a slew of posts at one time - when I find the time, but I wanted to share a funny conversation that Ellie & I had yesterday that reminded me to focus on more on CHRISTmas rather than Christmas. The story goes ...

I pick up Ellie from her preschool & we are jamming to KLOVE radio on the way to the babysitters. Out of the blue she stops singing and asks:

Ellie: "Mom, what do you think the Lord looks like?"
Me: "I don't know Ellie. No one knows what he looks like. We won't see Him until we get to Heaven."
Ellie: "Humm... I think He might look like Mickey Mouse. You know, like on the Disney Channel when they draw Mickey's head in the corner of the tv w/ the magic wand."
Me: (trying not to laugh and savor the moment) "Well, I guess he could have a head shaped like Mickey. We really don't know."

Apparently (a.) the child is able to see in the future (b.) has an inquisitive, creative mind or (c.) watches waaaayyy to much Disney channel.

I have laughed so hard at the conversation and her thoughts. And, from the mouth of a Babe to put this crazy life into perspective.