Is it that time already

Wow, another year has come and gone. I should recap the highlights of 2009, but that will take some time to ponder, so I will just recap the last couple of weeks. Christmas came and went as it always does. The kids were pleased with their loot, and we all enjoyed the extra time away from work and school. We made a quick trip to Texas after the holiday to visit the family and now we are back home. At the moment, John is making donuts and the kids are still snoozing. Tonight we will have a few friends over to ring in the new year.
The new year will bring new opportunities and highlights. A new beginning is always exciting. We will all return to work and school just in time for John and I to take a little vacation to Atlantis Resort on Nassau Island, Bahamas. We are pretty excited about that. My kids will enjoy a week with Grandma, aka, my mom. Once vacation is over we will try to find our new routine. Somehow January always brings a different feel to the daily grind. We are entering the second half of the school year and counting down to summer. Baseball season begins sometime in February or March. Our evenings will no longer be our own. Practice and games will dominate our lives for a few months. Also during the second semester, both the kids will have overnight field trips. John is going on the fourth grade trip to see some war ship, and I am going on the second grade Venture trip to dig for diamonds and visit Indian ruins. As I have said before, we know how to have fun. So here's to a happy and prosperous 2010. Happy New Year!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

The last several years we have been taking pictures to put in with our Christmas cards, below is the one we picked after several attempts. We started with the dog and cat like last year, but gave up because we were frustrating them and us. We tried several different poses but decided that we liked this one the best. I am obviously not a professional photographer.
Just over a week ago we had our first snow of the season. We were sitting at a restaurant that Friday night with some friends when I said "It's snowing!" to which some said no, until they looked out and saw the huge flakes. They continued to fall all night and below is the result as seen the following morning.


The sun peeking through the treetops.

Our boys trying to be angels.

It's amazing how different everything looks with a blanket of white on top of it and how excited people are to see it coming down. Those people don't have 70+ trucks on the road, but oh well, it still looks nice and this weather didn't bring any bad roads.

We are almost finished with our Christmas shopping, just a couple more small things and waiting for a gift that we ordered to arrive tomorrow. I hope that the next 10 days aren't so crazy that everyone forgets the reason for the season. I hope that we are all bold enough to share it.

Lights, Camera, Christmas!

We tried again with a borrowed camera for an evening shot of the lights. Nothing fancy, just plain white lights. Maybe someday we will get some color and outdoor decorations. Perhaps we will find some good sales after Christmas for next season.

It really is Fall

I am just now adjusting to the change from summer to fall, and winter will be here in less than a month. I need to catch up. It feels like time is rushing by and I have no way to slow it down. In spite of time passing too quickly, this has been a wonderful, restful holiday weekend. We were able to get lots done, while still finding time to rest. Tomorrow it is back to the grind. Somehow it doesn't seem as bad knowing that the Christmas break will be here in a matter of weeks. Speaking of Christmas, John got the tree and the outside lights up this weekend. I know it's hard to see the lights in the daylight, but my camera doesn't work well in the dark. The pictures always come out blurry, so this is what I got. Now I just have to get all the shopping out of the way so I can enjoy the season. The kids are going to a "Parent's day out" event next Saturday, so hopefully we can finish the shopping then. We have to go to a wedding at 2 that afternoon, but that still gives us all morning to shop. I think we can get it all done in a couple of hours. It will be fun. I can hardly wait to join the grumpy crowds. What better way to get in the holiday spirit. Just for the record, the only thing I dislike more than shopping, is shopping close to Christmas. I just have to take lots of deep breaths and say lots of prayers. At least the people watching provides a little comic relief.

Thanksgiving

Today was a perfect day. I love spending time with my family with no schedule or obligations. It was great to just relax and enjoy the day.John made beignets for breakfast. What a guy! Once lunch rolled around we enjoyed a fabulous smoked turkey. We spent the afternoon working on projects such as clearing leaves from the front yard and cleaning the chimney. We finished the day with great friends and a fire in the fireplace. We are blessed, and I am thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

Another week gone by in a blur

Wow, make that two weeks. This poor blog is not getting much of my attention. I will blame it on Facebook, and life in general. Last weekend we spent time cleaning the house inside and out. John cleaned the roof while I cleaned the gutters. We make a pretty good team. This weekend will most likely be a repeat of the same. Jacob is at a birthday party right now. I will have to go pick him up in a couple of hours. I am sure he is having a blast. How could you not have fun camping with 12 of your closest friends. I just hope my friend Alison is still smiling this morning after a night with all those boys.

I can't believe the holiday season is upon us. The kids are already out of school for Thanksgiving. John and I will work Monday through Wednesday so they will get to enjoy time at daycare. John will work Friday as well, so I plan to stay home and enjoy a day with no obligations. I refuse to shop the day after Thanksgiving. I don't like crowds, and it is way too soon to get ready for Christmas. Shopping the 23rd of December is more my speed.

Since the holiday season is here,we are having a Thanksgiving meal at church Sunday evening. I signed up to bring a vegetable, so I need to decide what vegetable and get to the store. John will most like do the cooking. I will be at an Aloette party tomorrow afternoon. I love Aloette, and getting together with friends. It should be fun.

Okay, speaking of church, I need to update the world on our search for a church home. Back in June, we began attending a church closer to home. We loved it because of all the great friends. However, it soon became obvious that there was a bit of dissension in the church. Fast forward to last month. We joined a group of our 40 closest friends and began the process of planting a new church. We have been meeting for several weeks and things are falling into place. John and I are teaching the nursery age on Sunday mornings. We had 8 0-4 yr olds. How crazy is that. We are currently looking for a volunteer to take the 3-4 yr olds. That would make our class a little easier to manage. We had fun though, and I'm looking forward to seeing all their smiling faces in the morning. We are currently renting space on the college campus here in town. It is great. We have a chapel, a cafeteria, and lots of classrooms at our disposal. We are thankful the Lord led us to this group of friends, and our prayer is that we stay focused on His plan. It is quite an adventure when you decide to go where the Lord leads. We are blessed beyond measure.

It was a long day, but...

we made it. The painting was done and everything was back in order before the party. We should probably go back and do some touch up, but no guarantees it will happen. Luckily my dear friend Kristi got here early to help set up. She did some last minute cleaning while I took a quick shower. It is such a blessing to have great friends. The baby shower/cookout was a success. John, as always, did a great job on the food. Our friends who are expecting were blessed with lots of gifts for baby Landon. All in all a great day.