Better late than never...

I about let the last Christmas Memories Monday get away. It's still the Christmas season, so I'm going to attempt to finish strong...

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES MONDAY: Food and Family

1. Do you have your big meal on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is dedicated to the Love Feast at church. See the post just below this one for pictures.

2. Is there a certain meal you always cook (with maybe changing a few sides now and then) or is it just a feast no matter what the menu? For about the past five years we have been having bacon-wrapped rosemary pork tenderloin. I got the recipe at the first Holidays Fit for the King and everyone loved it so much, it became out new Christmas dinner tradition.

3. Who will come, or you go see, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? My mom goes with us to the Love Feast and then comes over to our house on Christmas Day just after noon. It's just our immediate family on Christmas morning, though.

4. What time do your kids wake you up (or do YOU wake up if you do not have kids in the house with you)? Well... this year Zack woke up at 3:30am and I don't know that he ever really went back to sleep. I attempted to stay in his room until fell asleep again, but finally at 5am, I gave up. I told him that if I had to stay in his room any longer, I'd have to sleep in and we couldn't open presents until after noon. :-D Amazingly, he found a way to go back to sleep. The rule for our house is that you don't get to go downstairs until Mom and Dad are awake and go with you. And Mom and Dad sleep in until 7am. At 7am the kids, who each have a Christmas bell that sits next to their bed, are allowed to ring the Christmas bells announcing the birth of Jesus and then they come into our room, where Jimmy reads The Christmas Story. THEN we go downstairs.

5. Do you do the Santa thing? We play the Santa game. We tell the kids that it's pretend... but fun! We also tell them that even though the Santa game is pretend, lots of parents choose not to tell their kids it's pretend until they get older. "Santa" fills the stockings. That's it. Mom and Dad give the rest of the presents. We have found it to be a wonderful compromise that keeps the focus on Jesus as the greatest gift and our giving gifts to each other out of love as a reflection of the gifts that God gives us. The biggest blessings we have seen from being up-front about Santa is that if there's a "hot gift" of the year that we can't get, we simply tell the kids and ask them if they want to wait or get something else. There's no explaining that Santa does really love you and you are really special even though you didn't get what you really, really wanted and your friend asked for the same thing and got it. The other thing that is good is that there's not the dreaded conversation about how we lied to them about Santa until they were a certain age and now we're telling them the truth. As neat as the whole magical wonder of Christmas thing is, we just couldn't bring ourselves to pretend without letting our kids know we were pretending. Ironically, our oldest was talking about the Santa game just a couple of days ago and saying she was thankful we did it that way as many of her friend were devastated when they found out the truth.

OK... done! Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!

Why Gramma is trying to figure out how to put a "B" on a sticky bun...

Christmas Letter 2008...

Merry Christmas to all our Friends and Family!

We are happy to be sending you Season's Blessings from blogland this year. For those of you who are new to our little spot on the 'net, welcome! We hope you'll keep coming back to visit from time to time.

We missed sending out Christmas greetings altogether in 2007, so let's catch you up on what you missed. 2007 was eventful, with the biggest event being a move for our family. We left the home we'd been in since 2001 and moved about 4 miles away to a house with a little more space for teenagers to hang out. And a pool. It has a basement with an apartment, which came in very handy shortly after the move.




A few days after Thanksgiving, we got a call from my dad, who had been hospitalized twice with both cardiac and pulmonary problems in the summer. He was having those same problems again, so Jimmy went to the farm where Dad lives and brought him back to Raleigh. Over the course of December, he had two more hospital stays. He came home to our house on Christmas Eve and stayed through January. With all that excitement, Christmas cards didn't make it out last year.[We are happy to report that my dad is doing very well. He is back living on his farm, working on projects and designing everything from engines to houses.]

So let's take a shot at 2008 and see where we are now...

Zack is now 7. Zane will be 13 in a few short days. And Kelsey is 14. They still go to the same school. Zack is busy being the storyteller as he has been since he began to talk. Zane played center on the JV football team this fall and led the team Bible study as a 7th grader. Kelsey played volleyball and is making the transition from middle school academics to a more rigorous high school curriculum. Most of the time no one gets body-slammed at home, but Zack is becoming more and more proficient at annoying his big brother. All struggling and strife cease and there is harmony in the land as Carolina basketball season arrives. And when Carolina basketball season DOES arrive, there is no one in the family as on top of the stats and game schedule as Kelsey.








We have a new addition to the family this year ... Pepper. She's a rescue puppy... a shih tzu whose first family didn't have a whole lot of time to spend with her. We offered to give her a home and now she's DEFINITELY part of the family!




Jimmy continues selling medical devices and loves what he does. He had a TON of fun this fall operating the clock for varsity football games and helping keep an eye on the other team from atop the press box during JV games. He has become a pool expert in one short season and has a pretty substantial list of home improvement projects in the pipeline. Jimmy's involved in a Friday morning men's Bible study and serving as a deacon in our church. In January, he will come alongside the Creation class teacher in Student Ministries to help grow that program.



I went back to teaching this year... just one class... journalism... at the kids' school. I love seeing students grow as writers. On the other hand, having even a little job after being home 14 years (and working only in fields with highly flexible schedules like real estate) comes with its share of ups and downs. I miss my Bible study very much and am prayerfully considering where the Lord would have me next year. I'm still on the Women's Council at church and still on the editorial team for the Women's Ministry newsletter. My favorite project for the year has been serving as Administrator for the Celebrating Christmas blog. Click the link and see what my Friends and I have been up to!

Yes, we still have our little place at the beach, but we have very little time to spend there. We would LOVE to sell it, so if you hear of anyone looking... let us know!

Gramma is doing well, still working for the Department of Corrections and living in the same house that she has lived in for nearly 50 years. She's quite the hip grandmother, with her own Facebook profile and blog! How cool is that?!

We are blessed. Truly. Jesus is the heart of our home, for which we are eternally (literally) grateful. So in this holy season when we celebrate His arrival in the flesh here on Earth, we send to you love and blessings and pray your 2009 is filled with grace and peace...

Today in the town of David
a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11

Photo Tag...

I've been tagged in a photo tag challenge by My Bambino Bliss. Bless her heart. I'm grateful that it's a photo tag, though!

OK... here's the way it goes...

* Open the fourth picture folder on your computer...
* Post the fourth picture in that folder...
* Explain that picture...
* Tag four more people....

So... here goes...


Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! I needed that laugh! I have been whining and complaining about not having any snow around here. First it's cold. Then it warms. Then it rains. Then is clears. Then it gets cold.

This is a photo of the last "snowmen" we built. There hasn't been much snow in recent years. Of course, one's about 1/3 snow, 1/3 dirt and 1/3 mulch. A Snodirmulman? Must have been the second of the two we built.

That was a lovely memory and a great laugh. Let's see... Let's tag...

*The NC Brownings
*Seven Arrows
*And the Festival Continues
*Comer Corner (Welcome to Blogland!)

Now I'm off to pray for snow!

I have loved Christmas for a very, very long time...

Yes, well... here is what we get when Gramma babysits the boys and everyone gets a little bored during Big Sis's AMAZING cHriStMaS party!!!

Evidently Gramma, Zane, and Zack dug through the picture drawer and did a little scanning. And here's ONE of the many that landed in my email box. I loved those window clings. I can remember putting them up over the years. Yes... Christmas memories. Some are a little dustier than others!

I am going to search and see if I can find pictures of Jimmy at Christmas when he was little.

So much Christmas fun...

Yesterday we hosted a party for Kelsey's friends from school. Bless their hearts, Kelsey and her friend Julia decided they wanted to have a fun Christmas party and invite all the girls in their grade at school. There was a passing mention of inviting boys, largely mentioned by a friend who is a boy, but both girls vetoed the inclusion of males on the grounds that the girls wanted to dance and have fun and they thought that if boys were there they'd be more focused on what they boys thought of them than on just having fun with their friends. [Insert big "Yay!!!" from Mom and Dad here.]

They planned, made invitations, kept an RSVP list, decorated, assigned refreshments and even cleaned the basement for the party. I am so proud. At the last minute I panicked and went out and bought more food and drinks, not knowing what the girls were bringing. Wouldn't you know that with the exception of a case of water and one cookie, everything I bought extra was left over. Yay for Kelsey and Julia!

I would post pictures of the event but there were a WHOLE LOT of girls singing karaoke, dancing, playing ping pong and playing DDR in my basement so I didn't get any good shots of the party itself. Just ones of before and after.

So... Here's an AFTER shot of the girls who planned the party.


And here's an AFTER shot of a major AFTERTHOUGHT... We didn't use the $.99 white vinyl tablecloth I bought and I hated to let it go to waste. So we cut it in half, taped it to the wall with painter's tape, and placed a stand next to the banner with a cup of Sharpie markers on it.

We wrote "MERRY CHRISTMAS" in the center and "Luke 2:10-11" in the upper left corner (just to remind everyone there that they were there to celebrate a Person and not just some random break from school).

Here is the banner from far away...


And here is a close up...



It was so very cute the comments we got about how they trashed our house. Know HOW they thought they "trashed our house"? Someone accidentally dropped a cupcake and tracked red and green icing on the carpet. I hope that's as trashed as it ever gets.

The other half of the tablecloth is still blank. I'm thinking that this may be the start of a tradition where we put up a vinyl tablecloth for guests to decorate at all our parties. It'll be like a guest book. Only hanging on a wall.

This was my first foray into hosting a teen party when the teen in charge is my own. I've done those parties as a teen. I've organized and hosted them as a teacher and cheerleading coach. But I had never been down this little road in the adventure. So in preparation I went to the best... the expert... the one who has done it with excellence for years.... I went to Momma G. And she, being the amazing woman of God she is, spent a huge chunk of time counseling me on everything from logistics of where to put people and what furniture to have in the space to what kind of food to serve to how to handle the crowd control and establish rules. For her wise, wise counsel I will forever be grateful.

And Momma G, if you read this in your busy schedule, know that over and over we heard from parents and girls alike, "We need to come back and do this again!" :-D

Now... fun as that was... I've gotta go inventory the Christmas gifts and head out for a little more shopping before a very special Christmas Open House tonight!

Merry Christmas Y'all!!! Hope your Chirstmas season is blessed!

Twenty-one...

Twenty-one years ago today, I married my best friend, my knight-in-shining-armor. I can't believe it's been 21 years, and yet, I can barely remember what life was like before we were married.

I had an old friend who is not married send me a little note today, saying that she'd love to hear the secret of our marriage... how we still love each other so much after so many years. And another funny friend who commented that she was dumbfounded that we still LIKE each other after so many years. How?

As those of you who know me well know, I'm a pretty transparent person. What you see is what you get. So I'm going to share the secret of a long and happy marriage, of keeping the flame of passion burning bright, of conflict-resolution, of maintaining a genuine affection, of growing closer as the years go by.

The secret is Jesus. It's true. No matter how many years you spend trying to find the "right" person, it all comes down to the fact that the only perfectly "right" person is Jesus. And until you have Him as the love of your life, no earthly Prince Charming will ever begin to compare. My mom had a HUGE piece of godly wisdom for me as Jimmy and I began dating. She said, "Norma, in just about everything else you find in life, two halves make a whole. But there's one big exception. In marriage, two halves don't make a whole. Only two wholes make a whole. You've got to be complete in Christ before you'll ever have a successful marriage." Always listen to the wisdom of a godly mother. She was so very right.

When we got married one of our wedding gifts was a little plaque that read: "The secret of marriage is not in finding the right person, but in being the right person." It drives me crazy bookstore plaques carry so much wisdom, but it's true. Hand-in-hand with knowing Jesus comes the realization of our tendency to be totally self-absorbed. When we start to know Who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do on our behalf, then we get a inkling in our hearts that it really is all about Him. And when two people work with all the hearts to know and love Jesus, then He does-that-thing-that-He-does with the love they have for each other. What was a spark of human love turns into a bonfire of Jesus-fueled love--for Him, yes, but also for each other. And Jesus-fueled love is eternal. It never runs out.

So today I am praising our Heavenly Father for His goodness and grace for sending to me, a totally self-absorbed sinner, a Knight-in-Shining-Armor who teaches me to respect and to love my knight-in-shining-armor. There is no woman in the history of this world who is more blessed than I am. God gave me the Ephesians 3:20-21 man, beyond all I could ask or imagine.

Now I'm off to celebrate the first twenty-one years with the love of my life...

Now that's what I'm talking 'bout...

Pajama Party

Tonight we are headed to Jimmy's office Christmas party. It's usually in Pinehurst, but mercy has prevailed and we get to stay close to home. Since the district covers much of the eastern part of NC, there's no telling where the holiday extravaganza will land, but I am grateful that this year it landed here.

For the past couple of years they have collected gifts for a children's charity. This year they are collecting children's pajamas and books for the Pajama Program. Being that I am not a regular viewer of Oprah... OK, honestly I NEVER watch her show... I had never heard of the Pajama Program, but when we got the email I read about it and thought, What a great idea.

After posting a Facebook status about buying pajamas for a Christmas party and getting a couple of comments, I thought, Hey, THAT's a GREAT(ER) idea. Wouldn't it be cool to have a pajama Christmas party and have people bring pajamas for the kids in that program or even at one of the local Rescue Missions? Or have a hats and scarves party and bring extra to donate. Or a warm socks party... wear warm socks and donate warm socks. Or a blanket party ... come wrapped in your blanket and bring one to donate. Or a Teddy Bear party. Bring one, donate one. Lots of ideas!

I'm going to ponder these and next year... maybe we'll start a new tradition amongst our friends and neighbors. Or maybe we'll do it this year in January, after the dust from Christmas settles a little. Hummm... Yep... this could be really cool!!!

There will be no pictures for this post...

And... if you are a male who happens to stop by for a visit, you probably need to pretend that you have opened the door to a room where you hear hysterical female laughter. When you look inside you see a bunch of women sitting in a circle, all staring at you, only now it's completely silent. Just back out and close the door. Go on... head to the next website.

Now... girlfriends... today was the day of my "annual exam." You know what I'm talking about. So I packed my bag last night: copies of the forms I've already filled out a zillion times but have to still fill out because they want a fresh one each year, the "chart" chronicling my cyclical rush towards menopause, and the post-it notes with semi-encrypted lists of things-you-really-dread-to-ask-your-women's-healthcare-provider-but-really-need-to.

So I get there 7 minutes late for the 15 minutes early I'm supposed to be for my appointment time. Being the 7:15am appointment, I was the only patient in the practice, so when it came time to take my cute little plastic-sealed cup and write my name on it, at least no one else was there other than the receptionist to share the joy of my walk through the massive waiting room and into the restroom. Of course, that was the last time today that no one else was there to share the joy of my walk through the Valley of Humility.

When I got back to my WHNP's office, I sat there for a few minutes before she arrived. She had WRAL.com on the computer screen, so I checked the weather (it was 46 degrees) and then I looked at all the pictures of her family. Her boys are pretty much grown and her baby girl that she adopted from China isn't a baby anymore. There was a kindergarten graduation picture. Priceless.

I heard her voice coming down the hall, but this time instead of just one voice rounding the corner into the office, two arrived. She had a female student in the PA program who was working with her today. Would I mind? Of course not! Everyone knows you check your dignity at the front door in this kind of doctor's office, so I picked mine up from next to the door and flung it a little ways out on the sidewalk and just chatted and chatted about all my personal bidness with the student sitting right there. Sigh...

Then the exam. I am not going to give details. For those of you who are faithful to take care of your women's health annually, you know them anyway. Let's just suffice it to say that in the interest of educating a healthcare professional, not only was I there in all my glory with the WHNP, but the nurse and the PA student ALL came along for the ride. And just to make certain that everyone understood what was going on during the exam, there was narration too! Had this happened before childbirth, I would have been curled in the fetal position between the wall and the examination table.

Anyway... made it through to the point where I was rewarded with the words, "OK get dressed and meet me back in my office." She gave me my form and said, "I think that's it for this year," and sent me on my merry way.

At this point, I am very, very late for work. So I drive WAAAYYY faster that anyone ought to get there. I work with my students, talk with my teaching partner, and head to the restroom to change into jeans so that I can be comfortable as I go to the mall to knock out a little Christmas shopping.

Did I mention that I am in recovery from OCD? A really ugly time in my life left me in my house for weeks at a time, scared to go out in public for fear of germs. Public restrooms are THE WORST. So, of course, I take all precautions to make certain I never sit on anyone else's germs. Remember that little detail.

After accomplishing feats of balance to rival any team of Chinese acrobats as I took off my skirt and put on my denim dress slacks without letting my bare feet touch the ground, I washed my hands grabbed my bag of dress clothes and my huge purse and left the locked faculty ladies' room and headed downstairs. As I walked down the hall, a young man in student leadership passed by me. He was smiling so big. Almost laughing. How sweet, I thought. He's such a nice boy and so filled with Christmas spirit.

I rode the elevator down to the first floor and headed to the main lobby. In keeping with the dignity-less day, the toe of my crocs caught the tile on the floor and I stumbled. Didn't fall. Just stumbled. One of the receptionists said, "We saw that." I said, "Oooo... I lost 7 cool points for that," and kept heading toward the front doors on the way to the mall. As I put my hand on the bar to push open the heavy blue door, the elementary school receptionist said, "Do you know you have something hanging out of your pants?" I felt my pants and didn't feel anything. I said, "What is it?" She said, "Looks like it might be toilet paper. Were you all doing one of those creative activities in class?" Uh... no.

Sure enough, there were about two feet, 24 inches, of toilet paper hanging down from the waistband of my pants. Nice. At which point I think the middle/high school receptionist may have fallen out of her chair across the lobby, laughing. I think I brightened her day considerably... a member of her family had the same thing happen to her at the mall one time and a stranger stopped them to announce the problem. At least I didn't make it out the door to the mall before someone stopped me.

I called my mom and shared the events of the day with her. She might have fallen out of her chair laughing too. She told me I probably ought to go home. I did. I think my dignity was last seen boarding a freighter that was headed for China. It will be a long time before we meet again.

So what do I do to recover... I, a Gen-Xer-millennial-wannabe... I come home and write a blog post about it. Nice. Indeed.

Christmas Memories Monday: Li'l Traditions...

1. Does your family do some type of countdown?

Oh goodness, yes. We countdown and countdown and countdown. This year we're opening drawers in the wooden Advent calendar. We're also flipping the number blocks on our snowmen countdown decoration.

2. Where are your stockings hung?

By the chimney with care. But not until Christmas Eve night. After the Love Feast.

3. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?

On Christmas Eve night we attend the Love Feast at our church. We go to the 6:00 service and Gramma comes with us. Nothing says Christmas Eve like Scripture, carols, David and Cathy, and sticky buns and cider. Zack's favorite part is getting to stand in the chair and hold the candle up in the air. Since we lost Granny (my mom's mom) a few years ago and Jimmy's mom (Nana) a few years before that, neither of our extended families get together on Christmas Eve. It's just my mom (Gramma) and us and our kids. But being at church and seeing our dear friends on Christmas Eve makes it feel like family again.

After the service, we come home and eat an easy dinner... subs or chili or something like that. We watch A Christmas Story. We have family devotions. We pray. We get nestled all snug in our beds and drift off until there are visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

4. Is there a certain drink that you love that you only drink this time of year?

Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte. Skim. No whip.

5. What do you do for Christmas Cards?

That's a good question. Until last year we sent out picture cards that I made and included a Christmas letter. Last year, my dad was in the hospital twice in the month of December and ended up staying with us for about a total of 6 weeks until he was able to go home and be on his own. I didn't get cards out. This year, I intended to go back to the old way of sending out cards, but I just haven't been able to get all the kids ready for the picture at the same time. I THINK I will likely send out a picture and short note, giving everyone the address for this blog and inviting them to visit with us all year next year. On the blog. I mean, they can come see us for a couple of days, but... really... all year is a LONG time!

Those are our little traditions. If you have ones you'd like to share, leave a comment. Or better yet... email them to me and I'll put them up on Celebrating Christmas. Next Monday begins Christmas Traditions Week!

(Thanks Ivy!)

Remembering Granny...

I sure do miss her.

A Griswold Family Christmas...

Sharing the fun of Christmas decorating...

I have a friend in the blogosphere named Ivy. She and I both LOVE TobyMac. Of course, who doesn't? And if you don't ... shhhhhh ... don't tell me.

Ivy has started posting Christmas Memories Monday on her blog, "A Walk in My Shoes," during the holiday season. It's really fun to answer the questions she posts. Here are my answers. I just love Christmas!!!

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES MONDAY: Decorating

1. When do you start decorating for Christmas?

We start decorating the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Friday goes to packing away all the scarecrows and pumpkins of the fall season. The first things that usually go up for Christmas are the front door wreath, the nativity scenes and anything related to Advent. It took me a lot of years to realize that I needed to pack all the Advent decorations (wreath, calendars, devotionals, etc.) in one box, label it clearly on all four sides and place it on top of everything else in the attic. We used to always miss about the first week of Advent because everything was packed away with all the rest of Christmas decorations. Since we started the Advent box, we haven't missed a December 1st.

2. Do you have a color scheme to your decorations?

Red and green. And gold.

3. Do you have a particular collection or certain Christmas "symbol" that you favor?

Nativity scenes. Snowmen. Snowflakes. Berries. These things manage to appear in just about every room of the house. Since un-decorating in January is a little depressing, we keep the snowmen, snowflakes, and some of the berries up through February. Just to keep things festive for winter.

4. What is a decorating tradition of yours that perhaps your mom did and now you do too?

The Advent wreath. My mom's mom ... Granny ... always had an Advent wreath. And we always had one growing up. When I got married, my mom started us with out own Advent wreath ring. The Advent wreath has always been a treasured centerpiece of our Christmas, although it's taken on many forms over the years.

5. Where do you place your Christmas Tree?

Wherever it fits. This season is only the second we've had in this house. Last year we put the Christmas tree in the family room, next to the fireplace and in front of our largest back-of-the-house window. It's important to us that the tree be in the "heart" of our home, where we spend most of our time. This year the crate for our rescue-puppy, Pepper, is sitting there. The tree goes up this weekend, and we're debating whether we leave Pepper's crate and put the tree in front of the window overlooking the pool or whether we move Pepper's crate and put the tree where we had it last year. We'll let you know! We also have a playroom Christmas tree with the ornaments the kids have made in Sunday school and as craft projects at home and even at school school. Our last Christmas tree appeared just this year. Last year it was the tree at the condo, but this year, it is out Jesse tree. It lives in the living room and you can see it from the front window.

If you are willing to share your decorating traditions, copy and paste this entry into your blog and change the answers to your own. Then leave a comment sharing that you did it. Cool!

Celebrating Christmas button and HELP WANTED...

Thanks to Jenn, there is now a Celebrating Christmas blog button. She rocks!!!

If you would be willing to help us get the word out, we'd be very, very grateful. Just visit the website in the link above and copy and past the HTML code into your blog using the "HTML/Javascript" gadget, conveniently located by clicking "Add a Gadget" on your Layout page, if you are on Blogger.

I am not a technology person. HTML makes me shudder, as I have tried and tried and tried to make a button over the past few weeks. I am truly grateful to Jenn for being a Rescue Hero in this one. And for helping me declutter a bit. While she was in there adding the button, she discovered that I had too many gadgets, and she cleaned out a couple.

So true... I do have too many gadgets... on many levels!

We still need pictures of your decorations/collections. Even if you have already posted these decorations on your blog, that is totally OK. We have quite a wide circle of friends who have joined us who likely will have never seen your blogs. When you send pictures, let us know whether you prefer to have your first name identifying you or whether you prefer to remain anonymous. Now I know you all... you're a humble group of women, thinking I just do this simple little thing. It won't encourage anyone. It's not flashy or cutting-edge or trendy. WRONG!!! We really do need YOU!

The Celebrating Christmas blog is all about connecting as we strive to keep Christ in the center of our Christmas. We have friends and family of our "Friends" who read the blog. And several of them don't know Jesus yet. All the posts bear witness of what Jesus does in the lives of all our "Friends" who love Him. And what could be a better gift at Christmastime than to receive salvation in God's only Son?! So cool! Isn't God amazing?!

You all are treasures to me... blessings beyond words. Thank you for all your calls and comments and emails and Facebook messages. Thank you for all the posts and pictures you've already shared. I love you guys!

Getting Jimmy down from the ladder...

Today my mom asked me how long I'm going to leave Jimmy up there on the ladder.

Momma... I'm helping him down right now...

Here is the entry hall stairway before Jimmy painted. I forgot to take "before " photos of the hall. Who photographs a hallway? Sheesh.


And here is the entry stairway after Jimmy finished painting.



My friend Melinda came up with the perfect explanation of color for me. Color needs to feel "happy." The old color was SO nondescript, it wasn't happy at all. The new color... happy, happy, happy!!!

Now... I'm having issues with the trim/cabinets in the kitchen and family room. Don't like the color even one micro snippet of a bit. Hummm.... how long do I need to wait before we tackle THAT project?

My Hero...

Hossna...

Yeah... we don't know what it means either. Other than Zack tells us that hossna is snow in the fall. When he was four, he announced that the biggest planet in space is Aurtro. It's a giant white planet. There is life on that planet. Scientists sent a probe. He was so very convinced that we ended up googling Aurtro... you know... just in case there might be an invasion. Wanted to make sure Will Smith was available to kick some alien tushy if needed.

Anyway... what we have here is a picture of the Hossna ball: the first snowball of the season, born in the fall; therefore NOT a snowball. It's a hossna ball.

If he ever finds out about Festivus, we're in trouble.

Enough for a snowball fight...

11/21/08
5:57am

Mom, are you awake?
Not yet.
Mom, it's snowing.
Where?
Outside my window.
Here?
Yes.
Are you sure you're not dreaming?
Yes. I got up to see if it daytime yet and it was snowing.
Seriously?
Yes!

Looking out the window @ 5:59am...

Dressed... little dawn light...
Wow! It IS snowing!

6:40am-

Is school canceled?
Are you kidding me?
Do we have to go?
Yes.
Can we have a snowball fight before we go?
Sure! Let's start the car so it can be warming up...

To Do List - 11/22/08
1. Winterize the pool

Oops.

Snowball fight!

Splat!

Loading up for one more round @ 6:58am...

7:05am ... off to school!

What a nice way to wrap up a LONG fall stretch without a break...

Pepper goes viral...

About today...

First of all... Seven Arrows... Me too! Whew! So glad someone else does that...

Woo Hoo!!!

It snowed today! Well... more like flurried. Here's a picture of the giant snow bucket that poured randomly onto our fair town. Virtually nothing in the world makes me as giddy as snow, but today... today was a special day... A monumental day... A day of epic proportion...

Today... Dah Dah ta dah... Dah Dah ta dah... Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah... TA DAH!!!
Today it finally happened!

Distinguished guests... I am proud (and mondo relieved) to present to you... THE SHIELD!!!

*roar of applause, cheers; some faint*

Somewhere a photographer is crying over the quality of this shot. But I couldn't wait for the correct lighting or the perfect shot. I'm just way too excited. I wish I could write all the stories that went into this. Not the actual subjects of the articles, but the stories of the writers and designers who poured into this product in near-heroic ways. Education is a journey. I never thought I'd want to go down the high school road again as an educator. But this fall, something clicked. And I'm lovin' what I do at the moment.

Many, many thanks to our staff. "Y'all rock" barely begins to touch how proud I am of you all. And a debt of gratitude to KB, for letting me play with all the cool kids.

But most of all... all praise and glory to the Father ... the Most High ... the Creator ... and to His One and Only Son ... the Living Word!

Celebrating Christmas!!!

Our little spin-off project from Holidays Fit for the King is up and running.
Celebrating Christmas is a gathering of friends sharing ideas for crafts, decorating, entertaining, reflecting, studying, and celebrating, all the while making Jesus the focus of the whole holiday season.

We have several friends who are lending their talents in writing and photography to the blog. The plan is to post daily (and sometimes there are a couple of posts on one day) from now through January 6th, Epiphany/Old Christmas. If you are one of those friends... you know I can never thank you enough. Know that I'm praying the Lord will bless you in such a big way that there's no denying it's directly from Him.

If you're a friend out there who has been meaning to send something but just not gotten around to it yet... it's not too late. Email me your post. There are 39 days 'til Christmas and then we're posting through Christmastide (12 Days of Christmas) and on Epiphany. That's a whole lotta posts!

Going back to this morning... Susan and I were blessed once again this year to share about Advent at HFFK. As usual, we had a blast! Anything that necessitates an afternoon chatting at Caribou Coffee with a BFF in order to plan... it's a very, very good thing! Once again, I walked away in awe of her elegance and grace. And determined that at some point before my children leave for college we're going to eat off the fine china at least once. If I can find it!

One of the things I most look forward to about Celebrating Christmas is hearing from other ladies. I haven't been able to be in an organized Bible study this semester because of my new job... uh... ministry opportunity to high schoolers. I miss the fellowship of Bible study so very much. I know that I am doing exactly what the Lord has called me to do, but still... there are costs to ministry. But God is faithful. And the whole closed doors and open windows concept certainly applies here.

That said... toodle on over to Celebrating Christmas and join in the fun! Looking forward to hearing from you there too!

Wait... what am I supposed to be doing?

Apparently, I have exchanged one stess-coping mechanism for another. I used to eat an entire bag of Hershey's kisses, one at a time, by holding each one in my hand until it just started to melt. Then I'd unwrap it, put it in my mouth and let it melt the rest of the way.

But now... I blog and Facebook. Yep, I did it. I used Facebook as a verb. Somewhere a college professor is gasping for air.

Today I have somewhere in the vicinity of 1.357 million things to do, with tomorrow being my sweet hubby's birthday and all. And the final tweaks of the school magazine due in ... oh ... a couple of hours. So what am I doing? I'm looking at Christmas pictures. And blogging and Facebooking. Of course.

But I found one photo that perfectly captures Christmas Eve at our house, once the children are nestled all snug in their beds. The Nativity at the center of everything. The traditional family-favorite movie on the TV. The presents. The tree with the Christmas train running around it and no unifying decorating theme other than every ornament is a treasured memory of family or friends. The red toile tablecloth I cut a slit into to make a Christmas tree skirt big enough to fill in the area between the trunk and the track. The mix-matched quilted stockings we don't have the heart to update to matching splendor because each one arrived in our home with a story.

I think I can actually smell cinnamon as I write this post. Ah, Christmas...

Psalm 145:4

Last post I wrote a little bit about the weirdness that is having a whole passel of boys staying under our roof for the weekend. But this time I want to say thanks to they guys who were here doing just what the theme verse for the weekend says... commending the works of our great and glorious Lord from one generation to another. And we're not talking those 40 year generations here. We're talking those generations of church youth groups.

So... props to the guys who are modeling what it means to be a man of God to our boys...

Logan...
leading the troops in for ice cream on Saturday night.

OK... so this is what happens when you forget to put out the whipped cream at the beginning of the ice cream snack. Evidently, as long as they get it, they're good.

James... leading with shock and awe.

And maybe a little bit too much whipped cream.

Yep. Definitely too much whipped cream.

And Tyler and Tyler. The one on the right is the college ministry guy who is leading Group A. The one on the left is in Group A and will someday be leading a youth group as a youth pastor. Take my word for it. It's in his genes.

And Brentice... B-ice...

And though Jimmy's not in the shot, he's talking to the guys, thanking them... Logan, Jame, Tyler, and Brentice for leading the 7th grade boys. And the 7th grade boys for leading Zack. They were so kind and encouraging to him. They are his heroes.

Thanks for all the prayers for Meta '08 and our hosting BOTH 7th grade boys' groups in one house. It was absolutely amazing! Not only did we survive, but we can hardly wait for next year.

Thanks guys!
For loving Jesus and serving Him by ministering to our boys!