hump day

Wednesday.  The middlest of the week.  A day that usually means a lot of chemistry school work for Graham and tying up loose ends as our week draws to a close.  Because of our homeschool group on Thursday, after being there all day, it kind of speeds our week up from this day on.

We've kind of been in limbo this week, because of the events that have taken place, so when Noah got up this morning asking if we could watch Christmas movies together, how could I say no?  Graham, Drew and Jonah were dropped off at the church to work on technical stuff again.  They've pretty much lived there all week.

This last child of mine loves Christmas movies as much as his mama.  ;)  I was happy to oblige his request, so we watched two that he picked out, one right after the other.

I write E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. down in my planner, for homeschool purposes.  I go back at the end of the year and look back over at what all was done when.  It's handy for that purpose and for my love of journaling.  And it helps me to remember what we did.  There have been times when I've had to go back and find when we did something that I couldn't remember.

Anyway.

(I took this picture last night.  The boys went to our church at ten o'clock at night and stayed until right after midnight.  They've put in crazy hours there this week!  This picture, though....I love it.)

This happened last night and today.  Noah has had one or both of these two in his lap.  He's like the animal whisperer in our house.

He thinks he's tiny.  He kept me company tonight, while everyone was at church again.  Well, not Noah, he was at Alex's house and is spending the night there tonight.

I won't tell you how many movies (or shows) I have watched today, but know that it's been a lot.  Right now, though, I am watching my most favorite.  This one is definitely the icing on the cake.

White Christmas.  I adore Bing Crosby.

That's been our day.  What is your most favorite Christmas movie?  I would love to hear.

Love to all.

from the world wide web

I have seen some things that I love on the internet lately.  I thought I would share.

One.

I have a friend that I was going to text this to and then I forgot.  So, Andrea, if you are reading this, here's to knowing that we have everything.  :)

Two.

I'm going in order from the pictures on my phone.  I found this one under December 2.  But yes, we do.  I think this image was one that Hillsong United posted.

Three.

I cannot stress how important this one is to a marriage.  The wives should pray for their husbands and the husbands should be praying for the wives.  I have an actual book that I sit down and use when I pray, and in the book are pictures of my husband and kids.  

Four.

This is my best friend's daughter.  My friend's mom posted this picture on social media the other day and I saved it to my phone.  The wonderment on her precious little face is a sight to behold.  I cannot WAIT to see this little angel and her mama in a couple weeks!

Five.

In light of all that happened on Sunday, I found this image on that day.  Talk about timely.  

Six.

No words needed.

Seven.

I love Christmas songs, but I especially love the words of the songs.  May all of us prepare our hearts for Him in this busy season of life~whether you consider that Christmas or a stage of life you are in.  I pray that you take the time to make Him Lord of your life and that you put Him first.  We put so many things above Him, and we shouldn't.  I say "we", because it's something all of us do.  May He have His rightful place in all of our lives.  

Love to all.  

just some words

It was a weekend.  Nothing about it was as we planned, but that seems to be the way things go.  The town Christmas parade was canceled for the second year in a row, but because of rain this time.  I have to say that I wasn't upset~I had no desire to go and sit in the miserable rain for two hours.  I was upset at the fact that for the second year in a row, there was no rain date.

They should think of fixing that next year.

Anyway.  The older boys had coffee house for the high school youth at church from nine to eleven, and I stayed home in my pajamas while Jonah and Noah ruled the upstairs with Alex and Andy, a couple of their best friends.

Saturday was insanely busy for me, but it was still a great day.  I had a luncheon with the other small group leaders at our Bible study teacher's house, then I had to run to a few stores.  My stepdad celebrated his sixty-third birthday and we helped him.  ;)

Large amounts of chicken parmesan, green beans, garlic bread, caesar salad and birthday cake were consumed and fun was had by all, at least, I hope fun was had by all.  After cooking all that food, would you believe I couldn't eat?  I had my portion today for lunch.  If I taste food while I'm cooking, it makes me sick to my stomach, and that was why I was unable to eat Saturday night.

Bummer.

Sunday found us at church bright and early~8:30~and we got a really sad phone call about the boy's best friend Alex.  His mom passed away very unexpectedly.  We are heartbroken for him and for their family.  Your prayers are much appreciated for them all.  So, because of all that has happened, we have put school on hold for the time being.  I felt it was important for my boys to be there for him, and we can always make up for lost time with homeschooling.  Some things can only be learned through the experience of life, and this is that kind of time.

Tonight we had dinner with my in-love's and were going to help them put up their tree, but couldn't because of a problem with the tree lights.  It was good seeing them, though, and not having to cook dinner!  ;)  And then when we got home, we put up our lights.

We might put up a couple more things, but for now, I am happy.  As are the boys.

Here are a few more pictures from yesterday~last night, the youth had their Christmas parties at church.

We adopted a family to love on, and the kids you see in the pics are part of that family.  Is this little doll not precious?  Her little mouth is so pouty!  Me and my sweet friend Scottie had some fun loving on her and on another little angel who was in attendance with his foster dad.  It was a sweet time of fellowship for all of us.

Love to all.

Friday Favorites, Christmas edition

I am linking up with Momfessionals.

One.

My favorite thing about this entire week has been having a Christmas decorated home.  I have enjoyed sitting by the lit tree every night and waking up to her beauty each morning.  I have loved seeing all of my favorite ornaments again, mostly the ones that were either given to me by someone or made by my kids.  I know I've said it a million times, but I love this time of year!  It's my favorite.

Two.

I love it when my kids play games together.  This game has been set up on my dining room table since Monday night.  Or maybe it was Tuesday morning.  Either way, when the school work was completed each day, they all sat here and played a competitive game of electronic banking Monopoly.  :)  My husband joined in on the fun Wednesday night.  It is still sitting there, and I'm sure they'll be playing it again today, since we were gone all day yesterday.

Three.

Wednesday was definitely one of my favorite days of this week.  We had to make a Costco run and Crash wanted in on the fun. I can't take Drew or Noah anywhere~they were actually IN the freezer at Costco.  Crazies.  After Costco, we went to Crash's favorite place, Pet Smart.  He loves going in there.  He's paid much attention to, and he is in doggy heaven, sniffing all the bags of goodies, looking down the aisle at the dogs going through obedient school and torturing the kitties awaiting adoption.  :)

Before we leave, he knows he gets treats, so he sits perfectly still and adorable at the check out until the cashier gives him at least three treats.  And when they find out that he can catch the treats when they're tossed to him, they give him triple the amount.  :)  I love this dog and all his crazy quirks, like "talking" to all the dogs he sees inside.

Four.

Thursdays are always my favorite.  It's our homeschool group day, and I adore meeting with these like-minded women each week.  I will seriously miss them over the next few weeks.  (We are done until the Thursday after New Years.)

Yesterday was made even better when I got to have dinner out with this sweet lady.

This is my friend and co-conspirator in life and in our Bible fellowship class on Sunday mornings.  I adore her.  We've known each other really well for about eight years, and the more I'm with her, the more my love for her grows.  She has such a fun, addictive personality~and all my family feels this way about her.  My kids jumped in her car right before I took this picture and tried to talk her into making a Starbucks run.  We love our Scottie!  She made my day even better yesterday.

Five.

I don't have a picture, but we love Friday too!  My dad comes over today, and we always enjoy spending time with him.  We're going to Chick Fil A for lunch today, then we'll be coming back home until tonight.  Our Christmas parade is supposed to happen tonight, but with all the rain going on today, it's not looking too good.  :/  If it gets canceled, this will be the second year that this has happened.  I hope it will get rescheduled...although, it may not.

Well.  Thank you for reading!  And for visiting my blog, if you don't usually.  I get lots of traffic on Friday because of my link-up.  I pray you have a wonderful day wherever you are.  Love to all!

Christmas Traditions~The Christmas Tree Lighting on the Town Square

I love our little town that we live in~even though it's not all that "little" anymore, it still has the small town feel that I love.  Every year, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, we eat an early dinner and make the trek up to our town square.

This year it was the six of us, a neighborhood friend for Jonah and Noah and a couple of girls in the youth from church.

My kids love posing for my required one picture per event.  (No they don't.)  But they do a great job of smiling for me.

I'm bummed that it's so blurry.  My phone was acting weird.  It's the one picture that I took last night that turned out badly.  :(  Oh well.  We can always go up another night and I can have them pose again.  Won't they love that?

I don't know what the deal is with Drew making this face for every single picture, but he really does enjoy being with this sweet friend!  This girl is precious~her heart is as beautiful as she is on the outside.  She has a heart for missions and she sends him Bible verses in text messages every single morning.

Can you even fathom how beautiful this is to me?  I adore this time of year.  There is the Rockefeller Plaza tree lighting ceremony in New York City, and then there is the Collierville Christmas tree lighting on the town square.  No comparison.  They count down from five and then it all gets plugged in and the square just comes to life.  (And a shout out for my little town~we were voted America's number one main street!)

Beautiful.

In other news, we spent a good portion of our morning yesterday working on a couple of projects.

I have a couple of ideas rolling around in my head about what we'll do with these, but we love Christmas!  We are enjoying the season by working at a slower pace and making time for fun things.

Happy Wednesday!  Love to all.

Come On In~Christmas Tour

I don't profess to have a huge, beautifully decorated home, but I do love the home the Lord has blessed us with.  It's cozy, it's cool in the summer and warm in the winter, it's always open to friends~ours and the boys, and I love it even more each year at Christmas.  I go all out, I am not going to lie.  I am of the belief that a little Christmas in every room is a good thing.  :)  Most of my things are old, and the majority of my favorite things have been given to us by loved ones.  Come on in, and I'll show you around.

You've already seen a hundred pictures of my Christmas tree, but I cannot get enough of it's beauty.  Last night was heaven, because this is what I did while Todd tried fixing our cable.

I told you.  I am obsessed.

The place mats were a new edition this year.  I love them!  And the snowman is from my Mom.  There is a pie plate that I usually have sitting inside of it, but for the life of me, I cannot find it.

I have books laying around everywhere.  On the far left, in the dining room, all over my room and the living room.  I always have piles of them.  I love the bottle of lights in this picture~I took dinner to a friend who had surgery last year, and as a thank you for the dinner, she gave me the bottle with lights inside.  How precious was that?  It's such a simple idea, but I really love it.  And because I love even more the sweet lady who gifted it to me, it is even more special.  I will treasure it always.

It looks amazing at night.

I love this giant Christmas platter.  Every year I think we're going to make the cookies, but we haven't yet.  Maybe this year will be the year.  I also love the little snowman paintings in this picture~Jonah and Noah painted them in the second grade.

I have Santa's all over, too.  :)

I keep most of my normal things out, I just add Christmas to it all.  I use all the things I have out, so a little pretty along with it just makes it happier for me.

Oh, wait...that's not Christmas.  ;)  They undressed the dining room table last night so they could start a marathon game of Monopoly.  I love when they play board games.

My mom made this for me!  She is seriously talented.

A teacher friend of mine gave me these when Drew was five.  Ignore the dust on the mirror that you see.  Keepin' it real.

Atop the piano.  I love the picture of the boys!  I usually do garland on the piano top, but it seems to have disappeared into the black hole that is our attic.

A little Christmas pillow in front of the normal couch pillows~I would love more decorative Christmas pillows, but my family disagrees.  I think they think that couch pillows are frivolous.  I think the more, the merrier!  I love the way they make the couches look all dressed up.

I love our mantle and hearth.

I love most, our nativity.  The tree has gotten a little smooshed over the years, but I used to sit and gaze at this thing for hours when I was a little girl.  My mom gave it to me several years ago.

It's not a great picture of it, but Todd's most favorite Christmas decorative item is the Santa that you see atop the book shelves.  It's an Alabama Santa.  It has a prominent place each year, along with a few Alabama ornaments that we put on the tree.

What are some of your favorite Christmas things or decorations?  Feel free to show some comment love!  I'm linking up with Momfessionals for this post.  Love to all!

weekend wrap-up

After a busy Thursday and Friday, once  Saturday rolled around, I was ready to be lazy again.  (In case I missed telling you, I have been sick for a week, with the typical Memphis sinus junk.)  Drew had to work from eight to two, so after I took him to work, I pretty much sat all day.  Todd went to pick him back up from work, then Todd went to work for that night, so I enjoyed a night at home (alone) watching movies.  :)  (Jonah and Noah went to a friends, as did Graham and Drew.  I went and picked all of them except Noah up at nine thirty.  He spent the night with their friend, but Jonah doesn't like spending the night out, so he came home.)

Yesterday was church.  We wrapped presents in our Sunday school class, for a little boy we adopted for Christmas.  Last night, instead of community groups, we decorated the youth area for Christmas.  After the parade Friday night, we are having a coffee house for our high school kids.  The theme is tacky Christmas.

I think our mission to be tacky was accomplished.  :/

I finished my gratitude journal this morning, and for yesterday, I wrote that I was thankful for my church family.  True story.  I am considered a youth volunteer, but the people I work alongside with are the best.  They've become like an extension of my own family, and I love that.  If you don't have a church home that you're plugged in to, might I encourage you to find one?  It's not easy finding a church home...it does not happen overnight.  It takes perseverance and persistence and it takes jumping in and getting involved.  We have been at our church for three and a half years now, and I adore the body of believers we belong to!

It is so worth it, I promise.  Be forewarned, though, churches are imperfect places filled with imperfect people.  There are people that are not the nicest and there are people who are very judgmental.  My thoughts about that, though, is that it isn't our job to point that out.  It's our job to have a renewed mind, one that is steeped in the Word of God.  I try not to focus on all the things that people aren't doing, or aren't doing 'right'.  I focus on my heart~that if there is anything unclean in me, that the Lord would show me so I can ask Him to get it out.  By focusing on me, He works on my heart and blinds me to all the other junk.

I'm not saying that I always remember this.  Just yesterday I confided in my friend, some of the junk that's in my heart.  And I had to ask forgiveness afterward, because I don't need to be all caught up in that kind of garbage.  I need to have eyes fixed on Jesus.

It's funny how when I start writing on this blog, my words almost always take a different turn.

On another note, today is December one!  I love this month.  :)  I am looking forward to doing something different with my kids this year, thanks to a womens event we had at church back in August.  I will expound on that another day.

I pray you enjoyed a long weekend with your family and that your day is loverly~even if the weather outside is not.  ;)  (It's so dreary here today!)

Love to all.

(To show you more of what I am currently doing~enjoying the light of our tree.)