painting fun...

just looked at my last blog post...it's been over a month since then and I can't believe it.  Time is going by too fast...it's simply got to slow down.  Or, maybe I should slow down.  I know that my neck and back are definitely telling me that lately.  Let's see....since my last post, we have celebrated a great, white Christmas in Iowa, shared two other special "Christmases" with family here in NC, and I had lots of fun bringing in the New Year with family in Asheville for a couple of days.  Other than that, we've been working and enjoying the new toys Santa delivered.  Santa was quite a spoiler this year, bringing a sandbox and a full-size trampoline to our house.  I think E has been pleasantly surprised by how much Jesse and I want to jump with him...I forgot how fun it is!  Jesse, on the other hand, enjoys terrifying me by bouncing me too high and then laughing at my squeals.  It's quite a sight for our neighbors, I'm sure.  One of E's Christmas presents from his Aunt Angie was a wooden car kit.  He and I played body shop and enjoyed some painting fun last night...

six sweet somethings...

wow...posting six sweet somethings for each week has turned out to be an even harder task than I thought.  I'm hoping once the Christmas season has passed and we're finally able to keep our household well, it'll be a bit easier.  Since my last post, I was sick for several days and now Eli is sick.  Besides that, though, we have had a lot of good stuff going on.  The lights are on here in McA, we've had fun Christmas parties to attend, and I celebrated a wonderful birthday this week.  I'm still blown away by how much everyone in my path that day made it so special.  It was the best birthday I've had in while.  Here are several "sweets" from the past several weeks...

From left to right, top to bottom...

1...E's visit with Santa last week

2...First Christmas program at school...don't know that I've ever been more proud :-)

3...Mrs. Karen and I partied hard with the Cubbies for our birthday

4...The Nester Sale with Julie

5...PWC basketball jerseys make great capes for Daddy fans

6...E met the dentist...maybe I was just as proud then ;-) 

the bucket list...

I don't have an official written bucket list, but I have several things in mind that I really hope to do before I die.  I've realized over the last couple of days that a few of the smaller things on my list revolve around this season of the year.  For one...I want to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in person, and two...I want to do an all-night Black Friday shopping trip just once.  I don't want to go with something in mind that I have to get.  I'd just like to go grab a corner bench somewhere, sip on some hot coffee and watch the madness.  I've decided that I'll check this one off of the list when I won't stay busy playing with E the next day.  I might be a bit too tired for that.  Anyway....I happily checked one thing off of my bucket list this weekend.  On Friday, Jesse, E and I headed to Boone for a night in the hills and a fresh cut tree.  Yep...I've always wanted to pick and cut a Christmas tree from a tree farm.  And... it was just as fun as I always thought it would be.  There's just something special about picking out trees with red noses and frozen hands...this girl's really hoping it becomes a tradition ;-)

                         






  

six sweet somethings...

there are a few blogs that I like to keep up with daily if I can.  I've always wished that I could post at least a brief something everyday, but I've found it's completely unrealistic for me....one thing that absolutely shouldn't be added to my daily to-do list.  Some of the bloggers that I follow do a "High Five for Friday" post each week.  Have you seen them?  I think it's such a neat idea and have wanted to do it for a while myself.  I'm now going to attempt and I'm going to pretend that I'm not being an all-out, full-blown copycat by choosing a different name and number :-)  These posts will be called "Six Sweet Somethings".  Often, during the week, there are so many "sweet" things that happen and I don't document them anywhere.  In this context, I've decided that "sweet" can mean many different things...sweet as in an act of kindness...sweet as in the way that Eli's cheeks look on a particular day...sweet as in a "sweet" deal that I run across during the week...or sweet as in something really yummy to eat.  So, here it is, folks...my first six sweet somethings for the week...we'll see how this goes ;-)

From left to right, top to bottom...

1~ my phone was acting up but it wasn't time for an upgrade...my Daddy gave me his iPhone 4 that is still in mint condition

2~ learned to make a new scarf this week and I love it!

3~ $5 bubble earrings that I picked up on my annual trip to the Christmas show with Maw-maw, the great-aunts and Ken

4~ my little sister is engaged...and this is their engagement picture.  How sweet is that?  

5~ new devotional book that I'm really liking...Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

6~ the perfect view from our tent last Friday night....a cross my Daddy made 

Ok...can I sneak one more sweet thing in just this once?  I can't resist posting this video from the week. It's kind of awkward because I had to record it from my phone, but it's full of sweetness...

I love the last part where he acts like he's forgotten the words...I think he's seen someone do this and it's his new thing.  It didn't take him long to realize that he gets lots of laughs out of it ;-)

what a hoot...

E spent this Halloween (his 4th one!) as a wise lil' hoot owl.  Yesterday evening, we trick-or-treated around Jesse's office and tonight we spent some time at our church and around our neighborhood.  We had tons of spooky visitors again this year!  E really seems to enjoy hanging around home and handing out candy best of all.  And...I think all of the trick-or-treaters really liked that he took over the job this year.  He would grab handfuls of candy for them and ask them what kind they liked.  It was too cute!  Hope you all had a fun and happy Halloween...this girl's tired and headed for bed...night!

  

the creeper....

after about 10 years of hearing great things about the Virginia Creeper trail, I was finally able to experience it yesterday.  My Dad, Jesse, E and I headed up with our bikes and spent some much needed time outdoors.  Although a lot of the leaves had already fallen in the area, it was still nice to see them all covering the path as we rode along and it was nice that it wasn't crowded.  We rode only a portion of the trail stretching between Abingdon and Damascus which was about 15 1/2 miles.  I hadn't ridden my bike in a long time and boy could I tell.  The ride was a pretty easy one and I was still sore and panting by the time we reached our destination.
Our plan was to have lunch and ride the same portion of the trail back to our car.  But, shortly after we started back, my Dad ended up with a flat tire so Jesse rode back solo and picked us up.  I'm thinking maybe that flat was the Lord's way of saving me and E from the trip back.  After hearing about it from Jesse, I know I would have really struggled and E was already getting restless in his little trailer.  Despite my achy body, I can say that it's definitely a trip we'll take again.  If you haven't visited and you're looking for a good day-trip option from our area, it's a great pick!

        

big jack......little jack.......jack, jack, jack...

I can’t remember a stage of Eli’s life where he hasn’t loved lights.  From very early on, I noticed that this little boy just couldn’t get enough of them.  I’ve always thought it was extremely cool, too, how the Lord placed this little boy with such a love of lights in the middle of Christmas Town…what better place could there be, right?  Anyway…now that it’s the spooky time of year again, we’re taking walks around our neighborhood to see all of the lit jack-o-lanterns and cute string lights hanging around.  And…we’ve got several “jacks” sitting around in our house.  We’ve got a “Jack”, a “Big Jack”, a “Little Jack”…about any “Jack” you can imagine.  Two of them hang around and glow in E’s bedroom at night which just thrills him.  On Sunday, we spent some time working on a couple of other jacks to add to the collection.  It was E’s first time pumpkin-carving and he seemed to have a ball…

I spent this past weekend with some great friends at the Women of Faith conference.  If you’re a woman and you haven’t been to one of these, I say you should strongly consider it.  If you’re a man and you haven’t been, take my word for it and don’t go…it would be extremely weird ;-)  I’m laughing at myself right now, but I feel sure that you’re not and that you're probably thinking I'm pretty cheesy....  sooooo…let’s move on…;-)  The weekend included lots of great worship tunes and super great speaking.  Christine Caine, from Australia, was one of the speakers and was easily my most favorite part of the conference.  Ladies…if you have not heard her before, look her up online and check her out!  The story of her life and how she’s used things in her past to provide a future for others is incredible.  I’m convinced that the hour of listening to her speak was one of the most quickly passing hours of my life.  I really could listen to her all day!  I picked up her latest book "Undaunted" while we were there and it's a great read so far.

While I was busy getting blown away by Christine’s message, Jesse and E were busy playing at the apple orchard and talking with Johnny Appleseed.  When I got home, E was sound asleep and dirty which told me that it had been a really good day in his book :-)  I was so glad that Jesse remembered to take the camera with them…AND, that he even remembered to take pictures ;-)