Christmas Tea

Last week Mommy and I went to some friend's house for tea and Christmas carol singing. We had a great time fellowshiping with friends and drinking Raspberry Zinger!

Here's Mommy with Mrs. S and Anna. They never fail to make us laugh! Even in conversations on Algebra.... who can do that??

And of course, you simply can't have a Christmas gathering without cookies. It's a law of nature, I'm sure.

They have the perfect living room for big groups. And it was decorated so nicely for the holidays! Some of the girls went downstairs to play Empire. A fun "name" game. Can you guess who I was? Bet not!

Here's Riley, my fellow Raspberry Zinger fanatic!

And yes, by the end of the night I finally caught Whitney with the camera! You can run but you can't hide... Especially from a "trigger happy" photographer!

Christmas party with the Inmans

This past Wednesday we had a Christmas party with our art teacher and her family. It was really fun, and Mommy had brought stuff to do a craft. It was from Better Homes & Gardens, and it was so adorable!

We had crayola synthetic modeling clay (consistency is similar to a dense, spongy foam after hardening) that we shaped into snowmen. We than glued them to candy jars, glasses, and mugs. (Goodwill!)

But we also decorated them, and did we ever. Quite the varied bunch! We had some pretty funny ones by the end.

Momma explaining the craft to her devoted listeners. One of the reasons she picked this idea was because it would be great to give or way easy to keep.

And yes, Kyle is smiling while knowing I'm in the picture. :P

Meet my snowman, Snowman. Aren't his rosy cheeks sweet?

Ha! funny moment here. Mrs. Inman made a really cute snowman who was a bit taller than her mug. So explain to me why she put glue all over the back of his head..... Maybe you could explain it to her too. She didn't seem to know. :)

Ah! Here's Mommy's. We all agreed it was cute! AND that it must have been electrocuted at one time or another.

Some of the littler guys took a break to frost and eat cookies. Above is Daniel's response to "Do you like your cookie?"

In reality, though, he wasn't eating it. He was licking all the frosting off.
Wonder where he gets that sweet tooth from......

And Daniel definitely won most creative, cause as you can see.... it is!
But we loved it all the same! He did great, and had a lot of fun.

We played games for prizes, too. Daniel won a pen that had a Santa on the end of it. When you pressed a button it would shoot off. And I'm sure the Inmans had no idea that to a little, 4 year old boy this suffices for a weapon...
Right??

A Grinch Fest

In a wonderful lapse of sanity, Mommy decided to take Lil, Daniel, and me to the mall today. On a Saturday. Three weeks from Christmas.

o_O

Anyway, what we went for was a Grinch Fest at Borders. Now I love Borders but at Christmas time, it's irresistible. And it's even adorable when they have someone read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," make crafts, and play games. So we got to listen to a story while having milk, cookies, and hot chocolate.

Here Daniel is coloring his Antler. Well... it looked more like an upside down, mutated candy cane... but so does the one in the book! You know, the one poor Max gets stuck with? They were making these for a game we plaid later.

Goose is decorating her wreath in pom poms. (And yes, for those of you asking. Elise does have almost every nickname imaginable :) Her wreath turned out very colorful and creative. Like her! Aren't her pigtails cute? The hair bands were red and green; her shirt was red, her sweater was green. Hmm.... I think some one's ready for Christmas.

I got to make an antler too, only mine ended up gold and purple. Not traditional, but don't worry. My wreath was about as plain and perfect as they come. Other than it smelling like watermelon and cherry. Please tell me someone else remembers those markers from Sunday school!

Here's where the antlers come into play. Pin the antler on Max! And that's pretty much what happened every time until when tying the blindfold on, one little girl said, "Um, I can see through the ribbon." You could just see the light bulb go on in the organizer's head. :)

Aunt Tara, when we were doing our crafts there was a little boy who was next to me. He asked me if he could have the marker when I was done. I literally had to do a double take he reminded me of Abe so much! That kind of brought me down a bit, since I knew if you all were here, you'd have gone with us..... *sob*

Okay, I'm good now. It was really fun; thanks Mommy!

Yes, we're different...

But I just can't help but love my fellow goofball!

Love ya a million swedish fish, Jess.

Reasons Jess should come for Thanksgiving:

1) Food

2) "Elf"

3) Black Friday insanity

4) "Because I lub her."

<3

Hey there.

Elise named him Todd.

If I ran the zoo...

It would be pretty similar to the Denver Zoo, I think.
I mean, of course it would have more Dr. Seuss absurdities, but as far as real goes, this was really fun!

They had a free day a few weeks ago, so we took the opportunity (along with hundreds of other people!) to go. I hadn't been since I was six, so I was really looking forward to it.

Daniel was our "map guy," and even hitched a ride on top of Kyle while directing. Daniel had lotsa fun; Kyle on the other hand didn't so much appreciate being thwapped on the head with the map every two seconds. I guess that's where being cute comes in handy, huh?

We watched the penguins be fed.

There was this really fun bird migration game we got to play, too! And no, Justin's not bowing. He's "pecking twenty times." We had to visit all these check points where they would give you directions on where to go next or what to do next. The best part was having to "die dramatically." Elise and I were the best at that!

We even got Kyle to play! But contrary to popular belief, he didn't win right away. He was eaten by a cat, had to start over, then he won.

We saw giraffes, too, but we're pretty spoiled when it comes to these guys. (Cheyenne Mountain's exhibit's way better.) But Denver tops them with their sea lion show! I now have another favorite animal. Her name's Lucy; isn't she cute?

We had a lot of fun, and we made tons of fun memories. But next time Daddy has to go with us!

It made me smile.

I love how life makes you smile.

The silly little nothings are some of the best nothings ever, really.

Like for instance....

We went to the library today, and we brought Justin along.

While leaving the library, Elise went to buy gumballs for everyone, cause she's amazing. So when we got in the car she divied them up. Now Justin does not live with us, so he would have no idea of Momma's absolute hate of "smacking."

Oh no he didn't.

Oh yes he did. :D

Poor Mom's over there cringing like it's nails on a chalkboard, and then....

"Ok, who's smacking?"

We all laugh and look at Justin, who immediately says, "Well, it's hard at first, so you kinda' have to."

I had to agree with him there and looked at Mom with a shrug. She said, "Okay, two minutes, then you're done!"

Now you may be good children who don't have any mischief running through your hearts, but sad to say, we are not. How could we resist?

Kyle, Elise and I just looked at eachother and the smacking begun.

Probably the longest two minutes Mom's ever experienced.

Love you, Levi!

October 3rd was my little cousin's birthday, and I had meant to post that day, but had sewing lessons with Mrs. Giedd.

So, now I get to tell you all just how much I love Levi. Which I really can't express with words! So I'll use pictures to give a hint to why I love him so much. :D

Swimming at Great Wolf Lodge.

Freaking Aunt Tam out at Niagra Falls, last year. (funny!)

Batting cages in NY, compliments of Aunt Tam.

See? I knew you'd understand after you saw those.

Another thing that just melts my heart about Levi is how much he loves Daniel. See for Levi, Daniel's name isn't Daniel. It's Buddy.

"Hey, Buddy!"

"G'night, Buddy."

"See you tomorrow, Buddy!"

"You can't do that, Buddy."
"Here let me help, Buddy."

Daniel's birthday was in September, and Abe and Levi both sent him presents. Can you guess what Levi's said?

To: Buddy

From: Levi

So, Happy 9th Birthday, and I love you, Levi! I pray that God blesses your coming year!

10 true fashion-y things

Well, Jasmine has kind of made it a free for all on who to "tag" to write 10 true fashion-y things about themselves. And since it has to do with fashion, I couldn't resist. :D

Let's see.....

#1- I love all things old-fashioned and vintage. If it looks antique-y or distressed in some way, I'll probably find some reason to get it.

#2- I love to wear dresses.

#3- However, if a skirt or dress intrigues me enough to really look, I have one major standard (aside from modesty). It has to hold one full stride. What would I do if we were at church and a game of Everyone's It or frisbee broke out?

4#- Clutches. Big clutches. Enough said.

#5- Ballet flats and flip flops. I don't like to wear heals; they're just not my thing. So, I content myself with those two.

#6- Oh, Converse sneakers. Preferably in colors not everyone has. Primary green, for example....

#7- If there's going to be a surprise of color in my outfit it might as well be yellow.

#8- Hats. Hats of all sorts and time eras. But I don't really wear them. Explain that one.

#9- I like vintage jewelry and big earrings, but I tend to only wear jewelry that has sentimental value. My purity ring, necklace from Meemaw, and the earrings that Daddy gave Momma the Christmas before they got married are what I wear most always.

#10- I like to make my fashion me. So I don't like to wear things that everyone else wears (unless I like them). You could cheer me on for my originality or reproach me for my stubbornness. Your pick. <3>

Hamma Jamma

Well, some of you know that my little cousin, Abraham, just went through an operation to remove his appendix due to acute appendicitis. His appendix was so swollen but had not burst.

And I just wanted to say how ecstatic and grateful I am to my Savior for preserving him. This little boy brings so much joy into my life with his sweet smiles, silly giggles, and little trouble-planning brain! If ever I need something mischievous done, I know who to call!

I pray that God would mold him into a Godly warrior, ready to take down the gates of hell. (Sounds cool, huh Ham?)

Yes, I know.

I've been gone forever, and I now have so many things to post on that I'll probably annoy you! So, hope you enjoyed the peace,

but I'm back now.

:D

"Wet Dog! Shoo! Go on now, shoo!"

Daniel and I have a new favorite.

We still love Lyle.

Harry the Dog hasn't been forgotten.

But right now, nothing beats reading "Wet Dog!"

NY

2 Things I Will Never Be Without In New York:

Camera

~It's beautiful.

Bug Spray

~They're everywhere!

Thousands. Not millions

the Creation Museum

proved to be a wonderful visit. But, of course, we all knew it would be!

The photography throughout the halls was just awesome! Wouldn't it be amazing for a Christian photographer to be able to work for an organization that he/she agreed with and believed in, rather than being a wild life photographer with the only option of the secular National Geographic or nothing?

The museum also proved to be wonderful way to teach Daniel more about Creationism.

One of my favorite parts was when we walked into a room and the AiG movie about the 6 Days of Creation was playing. We sat down, and the narrator was quoting the first verses in Genesis.

Daniel had been memorizing those with Mommy, and it was amazing for him to see what he had only heard! How God brought light and the waters and the birds into being with only His voice!

We all had a wonderful time and were so blessed to have gone!

lovin' this trip

Well, all. At first I was just the teaniest bit dissapointed to leave home, since I just love home. But! Now that we've left and are on vacation, I'm sooooo lovin' it. You know what I do in the car while driving? I sit.

I love it!

It's a huge transition from packing and moving then upacking then moving (again!) all of those boxes! And we've had so much fun already.

Today we visited The Creation Museum in Kentucky, and I found it such a relief to go into a museum, of all places, and be able to agree with everything I read and heard! Amazing!

We'll be going againg tomorrow, and I'll have more time to post, too. But just thought an update might be nice.

G'night!

We had an adoption interview the other day...

It went splendidly!

So, say hello to pretty-nearly-perfect Daisy.

She's four years old, and she just loves to run!

I love her lots.

And I thought I might note that the day I got Daisy was a day God let a dream of mine come true. I've been hoping and praying for a Golden that I was just sure I was gonna name Daisy, since.... Yep, since a while ago. And I'm so grateful God chose to send one more joy to a wretch like me.

And, oh! is she a joy!

"Fa shame, Fa shame."

Yes, I realize that it's been longer than a month since my last post. But! of all the excuses I could give, I do believe mine is one of the better.

We've just finished moving out of our house into a house across the street.

My cousins have lived there for about 4 years, and will now be making a military-move to "Abalama." The Lord saw fit to bless us by selling our home (He is good!), and we will now be renting their house, while we look for somewhere to buy.

So it won't be a really hard transition, since it's already like a second home. Complete with memories of water gun fights, barbeques, planting hundreds of trees, game nights, and sleepovers. :)

And while I miss our home, I try to keep thoughts of discontentment out of my head. Because, really, I have no room to complain! I'm not even leaving the neighborhood I love; the one I asked the Lord to keep me in for at least one more summer (thank you Jesus!).

And God sold our house in a market that predicted otherwise. He only had us wait 3 months, too!

So if you hear me whining.... scold!

~Happy Memorial Day~

Well, Happy Memorial Day, to you all! I hope you took time today to honor those that gave everything for our freedom, and that you pray for the repentance of our wicked nation everday. But regardless of the way our nation is looking today, I am forever grateful for all of the men and women who gave their lives so mine would be a free one.

Today we had a picnic with all of our Reformation folks, and I loved it so much! Volley ball and frisbee and watermelon; doesn't get much better than that! No really, it was a wonderful day of fellowship with all the friends we love so much, and I'll be asking Mrs. S to send me some pics so I can post 'em.

A few of the highlights:
-Got to just sit and talk with Emmie; loved it!

-Was "agressive" and actually went for the ball. (We'll get there Annina!)

-Learned that I actually knew how to throw and catch a frisbee. Who knew! (Not me..)
-Watched Daniel (not ours) and Mr. R hit awesome home runs.

-Got to hold and feed Jenna for 10 minutes before she started bawling. (Teething. It's not me!)

A Child-like Faith

Sunday, Daniel did something that almost made me cry.

We were sitting in the service, and Daniel was on my lap flipping through his Bible. Pastor got to a point where he said, "So a couple prays and prays, and the Lord finally blesses them with a child. They praise God, and say, 'Glory to Him, God is good!' Then two years later their little child gets hit by a car and is taken from them. Are they then to conclude that God is not good?"

Then Daniel proved he is a listener. He looked up with the most sweet, enthusiastic, and postively sure face, and said,

"Rachel, God is good."

Summer's a-coming!

Do you know what? I love it when the Lord blesses us with sun. Oh, I love the warmth, and the beautiful approach of summer!! A sign of summer? I have one. When 3 families drop by while they're riding their bikes or dropping something off or picking something up, and instead of leaving, they stay for a few hours just talking, having popsicles, and drinking lemonade.

Summer, I am so ready for you!


Masyn pettin Sammy


Jay Henry lookin' for those other boys....

Aunt Tara and Mrs. Inman


Kyle helping Trevor with a water gun issue :)


Mommy (after painting) and Mrs. Gregg

Snow pictures!

Here are some of the pictures I took in the snow.

- our backyard

- my name in print, because cursive in the snow is incredulous!

- me, being....me :)

- and a heart, but I'm sure you guessed that

Well....that's all!

Friday

And so we stayed in the house and watched movies and such, because it was too cold and wet to go sledding.

We watched Cinderella and Speed Racer. Yes. We are a varied group.

But then I just had to go outside and take some pictures, cause it was snowing...peacefully, I would say. Not blowing or windy. The snow was just.... falling.

I'll post 'em in a bit.