Fresh Air

I have a well established routine around the holidays. Starting about mid-November, I get all nostalgic and I begin to deeply miss my Northern-rooted climate. I just don't think that I will ever-ever get used to 70 degree Christmasses when I have experienced genuine white ones for 19+ years of my life. It just aint gonna happen. However, come December 26, I am right back in love with my Sweet Home Alabama and all it's warm temps.
I have been lying around like the Queen of the Heifers for far too long, so today with our forecast of 60 be-yoo-ti-ful degrees, I loaded up 3 out of 4 kids and headed for the closest mountain. We packed up our backpacks and hiked the smallest trail to the top. Once we arrived, we hung out at the conservatory for about a half hour before we made our descent. This little guy here is quite the hiker!

I have to tell you that it was high time that I get this heiny moving because I was starting to feel AW-FUL! I know my carb/fat rich holiday diet has been wreaking pure havoc on my body and to make matters worse, I haven't moved an inch without an exorbitant amount of protest for the last week (at least). It is pretty bad when you can't even sleep at night because of how much you have lounged around all day. Or that my muscles hurt probably due to under-use, and my head was pounding because of all the TV/movies that I have mindlessly watched. Yuck, yuck, yuck!
Oh, and don't let the last post fool you. THAT was the exception.
Anyway, we all decided to come "unplugged" today and it was well, well worth it (Mark and Jake went on a hunting trip today too). There is just nothing like God's creation to renew mind, body and Spirit.
Happy New Year Friends!

F.Y.I.

Here's a little tidbit for you: Fervently jumping on a trampoline after bearing 4 children yields less than stellar bladder control. Even if you just went.
T.M.I.? Perhaps. But I am willing to make this sacrifice for the greater good. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Wordless Wednesday (sorta)

~Jacob "flipping" over his new trampoline~

And What To My Wondering Eyes Do Appear?

So yesterday, I was just sitting here pondering my evening when, all of a sudden, in comes a package aaaaall for me. It was from my sweet friend Missy who gives gifts like none other on this planet, and let me tell you why.....When I opened the blessed box, this is one of the things that it contained:

Y'all.
No seriously....Y'all. This stuff is so mind-bogglingly good that I am gonna go there...yes. I. am. It is better than anything I have had at Starbucks...gasp...YES! I said it!! It's true. And I would never-ever lie about that (because I have no desire to commit the unpardonable sin....even though I am borderline heretical at this point, I realize). I am on my third glorious cup right this minute (I will probably be up until Christmas at this rate, but it's THAT worth it).
I also got this hilariously cute ornament:

When I opened the package and pulled her out, Julianna covered her mouth as she beheld her and said "OH MOMMA! She is beautiful..." LOL! So now she is front and center on our Christmas tree in all her glory.
By the way, don't mind my hair. I am not lovin it right now, but I could not let some of you go on thinking that I had as much facial hair as my last picture indicated....yes, I said "as much" ;) . Gotta love these genes, especially when mixed with a little age. Oy vey.

Everybody's doin' it!

I can't imagine getting out of this season without "elfing ourselves".....
I went through and pulled out the funniest pictures I could find of each of us, so without further ado:
Mark and the Boys and Me and Julianna
Enjoy!

A Few Things...

Hey...do you notice anything different? No? Well guess who has finally stepped out of Archaic-ville and entered the 21st Century? Yup, that'd be me. I finally have a high-speed connection!! We sorta, kinda live in the boonies, so the only option is dial-up. It seems they are bent on trying to charge me a completely ridiculous amount to have their crappy service, so we are now connected via satellite. WHOOP!!

Just to celebrate I am going to give you a link to some much anticipated AWESOME news:

Click here for a fantastic surprise.

In other Crew news, I spent almost the entire weekend shopping....and get this....I was aaaaaall alone. Ahhh, the blessing. Sometimes I forget how much fun shopping can be since I usually have at least 1 kidlet at my heels trying to get me to buy half the store, but this time...yes, this time, it was entirely different. On Saturday night, I made the first glorious stop for Momma Fuel, then on to the hospital to visit my Grandma. After we hung out for over an hour, I casually loaded back up and perused Target for an insanely long amount of time. Now, I am almost done with my Christmas shopping and I am thrilled. So what about you, are you completely giftless still, about done, or have you been finished for a long time?

Tis the Season

Yesterday, I got the bright idea to take Julianna to the mall for a girls day. I think I must have had a horrible lapse in judgement or something because I am pretty sure that all of the people within a 300 mile radius decided to shop there at that precise moment, too.
There were absolutely no free parking places and an over-abundance of rude people. I couldn't believe it when two cars, who were actually simultaneously trying to cut me off, just about hit each other, so they started honking and making rude gestures between themselves while we all sat there and waited. It was nearly the proverbial straw that almost made me punt the whole idea and head home, until I spied a shopping bag laden woman heading for her car. I whipped my van around and stalked her halfway to the horizon to get my space already being warmed up by her cute little sports car.
I sat patiently while she unloaded her stuff into every crevice she had available, and every now and then, she would glance over her shoulder to see if I was going to go anywhere. No siree, not on your life. I will stay here till the end of Christmas, if I have to.
She finally got in and put on her reverse lights when some middle-aged man whose wife probably told him that it would be better for them to go to the mall than watch football, turned the corner.
He had a vendetta.
So did I.
We locked eyes.
We each tightened our grip on our respective steering wheels and continued to glare over the tops of our heads. His next move was going to determine my future as a free citizen. She backed out, and for a split second, I could see that he really wanted to steal my spot. I could practically see his thoughts as he weighed his options at that moment.
He looked at the space.
He looked back at me.
And then he looked at the floor, defeated, as I turned in.
Mwwwaahhhaaahaaaaa!!!!
Bless his heart, and Merry Christmas.

Celebrating Advent

Mark and I have started a tradition of celebrating Advent with our kids each year, and it has been such a huge blessing every time. During all the hustle and bustle of the season with all the world has to offer, we have a chance to really reflect on the Christ's birth when we do this.
Anyway, the start of it is this Sunday (December 2), if any of you are interested. Here is a link to get you started or to give you devotional ideas if you haven't done this before.
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/christmas_advent.htm
I tried to find a picture of our Advent wreaths from Christmasses past, but I couldn't. They are really easy and inexpensive to make.
Also, I wasn't sure how many of you received the Veritas Epistula each month, so I thought I would share this free lapbook that they offered in the Dec. issue. It is about the birth of Christ and it is pretty good.
http://resources.veritaspress.com/downloads/ChristmasLapbook.pdf