Christmas in Texas!

Here are some of my favorite shots of some of my favorite people. 

I say this every time.  But my grandmother is prettier every year.  And ya'll, she doesn't color her hair! 

Nana and Meg in her new Christmas shirt.

I have no idea how I made it into so many pictures.  I must've been hanging too close to the camera man! 

Baby Striker!!  Isn't he adorable?  And so tiny! 

But really, she should've asked me.  I could've totally hooked her up with a new kitty. 

And if YOU need a new kitty, I can hook you up too! 

Anybody??  

Lots of gaming.  My boy is a card shark.

Watching TV with PawPaw.  I used to do this with my granddaddy. 

I love both of these pictures with my mom and dad.  I want to have these printed.  

Nana's deviled eggs are always a hit.  And when they are around, everybody forgets how to share! 

Mally will talk Gram's ear off forever!!  

At least she didn't bring Pretty Pretty Princess and dress her up this time. 

Jes doing what he does.

So pretty these two.

Thank you to my awesome family for being so flexible to work around football games this year.  

And for their great hospitality and pure sweetness.  

I LOVE YOU!! 

Christmas With More Pictures Than Words

Such a fantastic day! 

I love the excitement in his sweet face. 

Our last day of our new Christmas devo

We got a lot of weapons this year...

Meg, Ethan, and Marc were over bright and early so as not to miss anything.

I

His new game that is so hard that nobody will play with him. 

Soaking up time with Lane before she left for KY the next morning. 

Target practice.  Look out dogs!! 

Time to play!

Because she ain't no yuppie girl! 

And neither is she.

Some football action where Lane decided to intercept the ball with her FACE and scored a bloody nose. 

Thank You God for sending your Son. 

Thank You for the celebration. 

Thank You for the joy. 

Thank You for my family.  

Next up:  Christmas in Texas! 

A Bunch Of Thankfulness

Well the senior mom dance was funner than I thought. Did you see it on FB?   No?   Because that's perfectly fine by me.

It started with the kissing game where they blindfolded the boys and told them a cheerleader was gonna kiss them on the cheek and they had to guess which one. At that point our 12yo decided he was done with football. Turns out the kisses were from mom and they all said they knew it all along. Yeah sure.

It was a fun night of getting to know the moms a little better and talk about the upcoming game. 2 more sleeps in case you lost count.

This morning our boy headed out early to Mr Smokey's house. Mr Smokey has a grandson on the team and all year he has cooked breakfast for all the senior football players on Friday mornings.

This morning is the last breakfast.
This game is the last game.

And I am so full of gratefulness for this opportunity.
Thankful that my neighbor saw him kicking soccer balls and started the whole thing. Thankful that the superintendent, principal, and coach thought he was worth their time and effort. Thankful for the friendships and the way they made him feel welcome and wanted.
Thankful for every Friday night warm/dry/cold/freezing/wet game I had the privilege to watch. Thankful for free passes for the younger kids. Thankful to Mr Smokey. And thankful for this town.

GO TIGERS!!

IT IS ALMOST HERE!!

State game against Glen Rose in Little Rock in only 3 more sleeps!

Three. 

T-shirts have been printed.  The school is decorated.  Coaches are talking about ring sizes.   

Tomorrow night is a town-wide pep rally that includes a dance from the senior moms.  It's some sort of surprise for the boys.  When I got the text from the cheer coach asking me to participate I decided to pretend that moment never happened.  But then I thought "What if I'm the only mom who didn't do it (unlikely) and my son had his feelings hurt for the rest of his life?".  Of course my next thought was something like, "he'll get over it."  

But then.  Well.  I said I would. 

And I can't even tell you how excited I am.  Except the opposite of that.  

Saturday, the town is lining Main Street for a big send off.  I can't wait to see this!!  

And to say that I'm totally obsessed with the weather in LR right now is an understatement.  I check it at least 5 times a day just hoping that thunderstorm will change its mind.   Why is it always game night? 

Tiger gear...check.
Megaphone...check. 

Lucky Charm...check. 

Rain suit....check. 

Stadium chair...check. 

Three more sleeps.   

Chickens, Apple Pies, and Weekend Fun

LOOKIT!!  We made a chicken!!  Actually 2 so far.  And it could not be any more exciting.  

We have 5 eggs that have been in the incubator for said about of time (I don't remember) and all of a sudden last night one of them popped through.  At first we only saw his beak and heard peep peep.

And it took forever.  So we went to bed.  But then!  At two in the morning we heard

PEEPBEEPPEEP  Super loud he was announcing that he had arrived.  The incubator is set up in the boys' room and the chicken was so loud the boys finally moved out to the living room after looking at him for a good long time.  

I'm guessing he's a rooster. 

Then this morning another one started.  This one was quick and efficient and quiet about it all. 

I'm guessing she's a hen.  

Aren't they just adorable?  And no, we are NOT naming them kids! 

~I tried a few new things in the kitchen today.....

First veggie cups.  

I've decided that if I want my family to snack healthier, I need to make it easy.  I got this idea from a TKD tournament where they were selling veggies in a plastic cup with ranch on the bottom for $1 each.  I decided to make these at the last minute and didn't have the veggies I wanted.  Next time I'll use long carrots instead of baby ones, and bell pepper strips.  

I used the small jelly jars and put about 2 tsp ranch in the bottom.  Then I added cucumber sticks, carrots, celery sticks, and grape tomatoes.  They are small enough to line up in the door of the fridge and grab anytime.  

~There are lots of homemade ranch recipes out there.  Here's how I make mine......

In the blender add equal parts of mayo and sour cream (about a cup each).

Add 2 garlic cloves, a sprinkling of onions, a big squirt of Dijon mustard, the juice of one lemon. plenty of salt and pepper, and some parsley, oregano, and basil.  Turn it on and stream in olive oil until it's at the right consistency.  

~ Homemade apple pies!!  

We are having pizza tonight and that means lots of dough.  So I used it by rolling out baseball-sized circles, spreading with butter, and filling in with spiced apples.  Fold the dough over and pinch with a fork.  Then butter the top and add a cinnamon/sugar mix and bake.  My kids went wild over these. 

I will warn you though, they are labor intensive.  Next time I'm calling in more helpers! 

TOMORROW!!  I can't hardly stand it.  

And I have new Tiger gear!  Coach K should thank my mother.  

We are coming to the end.  If they beat Earle, we are off the state game next weekend.  Meaning...this will be the last times to watch my boy play football.  I have loved every. single. minute. 

I'm already looking forward to next season with my younger boys and watching the 2014 Tiger team on Friday nights.  My son wants to work with the coaches to help their next kicker.  

But I will miss that incredible number 3. 

And then Saturday is the big parade followed by our annual egg nog night with Meg and Ethan. 

It's gonna be fun!  

My Future Reading List

As the year comes to a close, I am almost finished with all the books I'm reading.  I didn't mean for it to happen that way, but I think it'll be kinda nice to start a new year with a new book list.

Here's some reads I'm considering for 2014....

First the encores..

First We Have Coffee by Margaret Jensen

Hands down, other than the Bible, the most influential book I've ever read.  I like to re-read this at least once a year and I've read it so much I have lots of it memorized.  But every time I start it over, there is something that sticks out to me that didn't before.

I love Mama Tweeten.  And so many times when life is difficult, I ask myself what Mama would say or how Mama would've handled it.

I am friends with her only surviving child, Ms. Joyce, and we have had some neat conversations about Mama and her love for God and how she raised her family.  There will be a day in heaven when I will actually get to meet Mama, but for now, I have this book.

The Peace Maker by Ken Sande

This is an essential read for Christians and I'm adding it to my required reading list for my high schoolers.  Mr. Sande takes you though Scripture and teaches how to resolve conflict Biblically and how to live peacefully with others even when it's hard.

A long book with lots of words and full of truth that makes me take it slowly to really learn what he is saying.  It's a worthy commitment.

Live A Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Leola introduced me to JKD years ago and I've loved her since.  She has such an easy way of explaining things that are hard to understand.  I borrowed this book and loved it.  But since it was borrowed, I didn't get to to mark it up with squiggly underlines and notes.  For me that means I didn't get the full effect and I need my own copy.

~In just a few days I will have finished the Old Testament.   I've also finished the first 5 books of the New Testament.  I haven't done a yearly reading plan with my Bible, but years ago I finished it cover-to-cover for the first time.  Since then, I have tried different reading plans.  This is my 4th time to go through it.

Leola has introduced me to a new chronological study that I'm interested in....but should I start over when I'm so close to finishing this time?   I'm undecided.

For now I'm considering Experiencing The Power Of Life-Changing Faith by Kay Arthur to guide me through Romans.

I like her simple, yet detailed, inductive studies.

This Momentary Marriage by John Piper
This looks good.

Large Family Logistics
I've been wanting to read this for a long time.  The FBC library has it but I haven't made it over there yet.

A Little Salty To Cut The Sweet
I really really really wanna read this!!

New Stuff!!

Aren't these the prettiest bowls you've ever seen?  

They are bamboo and work perfectly with my new mezzaluna knife.  Think chopped salads at Subway...

This brought about a massive clean out of the mixing bowl cabinet and an ousting of cheap plastic bowls.  And while I was at it, all those ugly cloudy glass glasses needed to go too.  Because we just break them anyway, so we don't use them, so we don't need them.  

And the knife!  Where has this been all my life?  Super sharp, very versatile, and easy to use.  So far we've used it on chicken, carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, and salad.  And it's been here less than 24 hours.  

My moms came for a quick visit and brought all kinds of surprises like this new Tiger hat...

AND matching shirt and wool blanket.  So with all this going on surely the boys can pull out another big win this weekend.  I think my mom was worried about me sitting in the freezing cold so she also bought me a new jacket and thermos.  I know!!  But seriously the high for Friday is only 30 degrees and this week we are looking at a lows in the single digits.  So ya'll, it'll be brutal.  But at least I'll have some new gear that'll help.  

Weekly Wednesday

Well the biggest news this week is that our baby girl turned 8.  EIGHT!!

Her birthday was Friday but we celebrated on Saturday since Daddy and Lane would be home all day and there was no football.   It was a fun day of presents, and playing, and eating lunch out.
Her birthday meals were impressive.  I've had years of eight year old birthdays that included mac and cheese and frozen pizza.  But this girl was a bit more refined in her menu and chose oven fried chicken and Doritos.

One of the best parts of her day was promoting to blue belt in TaeKwonDo.   While she's not as fierce as her siblings, she is considered a high rank now and so just maybe will add some power behind her dance moves.

Meg spent the day with us and took her home to spend the night.

~Ms. Marianne gave me a new recipe that I tried this week.   I wanted to show you a Pinterest pin that was similar but, alas, Pinterest is uncooperative this morning.  It involved chicken, potatoes, and green beans all in one dish.  I made two different versions and barely had leftovers.  I'm calling it Marianne's Masterpiece.

~Renee and I have been trying to get together all month.  But it seemed that no matter how we rearranged life,  it wouldn't work.  So just like when I lived in CO, we had to make a phone date.    But still there were so many interruptions we only had about 20 minutes.   It was enough time to get the details of Justin's engagement and to discuss some of the weightier topics of life.  So between email and unlimited texting plans we should make it until December.

~My sweet Jes has fully recovered from his bout of shingles.  He went to the doctor yesterday and got a clean bill of health!  So grateful.

And I know I don't talk about my RA much, but I also had an appt yesterday.  It's time to change meds again.   So please pray with me that this one will work...and for a long time.

~Does anybody remember the weather Friday night?  Because I do.
It went something like this....super cold, raining, freezing, wet, frigid, and uncomfortable.
So at the football game, my man offered to park strategically at the end zone so I could watch from the car.

As if.

First of all, my boy would never be able to hear me coaching him and cheering him on from the car.
Second, I felt that Coach K needed me in the stands.

And if there was ever a game to be mercy ruled this was it.  But no.  We had to play out every single minute but won by a substantial margin.

This week is a big game about 3 hours away and I'm a bit concerned about this one...and probably any other subsequent games in the playoffs.  This could only mean one thing.  I need a new Tiger shirt to help the boys finish out the season.

Back To The Basics

" Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. " Col 1:28-29

I've been thinking on this verse lately.  It seems to sum up the heart of what I want to be as a mom.  

But...how can I teach with wisdom and present anyone mature when I am so immature and my life is so full of the exact opposite --foolishness.  

When I take a serious look at my life...which is summed up by how I spend the seconds of my day... I can see where I have wasted my time.  Things like screen time, negative thoughts, self-pity, and general time wasting.  And time wasting equals life wasting.  

So now I want to make a change.  A change to go back to the basics of what I know I can rely on to steer me back on the right path.  

• My Bible.  I'm in the middle of a Blackaby study. 
• Scripture memorization 
• Good books.  (I haven't been reading much lately) 
• Fostering edifying relationships 

Change is in the air!  I hope.

It Is Your Life

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.  I will counsel you with my eye on you."  Ps 32.:8

I talked to my kids this morning about being in the Word daily. There are going to be things that happen in your day that you have no idea how to handle.  And God is willing and able and eager to lead us in the right way.

Henry Blackaby says it best, "It is your life!"

Sometimes There Are No Words

Here's how it went.

And I always know to brace myself when a kid starts with, "Mom I gotta tell you what happened."

Josh was doing stretching exercises in football yesterday when an 8th grader with poor decision making skills decided to make an inappropriate comment on my son's butt.

To that, Josh reached into his pocket, took out a big rubberband bracelet thing and pegged the kid in the forehead knocking him backwards.

Me: You shot him IN THE FACE?! You could've gotten his eye!
Lane: yeah, why didn't you just punch him?

I don't even know what to say.

So I said "Tell Dad when he gets home."

But he didn't know what to say either.

Weekly Wednesday

So y'all.

I spent 2 days in a row in the doctor's office with a little boy that had a horrible rash.  Turns out Jes has shingles.

 I know.

It got progressively worse and he's a little miserable this morning. I'm hoping the new meds kick in today.

~This makes 2 of my people in the dr office this month and that is not a good start to flu and cold season.

So yesterday my oldest son did something absurd. You won't believe this but he asked for Oreganol and took it without being asked!! And if you're not familiar with Oreganol, it's a very nasty tasting/smelling oil that I'm convinced cures almost everything. And now it seems I have a convert!!

~With Jes out of commission that means a stay-at-home day instead of piano and shoebox shopping with Meg. Which on the one hand will bring moans of disappointment when I tell the kids, but on the other hand it means wrapping presents and doing some much needed stuff around here (which will also mean moans of disappointment).

Probably the only thing to bring smiles at this point would be if my man decided we could put up the Christmas tree. So if you see him, put in a good word for it. :-)

~This morning started the day with a slight show down involving a son with a smart mouth and a couple of trash cans.  MY GOODNESS!!  Trash day has many learning opportunities.

~Guess what I did? I moved the treadmill in the house. Actually I made the boys do it. I don't know how long it will last because a friend is supposed to come pick it up. But since I haven't heard from her I'm using it as much as I can. That means that after lunch I throw on my tennis shoes and watch some old DVDs of Rachel Ray while I walk however many miles it takes to finish a 30 minute meal.

~This weekend we went to our first chicken auction. It was extremely uneventful. We got there late and missed the exciting part which is where they turn a bunch of chickens loose and let the kids chase them and whatever they catch they can keep. I keep telling myself it was probably a bunch of roosters anyway. The the question arose as to whether or not the cage comes with the chickens you bid on or if you're supposed to bring your own cage. And where do people even get cages like that? We have a lot to learn.

But it appears we are going to try our hand at egg hatching again.  Even though it's winter.  Even though we had extensive rooster issues this summer.  I don't even understand. But my friend, Kim, told me that she knows a guy that can determine the gender of a chicken.  And it's his job!  We might be looking him up.....

~Saturday was our church's 5th annual block party. LOVE.
Lots of fun. Lots of new faces. It's my favorite church event of the whole year.

And speaking of church.  My secret pal seems to know me well.  I got a big surprise of the DD Devo and a bag of Dove chocolates.  Awwwww.........

I love them both.

~Our new fridge is here! And you should've seen the crud on the floor when he moved out the old one. I'm convinced we are the most disgusting people ever. So do you move out the fridge and mop back there on cleaning day? Or are you just embarrassed when the repair man comes?

~I will leave you with a football update. The Tigers are still undefeated after the playoff opener Friday night! Game 2 is this week against "the most athletic team yet" according to Coach K. But we are still predicted to win and have the home field advantage. So with that and my new lucky charm, I'm not too worried.

Push Ups, Sweaters, And Lucky Charms

I have a lot to tell you.

Especially since its been a whole week since I've been here and I've been saving up a bunch of inconsequential random news in no particular order.

~First of all my mothers came to visit. We had a great time of eating and shopping and talking and football watching. And in just a few short weeks we will making the trip to TX to see them again. And that'll be terrific because it also means I'll see my dad and grandmothers and cousin Jody.

While they were here, Nana bought me this necklace to wear for the playoffs. (Because HELLO we are there!!)  I call it my lucky charm.  And it's much cuter in person.  I wore it to the game Friday night and watched another mercy ruled game.  Coach K can thank me later.

~When the moms left, my man and I had our weekly date night. It was actually a big date ... A real leave the house date because we had tickets to The City Harmonic that we were looking so forward to that we were counting down the sleeps. But then, just a few hours before the show they cancelled it!!

I know.

But it was ok because we were also going to do some Christmas shopping and I'm blessed enough to be married to a guy that loves to shop. So we ate at Olive Garden with a gift card he got for running music at the company picnic. Then we hit the stores. The first stop was Academy because it's one of our faves and it knocked out a considerable portion of our kids' wish lists. Then SAMs. And finally Walmart until we were sick of shopping.

But that was Saturday and our real date nights are Sundays which meant we got two. Now Sunday was a very laid back date because my man wasn't feeling great and dinner involved frozen stuff while watching football together on the couch. It works.

Now this year I am more organized with our Christmas stuff than ever before. Which doesn't mean much since the other years have involved virtually no organization.  I looked at this precious printable and almost printed it but

1. We have no printer paper and
2. I felt that the lines and boxes might be too limiting for practical use.

So I'm using a whole notebook dedicated to nothing but Christmas.  I have pages for each kid.  Pages for purchases. Pages for expenses. Pages for ideas. And Pages for what we have left to do. It's working out just right and maybe later I'm thinking on added some artwork.

~And since we're talking about Christmas I should add that since the G'ma visit 2 of my kids are considerably richer which happens to be the same two that were running short of Christmas money.  For whatever reason G'ma slipped LB multiple twenty dollar bills while Nana took one of Mally's headbands and left ten dollars in its place.  Which is a little excessive since that headband costs upwards of six cents.  But G'mas and Nanas seem to do things like that.  :)

~Remember my refrigerator woes? While we were waiting for somebody to come to some conclusion, the fridge resurrected itself enough to be usable. But just when it decided to start dying again the Whirlpool lady called to say they would replace it. HALLELUJAH !!!! So sometime between now and 2 weeks they will bring another one and take away the old. And my people who have to go outside in the cold to fetch whatever we are having for supper could not be happier.

~First it was chess. Now it's poker.  Except it's still chess too.  My people are big gamers.

~This is what happens when you don't listen at Bible time.  You get to finish it out in push up position and hope that Momma is not long winded.

~Now Monday was the Savers 50% off sale so there's no question where the girls and I spent our day. 

I bought this sweater because it looked great on the hanger and even when I tried it on.  

But when I washed it and tried it on with my green pants that I decided would look perfect with it, it was less than perfect.  It has something to do with the pants.  And while I still love these army green pants, the truth of the matter is I never have anything to wear them with.  Plus I don't have any shoes that work either.  

So I tried the sweater with jeans and I think it'll work.  Now the good thing about a $3 sweater is three dollars.  The bad thing is that it reveals I need new shoes and different sweaters that match my green pants.  

And for some reason I don't think my man will think it was such a good deal after all.  

Pinteresting Things

I do not want to give you the wrong idea.

I'm not one of those super fun moms that look for every reason to include glitter in their daily lives.
But even so.  We did two TWO craft projects in one week.

I know!

And here's where I tell you that both of them arose out of sheer need.

The first one had something to do with the fact that my kiddos could not identify a good sentence structure to save their lives.   No matter how many books we read.  Or grammar exercises.  And I don't get it.

Enter this Pinterest guy to color and cut and glue.

Next up was working on clipboards to hold chore lists.  Again, thank you Pinterest.

And now we should be good with getting all our chores done and writing an informative paragraph about how to shine the sink.

Randomness Of Recently

Well.

Nothing gets the day started off wrong faster than a kid with a bad attitude.   Especially when it escalates to name calling and his sister is declared a Doofus.  Something had to be done.

My favorite Bible verse in dealing with this is Proverbs 17:1
"Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife."

My friend taught me years ago how to handle this by giving that child a stale crust of bread while everyone else enjoys breakfast.   Then it may make them think twice before stirring up more trouble.

Now I didn't have any stale bread on hand and it was too late to make it, so my son had a dry rice cake for breakfast as he ate in silence.   For the rest of the morning I made him speak in a British accent until lunch.   I don't think he's ever been so thankful for lunch in all his life.

~Yesterday turned out to be a day full of phone calls to various school officials trying to determine Christian's plans for next year.

1.  Enter as a full time student at UFAS
2.  Continue kicking for CHS while attending UFAS
3.  Complete his first year of college by concurrent enrollment and distance learning from UA Monticello and AR Tech and continue kicking

And since he is the first AR student to take advantage of the Tebow law, it is all new for everyone and we are all still trying to figure out how the particulars line up with Triple A rules.

So this morning I had my first meeting with a high school principal and counselor making sure we were all on the same page.  Turns out option #1 is going to be best for now with a formal appeal after the first of the year because of his age.

Anyhow it's all so confusing.... but we have had a fantastic year being involved with CHS and now my boy has a scholarship interview next week with UFAS.   Oh my goodness my momma heart can NOT believe we are already here.

I loved my babies.  I love my little people.  And now I'm loving all the new details that come with teenage students and a married adult.

~Did I tell you Lane started her new job?  She's making more money AND not driving to town every day.  Win win.  Plus she likes it!

~My in-laws have hit the road toward AZ for the whole winter.  That means we get their house for date night and movie nights since they have cable.  Last year I remember the first time we went over there after they left and it was so sad because Grandma wasn't there.  I'm guessing this time will be the same.  It's a long time until we see them again in the spring.

But we get another Grandma fix tomorrow when Grandma and Nana come to spend a couple of days!

~Tonight is AWANA!!
And Honey stays home with all the younger kids.  For them that means disregard whatever dinner mom has left us in the crockpot while Dad goes to the store for 3 different cereals with cartoon characters on the box.

A New Week

Happy Monday!  Did you have a good weekend?  

For the younger kids' writing assignment this morning, they had to list and cluster the things they liked about fall then turn it into a paragraph.  Leaves, costumes, Thanksgiving, and hairy animals were the most common.  

As we were talking it all over, I was also thinking about all the things I like about fall.   And I decided that today is pretty close to a perfect fall day even though there isn't any hairy animals involved.  

Here are some things I'm thankful for......

*A new week. 

* 3 loaves of bread cooling on the counter, and 3 more in the oven.  The smell is heavenly.

*A big pot of potato leek soup on the stove.  That smells pretty good too. 

*Finished laundry!  There will be more by this afternoon, but for now it feels really good! 

*Cool weather and rain.
*A little boy in fuzzy pjs

*A neighbor that is picking up meat for me and saving me a trip out of town.  

This week I'm looking forward to....

*My mothers are coming!!

*Friday night football 

*A big date night on Saturday to see City Harmonic with my man

*Watching Mally in tumbling class

*A walking date with a friend  

*A new book I started