My Grandparents

My Grandparents recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. What a testment to love and committment they are. I wonder how many times they wanted to say "I give up" or "It's just too much work." Those are words we all hear so often these days. Every one of us can say that we have somehow been affected by broken marriages. But my grandparents, they are courageous. They have chosen to honor the marriage vows that they took before God for 60 years. They are such an inspiration to me.



I can only hope that after 60 years of marriage Erik and I can love each other as much, and even more, than we did when we said "I do" on June 24, 2000. I know I already do.

A picture to cherish forever

Pops and his girls

Me and my babies

My cousin Craig. I love him like a brother.

Girls and their grandparents

Always willing to pose for the camera

Ella helps open presents. She was determined that we would not show up to their "party" without a gift.

Maw and Paw Paw

Maw, Paw Paw and their 4 boys

Must Be Santa

Does anyone remember that song we sang at Covington Elementary with Betty Fleming and then Bonnie Wright? "Must Be Santa." It went....

"Who's got a beard that's long and white
Santa's got a beard that's long and white
Who comes around on a special night
Santa comes around on a special night
Special Night, beard that's white
Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause

Who wears boots and a suit of red
Santa wears boots and a suit of red
Who wears a long cap on his head
Santa wears a long cap on his head
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause"

and on and on.

As I write this post, that is the song that comes to mind. I just love seeing a jolly old man playing the role of Santa Clause to well. The girls did great when we made our 2008 visit to Santa. They were so excited to sit in his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. I had to reassure Ella, though, that she still might get her Leapster even though she forgot to tell Santa that she wanted it.

(you can listen to a snipet of that song here)

http://www.songpeddler.com/JimCorbett/MustBeSanta_JCorbett.asp

The Gloves are Off

Last year a group of us from church set out to revive the tradition of entering a float into the Covington Christmas parade. We has a cute idea and pulled it together with a meager budget and a few helping hands. It was fun and it turned out great, but we only won 2nd place in the judging. This is not why we built the float, but once we realized it was a competition, the gloves came off.

So this year, under the coaching of Kendra, we have set out to win that first place trophy. For fear of the competition checking my blog (ha!ha!) I am not going to reveal the final project. I do, however, have a few fun pictures from our first work night for your viewing pleasure. Stay tuned for the final product.....

Sara, Amy and Amanda hard at work.

Neither of them has a clue!

Taking a quick break.

Erik mans the power tools.


Fearsome "leader" Craig

Amanda at the start of her delirium

Amanda calls it quits!

Now That's What I Call Love...

As I have mentioned before, Erik HATES the fact that I start getting ready for Christmas at the beginning of November. I blame retail. It's just contagious when the stores start decorating in October for Christmas. I just can't help myself.


Well, about a week ago, he agreed to get all my Christmas boxes down from the attic so that I could get a jump start on decorating. I was a little shocked, but I just went along with it. Who was I to question his insanity (or at least momentary lack of judgement)? We worked diligently all afternoon and got the girls' trees done and assembled our family tree.


The best part of the whole day was watching Lucy unwrap all the ornaments for her and Ella's tree. Everytime she opened a new one she would gasp--as in sheer astonishment that another ornament was actually being unveiled. It was so cute. It gave me a glimpse of what Christmas morning would be like. I can't wait! I am just glad that as we prepare of Thanksgiving travel I will be able to come home to a nicely decorated home.

Daddy working on Lucy's tree. No, really. He's happy to be doing it.

Lucy's Santa tree.

Ella's "fun and funky" themed tree.

Something to be Thankful For

This past Saturday several friends gathered together to celebrate the upcoming births of 4 beautiful babies. Mylea, Kendra, Georgia and Amy are all due within the coming months. This will be baby #2 for each of them. Nicole penned an eloquent toast that we shared and we had a special time of prayer for each of them.

Bringing a second child into the home is always a bit unnerving. Will I love her as much? Will I pay attention to the first born? Will the first born feel pushed aside and angry? Those are just a few of the questions that go through a mother's mind. But as we told the expectant mothers, God gives us a capacity to love our children in a way in which we can not understand or begin to explain. That's what makes us mothers. Our ability to love unconditionally and fully the children that God has placed in our care here on Earth.

Even more exciting, while we were at the tea we were able to celebrate with Kress the wonderful news of her second pregnancy and then with Emily as she prepares to leave for Vietnam this weekend to bring home her baby girl.

****As I write this I wonder if baby Anna Brooke has any plans of coming this weekend (or maybe even tonight?)

My pretty girls

I just had to snap these pictures the other day. As an adult, I love to wrap myself in a black sweater or wear some nice black pants. I just think anyone can pull of black. Who knew it applied to my babies, too?

You can't tell, but I put Lucy's hair in piggy-tail "buns" and she looked just like a swedish Hanna Andersson model. I love it! She thought it was so funny to have balls on her head.

Take a look at those cute silver ballet flats. Too bad they were cheap ones from Target that proceeded to rub horrible blisters on her feet. When I picked her up from Preschool she could hardly walk. Geez! That is why we keep The Freckled Frog in business buying good shoes.

It's That Time of Year Again

I'll be the first to confess that I am not a die-hard sports fanatic. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy watching football and basketball games as much as the next girl. However, while they used to be a social event for me "back in the day" that is not so much the case anymore. With 2 kids at my side, I just don't enjoy it like I once did. However, with that said.....

GO TIGER BASKETBALL!!!!!!

http://www.runningpony.com/uofmintro/

Say It Ain't So....

I am not usually one to jump on the speculation bandwagon, but I feel my source is credible. I read Susan's blog today and she says that Starbucks will be closing its doors on Friday. I can't believe its finally happening. We all knew this day was coming, but now that it's here it seems so surreal. To many, Starbucks closing just means that they won't get to have an occassional (or daily) latte or frappaccino. To me, it means more.

When Erik and I made the decision to move to Covington a few years ago it was not without a lot of hesitation. While we are glad we made the move, we still miss the creature comforts of the "big city." Before we moved there were restaurants, stores, Starbucks, theatres, etc. at our beckon call. It was so convenient to live close to the "action." You just don't have that here in Covington.

With the opening of Starbucks I began to feel a glimmer of hope. Maybe Covington was beginning on a path of growth. Maybe one day soon we would have a few nice restaurants to chose from. Something other than La Huazteca for a dining option. Now, like a candle extenguished, I feel my hopes crushed.

We will miss you Starbucks. Mom and I will have to establish a new after-workout tradition. Until then....I will see you tonight, Thursday and Friday. Maybe even twice on Friday.

Farewell my dear friend. Farewell.

Monkey See Monkey Do

As you all know, I love to sew. I enjoy making clothes for my girls and thinking of fun things to create with my sewing machine. Recently I have kept myself busy, busy, busy with an applique "business" that my friend Kress and I have embarked upon. As I was working this weekend, Ella hovered over my shoulder and kept a keen watch on how I was sewing. She then asked if she could sew and I could not say "no!" I was hesitant at first, but she took to that machine like a duck on water. I could not have been more proud!

Fall in Tennessee

One of my favorite times of year is Fall. I just love watching the leaves change colors. All the reds, yellows and purples. I think that each year as I get older, they become even more beautiful. It reminds me that there is a God who put the world in motion. That He gave us the land, the water and the beautiful trees. In a strange way it helps me put my life in perspective. I am reminded that just as the trees change with each passing season and the leaves fade away, so do the troubles and burdens that we carry. To everything a season. As we place our faith and trust in God, we can be assured that we, too, will shed our burdens like the trees as we go into the next season of our lives.

Fall Fun

One of the favorite Fall activities around our house is jumping in leaves. And, seeing that our house has a zillion trees, there is never a shortage of leaves for them to jump in. If only we had someone to come rake the leaves into a big pile for them on a daily basis. And since we don't, they have to take what they can get. Erik had raked these particular piles on Sunday afternoon. We did not get around to jumping into them until Monday night. Night being 5:30, but still dark and cold!

Poor Dad, just a rakin' away. He is such a good sport and, clearly, loves his girls VERY much. did I mention it was COLD!?!?

Rock Band

One of our new favorite things to do is play the Wii. We are quite fortunate to have 2 sets of friends that have the game system and we take "advantage" of it every chance we get. We especially enjoy going over to Rebecca and Bubba Eaves' house because they have Rock Band--fully equipped with a Bass and lead guitar, drums and a microphone. It is so much fun to play. We all get way too serious, but still have a lot of fun.

Nelson and Susan taking their turns with the guitars.

Me rockin' the mic.

Erik's even got the tounge into it. You know he's VERY serious about his gig!

Bubba plays some mean drums.

Rebecca gives a shout out for her fans. I'm pretty sure she's singing some lame song by Boston.

More Halloween Fun

Where is Coco? Oh, yeah. She just ran off with a fist full of candy!

Lucy fell down going into Nanny and Pop's house.

Lucy is happy now with her Pops.

The girls posing with our neighbors' Disney themed pumpkins.

Super Lu! (the tights are a wee bit big)