December Daily - beyond Christmas :)

I don't know why everyone stops their December Daily albums on December 25. I mean, there are 6 more days in December, aren't there? It may be my OCD that likes to have things complete - but that's ok, right? 

I shared the 26th on the last post - the day after Christmas is just as much a tradition for us as the earlier fun of the month. Then, the 27th sneaks up and sometimes the doldrums sneak in. Does that happen to you? There is such excitement in the days leading up to Christmas, and then when the presents are opened and the plans are complete, I can be left with a feeling feeling a little down. 

This year I chose to embrace the slow-ness and relax a little. I know that the fact that I have a hard time being ok with relaxing is a hard thing for some people to understand. But it is true. Don't get me wrong - I'm not always productive - far from it! But, I am happiest when I have a project or something to do.

Anyway, the 27th brought a little more shopping for after Christmas bargains and then we met Brad's family for lunch. We had planned to celebrate his parents' anniversary the week before, but Bennett's sickness meant that we had to cancel. 

We were lucky to be able to include Chad in our celebration - all the way from Bahrain!

 After our lunch, Bennett wanted to go and buy a surprise for Brad. He bought him a Star Wars apron with is own money. Now they can match when they cook. Again, I love his giving spirit. 

 On the 28th, Bennett had a friend over to play and I just enjoyed the house and the decorations. I always love getting Christmas cards - and displaying them in the kitchen window is one of my favorite decorations.

 On the 29th we went to see Tangled with Nana. Super cute! I have the ticket stubs for my book :)

This is a picture is of Bennett's new tree for his room. This is the first year he's had a tree - and he LOVES it. It's fallen over a few times, but it has survived. There's nothing as great as going to sleep by the lights of a Christmas tree!

 On the 30th Bennett had another friend over to play and mom came over to help me begin to disassemble the Christmas decorations. Always such a bummer to take it all down! Bennett suggested that we leave it all up for the whole year. I thought about it for a minute, but then realized that as Elmo says, everyday can't be Christmas; that wouldn't be such a treat :) 

We rang on the New Year (at 9 PM) with friends at Inverness. Super fun time! We all danced a little and had a great time. 2010 was a great year - filled with blessings too numerous to count. We are excited to see what 2011 has in store for us!

December Daily... week 2

Did you think that I forgot??   I didn't! I was faithfully taking pictures... the blogging didn't quite get done, though. Please forgive me :)

On the last day of school, Bennett was the mystery reader for his teacher from last year. He was so happy to read Charlie Brown's Christmas story. He brought a surprise for each student (a candy cane with 2 Charlie Brown silly bands tied to it) and for his former teacher he brought a Charlie Brown tree. All of this was his idea - I love his giving spirit!

 School got out early and we went to visit with our cousins (from Tennessee and Alaska!) Bennett was excited to meet his 2nd cousins (or 1 cousins once removed - I get that confused!)

 We had our 2nd basketball game on Saturday - and we won!! Two wins in a row! Right after the game we had a birthday party. That night Bennett got sick :(

 Sunday was a stay-at-home-and-rest day. He was doing fine, but conked out on the couch that night.

 Baseball camp on Monday. He seemed to have an ok time - we were sad that his friend that was going to go with him had to cancel because of a sinus infection. 

 I have to admit - the first week of Christmas break was more than stressful for me. The sickness that started on Saturday reappeared on Monday night (not the type of surprise that I enjoy) and lasted for the rest of the week... He didn't get sick again, but complained about his stomach for the rest of the week. My anxiety level was rather high (one of my worst nightmares as a mom is the stomach bug!)

 Nana was brave and came over on Wednesday to make a gingerbread village. So cute!

 We finally got out of the house on Thursday and went to Nana's to see how she makes her yummy yeast rolls and cinnamon rolls. Bennett says that Nana's rolls are his favorite Christmas tradition!

 Christmas Eve! Yea! Bennett was 85% better, so we were at Nana's for our regular festivities with the family. We were still leery of him being acolyte or singing in the choir, so I went to church with Nana, Gigi, and Bubba. 

 Christmas morning! Bennett was up at 3:58 am (but Nana was the only one that heard him :) So, by the time that the 6 o'clock pre-arranged time arrived, he was MORE than excited! It was a wonderful morning filled with great time with our family - and our yummy breakfast, of course. That afternoon we went to Gigi and Bubba's house a late lunch. We were sad not to go to Papa's house like we usually do, but we enjoyed our lunch together.

It snowed on Christmas! And on the 26th! So beautiful! Don't worry - it didn't stop us from shopping the after Christmas sales! :) I think that it did stop some people for getting out, but that was just fine for us!

December Daily... week 2

Welcome back!! I'm still taking pictures - and here they are! I should note here that I'm taking pics with our little point-and-shoot camera... the low-light situations are a little tricky :)

December 8th - we made our favorite chocolate covered pretzels. Bennett's favorite part? smashing the candy canes of course!! He dipped a few too.

December 9th -Nana took Bennett to cub scouts

and I had friends over for dinner. We had beef and chicken chili. Yum and fun!

December 10th - Our favorite package came in the mail today! As soon as December rolls around, we start hoping that Aunt Cork will send us the goodies from Cherry Republic...

Cherry turtles in the morning? Oh yeah...

We also had our Sunday School party - always a fun night :)

The 10th was the busiest Sauturday that we've had in a long time. Bennett had his first basketball game. He played great! As we walked out, I was congratulating him on his 2 attempts at shooting. He said 'What was the deal from last year? $1 per time I shoot? You owe me $2!' I tried to say that we didn't make that agreement again this year, but then again, I was so happy that he tried, I caved ;)

After the game, the boys went to start on the pinewood derby car. When I got home from a little shopping, the were doing a few details with the dremmel.

While Brad went to do some mission work at the dental clinic with the SS guys, Bennett and I headed to the Angel Workshop at church. Look at these cute crafts!! I'm hoping that he decided to give me one of these ;)

On the 12th, it snowed while we were in church! You can't see it in this picture, but trust me, there were flurries floating around.  I can't remember a time that it has snowed this early! Fun!

After lunch and dropping off our donations for a little boy that we adopted, we made sugar cookies!  

 Bennett made some awesome cookies for Santa!

On the 13th Bennett decided to give Poodle a new note with some Snoopy bands. He's the most generous boy!

On the 14th, Angie and I co-hosted the Sunday School Ladies' Party. It was great! Probably the highlight of the season! 

On the 15th I went to school and helped with the 'Christmas Around the World' feast. We had chips and salsa from Mexico, banket and rusk from the Netherlands, olives from Greece, dates from Egypt, fortune cookies from China, cinnamon rolls from Sweden, cakes from France (that looked like the yule log), and some sweet rice from South Africa. Aunt Cork sent us a special delivery of some banket from Michigan and the kids really liked it! Thanks again Aunt Cork!!

Bennett also had his Christmas performance at church. He did a great job, despite some mix-up with the streamers which almost caused a melt down. I saw him getting upset and knew exactly what was going on. Poor little guy. He pulled it together, though, and made the best of it. Love him! (and he even wore the shirt that I picked out without too much fuss!)

 This whole month, I've been including little notes in his lunch box...

We did our little candy cane treats for his class again this year :)

Bennett and his teacher. She is the best!! The party today was so much fun - crafts, food, games! Yippee!! (and she is a saint!) :)  Look at his cool pose... when did he grow up again??

 A little after school reading - in a comfortable position, of course!

We are SO looking forward to school getting out tomorrow!! Bring on the Christmas break! I hope that your December has been as good as ours!!

December Daily time again!!

Yippee!! It's December! Can you believe it? Wow. 

I'm picking up my camera again this month to document what we do each day during the month of December. What are you up to this month?

I've just realized that these 2 November photos are off by 1 day... please forgive me! This photo is from Monday, November 29. Bennett won a week on the News at school at the Auction this fall. He got to be the 'red' anchor, the 'blue' anchor, and the camera man throughout the week. This Monday, as we were driving up to the school, he told me that because of the News "everybody knows me" :)

Ok, so this was on November 30! Yes, we went to see Santa BEFORE December. There's nothing wrong with that. I promise! Bennett presented his letter, complete with drawings of each item. This year he is asking for a Star Wars Legacy of Boba Fett set, a Republic Command Ship, and some Star Wars silly bands. He HAS been a mighty good boy this year! We decided to keep that letter and get it to Santa another day ;) 

I got the date on this one right :)  I'm just learning to use these overlay brushes - it's taking a little getting used to (but don't they look great!)

 December 1 was Holiday Shop at school!! Nana and I went to help the kids shop (I was able to go after the Scholastic people canceled my volunteer shift) and then wrap their presents. Bennett did a GREAT job picking out gifts for everyone in our family. Can't wait to see what I'm getting! 

On the 2nd Bennett wrote a letter to Poodle (our elf who is hanging out there in the candle holder). He asked him to bring Santa those cookies. Poodle wrote a very nice letter back. Apparently, Santa loved the cookies. That letter from Santa will be in my scrapbook! 

 Also on the 2nd, Bennett wrote a wonderful report on bicycle safety. This comes from the bad fall that he had on Sunday while riding - a fall that was so bad that his new helmet was cracked! We are thankful for that helmet!

 Oh, December 3rd... so wonderful! I got to praise God at the Deeper Still Conference! What is better than praise music, preaching from Kay, Priscilla, and Beth, and wonderful friends? Well, those Christmas tree cakes made it good too ;)

 While I was at the conference, Bennett was at the Art Workshop at church. He's really quite an artist!! I was specific about not drawing Star Wars on his art, but I should have added in team logos ;)  Those are presents, though, so what was ok! 

 Snuggles. 

 December 5th was the last meeting of our Bible Study on Revelation. I was very blessed to be able to co-lead this study with Angie and to be able to learn so much with these friends. God is good.

 More goodies for Santa on the 6th... This time Bennett left kool-aid, cups of water for Santa and for Poodle, 4 double stuft oreos, his letter to Santa and a letter to Poodle. Once again, Poodle left a wonderful note. We have a wonderful elf!

December 7 - Bookclub at my house! Our book was 'Redbird Christmas' by Fannie Flagg. The menu: chicken and wild rice casserole, greenbeans, Papa's apples, rolls, and white chocolate bread pudding. Our photographer was Bennett. Thanks buddy!

I'll be back next week with tons more fun :)

Merry Christmas!!

So much to be thankful for!

In fact, here's my top 100 thankful things (and not necessarily in the proper order)


1. The saving grace of Jesus Christ
2. Jesus' love of me the way I am and His willingness to make me better.
3. Brad. The best husband. Ever.
4. Bennett. The greatest miracle I've ever received.
5. Laughing together
6. Bennett's imagination. We're always going on an adventure and that keeps me young.
7. Bennett's smile. Even with missing teeth it's the best I've seen.
8. Mom
9. Angie
10. Evie
11. Gavin
12. Dad
13. Papa
14. Karen
15. Vern
16. Back scratches
17. This computer
18. Our house on the hill
19. The MDX and the mini-van
20. Our church
21. The leaders of our church
22. My friends
23. Friends that scrapbook :) and will take long trips with me to feed the scrapbooking habit.
24. Scrapbooking supplies. Can you ever have enough? nope
25. Heart to Heart cereal.
26. Skim Milk
27. Boar's Head deli meat.
28. Apple cider
29. Volunteering in the library at Bennett's school. 
30. The internet
31. My cell phone
32. CR
33. Coke Zero
34. Freedom to practice my religion.
35. The promise of Heaven
36. A God who was, and is, and is to come.
37. Bible Studies. 
38. Beth Moore (See #29) :)
39. Sadie. She's a crazy dog, but she keeps us company.
40. My camera. The big one.
41. RAW photo processing
42. My 'little' camera
43. Blogs
44. The washing machine and dryer
45. The refrigerator
46. The dish washer
47. Soap
48. Hand sanitizer
49. The Office
50. Community
51. Project Runway
52. So You Think You Can Dance
53. Double Fiber Bread
54. Bic Mark-It pens
55. Sticky notes
56. Coupons
57. Christmas tree lights. The colored ones.
58. Snuggles
59. The sound of Bennett's feet as they come down the stairs in the morning. Even when it's too early.
60. Our DVR
61. Our mailman
62.Voicemail
63. 3m hooks (those kind that you can easily remove when you are done with them)
64. Legos
65. Pedicures
66. Baked Lays potato chips
67. Simona
68. Shutterfly
69. Texting
70. My gym partner. I'd never go if she wasn't waiting on me :)
71. Carpool.
72. Cherry pie
73. ebay
74. Free shipping
75. The ability to learn 
76. The willingness to change
77. Rony
78. My hairdryer
79. Friends who teach Bennett to ride a bike
80. The bug man
81. Recycling
82. Credit cards that earn points
83. The remote control
84. Baseball. (when Bennett plays it :)
85. gmail
86. My Dyson
87. Brad's love of adventure... and his patience to drag me along with him.
88. Good books
89. Reading to Bennett (and the fact that he still wants me to read to him!)
90. Apple cider
91. Icees
92. Handsfree phone calls
93. The back-up camera on my car
94. Garage openers
95. Garbage collectors
96. My education - from elementary through grad school.
97. Zaxby's
98. My memory foam pillow
99. Massage Envy. Mostly Valesa :)
100. Memories. The good and the bad. They've all made me who I am today.


There are 100s more things that I could have listed. Have you made your list? Happy Thanksgiving!

He's a biker dude

I've got so much to catch up on! I've been such a bad blogger recently - and it's not due to lack of things to post... just a lack of time! So, I have several posts written in my head about our recent events. I'll start with the most recent development and work backward.

BREAKING NEWS:

Bennett learned how to ride a bike yesterday!!

Yes, he is 7 1/2 years old, and is just now learning to ride a bike. That makes me feel guilty as a mom, but really, how can it be all my fault when I just 'learned' how to ride a bike a few years ago. (I loosely say learned, because if you were to ask me to go on a bike ride with you, I would politely decline due to my lack of experience. But, I did circle the parking lot of the Elementary school successfully on one or two occassions. That counts, right? :)

Guilt is a thing that come along with motherhood, doesn't it? For me, at least, it did. I believe that the first guilty feeling that I had regarding my parenting occurred about 12 hours after he was born. Actually, it was probably when I was pregnant...

But that's another post, isn't it? This post is about how my kid is well on his way to being a biker dude!

Anyway, we live on a mountain and there is no where for Bennett to learn to ride unless we pack up the bike and go somewhere. Brad has attempted to teach him a few times, but the dynamic there is tough. Bennett aims to please so much that it is hard to learn from daddy when there's fear of failing and falling involved. 

Our dear friend, Mrs. Sallie, volunteered last Spring to help Bennett learn. I think that I actually begged her to help us, and she said 'Of course!' That's just how she is. So kind and eager all the time. Well, time got away from us, and yesterday was Bennett's first lesson. 

I totally expected her to spend a while holding on to the bike, running behind him, and then tell me that we'd get back together soon to begin letting go. Nope! He rode around in the grass for a little bit, with Mrs. Sallie holding on the seat. Then she let go and he rode for about 5 feet with her encouraging 'Pedal! Pedal!'! Then he fell over. But, they got back up and he rode longer and longer distances until...

Can you see Bennett? Nope! He's gone all the way around the park and Mrs. Sallie is having to sprint behind! It's a good thing that she's a marathon runner.

You should have seen the smile on his face when he came back around! Elation. I couldn't catch it on the camera because he was moving so fast.

He's still got a little work to do on getting started going, but that's our homework for the week. 

Here they are - Bennett and Mrs. Sallie. Don't they both look proud?

I was proud too. As I watched him going on his own, I got tears in my eyes. What a huge milestone! I was thankful for Mrs. Sallie. Thankful that indeed, we didn't wait too long (you know - as long as I waited, I guess :) and that I didn't need to feel guilty anymore. Thankful that my boy is able to move forward through a little fear and gravity.  It reminded me that that's what life is all about. It's all about balance, moving forward without getting distracted by the things on the periphery, keeping the handle bars steady, avoiding the ditches, falling as gently as possible, and then brushing off and going again after the fall.

Now we get to go and pick out a bike! (That one was borrowed - Thanks Meg!)

me & him

We have a good time together.

I love the photo booths at the movies!! Look how much fun we have!

I love him.

I love that he does these goofy things with me :)

I took him to see Alpha Omega last Saturday (not so great really, but he liked it. Lots of talk of 'repopulating' which made me a little antsy... luckily he hasn't asked me any questions!)

Oh, and he really doesn't make that face when I kiss him. at least not most of the time :)