Christmas comes down

I spent the day de-decorating for Christmas (I like that better than undecorating), which was definitely a day's work! I'm exhausted. I really wish I had fairies to do it for me. It was a good day to do it too; it is 63 degrees outside (ick). It is supposed to be in the high 50s all week (not happy). Where's my winter weather!?!?

December Photo Project, Day 26

CRAZY!!!

This is crazy!! I love snow!! We have nearly 3 inches in spots right now and it is still coming down! Amazing!!

Christmas with the fams

We made the rounds as usual this Christmas, first heading to Nick's dad's (where of course we forgot to take pictures - oops). Then on the 23rd we went to Nick's mom's and hung out with them through Christmas Eve.

Despite the rivalry, brothers and friends:

Nick and his enormous pile of presents:

Barbara and me:

David and Ben:



Then we trekked over to my parents' house where we spent Christmas Eve and morning.

Amanda and Chris - first Christmas as a married couple:


Amanda getting wrapping paper chucked at her by Nick:


Daddy winning Christmas as usual:


Family picture:


And now, it's snowing! A true white Christmas!! That never happens in the South!!


I think I'm going to make pancakes for dinner on my new griddle, cuddle up and watch a new DVD by the fire, and go to bed early! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!

December Photo Project, Day 25

Merry Christmas!!!

December Photo Project, Day 24

Waiting for Santa...

December Photo Project, Day 23

Breakfast deliciousness.

December Photo Project, Day 22

Wrapped and ready to be delivered by Santa over the next few days!!

December Photo Project, Day 21

Excited to be on Christmas vacation!! I think to celebrate we'll watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for movie night tonight!!

December Photo Project, Day 20

Not super thrilled to be seeing the sunrise on my Christmas break, but it was a beautiful morning! And I got to enjoy a delicious breakfast with good friends, which made it all the better.

December Photo Project, Day 19

This evening we had 8 adults and 9 children in our home. 13 are still here and will be spending the night. Of course I didn't get a picture of all of us because it was a bit nutty. But here are three of the guys getting ready for what promises to be a lengthy night of poker.

December Photo Project, Day 18

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

December Photo Project, Day 17

Nick and his little friend Jordanna. She thinks he is the best! :)

December Photo Project, Day 16

School's out for Christmas. The look on my face? Pure delight mingled with sheer exhaustion!! Or I'm trying to hitchhike a ride somewhere.. It's hard to tell.

December Photo Project, Day 15

December Photo Project, Day 14

Perhaps I should turn the heat up.

December Photo Project, Day 13

Delicious baked potato soup tastes even better on cold wintry evenings!

December Photo Project, Day 12

My holly bush is blooming beautifully, and looks especially festive with snow falling.

December Photo Project, Day 11

A delightful afternoon of tea drinking and reading by the fire (and playing with the camera - this is about 400 shots in -- at least I'm finally learning about all the features of it!).

The top ten reasons I love cold weather

Finally we had a brief cold snap over the last week or so and I've been soaking it up! It won't be long before it warms up again, so I'll enjoy it while I can. Here are my top ten reasons for loving cold weather:

10) Warm and fuzzy slippers

9) Hot tea (that I can't get enough of these days) with lots of milk and sugar

8) Fires in the fireplace and the smell of chimney smoke in the air

7) Snow (or at least the threat of it!)

6) Seeing my breath outside

5) Figure-forgiving clothes

4) Snuggling with my hubby to stay warm

3) Scarves and gloves

2) Sunset at 5:30 (feels cozier somehow)

and the number 1 reason to love cold weather:

FRIZZ FREE HAIR!!!!!

December Photo Project, Day 10

I definitely don't enjoy mornings. When I have to get up before sunrise, it is most definitely a chore. But when I'm out and can actually see the sunrise, especially on a chilly morning like today was, it is always worth it. Beautiful!

December Photo Project, Day 9

I made a peanut butter pie with chocolate crust for my book club tonight, where we all made recipes from the Mary Mac's Tea Room Cookbook. The authors were there to tell us about their book and restaurant and we all enjoyed a feast! It was a lot of fun! :)

December Photo Project, Day 8

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care.. (Ok, so we don't have a chimney, just a vent. But you get the idea!)

December Photo Project, Day 7

Hot coffee with a friend after Christmas shopping on a very cold day!

December Photo Project, Day 6

Scout likes to help with the laundry. She loves socks.

December Photo Project, Day 5

My little friend Alexa thought it great fun to play with my scarves today.

December Photo Project, Day 4

The obligatory photo in front of the tree. I think we've done this most years since we've been married. I think Nick was wearing that same sweater in most of them as well.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Nick and I went and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 today. We both really enjoyed it. I've been looking forward to seeing it, but hadn't wanted to go with everyone else last week when it opened. We got to see it Friday afternoon at the IMAX theater and we were two of about 10 people there, so it was great! I love having movie theaters to myself!! The two and a half hours flew by and it was very well done. Of course it differed from the book in parts, but on the whole it stuck closely to it. I'm glad they made it a two part movie so that they could leave in as much as possible.

Very fun and entertaining movie!

December Photo Project, Day 3

This is a terrible photo (I know I'm not a photographer and have no eye for this kind of thing -- maybe by the end of the month), but here is a picture of a piece of pottery I painted last week. It turned out better than I expected and isn't something I have to hide in a closet like I thought it would be (though I am glad I can throw it with the Christmas stuff)!

December Photo Project, Day 2

Apparently Boo wants to be regifted to someone for Christmas this year.

December Photo Project, Day 1

This is one of my favorite ornaments and one of my favorite verses. I thought it would be a good way to start off the photo project.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above." -James 1:17

I think I'm going to try it...

A picture a day until Christmas day...we'll see how it goes. I'm not a photographer by any stretch, but I do like blog entries with pictures. Stay tuned for pic #1 after school today!

Decorations are up!

Last night Nick and I got in the Christmas spirit, each in our own way. He hates to decorate and I hate to wrap presents, so we each do the other's despised task. He is really good at wrapping presents too, albeit slow (in the 2ish hours we spent doing Christmas prep last night, I think he only wrapped 10 presents or so). Here he is wrapping away at his wrapping station (I should have turned the dining room light off - he looks very sinister!).


Meanwhile I turned on "Sleepless in Seattle", one of my stack of Christmas movies that I intend to re-watch this season, and "decked the halls." We proudly display the Alabama Santa hat atop the tree, despite their not-so-stellar season.


Ready for Santa!

Thanksgiving fun

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family and friends this past weekend. On Thursday we drove to Alabama to see Nick's relatives. We played games, ate lots of food, and visited. We also got pumped up for the big game between Auburn and Alabama on Friday (which unfortunately, Alabama lost). Nick's relatives are all Auburn fans so we were definitely in the minority, but that didn't stop us from supporting our team:

For all you non-football fans, the shirt above reads "Nick is My Homeboy" in reference to the coach of the Alabama team, Nick Sabin. However, I find it stinking hilarious since I'm married to a Nick and plan to wear it all the time. :)

Thursday night we headed home and got to Walmart at midnight to do a little shopping. Never. Again. I'm a big fan of Black Friday shopping and have always had good experiences the years we've gotten up at the crack of dawn. But Walmart at midnight was my own personal nightmare. I've never seen a store so crowded, things so poorly marked, and people so terribly unfriendly. We got a couple of gifts, but left quickly to get home to bed.

Friday we got up around 9 and did a new version of Black Friday shopping (after the big crowds had gone) at Target. We were able to get everything we wanted despite the late hour, so maybe we'll just do that in years to come and skip the 3am wake-up call. We then headed to my parents' house to reenact Thanksgiving with my family.



A family tradition is singing Christmas carols to ring in the season (notice the lack of men - they closed the doors to the den so they could watch football). These are my aunts and mom. I inherited the job of playing the piano for our caroling after my grandmother was unable to see well enough.

Saturday we hit the road once again, this time to Chattanooga to see our friends Dave and Meg and their family ('cause once in one week is definitely not enough!). We enjoyed a fantastic spaghetti dinner (true Italian style - Mrs. D. made the noodles and everything!) and played games late into the night!

I'm paying for the whirlwind weekend a bit with the total exhaustion I feel, but hopefully I will recover today and tomorrow just in time for school to be back in session! Three weeks 'til Christmas break!!

I'm thankful!

I'm thankful for the many blessings that the Lord has given me. For my husband, my family and friends, my home, church, and so much more. Most especially I'm thankful for the saving grace I've been given through Christ. His sacrifice enables me to give thanks in the first place!

"O give thanks to the LORD for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Friends

We had a great weekend with our friends Dave and Meagan and their two boys who came to visit us on their way to see family for Thanksgiving. Dave and Nick played golf and tennis, as usual, and Meg and I went shopping (also as usual). We enjoyed dinner out one night and very late nights talking and laughing. It was a fun time with our friends that we don't get to see very often. On Sunday we had a house full with Emily and Dave (lots of Daves in the house) and their kids.

Dave and Nick

Meg and me:
The Daves and Nick playing Settlers of Cataan on Sunday afternoon:
William and Alexa became fast friends:
A few other shots we got that afternoon: