my christmas top eleven

1. having all my wrapping done before christmas eve (a first for me!)
2. rusty hanging up christmas lights on the house (after ella begged us!) for the first time, only to find that they didn't work....AND the lights had a recall on them so r had to take them down and return them to the store. there will definitely have to be some more begging next year to get him to do that again!
3. having our friends marty, robyn, abby and andrew come visit us for a few days
   
4. watching ella sing in her school program
   
5. hearing evan ask for "mickey mouse merry christmas" every single morning over and over and over again (it's the mickey mouse twice upon a christmas movie that my kids have literally seen a 100 times at least the past couple weeks)
6. celebrating christmas with my extended family at my sister's house. there were 21 adults and 19 kids!! full house!
   
7. almost starting a fire at our church's christmas eve service! during the end of the service, we all held candles and ella's started melting on her hands. she threw her candle down and started freaking out over the hot wax! (while daddy was trying not to be distracted on the stage as he was playing guitar and singing for the service!)
   
8. my twin niece and nephew crying and fighting over the (one) vaccuum we got them for christmas!! mental note: never buy them a joint gift...even if it comes in 2 parts (a dust buster and vaccuum that i thought they could share!) see video below!! it was hilarious!!
   
9. evan talking to grandpa on the phone on christmas morning...and he was showing grandpa his new scooter that he got. evan got on the scooter and rode over to the phone and said "watch me grandpa". it was so sweet....and grandpa had a good laugh.
   
10. ella telling me that she thinks santa bought her new ballerina dress and princess DVD at toys 'r us because they have all the toys!
    
11. driving around for 45 minutes on christmas night trying to find somewhere to eat dinner! we tried TGI Friday's but there was a 45 minute wait! and the only other place open was a chinese restaurant having a seafood buffet...and it smelled kinda gross inside! so we ended up at one of the many waffle houses we drove by that actually had an open table available. it was a fun dining experience...and a cultural one!

i'm so thankful for the many memories we made this christmas....here are some pictures and make sure you don't miss the video of the twins at the bottom!!

a merry christmas

after all the hustle and bustle, i feel like i have been able to take a deep breathe today and actually relax. it has been a joyful day today...filled with lots of smiles, laughter and thankfulness. i can only pray that through all the unwrapping of gifts, the toys galore, the family get togethers, lots of food and sweets, christmas trees, christmas lights and santa claus...that my children will be able to really get what this day is all about. i can only pray that they will see Jesus through it all. that they will be able to experience his amazing love, hope, peace and mercy. and may you all experience Him throughout the coming year of 2007! merry christmas!

another birthday for my hubby

today is my husband's 33rd birthday. yes, he always got gipped (sp?) on his birthday. i usually try to separate his birthday and christmas...although today i had to pull a present that was under the tree to give to him. i honestly meant to wrap it in birthday paper...and just forgot (sorry honey :)!)

i told him in his card that i wouldn't want to grow old with anyone else. i'm so thankful for having such a loving husband who is wonderful to me...and to our family. i can't imagine life without him...so here's to another 33 years...and more! happy birthday rusty!!

(if you know rusty personally...maybe you could leave a comment for him and send your happy birthday wishes...and have a little pity on him since his birthday often gets overlooked!! poor thing) :)

songs of an angel

ella had her preschool christmas program yesterday morning. i was one proud mama! she has been SOO excited for this day to come...to get to sing on stage and have mommy and daddy watch! she has been practicing her songs every day for us. she has the sweetest little voice...so high and soft.

but for this song (in the video below)...it wasn't too angelic-like! this was her favorite song to sing (or shout!). notice her mouth on the last word she sang, "born"...so funny!

there was another song that was slower and softer and was absolutely precious. she even did sign language to the words. i started crying! it was just so sweet to see my baby girl look all grown up singing her songs that she was so excited to sing for us. this is one of the true joys of parenting.

what is up?

what is going on with blogger? i haven't been able to comment on some of my favorite blogs the past few days. is anyone else having this problem? i think its those who have switched to beta blogger. its so frustrating. i have yet to switch over...i'm not really sure what the benefits are to using it. anyway, sorry to my friends who i haven't left comments on your recent posts. i've tried!

3 of my favorite christmas albums...just in case you were dying to know

JOHN DENVER & THE MUPPETS "A Christmas Together"
wow. i love this album...yes, i admit it. it brings back lots of childhood memories. my sister and i had the album and we had every song memorized. i especially enjoy miss piggy singing "ba dum dum dump" after singing "5 golden rings" in the 12 days of christmas. and i love hearing the sweet voice of john denver singing "when the river meets the sea". the muppet show was one of our favorite shows...so i guess it was inevitable that i would love this christmas album. i don't have the cd...i think i need it (hint hint to my dear loved ones).





HARRY CONNICK JR. "When My Heart Finds Christmas"
when i got married, this cd came into my collection (oh, wait, i had no cd collection back then...i wasn't that cool). and every christmas when rusty and i would start decorating the tree, this cd would be played. i love harry connick's music...his jazzy flair that he adds to all his songs is just coolness. my favorite tracks are "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus" and "I Pray On Christmas". i'm sure there are other harry christmas cd's that are good...but this is the only one we have.





ED CASH, ALLEN LEVI & BEBO NORMAN "Joy"
this is another one that we listen to every year. i love the combination of all three of these talented musicians. my hubby grew up in the same town as allen and bebo and knew them both. we have great admiration for their music. my favorite tracks are the first and last..."O Come Emmanuel" and "Go Tell it on the Mountain" (complete with a full gospel choir).




other favorite christmas cd's:
Nativity Songs (this is an annual concert done by various musicians in atlanta...the concert is held at Intown Community Church)

Your King Has Come - Indelible Grace Music

if you have any other good recommendations, pass them on!
** sorry if you use bloglines and it told you i had several new posts...i had to revise this a couple times so the cd images would fit. sometimes blogger drives me crazy.

scary monster face

there's nothing more fun than your children making you laugh. and it's even more fun to get them to do their funny tricks over and over again to make you laugh more. a while back, evan came up to me and said "scary monster" and he made this funny face where his eyes get big, he makes his head shake, and does something funny with his mouth. it is so funny. since that day...we make him do it for us all the time. and we also like to make him do it for other people. we're all about entertaining others, you know!? it may not be as funny in these photos...or the video (this was NOT his best performance...he was being shy for the camera)...but maybe someday you will be blessed to see it in person! you will surely laugh out loud. it gets me every time. love that boy.

try, try again and again and again

i am so thankful for my digital camera. i always like to include a good photo of our family in our christmas cards every year. actually, i usually just take a picture of the kids. but this year i attempted to do all four of us since i had the luxury of snapping away over 100 shots to get the right one! and i am also so thankful for the continuous shooting mode where it lets you snap as many photos in a row that you want...and you can even set it on self-timer. very cool feature.

it was a challenge to get a great shot. we had numerous photo sessions with me setting up the camera, pushing the button, running over to the family, getting into position, and rusty and i attempting to get the kids to look into the camera and smile. it is rather exhausting! there were moments of yelling and moments of laughing. and it's amazing that out of 100 photos taken, that we had only about 3 to choose from that were decent! and i probably will even do a little photoshop work on the one i choose! we would look through the ones taken and say: oh...ella had her eyes closed, or evan has his tongue out, or ew, i don't like my smile in that one, or my hair looks dorky there, or rusty has sleepy eyes in that one, or ella's hand is in the way, or its out of focus, or evan is running out of the photo! CRAZY.

so here is a glimpse of how our photo shoot went. sorry, you won't get to see the final photo that was chosen right now!

um, as you can see...not a good one!


funny face on evan...


and yet another bad one.


me running over to grab evan...quickly!


typical toddler...after the first 10 photos...it was impossible to keep him still!

sniff sniff

i should probably buy stock in Kleenex brand tissues. i have a box in just about every room of my house. and the reason is because i am constantly needing them...therefore, i have them handy and keep them close. my allergies are not great and i feel like i am constantly sniffing. and it seems my whole family has needed them the past month with all the colds we have had.

anyway, i don't know if any of you are nerds like me...but have you noticed the new cool kleenex box designs? i LOVE them. it actually made me so excited to see them in the stores and even though they are more expensive, i still bought some! i would much rather pull a tissue from a cool looking kleenex box than those ugly grandma looking ones! i know, i know, it sounds rather silly. but for a product that is used that much in my house...i want it to be pretty and not an eye sore! go check it out for yourself. thanks kleenex!

white christmas

last night ella and i were having a little conversation about christmas. it went something like this:

me: ella, are you excited that it's christmas time?

ella: yes! so, mommy, is thanksgiving over?

me: yes it is. and now we are going to celebrate christmas. although christmas is not until december 25.

ella: YAY! but mommy (as she looks outside)....where is all the snow!?

so i guess not only is she dreaming of a white christmas, she expects it too! and even though she's four...i think its a pretty good question! considering everything out there that is advertising christmas usually includes snowmen, snowflakes, frosty, north pole...everything has snow!! so come on georgia, how 'bout giving us a white christmas this year and make my daughter happy!

thanksgiving recap

we got home last night from our travels for thanksgiving. it all started thursday morning as we ran around the house trying to pack up and head off for pine mountain, ga for my family reunion. this reunion has been going on for more than 33 years (b/c i went as a baby). this is my mom's side of the family...my gramma was one of eleven children (she is the last one living), so everyone there is all connected to her family. the 11 were: Mittie Bailey, Sis, Bud, Ros, Durand, Thelma, Happy, Vamie, Vivian, Erin (gramma), & Elaine. those are some interesting names! and everyone called their mother "Big Mama".

it was a little strange this year because neither my parents or my sister and her family were there. they went to the beach...without US! (they asked us, we just turned them down...we've been on too many trips lately!). but we still had a nice time. there's just something about being with that many people and knowing you have come from such a rich heritage...i love hearing the history of my grandmother's family. and it's great to see everyone still has enthusiasm about getting together every year for thanksgiving. i hope the tradition will continue...its a little strange to think that some day it will be all up to my generation and our children to keep it going.

after lunch, we headed down the road to spend a couple nights with r's family. their new house is finished and they are all moved in! its such a pretty house and the kids enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny they could find. every closet door and every cabinet door was opened. and ella was looking forward to finding out what surprise grandma and grandpa had for her and evan. it was a playground! rusty and his dad spent the next couple days putting it together for the kids. it was so fun to see the kids smiles on their faces as they played....and much more fun to see grandpa's proud smile watching them enjoy it so much!! thanks g'ma and g'pa!! here are some pictures...


grandpa used a tractor to level off the ground for the playground...evan LOVED watching him move all that dirt!

i love this picture...evan's little head just peaking out from grandpa's lap

ella said "grandpa sure did make a great playground for me and bud to play on!"...and then she gave him a big hug and said "thank you grandpa!" :)

giving thanks

i can't help but notice that there are many people who are already decorating their homes for christmas. we were driving around last night and saw several people outside hanging up lights on their houses and santas, reindeer and snowmen in their yards. it's kinda crazy to me. can't we just enjoy thanksgiving first? i feel like thanksgiving is getting robbed of all its glory. don't get me wrong, i LOVE christmas and honestly we should celebrate Christ's birth year-round, but let's just do one holiday at a time...you know?

i just got home from hobby lobby where they have had christmas things on the shelves for months now. and i must admit, i get excited looking at all of it...so...now i must focus, focus, focus. i must think about what kind of casserole i will make for our big family reunion on thursday and what kind of new yummy cake can i make. and i must think about how grateful i am to be living in a country where freedom surrounds us. and i will be thankful that i can worship the God of the universe and his Son who gave his life for me so that i may live! and be thankful for the founding fathers of this country who fought for these freedoms. and be grateful for my loving family, for the joy that they bring me and how they light up my heart in too many ways to count. and for friends that are so dear and so needed in my life.

it's just too easy to get caught up in how commercialized these holidays can be. i want to take the time to enjoy each one and try to focus more on what they each mean. so tomorrow, after my daughter has her charlie brown thanksgiving feast at her preschool and watches the charlie brown movie, i will attempt to help her understand what thanksgiving is all about (especially since she is already asking when christmas is going to be here!).

1 Chronicles 16:8
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

i don't want a shot...i don't want a shot...i don't want a shot

over and over and over again...screaming, crying and yelling "i don't want a shot". this is how it went this morning for ella. we actually were taking evan in for his 2 month check up but i wanted both kids to get their flu shots. before evan was called back, they called for ella. i didn't mention anything to her about getting a shot. we got her back into the room and she absolutely FREAKED OUT. nothing would calm her down. she had her legs wrapped around my legs. she was shaking, trembling, and so frightened of getting another shot. (she got one at her last check up in august and it was not a pleasant experience). the nurses tried to take her and set her down on the table...she fought HARD. i finally gave into her and told her she didn't have to have one...after using any kind of bribery i could think of and nothing was calming her down.

we went back to the waiting room to wait for evan's check up. i continued to try to talk to her about the whole situation. nothing worked. she continued to cry and yell and worry. evan did awesome for our doctor...at least i had one calm child with me. then...we decided to let the nurses do the dirty job without me in the room. i stood outside the door while i heard my poor little girl scream and fight and try to escape the needle!!! it was bad. but once it was done....she calmed down pretty quick and she actually didn't hate me afterwards. and the nurses even got a hug from her.

through all of this, i just kept thinking why do i have to force my child to get something like this that she is absolutely terrified of...when it's not absolutely necessary? it seemed like torture. the nurses reassured me that they have lots of children that react this way and that they just have to pin them down forcefully. it just sounds so brutal, doesn't it? but what ella doesn't understand is that this tiny, quick, sting will help prevent her from getting a longer-lasting, horrible sickness. so i guess its just all a part of parenthood...trying to protect our children. and i'm sure there are some good, deep, spiritual analogies that i could draw from the whole experience...but i'm too tired to think about it right now!

once that red sucker was in her mouth...the tears were gone. i just wonder what will happen next time!

no idea what to say

so i'm back from my week and i'm a little speechless. it's not that i'm at a loss for words...it's just knowing how to get them down on "paper" from my head. r and i had an incredible week and walked away with so much stuff that we are still processing through. we are so thankful for our time together and for what God did in our hearts. our time at Sonship was invaluable to us...

i'm trying to get back into the swing of life after having been away from my kids for 6 days! thanks to our parents for lovingly keeping them while we were gone!

so that's all for now. i'll have to write more later after i figure out exactly what to say!

a blogging hault

so i'm leaving town for another week...this time with rusty to a conference. won't be around blogging. but i'm sure i'll have plenty to blog about when i return.

my baby is 2

today we had evan's 2nd birthday party (he will be 2 on the 9th) and i REALLY can't believe that my baby is 2. seriously, where does the time go?!

we had a puppy party. is it torture to have a puppy party for your son who is terrified of dogs?! well we made sure there were no real dogs around. just cute little friends of evan who turned into puppies at the party. we made puppy ears, and played a game where they got to eat puppy chow out of doggie bowls, and they ran around and barked and woofed. i think they all had fun!

as for this occasion...the last 2 years of life with evan...i have loved tremendously. my boy has a huge hold of my heart and i don't think i could love him more. happy birthday my sweet, sweet boy!!

"tick or twee"

sticking with the tv show favorite around here...ella and evan dressed up as 2 characters from the backyardigans. the day i bought their costumes, they ran around the house in such excitement...it was priceless!! definitely worth the price of the costumes! ella was "uniqua" (or "uniq-you-a" as she says) and evan was "pablo" (or "tyro" as evan says cuz "tyrone" is his favorite character). i thought they were super cute! evan put on his costume for these pictures and then we took the costumes off to eat dinner. when it was time to go trick or treating....we had to fight to get his costume back on. he was SO enjoying running around in just a diaper! so after all the tears, i ended up having to carry him to the first few houses. and mama couldn't handle that for long! we took him back home and let him pass out candy with daddy. so ella and i enjoyed trick or treating together. it was a fun night.

california dreamin'

ella has already said that she wants to go back. she already misses her friends that she played with all week in california! so needless to say, we had a wonderful time away. we stayed with our friends katie and brian who have 3 kids. so with my 2 kids added to the mix, it was a crazy week! we did manage to have a few good conversations in between the chaotic moments! i think i aged a little through all the craziness...actually i did! i went to CA as a 32 yr old and came home 33! kate took me to a yummy tapas restaurant for my birthday. (thanks kate...we are all so thankful for everything and for hosting us for a week! i love you my friend!)

it would be hard to write about everything we did and saw. so i tried to narrow down the many pictures i took to help recap our time there. enjoy!


these are the friends we stayed with. all 9 of us together. the middle pic is me and katie. the last pic is me, wendi and katie. wendi had her baby the monday night before i got there!





in the bottom right photo are our friends that we met while at northwestern univ. in chicago 5 years ago. they live outside of modesto. they joined us at this place called "happy hallow" where they have a small zoo and fun kid rides.

in the very first picture there is a sea lion (i think) that i didn't even know was there until i uploaded my photos yesterday...very cool!

goin' back to cali

it has been almost 20 years since i was in california. we took a road trip out to LA one summer to see where my mom grew up. but i've never been to northern california. i leave tomorrow (well technically tonight since it's now after midnight!) for san francisco to visit my friends! i'm SO excited. and one of my friends is actually IN LABOR as i type this!! so i will get to meet and hold her newest little boy. i'm excited to see a part of the country i've never seen. but mostly i'm excited to spend time with my best friends for a whole week!

so after a long day...and an even longer day tomorrow...i'm headed to bed! be back in a week!

back to our regularly scheduled programming

my last post was kinda out of the blue and nothing to do with...well...what i normally post about, which is my family. although music is something i love and should be part of "my eleven". anyway, so i'll get back to my regular stuff.

tonite on the way home from the mall, we passed a pumpkin patch. they have those huge inflatable pumpkins, ghosts, frankenstein, and more pumpkins just begging for my children to yell "look mommy, pumpkins! pumpkins"...or rather "punkins, punkins!" and tonite, ella went on to say, "mommy, i love halloween and winter. it's my favorite part of the fourth of july!"

now that is a blog-worthy quote!

continuum

i have to give a plug for my boy john mayer. i treated myself yesterday at target and bought his latest cd "Continuum." it does not disappoint. his previous cd's i continue to enjoy..."Room for Squares" and "Heavier Things". they are the kind of cds where you never want to skip a song b/c all of them are super. and his latest is no exception.

his ability to pull you into his music is amazing. i love how jazzy, soulful, and emotional this cd is....its about life, love, politics and everything in between. he is an incredibly talented songwriter, musician, and singer. can you tell i like him? his gifts continue to just get better and better over time. collaborating with steve jordan and pino palladino (joined him for john mayer trio) have only seemed to push him toward broadening his sounds....and he has shown it in "continuum".

so there is my brief review for what it's worth. just go see for yourself.

a whole lotta "ba-gans" going on

if you don't know who these guys are, well come on over to my house and ella will be glad to introduce you. tasha, uniqua, tyrone, austin, and pablo seem to show up way too often around here. evan calls them "ba-gans"...the official name is Backyardigans. i'm having a hard time limiting their viewing pleasure to 2 backyardigans a day! they LOVE this show. and although i'm getting quite tired of the theme song, i actually think the show is pretty cute. these little guys can sing so well and they have some pretty sweet dance moves! ella's latest favorite episode is the new one, "Mission to Mars." and good thing we have our DVR, cuz i can let her watch it whenever she wants (well, not whenever she wants...i do say "no" on some occasions!).

anyway, so between "Eureka!", "Cave Party", "Quest for the Flying Rock", "Viking Voyage", "Tea Party", "Polka Palace", "Race to the Tower of Power", etc etc....it is actually encouraging my little one's imaginations and increasing their desire to sing and dance. and it brings smiles to their faces and lots of giggles. so i don't mind a little tv if it means those things.

does anyone know what kind of animal "uniqua" is?? i haven't quite figured that one out yet...i'm sure i could look it up, but it's not in my internet surfing plans right now...."now it's time for us to have a snack meet you next time wheeeeen weeeee're baaaaaaack with your friends the backyaaaaardigans!" :)

some pics from the wedding

the wedding was amazing...read my previous post to know what wedding i'm talking about! the location was beautiful...it was held at Frogtown winery outside of dahlonega. it was the perfect setting for this couple who LOVE the outdoors...they are avid mountain bikers, hikers, runners, etc)...so it just fit them perfectly. jenn looked absoulutely beautiful. the view was breathtaking. the food was divine. the wine was fantastic. it was a fun night. here are some pics...

pretty background, huh?


sweet kids...they had fun at the wedding. ella wondered why she wasn't the flower girl. :)


the happy couple

jenn and me

the other happy couple :)

amy (wisch) and me (another one of my bridesmaids)

the last one to tie the knot

so i know this sounds obnoxious...but i had 12 bridesmaids. i really wouldn't have had it any other way. half of them were high school friends and the other half were my college friends...plus my sister who was my matron of honor. and there would have been 13, but one of my college friends was living in japan at the time (i still say she was a bridesmaid even though she wasn't there)!

i was in 10 of those bridesmaid's weddings. oh what a plethora of bridesmaids dresses i have in my closet! pink, green, blue, black, etc. (still don't know what to do with them). here is the rundown of when everyone else got married (this is mainly for my sake to have it recorded when i'm old and can't remember anything!):

1. Jorja - August 1991 (she discipled me in college)
2. Tracy - April 1995 (H.S. friend)
3. Michelle - July 1995 (H.S. friend)
4. Stacy - September 1995 (sister)
5. Katie - May 1997 (college friend)
6. Amy - October 1997 (college friend)
7. Angela - November 1997 (college friend)
8. Sandy - May 1998 (H.S. friend)
9. Lori - September 1999 (H.S. friend)
10. Rebecca - May 1999 (college roommate)
11. Wendi - December 2000 (college friend)
12. Heidi - April 2002 (H.S. friend)
13. Jennifer - October 2006 (college friend)

and yes, jenn is the last one to tie the knot...TODAY!! it's pretty exciting to see that all of my friends are married and, for the most part, have happy, healthy marriages! its a miracle, really, considering the divorce rate these days. as i typed each of their names, it brings back many memories with each of them. some of them i keep in touch with more than others and i'm ok with that. most of them will be lifetime friends that i will continue to hang on to because they are so dear to me. there's a lot of history there in those relationships that helped define and make me who i am today.

last night i attended the rehearsal dinner for jennifer and the wedding is tonight in dahlonega, georgia....a beautiful outdoor setting in the mountains. a great celebration of my last bridesmaid to get married!

here's a photo of my wedding...it's a photo of a photo...my scanner is on the outs. so its not a great picture, but still wanted to post it.
amy, jorja, jenn, angela, katie, stacy, me, heidi, tracy, michelle, lori, sandy, rebecca

lost is back

i'm pretty excited about the LOST premiere tomorrow night. we haven't missed an episode of this addictive show. it will be interesting to see how this season compares with previous ones. the minute i start doubting if they can keep it exciting and keep my interest, the writers throw a curve ball and one of those shocking scenes that leave your mouth wide open at the end of the show. now that "the others" are being revealed and after capturing some of our beloved castaways, i'm so curious to see what will happen next. in my limited capacity for imagination, i just can't figure out how the show can keep getting better....but it has.

and i'm committed.

and i'll be watching tomorrow night!

will you?