let's do it!!

This is kind of last minute...but that's OK. Some things we need to just do without
pondering it too long, ya know?

Jump on board with me to do one of these Bible reading plans for 2011.
And let's STICK TO IT.
Then just see what God will do in our hearts.
I can't wait!

Grab This Button!

lint brush announcement

Attention household family members:


Perhaps we should have a better home for our lint brush
other than the pile of socks in the laundry room.

Love,
Mom

christmas break {bitter-sweet}

Christmas vacation is so bitter/sweet, isn't it?

No homework.
Bored kids.
No school activities.
Bored kids.
High hopes to get a ton done around the house...
but there's those darn bored kids.
So, the to-do list remains lengthy as our time off slips away.

Ok, now I'm really depressed.

Well,
I did organize some things.
So, that's good.
And I managed to get he kids to the mall.
That's good.
Actually, it wasn't.
It was packed beyond all reason.
What's wrong with people wanting to shop while I do?

So, in exactly one week my kids start school back up again.

I'm ready/not ready.

One more week would be just super.
Oh yeah, but the kids would be sooooo bored.

Anyone else?


Do share your joys/frustrations with Auntie Lori.

introducing....

Molly Monster.

Meet my new BFF.
She's the sweetest, scariest (not really) monster ever.
And I love her dearly.

She sits on my desk, keeping watch over things.

Maddy, a darling teenage girl at our church, is selling her knitting projects
to raise money for her missions trip.
That in and of itself is fabulous,
don't you think?
But the cherry on top is that her projects are the cutest things ever.
Oh, and to boot, her family is a rockin' cool adoptive family.
We love people like that, yes?
Yes, indeed we do.

Please check out her blog.
And use your Christmas money to buy yourself something.





Thanks, Maddy!

a merry christmas, very!

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good
gifts to those who ask him!"
Matt. 7:11

I love how each and every gift given and received on Christmas reflects the
generous love of our mighty God!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Our Christmas celebration started out with our traditional
gathering on Christmas eve at my parents' house.

All us kids bought them a digital frame,
which they LOVED!
The perfect gift for grandparents with 16(+) grandkids!

Lucy delicately opening a gift in her
beautiful dress.
That she will want to wear everyday for quite some time, I'm sure.

Sweet sisters.

Nick.
Bored? Amused? Excited?
Who knows.

Macy with baby Noah.
This little guy was born a week after Christmas last year
WAY early and was a peanut at just under two pounds.
But he fought like crazy and has made
huge strides in the last year.
And so has Macy.
:)

The fam.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Christmas morning.

Lucy needed a teeny bit of time to warm up.

getting warmer...

almost there...

We're ready, we're ready!!

Macy is going to kill me for posting pics of her
pre-primping...but none of us were
at our best, looks-wise.
She was pretty darn excited about her new iPod Shuffle!

Lucy has wanted a pink cowgirl hat forever!

Either I'm really weird...or just getting old
(quite possibly both),
but I really do love getting practical gifts.

Look! A new big rice cooker for the growing (and growing) Asian
population in our house.

Say it ain't so!
A new toaster!
How's a girl to contain this kind of excitement?

A digital frame of my own!
Score!

Boys and their toys.
Oh, no...we didn't buy B an Apple laptop.
We aren't that generous.
He saved up his own money for that one.

Bren and his new drinking-straw glasses.
Chick.Magnet.
Yes, ladies, he's single.

Ok, you've got to take your time looking at the next
few pics. They're priceless. At least to me.

The entire time we were opening presents, there was a big
red blanket covering something...right next to Lucy.
She didn't notice it one bit.

Then at the end of all our presents,
Kel pointed it out to her...

Lucy, are you ready??

Wow, wow, wow!!

The look on both of their faces is priceless!

My daddy's the best.
Especially in his cowboy pajamas.

Does it get any better than that?
Seriously.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After our Christmas at home we went to Kelly's parents' house.

His side of the family is way, way, way smaller than mine.

Here are ALL the girls...Yep, that's it.
It's kinda fun, I think!

Here are most of the guys playing a mean game
of Jeopardy on Wii.
They look perplexed, don't they?

Father/son team.
They rocked.

Lucy bug in her Christmas dress, day 2.
She was really winding down at this point.

And then...

my SIL and I had a blast with the dance game in Wii.
We're pretty darn groovy.

Real groovy.

And that wraps up another wonderful Christmas.

I hope your's was fabulous too.

home again, home again

We are home from our little trip, safe and sound.
So thankful for that!

We had a fun last night in our cabin.
We watched the movie, Elf (so funny!),
and got in a workout....

Nick insisted he could lift me just as easily.
So we gave it a try.
Ahem.
To his credit, he got me up higher than I predicted.
But...it was pretty much a flop.
Especially since I giggled excessively.
No pics, sorry.

On our way out this morning,
Kel worked on getting the camera set up to take a family pic.

A tad off-center.

Ok.
Now that's more like it.
Nice!

Now I'm gearing up for Christmas.
I can't wait!!
I love, love, love it so much!

last day of vacay

We are heading home in a little while.
Thank goodness.

We're having fun but I tell ya, there's something about being with
three teens and a five year old non-stop that just makes
a mom wanna hurl herself off
the cabin balcony.
Don't worry, it's a very short drop.

Anyway, we made it to Silver Dollar City yesterday.
We had such high hopes that it wouldn't be crowded at all
because 75% of Branson is closed right
now because of winter.
But no,
folks from who knows where all came out at the very same
time as us.
It was really disappointing because there were a lot of little shows we
wanted to go see but the lines were ridiculous.
So we just rode a few rides and enjoyed all the billions of lights
and then went back to the cabin.


Here is Lucy waiting in line for Fire in the Hole.

For those of you who have been here, you know what a classic ride this is.
It's an indoor "roller coaster" (very mild) that I've been riding
since I was probably Lucy's age.
She was so excited.

And nervous.
She had a very hard time trying to decide which of us she wanted
to ride with. She changed her mind about a dozen times
during our wait to get on.
She finally decided on Brenden.
Good choice.
No on makes a coaster ride more thrilling than B, as you can imagine.

Then we moved on to the The Teacups.
The three big kids rode together.
As you can see by the blur,
they had that thing spinning so fast it was terrifying.
And don't worry,
that alarming look on Macy's face was her laughing hysterically.

Lucy and I barely rotated our cup of Earl Grey.
It was smooth and easy, just like a giant mug of tea should be.

And the bigs continued until they practically threw up.

So then Kel and Lucy jumped on the Elephant ride.

And here are the teens as they waited.
Just look at 'em.
Pitiful poops.
Couldn't get a smile out of any of them.

Moving on...Nick's mood changed quickly when he rode
The Happy Frogs with Lucy.
Because it is stinkin' fun.
Seriously, this thing bounces you til you're giddy.

The lights here are incredible.
They go crazy wrapping all the trees, buildings, and fences.
There is Christmas music playing
and the entire thing is VERY Christ-centered.
I love this Christian owned theme park so much.

Oh, but I forgot to mention,
it was SOOOO COLD!!!

At this point, Lucy was the crankiest of all the crankies.
Don't you love how her ear muffs have turned
into cheek muffs?
Adorable.
But not me.
I'm Miss Perky all the time.
(If any of my family leaves a comment, ignore it)

We'll be home soon!

Can't wait for Christmas!