i'm a mess

So yesterday morning around 11:00 my mom came over for a visit.
We had coffee, I cut her hair, then she took Macy shopping for a few hours.

They got back to our house later in the afternoon and my mom said to me,
"OH. You haven't gotten dressed yet?"

Me,
"Yes, I'm dressed...this is the outfit I picked out for today!"

Cute tee-shirt with flannel pajama bottoms.
Hello, comfort!

She really did teach me better than that.
Like the time when I was about 16 and she was shocked
that I was going out on a date (with K-man) and my toenails
weren't polished, even though I was wearing sandals.
I knew better.

I've just gone off the deep in in rebellion.

I'm a mess.

a special gift {peanut butter and jelly...}

Isaiah got a very special gift at Ninny and Papa's house.


Very special, indeed.



A jar of peanut butter and jelly.

Or as he calls it,
Peanut butter and jellyfish.



He loves him some peanut butter and jellyfish sandwiches.

my island {really!}

So, here's the big reveal.

The unbelievable gift my husband gave me
for Christmas.

Hold onto your seats.


He got me...

an island.

Yes, you read that right.

An ISLAND.

I don't mean, an island just to enjoy for a week.
I mean, an island that we OWN.
A real life island.
ALL mine, until I get tired of it.

Now, I know exactly what you're thinking.
What the heck?
Isn't that a bit extravagant...or A LOT extravagant?
And expensive?
WAY expensive?

Well, it's way more practical and affordable than you'd think.

Really.
It is.

It's just simply the greatest thing he could have got for me right now.
I need the extra space to stretch out.
I need the relaxation of more room to expand.







You can have one, too.



Just run over to Home Depot.

Wait...what did you think I meant?





*Coconuts compliments of one of my partners in crime, Patty.

our christmas

Christmas Eve...

My mom did a little drawing for all the kids...
with little consumable gifts, just for fun.
You should have seen Eli's face
as he stood there holding a cake mix, his very first Christmas gift.
It was hilarious.

It was the most lovely evening.


Christmas morning...

Brenden's stocking was filled with lots of practical things...
including a spatula.
He was pretty stoked.
Who wouldn't be?

The kids had a blast.
Lots of fun things were unwrapped.

Brenden bought his father some cigars.
Of course he did.

One really great moment was when Macy opened up a pair of jeans...

And, "What's that??"....a new cell phone just happened to be ringing in the back pocket.

She was pretty excited, as you can see.

Christmas afternoon...

It was a very special day.




But let's back up a bit.

My big boys did something pretty "special".
I should have seen this coming, honestly.

Last year my dear husband bought me this fabulous frame...

Look how completely excited I was.
I loved it.
I love it.

But it sat in my living room.
And sat.
And sat and sat and sat.
Photo-free.

Several comments were made throughout the year
about my beautiful picture frame, sans any pictures.
I got harassed for moving it out of the way,
and even dusting it occasionally.


So, they thought they'd give it another shot.

Look how stoked I am, all over again!!

It was pretty funny.
We'll see what strides I make with it this year.




*****

It was such a fabulous Christmas.
But I have one thing left to share with you...later.
Stay tuned to see THE MOST amazing gift my husband has ever given me.
Oh my. It is big.

You won't believe it.

what's your favorite song?

I bet you didn't know this about me.

I hate Christmas songs.

AAACK.

Can I even say that without feeling loads of guilt?

No, I cannot.

Truth is, I get so tired of a hundred renditions of
White Christmas...and all the others.

Drives me batty.

I listen to worship music 100% of the year...so I just don't find
it necessary to suddenly sing about our Savior.
Because, I do that ALL the time.

Anyhoo...

I do enjoy some of the classic hymns.

"Oh, Holy Night"
is my all time favorite.

We sang it at church last night at our candle light service.

The words, they are glorious.

So, what's your favorite Christmas song?



Please do not say, "Jingle Bells."

here's what's really going on

Things are busy-busy in our cozy cottage in the country,
as we prepare for Christmas.
We are having the governor over for rib roast, served
with red wine from our vineyard.
And Lori will make her award-winning 5-layer Fudge Cake
from the cocoa beans she picked in Guatemala last spring.
We will hop on our chartered jet Christmas afternoon for three weeks in Maui.
Then come home to relax before going back to work
at our Fortune 500 company.

The children all have 4.0's in school and hope to travel overseas
to study next semester.
They are currently working on learning Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.
Their holiday project is to write a thesis in each language.
Every evening they knit sweaters for the homeless from our sheep's wool...



Wait, wait, wait!!

...This isn't our family Christmas newsletter.

Silly me.

Here's what's really going on...



My new hens are laying eggs now and I couldn't be more tickled.
Look how little they are compared to my big hens' eggs.
Although, this is no doubt a double-yoker.

Basketball is in full-swing.
And the fans couldn't be happier.

Lucy always begs to go watch Nick play...then is bored after 3 1/2 minutes.
But aren't her bangs cute?
We cut them on a whim the other night.
As with any vain woman, she was highly distraught afterwards.

Nick's epic talents...

Well, that's all I have for you now.

Please excuse me,
I need to get back to writing our Christmas newsletter.

all boy

Today is the first day of Christmas vacation.

Fun, fun.

So I have these kids on a strict schedule.
Sorta.

I sent them outside to play after lunch...
I looked out the window
and something caught my eye.

Isaiah, pants hoisted up, enjoying a puddle to the fullest.

He is all boy, I tell ya.

coolest mom on the planet

Who's the coolest mom on the plant?

Go ahead, guess.

YES!

That's right...it's ME!
And that makes YOU the coolest guessers on the planet.


And I am especially cool today because guess what I did?
Guess!

YES!

That's right...I spent the day making bread.
THEN, I had to pick Macy up from school for piano lessons
and YES, I absolutely
DID bring a warm loaf of whole wheat cinnamon swirl, fresh out of the oven,

with me so she would have THE most delicious snack after
a long day of finals.

Yes, it's on a cutting board with a bread knife on the side.
I thought of everything except a kettle of hot tea.
Dang it.
Next time!
And half the loaf may or may not have been eaten
by the time we got home.

And it may have or have not have been just Macy and me in the car.


And I may or may not be eying the rest of the loaf
to eat after dinner.

That's how I roll.

And roll and roll and roll.

reality blogging

Weekends around here are either:

A. Exciting-packed-full-of-productivity.
OR
B. Lazy-daisy-easy-peasy.

This weekend has been Option A.

I love Option-A weekends.
Mainly because I can't stand people sitting around my house
doing nothing.
Unless it's me doing the sitting around doing nothing.

Anyway,
let's take a look at what's happened, thus far.



FRIDAY NIGHT:

This is the result of leaving six kids and a can of snow at home while parents
go Christmas shopping.

You should see my bathroom mirrors.

SATURDAY:

My big boys were instructed to dig a hole.
A fence post hole, to be exact.

So they did.

As the situation received further assessment,
it was decided by the committee that they would just use the hole to send
the children back to China.

Further assessment gave them a change of heart.

Then we went to a gun show.

Then Isaiah was being all-boy by kicking the little gnats flying around.

Praise the Lord!

Then Brenden caught a ride on K-Man's sexy tractor (that's what he calls it).
Sexy Rhoda Kabota.

Then we had a family meeting about whether we needed to go to the car wash or not.

Then we went to the car wash.


The End.


I do hope you'll tune in next week for more reality blogging.