Faith, Family and Friends

Christmas is Coming!

Come, take a quick tour of our home~

not as elaborate as times past,

but just as loved and enjoyed.

{And the upkeep is so minimal!}

{I would love to hide this fuse box!

Can we ask why it's NOT in a closet?!}

This twig tree is lit and so romantic at night~

Yes, he allowed me to move

the 'flying A' guest towel

in order to use a seasonal one~

This following snapshot was taken a couple

of Sundays ago at Marchelle's.

Jenny was hoping to get a family picture

for a Christmas card. This is about as close

as she got and although she didn't use it

~ and we all loved it.

This family is pretty much like this all the time.

and this one? Well, it's pure happiness

and total abandonment to childhood~

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

PS~For a look at 204 Spruce in her holiday finery last season, click here. It will always remain our very favorite home~

Flickr is dealing me fits this afternoon as I've tried using their Picnik to enhance and crop pictures!! argh!!! But ~

here is a precious snapshot I took of Noah James this afternoon during dessert. Note the chocolate on his face. And check back later tonight and, hopefully, look at the pictures I've taken to show you our bits and pieces of Christmas~

Merry Christmas~

In keeping with all of you that are posting beautiful snapshots of your home this time of year, dressed in its holiday finery, I shall attempt to get snapshots of our home online today. At some point today. Maybe.

You see, John let me sleep until almost 11 am and I'm moving s-l-o-w. It feels good. I've polished off a cup of coffee and a bowl of Rice Chex, read the paper, checked email, and will soon go get out of my jammies. This is not what I'd planned for Saturday morning, but I have to tell you, it feels really really good. Thanks, John. You always know what I need.

I began pulling out more Christmas decor when I got in last night, but quit when I realized my feet were tired. My body was tired. And the recliner, along with the taco salad I brought home for supper, was looking good. Here's hoping I can garner enough energy to follow through with showing you our Christmas home!!

This is a granmommie bragging ~

sweet 'Laina in a Christmas outfit

from Cute As A Button in downtown Prattville!

and another of the Barbie car

she got for her birthday!

Thanks, Stacey, for the snapshots!!

Thank you for the prayers and notes asking about Johnny. The procedure went well and Dr. Foxhall took several bi0posies. He expects there to be a bacteria, and if so it will respond well to antibiotics. We should know in 3-4 days. There was no ulceration nor does his hiatal hernia need repairing. So far, so good! Nelson sat with me, as the three of us are now a bit nervous of outpatient procedures and afterward went to Cracker Barrel for a scrumptious breakfast! If you haven't had their skillet breakfast, try it. The ham and cheese is my favorite.

Got him home and we both ended up taking naps. He slept off the meds they gave him, I slept 'cause it felt good. Now that I'm retired, I don't look for an excuse anymore {insert big smile here}.

The Advent Conspiracy

How many of you have heard or read or been told of The Advent Conspiracy? I'm beginning to read and learn more and would like to hear from you. You can click above to go directly to the website.

Read further on to get details of our family birthday celebration this morning! Also, say a quick prayer for us, specifically Johnny, in the morning. He will have a simple outpatient procedure {an endoscopy} but the last time one of us had that, it was 77 days later before we made it home together~

Today was Ian's 5th birthday & my mother's 79th.

We met at Ian's favorite eatery, which just happens

to have a playground!

Here are snapshots from this morning~

Nelson inhaled the helium,

and began singing the tune from "Oz"

"we represent the Lollipop kids, the Lollipop kids,

the Lollipop kids" which of course

was in a high, nasal voice!

Ian found this extremely funny, as we all did.

Some of us laughed until tears ran.

which caused Ian to look for a balloon

he could inhale from! {He didn't get one.}

James Nelson {Jim} brought mom into Prattville

and we caught up with his dreams.

He will be enrolling in culinary school

after the New Year!!

Then of course, there was the Slide!

and the playground
surrounded by nets and tubes!

When Noah saw me taking shots,

he cried, "Nan!", then posed for me~

Even after a recent haircut,

he still has his curls.

Thank you, God, for small favors~

The snapshot above was too funny.

Mom was trying to get him to lean over

for a picture. The look on Noah's face

was priceless.

Above are three beautiful men,

inside and out.

Ian wanted a Bat Car to go with his Bat Cave.

Happy Birthday, Mom~

and Happy Birthday, Ian Todd!

I've just gotten in from a trip over to see our Mississippi babies and had such a delightful time!! Reba and I sang our hearts out all the way over and although it rained during the interstate drive this morning, Alabama skies were clear. I have a few things to share but not the time. I have dinner plans with three girlfriends, so it will be later tonight before I can get anything posted. Have a beautiful evening and I'll talk with you soon!!

This is a snapshot of the school grounds where our Stacey teaches 11th graders. Look at the snow! And this was before the buses began leaving! School turned out fairly early Thursday in Pearl, Mississippi. Lucky souls.

Alaina and Austin had such fun playing outside. Here's our sweet grandaughter with her winter set on!

And this gorgeous view is from their driveway looking back toward the subdivision entrance. Can you imagine how envious I am at this moment as I see these pictures once more? I've already had hot chocolate this evening and am waiting for some wild rice soup to simmer and cook through. The weekend ahead will a busy one, but a cold one, and one that will find me surrounded by family and friends. What more can a person want?
S.N.O.W. that's what!

I'm still a wishin' and a hopin'~

Christmas & Cavemen

I took quite a few snapshots tonight hoping to be able to show you some of our Christmas decor. Unfortunately, it was dark outside and obviously inside as well ~ because even with my flash they were still too dark to lighten. Also, it's only AFTER I upload them to the computer do I notice that "hey, I should've moved the mail" or "shoot, it looks like John's head is growing a lampshade". Whatever. This is the only shot worth showing. And it's not even a truly decorated area! I just put some holly greenery on top of the cabinet. So, here's a stab at a snapshot of our Christmas decor. Hopefully, this weekend I'll finish decorating and can get some decent pictures on here to share with you~
On another note, the pain of a throbbing headache woke me up at 5:33 this morning. I managed to get up, follow the wall to the kitchen, find a bottle of pain medication, and realize we had no icy coke to chase it with. I don't know about you, but I like either icy cola or icy sweet tea if I have to take a tablet or liquid. Not water. Unless it's UTI meds, but that's another story.

Ugh, there was nothing in the house but water and milk. Wait! there was a jar of pink grapefruit, so I chased two pain meds with pink grapefruit juice from the jar. Didn't taste so bad, since mouth gunk is nasty that time of day to begin with.

John came in about two hours later and my head was still pounding. He let me sleep much of the morning and left something on my computer to help me smile when I got up. You'll see below what that was. And yes, it did make me smile. In fact, had I felt better I would've laughed out loud. You see, I love love love the cavemen commercials! Well, most of them. Here lately some are just plain stupid. I apologize ahead of time for all you Auburn fans. I promise I would've shared this had it been Alabama. Honest, I would have. I just love the caveman.

I also love the commercials about Jack Link's Beef Jerky with Sasquatch. Just thought you might like knowing that about me. And if you don't, well, you probably wouldn't be reading this anyway. {Hint, click on the Jack part to see one of my favorite Sasquatch ads!} and have an extra nice Friday. Maybe if we be nice and eat our peas, it'll snow here. Then again, not everything our mommies told us at the dinner table came true. But we can still wish and hope!!

The Man in Red

Noah James has followed in his mother's footsteps by not trusting the man in red. I found this picture in my first edition of Faith, Family, & Friends. I can just imagine the words in Noah's little head going something like this, "Man in Red, do NOT touch the baby". I laugh each time I recall this snapshot. Well, this year isn't much different. Which isn't unusual.

Jenny didn't have her picture with Santa until she was four, and then I was right there with her.

You'll notice in their 2008 Santa snapshot Noah is once more looking at 'the Man in Red' and I'm sure would've crawled up around Brandon's head had Santa reached to touch him. Don't little ones just make our days livable and funnier? Even the days they try our ever, loving patience, they still manage to bring such joy and laughter to our lives.

Merry Christmas, Noah. I look forward to seeing which year you allow Santa to get you near enough to tell him what you want him to drop off at your house. And thanks for the laughter, your Nan loves you~