Wish Me Luck

(this was before I got my hair cut short about 6 weeks ago)

So, my oldest Thing turns 9 tomorrow (the 31st). Weird how that has happened while I still feel like a college student in my mind.... I have never really liked New Year's Day because I don't really like change much and it just sort of depresses me for some reason, always has. But then we were surprised with a New Year's Eve baby 1 year into our marriage and it changed things for me-gave me a reason to celebrate and have great fun with her and our family. Only the stinky part of her having a birthday to continually celebrate is that with each birthday, she is getting older. And I am having a hard time with that. Every year the tears come sooner as I see her life rocketing ahead, not waiting for my heart to catch up with having a big girl, a "tween". I am always floundering with how to parent this creature-with her funky edge, hilarious sense of humor, absolutely maddening ability to make a disaster zone out of anywhere she is in a matter of minutes, sensitive heart, complete lack of self-control, absolutely brilliant mind, sweet way of loving, ugly way of not loving--I rarely feel like I know what I am doing with her, but I know one thing without a doubt. I love that girl like mad and I am so thankful she ushered me into motherhood so many years ago. But I AM going to cry about it, a lot-so wish me luck tomorrow. And please pass the tissues.....

From Our Family to Yours

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Almost There

Ok, I managed to get the teachers' gifts finished and the things I needs to ship finished. Here are some pictures of the finished objects for various folks on the list (who shall not be named in case they read this, even though I think they do not but you never know....)

I still have a few more things to finish (ok, and start) before actual Christmas Day but I think I am on schedule to get everything done. And by saying that, I just guaranteed that something disastrous will occur and that I will be at Wal Mart at midnight Christmas Eve boo-hooing and buying cheesy, sorry, mass-produced scarves machine-knit in horrible yarns.

Not that there's anything wrong with that ....

Cramped Fingers and Crossed eyes

Every year it happens. I think I plan out my gifts that I am making with plenty of time to get them done. I feel as though I've got it all under control and this will not be a year of sleeping 4 hours a night and racing to get stuff finished Christmas Eve. I pat myself on the back about the 1st week of December for my excellent planning and ability to get things done early, even! And then it happens. All hell breaks loose, things don't work the way they're supposed to, something falls off of somewhere, something gets tangled up by "someone" (oddly the same mystery person is responsible every year...), some stupid pet of ours eats/knocks over/sits on/eats whatever project I am trying to finish and I am forced to choose between animal cruelty and running to Wal Mart at the last minute to buy something, which is, in fact, people cruelty. So here I am, feverishly finishing up some knitting and developing carpal tunnel syndrome and cataracts. But here is my progress so far: a scarf is done, a pair of knitted wire earrings just got finished but not without some major finger cramping and maybe a wee few cuss words jumping out, and a mitten mostly done without a thumb and the other mitten started. I still have a big bag to knit and at least 2 hats (one of which is 2/3 done) and maybe a snowflake ornament to knit. Stop that laughing, I have time....if Christmas happens to get postponed a weekish maybe. I will post pictures of my finished stuff tomorrow but I cannot today b/c we got some new fancy pants camera (for when we go to Ethiopia-woop!) that I have no clue how to use. I do not like having a camera smarter than me-it probably would have finished it's Christmas knitting in October...

Since I have none of my crafty projects available to share right now, I will show you my AWESOME surprise I got in the mail the other day from my friend Dawn. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and take it everywhere with my knitting in it:


And here is what the inside looked like within 24 hours of getting it:

Good to know that if I am ever being trapped somewhere, I will always have snacks.

Finally, this weekend was my kiddos' school Christmas program Friday night and ballet recital Saturday afternoon so I will leave you with some pictures of my beauties, although one is a grumpy ballerina who didn't want her picture taken, even though she looked super cute.


Have a great day-and pray for some referrals, I am tired of carrying my phone into the bathroom, out to get the mail, to the attic to get wrapping paper, etc!!

Christmas Makes Us Feel Like Dancin'

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Please Watch with Your Husband

This is a very important holiday message for couples. It really could make a huge difference in your marriage!!

The Smiles That Make Me Smile

These were all taken last weekend when we put up our tree-everyone was in a happy mood after Thanksgiving and with Christmas music blaring in the background. I just thought I'd share with y'all what makes my days worthwhile. (And the 2 in the silly dresses were playing dress up-while I live in the south, we do not dress like characters from "Gone With the Wind" for everyday wear.)

I am about halfway or more done with my Christmas gifts-I am ordering a good many of them online and the rest I am knitting. I like to give my kiddos' main teachers something hand-knit and beautiful because they are beautiful ladies who pour so much into my kids. I also like to knit for other special people too. I have finished one thing but I have a lot left to knit though so I better get to it!! (Funny how my "To Knit" list always gets shorter the closer I get to Christmas and my "To Buy" gets longer...) What about you-what are your favorite things to give as gifts to the people on your list?

3--It's the Magic Number

Did you just love School House Rock? I totally did-and that is still how I remember my multiples of 3 (this Blind Melon version is actually my favorite). So I think we are unofficially #3 on both boys and girls lists, if some assumptions about some "mystery" folks on the list prove to be accurate(of course we all know what Mom says about what happens when you assume...) But, y'all, THREE. That is a very tiny number. Oh my. We are going to have another baby.

ETA: apparently, it is SUCH a magic number, it has changed to #2! ack!

Finally, Thanksgiving in Review!

News flash y'all: WE HAVE GOTTEN A NEW WIRELESS SET UP THINGY-DO AND HAVE HAD A FEW THINGS FIXED ON THE NEW COMPUTER!! So, in short, I think I can be back to life on my blog(for now-must not anger the computer by sounding too cocky or anything...) Anyway, our Thanksgiving turned out awesome! Things got a little mixed up family-wise this year and so we found ourselves without any definite place to be for Thanksgiving dinner, which made us sad. But also got us thinking that we had several friends here who are from various parts of Africa, none of whom have any family here in the US. So we decided to have them to our house for dinner on Thanksgiving!! We live here in Blacksburg, Virgina, home of Virginia Tech (GO HOKIES!) and one of the awesome benefits of living in a university town is the international population that Tech draws. Through VT, there is something called the International Friendship Host Program in which you can be matched with international students as their host family/friend to give them some insight into typical American life. Last winter, we got matched with a family of 5 from South Africa (the dad is here for grad school)and this fall we were matched with a man from Malawi. The family from South Africa was unable to come for dinner, but we also have some friends from Kenya who have lived here for several years (not students at Tech, though) who were able to come so we had Kenya and Malawi represented at our dinner table. (ok, sunlight in our window and very dark faces make this picture somewhat hard to see-sorry)


Our friend from Malawi is here by himself and had to leave his wife and 2 daughters behind in Africa while he completes his degree. We had the blessing of speaking to his wife and children on the phone during our dinner-it was neat to be connected to someone in a village in Malawi across the world-thank you, Mr. Graham Bell!! Anyway, our friend had never experienced an American Thanksgiving and had also never in his life eaten turkey and he was very excited to try it! He also asked about why the turkey was part of the meal and what it was about so we got to tell him the story of the pilgrims coming over on the Mayflower and their dinner with the native Americans. We also got to mess with him a little bit. Early in the semester, we all went to a dinner together and we were discussing what kinds of foods he eats in Malawi that are different from here. He told us about eating hippo, elephant meat and....MICE. Yes, whole mice, with the FUR STILL ON. I was totally grossed out and he thought that was so funny. We have joked back and forth about it ever since, with him saying he was going to catch himself a squirrel and bring it to Thanksgiving dinner. So, this is what he was served at our house last Thursday:

Ha ha-it is candy, no fur! And our friends from Kenya brought a Kenyan dish that was SO yummy and we talked around the table for 3 hours-it was absolutely fantastic. The kids came and went and played and had fun and my mother in law was here and really enjoyed herself and talking with our friends about all things Africa, which was nice since she is still extremely apprehensive about our adoption. God was in the mood to bless us that day-He is so GOOD! Here is my oldest Thing and our friends' daughter getting ready to break the wishbone:

All in all, it was a great day with super yummy food and good friends and family-exactly what Thanksgiving is all about.




Oh, and getting a KILLER deal on a high efficiency washer and dryer on Black Friday, without even having to get up early! Told you God was in the mood to bless us! (yes, He can bless with major appliances for which I have to pay a bunch of money-y'all it was an AWESOME DEAL-a blessing, no???)