Oh Christmas Tree....

I love Christmas --- mostly because of the beautiful decorations, food and every ones generally "merry" attitude... At the same time; I'm so excited that Christmas will be over this time next week! There is so much pressure that comes along with Christmas. I really have tried to avoid that pressure and realize that its not the amount of money that you spend on any one gift - its your desire to be blessed with those that you love at this very special time of year.

I'm so excited for my children and am truly Thankful for the family and friends that I have!

Merry Christmas! May your days be Merry and Bright!!!!

Merry Christmas...

From all the Fools in my office!! Here we are on ugly Christmas sweater day! Even the only boy in our office participated!!! More pics later of our Bad Santa gift exchange!

Two precious girls!

These photos were taken on Thanksgiving of my cousins two daughters, Olive and Isabel. Olive is the baby above and she is such a precious little thing! She has the spikiest blond hair and the most beautiful brown eyes.

Isabel is a lot like I remember her daddy being as a little boy. She is so quiet and reserved - in addition to that she is beyond beautiful....

What sweet girls! I wish we saw them more!

Christmas Card

Trying to get a good photo of my kids for our Christmas card was not exactly easy this year! It was like my own personal WWE match in my front yard! Sheesh - it was exhausting but I did get some good ones....I'll post them after I send out my cards!

A little help from my friends....

This beauty belonged to my dear mamaw. My aunt Judy was gracious enough to let me have it. Well, its been in my possession for months and I just got around to getting it out. It makes me kinda sad because I wish that I would have asked my mamaw how to use it...

Brandon's aunt Deena came down to show me how to thread it. It wasn't as hard as I had anticipated but now I'm struggling with the tension. Does anyone have any suggestions? I really want to create something great!

Christmas help...

My kids have everything... More toys than I can even name or even begin to try. Santa really wants to make Christmas fun for the kids but he is having a hard time deciding as to what the best presents will be for these two kids.

For Drew's big gift - he is getting an art easel. He loves to do "projects" so I think he will really like that. We may even get both boys "big boy" beds so that we can redecorate their bedroom but that just doesn't seem like a very good Santa gift.

I do know that felt food is something that I'm going to start working on for them as they do have a kitchen set and love to play with it. I'm thinking of making them some kind of race track type thing for their million hotwheels. A handmade chalkboard is something that I know that Drew will love!

Are you seeing the pattern here??? What can I get for Sam? We have leggos, blocks, riding toys and every little people set that exist. Drew has cleaning supplies, musical instruments, workbench, indoor pup tent with a tunnel and a TON of hee-man toys that Brandon had as a child. Drew even has a digital camera!

They need to know the reason behind the gifts - I know they're young but I feel like we put so much into the "gift" part of Christmas and not enough behind the meaning. I want to pour my love into my children by making many of their gifts. They are so little. I don't want to buy gifts that they won't use or appreciate.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

One for my Husband...

Not one, two or three... But FOUR! My husband, father in law and brother in law collectively killed four deer yesterday on opening day of gun season. There was a time in my life that I would have been disturbed by this - I hated it. Now that I've lived in the country for several years I'm beginning to understand the need for responsible hunters. My boys will benefit from this bond that they have formed at such young ages. It still tugs on my heart to see Bambi hanging from a tree.

At the Carwash...

My boy gets into his work... I couldn't even get him to crack a smile.

My van looks GREAT! He is awesome!

Are these birds mean???

Why did I get the feeling that he wanted to peck my eyeballs out?

Feeding the Homeless...

While spending our weekend at Clifty Falls State Park, we met this little guy. In our short visit - I gave him a whole pack of hot dogs, a jar of nasty baby food, some oatmeal, crackers and bottled water.

I'm sure he's used to hunting his own food.... Here he is stalking a bird.

There was just no way that I could leave that park without making sure that this little guy had a full belly! I hope it didn't hurt his hunting skills.

Boy in the Window

It was pretty cold on Saturday....Drew stayed indoors a lot! At one point in the day, I lost track of where he was - I turned around, and here's what I saw...

Beauty!

This weekend was wet and muddy!





The colors on the trees weren't very spectacular! The floor of the campground was stunning!

This was the road at the campground Halloween Morning after the rain!

Halloween!

As you can see - both of my boys were pirates! They were cute little pirates. Last year, photos were so much easier because you could just put Samuel in a basket... This year, he could possibly outweigh his brother so he was hard to control. Not to mention the fact that he grew out of his Halloween costume in three weeks. His shirt was a "belly top". I had to improvise and turn a pajama shirt inside out to keep his "midriff" from showing. I think he has a carb addiction but that's another post.

Finally - a descent shot. It was hard to get both of them to look at the camera. Sammy isn't much for hats so you can only imagine how long that lasted.

Here we are! Yes - I am wearing rubber boots and a witches hat... It was muddy people... Really muddy! We did have fun! Drew has more candy than the law should allow. And Sammy, well he got what mommy likes!

Big Brother... Little Brother - Lessons in Life by Children

My boys love each other... Yes - at their young ages they already show differences but for the most part they love. In both of these photos, Drew was helping Sam while all of the bigger kids played. It makes me happy to see these images. Drew is patient and kind and I hope that he will always handle his brother with this kind of care.

Happy Birthday Preston!

Baby Preston turned one in the beginning of October! What a big boy he is getting to be! His little red head is sooo cute - I could just eat him up!

Way to go Preston! Here's to another GREAT year!

Sammy & Rachel

Some folks may think that having two godmothers is strange - but I don't. My Sammy has two godmothers, Rachel and Regina and they are both very special ladies who LOVE both of our boys very much. I usually always get a photo of both of them with Sam but we were at a birthday party and things were quite hectic. I love this photo of them. She truly loves him and even though you can't see their actual facial expressions - you can feel her love for him by the way she looks at him. I am confident that both Rachel and Regina consider my boys to be "precious cargo" and I know that they will guide Sammy through his life as involved and willing Godparents.

Rachel and Regina, you both mean so much to us! We love you and are so proud that you agreed to be Sam's Godparents!

My Birthday!

First of all, my husband bought me this beautiful painting. I picked it out at a peddlers mall - that's just our style! I LOVE it! I don't really know where I'm going to put it but I can't wait to hang her!

My mother and father in law gave me this precious picture in a distressed barnwood frame! It says, "If I could have chosen a wife for my son, without a doubt it would have been you". It is handmade by a woman in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This will probably have permanent home on our dresser.

Here's my boy Sammy. He's teething really bad so there is tons of drool and snot. Bless his heart, he was such a little champ today.

Look, there's my dear husband. Even though it was my birthday we went to a little town called Celestine, Indiana where they had their annual "turkey shoot". No - they aren't shooting real turkeys, as a matter of fact there aren't even any turkey's involved. They shoot targets to try to win meat. My hubby won a 20lb country ham in the first round!

There were "jumpies" at Celestine this year so that's where Drew decided to spend the majority of his time. His socks are disgusting because the ground was damp... Not that I've never put dirty socks on my kids---that would just be an outright lie!

Thanks to all of my sweet friends for the birthday wishes! I had a great day - Here's to another wonderful year!

Punkin...

Drew got to pick a "punkin" off of the truck in the church parking lot a couple of weeks ago. We didn't carve it because we are going to wait until the Halloween celebration at the campground this coming Saturday. We did however, let him draw on it with a sharpie and he loved the whole idea!

Here is his masterpiece... Displayed on our front porch.... Scary teeth and all!

Raviolli???

Anyone hungry???

Call me morbid... It is Haloween.

This little cemetery sits right before the entrance of the camp ground at O'Bannon Woods. I've always wondered about those who were buried there so today, curiosity got the best of me... I had my camera so I decided to photograph some of the headstones. Hopefully, that is not considered sacrilegious.

Some of these stones are old.... VERY old and the writing just wasn't legible. These photos were taken through he openings of an iron fence that protects this sacred place. My camera fit fine I just couldn't turn very easily.

For some reason I just started to wonder about these folks... Drew was with me and naturally he had many questions about monsters, ghosts and other scary things. I did my best to put his mind to ease and also tried to keep from feeling guilty about taking my three year old to a cemetery.

While tying to ward off my maternal guilt - I thought of my sweet grandmother who feel ill a couple of years ago at about this time. I began to think of her life and all of the pain that she felt toward the end. It is only natural as a human being to miss those who are closest to us once they are gone.

Not only is Halloween a fun holiday for children to celebrate an obtain a bag of candy five times their body weight, it is also a day of remembrance for those who have passed through to heaven for eternity.

If found a very interesting article on Americancatholic.org. Below, I have pasted a paragraph from the article.

"Until the ninth century the Church celebrated the popular feast of All Saints on May 13th, during the season of joy after the Resurrection. This is the light in which we see all the faithful who have died, especially those whose witness to Christ is an inspiration. In 835 the date was deliberately changed to November 1 to Christianize the existing pagan time for remembering the dead—to bring light to the darkness, and hope to the most basic of human fears."

If you are interested, I would encourage you to read the article in its entirety as it answers many questions that have been asked of me by some of my protestant friends.


http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1099.asp

My boys on a beautiful fall day....

What a blessed family we are... I love that my boys are able to appreciate the beauty of nature at such a young age. Sam caught a leaf that fell from the tree and was clearly amazed by its beauty. He kept saying "pretty, pretty". He pointed at the trees all day and would giggle each time that the wind would gust.

That leaf kept my baby occupied for more than five minutes. That is an eternity with a one year old - their attention span is like a nano second or something.

Here's Drew during our hike in the beautiful Tulip Valley. He looked down the valley in amazement. Drew is fascinated by the fact that the woods are "the houses of all the animals and bugs". As most you know, my dear sweet husband is a hunter and loves every minute of it. Naturally, some may think that he has a low respect for animals and other living things but it is actually the exact opposite. Brandon has taught Drew that when he is outside that he shouldn't kill the bugs or damage trees because we are in "their house". He teaches him all about nature and I am so thankful for that.

Look, my boy is already sporting the Carhart and camo backpack. I always thought that it would be a hard pill for me to swallow since I'm not exactly all that fond of guns (most liberals aren't) but it isn't. That child has such a bond with his father already. Brandon spends so much time teaching them. I am lucky -very lucky. Brandon and both of our sons will spend many years together hunting, fishing and respecting the outdoors just as Brandon has with his father and brother for many years.

Tulip Valley in the FALL

Oh my.... How things change in one months time. We had such a great time today! The day was beautiful! The fall colors were breathtaking!



I really couldn't believe the difference in less than 30 days! It seems that fungus does grow when its cold. There were mushrooms and green moss growing all over the place!

Look at the colors! It was like this everywhere!! There was hardly any green left in the forest.

There's that rock again. Still mossy...

There's my angel. He's such a nature lover.

We will visit O'Bannon woods next weekend. I wonder how much it will change in a week.

Tulip Valley - O'Bannon Woods

This is a hiking path at O'Bannon Woods. I took these photos on September 26th! Everything was still very summery and green.

We are going to spend the day there with my parents today and I cannot wait to take photos of all of the changing leaves. I'm sure these little yellow guys won't be there.

The ground always looks like fall because of the natural way that the leaves fall and stay on the forest floor each year. As a part of the eco system - the decaying leaves put nutrients back into the forest so that trees, plants and animals can all live there. This is the exact reason that you aren't supposed to take anything - not event the dead leaves out of the park as even though they have fallen from the trees they still have a very important purpose.

I wonder if this rock will still be "mossy". There has been some rain and all of the leaves are starting to change around us. Fungus and how/where it lives is not something that I know a lot about - I just know that it will be beautiful!

I can't wait to see the park and post photos when we get back to compare the difference in just a months time!