Dandelions and Dinosaurs: December 2010

Wow what a busy, sometimes crazy, but overall wonderful year 2010 has been! I wanted to send out Christmas cards this year with a letter describing our year. However, life got too busy and before I knew it Christmas was already here. So in lieu of sending out letters, I'm going to do a blog post.

The boys are growing like weeds. T-Rev is in 4th grade and CB is in first. They have both been taking music lessons and are becoming quite the musicians! T-Rev plays the guitar and CB plays the piano. They also started karate this fall and have just tested for their yellow belt.

Brian has switched roles in the agency he works for. He is now dubbed their "IT/Sales Manager/Do It All" man. This means he has a great deal more responsibility but he doesn't have to travel nearly as much. So that makes me a happy camper. He is also very involved in our church and small group. He also volunteers with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief when he is able.

As for me, I'm still home schooling the boys and working as a nurse on the weekends. I've become the secretary of our homeschool group which has been a lot of fun.

God has blessed us this year with good health, stable jobs, and a close knit family. I thank Him everyday for His mercy and grace.

Christmas was a lot of fun! We've had decorating, baking, parties, church programs and family. What more could one ask for?

We started out the season the week of Thanksgiving by decorating the tree and house.

The first of our parties was our Homeschool party. Our group, CLHE (Christ Led Home Educators), has a Happy Birthday Jesus party every year. We pick a mission to bring gifts for Jesus to. This year we picked a local shelter for battered women and children and brought different items to donate. We started off the party with lots of great food. We then decorated cupcakes and made ornaments. We then played lots of games and ended with singing "Happy Birthday to Jesus."

We also had several other parties during the month of December but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures.

Next was our trip to Dublin. We were able to go to Dublin for the weekend before Christmas and spend some time with all sides of our family. We don't get to go home often, so when we do we really pack in a lot. We started out at my dads on Saturday, Sunday morning church with Brian's parents, and Christmas with my Mom on Sunday night. It was great to be able to see our family. Just wish we could spend longer visiting and catching up with everyone.

The Fantastic Five

I love these guys!

This was too cute! My Dad and Laura (SIL) were standing side-by-side and eating at the same time.

Jeff! Need I say more!

Uncle Luke and Aunt Laura gave all the grandkids these really cool fort-building kits.

Mama, Chess, and A.

Me and two of my "little" brothers

After returning home, the boys and I made mini gingerbread houses.

The finished project!

On Christmas Eve, we loaded up the van with our hot chocolate and drove around looking at Christmas lights. Just the thing to get us in the Christmas spirit.

Every December 1st we start our Advent calendar. Each night we open a box and pull out a piece of a nativity scene and read a portion of the Christmas story from Luke. On Christmas Eve, we place baby Jesus in the manger and read the entire story.

Cookies and milk for Santa

Mama and Uncle Chess came to spend Christmas with us. The boys woke up at 5:30! When they went to wake Uncle Chess they scared him half to death. It was hysterical but I guess you had to be there.

The boys with their train that Santa fills with candy every year. This year it was filled with Skittles, Jelly Beans, and mini Twizzlers.

"Merry Christmas everybody!"

"Oh what can it be?"

"Bond, James Bond"

Do you know the show "Punkin Chunkin" on Discovery channel? Well Brian saw the commercial for it and the big burly, biker guy was wearing this shirt. Brian thought it was hilarious and wanted one. Now wonder if he will wear it?

My beautiful Mother and Me

One of the most wonderful things about this year is that we actually had a White Christmas. My first ever!

So that was our Christmas! I hope each and everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas and here's wishing you a happy New Year from our house to yours!

This past October, we surprised the boys with a trip to Disney World. We've never been. I had never been and I'm 37 years old! Mind you, we've never been on a family vacation at all and T-Rev is 10 years old! So needless to say, we were all very excited. Here are some of our pictures. I was too busy looking at everything and taking it all in that I didn't get as many good pictures as I would have liked but these are a few of the better ones.

In the first few pictures was when we were telling the boys where we were going. They had been asking for years, "When can we go to Disney World?" All their friends had been going and telling them all about it.
Brian and I just kept saying we could not afford it so we wouldn't be going any time soon. All the while we were secretly planning the trip. On the day we were leaving, we packed the car without them knowing. They were playing in the back yard and I went to them saying we were going out shopping. They were not happy. In fact, T-Rev was pretty put out with me because I was making him leave his friends to go shopping for "furniture." When they got in the van, we had put Disney books in their seats. T-Rev took one look at his and said, "What do I need this for?" I said, "Someone who is going to Disney World needs that book." Then he said, "Well I don't need it because I'm not going to Disney!" Then CB says, "Yeah, you said we couldn't afford to go." Brian and I had to convince them that we were really going.

"We're not going to Disney! You guys are tricking us!"

"Yeah! You said we couldn't afford it."

"WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!"

Magic Kingdom: Where dreams come true!

These next ones are from one of our favorite rides. Can you guess which one?

To me one of the best parts of going to Disney was watching the parades. They were awesome! I wanted to get in the middle of them and dance right along.

Since it was in October, DW was decorated for Halloween. Magic Kingdom was having Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween. Although we didn't pay the extra to see the special parade or go trick-or-treating, we were able to enjoy all the other decorations and festivities.