"Christmas Vacation" revisited......

Every year, we watch the edited version of "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. One of the big parts of the movie is his adventures with 'exterior illumination.' Well, we have our own Clark W. Griswold right here in Harvest, Alabama.


After working off and on for three days, Bruce was ready to light the lights for the first time. (and this only shows part of them) So, here is the before........

.....and after......

Please feel free to drive by anytime to enjoy them:) We'd love to see you.

We are thankful......

Abigail, the roving photographer, captured those who were in attendance on Thursday. For these, and many more, we are thankful.

Thanksgiving tidbits.....

We had a really nice Thanksgiving yesterday. It was nice to be with family. Only one of Bruce's siblings did not make it, and my brother did not make it, but everyone else in the family did. My sister in law's sister was able to come as well. This is the turkey just after it finished cooking and just before Bruce, the carve-master, got ahold of it.This is the turkey after carving. We also enjoyed mashed potatoes, dressing, garden salad, cranberry salad, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole (2 different recipes), green beans, steamed broccoli, mac and cheese, cauliflower au gratin, rolls, gravy and various desserts (too numerous to mention).
After lunch and nap time, Jeff entertained us on the guitar with several songs. These photos show him and his audience:)

The turkey.....tomorrow's the big day!!

This is our turkey....before he/she goes into the oven. I will be awake at 2 a.m. to get the process started:) But that is okay....I'll just hit the sack early Thursday evening, or maybe take a little nap:) after the feast. Though I sort of doubt that I will stop long enough to fall asleep during the day. The turkey out of the bag with oil, salt, pepper and oregano added...ready to start the cooking process....
This is what an almost 18 pound turkey looks like in the bag....It is the largest one I have ever cooked. I am not sure why I got such a large one, as there will only be 10 people here. I guess I was thinking.....LEFTOVERS!!!! Yum yum!

Happy Birthday, Allie Roo!!

It is hard to believe our 'little beagle girl' is five years old. She and her sister celebrated today by eating the chicken I cooked to make my broth. They were quite happy:)

Our family.....

Thanks to our friend, JW, we were able to get some potential Christmas card photos today. This is what we are looking like these days...

Fall dress....

Abigail requested that I make her a fall dress. Being a procrastinator (at times) I just made it last week, so she could wear it to church yesterday.Abigail chose the pattern and the fabric. Thankfully it was pretty easy to make. I'll also be making a Christmas one and later a 'snow' one by the same or a similar pattern.
As fast as she is growing, it is certainly more affordable to make at least some of her clothing, as long as she'll wear my sewing:)

Pumpkin makes you silly....

After Abigail's final art class for this semester, we enjoyed lunch at The Olive Garden. Abigail enjoys making people laugh...can you tell???
Silly silly girl...I guess the pumpkin did that?!?!?!
It's funny. Neither of us really like pumpkin pie, but each fall, if we time it right, we are here when they have Pumpkin Cheesecake. This is so yummy. We got a piece to share.
Abigail is my bottomless pit. I ordered a 'choose two' appetizer of stuffed mushrooms for me and chicken tenders for her. She also had a kid's meal of macaroni and cheese. She ate at least 4 breadsticks and a decent sized bowl of salad and most of the cheesecake as well. The meal was pretty cheap because the salad/bread came with her meal and she got to 'share' with me (as the waitress put it). Even with the dessert, I spent just a little over $20 and that included tip AND a bottle of their salad dressing to give as a gift.

Ten Things You may not know....

I was inspired by a fellow homeschooling mom's blog recently and wanted to do something similar. So, there are ten things about me you may or may not know....

1. I am a morning person....I am up by 5:30 a.m. most mornings and out for my morning walk shortly after 6 a.m. But, by 9 p.m. I am starting to get ready for bedtime.

2. I enjoy reading a LOT and can quickly read through a book, given the chance. Lately I have taken to using the library and Paperbackswap.com to allow me to read a lot of books for almost no cost.

3. Music is something I really enjoy, and it often speaks to me more than anything else. I like all types of music from orchestral to opera to contemporary Christian to some light rock, easy listening and country and many other things in between. And, I don't own an IPod. I have an online play list and lots of cd's.

4. I have a really hard time being the person who is the 'bad guy' in a situation, but I am learning that if the person needs to hear something that they won't like, and God is telling me to be the messenger, I had better do it whether I want to do it or not. Still, this is hard as I'd rather just keep the peace.

5. In general, I am a trusting person who makes friends pretty easily. But since I am by nature an introvert, I have to work really hard to talk to people and start those friendships. Many times I am pushed way out of my comfort zone, and in recent years, I have become more willing to 'go there' which has allowed me to meet and become acquainted with some really neat people. In general though, I am much more comfortable in a smaller group setting. Large crowds are stressful for me.

6. My family is very important to me. I am grateful that my focus is able to be on them and their needs and I have been able to deepen those relationships in so many ways.

7. Homeschooling is a very challenging job, but one of the most rewarding I have ever done. The teaching itself is the hardest I have ever done...yes, even more so than teaching 33 sixth graders!! But, I get great feedback and I know immediately if I have to reteach something or if we are ready to move on.

8. Scrapbooking is therapeutic for me:) I enjoy reliving the memories as I scrap them. And, I enjoy seeing the joy on the faces of my friends and relatives as they look thru my books.

9. From an overall standpoint, I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. It is a great time to reflect on all that God has done, and it is a great day to spend with family too. It is also not so 'commericial' and that is really nice. Of course, I love Christmas and Easter and for what they mean to my faith and they are definitely favorite holidays too.

10. I am grateful for all that God is teaching me about myself and the choices I have made. Some lessons have been hard or even painful to learn, but even with that, I am seeing that He is teaching me to lean on Him even more, and I am grateful that He is there for me all the time.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

Last night, we were able to walk thru the Huntsville Botanical Gardens to see the Galaxy of Lights up close. It is the first time we have done a walk thru as a family, but I am sure it will not be the last.
When we do the drive thru, this is always one of our favorite parts....going thru the snowflake forest.
The castle was very neat, so of course we got a photo with Abigail in front of it. Our MOST favorite thing, the nativity scene did not photograph very well. I guess I need to learn a little more about how to use this new camera so I can get better night time shots.
Abigail really did not want to take this photo, but it was one of the best I got. Santa's red showed up really well.

Not much going on here......

Lest you think I have fallen off the face of the earth, I am still here. Last weekend I was out of town, so most of last week was spent preparing to be gone. We are staying busy with school, art classes, sci-quest classes and much more this week.

Abigail is doing well and staying healthy. Other than a small wound on my foot (the result of doing surgery on myself, followed up by a pedicure that made it worse), I am doing okay too:) Bruce is fine--working hard as usual, but at least he is in town.

Sorry for the lack of photos.....there have not been any wonderful opportunities to photograph anyone lately. But, we have a few fun things planned, so I will have pictures to post in a few days.

Have a wonderful Veterans' Day!!

VOTE!!

I voted!
Originally uploaded by eudemon616

I guess I must be getting older, because I can remember voting in quite a few presidential elections. I remember coming home from college just to vote in the 1988 election...it was the first time I was able to vote for a president!!

Sometimes my candidate of choice has won.....sometimes not, but I feel it is important to vote regardless. Many men and women have paid a very high price for us to have this freedom, and we should not take it for granted.

As someone wisely pointed out the other day, regardless of who wins, God can use that person.....maybe even to humble our nation (which does not sound like fun at all).

In Titus 3:1-2, we read "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people." In 1 Peter 2:13, the Bible says "Submit to every human institution because of the Lord,..."

Regardless of who wins, as believers we should obey and pray for our leaders, even if we don't agree with them on all points or even if we don't really like them a whole lot.

A funny thing happened on my way to the lab Friday morning.....

A friend of mine had given me several pairs of shoes some months ago. They had been given to her, but did not fit her right. I was QUITE excited to get a few pairs of shoes in great shape, but since they were darker colors and more 'cool' weather styles, I put them aside for a while.

I wore a couple of the different pairs last week, but today decided to try these really cute little mary jane sort of shoes. They had a nice little black rubbery heel. Well, I walked Abigail into school, and as I was returning to the car, my left foot felt a little off balance. I figured the previous owner must have had a different way of carrying her weight and perhaps they were worn down on one side. Never did I actually examine the shoes though.

Well, I got to the lab to have some blood drawn and I got out of the van and started walking. The more I walked the funnier my left foot felt. Then I looked down, only to see a trail of something black behind me. By the time I reached the building, most of the heel had fallen off in the parking lot. I went in and got my labs done....what else would I do since I don't typically carry extra shoes with me???

On the way out, I noticed the right heel was doing the same thing too! So, by the time I made it to the car, most of my heels on both feet were gone. It was quite strange walking like that.

Thankfully, my only other required stop was at a drive thru, so I did not have to walk anywhere else in those shoes. I did not even bring them into the house....as black powder and sometimes black chunks trailed me every step I took. So, I just stopped in the driveway and deposited them in the trash.

And, to think, they were really comfy shoes....if they only had kept their heels.