It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Last Sunday we got ready to kick off the Advent season with the Hanging of the Greens at our church. I always prefer to keep things in order (hubby swears I have some OCD issues) and never like to do Christmas things before Thanksgiving. But with Thanksgiving coming so late this year, it was really the only time we could do it and have it done before the first Sunday of Advent which is today. The kids of course have been ready for Christmas for weeks, if not months...ever since that first catalog came in the mail and they begin making out their wish lists so they were ready to jump into the decorating. Once the children's tree was decorated, Trey wanted to help decorate the humongous tree. While he really wanted to climb the ladder and hang the ornaments, he had to settle on handing the ornaments to the adults on the ladders. The kids also got to help carry out and set up the manger scene, which they thought was really cool.

Jesse got the bible out of the pew and sat down and read and read and read.

The Art Museum

It started out innocently enough...Grandma Gwen let the kids hang some of their art on the wall. Then the art started spreading and down the hall it went. Then Trey decided that it was an art museum and wanted to put an invitation in the paper for others to come and see all of the wonderful works of art on display. He made signs for everything...girls bathroom, boys bathroom, eating room, etc. I honestly can't tell you which of the three oldest grandkids made which piece of art work. They are all three quite talented and we're all very proud of their museum. I hope you enjoy your tour of the museum.

A week of giving thanks...

Wow! It has been a long and eventful week and I have much to catch up on. We began celebrating Thanksgiving last Saturday with our traditional Tyre Thanksgiving. While we have experienced great loss this year, we are always mindful of how very much we have to be thankful for. I thought in this post I would fill you in on some of the things the boys are thankful for...

Getting to help Daddy make chocolate delight and Mommy being in the shower so we can lick the bowls and beaters!

Ice cream cake for Thanksgiving...although Jesse insists that it was birthday cake!
New puppets and wonderful cousins to argue with over who's going to put on the puppet show!

Learning to share the puppets!

The newest addition to the Tyre family, our baby cousin Whit!

Fair Time

Last Saturday night we took the boys to the local county fair. I wasn't real sure what to expect from Jesse. Last year we bought him the ride everything bracelet and he rode nothing...not even the carousal. To add to my uncertainty is the fact that lately my fearless daredevil has become quite the scaredy cat...literally! He's afraid of cats, and KITTENS, and dogs, and pretty much anything that moves. My two nieces have this cute little "Fur Real Pony". It's about as tall as Jesse. And...he won't even go into their playroom if it's in there. My sister in law has to move it every time we come over. Really...

this pony right here, scares the boy to death!

So armed with all this information, I was really, really, really hesitant to spend the $20 to buy him an all you can ride hand stamp. But, Daddy thought it was the best way to go. And...for once he was right! Jesse not only rode the carousal twice...

But he rode the Ferris Wheel...

and this race car ride which slung them around one of the curves...

and some tugboat thing, that I thought was going to be like a tame version of the Flying Dutchman, but instead turned out to be a ride that slung them around and around in all directions. I couldn't get a good picture because of all the movement, but I could hear Jesse's squeals of laughter and see his big ole smile every time it turned my way!


This is Jesse, slinging a fit because he wasn't big enough to ride the bumper cars with Trey!

But he was finally mollified by getting to ride the animal train again.

So, at least for the night of the fair, my fearless daredevil was back. And the fact that we had to spend $20 on each child to get the ride everything hand stamp was evened out a bit by the fact that all the ride operators let Phil and I ride for free...even the Ferris Wheel and the bumper cars. Of course, we didn't realize this would be the case so we did also put down $9 on individual tickets...oh well, we'll know better next year!

Do you like cashews???

Do you like cashews? I do...in fact I like pretty much any nut. Their wide availability is one of the smaller reasons why this is my favorite time of year. Why am I telling you this you ask? Well, I received this email yesterday and I found it very uplifting, especially during these trying times. I also found it very timely, as now every time I eat a cashew I'll be reminded of how God is "roasting" me in order to burn away my outer shell. Really confused now...well, read on and I hope you like it as much as I did!

Weekly Encouragement from Women of Faith and Friends
Tender Adjustments
Have you ever seen a cashew in its shell? Me neither. It turns out that a cashew has caustic oil between the nut's inner and outer shells. To rid this delectable treat of its acerbic element, the outer shell is burned or roasted off, and then the nut is boiled or roasted again to remove the inner shell.
Life's hardships often feel as though someone has turned up the heat on us, and we wonder if we'll survive. Yet I find when I've been "roasted" long enough in life's difficulties, my outer casing of bad attitudes, preconceived notions, and high-mindedness is burned off. I'm left meeker, less defensive, more pliable, and less caustic.
Jesus died for every "nut" in the land . . . even the hardest one. And for that, I'm particularly grateful. -Patsy Clairmont

Portrait of the Past...Thanksgiving 2007

I usually post about the current happenings in our lives. Today I am taking us back almost a year. You see it will soon be five months since my incredible grandmother flew very unexpectedly and suddenly into the arms of Jesus and while I know that she was very ready to make that flight, those of us left behind were not ready to lose her. Her death has been something that I have struggled to accept these past months and as our first Thanksgiving and Christmas approach without her it has become harder.
I recently received my e-vite to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt’s home. We’ve celebrated Thanksgiving there for many years now. It’s a pot luck Thanksgiving, with everyone bringing our specialties and us winding up with enough food to feed a small army. Every year in her e-vite, my aunt includes a list of what everyone brought the previous year. Listed there with everyone else was Mama Lorene (Grandma to me)—mustard greens and cracklin cornbread. And it reminds me how we will never taste Grandma’s specialties again and the tears start to flow again. However, my aunt put it very well when she said, “Yes, we will miss her and her contagious laughter but we all know she will be us in spirit and laughing right along with us”.
Last year Grandma was very happy and excited to meet her newest great grand child. Grandma loved babies!!! She loved holding them and cuddling them, and always hated it when they got too big for her to hold any more. This year she will be sorely missed, and I am sure that we will shed a few tears as we remember Thanksgivings from the past. But we will also know that Grandma is right there with us, laughing with us, and watching over us always.

Fall Festival

Last night, Trey and Jesse went with Cora Jane, Vera Kate, and Whit to the fall festival at their church. For this event, Jesse decided to wear his Superman costume (his original Halloween costume). The kids love playing together and had a great time doing crafts and playing games, not to mention the train and hay rides...Bowling...I just love these pins!
Time for a snooze!
Cora Jane and Trey on the train.

While he didn't get the whole concept of the cupcake walk, this was Jesse's favorite part of the night. He loved walking around in circles listening to the music and every once in a while he'd follow a "winner" over and snag a prize for himself.Getting ready for the hay ride. Yes, it is a tractor trailer. Yes, it was very loud. Yes, it was very smelly. Yes, it was LONG! But the kids enjoyed it, at least for the first 10 or 15 minutes.
All the kids had on glow sticks and this was all the illumination we had except for one tiny lantern hanging above. So for some reason this "lighting" made all my pictures spotty and I don't know how to fix them.About five minutes in.
So there you have it, our Halloween is officially over. After the hay ride we went inside to eat. Then Jesse got scared by a teen in a gorilla costume, and our night was over. I hope you have enjoyed all of our Fall/Halloween pics! This Mama is very tired and looking forward to a break before Thanksgiving...oh wait, I've got to get us organized and ready for the Christmas parade and the Christmas play. Maybe I can rest in January:)