Two Plus Two: Why Do I Feel Outnumbered?
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21
From our family to yours, we wish you all a very merry CHRISTmas!!!
May the love of our Lord fill your heart and may you never forget that Jesus is the only reason for the season!!!
Phil, Christy, Trey, & Jesse
After eating shrimp gumbo & chasing lizards at Papa & Ah-ee’s, it was time to head to Grandma & Da’s and pick out the perfect tree!
Once the tree was loaded (& reloaded after we lost it going down the highway), it was time to go back to Papa & Ah-ee’s so the boys could go home with Hinson!
Yes, the boys always have fun at Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Chris, and Hinson’s house. Unfortunately, for this sleepover, Jesse didn’t actually make it to sleep. We had to go pick up our baby boy around 11:30. He wanted his Mama and I couldn’t help but smile at that!
The first weekend in December was a very busy one indeed. On Saturday we had play practice, Christmas parade, late lunch at Papa & Ah-ee’s, picking out and chopping down our Christmas tree at Grandma & Da’s, and spending the night with Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Chris, & Hinson. Whew!!! What a wonderful beginning to our Christmas season.
Waiting on Hinson to arrive…and not very patiently I might add.
Hinson has arrived. And so have our church friends. But we’re still waiting. Impatiently. For the parade to start.
Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Where is the parade?!?
More excitement! Here comes Santa!
Hinson thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas parade.
After the parade it was off to Papa & Ah-ee’s for shrimp gumbo. The boys weren’t nearly as excited about the gumbo as I was. But they did enjoy chasing and catching lizards. It never ceases to amaze me the differences in my boys. Jesse = FEARLESS. Trey. Would. Never. Pick. Up. A. Lizard. When he was this age. It’s debatable whether or not he would today.
to be continued…
A couple of weeks ago, Trey had a book report and project due. The project was a diorama of a scene from the book that he was doing his report on. Trey chose to do his report on Kidnapped! (Book One) by Gordon Kormon. The scene depicted in the diorama is when Meg (the kidnapped heroine of the book) sends a secret signal to her brother as to her whereabouts. Earlier in the book she had inadvertently knocked an American flag to the ground when she threw a baseball bat. After being taken to Virginia by her kidnappers she secretly signals her brother by using a brick to knock down both an American and a Virginia flags. Trey put a lot of thought and effort into his project and I am very proud of him!
And because my precious (jealous) baby boy couldn’t have me taking pictures of Trey and his project and NOT have a photo taken of him, here is Jesse with one of his school Christmas projects. The buttons are real cinnamon.
On Thanksgiving Day, we made our annual trip to Macon to visit with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had tons of delish food, lots of catching up, and of course many, many photos.
Our family continues to grow and it was wonderful to meet the newest addition to our family, Charles Kirby. And Grandma Dot & PaPa Kirby were thrilled to show him off.
The cousins always have a fun time playing together, even if it’s just sitting side by side playing their DSes.
We also got to celebrate Mary’s birthday with a delicious Aunt Dot cake.
Lots of fun playing outside!
(Lots more photos in the above album.)
Even the Grandmas got in on the outside fun!
Lots and lots of family photos…even more when you click on “view full album”.
Trey acting silly with leaves…
And what I’m most thankful for…
…my family!!! I am blessed indeed.
Brrrrrr!!!! Is it cold outside!!! We have been experiencing a cold snap here in south Georgia. And by cold snap, I mean for the past couple of weeks we have had record or near record lows! Some would say that this is perfect Christmas weather, but this born and bred south Georgia girl has no use for cold weather…especially if that cold weather brings no snow with it! I love summer. I adore spending lazy days floating around a pool enjoying the sunshine. If ever I move away from south Georgia, I would wish to move to a sunny, warm beach environment…like Hawaii. Year-round beach weather…now THAT I could get used to. Where o where is my summer???
These photos were taken on Friday, July 30, 2010. My last day of summer before I had to head back to school. My last lazy day in the pool for 2010. Sniff, sniff… Aunt Esther, Mandy, Connie, Tamie, and all the kids traveled down to enjoy the last day of my summer freedom with us. Oh, how I can NOT wait until summer is upon us again and I can again spend days like this!
All that fun wore us all out! And I can’t wait for summer days to return so we can do it all over again!
…twelve amazing years with the love of my life. It hasn’t always been easy and the life we live now is nowhere close to the life I thought we’d be living. Even with all of it’s ups and downs, it’s even better than I could have ever imagined!!! Happy Anniversary to my Philip!
Several years ago I was looking for an idea of how to make Christmas ornaments with my Sunday school class. Somewhere, and I have no idea where I got it from, I found a recipe for Cinnamon Dough Ornaments. It looked really easy so I decided to try it out with my class. They turned out wonderfully & since then I have made them every year…with Sunday school classes, with my 4th graders, with my own boys…
The Saturday after Thanksgiving I co-hosted a housewarming party for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They recently bought their first home and the timing was perfect for us to have a Christmas themed housewarming. Not only did they have a new home that needed to be warmed, but last May when our warehouse burned down, they lost all of their Christmas decorations. I thought that it would be fun for all the kiddos at the housewarming to make a cinnamon dough ornament that they could give to the family. My in-laws would have new ornaments to decorate their new tree and they would have special keepsakes from their housewarming. The kids had a blast making the ornaments & my kitchen (where the ornaments are drying) is filled with the scents of the holidays. This dough may not be tasty, but it sure does smell good!
I also made the ornaments with my fourth graders. For the first time ever, we painted the ornaments. And they turned out so good that I think we will paint them from now on. I know my boys are begging to make some that they can paint.
What you’ll need to make your own:
1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup white school glue
Bowl
Plastic food wrap
Rolling Pin
Wax paper
Cookie cutters
Ribbon
Straw
Mod-Podge
Acrylic or fabric paints (optional)
What you do:
Mix cinnamon, applesauce, and glue together in a bowl. The dough should be as thick as cookie dough. Add a bit of water if the dough is too stiff.
Remove from bowl and knead. Put it back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for at least a half hour.
Remove the dough and knead a second time to make sure it’s smooth.
Place dough into an airtight container until you are ready to use.
Place the dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll the dough until it’s between 1/4” and 1/8” inch thick. (I prefer for it to be closer to 1/4”.)
Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes, and use a straw to punch a hole for the ribbon to hang.
Gently place the shapes on a piece of clean wax paper or foam plates to dry. They will take 3-5 days to dry, and you will need to turn them over a couple of times a day for them to dry evenly and flat.
When dry, you may use acrylic or fabric paints to paint details. You may also use a sharpie marker to write names, dates, etc on the back of the ornament.
Once dry, you may use Mod-Podge (or a mixture of glue and water) to paint over the entire ornament, front and back. This will make the ornament harder and less likely to flake, chip, or break.
Thread a piece of ribbon through the hole to hang.
Don’t be surprised to see that the ornaments get smaller during the drying process. Keep this in mind when you pick out the cookie cutters for your designs. You will also notice that if you do not turn the ornaments over often enough while they are drying, the edges of the ornaments will curl.
Enjoy!
