Holiday Recap 2

Ok, so now it is really post Holidays...

First we had my parents visit, and then Kevin's parent came. They actually overlapped for about 2 days...they actually get along very well...since Kevin & I were high school sweethearts they have known each other quite awhile ( almost 16 years???) and used to see each other socially quite a lot. My parents moved from that small town in Ohio 4 years ago back to our old hometown in Louisiana so we very seldom get to spend all this time together.




We all had a wonderful time. I never get enough pictures of the kids with grandparents...we stay kind of active, and I just forget to do it...how do the rest of you document thru photos so well???


Since two (yes myself included) got bikes from Santa for Christmas...we have been outside a lot...and thankfully North Carolina weather has cooperated. We actually have run the gamut since Christmas...30 to 70s....not a normal January.

I am still trying to clean up, recover, sort out and purge! (that last one stays on my to do list since I am a bit of a cluttery pack-rat) The very large local consignment sale took place last weekend, and forced me to get it together...I took about 4 wagon loads...not nearly enough. I found tons of summer clothes at the bottom of my forgotten ironing basket, and all sorts of things lurking in the walk-in attic...so I will make many more trips to goodwill,etc.

I need to post a few photos along with this later!

Holiday Recap

So I really thought I was going to be able to keep up at a nice weekly blogging rate...but traveling at Thanksgiving, a 4 year old (can you believe it!!!!) birthday party,


Christmas preparations, Christmas visitor preparations.....and now a VERy thorough closet cleaning (3 sweaters with large holes, what is causing it????) has derailed me. I am trying to remove everything from the closet, wash or dry clean it...then resort to storing sweaters in plastic tubs and hope that it works. Other suggestions??

And my parents are arriving Sunday...we are all so excited. Mere has actually started shaking at time when she talks about Christmas, Santa, Grandma & Papaw and Nana & Papa.

Just busy with the last minute tidying up. We usually have some sort of agenda of things to do, a few projects around the house. But there isn't much of that this time.

Here is a little something thing that I found that I thought would get me going...

Christmas Survey:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or artificial? I love the look and smell of real….but we used to be travel over Christmas so it made more sense to have a fake….and it is economical now that we have it.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the 1^st weekend in Dec…though I was ready right after Thanksgiving this year.

4. When do you take the tree down? Not until after new years…some times it is even a few weeks into January (you can do that with a fake tree)…but we do turn the lights off after new Years :)

5. Do you like eggnog? I really do..just a little bit…and I love an eggnog latte( ohh soo many calories)…oh and I always check the calendar for eggnog day at Goodberry's!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? This is hard…..

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we started the willow tree set several years ago, and added each year until it was complete. The kids have the Little People set under the tree so they can play.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My parents….

9. Easiest person to buy for? My MIL, she likes girly stuff…jewelry, Vera, my sister –in-laws are easy too.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? hmmmm

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, always, and NO printed photo cards without so much as a Merry Christmas written in your own handwriting…pet peeve!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Too many, and I have seen a lot lately…it used to be A Christmas Story…but I have loved watching Polar Express with Meredith. I can't wait to watch Charlie Brown with her when she is old enough.

Good Mail

Yea! My Good Mail Labels came today! I saw on Jill's blog recently that you could purchase personalized Good Mail labels. I was so excited! I can accomplish basic paper crafts and computer projects....but I wasn't ready to make my own. They are so cute...and for being her very first customer, she included a set of notecards....which I love! Thank you Jill!


I also received a package of stationery today that I had ordered from Good Things. I placed an order for my mother-in-law for Christmas. I have put a good hit in my shopping, but I have still more to do. I like to have it done by Thanksgiving, so if we travel to Ohio to see family, I can take it with me. What becomes really overwhelming is the shear number of birthdays that we have have in the months of Nov. Dec. Jan. & Feb...sooooo many! I always feel so good about all the Christmas shopping that I've done....then I remember the birthdays! At least I am doing ok witht he kids so far.

Halloween & SPT

do you celebrate Halloween? do you go all out with costumes, or do you prefer to lay low with the porch light turned off? did you enjoy Halloween as a child? what was your favorite costume? will you dress up this year, or leave it for the little ones?

So I will be honest, Halloween is not my thing. I like a few little decorations (more the "fall" look). I am content to hand out candy while my husband takes the kids around. I don't remember at what age I stopped wanting to dress up, but I don't really ever remember loving it. By my early 20s I recall dreading Halloween parties...I hated thinking of a creative, unique costume. I think I really dislike drawing attention to myself, and I admit I care too much what other people think (I am working on this). The weird thing is that my husband loves it all...and I think that as the kids get older, he'll get even more excited about their costumes.

SPT - Black & White

Is it really easier to see your "true colors" when the photo is black & white? what do you see?

Maybe this isn't the best B&W photo for this challenge....but it is the most recent. We were in Chicago visiting my sister & her family in over Labor Day weekend. We had a lot of photos done of all the cousins together for our parents.

We also did a few of individuals & families. This one up top is of Mere & I. I am much better in candids....especially when I am NOT looking at the camera...all sorts of weird things tend to happen with my face then....I might post later to illustrate....but I might not!

Rainy Day

So we are on day 6 of "Daddy Gone" week. And we're actually doing ok. This is the first morning that no one has gymnastics, tumbling or pre-school, so we are just relaxing. It is 9 am, and we all still have our jammies on. At this rate, I am not sure what we'll get done today....but that's ok with me! It is a rainy day.....a true rarity here in NC, so we need to find an indoor activity....but that trip to Costco that I have in mind might not be exactly what Mere wants to do.


She is working here in a workbook that we picked up at the teacher store last week. One of our favorite place to go...because it is such a great toy store. Mere isn't really interested in writing/identifying letters right now (unless of course it is her idea), so I picked up this pre-writing book. She enjoys outlining shapes, squiggles, and practicing pencil control. I thought it was a good start. And Daniel likes to color! He went to the cupboard to ask for the book & crayons this morning!!!

Daddy should be home tonight right about bedtime....keep your fingers crossed!

Good Mail

I have never blogged about good mail (but I do actually get some), but I was so excited to see the pink envelope this week!

I would like you to not be in my way, please

Manners...we work at this regularly. We have great periods of several months when the pleases and thank yous flow freely....then there are the times where it is like pulling teeth!

This morning while Meredith was trying to get around Kevin on the steps and was prompted for "good manners" she says "I would like you to not be in my way, please!" Where have we gone wrong??? Three and a half is such a unique animal.

Figuring my self out

I found this on Sarah's blog today. I had to take the quiz immediately. I love this Myers-Briggs type of stuff...I will always take a Cosmo quiz....I guess I am always trying to figure out exactly who I am. Well...here it is...

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

What's Your Personality Type?

When It is all said and done, I see myself in some of that, but not all of it. I think it is impossible to really but such a hard and fast label on anyone...but it has it's merits. How about you??

Let's Try This Again

Ok....it has been awhile. But I have not given up. I am just not sure if I am the blogging type. It is not going to be an everyday thing for me....but I will try again. I am on a purging kick! And with good reason...we are the cluttery, keeping type, and we need to stop. I have a boat load of clothes sitting in the hall way ready to take to a big consignment sale tonight. Since both my sister, and sister-in-law just had their 3rd and 2nd boy(respectively), I am no longer saving Meredith's clothes. I still have tons of the 0-12 stuff...there is just so much of it that it is overwhelming. But I feel good getting rid of all the old fall/winter stuff. Tonight I hope to get the rest of the summer/pajamas but in the right place, and then I can start a new project! ???? We'll see!

SPT challenge - it's as american as apple pie

Here is my first SPT (self portrait tuesday) post....just a few days late. Thank you to Lelly for supplying the inspiration for these!!... So wikipedia defines Americana as....

Americana refers to artifacts of the culture of the United States, the history and folklore resultant from its westward expansion. Examples of this culture include baseball, apple pie, Superman, the Diner, barbed wire, wagon trains, and NASCAR; jazz, the music of Stephen Foster, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, the music of Aaron Copland (notably his Fanfare for the Common Man), and rockabilly; and American art, such as that of Frederic Remington, Grant Wood, and Norman Rockwell, all based on American folk art.

So in my former life I was a US History teacher....I live for Americana. I love the symbols of the development of the country. This definition does so much to extol the virtues of Americana. I used to surround myself with it when I decorated my classroom...but I have never really decorated the house that way. I think the term "Americana" has a very "country" stigma when you think about home decor...but when you think about the above description, it is not necessarily so....on to my picture.


This was my grandmother's, my dad's mom, Mama Newton. I don't remember it from her home, but somewhere along the way, it ended up at my parent's house. I was always drawn to it...the utilitarian simplicity of it. As my parents began to downsize a bit, they delivered it to us one visit. I just have it tucked behind a chair in the living room...a little too close to the playroom actually. It regularly catches the stray matchbox car or little people farm animal. But it feels at home...

the first of many?

Yesterday was a first for us...the dance recital. I was a little concerned...wasn't sure if Mere would be dancing, or sitting in my lap like the preschool music concert. She actually went in there ready to dance, feet moving! But her enthusiasm slowly waned, and by the tap performance, she was doing a little shuffle just in front of me. We'll be taking a break from dance/gymnastics this summer. We might take the same class again in the fall....we'll see what is available. It will be nice to have Monday nights free...actually now we have all our nights free...hockey is over, bells are over, and now dance too! Yahoo!

Trying something new

I am new to this, so it will take me a while to get the hang of it. I have been a lurker for so long now that I thought it was time to start posting myself....now I just have to find something to write about! But is guess that won't always be a dilemma.

Kinda...Sorta....Something.

Here goes....