Christmas and beyond

Here we are in January and I am just now getting around to downloading pics from Christmas. I could use the excuse that I was too busy and while I was busy, "too" busy would be a lie. Really I just despise the downloading process of cords, cameras, waiting for a program to open, waiting an eternity for the pics to download...etc. So I have been avoiding it. But no more, I have in my possession the greatest gadget since magic erasers...a card reader! Now, some of you more techno-savvy readers must be thinking "wow, she finally made it out of the stone age". Well, maybe I did. I bought a card reader on the advice of the man at Whites Camera on the Square. He is a genius in my book! To sum up my joy...I downloaded 182 pics in a matter of seconds when the same task would have taken an hour or so before my purchase. So here is a multitude of pics from what I refer to as "My Twelve Days of Christmas" (Christmas Eve to my birthday)...

Our family as we leave for a Christmas Eve service at church. It was a wonderful service, with some giggles on our part. We did what we thought was a great job of preparing our little kids for communion. You know..."there will be a very quiet time"..."tray with little crackers"..."tiny glasses of juice"..."mostly big people"..."Jesus in your heart"..."a special snack for you after we are finished". We thought it was at least adequate until the first tray of bread went by... " I yike bwead Mommy"..."Why can't I eat bwead, I'm not awergic to it"..."I'm vewy hungwy"...Joshua to the family behind us "you eat it, they won't let us"..."please give me a drink, I'm SOOOOO firsty" Needless to say the families around us got quite a kick out of communion on this Christmas Eve :)

After church we went to a birthday party for Jesus. It is a long standing traditions for the Breeden's and they include the other staff families.

Seth and Zachary

Their sister, MollyCameronLukeSteven

We left the party to go home and open our traditional Christmas Eve gift...new jammies. Everyone gets new jammies which is mainly so we can take a cute family pic on Christmas morning.

After jammie opening and modeling, it was time for the Christmas story.

Alex read the story from Luke.

Now if you know much about us, you know that sleeping late NEVER happens at our house. In fact, in Olivia's book 6 am is a very late wakeup time. So this was a little concerning to us. We didn't want kids waking up and finding "Santa's" gifts without us. So Alex came to the rescue. He suggested they all camp out together. That way he would keep them in the bedroom until we were ready. The "tent" for Christmas Eve camp outEveryone piled into one full size bunk bed. A little crowded but still very sweet.Once they were asleep, "Santa" brought the giftsWaiting on the steps for the signal to run into the living room...
Cute pic with everyone in new jammies.
Every girl needs a Barbie playhouse. This one has more going on than really needed...a ringing doorbell, lights that come on, a fireplace with sounds of flames, a flat screen TV, tiki torches that light up around the hot tub and the piese te resistance(sp?)...a toilet with flushing sounds. I don't remember my sister's Barbie house "flushing".
After enjoying our morning at home, we loaded the van and headed for the holy land. It was presents all around first at David's parents house, then at my cousins. Memaw and Papaw

Manda and Livi Lu

Lego's and an Easy Bake Oven were big hits...

A couple of days later we had the annual family "wok-a-thon". Ever since 2000 David's family has had some sort of "cook-off" complete with competing dishes, judges and awards. Past themes have been "wok" (Asian), breakfast, Italian, All-American and I am sure there were others, but I can't remember them. This year our theme was Tex-Mex. Amanda was the decorations coordinator.....Beesh, David, Alex, Lauren, Mary Nell and myself all submitted dishes. It was quite a feast!!The winner... in my very first apron (Thanks, Min)
While we were in the holy land, some of us had little side trips...David and Alex went skiing, Livi and I went to Savannah for the birth of Baby Jackson.

I don't really have pics from Savannah. The shots of Livi at the beach were too dark to see. I forgot my camera when we were at the hospital. My big adventure involved driving through a really bad part of town to get to the historic district. It is in the beautiful, old south-ish part of Savannah that the best lemonade on the face of the earth can be found. If you are ever in Savannah, go to Parker's on Drayton St. You will not be disappointed! But back to my story, on my way there I saw a wallet lying in the middle of the street. At first I ignored it, then I thought about how I would feel if my wallet/purse were missing. So I turned around, stopped in an alley and walked into an intersection to retrieve the wallet. Once back in the van I looked around and realized I was not in a good place. I quickly drove away. Once at Parker's, I looked through the wallet for id and it was from FL. So I got directions to a Police precinct. After loading up my lemonade (that was my priority, remember) I went to the police. I told them my story and after telling them where I found it the policeman said "You stopped there? Don't ever do that again." Ok, I will remember that! I left the wallet with them and departed...sipping lemonade and thanking God for His protection.

Twelve days after Christmas is my birthday. This was a big one...like one that begins in 4 and ends in 0. My fantabulous husband and friends made it the best ever!

It started with a note saying I would be getting 40 of my favorite things for my 40th birthday... The table was loaded with a basket of, yes, 40 of my favorite things... Pringles, truffles, diet cherry coke, a cd David burned of 80's music (Don't Stop Believing, Mr. Roboto...), notes about future get aways, a warm blanket, pictures and notes from the kids ...

even pistachio ice cream in the freezer.

It was a great beginning!

Later I went to what I thought was a lunch with my sweet friend Mel. But it turned out to be a surprise lunch with 6 great friends at PF Changs. YUMM-O!!

It was so much fun!! These are fabulous ladies and I am blessed to call them friends...even if they questioned my choice from the menu...Chicken and Eggplant :)

After our meal, the waitress came over with this....It was as yummy as it looks!! And it was enough to share, so everyone got a piece (except our poor friend who is allergic to chocolate, can you imagine?)My day wasn't over yet...

For Dinner, David took our family to one of my favorite restaurants... Buca Di BeppoWe got to sit at the kitchen table. It is exactly what is sounds like...a booth right in the kitchen. We got to watch the chefs and wait staff in all their busyness. The kids loved and so did I! Alex's pizza The huge cupcake they gave me and the little hands that ate most of it...
Blessed!

It was a great birthday. In fact, I would turn 40 every day if I could repeat this day :)

So that is it, enough I know. This is probably the longest post I ever posted. My cousins that blog have been complaining about people not leaving comments on their blogs. I would love to hear from you...if you like what you read :)

The Squeakquel

I took the kids to Opry Mills to see Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel. I was a little intimidated at the thought of going it alone, as David was helping out Santa at our house. So I was joined by an old friend (who is in denial about being old :) Anyway, as you can see by the pics, the kids had as much fun climbing as they did actually watching the movie.

Merry Christmas

We pray your holiday is full of joy, peace, hope and love.

Merry Chistmas!

My Mom

Someone said to me today..." you need your mother". She knew I had a sick child and was not really sure what to do. When I told her my mom had been gone for 3 years, in fact three years today, she prayed for me and made the sweetest offer. She offered to boss me around like a real Italian mom :) Sweet, sweet, sweet. I am blessed with so many wonderful women in my life.

It was three years ago today that David's cell phone rang in the early morning. Thus began a long day of packing then driving to a hospital where my mom was being kept alive long enough for me to see her one more time. It was a terrible day.

Now, I choose to not dwell on that day but on all the days before that. The days when Mom was being a funny, loving mom and grandmother. She battled cancer three times and rarely missed a day of work. She was strong and devoted to those around her. She spoiled grandkids with Mt. Dew and bbq chips for breakfast. She made the best cheeseburgers ever (just ask David). She was the youngest of twelve brothers and sisters. She always felt like she wasn't as tough as her brothers, but she was. They will tell you that. There is a bit of a twisted sense of humor that runs in my family, mom was one the ring leaders. She and her sister Marie were known for their grocery store trips that no one else would join them in. If they were together, someone was going to be embarrassed. I loved that about her. She could make anyone laugh. Her life was rarely "easy" but she worked hard. She made the most of life not matter how difficult things were at the time. There are still days that I pick up the phone to call her and ask her what I should do about something. When my babies were all really small, I cried a lot and told God I wasn't supposed to raise all these kids without my mom. He would remind that all my kids were really His children. It was His job to lead me and He knew what He was doing. I know if Mom were here she would most likely tell me she had no idea what to do so I should pray about it.

It has been three years since I said goodbye. I won't forget all that my mom was to so many people. I love you, mom!

All Bowed Up

As you can tell by my last post...I love little girls in hair bows. As a way of making a little extra money for Christmas I am making lots of bows. I thought you might like to see them.

These grosgrain bows are on barrettes. I am selling them for $5

I also have tulle bows on clips for $3. I have them in red or green.

If you are interested in purchasing any bows, leave me a comment as to what you want. I will contact you privately about delivery and/or shipping.

Random Pics

It has been a crazy few weeks. I had surgery on my elbow and you know...when mom is down for the count, chaos is the status quo. So I thought I might post of few pics of some random events from the last few weeks.

As you can see... I love big bows on sweet little girls!!

Just because I could... love this flower.

Anyone want to take a guess as to why I took this pic?? Hint...an OCD cousin...

Living Room adventure....David and the little kids take fort building to the next level.

The boys loved climbing instead of watching Alex play football.

Olivia went on her first field trip in October.

Always ready to strike a pose...

I included this pic because I loved watching Olivia and her teacher. This is truly an answered prayer. Olivia loves her and she loves Olivia.

A farm girl?? Well maybe not...

Did I mention I like bows??

After a week of all sunshines, Olivia got to go on a date with her Daddy. This is the two of them before they headed to Olive Garden and Gigi's Cupcakes.

Alex had his first "how to tie a tie" lesson. He was getting ready for his sports banquet.

Alex has settled in to his new school and is loving it. He played football and had a great season, making new friends and learning the game.

Halloween came along before we knew it. Olivia wanted to be "Gabriella" big surprise, right! The boys wanted to be Batman and Robin. That seemed easy at first but turned into an ordeal that spanned the globe, literally. "Robin" arrived from Hong Kong only days before which sent everyone in here and in the "holy land" searching for a size 4 Batman. Becky and Poppy came through and the Dynamic Duo made their appearance.

That's it for now. Enjoy the beautiful fall that the Lord is giving us.