Wow- almost a month since I posted last- so much for good intentions!
We have had a quiet Christmas today. The kids got up at 7:00- we opened a few presents then had breakfast and opened the rest. Riley got the much anticipated guitar. We are gonna be wishing she had asked for something more quiet- like a book! Sam got a tool set- he has already smashed his thumb. But the kid is tough and kept on banging.
I have really enjoyed this holiday season. I have made several gifts this year (more on that later) I had a little party here for a few ladies from sunday school- we had a great, laid back time. Riley and I have been doing an advent calendar- and that has really focused me to make this christmas about the memories- hopefully I'll be uploading more on that.
I made out like a bandit this year- new flooring for my dining room, new bedding, an otoscope- I have wanted one forever, and jewelry and slippers. Good haul for me!
Well I have got to get the food out of the oven- lunch is taking longer than I expected but everyone except the guitar princess is napping- so we're good! Merry Christmas!

Riley is going to have a car in the Awana Grand Prix- which is like a boyscout Pinewood derby. We googled pinewood derby car designs tonight and found a few templates that we thought we could handle.
She wants a pink car with lime green flames- and that is all she cares about. I hope she is still having fun with this after the hours of sanding she's gonna have to do.

Sam turns 2 the middle of January-and the boy is wearing me out. Tonight we went to orschelns for something that I didn't care about so I can't even recall what it was- anywho- the boy got 2 spanks before we left. What a turd. He is just so dang headstrong- and cute- look at him- he's a stud!

This is my one of my many nativity sets. I just love it- its wood except for a few metal pieces like the robes on the wisemen. It is just cute. I also have a Precious Moments one that is really small. We'll there must have been some sort of skirmish in the Christmas tub this last year- because he came out decapitated- and I have a snowman with a broken nose. Let that be a lesson to ya- you make fun of a snowmans nose- he is gonna take you down- I don't care if you are the father of the king! Don't know what's up with this picture- just squint your eyes and imagine it being really cute.


I got this wooden tree at Hobby Lobby when I was shopping with Olivia. I made the little boxes to go in each slot out of chipboard- and the decorated the boxes with scraps. I want to put fun little things in each box to count down the last 10 days before christmas. I got Home Alone on DVD-so having a movie night will be one of our fun activities (Riley has never seen the movie- how in the world I have been this childs mother for almost seven years and neglected my christmas duty by not showing her Home alone is a travesty- please don't let this change your opinion of me being the best mom in the whole wide world)
I think we'll take a christmas light drive, and have a night wrapping gifts- any other ideas?- and by "other" I mean cheap. And by "cheap" I mean free hehe!
We are headed to Moberly and then Columbia tomorrow. A big day for John- first he is getting his schedule for next semester of college- then down to columbia for a job interview. Cross your fingers people- this would be such a blessing for our family (and would get him out of my hair a little bit).

Thanksgiving...

Well.. It has come and gone- and it feels more and more like the beginning of Christmas than it's own holiday. We actually had our tree up before thanksgiving.

My mom and dad with their grandkids and grandpups (as the girls would say!) We have a yorkie- Truman, Bryan has a bulldog-Zoe, and Liv has a Shih-chon-Norm. The dogs got along really well- and Truman held his own with Zoe, they played all day and Truman was wore out by the time we got home! This was taken at mom and dad's new house. They bought Karen Almands cabin and they LUV it.

We also went to John's mom to be with his family, and his step-brother and sister. It is always fun getting together. When we're all there- there's 8 kids to play with- and even though it gets ROWDY, I love it. We don't get to see the Quincy cousins that much and Riley and Sam love it when they get to play with them.

My dad wrestled with

his grandkids- till

somebody got hurt!

I found a great website http://www.dltk.com/ They have great games and printables. I printed out a bunch of Thanksgiving Bingo cards and the kids loved it. We played regular bingo, blackout, four corners, postage stamp- we played bingo like nobody's business!

I'll post Christmas decorations soon!

For Shirley

Finally able to get this on. Sorry to take so long-

100 Memory Verses by Summer

This weekend I got to help a little bit with our Youth's Retreat for church. Their speaker-Brad Fogerty- talked about the importance of memorizing God's Word. How by doing that- His Word comes alive in us and in times of trial- that is what comes out of us. He challenged the kids to memorize 100 verses by the time they go to summer camp.

Last night was our Awana night at church- where we share with the church what Awana is all about- and I shared with the church what Brad had said and I committed to memorizing 100 verses as well! Caarazy! I am not sure what I was thinking- but after church last night I was surfing and found this great blog- http://triplethescraps.blogspot.com/ She is doing a challenge starting next year with a verse a week. From her site I found this one http://triplethescraps.blogspot.com/ that has these cool downloadable scriptures. So I've printed these off to use as flash cards- I'm thinking I may even do new ones for the rest of the verses I learn then frame them all together for a big mosaic type print.

Anybody else wanna do this with me?

Terrible at keeping in touch

One of my (many) shortcomings is my inability to keep in touch- I have great friends in Arkansas, Kansas City, Las Vegas, DC, Virginia and places I don't even know because- I uh, didn't keep in touch. So this is my resolution to do better. I want this little blog to be a lifeline to my friends and family who I need so much.

If you know me you know my camera! It goes with me everywhere- I got to take some pics of this hunky senior the other day. It was so easy- he was a pro- some pictures he would smile- other pics he would give the serious pose! I would love to be able to "break" into the photography world. Maybe these pics will help!

First Blog Post

Hello World or more like the 2 people who stumble on this humble blog. This blog is to chronicle ("chronic-what-cles of narnia"-dumb inside joke between John and I) the comings and goings of my little family in the middle of the boonies in Missouri.

These pics were taken during a short trip to South Carolina this past summer. This was the first time the kids had seen the ocean- and years since John or I had. They loved it- it was the best part of the trip!