Christmas Recap

Well, it's New Year's Eve, and we're at home, having just put down a very "croopy Jack" and an overly tired Lucy. It took several hours to get the two car loads unpacked, but we're almost back to normal...

I think the problem uploading photos must have been through my parents' wireless or something, because the pics have uploaded just fine here. So, anyways, here's a quick recap of our travels in pictures...

In Oxford, AL on Christmas Day, celebrating with Jason's immediate and extended family...

*Lu and Jack would not stop running around in the snow, so we had to quickly grab them and contain them until the timer on the camera went off... ;-)


Lots of fun playing in the snow!!!! I like how my friends Adam and Ashley's blog put it: "Jesus sure knows how to throw himself a birthday party!" The snow was great!






cousin Joshua and Lucy


Just the 4 of us! Soon to be 5 - whoa baby!



Jason's immediate family: Jason, Jim, Barbara, Sarah, and Justin



Grandpa Bert and Grandmama Martin


Sarah (who Jack absolutely ADORES and bothered relentlessly during his visit ;-) and her boyfriend, Justin


of course the kids loved opening presents!



And then, on Dec. 26 we headed back to Atlanta. (Lucy, Jack, and I had been there from Dec. 18 - the 24th, but now Jason was joining us. We celebrated Christmas on the 26th with a yummy meal from Mom, and a visit from Grammy T. from Buffalo (my dad's mom).

Jack is now a pro at opening gifts...here, a fun Thomas the Train bath set!



And Lucy loved her very LARGE Fancy Nancy. Lady gave her an entire bedding set to coordinate with the series as well. She's sleeping happily in it right now ;-)



Lucy in more Fancy Nancy gear - pj's and fancy slippers from Uncle Ryan, and Jack is adorable in his personalized scrubs from Papa and Lady. It says "Jack Attack" above the pocket. ;-)


Jack loved watching "truck videos" on youtube with his fun uncles, my brothers Ryan and Brendan. Jason and I were joking as we unloaded all of Jack's trucks...since Dec. 2nd, when Jack turned 2, he has quickly collected what must be the largest collection of construction trucks, trains, and monster trucks! ;-)

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, and hope you did as well!

heartbroken...

I've been trying to upload Christmas pictures for two days now, and I can't get them up... ;-(

But, in the meantime, I have a hilarious story to share from today...

Lucy and Jack were having a typical little scuffle - I was in the other room, so I didn't hear specifics. Then, I hear my dad let out a deep, belly laugh. He comes into the room where I am to share this story:

Lucy and Jack were arguing, and Lucy continued to go on and on, crying dramatically. So my dad says he said to her, "Lucy, why don't you tell me what you're crying about and I"ll tell you if it's worth crying about?"

And Lucy replied, through thick tears, apparently: "Jack broke my heart!"

Oh, the laughs we'll be having with her...apparently she won't need to wait until her teen years to have a boy "break her heart"...her own brother already does that when he fights with her.

Love it!

A funny for moms:

So, Jason's mom has all kinds of sweet lil' inspiring/motivational/encouraging books around her house. I was browsing through one, "Inspiration for a mother's Heart," and this short story made me laugh out loud:

"Bedtime"

After putting her children to bed, a mother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. At last, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to be with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard her three-year-old say with a trembling voice, 'who was that?'

Fun in Gainesville

During our stay in Atlanta before Christmas, the kids and I headed north to my friends Laura and Brad's new house. Grant and Lucy formed a fun friendship on our summer trip to Hilton Head this past summer, and they were so excited to see each other again!

Here are a few pics of the kids playing together:

Funny Christmas Gifts

So, I got a wild hair to see what kind of funny gifts there were out there. It's too late to order any, of course, but not to late to have a good laugh (and bookmark any for next year ;-)


What male golfer wouldn't enjoy this?



Thinking of my friend, Josh! ;-)





Reminds me when I was a kid, and my family would be on a long car ride to a vacation spot. Each hour, my parents would give the most well-behaved kid a scratch lotto ticket. None of us ever won any more than two bucks I think, but imagine if they had handed us one of these! Would have made for a very interesting car ride!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope your holiday is filled with love!

Athiest Billboard

Church was all kinds of interesting Sunday. After a great worship time with fun Christmas songs (see post below this one), pastor Andy Stanley opened his sermon with this billboard:

You can imagine the hush among the large audience. He used this billboard as an intro to a message, using the book of Luke, to focus on the factual way Luke presented his account of Jesus' life and death. It was a good sermon, but I want to focus back on the billboard.

I appreciate the "freedom of speech," but, I myself, can't easily find what I'd like to say. I guess my initial thought is that people are welcome to believe what they'd like, and I probably shouldn't feel so offended because I have seen several religious billboards around Huntsville (although personally I believe the ones that "bully" people are far from effective, and actually bother me).

If any athiests even pay attention to those, I'm sure they just dismiss these just like I would dismiss this billboard above. I'm a little heartbroken, of course - because of what I believe- that there are so many people who would believe this message as fully as I believe in the message of my lord and savior Jesus Christ. And I doubt athiests are heartbroken over Christians who believe - my guess is that they feel more pity towards the group, but at a basic level, there's just a disagreement between the groups.

So for now, I wanted to post the picture, and here's a link to an article if you want to read more about it: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/for-the-holidays-an-atheism-billboard/

I feel pretty confident Jason will have formed some thoughts on this...maybe he'll post something...

I'd love to hear any thoughts from readers...

Fun Video from Church

Lucy and I went to church with my mom on Sunday. We love visiting North Point church when we're in Atlanta. This was Lucy's first visit, and her eyes were wide with shock and amazement when the "big concert" (a.k.a. worship) began. They began with a very fun rendition of "Devil Went Down to Georgia," making it "Santa Went Down to Georgia." Then, in the middle of the song, the singer broke into a segment where he played the music through Rock Band. Very fun!

Check out the video if you have three or four minutes and you want to be highly entertained!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0qKIFJWGXQ

Merry Christmas!

Christmastime is Here!

Lots to catch up on...First, here are some pictures from the kids' Christmas Program. It was simple and sweet - they sang a few songs and bounced bells up and down to "Jingle Bells".

The funny part was when, after the conclusion of the first song, Jack first found Jason in the audience. Immediately, Jack shouted out, "Daddy!", popped up from the stage, sprinted to the end of the stage, lept off, and ran through the pews to where Jason and I were. So heartwarming!







This picture below is where Jack was screaming "Hey!" in the part of the song Jingle Bells. This was his favorite part! No surprise...



And then we're quiet... ;-)



On Saturday, the kids and I headed to Atlanta to spend some extra time with "Papa" who was home visiting from Denver. My parents' neighborhood was having a celebration, so we went to see Santa for the first time, decorate cookies, and ride the train.


Lucy was very excited to talk to Santa, and walked right up, while Jack stayed at a distance and repeatedly said, "no, no, no". We didn't force him on Santa's lap just for the sake of a picture - in which he'd be screaming, no doubt ;-)LOL


Telling Santa she wants a lunchbox...



Isn't this a great Santa?!? Appropriately, Mrs. Claus was next to him giving out candy canes.



And then we moved on to the cookie decorating station, where my dad imperiously asked the teenage girl helping out, "What kind of icing is this?" His worrying tends to surpass what I would consider a healthy level of concern, and my mom and I laughed to ourselves at his behavior. Yes, Dad, it's icing laced with poision, because that's what'd be best to serve children at a Christmas party... ;-)

Sweet girl, she just replied, "It's white icing with food coloring..."


I love this "vintage" effect on this photo...he looks like a little kid from the 50's...



Yes, he quickly contaminated the entire bowl of icing - intended to be shared among the kids at the table. He didn't decorate the cookie; he preferred to scoop lumps of it into his mouth.







Lady and Lucy, on the other hand, got right to the task of making "fancy cookies!"




The kids were waiting for the train to come and take them for a ride...



And when we're not busy out and around on the town ;-), here is how the kids entertain themselves at lady and papa's house...


Funny how when my brothers and I were young kids and my dad first got the pool table, we'd get in trouble if we breathed on it the wrong way! ;-) But Jack and Lucy scraping and swatting at the table, throwing balls off, and knocking balls together and on each other, no problem! Have fun grandkids!!!!
These were thrown off the table right after I took this photo...

We're having fun, but sure do miss "Daddy!" Can't wait to see you soon, Jason!

Christmas Card

So, we - or I should say "Jason" - received a Christmas Card in the mail the other day. Clearly, it was only intended for him. ;-)

I guess I'm on the "naughty list"...

Not sure what to make of my name being crossed out. LOL!

Dancing to "Handy Manny" toolbox

Oh my goodness, Jason captured some FUNNY video tonight of Jack. The Beckers gave him a Handy Manny toolbox with dancing tools for his birthday, and he has absolutely loved it. And tonight, we got to see some "moves" he's put with the tune...

If you need a laugh, these should help!

and if you can't get enough of it, here's a bit more dancing

Whoa Baby!

I have never had maternity pics taken while I was pregnant, but I have seen many photographs that are done quite tastefully and beautifully. My friend Casey Cooper takes wonderful photographs of pregnant women, and my friend Lucy has an adorable collage of herself pregnant that I love!

Well, these photos you are about to see (and likely get quite a laugh from ;-) are not what I would consider "tasteful" nor "beautiful." Now "hilarious" and "eccentric"???

You betcha' baby!

So, both of my brothers were huge hockey players throughout their entire youth (and Ryan still plays -for the UGA team). All I can say is thank goodness my mom was classy and didn't have anything like this on our walls!

"How low can you go?!?"

Even Cam Newton couldn't get away with something like this!

I'd love to know the story behind this one...Did they meet when he stopped to change her flat tire? Are they both passionate car mechanics? Is the tire being used as a metaphor???

If you want to check out more, visit www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Mother Moose Botique

My very talented friend, Jamie, recently started her own children's line of clothing - of which she hand-makes everything! I've long since admired the adorable outfits she makes for her daughter, and now they're available to anyone!

Check out her website:
http://www.themothermoose.com/

Happy Shopping!

Jack's Musical Card

I love those Hallmark cards that play a song when you open them. Well, Jack may like them even better than I do. My dad, Papa, gave him a Toy Story card for his second birthday recently, and Jack loved opening and closing the card, hearing the song so many times, that he wore the battery out in less than two days.

Well, Papa sent Jack a new card that arrived yesterday. Here are two videos of him doing his "bounce dance" to the song.

*Some things to note: in the second video, Jack asks me to do it, and then promptly turns away and says, "My card!" ;-)

*His "Thank You, Papa" is particularly cute!

getting that darn xmas card picture!

Last week, I attempted to take a picture of Jack and Lucy together for our annual card. And instead of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth," for me I just wanted Jack to SIT STILL and/or LOOK AT ME. ;-) My goodness, he is wiggly ;-)

Once I realized that my goal of one picture of the TWO of them was going to be pretty impossible to get, I started snapping individual photos - Lucy was hamming it up - no surprise, and I got some great shots of her. I figured I'do a collage of several photos of each kid individually.

Getting a decent (I was really just aiming for decent; I had no hopes of getting any "great" ones of mr. always-on-the-go ;-) shot of Jack proved so difficult. I decided to take a break, and we went over to Katherine's house to let the kids play together. I brought my camera and followed Jack around, trying to capture a few face shots. Got some; good enough ;-)

I found a fun layout on Costco's photo website which had six photo openings, which worked perfectly. I uploaded the pics, ordered the cards, and I'm mailing out the cards this week. But in the meantime, here are some pictures that didn't make the card...

and my favorite, "non photo"...yes, thanks kids, that works just great... ;-)