Merry Christmas!!

 Too bad, so sad!  I have recently seen a Santa sitting out by a tree full of colored lights on the same road as our church.  I thought...hmmm, that would be great, free pictures with Santa!! (since the mall here won't let us take our own pictures and charges $16 for the smallest package!)

So on our way to look at Christmas lights, we pass the tree and don't see Santa :(  Well, maybe he will be there on our way back...

We looked at the lights, and even got out at a couple of places:

On the way back, I thought, maybe there is a sign telling us why Santa is not there...Instead, this is the sign I found! 

Maybe he is just really busy, or maybe he got sick.  But it was 60 degrees outside and so perfect for Santa time!

We stopped at a neighbor's house on the way home and took some photos with a not-so-real Santa: 

Oh well, Little Man did sit on Santa's lap at the mall with no picture, and he wasn't even scared! Maybe next year we'll have proof...

We all know Santa isn't the real meaning of Christmas anyway!  I am blessed to have my Little Man and a wonderful family.  I am so grateful to have a warm home and the means to buy presents for those I love and those in need.  I am blessed, and it's all because of Jesus!  

I am so excited to be able to go home and spend time with my sisters!  One of our Christmas traditions is to each stand up in front of the fireplace/mantle and answer questions about our year from our dad.  He videotapes us.  It is always so funny.  We usually start acting really crazy and shout out funny answers or run across the camera on another sister's turn to make them mad... After we answer our questions, we sing a Christmas carol and hang up our stocking.  Then when we finish, we all (parents included) sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!" to the camera.  It is so fun to watch them over the years!  I will definitely start this tradition when W can participate!

Hope y'all all have a wonderful, blessed, love-filled Christmas!  I am signing off until the New Year!

Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!

{Semi} Wordless Wednesday: Just Hanging Out!

Yes...this is picture overload!  But, I just couldn't leave any out!

First up, after Little Man's nap one day, he decided to go crazy with the broom and dustpan.  He was banging them together and shouting!  Maybe he'll love to help me clean one day...

Another day, I found him in the bathroom... 

Whoops! 

At Wednesday night dinner at church (you can see his reflection in the window!)

Sitting in his big boy chair!

Still reading his Halloween book...

Photo Shoot :)

We received the Little People's Nativity Set from one of the mister's coworkers family.  Little Man really loves it!!

With his cousins on Friday for my sister's 30th b-day celebration!

Hanging out with one of my friends...and all of Little Man's stuffed animals!

Trying to hide!

Link up with Daphne!

We are going to look at Christmas lights tonight, and hopefully to visit Santa! Hope y'all have a good Wednesday!

 

Home Tour Tuesday: All Wrapped Up!

Link up with Shannon and Daphne!

 I'm not a huge fan of wrapping!  I do like for the presents to look neat though, and if the present resembles a box shape in any form, I will use wrapping paper.  Any other oddly shaped gifts will instantly be bagged!  

My favorite gifts to receive are the sentimental ones that you don't really expect...and while I can't think of any of those right now, I am going to go with our Wii!! My parents gave us a Wii a few years ago, and it has definitely had lots of use!! We go through phases where we will play it every single day for a couple of months, and then not use it at all for awhile...but we have definitely gotten our my parents' money's worth out of it!! Our favorite games are Wii Sports, Wii Resort, and Tiger Woods Golf...well, the Golf is the mister's fave, and it's funny to hear him talk.  "Oh, I'm playing in a tournament tonight and I've already made $5.2 million this year!"  If only it were real money....

My favorite gifts to give are the one's to needy people in our community.  The past few years we have taken lots of food and clothes to a family with 5 kids.  One was a student of mine.  He was definitely one of the best students I have ever had, and he truly appreciates the gifts.  I know that he wishes that he didn't have to receive them in this way, but he will probably grow up to be a billionaire due to his intelligence and perseverance!  Since I'm not teaching this year, no one has contacted me about giving to his family, but we will probably make an after-Christmas run once the Christmas food stash has dwindled!

Here's a pic of Little Man who just loves to hold all of his stuffed animals at once!

Happy Tuesday! I seriously can't believe Christmas is in four days! Oh my goodness!

15 months old!

Today, Little Man is 15 months old!! He is getting so big, and learning new things every day!  Walking, however, is not on the list...yet!

I didn't get a picture of him today because my camera died Friday night and I haven't had a chance to recharge it, but here are a couple of pics of him on Thursday:

(One of his little girlfriends in preschool stuck a heart sticker on the side of his face, and I forgot to take it off before snapping the pics!  That's what that brown spot is!) :)

What he's loving:

When he goes to bed or when he wakes up, he is usually playing and talking to himself.  Sometimes, he sits in his crib and turns on his "LullaLamb" and claps to the music. So sweet!

Climbing on the stairs and pretty much anything else as well!

Pulling hair and hitting people in the face! (We're working on that one...he does it lovingly, but it hurts!)

Trying to sing the ABC's with us.

Standing on his own and clapping for himself!

Our pastor ("Uncle Tony") taught him to "bump."  When you say, "Give me a bump," he leans his head to bump yours and laughs!

Acting like we are running into the wall when I'm holding him.

Having me flip him upside down and play airplane with my feet.

He loves to make other people clap, and especially loves it when I put my hands on my cheeks and scream instead of clapping.

Handing us stuff.

Acting like he's going to feed us some of his food.

Napping great!  I finally figured it out I guess, but he takes a 2-3 hour nap every afternoon now!  Whoo hoo!!

Having us put on his socks and shoes!  He loves to pull them off in the car though!

The past few nights he has started fussing in the bathtub, when normally it's one of his favorite parts of the day! Hope this phase doesn't last long!

He has done really well on long car rides lately, thank goodness!

He's eating lots of solids now!  He still doesn't like green beans, and goes through phases where he doesn't like other veggies either.  We still feed him mainly just fruits and veggies.  We have to give him meat in pureed food...so we're working on that next!

New Vocabulary:

What does the cat say? "Mow!"

What does the dog say? "Rurf! Rurf!"

What does the cow say? "Boooo"
What does the lion say? "Braaaah"
What does the monkey say? "Ooo ooo, aah aah!"

I love you = I boh. (He just repeats that after we say I love you.)

Thank You = Tick cue

Please = Pees

Shoes = Shush

Hat = Hat

Raises his hands and says, "How big?" without the "g"

He has started saying his own name in a funny way.  Can't really pronounce the "W" all that well.

He will pretty much try to mimic anything we tell him to say now. Sometime he does pretty well, and sometimes all he gets correct are the number of syllables!

Happy 30th Ashley!! (well...tomorrow!)

 Tomorrow my sister will be 30 years old!  Most of y'all know her...Sweet Southern Prep.  Pay her a visit and wish her a happy birthday!  She is the oldest of all 6 of us girls, and I can say that she is now a better older sister than she used to be...haha!  

Just posting some random pictures I found of us throughout the many albums I have on this computer...wish I had more from when we were kids...those would be more embarrassing!

When we were younger, we didn't get along all that well...even in high school, we had our fair share of fights (including a fist/pinch/slap fight in the parking lot of a gas station while we were on a family vacation in Wyoming!)

But now, we get along great!  She has been very helpful with parenting advice since Little Man was born...and even though we don't live that close, she has made a few visits (with her girls) to visit us over weekends!  We tell each other everything now, and I love her so much!

Thanks Ashley for being a great older sister!  Can't wait to celebrate tonight!  Love you!

And to join up for Fun Phone Friday with Shannon...this is a pic I took of Little Man sleeping on our way to Bippie's birthday the other day... (yes that is the car phone charger in his hand...he likes to play with it!)

Happy Friday Y'all!