A toast for the New Year!

And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,

And been bow'd to the earth by its fury

To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury

Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,

And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen.

-Thomas Hood

Christmas Morning

Rather try and write a witty Christmas post,
I'll let the pictures (with captions) speak for themselves.




























































From our (disaster of a) home to yours:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Stocking were Hung...

Santa worked another miracle this year!

I He had all of the stockings stuffed and
was in bed back to the North Pole by 1 am!

He even got some great pictures of the stockings
before they were attacked the next morning!

It only took 10 years....

Last year,
and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
and the year before that, and the year before that,
I have spent every Christmas Eve in seclusion wrapping gifts
like a mad woman into the wee hours of the morning.

There is a good reason why there are never any pictures
of me on Christmas morning: I look a hot mess.2-3 hours sleep doesn't look good on anyone.

This year, I am resolute.
After a decade of marriage, I *WILL* be awake
enough on Christmas morning to enjoy the festivities!!

And VOILA:

Those my friends, are presents.
Lots of them.
Wrapped and Ready.
And in our closet there are 4 paper grocery sacks
filled with all of the accoutrements Santa will need
to fill the stockings.

I am a rock star!

Post Thanksgiving Weekend

The day after Thanksgiving, I forwent my usual midnight venture into the land of sales and instead we loaded up the kids, the pets and the luggage and spent the weekend in Asheville with Ed's parents.

It goes without saying that we had a fantastic weekend!

Ed Sr. spent the weekend cooking for us and Rody and I got to chat the time away!

My Ed and I were even able to put a rather large dent in our Christmas shopping without putting a large dent in our wallets!

I wish I'd taken pictures over the weekend, but it slipped my mind! (Surprise, Surprise right?)

But I did get these pictures of Dominick and Diana playing in the leaves:

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, as it usually is, was a quiet affair in an intimate setting.
I'm not sure intimate is the right word, it sounds a bit too fancy,
a better choice might be squished.

Over the past few months the dining room has been overcome
by all of our different homeschool paraphernalia!
Trying to de-school only to have to re-school it seemed futile.

Instead, we put the leaf in the kitchen table and enjoyed our supper there!
And what a dinner it was! I made as traditional meal as ever there was: Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, monster salad and rolls and the little kids personal favorite: Sparkling ciders!

(They feel so fancy drinking from our wine glasses!)


Every single picture I took of the kids came out horribly dark,
and this is the best I could do with lightening it:



My famous sweet potato casserole:



Of course, after supper was done, everyone slowly trickled
away until only Brooke and I remained. She was just downright *thrilled*
when she realized that we'd be doing dishes alone.
What an angel! ;)



Regardless of who stuck us with the dishes (and I ain't namin' names) I can't help but be grateful for all that I have.
I have my children by my side day and night and they allow me to the distinct privilege of being their Mother, teacher and sometime slave-driver.
And in my husband I find one of my staunchest supporters and closest confidants.
I am truly blessed.

It was indeed a Thanks-giving!