Happy New Year!!!

Doug and I went to a fancy-schmancy NYE party. Actually Doug was running sound for the band, so he was working part of the night. We didn't think we'd be able to go, but at the last minute Doug's boss let him know that yes in deed he would be off for NYE \o/ The party was an overnight stay at a hotel with lots of food and great entertainment!

We checked into the hotel about 3pm. Doug had sound stuff to do, so he worked while I took a nap, read a book, took a bubble bath and got all ready for the night. By the time Doug came back up, all I had to do was put on my dress.

They had appetizers, dinner, dancing, midnight toast, pork and sauerkraut on NYE. On NY Day there was fabulous breakfast buffet. The food was so good. It was a Caribbean theme that night. They had a roast pig, some kind of pineapple chicken, blackened mahi mahi, some kind of beef, fried rice, mashed sweet potatoes with toasted coconut, pecand and brown sugar to put on them, mashed potatoes, salads, rolls and lots of desserts. It was SO good. The morning breakfast was eggs, sausage & bacon, biscuits, sausage gravy, pastries, fruit, made to order omlets, Belgian waffles with lots of toppings and mimosas and bloody marys if you were so inclined.

Doug had to set up the sound board way in the back of the room on NYE. He was squished between some tables, so I didn't sit with him. I sat with the girls and we had a great time. We danced, we talked, and danced some more. Doug was able to dance with me some. Another band we like was playing in the lounge down the hall. So I went down there a few times to visit. They didn't finish until 1:30, and our band finished at 1, so we all went down there to hang out afterwards and dance some more. Great fun!

We got back to our room about 1:45. There were two boys, probably 10?, playing hackie sack in the hallway. They were loud. They were out there a while. I have no idea where their parents were. We got up about 9:30 and had breakfast with the band. Then they had to tear down, so I went back to the room to read and rest.

The room was beautiful. They did a great job decorating. There were very colorful tropical latern things (what are those called?) hanging from the ceiling. The tables had tall square vases with tropical flowers. There were noise makers, hats and disposable cameras on the table for each couple. The buffet table had very tall square vases with flowers, but inside the vases were goldfish. So pretty! Both rooms actually; the ballroom and the lounge. We had a really nice time. I love being able to get all dressed up. It was nice not to have to drive home at 2am. It was just very nice.

Here are a couple pictures. Doug took a picture of us. Didn't turn out too bad for a self-portrait :)

My Dress

The two of us.

We have serious red eye going on, and I was having a very hard time editing it. So ignore me shooting daggers out my eyes at you :::snort:::

The past couple weeks were a whirlwind!

Do the last couple weeks of December feel insanely busy to anybody but me?

We had a great Christmas. Doug was able to be home on Christmas Eve. We didn't think he would be. He actually came home on the 23rd. It was lovely having him home that many days. He was also home on NYE, which again, we didn't think he would be. And again, lovely extra days. Which is why I've not blogged. I try really hard to not be on the computer much when he is home. This week he is back to normal schedule. It will seem like a long week.

So Christmas Eve was busy. We all cooked and cleaned and got ready for the next day. Isaac sang in the worship team at church, so he had to be there at 4 and for both evening services. It really makes this mama's heart proud to see her baby up there on stage worshipping the Lord!

Christmas day was very relaxing. We slept in (one great thing about teens and Christmas, no getting up at 5am LOL). When we got up I put on coffee while everybody opened stockings. I started breakfast and then we exchanged gifts.

We have the same Christmas brunch every year. Sausage, egg and cheese casserole, homemade cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, cookies, shrimp cocktain, homemade eggnog, mimosas and this year I made a cheese danish. YUMMY! All recipes can be found on my recipe blog, Cooking for the Guys, under holidays.

My dad and step-mom came over, and we had a nice visit. Then it was time to be lazy. I took a nice, long nap. Doug and the boys sat down to watch a movie, and mostly Doug slept too. My SIL hosted us for dinner. She made a great ham dinner with all the fixings. YUMMY! Her house is tiny, so after dinner and dishes, we all came back here to play Apples to Apples! What a fun game!

The day after Christmas is a party with my mom and her side of the family. Mom hosted this year. There were many people and lots of littles. Both of my sisters and their families, my 2 cousins and their families, my aunt and uncle, my gramma, my great aunt. Good food and great time of fellowship.

It's almost Christmas!

Are you ready?

This year I decided that I was NOT going to be all stressed over Christmas. If something didn't get done, it didn't get done.

It has also been a very lean year as far as money for gifts, so we decided no gifts. We didn't think we'd even have gifts for the kids, but at the last minute we were blessed with GC from annonymous people and we had a little extra that we didn't know we were going to have.

So I went Christmas shopping on Thursday and had a great time! You get great deals the week before Christmas. I don't know if I'll ever want to be done early again LOL.

I also cut back my baking. I usually make double and triple batches of 20-30 kinds of cookies. I also usually sell them; we don't eat all of those ourselves :::snort::: This year I decided no selling and little baking and only single batches. I'll tell ya, baking goes much faster when you are only making 5 or 6 dozen at a time! I did 10 kinds and quit. I have 8 more kinds on the list, but you know, I'm just done. And that is OK!

I really determined that this year I was not going to run ragged and crash in January. So far so good. It's a good feeling to be able to relax this week and not be all stressed over things I thought were oh so important, but really aren't.

The important things are remembering why we celebrate Christmas. Christ's birth. The savior coming to earth so that he could fulfill God's will of dying for us. What an awesome thing to celebrate.

How Buddy combats Seasonal Affective Disorder!

I think my cat is depressed and feeling down from lack of sunshine. It is gray and dreary where we live.

Several times a day you can find Buddy sitting up in the lamp. He is one smart kitty!

Santa Sightings at My House Today!

Every year Doug is Santa at the bowling alley Christmas party for the kids and for our nieces and nephews.

Today Isaac decided to play with the Santa suit.

Santa posing in front of the tree. This boy cracks me up!

Heading out to the next stop :)

The funny thing is we did not "do" Santa when our boys were little. No way, no how, no Santa in this house. So it cracks me up that for the past 5 years Doug has "been" Santa :::snort:::

Some Favorite Christmas Ornaments

My mom just did a blog post on her favorite ornaments. So I thought I'd steal the idea and do one here, too :)

Wendell August Forge

My grandpa always gave us an ornament from WAF. This is my favorite one. I miss him.

I got this ornament from my Gramma. It was her when she was first married. I have another one from her, and I always love putting them on the tree.
My gramma made this for me several years ago.

We bought this in '03 from visiting missionaries from Kenya. It is a gord decorated with beads.

Jordan made this when he was in kindergarten. It is my absolute favorite ornament.

Speaking of emaginary friends..........

I am leaving tomorrow for a weekend of meet-up and party fun.

I will leave my house in OH, drive 3 hours to my friend's house in PA. We'll leave her house and drive 4-5 hours to another gals' house in VA. We'll sleep :)

We will get up early in the morning and drive 1 hour to another gal's house in VA. Meet up with other women and climb into a 12 passenger van. There will be 7 of us going I think. But one gal will come by in the morning to meet us, but cannot move on to the destination of NC.

So we'll leave VA on the "fun bus" about 8ish am and drive roughly 4 hours, plus stops (2 pregnant ladies and me and I need lots of stops) to the Christmas party in NC.

We'll stay at the party for several hours, climb back into the "fun bus", stop at O'Charley's on our way back to VA, and make it back to the gal's house where we all met. Then get back into the other car and drive 1 hour back to my friend's house in VA to crash.

Then in the am we'll head back to PA. I'll spend the night and drive home the next morning.

Doesn't that sound like loads of fun? I have met quite a few of these ladies, the VA ones anyway. I'll get to meet all kinds of new friends in NC. One gal is coming from GA. I've "met" all of these ladies on the Sonlight forums.

Doug will be hanging with the guys. They have a very busy weekend planned. And then my MIL will let some stay at her house :)

I'm looking forward to a fabulous time. Then I'm looking forward to resting for several days when I get home so I don't crash for Christmas. I know this trip will be taxing on my body (fibro), but I also know it will be good for my soul.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures when I get back. Just depends on what others want on a blog, ya know?

Of Christmas Ornaments and Emaginary Friends For the past several years I have been part of an ornament exchange on the SHS Yahoo Group. I missed it this year (for unknown reasons Yahoo didn't want me to be a part of this particular group, but I have since remedied that :) ).

So not wanting to miss out on the fun, I organized an ornament exchange on the Sonlight forums. Thirty-five women signed up to send ornaments to friends that they have never met.
I received my ornament yesterday for a gal that lives in Florida. Isn't it adorable? Each stocking has one of our names on it! It made my day to open the box and find such a thoughtful gift inside. Thank you momof3kiddos for such an awesome ornament. My whole family is thrilled.

So that brings me to emaginary friends. I never thought I'd feel so attached to ladies I've never met. But having the opportunity to laughing, cry, pray, mourn and rejoice with women really does bring a bonding, doesn't it?

I've had the pleasure to meet quite a few of my "emaginary" friends. Many have become in-real-life friends. I feel very blessed to have found friendship and support in such a way that past generations would never have dreamed.

Have you made "emaginary" friends? How about have the great pleasure to meet them face to face? I challenge you to blog about your experiences. Don't forget to leave a comment here so I can come and read about them :)

The Spoon Theory

I read THIS story today. I'd love to copy/paste it here, but the author asked that it be linked and not reprinted.

If you replace lupus with fibro then you have me. I feel exactly like this. It is so hard for people to understand chronic illness when the person doesn't look sick. This story really illustrates the way I feel most of the time.

Decorating for Christmas

For the life of me I cannot figure out how Blogger uploads pictures. Is there an easy way to move them around??

Anyway, yesterday we decorated the house for Christmas. You know what the best part is?? We sent Jordan to WalMart for lights!!! It was so nice not to have to go to that crazy/busy place when all of our lights didn't work and we needed them right now :) You'd think that I'd learn and test the lights the week before we were going to decorate and be all prepared. You'd think anyway LOL. It is very nice to have big boys to do errands and drag boxes down from and up to the attic :)

The house looks so pretty! I love sitting in the living room in the evening with the tree and mantle all lit up listening to Christmas music. It is so relaxing and peaceful. I do not have pictures of the finished decorations. I guess I should do that.

Buddy even got decorated!

Does everybody hate seeing pictures of themselves?

Isaac tolerated having his picture taken. I cannot believe how tall he is!
At least one of us takes a good picture :)

When do you decorate for Christmas?

We had a Fabulous Thanksgiving!

I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time in 16 years. The last time I cooked on Thanksgiving, Isaac was a baby and Allen wasn't even born!

We had 18 people total. My mom and step-dad, mother-in-law, father-in-law, 2 of Doug's nieces, my gramma, my great aunt and friends of ours from PA (5 of them) and us. It was SO fun.

Everybody pitched in to help cook and clean up. All the kids got along beautifully. The food was fabulous and overly plentiful. Why is it I can't estimate how much to cook? We could have had twice as many people for dinner LOL.

The sunshine came out for Thanksgiving :) We hadn't seen the sun in days and days and days. Weeks probably. We've seen the sunshine 3 days in a row now :) Snow and rain come back tomorrow though.

I am so thankful for my family and friends.

So we cooked, ate and relaxed on Thanksgiving.

Friday we decorated the house for Christmas. We did no Black Friday shopping. It was rather sad. Doug and I have been going out together the past couple years. We'd shop and go to breakfast. I missed that. But it was nice to sleep in :)

Today was very busy. Bowling, grocery shopping, cooking, getting Doug's food ready, napping, and we're heading out soon for a date.

Doug goes back to work tomorrow :( The days he is off go way too fast. I plan to do assignment books and get organized for the week. School must happen!

Happy 18th Birthday Jordan!!!!

Where does the time go? Wasn't this young man just a baby? Wasn't he just clinging to my leg, refusing to wean or sleep in his own bed? It sure does seem like it.

But here he is 18 years old. A young man! Jordan is such a blessing to me. He's a talented bass and guitar player and a skillful bowler. He loves the Lord and uses his talents for him.

He's also handy to have around. He'll run errands for me and mop a floor. He'll drive me crazy and try my patience. But gosh, at night when I look in his room and see him sleeping there, he just seems so perfect and still my little boy.

So here are some pictures to enjoy, in no particular order because I just cannot figure out how to move them around.........

Playing guitar or is it bass? I can't tell from the picture.The big brother. This is the day after Allen was born.

Being the big brother when Isaac was born

Jordan and Isaac

My very favorite picture of Jordan and Isaac

Jordan at 3 months. Wasn't he adorable??

All my guys a few years ago at the zoo. Jordan and Isaac are now taller than Doug.

Jordan in June of '07

Jordan at the bowling alley. No, he wasn't drinking that beer.

Jordan when he was less than an hour old! So precious.

Jordan, my niece Ashly, and Isaac summer of '06

Last winter

He really LOVES school.

Sitting on the front steps

Jordan's first day of work. He bags groceries.

Jordan and Isaac making eggnog one Christmas Eve

Jordan's mohawk. He was 15 I think.

Isaac, Allen and Jordan the first day of school in '07

Jordan LOVES fishing!

Jordan this past summer.

Getting his first tattoo.

The finished tattoo

At the lake summer of '07

All my guys at Cook Forest in '07

My Dad took Jordan and Isaac to Canada for a week of fishing this past June. Here are a few shots from that.

My Dad, Jordan, Isaac and a big old fish

Jordan and my cousin's son, Nick. Jordan is such a handsome guy. He looks JUST like his dad!

Jordan with his catch

Jordan is such an amazing young man. He is going to do great things in the years to come. Jordan, I am proud of you and I love you so much!

I was tagged by Rose/Jagsfan from the Sonlight forums. And I am finally getting around to doing it :)

The rules:

Put a link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules on your blog.
Tell 6 quirky things about yourself.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
Leave each of them a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

1. I love to read fluffy fiction. I especially love books that are in a series. I love a good story, cozy mysteries, espionage and suspense.

2. I love to bake hundreds of dozens of cookies at Christmas time. This year I am only making a little bit ;)

3. Vacuuming makes me happy. So does wiping the kitchen counters.

4. I don't mind doing laundry, as long as I don't have to put it away.

5. I am going to NC for a 6 hour Christmas party with emaginary friends, some of whom I've never met. I will drive 3 hours to PA, get in the car and ride along with my friend and her kids while we pick up another friend, then continue driving to VA to stay with another friend overnight. We will then get up early in the morning, drive an hour to another friend's house, get on the "fun bus", pick more people up on the way, and drive 4 more hours to the party destination. Then we'll reverse all that, taking time to be lazy at the VA house all day Sunday. And I'm really looking forward to it!

6. When Doug isn't home, I never sleep on his side of the bed. In fact, his pillows and covers are not even disturbed.

I am not going to tag you. But if you've read this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged, and please leave a comment saying you did it so I can go read how quirky you are :)

How do you like the new look?

I followed a link from De'Etta's blog to The Cuttest Blog on the Block. They have hundreds of templates to choose from. And it is SO easy!

If you give your blog a facelift, let me know so I can visit.

My Son the Hippie!!

Isaac and Jordan went to a Halloween party tonight.

Isaac decided to be a hippie since he has the hair!

We pieced together this costume. We could NOT find bell bottoms and I had a heck of a time making them. So he just wore regular jeans and a white long sleeved tee from WalMart.

We hunted through Salvation Army for a fringed vest. There are none to be found. So we bought a ladies' courdery/velour type tunic top. I split it open and sewed some hippiesh fabric up the front, and then cut the bottom to make the fringe. I made him a headband out of the same fabric.

We found the glasses and necklace at the party supply store.

I spent 45 minutes flat ironing his hair and voila! Isaac is a hippie LOL.

Jordan choose to go as himself......