Why We Love This Time Of Year Reason #4

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas all around us, and we LOVE it!

I especially love that Neeley requested the Santa hat for the tree topper this year.

I am a chaperone for a very special field trip today. More on that tomorrow...

Why We Love This Time Of Year Reason #3

The delicious yummies you get at the Christmas markets...

Gluhwein - a spiced red wine with oranges, cloves, and cinnamon.

Delightful, heavenly, sent from above cinnamon/sugar twist bread...do you get how yummy this stuff is? Oh my! And worth every calorie!

Why We Love This Time Of Year Reason #2

Spending the few lazy days we do have reading Christmas books on the couch. LOVE these moments!

Oh, and just for some random trivia, of course today is December 7th...and I know we all know what that means, but for us it also means our lil Anna Banana is now 10 years old. Bless her old soul!!

Why We Love This Time Of Year Reason #1

Get-togethers with family and friends and a bar full of food greeting you. What more could one ask for?

Thank you, Lord, for always providing . . .

T.G.I..........Oh Wait, It's Saturday.....

Has this been a rough week for anyone else?

Ok, the countdown playback.....

Monday-A rainy, yucky day for Neeley's doctor's appointment and some other errands...out in the mud and the muck.

Tuesday-More errands. Do they ever stop?

Wednesday-Subbed the worst class of 5th graders...EVER! :( Then helped a friend clean up her place and got to play with her cutie-patootie 10 week old baby girl.

Thursday-Helped that same friend get on her flight back to the States. :( Her hubby is now deployed so she is back home in our neck of the woods for a few months. I told her to kiss the Arkansas sign for us. LOL They are from Fayetteville! So good to have someone to share our Arkansas twang with...

Friday-Subbed in P.E. again. Ouch! I think I now feel every muscle in my body. Last night we were supposed to go to Winterfest on Patch but I got home from school and took an unplanned nap on the loveseat while Ronnie watched Friday Night Lights and Neeley played outside with a friend. Ronnie had to work last night so Neeley and I watched The Apple Dumpling Gang and Matilda and we highly recommend both but I think most of us have seen those before.

Today we are just vegging for a while. I am going to go over to our friends' place and finish cleaning it up for her. This was kind of an unplanned trip to the States for her so she did not have time to do those fun things like clean out the refrigerator and do all of her laundry and those sorts of things. I would only hope that someone would do the same for me if the roles were reversed.

Tonight is our own Winterfest here on RB and we are so excited! Neeley and her Girl Scout troop are leading us all in singing Christmas carols. And we are all gathering for the annual lighting of our big ol' Pine tree here on post. Afterwards we are all meeting at our Chapel Annex for sweets and hot chocolate. Yummy!

I LOVE this time of year with all of the festivities. Neeley and I are going to make some edible ornaments here pretty soon. We have been trying to do as many fun, crafty type things as we can possibly fit in to our schedule. I feel like we haven't done enough of that lately so we are really making up for it this holiday season. What about you? Please share any traditions or even new things you and your family are doing this year.

Wow! I Couldn't Have Said It Any Better!

I don't know if any of you have ever checked out the (In)Courage website, but this post really touched home with me. I just had to share it with you. Hopefully it will get you to thinking too... it's that time of year to be thankful for so much! This post is titled Inconvenient Gratitude. Go check it out! Winterfest on post tonight! Yahoo! More to share tomorrow...

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Design Dazzle

Oh my word!

I have discovered another fun website. I love looking for ideas online, whether they be crafty, DIY stuff, recipes, or whatever. And I love to share them with others even more.

I found Design Dazzle the other day and I think I have visited every single day since.

Go check it out!

Best Friends

"Give a dog a bone and he'll be your friend. Give a dog a home and he'll be part of your family." :) I just read that on another blog and I thought how fitting!

(picture disclaimer: please excuse her crazy eyes. i took the pic in a hurry and the flash caught her sweet little eyes just right.)

Every night we have this little girl in bed with us. She wouldn't have it any other way and on most nights when we don't wake up to dog behind in our face, it's okay with us too. But this is the sight I see every school morning when I get up. Anna Banana won't usually leave the bed until I do, but as soon as I do get up, her little paws hit the floor and she plants right here. This is Neeley's bedroom door. Yes, she comes and "guards" Neeley until I wake her up on school mornings. It is too funny because she doesn't do this on the weekends. It's like she knows it is not a school day and that I will let her sleep in.

Let me explain to you what happens on school mornings when I open this door. This little girl doesn't run but bolts in to Neeley's room, jumps on to her bed, and lays longways right next to Neeley on the bed until she wakes up. And when Neeley gets out of bed she follows her right to the breakfast table.

We've always thought this pattern was kind of bizarre but at least we know we are loved. And oh.my.word, our lil Anna Banana turns 10 years old on December 7th!

Do you have any funny family pet stories?

Update on Neeley

Y'all please be praying for lil Neeley. We found out yesterday that she has a pretty good sized stomach ulcer. And this makes me feel like Mother Of The Year nonetheless. :( We are having to make many changes both here and at home to help cure it and hope that it never comes back. We see the pediatric specialist on Dec. 23rd.

Stressful, stressful! Thank you for thinking of us! You can read more on the story on FB.

I can't live without my Pampered Chef!!!!

I LOVE my Pampered Chef Salad Chopper Scissors!

I cannot remember the exact name of them but they are the scissors used for chopping vegetables and I LOVE THEM! I also love my regular kitchen shears from them. Good stuff!

What is your favorite kitchen utensil?