what we've been up to lately

we've been on school break, so nice. the boys have played with friends a lot...sorry, 'hung out' with friends, A LOT. sweetie was gone for a whole 7 days, boo. i watched the two seasons of downton abbey, AGAIN...ah the wonderful bliss that is Downton Abbey! while on break the boys have gotten to work with sweetie a little bit again. and i got a text mid-day yesterday from dave saying that dad was being mean to him, i told him it was dad's joy to get to harass his sons, don't steal it from him.

(sorry it's all grainy, i was trying to not disturb this precious moment. the baby was glad to have his dad home.)

calvi is learning the guitar, started in the spring, he's pretty good now, love to hear him practice. apparently he plays at night when dave is trying to go to sleep, such a nice big brother.

(me being glad that sweetie is home. us playing footsies over our morning coffee.)

dave lost ONE of his cleats for football, seriously, that kid, how does he lose ONE shoe, ugh. football hasn't been as exciting this year, i don't know why, sweetie could probably explain it better than me. calvi has had several weekends of double-headers, which is un-heard of in football...but he's a trooper. dave hasn't gotten to play as much since he's moved up to jv as apposed to being in the youth league, bummer, of course with only one shoe, you can't expect the coach to use him much. goober.

(while taking dave clothes shopping, i was VERY bored waiting for him...apparently the only thing i know how to take a picture of is my feet.)

we are trying to win the 'yard of the month' sign in our neighborhood. we are trying really hard. though right now there could be monkies living in the yard, someone needs to mow. and i threaten each month to go steal that sign and put it in my yard. i think we might just make our own sign 'almost as good as the yard of the month'. i wonder if i staked winston in the front yard if it would help our chances. i think so.

(just started reading this book, love it.)

work has picked up for both companies, and we are thankful once again. we are also thankful that God has blessed us so much during this economy downturn, though we have lost much, we have also been able to stay afloat and have paid off so much business debt so far and we know it is all because of His many blessings. so thankful.

we've joined a co-op this year. this homeschoolin' mama hasn't ever done a co-op because that means i would have to help teach something, and let's face it, i would only be qualified to teach recess or snack or NAP! well, since the boys are now in high school (calvin is a junior and dave is a sophomore) i needed extra help with their classes and a friend totally talked me into joining her co-op and promised they wouldn't throw me into anything too heavy my first year...yeah, i'm doing Chemistry. seriously people. well, i grade a bunch for the other classes, i help in elementary art (which means i'm taking an elementary art class) and i'm in Chemistry. but we finally found one of the dad's that's all mr. smarty pants to come in and 'teach'. all i have to do is all the administrative stuff, whew, that was a close one. and we are LOVING this co-op. such precious peoples. and the boys have such a heavy work load, i finally feel like i'm doing right by them and they will be fully prepared for college. hopefully.

(another try at instagram, a self portrait. awkward.)

i have spent good quality time organizing areas around this home and have been having so much fun doing it. i will show you all that later on. i'm sure you're just beside yourself in anticipation.

now it's time to get going on my day of getting dave to do his chores and me just over seeing from my easy chair with my cup of coffee in hand. wish me luck.

joy

have you read this book yet?

it has changed me. it is a beautifuly written book. i cannot recommend it enough.

and this month on her website she is doing a 31 days of joy challenge, which i want to try and tackle. wanna join me?

and so my parents will keep reading my blog here are their token pictures of the boys....

i may be biased but i think them to be the most handsomest and most precious of all children.

photos from my phone

this is as much fall color as i've seen in the neighborhood so far. it's comin'!

i cannot tell you how much i love our little house. i struggled with it for quite awhile, but now, i just love it...and when i look at other places that might be available (house shopping is so much fun) i always come back to this and just love it more than anything else.

my favorite part of everyday.

schnoogie bear doing his schoolwork. he gets up everymorning, on time, takes his shower & gets right down to business. love him, so much.

i was having a wonderful moment one night, all to myself, with a cup of coffee in my new mug, sitting in my favorite spot on the couch.

the other part of that same moment. all tucked in with my favorite magazine.

a cozy evening.

this is what i wake up to in the mornings. lovely.

i've started playing with instagram, don't have a clue what i'm doing, but it makes me feel all artsy.

see, all artsy.

enjoy your day!!!

calvin & hobbes

see this guy, this is hobbes. he's been around for awhile. like 17 years.

my mom bought him one day when we were shopping together, right after we found out that the baby in my tummy was a boy. jay and i had always known we would name our son 'calvin'.

so hobbes joined us that day and rode around in the baby seat in the shopping cart.

here's calvin's first picture with his hobbes.

and here they are today. too cute.

(i don't know who that goober is behind him.)

hobbes got some cuts last time through the washer and needed some minor surgery. he's been in the waiting room for YEARS. i just picked him up from the doctor's yesterday. he's all healed and lookin' good.

and this is what calvin did with him yesterday while he was doing school...is my boy texting while he's suppose to be doing school!? great.

so thankful

1. it was so cold last night i had to grab an extra blanket.

2. laying in bed and seeing the morning light through the trees.

3. going on my morning walk while everyone else was sleeping and the coffee pot was perkin'.

4. being cold on my walk, love it. ** 5. coming home to find the kitty waiting for his breakfast.

6. getting to kiss on my boys this morning. ** 7. sitting in my quiet chair sipping on my coffee.

8. face-timing with my sweetie this morning. love that man. ** 9. got to clean house yesterday, what is it about a clean house that i love so much.

10. my fall candle, so yummy.

11. it's fall, and i'm giddy.

have a happy day everyone...and be thankful.

Today is the day...

to dribble coffee on myself 4 times during my reading this morning. Don't worry, I blamed Dave.


to change the sheets. Or wash the sheets and put them back on; who has two sets of flannel sheets for the winter?


to run the trash to the curb while wearing my jammies. I know, I continue to impress the neighbors.


to do countless loads of laundry. This photo was taken BEFORE the boys dumped all their dirty clothes in the floor and I can no longer get to the garage.


to put faux-steer chicken in the crock pot for dinner. Yummo.

(funny story - my sister called me about a year ago telling me how I HAD to go to tastykitchen.com and search for 'faux-steer chicken' and make it. Then she went on and on about how much she loves 'roast-steer chicken' from the grocery store and how this is just WAY better. I finally stop her and ask her...."Does she know that it's really pronounced 'rotisserie chicken'?".....dead silence... This is when I launch into my full bodied laughter. And that folks, is my sister. She totally thought that it was pronounced 'roast steer chicken'. Bahahahahahahah!)


On a different note, it's winter in North Carolina, but you wouldn't know it by the super crazy weather we've been having. It felt like it was going to snow on Sunday, but by Tuesday, I had to put the A/C on. I coulda stayed in California for weather like this, people!!! Not okay!

Happy New Year

We partied last night. Oh how we partied. We drove all the way into town to get a Goodberry's and then found it closed. So then we drove to the grocery store, cuz we needed some New Year's Dessert, and Sweetie sent me and the davester in....HUGE mistake. You don't send the two sugar bandits into the grocery store for dessert. We came out with desserts for a month.

We then hunkered down in our living room to watch a movie and taste all four ice cream flavors.



This is where the partying starts. After the movie, Sweetie and I went to bed. It was 10pm. Our boys were disgusted with us and our lameness. But we didn't care. They stayed up and watched movies and probably ate more ice cream, I really don't know, cuz I really didn't care.



There you have it, our wild New Year's Eve, we're so crazy.

Happy New Year everybody!!!

(And can I just say that it was WAY more special to wake up to the New Year nice and early and spend some quiet time in my chair, just me and the Sweetie, our coffee and our God. It was good for my soul.)



**these pictures are our 'Christmas Pictures' for the 'Christmas Cards' that I didn't send out. So we are making them into 'Happy New Year Cards', cuz that's how we roll! Enjoy!