{the new year}

I just had to pop in and do one last post before the new year rolls around!

We have been visiting family all week-- it has been great. We are going to spend the night tonight with our cousins. I'm sure it will be a wild party! ; ) We will try not to get carried away with the pots and pans!!

Happy New year everyone~ May God bless you!

Merry Christmas! Have a wOnDerFuL Day~ it's a white one here-- first one in my life. Ever! I'm a very happy person~

xo,
Lydia

it really is the most wonderul time of the year

lily~kate's shots from yesterday.

                                  

I can't believe that it is Christmas Eve! Okay~ I'm sorry. I am trying not to be to original here!

Can you just hear the sarcasm coming from me sitting here in my big black spinney chair, and dressed in my bathrobe? ;)

My dad's friend, Wayne, arrived late last night. He and my dad have gone grocery shopping to get stuff for our Christmas Eve dinner. I will make sure to get pictures of that, I'm sure it will be very memorable. In a good way of course! :)

I am very happy. I can not wait for tomorrow, and the next week to come. A whole week visiting with family~ sounds good to me!

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve~

.have.yourself.a.merry.little.Christmas.

If you came to our house right now~...

 You would find.... a cold and windy outdoors, with quiet streets.

 pieces of Christmas around the house...

 freshly baked Chocolate chip cookies. {they are Chocolate chip, you just can't tell in the picture! :) }

 stockings hung on the fireplace with care. ;)

 Christmas ornaments being made at dining room table...

 a lit up Christmas tree with presents around it...

 Here are some pictures from the snow that we had about a week ago...

Today has been spent cleaning house, baking, and watching Toy Story 1. We have been busy the past couple of days.

We are getting ready for my Dad's friend who coming into town tomorrow evening to spend a couple of days with us. We are very happy that he could come~ we always have so much fun with him!

I'm off to help make dinner, and start packing suitcases for the trip to visit family the day after Christmas! I am very happy!

Have a wonderful evening! and stay warm~

{i'm going home for Christmas}

I can't believe that it is Christmas Week! I am so, so excited!

I am on Christmas break~ it is so wonderful!

I can't wait to go "home". While this is our home, I still consider where all our family is as home. Home is where you have all your family, where you have so many memories inside your mind from the many times spent with them. I haven't seen some of them in several months, I miss them so much, and can.not.wait to see them!! :) I smile just thinking about it!

 Here are a few pictures from our shopping spree the other day. We had a fabulous time!

 I found these adorable shoes. They fit perfectly, and I loved them to pieces! that's why they are "mine", even though I don't have them at home with them. :)

 This is Lily Kate and I when we decorated our tree a couple weeks ago. She loved the snow-globes!

 Here is the Christmas tree on the square down town. It was so pretty the night of the Christmas parade.

Well, I'm going to go enjoy myself! Have a fabulous Christmas, and enjoy the break {if you have one!}~

This years songs...

My sister, Abigail, and I love to sing~ we almost always have a song that we are working on learning. We have a big folder of song lyrics! When we get together with our cousins and aunt we always sing together. It is so much fun! We like a lot of the same music, so it is really fun to be able to find a song that we like, and share it with them, and then learn it together.

This Christmas Abigail, and I are working on these songs~....


"All I want For Christmas is You"~ This song has such a catchy tune. I remember hearing it on the radio one Christmas, a couple years ago, and dancing around in the kitchen with my siblings. Yes, we are a little different!




"2000 Decembers Ago"~ This would have to be one of my top ten favorite Christmas songs. Last year I choreographed a dance to this, and Abigail, my cousin Carrington, and I danced to it at a Christmas play that we did with our cousins. It may be one of my favorites because of all the great memories that it brings back, but I just love this song!




.~.~.~.~.~.

On another note- I am so excited to be on Christmas break! The past couple of weeks have had me very stressed out over school~ I'm so glad that I don't have to do it until 2011! ;)

We are going to the big city :) tomorrow to Christmas shop!

We went last Saturday, just the girls, but we are taking the boys this time so they will get a chance to get a taste of the Christmas rush! I will make sure to take lots of pictures, I am sure it will be a very memorable experience! :)

Merry Christmas~ and don't forget to share some Christmas cheer with someone!

{follow me there}

it has been way to long since I last blogged- for me anyways. I have worked on several posts, but like I have said before, they just haven't made it to my home page!!


.~ the other day I was out in the yard.. it was a very nice day out, about 45 degrees which felt oh, so warm, compared to the 18 degree weather that we have been having~ ;)
anyways. We have a strip of woods in the back of our yard, and then a corn field. Same on the side of the yard too. I had been back there once when we first moved here, but hadn't gone back. So, I asked the boys if they wanted to go for a walk. Of course, they always jump at the chance to go on a walk with their favorite sister. ;) {*wink*}

      It is very pretty back there~ especially when the sun started to set.

                                                                  {me w/ my boys}

  



I heard this song on "Sarah Palin's Alaska", and really like it. I like a lot of Third Day's music-- this is diffidently one of my favs! .~ make sure to pause music at bottom before listening.

{baby it's cold outside}

it's been snowing the past four days.. it's very pretty~

one particular member of our family has been depressed by it..{who will remain nameless}.

Despite the one depressed person ;) it has been very fun~

I'm not one of those people that will spend hours and hours out in it-- building snowmen, and making snow angels..

no I'm one of those types that throws a few snow balls, takes some pictures, and catches some flakes on my tongue, and then goes inside and thaws out.

I like to watch it fall outside the window..

yesterday I came inside and was sitting on my bed slowly pulling all my layers of clothing off. listening to Silent Night and watching the snow swirling outside my window.. listening to the words. that tell THE.STORY.

Reminds me of how caught up we get this time of year.

when really..

it is all about that silent, and holy night...

{i'm still eating turkey}

Well, I guess I am exaggerating just a bit. ;)
although we still do have some dressing~

We had a very good Thanksgiving-- it was different than any Thanksgiving that I have ever experienced..
the cooking was on us. Yes, we felt a little awkward making everything, we had always had other family to share that task with~ so we were a little lost!

 Here's my dad-- or that day he was the Turkey-hacker-upper. ;) he's not known for His turkey cutting skills!

                                                                         the bird

 we were laughing about how mean He looks in this picture~ even He thought so!

 out by the fire that night roasting marshmallows~ as if Thanksgiving dinner didn't fill us up enough..

 the fire~

Abigail, and I by the set table-- She is very creative in that area!

{photo courtesy of Abigail, for some of the above pictures}

Well, I better go see what I'm wearing to church tomorrow~ better be something warm.. It's been snowing the past couple of days, off, and on. It snowed tonight, when we went to the Christmas parade {pictures to come of that another time}. It was very cozy, even though we did start to freeze despite wearing sock caps, and other layers of warmth!

mErY early ChRistMaS!
stay warm~

{preparing for Thanksgiving}

here we are... already the day before Thanksgiving~ How can that be?

Wasn't it just yesterday that we were making sweet potato casserole, and cutting turkey? ;)

I love spending time in the kitchen this time of year~ here are a few of my best friends that help me out...

 How did we ever manage without a mixer? I love this thing!

 oh, and we can't forget about the dish washer-- I WOULD BE LOST, in a pile of dishes, that is~ ;)
                       I love wearing aprons, they make me feel very feminine, but also serve a good purpose~
                                                
Now for a tour of our Kitchen, and Parlor (a.k.a      front living room).

The above is our chalk-board~ Please ignore the lame message that is written on it... someone was trying to be clever. You know the line in that song about putting a penny in the old mans hat, and where it says, "The Goose is getting fat". Yeah~ like I said- someone was trying to be clever. And for the record, it wasn't me... I was just annoying the person that wrote it. Okay. I will shut up now.

Moving on~

 In the picture above you see our kitchen. It looks a lot better in real life! :) We will eventually get window treatments up.

 The other side. ^

                                             Next we have the parlor. Or, like I said, it can be called the front living room to. Whatever you prefer-- it's your decision. ;)

 The picture below is of my great grandparents when they were young~ Aren't they a good looking couple. We say he looked like Clark Gable~ He really does!

         de*tai*l's

 

Here is our screen saver at the moment-- cute, huh? My creative sister put it up. :)

 We have been busy cooking and cleaning. We aren't traveling this year. My grandparents from my dad's family came to our house. We have enjoyed visiting with them. Tomorrow a couple of people from my dad's office will be coming for dinner and visiting. They don't have any family near by, so they will be spending Thanksgiving with us~ 

I love tomorrow... :)

I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving~ I certainly have a lot to be thankful for.

[happy thanksgiving,]

..~Lydia