{11.1.11}

Today is the coolest..

wouldn't you just love to be born at 11:11, or 1:11 today.
Or turn 111? or 11!

You would definitely always remember the date and time of your birth! ;)


I was listening to the radio this morning and a man called in who was turning 100.
He was so sweet. The DJ asked Him if He had any tips for young people, and He replied,
"I never drank, I never smoked, and I love the Lord...with all my heart. Amen."
I love to hear about neat people like that.  He probably did a lot of stuff to make it to 1-0-0!!
Not only physical things, but spiritual things also.

 Today the snow started falling again. still is. I'm debating on whether or not to go out and sled. Should I? ;)

Lily.Kate is walking around in her pj's. Not because she already has had her bath, but because they never made off of her today!! Oh, the joys of wintertime coziness!

Levi just got his Hershey Kisses out of the drawer next to me. I asked him, "Can I have one? Can I have three? Can I have 9?" {I was kidding!.!}

He looked up at me, and said, "I don't want to waste them."

I laughed, and explained. I love teasing that kid~ It's so much fun! ;)

 This afternoon I was taking pictures for canvases for the dining room walls...
I just realized that the milk looks green~ really nasty.
It's not..I promise. We aren't ones to keep sour milk in our refrigerator!
I think we need to save this for St. Patrick's day breakfast~ Along with our green eggs and ham!

I'm kidding~ We prefer not to celebrate St. Patty's day with green food!! That's not our thing. ;)

Have a wonderful 11.1.11~ especially if you are born today, or are turning 111, or 11.

Or even if it's just another old day. But it doesn't happen all the time, so just enjoy it!!

have a happy day~

.Lydia.

{joy}

books read
dishes washed
kisses given & received from little siblings
words written
songs sung
grocery store trip made
pie crust made
cookies eaten




just a short list of things that have happened in my day.. could go on and on listing things that don't really matter, but have happened.


Every morning I dread getting out of bed. I'm not a morning person, okay?
I would much rather stay tucked inside the warm covers, and think about getting up..
It's not an easy thing for me, most of the time I just jump up still half asleep, just so I can get my blood pumping in the chilly air.


I am such a night owl.. if your're an early bird, your're not wanted here! ;)


It's not that I dread stuff that I am going to have to do during the day.
Nope. that's not it at all. It's just getting out of my comfort zone. Literally!
Blame it on the fact that I'm a huge procrastinator. I hate being one, it's just one of my faults.
I try to work on it. I try to be more efficient and get.things.done. That's a biggy for me.. getting things done.


Sometimes jumping out of bed half asleep is due to my procrastination, because I kept putting off going to bed the night before. It is just an endless cycle for me.


Go to bed late one night, get up late the next morning. Go to bed late, get up late. Go to bed late, get up late.


like I said. It's an endless cycle.


Now for some people it comes so easy. Like my sister can go to bed at the same time I do, and get up at 6:30, and it not affect her. I just lay in my bed, and roll my eyes. seriously-- it comes across as that sickening to me! ;)


.... go ahead and call me a selfish brat because I'm envious of her ability of being able to do that!! ;)


Sometimes it takes all of me to just smile. Just a simple smile. Not because there are not things in my life that are not worth smiling about.
That is not it at.all.


It's just that sometimes I don't feel joy, have joy or, for that matter, want joy.
I have a hard time admitting that I don't want joy. but don't we all sometimes not want to accept joy.


99.9% of the time I do want joy, I want to be filled with the joy of the Lord.
And it completely depends on my attitude towards life. If I want to go around with my head down, and if I want to have a smile on my face or not. Or if I want to jump out of bed, ready to face the day with a smile.
It is my choice.


I want to find beauty in my life, and even if it is not something earth shattering, and something worth listing on my blog. ;)


I read this quote in a book, and thought it was beautiful. So inspirational, and simple::




{when I was working on this photo I didn't have the quote handy, but knew most of it so just put it on there, later to find that this is what the quote really says, "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched ...but are felt in the heart."~ at least I was close! ;) }


Remember to have a smile on your face, and joy in your heart when you wake up in the morning. The day might seem long, and the air outside the warm bed might seem cold, but in the end it really is worth it.


Lydia

{the snow is falling}

This morning I woke up to the ground being covered in snow...again. It snowed pretty much all day, and I wasn't very anxious to get out in it, but my mom told me that I would probably regret it if I didn't. So I put on my snow boots, coat,  gloves, and hat, or in other words, bundled up!... and went out. Abigail was making a snow man with the boys so I helped some, and then decided to try out the new sled. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself! :)

I felt like a three-year old sliding down and squealing, with my hands up in the air! {like I mentioned Here...which by the way, feel free to follow me over there!}

I danced with my brother on the driveway. Just the two of us. I sang "Baby, it's cold outside", and danced. Singing both the man, and woman parts of that song is hard, but I still lOvE the song!

...

When we arrived home from the library I had some school to do, so I made a cup of hot chocolate and went up to my room, and put in Chloe Agnew's cd that I had gotten at the library, and did my work, while the snow fell outside my window. It as a very cozy moment~

It's not completely weird that I am eating cranberry sauce in January is it?

Cranberry sauce holds a special place in my heart!... maybe it's because I love Thanksgiving so much! :)

                                    Here are some pictures from the lovely snow this evening~...

                                                     {I think she was in mid-throw of a snowball!}

                                                         {busily shaping a ball for the snow lady.}

                                                  

                                            {the snow man that the guys built-- it wasn't looking it's best!}

                                                          {Titus and the finished "Snow lady"!}

You don't know what it took for me to get him to pose for this picture! I'm seriously? is it that hard to kiss a snow lady? ;)

I'm off to snuggle up on my bed and watch "Road to Avonlea", with my sister.

Have a fabulous weekend!

{just a few photos}

Let me start of this entry with one of my favorite pictures from Christmas week~ it's the best picture of my lovely cousin e.v.e.r.

You see when we get together we get a little happy. You can't tell can you?? ;)

Here is a picture of me and my grandma making pancakes together. We do it every time that we come for a visit. It's tradition. and I'm all about that. ;) 

 Here's a couple pictures from my other grandparents house when we were opening presents. We had a lot of fun getting to visit with them!

I will post more pictures later when I have more time!

happy new year my friends~

{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...