Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The week after Christmas....


This picture is fuzzy but look at that dog cuddling her boy...


She is the sweetest!


We found a great new pizza place but you see that white plastic bag on the floor?  That is all that is stopping the pizza boxes from being on the floor.  I watched some one walk by and step on the bag and almost touch the boxes.  Yuck...


Riannon turned 17 and we all celebrated with her for Sunday dinner.


While we were there Della and Riannon showed us there Pioneer clothes for the Winter Trek.  Jake is so bummed that he didn't get to go but it was for 14 and up. 

We were cheering the Panthers on against Atlanta and I wanted to wear my Panthers scarf but it got to hot around my neck so I did a little hair twist thing.


Yes I am a dork!  Hahaha!  But I can kind of understand why island ladies wear their hair like this.  It was actually pretty comfortable.



Jake has been enjoying his hard back Eragon books.  He was already rereading the 2nd book on his Kindle (a 1/4 of the way through maybe) and he finished it in book form and has started book 3.  I love this book worm.


Jake and I took advantage of what was left from last years Honey Baked Ham gift card and the new one from Aaron's work and enjoyed lunch while picking up this years ham.


It was pretty delicious!


We went by Aunt Sheila's to see the progress at her house (new paint, floors, doors, etc!) and Carlie was happy to see him!


Really happy!


We did lots of other stuff but this is all I took pictures of...And one more post and I am done with 2014!

(I am actually posting this on 1/4/15 but post dating it so it is included in 2014)


This is another example of why I need to stay on top of my blog...I forgot to post about Jake having fun the day after Christmas riding four wheelers at Papa Harmon's and taking his 2nd cousins for rides.  Aaron's cousin Brian was in town from Texas with his kiddos and Jake had a great time entertaining them.  Aaron was able to go out to The Beacon (an Sparkle City landmark that all presidential candidates visit...and so do people who used to live in Sparkle City and are visiting from TX!) with Brian (they were really close growing up) and Jake and I got take out from Jake's favorite restaurant, Taco Dog, and watched How To Train Your Dragon 2.  I told Jake we were having a date night since Aaron was going out with Brian.  He looked at me funny and I explained that lots of people call it that when one parent takes their child out because they don't get to spend much time with their children because they work.  To this Jake said, "well then I guess we go on dates all the time because we are always together!"  Hahaha!  The blessings of being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom:  I don't have to call spending time with my child a date to make it more special.  I am not knocking parents who do-in fact I think it is great!  I am just so extremely blessed to not have to do that. :)  Jake also entertained Spencer (Brian's oldest son who is 7) on Saturday by showing him his Lego's (Spencer is saving his money to buy the Millennium Falcon set that Jake already has), playing Minecraft (Spencer just started playing so Jake showed him the ropes) and jumping on the trampoline.  While they did this Aaron made them chicken nuggets and french fries in his new fryer my mom and dad gave him for Christmas.  And Brian was able to get his oil changed.  Brian lost his wife to cancer...3 1/2 years ago, I think it was and he doesn't get a lot of time to himself so I am sure this was a great break for everyone.  While all this was going on I was cleaning out and organizing the Primary closets at church with my mom. 

I am sure there are lots of other things we did but that is all I've got right now...I have said it before and I will say it just a couple of more times (because I am almost done!):  I will do better next year with keeping up!!!

New Year's Eve...day.

(Post dating this one...I actually typed this on 1/4/15)
On New Year's Eve day I finally got the motivation to take all the Christmas decorations down.  I usually have them down pretty quickly after Christmas because I am ready to get the house back to normal. But since I wasn't being a Scrooge this year it all got to stay up longer!





My helper and his assistant, who cannot miss anything, made this a pretty painless and quick task.



On occasion they got a little distracted but that is mostly Sadie's fault.  She loves her new toys so much she wants to play with them pretty much all the time.



This is the face of a boy who at times acts like a teenager but is so good I forgive him for it. :)


This ornament was from my Nana.  I love angels and it is holding an emerald gem for my birthday month.  I always hang all the angels near the top of the tree. 



Until next year beloved ornaments!


Sadie bid them farewell too...while sniffing for any hidden treats.  There were none so we closed the lid!


And down went the tiny Charlie Brown tree.

We gathered all the other things to the dinning room and boxed them all up.  A couple of years ago I downsized our Christmas decorations in a Scrooge moment...and it is the best Christmas gift I ever gave myself.  We have 2 Rubbermaid containers, a box with my beloved (I may use that word too much...) Willow Tree Nativity, 2 ornament wooden hat boxes (ours and Jake's),  the tree in a box,  a little set of 3 Narnia Trees...  
...***why blog will you let me type beside some pictures and not beside others?!?!?!***... in a box and one tall blue Santa in another box.  That sounds like a lot but compared to what I see other people bring out of their attic I think we keep it pretty simple.  So simple that start to finish (including vacuuming up the Charlie Brown fake tree needles), we were done in an hour.  And I am so glad I have a 13 year old boy that puts the stuff in the attic for me.  And Aaron must have thought it took us all day because he was impressed we got it all done when he got home! It doesn't get any better than that! 

VT/NH Photo Drop #4


























































 











































































And this photo lets me know that I have uploaded all the VT/NH pictures because this was the first picture I took when we cut our trip short and came home to Aaron after his accident at work.  It seems like just yesterday-not just days from being six months ago! I am almost caught up!  Or at least as caught up as I will ever be!