Project 365- January 20

My photo of the day~

Thanks to our neighbor Jonas, for firewood. He had wood over at their house that the guys went and picked up, brought home and split and stacked it. (Only the front stack, the one Danny is standing at, was from yesterday)

In the process Dan broke the handle of his splitting maul! :P He was bummed, because it made the job much easier!

Since Dan and Roy both started new jobs and are both working for the state, they had off work for MLK Day. We decided to get together and have mountain pies for supper! The Pickron's had never had them before, so we introduced them to something new! :)

Mmm....Kay made a cream cheese spread for the dessert ones. I had the spread, blackberry pie filling, coconut and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.....and was that ever good!!! :)

After supper, when the fire had died down and it was getting almost too cold to sit outside, they threw their Christmas tree in the fire! Wow! I don't know if I ever want a live Christmas tree! That thing went up in flames SO quickly. I can't imagine that happening inside a house! :O Wish I had my camera for that! :)

Today it's back to school.....wash day....and later another dentist visit followed by a GEMS board meeting tonight! :) Busy day, busy week! 

Project 365: January 19

This year I am going to try to take a photo every day and post it on Facebook (Project 365). It's going to be a challenge, I think, but I am at least going to try.

Today, a facebook friend posted this link:

http://www.maryannemorganblog.com/365-project-2014/365-2014-day-15-shine/

This lady is blogging along with her picture each day! I thought Wow, that's a lot of work!! But then I remembered my blog sitting here neglected. While I am not even going to try to compare with her beautiful posts, I AM going to try to also post my photo's here each day and maybe write a little with them. Sometimes when I post one on facebook, I want to write more with it, but yet I think I should keep it simple, so I don't.

So we'll see how this goes. I may or may not go back and add pictures from the first 18 days of the month, but I WILL start with yesterday's photo.

This was the sunset last night! It got even more beautiful as the evening wore on, but I was too cold to stay outside longer!

I don't know if it's my age or the amount of time I've lived in Florida, but I seem to stay cold all winter long, even on days that get up to 60! That being said, I would still much rather live in Winter than Summer, any day!

I am trying to enjoy each cold wintry day this year, because I am not at all excited about the hot summer months that will be here before I know it! :P

Birthday Celebrations

I don't know how it came to be that we have two teenagers!? But it did!

Happy 13th Birthday to our sweet Tamara!!

Her birthday was Jan. 2. It was also Dan's first day at his new job, plus we were having out of state friends over for supper. So gift time came in the hour between Dan getting home and our company coming.

She said she had NO idea what she was getting....

Excited or upset??

Excited! We found a really good deal on a Kindle Touch before Christmas and since she loves to read, we thought this might be a perfect idea for her. She loves it and has quite a few books loaded and is busy reading!

(If you know of any good books for free we'd love to hear. It's kind of hard to search on Amazon, because so many things we tried just brought up all kinds of romance novels! :P She finally searched for classics and found a bunch that she wants to read! :) )

We made homemade pizza for supper and then she requested a red velvet cake! :)

Keith & Sarah are here from Michigan and we enjoyed an evening of playing Snitch, eating and visiting! :) They have 3 kids but after a long day and some grouchies, they decided to leave them at her parent's house so they could go to bed early. :)

The Yoder's :) :) :) Super friends!!

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So then on Friday, the 3rd, I had planned a little party for Tamara with just a few of her friends.

It was an Anne of Green Gables party.

They started out by watching the movie....it got loud and silly! :)

Shauna, Anna, Carmen and Tamara

Table decor....

For supper, Tamara requested a menu of:

Meatballs
Mashed Potato's
Buttered Noodles
Corn
Carrot Cake
Chocolate Ice Cream

And I also made Blackberry Cordial, (I know it was Raspberry in the movie, but I used what I could get) thanks to my friend Fern who provided me a starter since she is good at making cordial and had blackberries from their bushes! :)

Silly lip straws!! :)

Gift time!

Shauna gave her a lovely scarf, headband, bookmark and a cute emery board.

Carmen gave her a pretty, soft throw pillow.

Anna gave her a tablet, pen and stickers.

They had lots of fun with photo props! :)

Seemed fitting..... :D

Tamara, Shauna and Anna

Anna :)

Carmen! :)

We bought slates for each of the girls to paint, in honor of Anne breaking a slate over Gilberts head! :)

It took a little for them to decide what to paint. They each chose a quote they like! :)

Their finished projects!!

After the painting was done, we had the cake and ice cream.

Judging from the amount of giggling I heard, I think they had a fun time!! I'm thankful for good, godly friends for Tamara! I pray that she can grow through these friendships!!

And so begins our life with two teens in the house! I don't dread it! I'm actually looking forward to all the fun times ahead!! :) Not that we won't need lots of wisdom and patience, though! ;) 

Psalm 127:3-5

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Matthew 18:2-6

He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Proverbs 1:8-9

Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.  They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

New Driver

Wow, how can this be here already?

 I remember way back when Dan was contemplating beginning online college courses. We figured out that by the time he gets his degree, he will be nearing 40 and Danny will be close to driving age. That seemed SO far off in the distance! But here we are!

The week after his birthday we were packing to spend a night and two days with my sister Chris in Georgia. Our goal was to have everything packed, so we could meet Dan on our way north, as he was leaving work. Around 10 that morning, Danny asked me if I could take him to the courthouse to take his driver's permit test. I didn't think he had studied his manual all that much,  but he was serious and so I decided to let him give it a try, even though it was going to make my day extra busy.

After I felt like I had everything done around the house and all our clothes packed, off we went.

The people at the courthouse were so friendly and the man behind the desk made a joke about how they don't want mug shots anymore.....now they ask you to smile for your license photo. The photo was taken even before the test was administered. I guess that way if they pass, it's all set to go.

After the man took Danny to the other room and let him sit behind closed doors to answer all the questions, I began to wonder.....if he DOES pass this test, am I going to let him drive home?? Then I really started getting nervous! :) And pass he did!! :) The road signs part of the test he got all right. The road rules, he missed 4. I was so thankful because I didn't realize how much the test and then a re-test would cost! :O

Since I had a few stops to make and he had never driven before, I made him wait till we were done at the grocery store and then I let him drive home, and then to the farm for milk and to the destination where we were to meet Dan. I was surprised how well he did!

Once he drove on some of the narrow back roads, things were a little more hairy for me. I like control and I was NOT in control!! :P I am thankful to say that after 3 weeks of this, I am much more relaxed. My foot doesn't press the floor and things in my lap don't get turned a little sideways when I think he should get closer to the other side of the lane! ;) (yeh, that's how I try to "control"....like moving things in my lap will make any difference! Haha!)

Last week I let him take me to town....he got to pull in at the bay door at the service station, back out onto a main road and then drive through the bank drive-thru window and also park in two parking lots. He did so good

Dan makes me sit up front if we are both along, because he thinks that I do too much "back seat driving". But I think it's about same-same. :D I will say, I'd rather be up front....then I can grab the wheel if necessary! :) :) Just kidding!!

Christmas Time

It's been a busy, busy week!! 

Last Saturday we had choir practice in the morning from 10-12 Noon. 

Late afternoon, we headed to Dothan, AL to do some Christmas Caroling. Raymond Smoker, a man who attended our church, but passed away a while back, worked for Dr. Maddox in Dothan. Dr. Maddox loved Raymond and after his passing asked that our church stay involved in his life in different ways. One was inviting us to carol with his family and (church??). They have horses and carriages covered in lights, that go to a retirement home and then carol through a large, well-to-do neighborhood.

It was really neat to see how many people were sitting out waiting to hear the carolers come through. At the nursing home, they opened the dining room windows, where residents were eating supper, and many came out on the porch to listen.

Then we slowly went through the neighborhood and ended up at a park in the middle of the development where there was special singing by the Maddox family, and others and a short devotional. They had fires going, a playground for the kids and hot drinks and cookies for everyone! It was a really fun evening!! :) 

This was our ride!!

And the riders....I cut off Carmen Miller and Rocky had run to get our caroling papers, so he was missing beside Heidi. Jeremy was our leader who was hanging on the back of the wagon and Ben came later! 

Carmen and Tamara

It was a fairly warm evening, with a nice breeze, so the residents could come outside to hear the singing without freezing! :)

Sunday morning, Dan preached at ACI and the hurried to church to share a Christmas message with our church. Came home and enjoyed a quick lunch of pulled pork sandwiches!

In the afternoon I started with a case of the runs! :( I was planning to join our church singing at one of the local nursing homes, but decided that wasn't going to work. Instead I stayed home and got in a short nap. We were supposed to be at church by 4:45 to get one last practice before our program that evening. I still wasn't feeling real great, but seemed to be getting better, thankfully!

Hey, I can dream, right?? ;)

This one got kind of blurry, but it's the best one with the whole choir and our leader! :)

The children sang one song they learned during Sunday school time, "O Come Little Children".

There were other special parts by some of Jeremy's piano students as well as some of the choir members.

This was Jeremy and Nathalie Yoder (14) playing a piano duet, "Angels We Have Heard on High"

After the service, we had snacks and fellowship for all. During that time, I started getting really cold and just feeling miserable. Till we got home, I had a fever of 100.6. It climbed to 101.5 at the highest. I spent pretty much all day Monday just lying around. With the fever and runs, I also had headaches, body aches and lots of stomach pain! :P

My plan HAD been to get the house cleaned on Monday and then spend Tuesday baking cookies. Well, on Tuesday I was feeling much better, still had the sharp stomach pains, but was able to get a lot done. I still didn't feel like baking, but Danny did. He mixed up a batch of mint chocolate chip cookies and then delivered a plate full to our neighbors, the Alford's.
 Hopefully tomorrow we can do some baking! :)

Danny made some yummy cookies.....yes, I ate one today. Hopefully it wasn't too soon to put something like this into my emptied out system! :P

I love all the cards and pictures we receive this time of year!! And I'll be honest, those cards with a little dough in them also brighten my day! :) We got 2 or 3 like that! 

Christmas Eve

Since I was still not feeling 100% better yesterday, and not feeling much like eating, we ordered pizza for supper. (I think that may become a Christmas Eve tradition) After supper, we each opened one gift!

Tamara was thrilled with her new warm PJ's, PB cups and a Nutella snack pack! :)

Danny likes his 24 oz. camo Mt. Dew!!

And his new PJ's

My family knows what I love. I think for my safety, I will put some of these in cookies! :)

Dan's gift was Blueberry Cordials and a Roller Massager! That thing is just heavenly! It just picks the sore muscles right out!! We have all reaped the benefits of this purchase!! :)

Showered and decked out in their new PJ's and ready for a movie marathon!! :)

The forecast was for a cold night and frost! So Danny set up the sprinkler and turned it on before we went to bed.

This is what we woke to this morning....

FROST!!

And ICE!! :)

The sprinkler has pretty much become a tradition every year! It's just so cool!! (Literally!!) :)

I love how each blade of grass, or weed, becomes encapsulated in ice!! It's just so amazing!

I had also planned to make a menu for the week and go grocery shopping on Monday. Since that didn't happen, there was no real plans for food on Christmas Day! :( The morning started with Baked Blueberry Oatmeal and gifts!

Danny got an airsoft mask.

My new can opener!!

Dan got that Dr. Pepper shirt he's wanted for years, and some of his favorite food items.

I think we'll have waffles tomorrow morning, so he can use his new blueberry syrup! :)

Tamara likes her new watch, journal and pens.

And I got a new tripod since mine got left behind one day! ;)

I got some pretty bling from my dear hubby!! :) It says "You Hold My Heart Forever"

This gift was for both the kids and they pretty much had it figured out! :)

It kept them busy all morning and into the afternoon!! :)

Oh, yeh, someone got a new pair of shoes, too! :)

Tamara got boots, but we gave them to her early. She knew we got them and wanted to wear them for a special occassion! :)

All done!! :)

Now the guys are watching Basketball (well, at least the one who didn't fall asleep). I think we'll be going on a walk after awhile and letting the dogs out to play. Then a relaxing evening for all! :) Dan has off work the rest of the week!! Yay! Tomorrow, I plan to grocery shop, bake and do some last minute cleaning before Dan's two sister's and their little girls come on Friday!! :) Looking forward to having them here!!

I really hope to do better with my blog in the coming year! There are so many things on my mind to blog about! :) One thing I would like to do is share the amazing story of how Dan is starting a new job in January!! It's all been God!! :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy, Blessed New Year to each of my friends!!

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

—Luke 2:11