Almost forgot....It's Movie Quote Monday!

"It's a race, it's a race! I hope I win."

Bonus quote: "We need to get her to a hospital right away." "A hospital? What is it?" "It's a big building with a lot of patients, but that's not important right now."

A Christmas Card from My Kids

This project deserves its own post; Nanny and the kids worked VERY hard on it! It was easily my favorite (material) Christmas gift.

A very crafty Christmas

This year, due largely in part to The Advent Conspiracy, we "conspired" to make as much as was feasible to give as gifts. I crocheted a shawl/wrap for Jon's mother, and though it wasn't perfect, I enjoyed making it and she liked it. Jon made a dartboard cabinet for his dad, complete with chalkboard-painted interior. I made "treasure boxes" for all my nieces and nephews, with wooden cigar boxes I got at a thrift store and decoupage. I glittered up an old flower-girl dress for Abbie to be a princess (and she's hardly taken it off since Christmas day!). I made matching dresses (my first BIG sewing project!) for Katie and her doll, Jolena. Jon made a rubber-band gun (actually, three of them) for Micah. He's had it in his hand pretty much ever since.
We go pretty easy on gifts for Christmas, anyway. We try to adhere to "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read" for the kids. It is VERY hard for me not to buy everything in sight for them. It's really hard for me not to buy in the commercialism crap of the season. But, I do have to say that this Christmas was, by far, the least stressful and most meaningful that I can remember. I spent a lot of time baking and giving baking away. I spent time doing projects with my kids for other people. We kept secrets and did a little shopping. We chose gifts with far more care than I can ever remember. Because the stress of "getting everyone the PERFECT gift" was removed. The "perfect gift" has already been given, people! His name is Jesus and He is altogether lovely. The stuff we give each other is just that...stuff. It's fun to give gifts. I love that this year, at the ripe old age of 33, I'm finally starting to "get" Christmas. (I'm a slow learner, apparently. My kids seem to already know this.) My favorite part of Christmas this year was the hour or so we spent at the nursing home, singing Christmas songs and Jesus Loves Me and the Battle Hymn of the Republic with the Alzheimer's patients. It was truly a blessing beyond every material gift I got or gave this year to see my kids and my parents and my husband giving of themselves to love other people.
(I think the residents liked it, too!)
Merry (late) Christmas and happy new year!

A baby changes everything

This song was sung at my sister's church Christmas Eve service last night. It moved me so much that I had to a) share it with you - although 3/7 of my blog readers were there last night and b) prepare it for my own Christmas Eve service. Tomorrow night. I had something else picked out and practiced, but this one speaks to me much more deeply. So, pray for me, and my kids, because this is pretty much all they'll hear today.

Movie Quote Monday

"My name is Hossle and I can count to potato!"

Bonus quote: "Yes, no, no, yes, no, no, no, no, yes! no, no, yes, no, no, no, no, no, no...Wait a minute...YES!!!!"

Funny things my kids say

I'm not going to make this a "blog feature", because that would be lame. However, if I were to make it a blog feature, I could have something to write about every day. My kids are pretty much the funniest people I know.
Tonight, we were walking through Belk when Katie said something to Micah (I actually don't know what it was, because I didn't hear, but it was probably bossy, because that's how she rolls). Micah replied, very matter-of-factly, "Well, Katie, I was minding my own business, like you should be."
Then, when I was tucking the girls in and saying prayers, I was laying down with Abbie. We were being silly and I said, "OK, so I'll see you....next week? Next year?" Abbie said, "NO, Mom, I'll see you in the MORNING!" I said, "Well, I'll see you before that because I'll see you in my dreams." Abbie said, "Yeah, and you know what I'm going to say to Micah when I see him in my dreams?" I said, "No, what?" (thinking she's going to tell him that she loves him or whatever). She said, in a very sweet, almost-singing voice, "Micah!! I had that first!"

Movie Quote Monday...on Tuesday

Got missed in the whole drama yesterday of the spilled coffee. The rest of my day was taken up with a TWO HOUR eye-doctor appointment (everything's fine; just takes a long time with little kids. Side note: Micah will look so stinkin' cute in glasses.) and making twenty-seven dozen cookies. (Not exaggerating.) And 6 dozen rum balls, which I had to put in the freezer lest I eat them ALL.
So...movie quotes:

"It's a beautiful duck!....but...it's smiling!"

Bonus quote: Your MOM goes to college!

My public-service announcement for the day. Have a messy, cluttered, desk? Don't know where to start?

There's GOT to be a better way, right? The shuffling and sorting...the shredding and discarding...the saving and filing....it's all just SO HARD!
My new method is super easy, takes just microseconds, and is guaranteed to rip an obscenity from your lips in front of your young, impressionable children who will most likely repeat it in a. Sunday school b. a homeschool gathering c. carpool.
The secret? Just tip a lava-hot cup of black coffee over the whole shebang! You've never cleared a desk so fast. Ever!

Oh, dear God, let this day get better.

Seeing the beauty

A post about beauty...should NOT begin with a discussion of unibrows. (LOLcats says..."Unabrowz....I haz them".) Facial hair is an ongoing battle of grossness. (One that, thankfully, modern technology has made far easier. Also, at least I'm a girl. My nephew Josiah is SUNK. He's gonna need "manscaping" for REAL.)

Earlier this week, my girls and I went to Raleigh to see my sister and her family. On the first night we stayed there, Kate had a terrible cough that didn't seem to bother her (I mean, she slept through it), but I didn't want her to wake her sister or her cousins, so I went and got her out of the kids' room and put her on the other couch in the living room. I gave her another dose of cough medicine and a sip of water. She hardly woke through the whole thing. I was kneeling next to her, making sure she stayed asleep before I went to lay on the other couch. As I was looking at her, I thought to myself "Good grief, that kid's got some BROWS! She's going to need to slap a wax strip on there by the time she's nine! And wow...her "big teeth" are growing in a little goofy." Don't get me wrong, I think my child is beautiful, but the FIRST things I was thinking of were things that weren't.
In my heart, at they very moment, God spoke to me. I've heard Him before, but this was so clear it was unmistakable. He said, "Why aren't you seeing her beauty before her flaws? That's how I see YOU."
Whew. Praise be to the God who sees our beauty first. Awesome.

MovieQuote Monday

Quote: "I mean, these were my best friends! And they were gin boxes!"

Bonus quote: "Who's your favorite Little Rascal? Alfalfa...or is it Spanky?"

Thursday YouTube Crack

Courtesy of Saturday Night Live!

Funny picture

Kids can be pretty creative artists (and writers...more on that later). I found this picture today and thought some of you might appreciate it:

see more pwn and owned pictures

New regular feature - Movie Quote Mondays

The other day, I found myself remembering a movie quote but not remembering where it came from (I was at work). It bugged me so much that I had to call Jon. It bugged HIM so much that he had to Google it.
So every Monday, I'm going to post a quote from a movie. The first person to comment on its origin wins. (Wins what? you might ask. The answer is: fame - among the fives of people that read my blog - and my undying respect.) If you'd like to submit a quote, e-mail me at gbender714@yahoo.com

Today's quote: "I thought I had mono once for an entire year. It turns out I was just really bored."

Bonus quote: "Do you want me to send you back where you came from...unemployed in GREENLAND?"