So, what did you do with yourself on this absolutely beautiful 70-degree Saturday?

I had been thinking all week that Saturday would be my day to finish up some crafting projects and decorate my home for Valentine's Day. I apparently have a lot to make up for since I was sick last year on V Day and let things slide a bit (or so my daughter tells me). I also thought that I might do a little yard work, read some, work on my Primary lesson, and maybe even take a bit of time to just veg... or take a nap. I also felt a bit guilty about not going to see my parents in a while and thought I might go up to the farm for the day.

But, my friends, that did not happened.

I slept in a bit (ok... I can't sleep past 7:30, but considering the alarm goes off around 5:00 most mornings, that is sleeping in.) and then did read for a little bit. I fixed breakfast for Barry and the girls (the boys spent the night with their uncle last night), but really it was more like brunch by the time they woke up. Afterwards, we decided that we could not let this beautiful day pass any longer without being out in it. The boys got home, but since they had been up all night they headed straight for bed. The rest of us piled in the car and headed to Rainbow Mountain. We do enjoy taking walks in the woods, and I was looking forward to that. What I really wasn't expecting (since this actually was my first time there... sad, I know, after living here in Madison for 14 years now) was the hike that our walk turned into. Did we go prepared with water? No, we did not. Did my legs feel like jello, and my body scream for hydration when we finished? Yes, they did! Did I think to take a camera with me? Nope, didn't do that either. I know, I'm a LOSER! But, truthfully, I couldn't help but wonder as we walked hiked through the woods, if all this cardio was doing my heart and arteries good? You know, helping to lessen the effects of the 5-Guys burger I ate last night.

After our outing, we shopped a bit... window shopped, really... at Lowe's. I think everyone in or around Madison had that same idea today. Then my dear hubby treated us to a late lunch. I was VERY good and grabbed a salad. Then we walked around WalMart for a bit, and guess what? I grabbed a few things I needed to finish up one of those craft projects I mentioned earlier.

So, there you go... what we did on this beautiful, sunny, 70-degree Saturday. What did you do?

Trying not to lose it...

One of my new year's goals this year was to try and stay more positive. I tend to let a lot of people/situations/stupid stuff at work get to me, and then I bring that frustration home and unleash it around here. I hate doing that, so I am trying really hard to improve. I'm also trying really hard to let go of things at work and not get so frustrated and people/situations/stupid stuff in the first place.

Today has been a trying day. I actually got really worked up over a couple of things. I actually spouted off to some coworkers about those frustrating things... then I immediately felt horrible for doing so. I don't want that kind of negativity in my life anymore.

So, to restore some balance, I am posting something positive about the day. And right now, the most positive thing I can say is... YAY!!! This day is almost over! :)

EDIT - Barry just took the kids to activities tonight. That really makes me happy!! That is a great positivie to wash away everything else. :)

Been playing...

With my new silhouette, and this is my first completed project... SO EXCITED!!!


I've loved this quote forever, and knew it was the first project I wanted to do. I also have been wanting to change up my tiles for a while, so the two just seemed to scream to go together!

Hmmm... I am thinking no surface in the house is now safe!

More snow pictures

At the end of the day on Monday, the kiddos looked out their windows at all the snowmen that were popping up in the neighborhood. They decided, then, that we needed to build one, too. So out we all went again, but daddy had an idea. Instead of a traditional snowman, the kids packed buckets full of snow, then stacked them up.


They played with the face a bit more, then called it done...


Tuesday morning Megan hopped up before anyone else and raced outside to build another snowman. She got a pretty good base built, then decided to build an igloo instead. She was out there for hours by herself working, but in the end she was very pleased with it.


Then Josh decided to get creative and make a snow fort. For some reason he decided that he needed to tear apart the snowman and use it for his base... not sure why, there was still PLENTY of snow on the ground. Not sure what happened then, but the next thing I hear from him, he is yelling at me to come take pictures of his creation... a double sided couch!


They all sat on it long enough for me to get a picture, then started complaining of it being cold... go figure! ;)

Snow Day!

The last time I remember snow like this on the ground was March of 1993... the weekend that Barry, his Dad, Kayti and I were all supposed to head out to Utah for Dawn and Shawn's wedding. We had to postpone our trip a day because the roads were so bad. Last week as I listened to the weather men all talk about the possibility of snow that was moving into our area, I really doubted that we would get much. But at the same time, I also knew that we had to get prepared, just in case this time they got it right. Growing up in the South taught me that you can never be too prepared when snow actually does hit... I can remember being showed in and without power when I was a teen-ager. That storm lasted weeks, and we were all so stir crazy by the time it was over.

I planned on trying to leave work a little early on Friday to get my grocery shopping done. Saturday was my regularly scheduled day, but I knew the stores would be PACKED and I wanted to avoid them. I didn't get there as early as I would have liked, and the place was a total zoo. There were a few aisles you could not even walk down, and lots of bare shelves, too. But, I got the majority of my shopping list checked off, and decided that what I didn't get could wait.

Barry and I watched the skies yesterday afternoon and evening. We were actually a little surprised when the weather men were still predicting 4-8 inches, then 6-10 inches of snow. These things usually go all around us, or fall apart the closer they get to us. Barry was cracking me up last night. He would check the radar, then run outside to see if he could see any flakes. Finally around 9:00 last night, he opened the front door and the ground was already white. He and I decided to bundle up and go for a walk. Kyle and Megan joined us... we didn't go far. The snow was coming down fast and hard, and so we turned around and came back home. The sky was so weird last night... we even saw the lightening and heard the thunder - Snowthunder. One of the weather men was saying that conditions like that could dump as much as 4 inches of snow in an hour. And on top of that, everything was just kind of glowing.

What a wonderland we woke up to today. We have been more out today than in, I think. Went for a walk, tried to build a snowman, then spent a long time sledding. The pictures can say it better than I can, but we have had a BLAST today!


We are so glad that Barry has been home with us today! The kids and I will be home again tomorrow, but I'm not sure if Barry will get to or not... we hope so, though! I've hated having to give up our spring snow days, but at least we have something fun to show for it!!

December 2010

I decided that I had to get this posted before I head back to work today...

What a wonderful month December has been! I've enjoyed it from beginning to end. (Didn't really mean that to rhyme;) )

At the beginning of the month I was invited to go with some friends from work to the Athens Christmas parade. It just happened to fall on the same night as our ward's extra Relief Society meeting. I have to honestly say that I have not really attended Homemaking/Enrichment/Extra Meeting in a V.E.R.Y. long time... at least not since we moved to Madison, so I didn't really feel guilty about going to the parade instead. But, the closer the time came, the more I felt like I should go to RS, and I'm really glad that I did. It was a simple program, but I came away with a wonderful feeling, and felt a little bit closer to my Savior.

The next weekend was the Stake Christmas festival. I had invited a friend to come with me, but she had to cancel at the last minute, so just the girls and I went. The concert was awesome, the trees/nativities/quilts were beautiful, and the live nativity was inspiring. I appreciate all the hard work that everyone puts into this festival. I know it is a TON of hard work, but it really is the highlight of the season.

The next weekend was the ward Christmas party. I was in charge of the "carnival" that we had after a yummy brunch. We did activities for the primary age chilren... a craft, face paining and cookie decorating. The awesome youth of the ward helped me out a ton, and it was a great morning.

I was really excited to decorate the house this year. I have had so much fun crafting. I haven't crafted like I did in a long time, and it felt really good to just be creative again. I made a sign for the front entryway, decorated a new wreath, etched some glass to hold candles, created some fun ornaments, made some blocks for the mantle, a Christmas countdown, and even made my Christmas cards this year! I must admit... I had a some help with some of the materials, but it was fun to put it all together. We opted for a live tree this year... mainly because out artificial tree was being put to good use elsewhere. This is the first live tree that Barry and I have ever bought... we have gone out to my parent's and cut down a few trees, but they mainly have cedar trees, and the last one we brought home about killed my allergies. I was tickled with the tree we picked out, and we were thrilled that it didn't cost us too much. The only major disappointment with the live tree was that a lot of our ornaments were too heavy to go on it, but it still looked beautiful. I have put my "charlie brown" trees out front on my porch for years now, but this year I decided that they needed to come inside. I found the perfect home for them on either side of my entertainment center.


The week of Christmas had us busy making goodies and visiting. The kids and I always make something to take to Barry's work and visit with him there for a bit. He enjoys showing off the kids. :) For as long as I can remember, we have spent Christmas Eve with some good friends of ours, the Sparkman's. Barry and Mike worked together at the Cookie Company when Barry and I first got married, and we all moved to Nashville together as well. We then moved back to Huntsville together a few years later, and continued the tradition of Christmas Eve together. We meet up at Mike's parent's house, and Momma Sparkman makes a feast of Italian Sausages, chips, dip, cookies, pies, cakes... you get the idea! We always stay there way too late, but we enjoy the company and catching up. We also started a tradition years ago of heading out early and looking at Christmas lights before we go to the Sparkman's. This year we headed down to South Huntsville, and found the best neighborhood ever! Every street you turned down had one awesome display after another! We got so wrapped up looking at the lights that the Sparkman's had to call us to see if we were coming or not!

This is the first year ever that Barry and I have stayed up all hours of the night putting together a gift. We got the boys a ping-pong table, and that thing was a beast to put together! We didn't get started until after 11:00 PM, and finally got it finished around 3:00 AM. After it was done, Barry headed out to see if he could find any gas stations still open, because he needed a Mountain Dew! When he got back he told me that it was starting to sleet outside, and maybe we just might get some of the white stuff the weather men had been saying was coming our way.

We have a rule in our house... the kids are not allowed up (or at least not allowed to get us up) before 7:00 AM. I have to admit that most years I am the first one up, and usually it is much earlier than 7:00, but not this year. I was still so tired from being up so late that I slept until the kids couldn't take it anymore, and came to grab me so I could see the snow. It was about 6:45 when they got me up, but I decided to stay up and light the fire in the fireplace and enjoy the beauty of the falling snow. Barry was up a few minutes later, and we read the Christmas story from the Bible, then went to open presents. The kids and Barry were all thrilled with their gifts, and Barry surprised me with a Silhoutte die cut machine! After the living room was picked up, and we had breakfast, we headed outside for some fun in the snow. It has been a really long time since we have seen snow like that come down around here. The last really big snow that I can remember was at least 15 years ago, but never on Christmas day. It was like an added present, and made for a perfect Christmas.


I had to include the above photo... this is the "after" of our morning, but it's the only picture I got of all the trees and mantle together.


Thankfully road conditions allowed us to get to the Callahan's for Christmas dinner. We enjoyed yummy food, and time with family. The kids exchanged handmade gifts, and had a ball! It was so much fun to see how creative they each got.

We were supposed to go to Fayetteville on Sunday to spend Christmas with my family, but icy roads kept that from happening. Instead we all stayed in on Sunday and enjoyed a quiet day. Things cleared up enough on Monday that my mom was able to come and stay with us for a few days, then we finally got the whole crew together on Wed. night for our family dinner and cousin gift exchange.

I have been so filled with a Spirit of Peace this month, and so grateful for my Savior. I am thankful for each and every blessing. I am thankful to have family and good friends to share the season with.