Year End Review First Sentence Meme...

I was going, really going to catch up on December before wrapping up the year, but Smallworld posted this and it was too fun not to do right now...

As the year winds down, it's always fun to go back and scan the year in blog posts. Today I'll be playing the "First Sentence" meme. Tomorrow, I'll be doing the "Favorite Posts" post. Join me if you want! Here's how…How to Play. 1) Look back to your archives for 2008.2) Collect the first sentence you wrote every month for the whole year. (This doesn't have to be the literal first day of the month--just the first post.)3) Entertain us on your blog, link back here, and post a comment here with the link to your blog. (And if you're blogless, just remember the first sentence you spoke every month for the whole year and post it here.)

And so...here are mine....

January: Last night I was supposed to be online searching for "activities for the letter N" to get ready for my Monday fun class, when my fingers made it over to another web site that led me to the exciting news of my NKOTB.

February (not my finest month of the year) : Glory baby you slipped away as fast as we could say baby…

March: .....wasn't posting.....

April: Home again, home again, jiggety jig...that is what my mom always says after coming home from vacation.

May: After seven months of wondering if we would ever sell our house....We did!

June: Tonight is the last night we will spend together at our first house. We don't move until Tuesday, but the kids are all spending the night at friends tomorrow so we can do both closings and moving on Tuesday, and they can play.

July: I found this tag on Suzanne's blog, who got it from Tina's blog...so, anyway, thought I would play along...

August: I'm thinking if I never see a can of pink paint again, it will be to soon. (ok, I just made that up...obviously I was a little too lazy to blog in August...)

September: Summer is officially over around here,well, except for all this heat....we started school four weeks ago, which I can't believe.

October: I have been so busy trying to move my blog over from homeschool blogger, that I haven't had time..or at least taken the time to write anything new....here are some of my rambles...

November: Happy election day! I just got back from voting with Mike, the first time we got to go together. And it's our anniversary..how romantic.

December: Please pray for Stellan, this precious little two month old boy who is already a miracle to his parents. (I can't believe this is my only December post....better get crackin...or posting...)

OK...so that was my stroll down memory lane....what about you? It's your turn!!

Prayers for Stellan

Please pray for Stellan, this precious little two month old boy who is already a miracle to his parents. He has a severe case of RSV and is very, very sick. After having been through this myself, my heart is heavy for this family.
This little guy has already proven the doctors that miracles can happen by being born healthy after having heart failure in the womb. You can read more about him and his family here....

Christmas Music...

Oh, how I love Christmas music. When I was little we would listen to The Osmonds Christmas (no laughing) It was all the kids favorite in my house. We changed "It Never Snows in LA" to "It Never Snows in FLA" after we moved to Florida. We would have parts for "Pinecones and Hollyberries/ It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas."

Other albums we would listen to were : Nat King Cole Christmas, Johnny Mathis, and I think Ray Coniff, though I know need to call mom on that one...

As I got older, Amy Grant's" Tennesee Christmas" became a Christmas must, as all her Christmas albums are for me. As are Michael W. Smith's and Steven Curtis Chapman's. In the late 90's my favorite was "Emmanuel", a compilation album with many Christian artists, and then "Child of the Promise," my very favorite the last seven years. It is also a compilation album that tells the story of Christ from the prophets to the birth of Christ, including Herod and the wise men.

And then this year, my friend, Sam, gave me Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb." It is another compilation cd, but it begins with Moses and the passover, and endswith the birth of Christ. Normally, I don't break out my Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving, but Sam had asked me to learn and sing a song from the cd (Labor of Love) with him at church.

And so, for a few weeks now, the kids and I have been listening to this cd, which really could be a for anytime of the year. My kids favorite is called "Matthew Begats," where he sings of Christ's lineage from Abraham....it is quite catchy, though I don't know if I will ever memorize it. One of my favorites is the song about Moses where he sings "Lord let your judgement passover us, Lord let your love hover near, don't let your sweet mercy pass over us let your blood cover over us here."

This has become my "new" favorite Christmas cd, that is really not a Christmas cd...so, what about you? Do you love or hate Christmas music? And if you love it, what is your favorite?

The Sound of Music

When I was a little girl, every year around Thanksgiving or Christmas, The Sound of Music would be on t.v. This year The Incredibles, and The Polar Express were on, and while I like both of those movies, I really wanted to sit and watch The Sound of Music with my kids...

The ridiculous thing was, the moment Julie Andrews was shown on the mountain top singing, I burst into tears...and did so with every song...

I have such fond memories of singing these songs with my mom and my sisters. Mom would get out her records that were soundtracks to musicals all the time , and we would dance and sing. This is the music I was brought up on.

It was really neat to share that with my girls. Caleb was downstairs playing the Wii with his cousin...Elisa told him, "you have to see it, it has such good songs."

We only made it to the intermission last night, so tonight as we turned it on Caleb asked, "Can we start it at the beginning?" Yeah for me! And for Mike, since he is at the Tennessee-Kentucky football game.

Homeschool Memoirs #15: A Thankful Heart

This week's Homeschool Memoirs calls for 27 things we're thankful (U.S. Thanksgiving being on the 27th this year).
So, here is my list...

1. My husband of 13 years, Mike, who makes me laugh and who loves me...
2. Caleb, who teaches me more than I teach him
3. Bekah, who always makes me giggle
4. Elisa, who always is there to cuddle or give me a hug
5. Jesus, who loves me no matter how much I mess up
6. Forgiveness....
7. My new house. What an answer to prayer that we had to wait, and wait to sell, but ended up in this house...
8. My parents, sisters, and brothers, even though we don't always see eye to eye...
9. My friends...I have an abundance of friends, in many different aspects of my life....they are my family, sisters when I feel abandoned by my "real" ones.
10. Danielle, who has been my friend for 10 years...and closest to me at heart, though we live thousands of miles apart...
11. My in-laws, who are very good to us.
12. Singing....it always makes me happy
13. Dancing...I don't know which I love better, singing or dancing, and I am so thankful I have been given the gift to do both....
14. Mike's job...we were very blessed last year when he got this job. Not only does he enjoy it more, the doors closed this summer at his old job.
15. Living in Tennessee...I can't believe it has been 7 1/2 years, but I can't imagine living any place else....
16. Staying home with my kids....I can't imagine a day without them...
17. Laughter...though mine may be very loud, I do love to laugh...at people and with them!
18. Our health...it has been a rough year for us...but we are all healthy...
19. Games...
20. Living on a cul-de-sac and watching my kids ride their bikes in the road...
21. My church, and our ministers...
22. Those two people, who come and spend every Sunday with us...and who better not leave us....
23. My job...though I may not always want to leave to get there...it is too much fun coaching gymnastics...
24. Coffee, which I never enjoyed until I started homeschooling, but now is so comforting in the morning.
25. Whipped cream...because it helps my sugar cravings...
26. My computer...oh, I do love checking my email and reading blogs...
27. My life...here I am with a husband, 3 kids...living in Tn...life is good...

The Birthday Party....

A week after my little girl turned 5, we got to have her birthday party. There were two reasons for this : 1. Her daddy had to work on her birthday, so we couldn't have it then, and 2. whew! glad it worked out that way since she had critters in her hair on her birthday, and we would have had to cancel it.

I did move it over to my church, in case people were a little weird about being in our clean, but recently bugged house. She chose a garden party, and it was one of our most successful parties to date....very fun....here are some pictures....

The birthday girl...

Elisa and her best friend, Halle

Elisa's cupcake cake....I was really excited about doing this....my friend Cyndi let me use some of her decorating "supplies" and cupcake stand....

Two sisters and their flower pots and tissue paper flowers....

Homeschool Memoirs #14

This week's Homeschool Memoirs is "to post the category that best describes each of your family members and write something about why you nominated them in that category." So here goes…

Hardest Worker

Mike has a crazy schedule. He works for Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a Nuclear Reactor Operator. Some days he works 7 a.m.-7 p.m., some days it is 7 p.m.-7 a.m....some weeks it is three days right into three nights...They call that "hell week," which is what he is finishing up this week. I don't know how he is able to switch his body's clock around so much. He works hard for our family so I get to be at home and enjoy our kids....even on hell week.

Most Imaginative

Caleb has the biggest imagination. He has many imaginary friends who not only have names, but some have football stats. He came up with a club called the "Imagines," with different levels for different ages. He thinks up new games, makes some awesome lego creations, and is always creating something out of paper, string, glue, boxes...etc....I always learn something new from him...

Best Giggler

Bekah can't keep a straight face. Even when being punished, she looks at you with a grin. She giggles through everything. And has the best laugh. We all have to laugh when she does because it is so honest. Bekah can (almost) always put a smile on my face.

Best I can get away with much because I am so cute

Oh, yes. This little girl...She is about the cutest little bit in the world. With those big eyes (we have no idea where they came from) and big dimples, she melts your heart. And tries to get away with much because of it. While I am not always fooled by such antics (!) Mike and I do have to turn around and laugh when she has done something wrong because even when she is crying...well, she is too darn cute.

Best Bunny

I can't include family awards without including Little Joe. He is Caleb's faithful friend, having been in his life since he was a month old. Little Joe goes just about everywhere with Caleb. And I have come to love him so much too.

Quietest

Ahhhh, I love the goldfish! They never yell at me...they are so polite when I feed them, they never complain. And, they never fight. What good little pets.