handsful

The water. 

The pond behind our house.  The river that backs up to our neighborhood.  The bridge over that river that we cross EVERYDAY.  The sunsets over the river. 

We walked down to the dock in our neighborhood yesterday and took a few pictures.  Abbey was spending the night at a friend’s house. 

We’ll definitely miss the river :)

Randy and I are finally making some changes to our blog…pics, colors, fonts, etc.  I’m giddy with excitement over what we’ve done so far :)  You’ll notice a few color differences, but we’ve been working for over 2 hrs. and we’re taking a break! 

Changes to a WordPress blog are NOT for the faint of heart.  Or, non-tech person.  Which I am, but my husband definitely is not!  He just figures it all out as we go, changing codes here, adding them there.  I marvel at it. 

More changes coming soon ;)

that have nothing to do with each other, just wanted to share. 

It’s Upward season around here.  Randy coaches both a boys team with Payton on it, and a girls team with Abbey.  Here’s a shot of Payton from last night.  I missed Abbey’s game because it was at 9pm, which would have gotten Lainey to bed around 10:30.  So, I’ll post a pic of her from the next game.  Randy loves coaching and he’s so good with the kids.  I remember when we were dating, he coached kids b-ball leagues and I loved going and watching.  Gave me some insight into what kind of dad he would eventually be :) 

The girl is creative.  An old cell phone clamped under a set of headphones.  Cracked me up.  She still has the steritape on her lip here, but it’s since been removed.  Still on a soft diet, she has her last post-op appointment a week from tomorrow.  We’re a little concerned about how her lip is healing, there seems to be a raised scar and it’s still red.  Looks worse than when we started.  Maybe it just needs a little more time, we’ll see.  The good news is she feels great, her happy mood is back, and her palate is still totally intact :) 

I plan on doing a longer post soon, when time allows (must stop laughing).  Life is busy, school in full swing (juggling 3 research papers at once is gonna be FUN), and I’m spending a lot of time thinking/planning for Abbey’s high school at home next fall (gulp).  Never a dull moment.

This is a shot of the outside of our bathroom window.  Look closely, and you’ll see a sweet little bird perched on the window.  Isn’t he cute?  Actually, no. 

This bird has a love affair with our window.  Every morning – EVERY morning – this bird shows up at the window AT 7:30am and begins pecking furiously at the window, flying up and down, peck, peck, peck.  I think at this point, he must have permanent brain damage.  And, it’s LOUD.  He usually flys away sometime late in the morning, only to return a few times during the day to peck again.  Maybe he’s in love with his reflection?  Thinks it’s a potential mate?  Thinks we have yummy food inside that he must get at?  Randy has tried to shoot at it with the boys air soft gun…no luck.  I can’t believe he’s still doing it, it’s been months.  Persistant little guy.  Our very own rooster. 

Lainey’s surgery is tomorrow, lots to do today to prepare.  Which is exactly why I’m posting about a deranged bird.

What would you do if you saw these warm, yummy loaves of amish friendship bread cooling on your kitchen counter? 

Yeah, that’s what I’d do, too.

I realize it’s halfway into January, and I still feel like I’m trying to recover from Christmas in some ways.  Our normal activities are, as of this week, back into full swing.  So, life is ramping up and there just hasn’t been time to blog.  Sigh.  I want to do a better job with this…maybe I can learn to sleep less?  I wish I was one of those folks who only needed 5 or 6 hrs a night to feel normal. 

What have we been up to?  Randy and I have been trying out his new 50mm lens for his Nikon D70 and getting a few good shots.  Randy took the one of Abbey above…she’s such a beauty, looks just like her daddy.  Here are a couple more…

Resident tom boy, Marley.  If you tilt your head, squint a little, and have a couple of drinks beforehand, you might think she looks a little like her mama. 

To quote Erin Walton, “she’s just a crazy” (I’m a huge Walton’s fan, don’t feel bad if you don’t get the reference)

no squinty eyes here, just big and blue. 

Didn’t get a decent one of Payton yet, but I will.  He’s a ham for the camera and tries to jump in any and all shots.  Yes, Payton, you DO. 

Taking the Christmas lights out of the drake elm…Payton flashes that winning smile! 

My favorite Christmas presents that weren’t Christmas presents.  While I was at my parent’s house in NC, I mentioned how much I love their oil lamps.  I remember being a kid and loving how they looked when they were lit.  I told mom I’d love to find one, and she told me that we could have one.  I was thrilled, and even more surprised when they gave us two!  These lamps are old, one of them came from my great aunt Eunice and uncle Wilbert’s home – did I mention I’m southern?  They now grace our mantle and just make me smile.  I love old things. 

What else has been going on around here.  Well, today we watched the Chargers BLOW the playoffs and lose miserably to the Jets.  Drat.  The Steelers and the Chargers, out.  Double drat. 

Marley starts horse riding lessons again on Monday and she’s ridiculously excited. 

I’ve been in a purging fit lately, and have a growing pile of “stuff” for charity.  With 7 people in the house, clutter builds quickly and it drives. me. nuts.  If something lies around for long without anyone using it, beware. 

Randy’s mom Ann had major surgery last Thursday so we’ve been thinking of and praying for her.  Randy was able to drive up to NC and be with her for a couple of days.  It’s hard living this far away from family, we feel the need to be there and can’t as much as we’d like.  Randy will more than likely head back sometime soon. 

I’ll leave you with a shot of a budding guitar player, working hard to rock it out like her big brother. 

I think she was in the middle of a rock ballad.  I’ll wait while you go get your lighter to hold up :)

It was luminaries night in our neighborhood last night.  There was a Christmas party down at the club house, which we did not attend.  Apparently, they had Santa at the party for a while.  Here he is walking back to his sleigh..uh…truck.  This is Randy, chasing Santa down to tell him that he parked in our grass.  I hope he didn’t put our address down on the naughty list.  This is a bad time of year to tick off Santa, don’t you think??