handsful

Gotta get the Thanksgiving photos up…we’re already full-out into Christmas, but I’m behind.  Been sick…yucky!  So, excuse me for not being as wordy as usual, and enjoy the shots…

Homemade brine, simmering.  If you’ve never done it before, you have to try a brined turkey next year.

Thankful Tree, yearly tradition since forever ago.

Master carver

Abbey being…Abbey.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.  Psalm 100:3-5

Our bigs (and their friend…our semi-adopted daughter…Kylie) dressed and ready for the parade.

The Mooresville Christmas parade was yesterday afternoon…and, all 4 of our big kids were in it.  Since my parents were planning on spending Thanksgiving with us anyway, they came a day early to watch the parade.

My mom was amazed at how llloonngg it was.  It lasted nearly 2 hours.  Our population is about 33,000…and I think about half of those were in the parade ;)

A few pics of the day…

Our local Shriner’s were the pre-parade entertainment this year…they have a special place in our hearts, since Dylan came into our family.  Dylan had his amputation surgery at Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, SC, and he’s gotten two prosthesis’ so far…free of charge.  He will continue being a Shriner’s kid, with all of his care and prosthesis’ covered, until he’s 18.  Amazing.

One of Dylan’s best friends, Hollyn, was in the parade for the Shriner’s…this is the best shot we got of her :)  She’s the gal in green.  Hollyn and her family were a huge blessing to us as we prepared to adopt Dylan, having gone through the same surgery, same hospital, and same prosthesis need with Hollyn.

Having fun, kids?  They got more candy thrown at them at the parade than they collected on Halloween.

First up for us was the boys, in their AFFR group.  I’ve mentioned before that all the kids take tumbling/fitness/dance classes at Acrofitness here in town.  The boys class is Free Running…kinda like a spiderman, climbing and jumping, and tumbling with a little break dancing thrown in for good measure.  Both boys can already do back handsprings (on the mats, not concrete yet!), and they’ve only been doing classes for 2 months.

No, this is NOT the boys.  But, impressive, eh?

Why just the boys in the parade for Acro?  The required pants, shirt, beanie, and shoelaces were a little pricey.  And, the other kids classes didn’t have special performances lined up either.

Here they come…

There’s Payton…of course, we didn’t catch them doing anything.  That would have required good timing.  But, the rolling scaffolding was used to climb on, through, over, and jump off of.  It’s the kinda stuff they’re learning and they love it.  Gets them active, which I love.

Only picture we managed of Ethan!  Hey, we tried.  I like the feet beside him!  And, notice that Payton is the only guy NOT wearing his beanie.  He’s a rule-breaker and rebel like his dad.

Finally, the Testify Youth Choir showed up.

Abbey is in the Santa Hat, beside her friend Aaron in the purple tie-dyed shirt.  And, Randy is on the right in gray.  He just had to run up and ambush them…he got hugs from all.

What are you lookin’ at?

He’s happy now, his bling is back on (had to remove it all for the parade!)

I know what I SHOULD type here, but I just can’t say it yet…it’s not even Thanksgiving yet!  :)

Our new home (we’ve been here 8 months, so it still feels new…) has a large shop out back.  The previous owner was a contractor, and used it for his business.  We weren’t sure exactly what to do with it.

Storage?  Workshop? (Randy loves to build)  Hang out place for big kids?

Last year, Randy had a middle school age guys group.  They met at our house for bible study and teaching every Sunday night.  As the year went on, he began feeling like it was supposed to be “more”, but he wasn’t sure what/how.  Then, it became clear.

We’d use the shop for a youth ministry…guys and girls, middle and high school age.  Our initial idea is to meet every other Friday night for teaching, prayer, and fellowship.  This past Saturday was the kick-off…

The Shop

It’s still very bare-bones.  The previous owner was in the process of finishing the inside…there are two rooms in the back that aren’t completely walled-off.  There’s no plumbing.  We’re getting the heat turned on this week (yes, the kids were cold!).  Randy and his friend Ed built railings for the existing stairs and 2nd floor space, and Ed built 4 benches for seating.  We’ll eventually have a couch and other furniture, we’ll paint, hang stuff on the walls, etc.

About 15 kids attended the first meeting.  I didn’t get any shots during the teaching, I was up at the house stretching out wire hangers to use for marshmallow skewers with Kelley!  Her younger kids and my littles were playing and helping…

When they were done, we loaded up snacks and water and headed down.  They had already started the bon fire.

And, to end the night, Randy took the brave kids on a bumpy ride around our property.  They climbed into his tractor’s trailer and held on tight!

We’re so thankful for this building, and look forward to tons of memories watching our kids and their friends grow in Christ :)

Thanks so much for all the kind words about the post for my Grandmom.  She was laid to rest on Saturday, and it was a gorgeous, warm sunny day.  It reminded me of her.  Her service was beautiful, and the testimony that her care giver shared brought me to tears.  And, just as the pastor finished at the graveside, the church bells starting ringing.  That made me smile!

I’m not certain that God speaks through shoes, but in this case…let me back up.  I bought a pair of Clark’s Springers mules online YEARS ago.  They are my absolute favorite shoes to wear in the fall/winter.  They aren’t the most beautiful pair of shoes, but they are to me.

Today, as I was dropping off some items at our local kid’s consignment store, I was browsing in the $2 bins outside.  Nothing arranged by size, type, etc….just stuffed in bins.  I came across these shoes and nearly fell out.  Clarks Springers, in my size.  Not the mules, but just as comfortable.  I think they’re super cute, too.  And, did I mention they were $2?  I came home and checked on Ebay.  There’s a pair exactly like them for $43.50.  Score!!  I love a deal, especially when it’s SO meant for me to find… :)

My Grandmom, Dorothy West Hamilton, went home to be with the Lord yesterday morning.  She’d been suffering from mouth cancer for quite a while, went through one surgery and other cancer treatments.  It seemed the tumor was shrinking, but then came back with a vengeance.  Within just a few short days, she went from talking over old memories with my parents, to bedridden and unable to eat.  When given the choice, she refused IV fluids…telling my dad that she was ready to go Home.  Two days later, she was there.

I’m so thankful that we had the chance to visit her, one last time, on Monday.  She was sleeping heavily, morphine doses every 2 hours, and was basically unresponsive.  But, I choose to believe that she knew we were there, and heard me telling her how much I loved her, and what an amazing Grandma she’d been to me.  I will always treasure that, like I’ll treasure the wonderful memories I have with her.

Like…

She called all of her Grandkids “tootsie”.  I loved that.

From the time I was 4, we lived down the street from Grandma.  In fact, we lived in 3 different houses on the SAME street during my childhood.  But, that’s another story.  So, I spent a lot of time up at her house.  What a blessing.

I loved her house.  It was small, with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath.  Down the very small hall was a huge grate that brought in heat (coal?  I’m not sure…), and when you looked down, it was glowing bright red.  As a child, that was very mysterious to me.

I remember spending nights with her as a child.  She’d always let me sleep with her, in her bed.  And the best part was her letting me wear her silky nightgowns…which she always safety-pinned to fit.

Her house backed up to the local little league field, with a fence between.  Her yard was elevated from it, and there was a tree right at the fence.  Us kids (me and my cousins) would climb the tree and watch whatever game was going on.  We felt like we had the best seats in the house.

Grandma was the best cook.  Ever.  My favorites being her green beans (I can’t cook them like she did…), chicken pastry (think dumplings, only they’re large, flat noodles), and her homemade chocolate pie.  I’ve almost got the last one down.  I remember the first time I tried it, the filling didn’t get thick enough.  She told me to cook and stir it longer.  She was right.

I have a sweet tooth, and I’m sure I got it from Grandma.  She LOVED her sweets, any and every kind.  Especially pie.  Meals to her were a vehicle to get to the dessert.  I totally get that.

As you can see in the pic, she had beautiful, soft white hair.  I want HER hair when mine goes gray.  For years she fought it, though, and died it jet black!  As a kid, I remember watching her at her kitchen sink, squirting what looked like black ink all over her head.  The stuff stained whatever it touched, it was quite a sight!  We finally talked her into going “natural” and she never looked better.

Grandma had a dog years ago, named Tippy.  He was a black and white mutt, and cute as could be.  I didn’t have a dog, so it was fun to play with him.  I remember how sad we were when he died.

Grandma’s house was always the meeting point for parades downtown.  She lived within walking distance, so everyone parked their cars there and walked down to main street.

In fact, her house was always bustling with family and friends.  She was very social, and loved being busy.  She also loved talking on the phone.  My parents would get irritated at her…her phone was ALWAYS busy, it was impossible to get a hold of her.  Sometimes we’d have to walk up the street and knock on her door :)

I loved hearing stories of Grandma’s life.  She married my dad’s dad at the age of 15.  She had 5 children, and they lived on a farm.  She married my granddad, and he died when my dad was 18.  She re-married after 7 years, only to have him pass away 5 months later.  From then on, she lived alone.

Grandma did have a “boyfriend” for many years.  I remember Jimmy as the tall, skinny man who always greeted me with whatever change he had in his pocket.  He was a very sweet man, and was a blessing to Grandma.

In later years, after Randy and I were married, we started a tradition of having a casual get-together at our house on Christmas eve.  It was always my parents, Randy’s mom and step-dad, and Grandma.  Once the kids were born, it was a kid-fest…holding babies and watching them be silly as they anticipated the next morning.  Lots of laughter, lots of food, and many memories.

As our kids got older, and we visited her, she would NOT let them leave without something sweet (remember the sweet tooth?).  Candy for each one, packs of cookies, etc.  There was always a “going away” present.

I hope Grandma knew just how much I loved her.  How much we all did.  She was the sweetest (I keep using that word, sweet…) woman and everyone adored her.  Remembering her will be easy, and I’ll continue to share these memories and more with my kids so that they can always remember, too.

Having both “bigs” and “littles” makes for interesting costumes this time of year.  Thankfully, Lainey and Dylan are still happy to be cartoon characters and sweet little fairies.  The other kids are….interesting.

We’ll begin with the cute.

Sticking with his superhero theme (Spidey last year), Dylan was the big, bad Batman.

I told him to give me his best Superhero pose :)

Lainey went with Silvermist, one of Tinkerbell’s fairy friends…and, she was adamant that she was NOT Tinkerbell.

The big kids were a little different.

Marley actually found what she wanted to be on an internet video last year.  It took Randy quite a bit of planning and building to make it happen, and then the girls got busy with fabric and sewing.

Any ideas on what this will be?  Give up, you won’t guess.

The Superhero is SUPERvising…see what I did there?

Finishing touches…I’m still not sure what “it” is, but it turned out exactly like she wanted.

Abbey wanted to be a zombie princess Belle.  She designed her dress out of yellow t-shirts.  The fairy is helping her with her fingernails.

The whole crew.  Ethan had the help of his friend, Kailee…they both went goth, with black hair, makeup, etc.  Kylie was Marley’s “assistant”, since it was hard to walk up to the houses on those stilts!  And, Payton?  He just couldn’t come up with anything he wanted to be, so we stopped by Target on the way to our friend’s neighborhood and picked up a white sheet.  Old school dress-up.

After a night of candy-hunting, we headed home for the tradition of trading for favorites.  The kids are already talking about what they might be next year.  We’re thinking of throwing a party for the big kids, since they’re nearing the age of being too old to T or T.  Whatever we do, it’ll be fun.