What Is Love?

In honor of Valentine's Day, and after stealing this idea from Sandi at Lucky Thirteen And Counting, I thought I'd post everyone's definition of "love".

"When you kiss somebody. And when you love somebody" Reese

"What is love...baby don't hurt me..." Jessie (done with a dance & twirly fingers...)

"When you share your life." Daddy

"When someone fills your heart." Mommy

I hope you feel loved every day!

Surprise Your Sweetie...

Click the link above...what can you find for your sweetie on Valentine's Day? Amazon sorts it out by category with SO many choices for each group! And while you're at it, you can send a link to your sweetie as a hint of what you'd like :)

Happy shopping!! :)

**This shameless plug comes to you because our family will get a small percentage of each purchase if you click on our link. My hope is to build up our fund for Science supplies! So know your order buys Reese some school stuff!**

Loving SmileBox!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Merry Merry!!!

Sending Merry Christmas wishes your way...from our family to yours....

We've had the best time with all 3 kids together in one place! Lunch together...

And making cookies for Santa was especially fun!

Everyone got in on the decorating...even Daddy!

Austen worked hard on his cookie for Santa

Jessie puts up with my picture taking...
Reese needed blue icing for his Christmas tree....

A plate full of Christmas cookies to share...

And a special letter to Santa:


Dear Santa, These cookies r for you. Love, Reese

A special plate of cookies for Santa...one cookie made by each of us...

Opening Christmas gifts together...Daddy got a very special, handmade gift from Grammie!


We hope your Christmas was a fun-filled morning with many blessings!

Come See Me Elf Myself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving!

Me Loves A Bargain!

Oh how I love a good bargain!

I ran to Hobby Lobby on Saturday for some Christmas gift supplies, & their entire stock of Fall decorations was 90% off!

I found this adorable little signs, and with the 90% discount,

I paid....

$1!!

I soooo love a good bargain!

Happy Halloween!

Not YOUR Mama!

Reese has had a great time looking through all the Halloween costume catalogs that started coming in the mail lately. He's gone from wanting to be Darth Vader, to a UPS man, to a Power Ranger, to a Storm Trooper.

The catalog that came today had some interesting costumes. Here's what he picked for Mommy:

While Daddy gave a big thumbs up, I said, uh, no...don't think so! I thought the whole french maid attraction didn't start until they were older? What's up with that?

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Father's Day

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad

-Author Unknown

Glenn Beck's Easter Story Audio

Every year on Good Friday, Glenn Beck plays his telling of the Story of Easter set to Pink Floyd music. Sounds odd, I know. But one listen & you'll be amazed. It's a fantastic combination & very powerful. I encourage you to listen here. Just awesome!

Sorry I'm not smart enough to embed the audio myself...can't figure that one out yet!

I'm So Proud :)

In Kindergarten, we decorated shoe boxes & stuck goofy Valentine cards in them. In middle school, you hoped someone bought a carnation from the Honors Club Fundraiser for you. In High School, you were excited to have a date at the Olive Garden for a fancy dinner.

As an adult? I'm thrilled that my IRL buddy, Holly gave me this swell badge for Valentine's Day on my blog! Well, technically, she linked to our Family Blog when announcing my Badge gift, but I'll just assume she <3's both blogs equally, so I'm putting it on each one!

Who shall I pass the badge on to? I share it with Lotus because she's hillarious & witty & Melissa because she feeds her children gingerbread houses for breakfast. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!

Isn't It Ironic....Don't Ya Think?

So Reese & I had a big 'bout of Pink Eye this week. And guess what I just read on a PTA newsletter?

It's National Eye Care Month! HA! Talk about irony....

The Un-Intended New Year's Resolution...Completed!

I personally don't ever make a New Year's Resolution. For me, I think they're silly. If I'm not motivated to do it on any other day of the year, what's so special about January 1st (other than it's the start of a new year)? Why not start something on May 1st? Or Christmas day?

Last year, I set out on a year long project beginning January 1st, with the intention of completing it by December 31st. I guess that makes it a New Year's resolution of sorts, huh?

What was the project? To take a picture of Reese every single day of the year & assemble it into a printed book from Shutterfly.com.

I'm SO excited to say that I have one space left in this 100+ page book....saved for tonight when we have our Modified-For-A-Four-Year-Old New Year's Eve celebration (think 9:00pm).

Around June, I wasn't sure if I could continue the project. It was becoming slightly tedious trying to A) take a picture of Reese every single day that was worth printing & B) remembering to update the photo book every few days with the newest pictures.

But, I stuck with it (isn't that what a New Year's Resolution is all about?) and was thrilled to begin the December pages earlier this month. I had rounded the corner & my goal was almost finished!

There were still a few loose ends to tie up. I wanted to make some sort of meaningful dedication page to Reese...something that was really special & came from the heart. I stumbled across an E.E. Cummings poem in one of my chick lit books a few weeks ago that just fit the bill. I also snapped the perfect picture for the cover in October. I worried that I would NEVER find a good enough picture of Reese that was both in focus AND had a smiling child at the same time. But sure enough, persistence paid off & I caught a great one of him, close up, on the teeter totter at the pumpkin patch.

So as I enter the last picture of the year tonight & make the final tweaks (take care of those pesky red eye in some of the pictures), I'll be placing my order for the "A Year In Pictures 2007" of Reese Williams.

Now, the debate in my head begins....one which I have exactly 24 hours to decide. Do I want to embark on this journey again next year? Will I kick myself if I don't do one of these books every year from here until eternity? Perhaps there's some other nifty way to record Reese's yearly journey without taking 365 pictures.

Christmas Movie

Hymn To Joy

I checked out Christmas in the Stable by Beverly K. Duncan from the library because it sounded interesting. The poems are all told from the animal's point of view as they lived in the stable & wondered what was happening when Mary came & Jesus was born.

Hymn To Joy
by Julia Cunningham

Give greatly of your grunts, O pig!
Scratch deeply of your joy, O hen!
Sing out in choired squeaks, O mouse!
To herald in the Boy. Amen.

The tiger's head shall know His hand
And bow that He may stroke his ears,
The lion lend his ropey tail,
The jackal joke away His tears.

A stable will become His home.
Three kings will journey far to see
His sleep. His waking, how the world
Shines in this moment's gaiety.

So bray your best, O simple ass!
Release your cheeps, O little wren!
Trumpet down stars, O elephant!
Announce your love! Amen.

The Stork

I checked out Christmas in the Stable by Beverly K. Duncan from the library because it sounded interesting. The poems are all told from the animal's point of view as they lived in the stable & wondered what was happening when Mary came & Jesus was born.

The Stork
-Old English Ballad

The Stork she rose on Christmas Eve
And said unto her brood,
"I now must fare to Bethlehem
To view the Son of God."

She gave to each his dole of meat,
She stowed them fairly in,
And fair she flew and fast she flew,
And came to Bethlehem.

"Now where is He of David's line?"
She asked at house and hall,
"He is not here," they spake hardly,
"But in the manger stall."

She found Him in the manger stall
With that most holy maid;
The gentle Stork she wept to see
The Lord so rudely laid,

Then from her panting breast she plucked
The feathers white and warm;
She strewed hem in the manger bed
To keep the Lord from harm.

"Now blessed be the gentle Stork
Forever more," quoth He,
"For that she saw my sad estate,
And showed pity.

"Full welcome shall she ever be
In hamlet and in hall,
And called henceforth the Blessed Bird
And friend of babies all."

The Barn

I checked out Christmas in the Stable by Beverly K. Duncan from the library because it sounded interesting. The poems are all told from the animal's point of view as they lived in the stable & wondered what was happening when Mary came & Jesus was born.



The Barn
by Elizabeth Coatsworth

"I am tired of this barn!" said the colt.
"And every day it snows.
Outside there's no grass anymore
And icicles grow on my nose.
I am tired of hearing the cows
Breathing and talking together.
I am sick of these clucking hens.
I hate stables and winter weather!"

"Hush, little colt," said the mare.
"And a story I will tell
Of a barn like this one of ours
And the wonders that there befell.
It was weather much like this,
And the beasts stood as we stand now
In the warm good dark of the barn--
A horse and an ass and a cow."

"And sheep?" asked the colt. "Yes, sheep,
And a pig and a goat and a hen.
All the beasts of he barnyard,
The usual servants of men.
And into their midst came a lady
And she was cold as death,
But the animals leaned above her
And made her warm with their breath.

"There was a baby born
And laid to sleep in the hay,
While music flooded the rafters
And the barn was as light as day.
And angels and kings and shepherds
Came to worship the babe from afar,
But we looked at him first of all creatures
By the bright strange light of a star!"

Come With Me To The Zilker Tree!

I have such fond memories as a child in Austin visiting the Zilker Park Christmas Tree. This isn't your run of the mill evergreen. Oh, no! It's a 155ft.tall rainbow of lights... made of the most beautiful Christmas lights you can imagine. The star on the top of the tree measures 10ft. from tip to tip. The base of the tree is made of 19 utility poles, each 14ft. high, forming a circle around the Moonlight Tower. Truly a sight to see.

Jeff & I drove to Grammie's on Monday so we could do the annual Zilker Tree visit with Reese.

We met up with my childhood friend, Ashley, & her son Simon as well as Ashley's mom & Grammie's friend, Letha. Luckily, we were able to park at Ashley's office & avoid the 30 minutes of parking traffic (not to mention the other traffic of just getting to the parking for the Tree & Trail of Lights!).

So why would one want to visit a tree such as this? To SPIN baby! You see, going into the center of the Zilker Tree, you grab hands with someone (or have someone hold you!) and spin in circles while you look up. It will scramble your marbles!:

I was amazed at how much spinning Reese was into! I had to stop eventually because I was getting too dizzy, but Reese was ready to keep going & going.

After the Tree, you can walk the Trail of Lights....a mile long constant display of a zillion Christmas lights, displays, shows, you name it. It's pretty amazing to see, and no pictures even come close to doing it justice. It was free, which is always a bonus, but there were SO many people walking the looped trail, & Reese was tired of walking so we carried him the ENTIRE way. Thirty seven pounds sure gets heavy...

Reese has been obsessed with anything musical since birth. At the Trail of Lights, as you walk through a tunnel of lights, you are surrounded by flashing lights & music. After seeing Jessie's choir concert a few weeks ago, Reese has been really in to conducting songs. Letha crowned him Maestro & we had to wait about five minutes for Maestro to finish his conducting duties:


Some other fun things while we visited....

GGMa has a golf practice thingy at her house & Reese loves to play with it when he visits. Pottsie came for dinner & Grammie, Pottsie, & GGMa all played with Reese. I always think GGMa is brave for giving a 4 year old a golf club in the house, but whatever!


I love it that my Mom saves everything :) It's so amazingly special to see my child play with things that my brother & I loved growing up. The green rotary phone Reese is playing with was one of our favorite toys ever. It must weigh 15lbs, but we lugged that thing all over the house as kids. And now, Reese always asks to play with it. And the HotWheels all over the floor were Uncle Jeff's from back in the day. Tons of vintage HotWheels & they are Reese's favorite cars in the world. He must have 200 cars here at home, but the ones at Grammie's house are extra special. I have to agree!!