The tree party

This was the first year that the Little J wanted "lots" to do with the front end decorating.

dancing, dancing, dancing,.... always dancing!

on facebook, -- what are you doing????

I love this MOMMY!!!

still dancing to the tree!

M showing how tall she has gotten- far surpasses me in height now! Which means she DOES NOT fit in my shoes (flip flops :-) ))))))

It was a festive decorating party!

Remembering ornaments of the past!

and trying to teach the little J to hand the plastic ornament at the bottom! leave the glass ones to the big folks!

That is certainly NOT his sports pose... He has been watching way too many dance ending poses!

The Little J was so excited about Christmas this year. He just loved our tree, well his tree. The first night we put it up, he asked if we could move it into his room when he went to bed. He loves to have his picture taken- he will even come get me now to take pictures of his "really cool stuff."

The Crew :-)We all loved that tree- I think the lights were on for 33 days straight- but I did take it down Sunday. It really bothers my asthma. I think next year it may be an artificial one, but I do love a live tree. I don't know how the kids would react to a boxed tree.

It has been so cold here these last few days! Way down in the 20's at night and only up in the 50's during the day.. however, I did hear by the end of the week it will be in the 70's again! I just love this cold weather. I get to bundle the kids up in layered clothes and sweaters. Hopefully January and February will bring a few cold weeks as well.

Derek sent his first travel ball email out today. Hard to believe that it is that time already. We are all home again this week and it was so nice today. Everybody slept in until almost 10 :-)

Tomorrow we are going to start cleaning closets and drawers, kind of like a metaphor for life. I'll have to post a picture of all the stuff we plan on purging! Just way too much STUFF!! I could probably supply a small village in Africa with our over stuffed house!

Hope you enjoy the last week of 2010!

The Coldest Day in November:-)

But what a great day to chase the birds away!! and how about these jumps!

The Grand baby and His Parents!

All the Kids!

Sisters!

Sisters and baby brother!

The Girls!

The Big J- ready for basketball season to start!

The Coach and the Player

The Boys...

Trading Spaces ....

Dad and the girls....

The grand baby and the family

Mom and the boys....

The small one and the BIG ONE

We had a great time with Terri over in Memorial Park! The wind was crazy that day, and out of the blue this very COLD snap came in- but what fun we had!

Today it is cold here! We even had quite a few snow flurries at church this morning! It was fun to watch the kids get excited about Snow flurries in the South!! Of course nothing stuck or turned to ice, but it sure was fun to see!

Now if our football team can pull it off this afternoon it will be a GREAT day!!

Bundle up, 'cause it's cold OUTSIDE!!!

Merry, Merry Christmas!

The Little J and B

It is hard to believe that it is the night of Christmas…. After a full day with friends, family, and lots and lots of food the house is finally quiet! The Little J is in his room playing with his new basketball hoop, M is reading a book and playing with her new camera, B is reading a book and watching a Christmas movie (serious multi-tasker there!) and the Big J is over at his Aunt’s house. Derek and I have put away all the food, dishes, and holiday splendor and we are just amazed at how far we have come this year. And we eagerly look forward to the coming year with great anticipation of good things yet to come!
We took some time off – really just a break from the outside world this last month to kind of process everything that has gone on. In reality November was probably the WORST month of 2010 for us. We had a huge medical scare, we ended an 18 month battle with a one-woman IDIOT, I watched as a childhood friend battled cancer in her last days, and there were lots of changes (not for the good) at my school. And through it all the one verse that kept running through my mind was “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” {Jeremiah 29:11} And that to me really summed up how we have made it as far as we have. Knowing that He knows what is best for our family and having the faith to accept his will in allowing us to move forward when things don’t go our way.
And my job allows me to have really a LOT of time off during the year, and this year Derek has managed to either be off with us, or work from home and it has been great for our family. To just be able to sit back, talk, play, and laugh as a family (and oh yeah.- attend the Big J’s Christmas Tournament!). We have had so much fun this last week there were several days that we did not even realize what day it was, and Thursday I was talking to someone about our Christmas Eve dinner, and I didn’t even realize it was the next day!! It was classic! God really allowed us to just get lost in our family and it has been pure joy!!
Today, when all of our friends’ kids were up and opening gifts ours were snoozing away! I finally woke them up at 8:45 so they would have time to open their gifts and shower before our company started arriving. And this being the Little J’s first real experience with the concept of Christmas—to say he was amazed was an understatement. When Derek carried him out, and he saw our tree with all the presents he was just SPEECHLESS! He just threw his little hands up in the air and was shocked that gifts were actually left at our tree! And then he just said “all of these?? But why???” he was so amazed that Santa actually came because he was a good boy this year! It was the cutest thing ever! And I thought I wonder if we bring him as much joy as he brings to us? I wonder if he knows how God picked up to be his parents to fill a longing that was so deep inside us? And as I have watched him grow these last six months and listen to how he talks to us—I know that he is full of just as much adoration for us as we are to him! When he says to me.. Mommy I love you as big as the sky.. or Mommy I like you the mostest! He just melts my heart! And I think – our family has been blessed!
The girls have had a lazy break to say the least! Lots of winter reading and catching up on some much needed sleep! One thing that Derek and I both said last week was WOW!! It is so NICE that all of our kids LOVE to sleep in! I don’t think we were up before nine one day last week! And if we keep at it, I think we will try the same next week!
Check out the Big J’s season over at www.jaxnets.blogspot.com He is having a great 10th grade year! The Pack is 7-1 this year—only losing to Ocala Forest on 12/18. And that is comical there, because just a few short weeks before that game we said we would NEVER go back to Ocala, and then lo and behold God’s sense of humor sent us right back over!! Never say never I guess was that lesson!
This next week we are going to clean some closets, purge some extra stuff and enjoy being a family that has been and continues to be BLESSED beyond measure. My goal this next year is to really trust God with situations that arise in my life. To let him be the driver so to speak and not worry about things out of my control- to be content with what I have been given and to trust Him more to work out those small details! I am excited about a new Bible Study, and I am confident that HE picked it just for ME!!
I will post some pictures of the kiddos in the coming week, and I am going to try and be more diligent with the BLOG!! I just needed some time to work out a few issues HAHA!!
Enjoy your night!
Tonya