19/52: We Love Savannah!

I'm so glad Carin decided to continue the 52 week challenge! It has taken on a slightly new spin (check it out!), but since I am only on 19 of 52 of this one, I will press on here!

Our Thanksgiving trip to South Carolina and Georgia gave me opportunities to get in the picture and allowed us to spend a few days in one of our all-time FAVORITE cities!

Years ago we fell in love with the city of Savannah, it also holds a special place in my heart because my Mom was born in Savannah - and we have our own little Savannah....

Savannah Faith - 5 months old

Present-Day Savannah

"Savannah" on a Savannah fire engine - November 2009

I love to visit Forsyth Park.....

At the end of the park is the hospital where my Mom was born.....

Telfair Hospital - no longer a hospital,
but historically preserved and kept as a Senior residence now.
I told my Mom she could return there now if she liked,
but I don't know if she found that very funny :)
Just kidding - she can be a good sport!

Some of the beauty of Forsyth Park... Some of the fun.... A great spot to go on a leaf hunt....
And you HAVE to get a picture by the fountain.... And once again, a great time was had by all!....

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52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. Moms are typically the ones behind the camera, this is OUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family.

So, get yourself in the picture every week for 52 Weeks. Be in a picture with one or more or your children and post your "family photo" on your blog every Thursday - don't forget to list your post on MckLinky on Carin's blog

Merry GRINCHmas!!

Christmas Eve - Past and Present

We had a great night on Christmas Eve. I like to take a Christmas Eve family photo and I had really hoped for a fabulous one this year. There are so many things wrong with this one...but at least we got a shot!


This was one of my favorites from a few years ago...

Christmas Eve 2005

This year's Christmas Eve began with an early candlelight service at church. I already broke one of my annual resolutions.....to be punctual!
We attend a very large church; but usually go on Saturday nights so we don't deal with a full house. Christmas Eve was a different story; not getting there early enough landed us in the balcony...

Our kids still got to participate when they invited the little ones up on the stage for the reading of the Christmas story...

When it came time to light the candles, I was thankful we were in the balcony and able to see how spectacular the room looked. (this picture doesn't do it justice)

The funniest part of the evening was when our Pastor (who we LOVE) was talking before the candle lighting, and seemed to forget he was wearing a headset microphone and began using his candle as a microphone. He carried on like this for several minutes...I couldn't stop laughing!

It was a beautiful night and a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Lord.

We went home to eat pizza and watch a movie (The Nativity) and spend some time as a family.

I was missing Christmas Eves past in our old house....but am happy for the memories of when the girls were a little smaller.....

For now, we will just work on making new memories of Christmas Present!

It's December Giveaway time at Five Moms & a Blog......Check it out!!

"not me" Monday

being brutally honest and living to tell about it

It has been quite a while since I last participated in "not me" Monday....so I figured it's about time!

I have not been struggling with severe bouts of "pregnancy brain".

I have not been putting perishables in the pantry instead of the fridge, newly packed leftovers in the dishwasher, and forks that look like this in the cabinet with the baking dishes.

My wonderful husband did not sacrificially put aside his Type A personality (once again) while he lovingly showed me said fork he found in the cabinet with the cookie sheets.

I did not wash the same load of laundry 4 times because I kept forgetting to put it in the dryer. In Florida, forgotten wet laundry=smelly laundry.

I do not have my children trained to quickly pick up anything I drop on the floor so I don't have to attempt bending over in my current pregnant state.

I will not burst into tears if one more person exclaims "your kidding!?!" as they gawk at the size of my belly and hear that I have a two months to go before my due date.

I will not scream if one more person asks me "Are you SURE you're not having twins?" (as they gawk at the size of my belly). "Yes ma'am, I'm sure there is only one baby in there...."

I did not naively pose in front of this tree while my husband took a picture, only to realize later that he wanted the shot because he thought it was funny that the tree looked pregnant too....

What did you not do this week?

CHRISTmas Wishes! (19/52)

Merry CHRISTmas to our family and friends!

It has been so long since I have blogged...

And I sure have missed it!

We have had a lot going on - and I have been using most of my time and energy working on this:

(yes, those are her toes in front of her eye!)

And of course, these take up a lot of our time....

CHRISTmas blessings from our family to yours....

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

While you are here, have a listen to my current favorite Christmas song:

(be sure to pause the player on the right first!)

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52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. Moms are typically the ones behind the camera, this is OUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family.

So, get yourself in the picture every week for 52 Weeks. Be in a picture with one or more or your children and post your "family photo" on your blog every Thursday - don't forget to list your post on MckLinky on Carin's blog

18 of 52: If You Give A Mouse A Cupcake

We've had a full schedule lately; it seems like we are always on the run. Fortunately my energy level is really high at times (which helps me keep up!) and really low at others (not so good).

I thought I'd share a picture of our new little energy-zapper :)

Yes, Baby Girl #4 will be here in February. We are so excited!

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Samantha had a field trip to the Orlando Shakespeare Theater for a special performance of If You Give A Cat A Cupcake. Our kids (along with me) love those series of children's books, so we had a great time! I only wish we could have taken pictures during the show!


Sammie outside the theater....

Ready for the show to start!

*********************************************************************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. Moms are typically the ones behind the camera, this is OUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family.

So, get yourself in the picture every week for 52 Weeks. Be in a picture with one or more or your children and post your "family photo" on your blog every Thursday - don't forget to list your post on MckLinky on Carin's blog

17 of 52: An International Feast

These pictures are from the International Feast at Samantha's preschool. There are many different nationalities represented at her school and the entire week was spent learning about other cultures. Today there was an amazing feast where families brought food from Korea, the Phillipines, Italy, Lebanon, Poland, Brazil, Sweden, Ireland, Cuba, China, all over the U.S., and many more places. It was a yummy day!

He's got the whole world in His hands...yes He does!

*********************************************************************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. Moms are typically the ones behind the camera, this is OUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family.

So, get yourself in the picture every week for 52 Weeks. Be in a picture with one or more or your children and post your "family photo" on your blog every Thursday - don't forget to list your post on MckLinky on Carin's blog

Wordless Wednesday - Just Outside our Living Room Window....

So Watcha Been Doin' Down in F.L.A.? (part 2-May)

I was looking back at old posts and saw this one that was written back in February. Little did I know as we spent that month in Orlando while my husband worked, that we would be packing up and moving here less than three months later.
I have not been the best blogger since we got here, so this is my attempt to fill in some of the blanks since we arrived. I figured I'd start with May. The unpacking and getting settled are givens, but apart from that we...

Went to Sea World (yes, we love it there) for the opening of Manta, which is now officially my favorite roller coaster ever.

Ice sculpture at the event I couldn't resist taking a picture of....


Before we rode, we popped on into a nearby aquarium for a photo op...


We headed to the coast....

To find a good spot for our summer vacation...

We met up with old friends...


And I was glad Goofy and I talked that morning about what shirts we were going to wear...


Daddy helped each girl catch a lizard....


We said goodbye as we let each one go. This one ran home; but not before biting Savannah...
Mommy explored her favorite places she didn't have in Las Vegas....

Samantha turned four - and almost lost the "who can go the longest without talking" game....


Daddy's a Star Wars fan, so we couldn't miss this...


We met some of our new neighbors...



And as they left.....

We realized they couldn't read...

We drove in a lot of this....

But had fun in spite of the view....

We didn't mind because there was plenty of this....


And that concludes May.