Once a year...

Sweet potatoe souffle.......Mmmmm.

Yes, I actually can cook.

And, of course I had a helper.

Cookies, and rides, and trees......Oh my!

We went to the Fantasy of Trees tonight.......




Aaahh.....what can I say, it really is a fantasy place!

They had TONS of gingerbread houses, this was one of my favorites.

Connor made his own cookie!

Then he ate it.

....Merry-Go-Round....

I Loved the blue trees!

Flashback......

I went through some of my old photos of Connor.....


Travel back in time with me.....

Where does the time go?

Why do they have to grow up?

My heart tightens up everytime I know he still needs me.

I need him to need me.

The joy a tiny smile brings.

I actually miss the nights when I was up with him.....just the two of us.Tiny hugs, tiny kisses Only so little for so long.

Babies just don't keep.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

I absolutely LOVE Christmas......

Christmas is so nostalgic for me.

The LOVE that is shared.

The PEACE that you feel.

The DECORATIONS.

The CHARITY that swells within our hearts.

And of course...The PRESENTS!

(not for me...I love giving them!)

We put up our tree. I am so excited about it. I did black and silver this year. Beautiful.

Little did you know.....

Connor is a cover model!!

Click here http://parenting.com/cover to see your child on the cover of Parenting magazine!

Wuh?...When?..Channel Surfing?!?

When did this happen??? When did my son learn to channel surf? He picked up the remote this morning, turned the tv on, flipped through about 15 channels, found Mickey, and put the remote back. Wuh.........?!?! We're gonna blame these new found skills on Dad

yup, that must be who he learned them from!

Sunday best and cuteness!

I LOVE sweater vests!

Baby it's cold outside!

llittle boy mischief

Torture.

My child.

I torture him.

I change his diaper.

I brush his teeth.

I wipe the unknown slime and goop off his face.

I dress him in warm clothes.

I feed him.

What every happened to this being Love? When did it become Torture? Or is it just my child who seems to be tortured beyond comprehension by these things?

Kicks, screams, tears, tantrums.........Torture!

Live like you were dying

So, I like to jam when I get ready in the mornings. Today the song "Live like you were dying" came on. Ok, so not your typical "jam" music. Anyway, I was listening to the lyrics and it got me thinking. We should live every day like we were dying.

The song starts with a man who found out he was dying, and he lists off all the things he does. It goes on with him saying that he hopes that we get the chance to live like we were dying.

What would you do?

Would you go do something extreme? Skydiving? Ride a bull?

Would you become the spouse you haven't ever been?

Would you forgive and love deeper than ever before?

Would you go on that long forgotten fishing trip with your son?

Since I have unfortunately had to deal with death throughout my life, this realization hits home with me hard. I certainly look at things different.

I need to make those phone calls I keep putting off to loved ones.

I need to write those thank you notes to let someone know they are appreciated.

I need to be more charitable.

Service.

Love.

Patience.

The list goes on......

Live like you were dying.

because in reality we are.

Abandoned....

The back part of my neighborhood hasn't been developed yet, and the old farm house and cattle houses are still back in the woods. I ventured back there to see what I could find. Fun, Fun!

NO!

Connor, Do you want to eat some bites? "NO!"

Connor, Do we need to change your diaper? "NO!"

Connor, Are you a sweet boy? "NO!"

Connor, Do you want to go outside? "No, No, No!"

Connor, Are you mommy's boy? "NO!"

Connor, Do you want a drink? "NO!"

Ahhh, Sweet Defiance...........

You are MY greatest blessing.....

So after yesterday's catastrophe, and the week being absolutely miserable. Just like that, a little blessing showed up in my mailbox. Ok....seriously, I don't know if I can even get through typing this with out crying. *sniff, sniff*.





My little brother who is 4 years old, sent Connor a package. It was a drawing that he made on Sunday at church. His teacher asked each child what their greatest blessing was, and he answered "Connor". He drew a picture of him.





A child's sweet love and tenderness is our greatest blessing. They are pure and innocent. I am so grateful for my little brother and his sweet spirit. He truly is one of my greatest blessings.

Worst day ever.....wait.. make that week....

Wow, what a horrible day! Lee has been hard at work cutting some steel shelving units out of a warehouse so I can set up shop there for my website. Things have just been going wrong all week. The first torch he rented to do the job wasn't doing the job. So we then rented a second (different type) torch, and hired a man to come help. Well before they could finish, they ran out of the gas that is used. Ok, so pack it up for the day and we'll finish Monday. Alright, so Monday two torches get delivered so to be sure that the job will get complete. Ah yes, victory, we can finally get this project done.......wait, not so fast. The heads on these torches are melted shut.....so they can't finish them Monday either. Ok, so the man is gonna come fix them Tuesday, and for sure this job is going to get done! Man shows up Tuesday, fixes the torches, and it's back to work. So Lee is working on the second level, 12 feet up, and the walk way he is perched upon falls out from underneath him. So he plummets down to the floor and on the way he slices, no.... gashes, no....lacerates his hand wide open on a piece of jagged metal that was already cut, so it was not a nice clean even cut. No this cut was as jagged and gnarly as the piece of metal he cut it on. He lost A LOT of blood. So much that he was palish, green looking and couldn't even stand or walk on his own. Rushed him to the hospital, and they stitched him up. 11 stitches! He lost part of the skin on his hand and they said that only skin grafting would fix it....uh, no thanks.
I am just thankful that he didn't land with his head where his hand did. If he had even been a centimeter different he would have. If he had been a centimeter different he would have landed on the floor on his head. If we hadn't cleaned all the old cut shelves out from under him, he would've landed on those, causing more severe injuries to his body. If he had the torch lit, he would've had severe burns all over. If, If, If.......I could've lost my husband today. As painful, and horrible looking as that cut was, I am thankful. I am a nurse, and I was seriously grossed out. This cut was so deep, so torn, his hand looked like ground up meat. Sorry for those of you that are visual people, but this was no paper cut. However, he is a strong man and will make it. I wish I could be that strong......but I am breaking. This week has taken a toll on me like no other. I've had some serious, serious, serious issues with extended family. I've had some serious issues with my website and not being able to receive orders. All the while, Connor has had to stay with his grandmother everyday. He is beginning to prefer to be with her, and that hurts me. I am failing as a parent. I am not giving him the undivided attention he needs. Downward spiral........How do I climb back up? I can feel this swelling up inside me.....it's about to explode. This week has to finish up well, it must, or I may have to be committed......

Who let the dogs out...!

Ok, 'round our house we wear slippers over our pj's! Haha! He loves these slippers, and wants to wear them all the time, no matter what. Even if that means over his shoes or his pj's. Ahhh, to be that cool!

Lady bugs in disguise......

So apparently, they aren't lady bugs after all! They are Asian Lady Beetles. These species come in a variety of colors and number of spots. Regular, true lady bugs are bright red with spots. These little creatures that are infesting my house are orange, red, some with spots, some without. Well, when you think of them as "beetles" they some how lose their cuteness....ya know? Some articles I read say that they can bite and carry diseases, however others say that they are beneficial to the environment. Hmmm.....don't think I want to find out.

Who knew! Guess you really can learn something new everyday!

here is one of the many links I read about these little creatures in disguise: http://www.frugalmom.net/garartladybuginfest.htm

Attack of the Lady bugs!!!

Holy cow! I came home to a swarm of lady bugs......EvErYwHeRe! Glad that they're cute, not like swarms of cockroaches or something, ewww... So, does anyone have an explanation of this migration of lady bugs into my back yard? I've never seen so many in my entire life. There must be millions of them! Connor wasn't to fond of them, haha! He was a little distressed about them as you can see. I kept trying to get him to play with them, but no go!

Halloween!

Connor's first halloween (tecnically speaking) was so much fun! As you can see he was quite the little stinker! At one point when someone opened their door, Connor just wondered on inside their house! "Hey, where are you hiding the good candy?" Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and a lot of cold all at the same time.