Formal Introductions

How remiss of me not to announce the newest member of our family! Yes, after much consideration, we decided to cohabitate with yet another creature.

She..as if it wouldn't be another female in this household..is a baby Bearded Dragon. There was plenty debate, but we've settled (i.e. I won) on the name. She's now Nessie, after the legendary Loch Ness monster of course.

Now class, we come to the learning portion of this post. You may chose to skip, but be prepared that there may be a quiz at the end. Pogona are a genus of lizards containing seven species, which are often known by the common name  bearded dragons. Members of this genus live in the arid, rocky, semi-desert regions and dry open woodlands of Australia. are adept climbers, spending time on branches and in bushes, even found on fence posts when living near human habitation. Pogona bask on rocks and exposed branches in the mornings and afternoons. -Wikipedia

Bindi is a tough act to follow as far as Bearded Dragons go. She was the first of her kind to capture our hearts and truly remind us that you can't judge a book by it's cover. Spiky on the outside, lovable on the inside. Now thanks to her we've opened our hearts and home to another reptile. Who'd of ever thunk it? Certainly not me!

Now to show her off and rest assured these photos are the real deal. No hoaxes with our little Nessie. ;-)

Happy New Year!!!

Long time no type. I haven't been so good at blogging over the holidays. *insert a sheepish grin here*Things have been so busy, but now that another holiday season has come and gone things should be slowing down to our normal chaotic pace lol. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We sure did and I couldn't be more thankful! The older girls said it was the best one ever and I'd have to agree.

2010 was a wonderful year. Things didn't go as planned in many cases(do they ever?), but we all came through healthy and happy and above all else that is what really matters. I'm looking forward to 2011. There are many things I hope to happen and exciting events that are already planned. I wish each of my friends and family members a blessed year and I look forward to seeing all the exciting happenings in each of your lives and sharing all of our blessings!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

There are some things in life that revert me back to a state of childhood. Little white flakes falling from the sky are one of those things. I love snow. Completely, utterly love it. I love to watch it peacefully falling, love to see the girls playing in it, love how shiny and new it makes everything look. Every year I hope for at least one good snow.

We had some flurries today for the second time this holiday season and it's whet my appetite for more. This morning I was hoisting both Ava and Ella up to the window so they could press their little noses to the cold glass and watch the flakes swirl about. Their excitement was catching...or was it my excitement that was contagious? LOL either way excitement was alive in our home! The snow didn't last long and what little bit of accumulation there was got blown away by the crazy winds. That's ok though, because having a little is better than having none. We will keep hoping for more and maybe, just maybe we'll get a white Christmas this year.

ps The best news is since I've been writing this, more snowflakes have been spotted. I'll take that as a sign that my Christmas snow wish has been heard. ;-)

                                             A pic of the snow in January of this year...

                                        My three big girls have a meeting of the minds...

Ella sampling some snow....

                                                

Can it wait till tomorrow?

Why do I always wait till the last minute to do everything? Oh yes, because I like to procrastinate. Truth be told, I don't actually enjoy it. I just come by it naturally. Yes, it's time to blame the parents. ;-) Seriously though my dad is a master at the art of procrastination. He doesn't have any tattoos, but I envision him with script across his back, bodly declaring, "why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?" and perhaps Thug Life on there somewhere. Hey, if the preacher's getting ink, we might as well go big!

So what have I put off now? The wash(or warsh as it's often pronounced around these parts). Laundry is a necessary evil in my home. With six of us things pile up lickity split. In my meager attempt to keep my tiny laundry room from becoming a laundry landfill I do a load or two a day.  Ahh but life gets in the way some days. I've done one load today, but need to wash whites(most of Olivia's long sleeved uniform shirts are white, not to mention all the socks), but now it's 8:20 and it's not looking promising that it will get done today. Hmph. Oh well, it will still be there TOMORROW. Right? Uh oh. Looks like my dad and I will be booking an appointment for two at the tattoo parlor...whenever we get to it of course.

Play it again, Sam

There are certain movies that I can watch over and over. For example I have watched Sleepless in Seattle three times in the last couple of weeks. Oh how I love that movie! Michael often gets annoyed when I watch my favorites, because I know all of the words and quote along with the movie hehe. There's just something so comforting about curling up on the couch or in bed and watching one of my favorite flicks.

Since tis the season I must say Christmas movies also apply. Hallmark Christmas movies are some of the cheesiest movies known to mankind, but I adore them. There's something so hopeful and joyous about Christmas movies. I'm a sucker for the happy endings where everyone remembers what true love is, or reunites with long lost family, or gets all they want for Christmas, and when all is right with the world again.


A few of my faves...

     

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The song is true, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. Ok so Halloween is actually my most favorite time, but it barely wins out against Christmas. Unfortunately it's easy to get out of the holiday spirit and I found that out once I hit adulthood. When you're a boring old grown up Christmas doesn't quite hold the same appeal. You find yourself missing the good ol days of Christmases long long ago and wishing you could return to waiting for Santa and hoping you'd been good enough to get what you'd been wanting. Instead we find ourselves dealing with moody crowds and griping about how much we have to spend. Bah humbug.


Now here's where the magic came in for me. Once I had a child of my very own, one who believed in the impossible, it all came flooding back. I think this is true for most parents. You watch all the holiday cartoons and tear up when everyone sings around Charlie Brown's little Christmas tree that could. You make lots of yummy goodies, all for the sake of the season of course. You joyfully trim your tree while watching Hallmark Christmas movies and set out the decorations that remain so lovingly packed away for eleven long months. You count down the days till Santa arrives and are pretty sure even you may have heard Santa's sleigh bells on Christmas Eve. Every bit of Christmas is wonderous and all of the little loves of our lives deserve an extra hug for reminding us of the magic...and there's nothing this Harry Potter fan loves more than some magic.

Reflecting on November

Wow, so it's already the last day of November! Where did the days go? It's been a good month in our household. Ava turned five and had a wonderful party, my parents came and spent several days with us, and we had a terrific Thanksgiving.

There's also been some exciting weather..lol and for those of you who know my obsession with weather, you're probably wondering how it took this many blog posts before I was speaking meteorology. We had some sleet on Thanksgiving night that gave us all something to talk about. Then in breaking news, this morning we had some amazing snow flurries. All in November no less. Definitely not our typical southern weather, but I'll take it. All of this is a sure sign that winter is right around the corner.

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone I try and remember to give thanks for all of my blessings each day. God has blessed us with so much. Is it everything we want? No. Is it everything we need right now? You betcha. 

Yes, a good month indeed.