Sunday Afternoon

Jacob had basketball practice this afternoon. We dropped him off then went to Smyrna to visit Kim/Jason/Kim's family at the hospital. Thankfully, Kim's mom is doing much better. Please continue to remember her in your prayers.

After picking Jacob up at practice, we feasted at Famous Dave's. The new year is almost here, so we have to fill up on all our favorites because soon it will be carrots and celery sticks and little else.

Gabe looked so cute in his red shirt. I just had to share him.

More Christmas Pictures

Jared and Michael texting Christmas morning. Do you think they're texting each other? Jared hasn't been without his phone since he opened it Christmas morning. Scott had to give him the "it's okay to text but don't wear people out" talk. It seems Jared was texting his uncles while they were at work--a little disruptive. So, Jared tells me Friday, "I'm going to cut back on my texting today". I thought to myself, wonderful---he's trying to be responsible. I start to vacuum and the phone starts ringing, ringing, ringing...I turn off the vacuum, answer the phone, and it's Jared pretending to be China Moon calling to confirm my order.....lol. I guess he was having withdraw from his phone.

Here are Mark, Jacob and Scott playing Rock Band on Christmas day.

Sorry Dead Sexy--You Asked For It!

My brilliant brother gave me a fabulous blogging idea. He said I should post a picture and let everyone come up with captions for it. Since Joseph a.k.a Dead Sexy is thinking of heading to Hollywood (lol), I thought we could give him a taste of how the paparazzi (Jared in this case) can catch you unaware. There is only one rule to posting your caption choice and that is, you MUST sign your name. No cowardly anonymous posts! Captions?

New Recipe

Martha, being the magnificent cook that she is, always comes to Nashville for Christmas armed with a new cookie recipe for us to try. She is credited with several successful cookie/candy recipes in our repertoire. This year she exceeded our expectations with a cookie that mimics the Girl Scout Thin Mint. The cookie is made by dipping Ritz Crackers in melted chocolate bark mixed with a 1/4 tsp. of peppermint extract then garnished with any mint flavored candy. As you can see, they are very pretty. Easy, pretty and delicious...they're a definite "make again"!

What a Wonderful Christmas!

I hope you all had a merry Christmas! We had a great time spending time with family, making wonderful memories. A big thank you to Dad/Martha, Mom/Jack, and Mark (Chili dog too!) who made the trip from Illinois to spend the holidays with us.

There were so many generous gifts opened this Christmas, but I would have to say that the PS2 Rock Band was a run away favorite. I have never seen so many musically un-inclined people "rock out" in my living room (me included). The Williams family may quit work/school and go on the road.

Mark, Karen, Tara & Colleen sing Karaoke.

Every year we play a rousing game of Dirty Santa. This is a picture of Joseph modeling several of the Dirty Santa gifts brought by our very creative family, including bubba teeth, pirate eye patches, a beautiful stretchy shirt and cowboy Steve. We usually have a good mix of real vs. gag gifts. This year we all went to the dark side and brought gag gifts. Very entertaining!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Dad, Martha, Mom, Jack & Mark have all arrived safe and sound from Illinois, the gifts are wrapped and under the tree, and the boys are snuggled in their beds anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival.

We wish your family a merry Christmas full of blessings!

Only 7 More Days!

That's right, only seven more days until Christmas. It has to be the most wonderful time of the year! (that reminds me of a song) Today was the last day of school for the year. The boys all had their parties and gift exchanges today. You should have seen those high school students bolt for the door after their final exams. They were definitely merry!

Anyway, nothing much to report. After three weeks with this stinkin' cold I finally went to the doctor today. Good thing, because I have bronchitis. Nothing a few antibiotics can't fix. The doctor was writing out my prescription when Gabe asks, "Mommy, why don't you just ask Santa to fix your cough?" I could just eat him up, he's so sweet!

Try to Take a Picture of Superman

Martha sent me this game. We've had a ton of fun with it. So far Scott holds the record with a score of 141, Jared comes in second with a score of 138. No one else can touch them. See what you can do!

http://hk.promo.yahoo.com/movie/superman/Stop_Press_Game/

Thank God For Good Friends!

Tonight was Scott's company Christmas party. It just so happens that Jared had practice and Jacob had a game. Unfortunately, we can't be at three places at once so I had to call in the reinforcements. The best mother-in-law in the world (yes, I'm kissing up but she is pretty great) met me at home after work to stay with Gabe, Cindy came and got Jared to take him to practice--(she also had a company party to attend), and Greg brought Jared and Zac (Cindy's) home after practice. The Huffman's were on stand-by to bring Jacob home from his game in case our party ran late. I thank God for such wonderful friends and family who are always so willing to help and who also don't hesitate to call when they need the favor returned. Thanks guys, you're the best!

Dinner Anyone?

This is the look I got when they asked, "What's for dinner?" and I replied with "I'm trying something new". You see, I get tired of making the same dishes over, and over, and over, and over--you get the point. Occasionally I'll go through the cookbooks and try a new dish...sometimes they're good and sometimes they're a flop. My latest experiment reminded me of Peter Brady and the "Pork chops and applesauce" episode. Do you know it? I figured if it's good enough for Peter Brady it's good enough for us. WRONG! (By the way, I always thought Peter was cuter than Greg) The recipe called to layer apple pie filling in the bottom of a 8X12 casserole dish, pork chops, and top with prepared stuffing--bake for and hour. It wasn't horrible but it rated a "don't make again" on our family scale. Scott and the boys were sweet, looking for positive things to say. (I like how the stuffing is a little crunchy....)

Now that I've bored you to tears, I'm off to finish my Christmas cards so you'll receive them before the new year.

Deck The Halls...

Scott and the boys strung Christmas lights outside this afternoon. It was a balmy 71 degrees, not exactly the type of temperatures we're used to this time of year. It sure would be nice to have a light dusting of snow.Jared isn't really as into hanging lights as this picture appears. He was camera shy and wouldn't pose for me today.

Commanders Take First

Jared's basketball team played in a tournament this weekend. They went undefeated, sweeping the competition and taking home some hardware. Congratulations boys!

Field Trip

I took part (actually most) of the day off to go on a field trip with Gabe. It was really weird to go as a working mom. Instead of hanging out at the school with all the other mom (mingling, getting to know each other) and following the bus, I met the bus at the field trip. Felt a little out of the loop with all the other moms. Do I care?....mmmm, kinda--it's just my nature to want to be in the loop. Luckily my good friend Cindy was there (who also happens to be a mother of three and way past all the,"my child is doing _____ and yours isn't?"" junk that first time moms tend to do -- me included). Cindy has the best sense of humor. Even though we didn't get to sit next to each other just seeing her there made me feel more comfortable. Thanks Cindy! HA, lightbulb...maybe I didn't feel out of place because I was a working mom but because I'm an older mom AAAUGH...hahahaha...I like the first scenario better!

Anyway, despite my insecurity, I had a good time because Gabe was so happy that I was there. He gave me countless hugs and introduced me to several friends. Very unlike his middle school counterparts who pretend they don't know me. lol

Pity Party--You've Been Warned

Jared has given me his cold, so now I'm pretty much a coughing, hacking, sneezing mess. It's not a good place to be for a germ-a-phobe like me. So I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't breathe. My Nyquil/Afrin/Mucinex combination (I know I'm over medicating) seems to worn off. So anyway, I've had my shower and I'm ready to go to work just killing time before the boys need to get up. I'm actually thinking that a hot toddy would be a good thing for my cold right now but for some reason I don't think whisky before work is a wise choice. Call me crazy!

Well, time to get moving--I'm off to spread my germs-lol. Don't worry, the sun will come up and my nasal passages will someday clear...it's certain to be a great day!

Pictures of Jacob

A big thank you to Karen who took some pictures at Jacob's game on Tuesday night. All my indoor pictures turn out either dark or blurry. I've been blaming it on the camera but it may be the camera operator. Here's Jacob playing some defense.

Jacob has "ups".

Jacob bringing the ball in. What is most interesting about this picture is the cute little dark haired cheerleader in the front row. She's the one Jared has his eye on. Jacob won't tell me who he likes. He thinks I'll tell everyone...now why would he think that?

Watched Jared play ball on Saturday. He has such an intensity, you never wonder if he's giving it all he has. He loves the game and it shows. It's so good to see him back on the court after his surgery earlier this year. When he came out of his cast, the doctor couldn't give any guarantee that the surgery had worked and told us to let pain be the guide on which we gauged the success of the surgery. So far so good--Jared says that his "bad" ankle feels better than his good ankle now.

The Tree is UP

Gabe has been eagerly awaiting the moment when we put up the Christmas tree. That's a nice way of saying that he's asked to put it up four bajillion times--give or take a few. Well, today was the day and he was thrilled. It's certain to be a magical Christmas!