Kooza!!

About a month ago, I got an email from our friend, Llew. He said that he had just send Cirque du Soliel's Kooza show and he wanted to go back and take his wife. Now Craig and I have always been in awe of the Cirque performances we have seen on TV. We were so excited. Until we checked prices. Looking at our budget and what the evening would cost (which included dinner and babysitting), we just decided that we couldn't do it. We were a little saddened, but we felt good about the decision.

Fast forward about a week when I received a second email from Llew. He had found a wonderful website (http://www.atlantaonthecheap.com/ for those of you in the Atlanta area) which posts deals on local events and attractions. Well, one of those deals was Kooza tickets for 1/2 price, if you went during the week. Since weeknights had actually been better for us in the beginning, we jumped on the chance. So, for three weeks, I have been counting down to our Cirque experience.

It did not disappoint!!! It was truly amazing. I have to admit that I was a bit sad when the performers came out for their final curtain calls. The contortionists - I don't think bodies were meant to bend that way (especially after I attempted my first yoga class last weekend) - were unimaginable. The juggler was quite entertaining. The acrobats flipped with such grace and agility . There were tightrope walkers, a unicyclist, a "chair-balancer" (I'm sure he has a formal name, but that's what he did), two men who did the "hamster-wheel-spinny-thing" - to try and put the experience into words leaves so much to be desired and falls so short of the evening. There was always so much to look at - you'd focus on one performer and miss out on something else. The storyline drew me in in such an amazing way. I loved it!! I would love to go again, but really only if I could get the same great deal.

We had an amazing night out with Llew and Lisa. They are two special friends of ours and we treasure their friendship, support and open ears. Great friends, great show, great night - what more could we ask for? We are, without a doubt, truly blessed!!

Fighting the Flu

Poor Trinity, she has not been doing well this week. We thought she was doing well with a speedy recovery, acting pretty normal during her school holiday on Monday. No fever, a little tired, but nothing too disruptive to our day. So, we sent her to school on Tuesday. As soon as she got off the bus, I could tell that she was exhausted. She did her homework and then asked to go to bed. She spent the entire afternoon curled up in our bed, away from the other two kids. What a way to spend a birthday. She even got a couple of birthday calls from grandparents and she didn't even want to talk. We woke her up to see if she wanted to eat anything (which she didn't) and then to open her gifts (a Pet-Shop pet from Kalyn and Xander a Wii princess game and the Anastasia movie). She stayed awake long enough to watch the movie. Needless to say, she was home from school Wednesday and Thursday. However, by Thursday afternoon, she was ready to head back to school (as was I). We're still waiting to do her birthday dinner out and our annual trip to the firehouse, but we'll get that done and post about it soon.

We are praying that Kalyn and Xander stay immune to it. So far, so good. A positive thing is that the bug Trinity caught was pretty confined to a whole lot of coughing, a high fever and very little energy. If we have to be sick, that's a good way to be sick.

We are looking forward to celebrating Trinity's birthday this weekend with a batch of her friends. Our parties are usually pretty laid back and I don't think this one will be much different. An exciting thing this year is that we'll be taking a trip following the party to the Foster Cares Support Foundation. You see, for the past few years, we've asked people to bring donations for a specific charity or need in lieu of gifts (we have more than enough stuff around our house). This weekend, Trinity will get to see exactly where her donations are going. I can't wait. More posts on that to come!

Happy Birthday, Trinity

Tonight marks seven years from Trinity's great arrival into the world. She arrived 6.5 weeks early and I am now convinced that she just came out early to find out what was going on. She was done with the womb life and was curious to see what was next. Her birth was a truly amazing one. To summarize the excitement - an early arrival, a home birth (no, that was NOT planned), a breech delivery and only God, Craig and I in the room before paramedics showed up (just a few moments after Trinity did). A few months ago, Craig put together the 9-1-1 recording and some video and pictures from her birth. It's quite an amazing video. Let me just warn you to have some tissues handy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDKx4PecQHk


Dear Trinity,

You are an amazing girl. You have so many wild and fun ideas going on in your head. We think you try to say them all out loud just to keep up with yourself. You are a wonderful big sister to Xander and Kalyn. They look up to you so much. You are surrounded by people that love you. Your songs and musical skills are always surprising and amusing us. You have such a caring heart. Just the other day, you offered your allowance when Mommy couldn't find her coupons before we went to the store. We can see that you are beginning to keep going more and more, even when things scare you. You are such an avid reader and writer. You love to write and read so much!! You love school and church.

We am so sorry that you are sick on your birthday today. We hate to see you coughing and feeling so miserable on such a blessed day. We look forward to celebrating with you with your special dinner out and our annual trip to the fire station later this week.

We pray that you will know Christ early and serve Him always. We pray for your protection and strength as you grow each day. You are such a blessing to our family. We look forward to watching you grow. We love you very much.

Happy 7th Birthday!!

Love,
Daddy & Mommy

Enjoy a quick look back on the last seven years with Trinity Kathryn!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Valentine's Weekend

A few years ago, Craig and I began celebrating Valentine's Day on February 13. It started one year when Craig was going to be out of town for the actual day and we celebrated the day before he left. We found out that the crowds are a tad smaller and getting a sitter was a little bit easier, so our tradition began.

Friday night, we got to enjoy a wonderful dinner out, thanks to a gift certificate to Cheesecake Factory we had received a while back. It was a great chance to spend some time with just the two of us. We also exchanged gifts, which was some new workout gear for both of us. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband, a precious daddy to our children and an amazing friend. I love the way he provides for our family and takes care of me!! I have a wonderful valentine all year long.

After our date, we got to join a party (already in progress) to celebrate the birthday of our friend, Frances. It was a blast. We just sat around, talked, laughed and had a great time hanging out. Have you ever been in a group of people and find yourself looking around the circle, from person to person and jumping from one conversation to another? That was the picture of the evening. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love any excuse for a gathering of friends!

Saturday, we all headed up to church, very early, to send Craig off on the youth ministry ski trip. I'm also a notary for our youth, so I had to be up there to notarize a bunch of the medical release forms before they drove off. He had a great time skiing - he even mentioned that it was less crowded than he expected and there were even some snowfall!!

That morning, after the kids and I headed up to Lifetime. Kalyn and Trinity hadn't been with us in a while, so they were excited to go up there. My friend Jennifer had convinced me to join her in a yoga class. Okay, to say that I am not flexible is a HUGE understatement. And it was further shown me during this class. I would watch the instructor, look at those around me and their oh-so-flexible-selves, then turn to Jenn and we would just laugh. It was quite a treat to try the down dogs, the swan dives and a lot of other moves that just hurt. Maybe I'll try another class again, but I'm not sure.

That afternoon, Trinity began acting a little off. She took a long nap that afternoon and when she woke up, she was coughing quite a bit. Her appetite was less than normal, so I simply gave her some cough medicine to help her get to sleep. Well, at about 1 AM, she woke up coughing and crying. The poor girl was burning up and just couldn't get back to sleep. Not wanting her to wake up Kalyn, I brought her into our room for another round of medicine and to sleep in our bed. It was quite a long night. She kept having very vivid dreams and talking though all of them, which kept waking me up.

The next morning, she awoke to a 103.8 temperature. Unfortunately, we had to go to church. I had told two other Sunday school classes that I would teach for them and I was teaching our class. Poor Trinity was quite a trooper as she got dressed and simply sat in our classroom as I taught 3/4 of the high school classes. We even managed to get her checked out by a friend while she was there. His diagnosis - the flu. Out goal now is to simply stop it before it spreads throughout the others in our house.

So, needless to say the flu stopped our further weekend plans. Unfortunately, that included a playdate that we had scheduled for Trinity's school friends on Monday. She was very sad to have to postpone it. Even as we checked her temperature on Sunday night and I commented that it was as low as it had been all day, she asked, "If it's still low tomorrow morning, can we call everyone back and tell them to come to the party?" But, it has been successfully moved to next Wednesday - a half day for Trinity. Her bus will have a few additional passengers as she brings her friends over.

Craig is now set to be home in about an hour. I'm heading to clean up the house so he can come home to a house that is a bit cleaner than when he left. Hopefully I'll be successful.

Family Fun

We try to have fun at our house. Sometimes it happens more frequently than other times, due to our crazy schedule and the occasional frustrating days. Over the past month or so, we've had some great times!

We held our family game night, first with the game of HISSSSS. It's a great matching colors game with a bit of strategy to it. Trinity ended up winning the second round. Xander surprised us with how well he knew his colors!

One of Xander's favorite sayings is, "I want to move it, move it" from the Madagascar movie. It's not as if he's watched it a lot, maybe twice. However, he's picked up on it and love say it and sing it. One night, he even put it to music with Craig! Craig had a guitar out (one that he brought back from the girls from Ecuador) and Xander had his drum (also from Ecuador). I wish I had working video of this, but it's flipped the wrong way and I can't flip it back.

Our second game night was with the Strawberry Shortcake game. I'm sure later in life, we'll make the girls play a true boy game, but until then Xander will enjoy playing the girl games. It was a fun game with a DVD portion to go with it. Congrats to Kalyn who was the big winner on this game.

Scrapbook Weekend!

I am a scrapbooker. I love to take my pictures and put them into a book so I can remember why I took the picture in the first place. I've been scrapbooking since high school. Now, it has evolved over the years. I was even a Creative Memories consultant for a few years, but I think that was really just to feed my habit.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of spare time to scrapbook. However, I do have at least one weekend a year, set aside for the simple purpose of scrapbooking. My friends and I take one weekend in January and go off. It's great. I know there are tons of retreats out there that you can pay to go scrapbook with 300 of your closest friends. However, this is not one of them. To be truthful, we're too cheap for that. We rent a cabin, usually at Amicalola State Park and bring one meal to feed the five of us and set up shop for the weekend. We create as much space as we can by moving furniture all over the cabin- who really needs a couch anyway? We also bring tons of chick flicks ad CDs to have something going on in the background. This year, we ran into a little trouble with the TV recognizing the DVD player, so we were without our movies. That just helped me be that more productive, though.

At the end of the weekend, I felt pretty good. I had gotten all the pictures I had taken into my albums and had begun to journal them. I had completed from October, 2005 through May, 2006. Yep, I'm still a few years behind in being completely caught up, but it is still very enjoyable to do, when I get the chance!

Friends

I love our friends. They mean so much to Craig and I. They make us laugh, they pray with and for us, they build us up, they are there to be goofy about and we can share almost anything back and forth! Craig and I laugh because too often, when a free night becomes available, we say, "Well, who can we call to get together?"

Over the past month or so, we have had some great times with our friends. We got to join in a little get together for our friend, Cacee's 30th birthday. Anytime we get to play a competitive guys vs girls game laughter is sure to follow, especially when it involves yelling out answers.

To celebrate Cacee's actual 30th birthday, she wanted to do a music video. Oh, to think that this video is actually able to be seen by others is a bit scary. But, true friends go the extra mile. So, we dressed up and had a blast. It was fun!! Plus, since it was during the day, her husband John volunteered to take Xander with him and Asher so the girls could play. Asher and Xander are great buds so that worked well.

Our church holds a mission auction each year. Last year, we bid on a couple of seats at the spaghetti dinner. It's a great chance to come together and be served by the youth and see what they've been doing mission-wise over the past year (even though we know what they've been doing, it's good to share it with others). The youth praise band also provided entertainment and they did a great job! A yummy meal, good fellowship and being served - what more could we ask for?

this is the table that was right beside us - a great group of our friends!

We love our friends!!!

A Colorful Theology

I must say that I love to hear what goes through the minds of my children. Okay, let me rephrase that SOMETIMES I love to hear what goes through the minds of my children. Other times, silence is truly golden. Now before I type in the conversation that Kalyn and I had, I do have to give a small shout out to my dear husband, Craig. As I was making some notes to help me remember the details of this conversation, he said, "Are you really going to blog about the twisted theology we're teaching our children?" One answer is yes! The second is, no, we're not really teaching our children this.

While Trinity was in school one day, the remaining four of us headed to LifeTime. Out of the blue, Kalyn throws out a random question and the conversation begins.

Kalyn: Mommy, what do you think we will be wearing when we go to meet Jesus in Heaven?
Me: I don't know. What do you think we'll be wearing.
Kalyn: Pretty dresses.
Me: What will your dress look like?
Kalyn: Mine will have lots of colors - like poka-dots. I think I'll be Ariel (from the Little Mermaid). And I think Trinity will be Tinkerbell. Xander can be Eric - from the Little Mermaid. Daddy can be the other Eric (I didn't know there was another Eric). No, Daddy will be a tree.

I didn't ask what I was going to be. I think after the tree comment, I might have been a little nervous to find out. The truth is, I am very excited to know that Kalyn is looking forward to heading to heaven. We just need to reach the point where that is her decision - to follow Christ. We're working on it, we just need a little more time.

Where Have We Been?

Wow. It has been quite an adventure trying to figure out my new schedule. Between starting a new study at church, beginning (and keeping) a new exercise routine at LifeTime and diving into a new accountability group, this life of mine has seriously gone under a slight overhaul. In trying to fit my workouts into my days, I've schedule those on the mornings when Kalyn is in school. That means that all the things I was doing during that time has been moved to the afternoons. (Are you starting to see the domino effect?) My two other studies cover my other "free" time. So, blogging has fallen to the waste side for a little bit. However, I'm trying to figure out my new schedule to include my time for blogging. I just love keeping up with the small things that happen throughout our days. So, hopefully I'll get a bit done today as I await Trinity coming home and Kalyn and Xander take a good rest. If not, at least I've gotten one post done today!

Weekend Travels

What a weekend our family had! It was a great chance to be with my family and relax quite a bit. While my parents were down here for Christmas, they mentioned that if we would like their piano, all we had to do was come up and get it. I cannot tell you how exciting this made me. I took piano lessons when I was in elementary school (I think starting in 3rd grade) and I wasn't very enthused by it. However, it laid such a wonderful music foundation for me to build on through band, youth choir and handbells. Over the past couple of years, I have really wanted to have a piano in our home, both for my own playing enjoyment and to teach our children how to play and read music.

So, that was the basis for the trip - to get the piano. But we also got to spend some special time with my sister and brother-in-law, Ashley and Jeff. We all have crazy, busy schedules, so the time we get with them is so precious. Craig and I got the chance to visit my grandmother. Unfortnately, she wasn't feeling well so she couldn't spend the day with the kids, but we got over there to say hi. Another plus is that I'm not too familiar with Nashville (I grew up in Orlando and my parents moved back to Nashville about 6 years ago), so we're not too able to go out gallivanting without a bit of help. So, we get some good down time while we're Nashville.

The kids got to enjoy a few flakes of snow. Okay, very few. It began snowing the morning we were leaving to head back home. We were blessed that it didn't prove to be a continued problem on the way home. I actually really enjoyed watching the dusting of snow wave back and forth on the highway. It was pretty mesmerizing to me.

In addition to the piano, we also got to bring back a dining room buffet and a dresser for my dad's cousin (I'm not up on my family relations, so I'm not sure what she is to me). It was from my great grandmother - my parents has been holding on to it for a while as they tried to arrange schedules for her to come pick it up. However, since she lives just outside Atlanta, we were willing to bring it back to our house for her. Then, she got to pick it up Monday afternoon when we got home. In addition to the buffet, the dresser and the piano, we also had about 7 boxes of my childhood, high school and college memorabilia. We looked as though we were moving. Craig and I spend a number of evenings looking through all kinds of stuff. Some bits were harder to go through than others. However, thanks to some of the reminders and the amazing technology that is the internet (especially Facebook), I've been able to rekindle some friendships that I had let fall by the waste side. It was a good thing to be reminded of the dear friends I had in my earlier years.

Another interesting thing was to see how many awards and "success stories" I had in my younger years. I'm not saying this to brag at all. I'm simply saying that as my life gets crazy with kids, activities and general happenings, it was good to be reminded that at one point in my life, I did know what was going on. Nowadays, that feeling is a bit distant and few between. It was fun to see things from my birth - letters, cards, baby bracelet and pieces of paper where people could predict information about me (i.e. girl/boy, weight, name, birth date) at my baby shower.

All that from the initial goal to retrieve a piano. A piano which is now sitting in our front room, awaiting to be tuned. However, the slightly out-of-tune notes don't seem to be a hindrance to the six little hands which are starting to enjoy tickling the ivories with their individual tunes and melodies and serenading anyone in the house (and probably within a 1 mile radius of our house). It's a sound that I'm beginning to enjoy.

H.R. 4040 & Call To Action

Now I must admit, I'm not a huge political person. I do watch the news each morning and I try to stay informed, but I'm not one who goes from political site to political site looking to see what new laws are on the books. However, maybe I should be.



One of my friends' blogs (thanks Mitzi) made a reference to a new law that will go into effect on February 20, 2009. HR.404 states that buying or selling or even handing down children's clothes or toys--new or used, that have not been tested for lead will be ILLEGAL. The cost for testing clothes for lead is hundreds (or in excess of a thousand) dollars per item. This successfully puts Ebay sellers and small boutiques or sellers of handmade items out of business. It also means no more saving money by buying clothes for your children on Ebay, garage sales or consignment sales.



After doing a little bit of research, it seems that this law was constructed after the huge influx of toys contaminated with lead-paint came in from China. However, this knee-jerk reaction seems just a bit much. Having to test EVERYTHING that isn't brand new? This website is a great article outlining the new law. At the bottom is also a list of things that we can do to be involved. Take a moment to contribute to making a difference by contacting your representatives, congressperson and the people who need to know that this is a bit out of hand.

Just in case you don't want to hop over to the other site, here is the call to action directly from the Eleanor Duckwall site:

1. E-mail your representative and remind him or her that we don't vote for people who bankrupt our nation. If words fail you, here's a sample letter you can follow.
2. Call your senators. Naturally, you won't get to talk directly with them, but an assistant will answer the phone. If you're nervous, prepare a script in advance and always be polite. But these idiots … er, elected officials will only understand the depth of our anger if we flood the phone lines.
3. Send a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Be polite (cuss words aren't polite, tempting as they may be), but pin their ears back by informing them what compliance with this law will do to the economy. Like they care.
4. Sign the petition. Pass it on to friends.
5. Spread the word. Only by passing the word can we multiply the strength of our protests.

What I am is a huge fan of consignment sales. Most of my kids' clothing comes from hand-me-downs and various consignment sales. Do I think that the HR 4040 police are going to start storming homes wanting to know when and where I got all my kids' toys, clothes, books and other accouterments? No, but that's still not an excuse not to act. So, I'm hoping to get you on the bandwagon with me. Remember - if you shop or sell at consignment sales, this affects you. If you buy or sell thing for kids on Ebay or Esty, this impacts you. I'm just trying to spread the word, because obviously this new law has gotten very little press (hopefully up until now).

Dave

For a number of years, I have heard my mom speak highly of Dave Ramsey. He has a radio show based out of Nashville (where they live) and she often gets to listen to it. If you haven't heard him, he is quite the financial guru. He loves to help people get out of debt and apply Biblical principles when it comes to finances. Most of the things I have heard are pretty basic, often falling under that heading of common sense. However, that common sense is become more and more uncommon. A number of years ago, they even gave us a copy of Dave's main program - Financial Peace University. Well, we just never had (okay, correction, made) the time to sit down and do it. Plus, I think we kind of thought that we were doing okay. I mean, I'm not saying we're wealthy at all (financially speaking). We have a little bit of debt (most of it in our house and Craig's truck), but we also have retirement plans and college savings plans in place for our kids. We didn't have huge credit cards debts. So, like I said, we felt like we were doing okay.

Skip ahead a few years. A few weeks ago, our church began advertising for their winter discipleship classes. Usually, Craig and I don't pay too much attention because they conflict with our ministry opportunities and commitment to the youth ministry. But, this winter they are doing the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University. Knowing that we already had the needed book, I talked it over with Craig - what if I took a slight break from the youth ministry on Sunday nights to attend the class? He thought that would be a good idea.

So, Sunday night was our first preview session. I am really excited about starting it up in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to getting a new view of how we can use our money more wisely and in turn become more giving with what we have. I'll let you know how it goes as we proceed in the class. It's a thirteen week class, so it's nothing short and sweet. Looks like my body and my wallet will be getting some workouts this year!

Trinity's Teeth

So, I'm still in the process of filling the blog with various events of December and this one deserved it's own special blog. There was no way that this could have been as a piece of another entry.

We had been watching Trinity's bottom tooth get looser and looser over the past month or so. It was just a matter of time before it came out. Even before the first two teeth came out, the next teeth could be clearly seen pushing through. On December 9, Craig and I decided to try and talk her into letting Craig pull it out, so it wouldn't come out at school or elsewhere. (Plus I really wanted to be there when it came out and with my crazy December calendar, I was afraid I'd miss that special moment.) It took a little bit of talking her into it and there were a few nervous tears shed, but she allowed Craig to get her tooth.

After it was all over, she was given her special tooth pillow. This was truly a joint effort - our friend, Jennifer, did the embroidery, Craig's mom actually sewed on the pocket and I simply put it all together. Trinity was quite surprised and was so excited to have a special place to put her tooth.

Now, you may remember from earlier blogs that Trinity had two teeth start to loosen within a couple of weeks of each other. Well, on December 22, she lost her second tooth. And when we say lost, we really mean lost. That afternoon, as I was brushing her hair, she was showing me just how loose it was. I thought, "We really need to go on and pull that out." However, I was on my way to the final handbell concert and we didn't get to it. After dinner, Craig said, "Well, the tooth was there when she began to eat, but not there when she finished." Yummy.

So now, Trinity has officially lost two teeth and her top two are now loose. We have dentist appointments for the girls this month, so we'll see how her tooth health is coming!

During Our Christmas Vacation, We . . .

. . . were very busy. We were so busy doing things, that I didn't have a good time set aside to actually blog about what we were doing. Today, I'll try to give a slightly abbreviated version of what we did.

MOPS Steering & Discussion Group Leaders Dinner (Dec. 9)

What a great evening of fellowship and fun ornament exchange at Ippolito's - Yummy. It was a wonderful chance to get to meet some of the other leaders that I had not had a chance to meet before that dinner.

Walk Through Bethlehem (Dec. 12)
Last year we had the opportunity to experience an event called Walk Through Bethlehem and we were looking forward to finding another one (a little closer) this year. This year, we joined up with our friends, Teri, Marc and Sam and headed to a nearby church for their presentation of what Bethlehem was like at Jesus's birth. It was amazing! The girls got to sign in for the census, try dried fruit, play musical instruments and even push their own way around a grape press. There were Roman soldiers, tons of little shops, musicians, a storyteller sharing stories from the Old Testament, hot cider and a wonderful manger scene depicting Jesus's birth. It was a wonderful night. The biggest problem was the weather - it was SO COLD!!!! Everyone was shivering. When we got back in the car, the thermometer read 31 degrees. BRRRRRRRRRR. But we got to come home, but the kids in beds and hang out with Marc and Teri in our hot tub. It was a great night with friends.


































Children's Christmas Musical Performance (Dec. 14)
This year, Trinity was selected to be an angel in the children's Christmas musical. She did a wonderful job learning the words to all the songs during the fall rehearsals and learning her angel lines. She is quite the music-loving child!

Kalyn's Preschool Christmas Program (Dec. 17)
I always love the preschool programs because they always make me laugh, and my children are usually a cause of my laughter. I realized a few years ago, that I couldn't truly correct them during the performance, so I'd just have to enjoy them. Kalyn spent the first song facing the wrong way, part of the second song with her hands inside her sleeves (as in the left hand in the right sleeve and the right hand in the left sleeve), then she actually began singing some. The funniest thing was one child from one of the 4-year old classes. He sang a little bit of the first song and then when they starting mentioning Jesus (imagine that - from a Baptist church preschool), he put his hands over his ears and began yelling out something. Craig was able to pick out "Santa, Santa" after the second song of chanting. After the third song, Mom came up and retrieved him from the stage. All in all, it was a very fun and enjoyable performance.

Xander - Craig's personal video roadie!

Craig & Shannon Went Carolling with the Youth (Dec. 17)

This was an amazing night. Partly due to the fact that I really wasn't looking forward to going just a few hours beforehand. However, I was so glad that I did!! We had a huge student turnout and the people I met were so special. I met one couple who had been married 40 years and she was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. She had the sweetest smile and they didn't let go of each other the entire time we were there.

Our Youth Sunday School Class Party (Dec. 13)
We decided to do a joint party and dinner with the senior high class and we are kind of glad we did - we had a great time hanging out with the one student who attended from our class (giving a shout-out to Josh right now!!) and all the other seniors. We had some absolutely delicious food - Craig made a roast - and had a great white elephant gift exchange. We ended up with a book of Mad Libs (brings back the memories) and a noisy ornament that sings.

Josh and his white elephant gift - a tattoo sleeve

Numerous Golden Bells of Atlanta Performances (Dec. 1, 5, 6, 8 & 22)
I am part of a community handbell group called the Golden Bells of Atlanta. It is a great opportunity to challenge myself musically and meet some interesting and great people. Since people often associate bells with Christmastime, December has become our main concert season. Our performance schedule has been scaled down since a few years ago, which makes it easier to enjoy.

Our Other Sunday School Class Party (Dec. 20)
We love the class that we were in before we decided to teach the junior class. Some of our dearest friends are there and we do miss our fellowship time with them. So, when our friends asked if we would host the Sunday school party at our house, we were glad to oblige. We had yummy food and a great game of Catch Phrase. The funniest moment for me was as I got the girl team to guess my word, I turned to pass the word-giving gadget to our teacher Charlie (a very sweet and gentle man). However, he could tell that time would be out in just a second, so he just looked at me, not taking it and therefore gaining a point for the guy team. Very un-Charlie-istic of him, but a source of much laughter.

I think that covers all that we did in leading up to Christmas.

I'll do a separate blog just for our Christmas celebrations.