Go. Be. Do.

Tonight, after an 8 hour roadtrip home from Thanksgiving in Indiana, the boys were enjoying their freedom from the car.  We decorate for Christmas before leaving, so all we have to do is plug everything in and presto!...it's Christmastime!  The boys started pretending that Alex was Santa and Tim was supposed to sit on his lap and tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.  It was hilarious...Tim kept slipping off his lap and the giggles and belly laughs just kept coming. A few minutes later, they grabbed the red beanbag and pretended it was a toy bag...all that was missing was the red suit, boots, and beard.   Although, it was supposed to be my best shot (singular) for the L.E.N.S. photo challenge , how can I choose one boy over the other? The photos that follow are of the Santa's lap moment...and some brotherly love time with the two of them discussing things over and giggling their way through photos for the memory books. Wish you could have been there!   

Every fall I watch and wait as the leaves start turning colors...and, finally, my favorite little yellow tree produces the largest, most beautiful yellow leaves.  It is in the front yard and visible from the kitchen, dining room and living rooms.  Its leaves make a beautiful backdrop for pictures. (Exactly the reason why it's featured for today's "Mommy & Me" photo).  And, it's not very big yet, so there aren't so many leaves to rake once they all fall to the ground.  I love my little yellow tree.   Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

"John replied, 'No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.'"  John 3:27 NLT There is something astounding in that simple statement of John the Baptist.  Stopping to think about all the God has given me in the way of blessings, answered prayers, ideas, dreams, family, friends...it amazes me.  I am humbled that He gives so freely, time and time again...and always when I need it most. The journey of the past couple of years has been more than I could have ever asked for...definitely, without a doubt, more than I could have imagined.  The journey continues, although it is unclear where the next turn will lead.  Whatever is next, I know that it holds what God so awesomely and graciously gives.  Nothing comes without His hand offering it.  I pray for the wisdom to be a good steward of His gifts...taking nothing for granted.  In this, the season of thankfulness, I am without fitting words to express how much it means to me to have been given such gifts

The photo theme this week is "Home"...the possibilities are endless.  I pretty much feel that home is wherever my feet are at the moment.  However, being it is almost Thanksgiving and I'm going home to Indiana next week, I've chosen a photo of my home away from home.  Grandma and Grandpa's farm will always be in my heart as one of my favorite places!                            Sunset over the farm on Thanksgiving evening 2006. Join in on the photo challenge at " Home Is Where You Start From ".  It's so much fun!

We have had alot of fun decorating the classroom for fall this year.  In fact, everything seems alot more fun this year...probably because we're all together and not running here and there so much during our morning hours. The boys had alot of fun making some thanksgiving crafts last week.  Alex made a pinecone turkey...it was so cute!   Tim made a cornucopia...aka, "Some kind of horn , Mom, not corn ."  That made me laugh because, on the directions, it was called a Horn o' Plenty, but I called it by its other name.  Tim thought I was calling it by the wrong name.  So sweet! As the pictures tell, this craft required alot of cutting and it was wearing Tim out.  But he persevered and was happy with the results! I love fall decor, but secretly I'm dreaming of what our classroom will look like for Christmas.  Oops!  Guess that's not a secret anymore. :)

On vacation earlier this month, we spent a day boating off the shores of Key West.  Needless to say, it was a great day to be on the water... This last picture was overlooking the area in which we snorkeled.  A stormwrecked sailboat made its way to the reef here about two weeks prior to our visit.    Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

The photo challenge this week at "Home Is Where You Start From" is to "capture the ordinary" and share a picture from our everyday family life.  Some days I don't think there is anything ordinary about our life...it is EXTRAordinary and I love it! We love a good rain shower at our house.  The boys and I are often found outside playing in the rain.  And we love large cardboard boxes.  Oh, the adventures they bring us.  This is us, in the rain, in a cardboard box that held our new garage refrigerator this fall. Ordinary days don't get any better than this! Boxes will always be the best toy around!

Two years ago, while camping, I captured the boys' smiles as they sat outside on a picnic table by the campfire.  I love the sweetness they add to my life.

God is so good.  The most recent thing He has used to teach me a lesson is a Bradford Pear tree.  Yep, a tree...a big one, at that.  This pear tree has stood in front of the garage for probably as many years as this house has been here...about 25 years, I'd guess (we moved here in October 2006).  Upon moving in it was requested for the tree to come down, but I saw a great tree that would provide shade for our home and for us to play in during the hot GA summers.  It did just that.  But, it also provided a home for ants, centipedes, and who knows what else.  The birds loved to sit in the tree and drop presents on any unsuspecting vehicle under them.  It smelled awful like fish in the spring when it bloomed.  Flower petals, fake "pears" (more like hard nuts), and leaves fell at one time or another throughout 9 months of the year.  This summer it dropped a large branch during a rainstorm that came very close to hitting the house.   I was afraid of losing the shade, so I forg

One last full day in the Keys...it started with a relaxing morning, poolside.  Beginning our journey North was the only event on our schedule.  Everything else was icing on the cake.                                              We weren't on the road long before sidetracking to see what we could see.  Surprisingly, we found a rather big beach.  It was nice, but you had to tread carefully due to all the broken glass on the sand.  Treading carefully, indeed...up the beach not too far from where we were, apparently, bathing suits were optional.  (A HUGE thank you to the gentleman who gave me a head's up on that!) The beach was home to some beautiful shells and fallen coconuts.  The boys were so determined to break open a coconut like they do on Survivor!  They found some large pieces of coral to bang the coconut on to try and get it to bust.  It never broke open, but it was neat to see them put into action the methods that had worked for others.  They gave it a gallant effort. On

Ahhhh...the day I'd been waiting for had arrived in beautiful fashion.  Sunshine, warm breezes, and a day spent on the ocean.  We had chartered a boat to take us on a 6 hr. fishing/snorkeling adventure off the coast of Key West.  Just us.  On a boat.  Fishing.  Snorkeling.  The good life.  Correction.  The great life! Capt. Kyle, with Dream Catcher Charters in Key West, was a champ at finding great spots for both fishing and snorkeling.  (Of course, he'd better be...that's what we paid him to do :) ).  He was great with the boys, too, which always makes for a very happy mama.  We chose to do some fishing first.  The water was calm and you could see fish swimming around the boat.  So relaxing.  On the way out to our fishing spot, we saw dolphins playing around and showing off for us and another boat.  I've seen lots of wild dolphins before but never putting on the show these 3-4 were.  They were just a few feet from the other boat, jumping and flipping in the air lik

Awoke to a beautiful day that had no set agenda...just lots of sunshine and fun to be had!  We enjoyed an eco boat tour, exploring the Gulf side of Key Largo.  Our Captain was great and made the educational side of the Key's plants and wildlife interesting.  We took pathways through mangrove trees that didn't at first appear to be wide enough for our pontoon boat, but we made it through just fine.  The boys especially loved seeing the fish in the clear shallow water.  Needle fish were a favorite.  Tim had fun counting how many crab spiders he saw above us, dangling between the trees, as we traveled along.   On our boat tour we saw numerous kinds of fish, manatees, pack of wild dolphins (including a baby), all kinds of birds, a huge osprey's nest, people getting to swim with tame dolphins, and an iguana.  Such a wonderful adventure for the family! Once back on land, we packed up our belongings and headed further south.  We enjoyed lunch at an oceanside restaurant, The Island