Daybook Style...

From my chair...I can see my beautiful Christmas tree--well, one side of it. Maybe I should have Ollie rotate it every week or so throughout December. Ollie got out all of the decorations last night and I oversaw and sort of helped decorate. I changed out the art in the picture frames and made a snowman garland that was in Hannah's American Girl magazine. I told them I would let them have free reign...mostly. I did pretty well and so did they. I have pics and will post them later. I am happy to have the house decorated. I wasn't sure how that was going to go and was a little worried about it. I am not a very organized person and so I don't put things away in the same place every year. I wasn't 100% sure where everything was but they found it all. I love all of my decorations. I can't really say they are very glamorous or classy--tacky is a better description and I love it.

On my mind and in my prayers...a friend of mine lost her 14 year old son this week and it's been so hard just thinking of all she must be going through. It really puts my broken leg in perspective! In a couple of months I should be back to some normalcy but her life has been changed forever.

From the kitchen...I haven't been in my kitchen in 2 weeks. It's a tiny little kitchen, probably not super safe for me with my crutches and besides I can't do a thing in there. It's also a mental thing--the kitchen is my domain, I spend a lot of time in there taking care of my family by preparing meals and snacks for them. It's almost depressing to think of going in there. I am so thankful to have had a meal delivered almost every night since my accident and the food has been really good! And, I can't really say that I've missed doing dishes. :0)

I'm reading...two different books right now--one in my bed at night and one in my chair during the day. During the day I'm reading, The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn. It's a good story--told from the view of Santa Claus (as the title indicates), it details his life and a lot of world history too. The book I'm reading is a 3 volume book--there are two more books in this one book. I'm not sure I'm reading the other 2 yet or not. They are both Christmas stories just not sure I want another book in this same style after I finish this one. At night I'm reading a historical fiction book set during the years prior to the Civil War. It's called Sarah's Wish and it's really good. It's probably considered a young adult book, I think my girls would really like it. I'm actually not reading as much as you would think I would be...I am finding many ways to keep busy and sort of be productive. A few friends have given me magazines too and I've read some of those--In Touch, Us, and People. :0) That's some deep reading.

I'm listening to...lots of Christmas music, both on my iPod and Pandora. I love the Justin Bieber holiday channel and the Jackson 5 holiday channel and when I'm feeling more sober the Chris Tomlin holiday channel. I love Christmas music, it lifts my spirits.

I'm wearing...the same pair of grey sweat pants every day. Well, not the same exact pair, I have three of the same kind of pants and same color and that's all I'm wearing. Well, that's not all I'm wearing...so far I've had a shirt on every day too. They are comfortable and have pockets for carrying my phone or iPod to a different room if I need to.

I'm watching...today I watched two episodes of "Raising Hope" and it was really funny. Other than that, I haven't been watching much. I could if I wanted to though--Netflix has tons to watch.

In the lives of the kids...they have two more Christmas performances tomorrow night and Friday night. The Christmas pageant at church is this weekend--just a few more rehearsals. It's going well though, I can't wait to see all of the kids in their costumes. Then next week, theatre class and two more performances and then the next week their show, "Bugsy Malone, Jr." These kids have been really busy! In addition to all of this, Hannah has an audition Saturday morning for that movie. She is very excited, she's decided to be a real pro and take a resume and headshot with her to the audition. When they are home...they are being really good about helping (not all the time--they are normal kids--but most of the time). I am thankful for them.

From the homeschool room....school has resumed as usual this week. I figure we'll go for a couple of more weeks and then take our Christmas break when Ollie starts his.

I think that's about it...peace out my friends!

Local Light Ups

 I am thankful to a couple of friends who took these pictures for me, my camera never works well with performance lighting so I have quit even trying.  Some of these are from Friday night and some are from Saturday night.  Some are blurry but you get the picture!  No pun intended.  :0)  The kids performed for two different local light ups.  I went to the one on Friday night but stayed home Saturday night.  I was scared of the crowds at that one.  There aren't many of Grace because she is always in the back. 

 This one CRACKS me up!!

This is what I came home and did after the Friday night shows.  My poor leg HURT after all that excitement! 

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving thanks to Aunt Harriet's hard work! Our meal was amazing--so good. Ollie and the kids worked together and brought mashed potatoes, hash brown casserole, and pumpkin pie. It was all good. I just ate and watched the parade and visited a bit. I always like seeing Jane and Scott--Uncle Billy's sister and her husband.


The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving but it's been years since I actually sat and watched the whole thing. I'm always much too busy. Not this year, I watched it from beginning to end and enjoyed almost every minutes. I enjoyed all of the singing and found a new singer that I think I'm going to like--Michael Feinstein. I've got to check out some of his music on iTunes. I loved the Justin Bieber commercial--I'll post it for my next post in case some of you haven't seen it. It's so cute.


In spite of a broken leg I have found much to be thankful for this holiday season. Just to name a few--thankful that my accident wasn't worse, thankful for auto insurance that covers pedestrian accidents (since I have no health insurance), thankful for Ollie and a solid marriage that can weather this storm, thankful for my kids, thankful for their willingness to help me, for endless refills of my water cup, for pain pills, for crutches, for a wheelchair and friends willing to push, thankful for meals ministries, thankful for all of the friends that have offered to help with anything I might need in the coming months, thankful for caramel calcium soft chews, thankful for God's amazing grace and peace that passes understanding, thankful for Christmas socks, showers all by myself, cool weather that's coming, Facebook, Netflix, Pinterest, books, magazines, puzzle books, card games, my big green chair, and sooooo much more. Happy Thanksgiving!

Joe and Jake

Who Wants to Talk About My Broken Leg?

Tomorrow afternoon it will be a week since the accident that has temporarily turned my world upside down. I can't believe it's already been a week. The last few days have been pretty good considering. I don't think I've even cried in a couple of days. Yesterday was pretty eventful. I rented a wheelchair and used it to go into the police station to pick up my accident report. I now know the name of the guy who hit me as well as his insurance information. With H and B's help I also got a handicapped tag for the car of whoever is carting me around. Then I spent a few hours visiting with friends at the park while the kids played. All of that wore me out but it was nice to get out of the house. I've been home all day today but had a friend from out of town and her kids hang with us for part of the day. Tonight Hannah and I watched a movie on Netflix (Grace is sleeping over at a friend's house). It was one of the ABC Family Holiday movies that we never get to see because we don't have cable. It was rated PG but had multiple references to sex--not even veiled references, they talked about having sex or not and sleeping with someone, then the brother came out of the closet at the Christmas dinner table and told the family he was gay. There was also swearing in it, not a lot and no really bad words but still. I think it was the "dirtiest" movie Hannah has ever seen. Great bonding moment with my tweeniebopper. :0) I was really surprised that this was considered a family movie. Guess I need to get my head out of the sand. Anyway, the highlight of my evening was a shower! I successfully mastered getting a shower all by myself. I can't explain how happy that made me. I had to wait until Ollie was home and had time to try out my idea and my idea worked. Woohoo! It was still a lot of work but I am thrilled to have that independence back. I even got my own pants on. And to think a week ago I was stressed out because I had too much to do. Now, I'm thrilled just to put my own pants on. Gives me perspective... Another highlight of my evening--almost as great as the shower was Chinee Takee Outee for dinner. Thank you to Debi...it was soooo good, Hannah and I were in heaven. I spoke to the guy-who-hit-me's insurance company this afternoon. They took a statement from me about what happened. Thankfully, his insurance is really good and will cover anything mine doesn't cover. One of the things he told me (after assuring me that they do indeed believe that I was hit) was that the man wasn't even sure he had made contact with me. He's either in denial, seriously too impaired to be driving, or lying. He seemed like a nice guy so I wouldn't think he would lie. In my memory--he hit me hard, it was loud, and I went flying. How can he wonder whether he made contact with me or not?? Really crazy. Anyway, to wrap up all of this talk let me just say that the outpouring of love and offers for help and food and treats has been amazing and I feel so blessed to know so many wonderful people. I also feel blessed for having such capable children. They have really stepped up--especially the girls. We've had a few rocky moments but for the most part they have been amazing. They have cleaned, done laundry, cooked, and filled my water cup about a billion times. I am thankful.

I Broke My Leg...

So, last time we talked I was "Livin' My Dream." Now...not so much. I think all of my readers know this but just in case--I was hit by a car while walking into a store on Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully, the only injury I have is a fracture in my tibial plateau. The above picture is not my tibial plateau and although I haven't seen my x-ray--I think this is what my fracture looks like. Miraculously, I am not bruised or scratched up on my other side even though according to the police I was thrown a good five feet before hitting the ground. I am so thankful that I didn't hit my head, I am thankful that the man didn't run over me, and I am thankful that I didn't have any kids with me. I am on the road to a long recovery--at least 2 to 3 months of no walking, no weight bearing on my leg at all, and no driving.
Here's a picture of what I see most of the day--my braced leg (so thankful for this brace instead of a cast, I can take it off for icing and bathing), my old-lady-walker, and the bell that my children got for me at a yard sale on Friday. Also within reach is my phone, iPod, computer, a basket of books, a spiral notebook for making lists and taking notes, my Bible, a sleeve of crackers, my pain meds, and a tall cup of ice water that is regularly refilled by my children. I am slowly adjusting to this new normal. I would be lying if I said that I was taking this all in stride (no pun intended)--I have shed many, many tears and spent my share of time worrying about how I'm going to do this, that, or the other. However, I am typically a cup-half-full kind of gal so after a good cry I choose to once again put on my big girl panties and deal. God and I have chatted quite a bit and I know He's going to carry me through and draw me close to Him during this time of forced rest. I am beyond thankful for all of the offers for help and rides and food. My family has meals provided every night for the next 2 weeks already. I will be learning to let go of my pride and accept all the help I can get. Thank you for your prayers for healing and peace of mind and strength for my family.

Livin' My Dream....

....and it's an exhausting one! I always wanted to be a stay at home mom and when I heard about homeschooling I wanted to be a stay at home homeschool mom. Well, I am living that dream as we speak. On the days when I am stressed out and over-worked and underpaid I have to remind myself that I'm livin' my dream. The last couple of weeks and the next few weeks have been and are going to be particularly busy. In general I am always busy--it's just how I am but occasionally I get myself into things that make me even busier than usual. I am in one of those seasons now. Our school continues to be very intensive with a whole lot of reading and other work that has to be done every single day. And if we miss a day we have to double up another day. I spend at least an hour and sometimes two hours just reading aloud to my kids (mostly Grace and Joe) every day. I am loving the books we are reading for Sonlight but it's a LOT! Aside from school the kids are doing their normal theatre two days a week, going to one extra rehearsal a week for the Christmas Tour, and two Christmas Pageant rehearsals a week. And, they have songs and lines in all three of these productions that they need to learn, memorize, and practice. Throw in a couple of other commitments I have plus trying to get to the gym, housekeeping, and meal making and it makes for very long days. But--I'm livin' my dream so it's all good. :0) One day they will be grown up and out of the house and I will ache for these days. I'm really working on having a good attitude, lots of joy, and large doses of caffeine.
In other news...I went to youth group with Hannah tonight and it was so good! They are changing things up and have invited the parents to come and be a part of this with their kids. The message tonight was great and much needed and appreciated since we now have one service in our church and I spent that service in the nursery this morning. Hannah is very excited about the changes in youth group too. I've got a puzzle going again. I needed therapy today to calm down my anxious thoughts and the puzzle did the trick. This one is another White Mountain (my absolute favorite brand of puzzle!), this time "The Founding Fathers." It goes right along with what the kids are studying in history. I finished a good book this weekend--Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson. I started a new Kristen Hannah book today--Night Road. So far it's really good. I heard that Target is going to open for Black Friday shopping at midnight this year. I hate that. I like getting up at 3 or so and standing in line and then shopping at Target and then moving on to Kohl's and maybe Beall's. I don't want to shop at midnight. I want to shop at 3 in the morning!! I bought some new songs for my iPod this weekend--2 new Jamie Grace songs. I love this girl--her songs are so good and catchy. I also got a new Sara Groves song too called Finite--love it! I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week. I am so not ready for the holidays and they are coming so fast. I want to enjoy this time and not have it fly by. Does anybody know how to make time slow down? Well....time to hit the hay. I'm whooped. Peace out my friends.

Dominick Dance for Christmas Pageant Kids

How To Make A Sqaush Softie!--Another tutorial by Hannah

Ocali Days

We went on a really fun field trip today to the Silver River State Park for Ocali Days. The first thing we did was make candles. The kids started with a wick and went through about a dozen stations where they dipped the wick into melted wax and then water and repeated that 2 more times then on to the next station to do the same thing. In the end they had a candle! Hannah and Grace loved this and later went back and made another candle.



Next stop a one room schoolhouse built in 1930. All the kids got to sit in desks and a man talked to them about school back in 1930.

This man was amazing. His job "back in the day" was a telegrapher and he was so good with showing the kids morse code and explaining how it works. Hard to believe he could so easily make sense of what sounded like just a bunch of tapping. Below is a man and his wife who talked about the Civil War and the role that black people played.

All of the kids got a chance to try out the various tasks that people were working on. In the picture above, the kids are turning a sugar cane press and actually expelling juice from sugar cane. And, below, Grace is grinding corn.

Joe and KK are doing a little laundry and then later Joe and Jake visited the 1890 schoolhouse.

The big kids spent a lot of time playing checkers and all of the kids especially loved the little shops. Joe tried on this coonskin cap and really wanted to buy it but he had already spent his money on a crossbow.

Boys and their weapons....Joe is totally thrilled with this crossbow and arrows that he bought. I haven't seen him this happy over a toy in a long time. The man below used a magnifying glass and the sun to burn Joe's name into his crossbow. It was fascinating to watch.

Joe especially enjoyed this field trip and said that it was the best field trip he had ever been on. :0)

A Weekend in Clearwater

Last weekend we took a mini vacation to Clearwater. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, sat in the hot tub (it was chilly), walked on the beach, shopped, ate, and went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to see Winter the dolphin. It was a great, relaxing weekend!


Dolphin Tale (have I mentioned that Hannah, Grace, and I were extras in that movie) has pretty much taken over CMA. Mostly in a good way--more money coming in from all the people who want to come see Winter. But also, tons of movie merchandise in the gift shop and signs everywhere with info about the movie and props and stuff like that.
We all got a chance to pet a Manta Ray. Joe wanted to pet one but was scared so Ollie pretty much just grabbed his arm and "made" him touch one. He was so proud of himself after that. Then later he touched the dolphin and he told us that now he feels much more brave about touching gross sea creatures. Good.



Above is one of Winter's prostheses (sp?). I thought it was funny that they were taking pictures of kids holding this. Joe wouldn't touch that. Gross sea creatures no problem but not fake tails. :0)
Here is a close up of the poster/billboard that you see below. If you look closely you can see one of my boobs and my fat roll. Let me help you. See the little black girl? Look behind her....see the man in the plaid shirt walking? Right between his arm and body--in the yellow shirt--go ahead and click on the picture so you can see this up close--yep, that's my boob and fat roll right there. Oh, and next to me is Hannah, then Grace, and then Emily. :0) Below is the parking lot that is sitting where the grass and stands were for the scene in the movie.


Hannah took some great pictures of the dolphins but I haven't gotten them off her camera yet. I'll post those later.