Thanksgiving and the Iron Bowl

"Over the river and through the woods" to Aunt Emily's house we went for our annual Thanksgiving get-together. Since Dennis and I have been married, my parents have been included in all Windle celebrations. This has made it easy for us as we didn't have to divide our time between two families. My being an only child made that possible. We were missing Parker and Amy's family, but we are looking forward to Christmas when everyone will be there.
As this was Libby's first Thanksgiving, we were eager to see how she met many "new" faces. Libby doesn't seem to meet a stranger, and Thanksgiving was no different. She greeted everyone with her bright eyes and smiles especially the only other two children there: Addie and Matt. She doesn't seem to know what to think of Matt in his Indian costume.

As she is starting to eat table food, she was allowed to have some of Aunt Emily's homemade rolls. She didn't miss a crumb!



Savannah and Jason tried to get some pictures of their little family. I thought this one was good.


During this past football season, Savannah, Jason, and Libby have come over and watched the games with us. It is hard to believe that the regular season is over, and Alabama only has the bowl game left to play. Each week Libby has dressed for the occasion. This houndstooth onesie is my favorite. Go Bama!

Decorating for Christmas

I usually don't like to put my Christmas decorations up this early, but I'm excited about this Christmas. Parker will be home in five weeks, and we have a little one to enjoy all the festivities anew. Since, this is only our second Christmas in this house, I'm contemplating where my decorations will go. I was not particularly happy with what I did last year, so I'm going to make some changes. Putting decorations that have had a definite place in a previous home into a new place in a new home takes some consideration as well as trial and error. If you have moved as much as I have, you will understand. No matter, the traditions are still there, and for the most part, my decorations are the same. (I did sell a lot when we left Carrollton because I knew that I would not have the storage that I had there.)
I started in my kitchen/dining area this weekend. Usual holly on the light fixture, Santa pitcher and mugs above the china cabinet, and a Christmas platter along with tins and other holiday jars for fudge, divinity, party mix, etc. on the kitchen counter are a good start. I have new red dishes that I will use for most of December, but I do plan to pull the Lenox Christmas dishes out on Christmas Eve. (Momma bought me these years ago, and I just haven't used them which is ridiculous. I think she will be happy knowing that I am using them.) I have an arrangement on the sideboard (which is old, I don't like, and will probably change), and I have no idea what I want to do on the table. So, even though I have started in there, I'm nowhere near finished.
I decorated the foyer tonight and did a little in the living room. I moved my sofa table to the foyer because its location is where I will put our tree. On it, I put my large family Bible opened to Luke 2 with two large white/gold paper mache' angels on either side. On the wall above, I have an old wreath decorated with brass bells from the Holy Land. I think I need to replace my bows on this wreath, but I'm bad about not doing things like this once it is up. (That means I'm lazy.)
I also decorated my mantel tonight. I put garland up with ribbon running through it. Again, I think I need to add some lights, which I have, but I'm not sure that I will do. On the mantel itself, I added my gold paper mache' deer family complete with bows around their necks.

I have another "sofa type table" (does that make sense) that I'm trying to decide what to do with. I will probably put my nativity scene on it.
My tree will go up this weekend. I bought it new last year and love it. It is very tall since my ceilings in the living room are high. I collect Santa ornaments, but I'm contemplating putting all my ornaments on the tree this year. (We have collected Hallmark ornaments for years. It is one of the things that Momma buys for all or us each year.) I usually top the tree with a Santa hat, but I'm thinking about adding some pizzazz if I can figure out how to do it.
Other than a few things in the bathrooms and wreaths on the bedroom doors, that is probably all that I will do inside this year.
So, I've started rather early, but I'm getting in the mood. Now, if I could just get my Christmas list written and gifts bought!

Another Sleepless Night; Another Blog

It has been busy around our house lately: moving Savannah and Jason's "stuff" back to their house; the Fall Festival at Chapel Hill with Wilma, Fred, and Pebbles; and a trip to the Christmas Village in Birmingham. Everything was fun except moving "stuff" back to Coker. I'm sure Jason and Savannah are not having fun unpacking everything, but they did have fun as the Flintstones!

CRMS has been having a book fair for the last six days, and Mandee (my friend and library aide) and I have been very busy selling books and junk as well as running the library. It has actually been very successful considering the economy. I think the extra 200 students have pushed us over the $3,000 mark. I'd like to note here that I am addicted to middle school books. It started with the Harry Potter series. I have never been a fan of fantasy fiction, but I read this series (in one week, I might add) because I felt that I needed to know what the kids were so excited about. I've been hooked on fantasy since. So, if your looking for a good book, try the Harry Potter series, Fablehaven series, Ranger's Apprentice series, Vampirates series, Apprentice series, Charlie Bone series, Children of the Lamp series; Gregor of the Underworld series, etc. etc. Mandee and I always read the new books to make sure that they are appropriate for middle school kids. We use to take the AR tests and rank in the top three, but, alas, our AR is not working, and I can't afford the new Renaissance Place (or rather, it is not important to our principal--did I say that?)

Tomorrow, Dennis goes back to Dr. Sanford at the Cancer Center to get the results of his scan. His blood work looked good, so we are hoping tomorrow that everything looks so much better that his further treatment will be limited. Dennis is finally getting his strength back, and I don't think he is looking forward to feeling bad again.

We are excited that Parker will be coming home for two weeks: December 22 through January 6. We have been informed that his main plan is to EAT: eat at some Mexican restaurant in Birmingham; Wings, Dreamland; The Plantation House; and, of course, Aunt Emily's during Christmas. He is also going with a college group to the Passion in Atlanta for a few days. This will give him the opportunity to catch up with friends from college.

Momma went back to the doctor this week, also, and she got a good report. She still has her on prednisone, but I think she will get off of it after her next visit. The last few days she has sounded stronger on the phone and tells me that she is feeling better. She and Daddy enjoyed our visit last week, or rather they enjoyed Libby. It was like we weren't even there!

Savannah and I have been shopping for Libby this past weekend. We went to the shop in downtown Northport (I never can remember the name), and it was having Christmas Open House with 30% off all Christmas. Needless to say, Libby has a new smocked dress for Christmas as well as two cute outfits (one can be worn on through winter because it has a snowman on it) and a couple of Christmas bibs. We finally found some black shoes, so now she has two pair of boots and two pair of shoes. Yes, a nine month old needs four pairs of shoes! (Maybe even more if we can find some cute red ones!) Sunday we went to Christmas Village in Birmingham. Actually, this was a trip that the girls in her Sunday School class make every year, but Savannah invited Cheri and me to go with her. (She knew what she was doing!) Savannah bought her another smocked dress, and Cici and I bought some knit tops and bottoms that Cici plans to embroider. I've decided to go buy paint pens and get back in the shirt decorating business. I still have sweatshirts that I did for Parker, Savannah, and myself when the kids were little. And no, Dennis wouldn't wear one!

One of these days I'm going to figure out how to add pictures to my posts, and when I do, look out!