Snow Day

We didn't do much of anything today.  The kids went out to play in the snow after breakfast.  Lunch was leftover pizza.  Then the kids played inside until time for the friends to go home.  The afternoon was spent playing games.  Terry did go out and do a bit of shopping, but Jessica and I were perfectly satisfied to stay in the warm house!  Tonight Terry grilled steaks and we had baked potatoes and salad for supper.  Then we watched TV while Jessica worked on my hair.

Front yard.  A winter wonderland.

Mom taking pictures of the sledders

You can barely see them through the trees

Carrying the sled back up the hill.

Lonely tire swing.

Making snow angels

There's more snow then bird house.

It was windy just about all day.

"I'm a sloth!"

Enjoy your Lord's Day!

Christmas And Beyond

Christmas Morning at Elisabeth's:
The kids slept later than I thought they would, especially Hannah and Ryan.

We began things with Elisabeth reading the account of the birth of Christ from the book of Luke.

Presents!  Lots and lots of pretty presents!  The most special ones were those keepsake animals made with Tim's shirts.

Sally got some squeaker toys which she immediately began trying to rip apart to get to the squeaker inside.

Later on in the day, Liz and I went to the Christian School to make a new bulletin board for the Kindergarten class.  Abby enjoyed playing with the animals in one of the baskets.

Jesus' life from a little boy in Bethlehem (bottom left behind us) to his baptism in the Jordan River, which is off the picture to the right.

Tuesday, December 26th:
Liz and I went after-Christmas shopping.  Didn't really find much.  Lunch was good, considering it was the first "meal" I had eaten since the previous Friday.

We ate at "Which Wich?"  It was a sub place.  You take a bag with a list of ingredients, mark off the ingredients you want your sandwich made of and they fill your order.

Wednesday, December 27th:
I brought the kids back with me for church and spending the night with me at Ilene's.

Thursday, December 28th:
Ilene went to WV to help out with her sister-in-law who is near the point of death.  Her son has been taking care of her and he is exhausted!

I took the kids back to Elisabeth.  We met at the Lexington Goodwill.  Then I went back to the house and tackled the clothes in my closet.  I had been hanging on to some of my favorites, even though they are too big for me now.  So, I decided I needed to LET THEM GO!!  I don't have the room for them!  I feel very accomplished!

Working on a puzzle.

Completed!  Ryan ruined a perfect picture!

Eating at Chick-fil-A on the way to meet Elisabeth.

I stopped at the church to do the cleaning for the week.  I miss my life in the parsonage with Tim.

The "before" picture of the mess of clothes in my closet.  Totally unorganized!

The stuff I brought back from Elisabeth's that I had no room to hang in the closet.

The clothes I took out of the closet.

The empty hangers after cleaning out the closet.

The newly organized closet hung by color.  I still kept a few items that are too big for me but I couldn't part with yet!

After the clothes, I emptied some boxes of stuff.  I accomplished a LOT!

Friday, December 29:
My intentions today were to clean up the toy/puzzle/computer room by returning the table and chairs Ilene borrowed from the church for her Christmas family get-together, clean up the kitchen, send Thank You cards, go to the grocery store, make a deposit and work on the check book and order address labels, plus begin address changes.

I got the table and chairs out of the room and stacked in the dining room to take outside to the car later.  I swept, set the card table back up for our puzzles and began cleaning off the computer desk so I could write the cards.  While I was making the thank you cards ready for sending, I sent a text to Jessica to see if she was doing anything this weekend and if not would she mind me coming up since Ilene wasn't home.  When I got the all clear to go, I finished up the cards I was working on.  Then Jessica texted that snow was expected to begin falling around 7.  Well, if I was going to get there before the snow, I would have to leave ASAP!  So I began working on packing.

Elisabeth called to find out where the keys to the parsonage were because they were there to load up the bed to take to Nathanael on their way up to WV.  I was planning on taking the keys when I took the table and chairs to the fellowship hall on the way out to Jessica's.  I didn't think they would need the keys until later in the day.  So, I dropped what I was doing and ran over to the parsonage to unlock it.  We loaded up the bed and I bid them goodbye and flew back to the house to finish packing, pack up the car, go back to the church property to unload the table and chairs, get a few pieces of furniture from the parsonage to take to Jessica's and get gas and hit the road!  It was going to be later than I wanted to be driving due to my nighttime vision being so bad any more.

It began snowing before I got to Lancaster and by the time I got near Jessica's house, the roads were getting slick.  And it was very dark and I was getting a headache from the eye strain!  So, I may end up being snowed in, who knows!  But, I'm here and safe!

Chance and Thad have friends spending the night.  They made a tent!

There is some accumulation!  Hopefully there won't be much more!  BRRR!  It is cold up here!

Have a great weekend!

'Twas The Night Before Jesus Came

'Twas The Night Before Jesus Came'

written by Unknown Author

'Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house
Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care
In hopes that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed.
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap
Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter.
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray
I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY!

The light of His face made me cover my head
It was Jesus! returning just like He had said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;
When He said "it's not here" my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound.
While all the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees, but it was too late;
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight;
Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;
The coming of Jesus is drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call
We'll find that the Bible was true after all!

This Weekend's Family Activities:
Thursday, December 21
Nathanael, Adalina and Sam arrived.  He stopped at the parsonage to go through the kitchen stuff to see what he could use.  He took quite a bit, for which I am glad and thankful!  He will be taking our bed and box springs (actually, Brad will be delivering the bed to him this coming weekend) and Jessica has a mattress off of the guest bed he will be getting to use.

After he loaded up everything, we all headed down to Elisabeth's.  We went to Alpha's Greek-Italian restaurant in Rockwell.

Addy was found having fun in Sally's cage.

Friday, December 22
Before Jessica and Terry and kids and Michael and Jessica and Kara arrived, we went to Dan Nickolas park.  After they arrived, we ate pizza and then immediately the cousins exchanged Christmas gifts and opened my gifts to them.  Nat, Sam and Addy had to leave so he could go to work on Saturday.  Plus he had to stop by the house to load the box springs onto his car.  It was the wee hours of the morning before he got home, I'm afraid!

The day started off with pancakes and bacon

Dan Nickolas Park

Back at Home

Liz made sugar cookies for the kids to decorate later.

I made this miniature corn hole game for Ryan for his birthday.  The base needed painting and I made the bean bags.

Addy did pretty well shooting this nerf gun, even though it was upside down!  :D

The only one missing from our group was Papaw!

Decorating (and eating) the sugar cookies:

Jessica said she was going to take more photos of us together like she wished she had done with her dad.  The things all of us would have done if we'd only known how soon and quickly he would leave us.

Saturday, December 23
I woke up a little after 4 a.m. sick with diarrhea and vomiting.  That lasted off and on all day.  So, I totally missed out on the day of activities and visiting as I kept myself quarantined in the bedroom.  Jessica and Elisabeth came in to check on me and brought me gatorade to drink.

Sunday, December 24
I work up with a splitting headache.  Jessica and I figured it was from being dehydrated.  So, I started sipping down some more gatorade and took tylenol.  I stayed home from church.  I did not eat anything until later this evening.

After everyone left early afternoon, we cleaned up a bit and relaxed on the couch.  Then, since there wasn't church tonight, we went to the Charlotte Speedway for a Christmas Light Show.  On the way home, Brad stopped at McDonald's for dinner, which I did not eat.  I ate a leftover drumstick from Saturday's dinner.

The Speedway was also showing "Polar Express" on the big screen

After we got back home, the kids were allowed to open their stockings.

Petting Zoo at the Speedway

Have yourselves a Merry CHRISTmas!!