2008 Wrap Up

I saw someone else do something similar to this and I thought it would be fun SO here it goes!

2008 Wrap Up:


SUNDAY PICTURES
(one from each of the twelve months.)




To see all of the Sunday pictures I have posted just click on my label Sunday Pics!


BOOKS I READ

1. Lethal Justice by Fern Michaels
2. Hide and Seek by Fern Michaels
3. A Holiday to Remember by Jillian Hart
4. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
5. Something Blue by Emily Giffin
6. Pretty Woman by Fern Michaels
7. Hokus Pokus by Fern Michaels
8. Loves Healing Touch by Jane Myers Perrine
9. Late Bloomer by Fern Michaels
10. The Best Gift by Irene Hannon
11. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
12. Gift From The Heart by Irene Hannon
13. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
14. The Unexpected Gift by Irene Hannon
15. Fast Track by Fern Michaels
16. Hey Good Looking by Fern Michaels
17. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
18. Where the River Ends by Charles Martin
19. Collateral Damage by Fern Michaels
20. Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner
    
21. Christmas Jars by Jason Wright
22. Christmas Homecoming by Lenora Worth

To see what I thought of these book just click on my label Book and all of my Book posts will be together. I hope to read 24 books in this new year, at least!


MOST COMMENTED-ON POSTS

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3. 123s, ABCs, Tinkle Tinkle posted on 5/28 with 11 comments
4. Weekend In Atlanta posted on 5/27 with 10 comments
5. Blog Drama posted on 8/22 with 10 comments
   

Happy 2009!

New Book

Christmas Homecoming was great. Yet another good feeling Love Inspired book. This is actually the last is a "series" of 6. Story of my life: I read a book and love it and then realize it is in a series. I have GOT to do a better job at looking at that before I read a book. Series might not really be the right word. It is about a family that has 6 children and there is a book about each of the children, and this is the last book.

All of the books are in this order:
#1 Heather's Story - Butterfly Summer
#2 Chris' Story - By Her Side
#3 Amy's Story - The Family Man
#4 Tim's Story - The Hamilton Heir
#5 Melissa's Story - Prodigal Daughter
#6 Jeremy's Story - Christmas Homecoming

The next book that I am reading, I think, I got for Christmas last year. I am reading The Marriage Game by Fern Michaels. I have just started it and it is already interesting. I think I am going to count this as #1 for 2009 since most of it will be read in 2009. I hope to read 24 books this year (an average of 2 a month). We will see how it goes.

As always I will let you know how this one is.

Menu Plan Monday

Well, this week was OK. My final grocery bill was $59.60 which is in budget but does not help to make up for last week. A little disappointing. I am getting better at making my money go further though, which is wonderful!

So, here we go!!

Monday: A friend is getting us KFC for supper. Yummy! What a nice surprise!

Tuesday: Zesty Chicken and Rice Skillet, Green Beans, Biscuits

Wednesday: Sandwiches before worship and then snacks and games at the church building after worship for New Years Eve!

Thursday: Tacos, Cheese-Rotel Dip

Friday: One Dish Chicken Skillet (a new one for us), Potatoes, Squash Casserole

Saturday: Ham, Lima Beans, Mac-n-Cheese

Sunday: Sandwiches, Leftovers

Yummy!
If you want to see others' Menu Plans just check out Org Junkie!

Our Sunday Pictures

Despite the fact that everyone was happy this morning and that we actually had plenty of time for Sunday Pictures - they didn't go very well. Oh well. That is point of Sunday pictures - you get to see every week, the good, the bad, the ugly, and even the weird.

Christmas Part 3

There are a couple of families at church who did not have any family in town and did not go out of town for Christmas so we decided to all get together for supper the day after Christmas. It was so much fun. It was a wonderful time to be with our family here! These beautiful people are our family!

We had wonderfully yummy food.
We played a video game where we could sing and play instruments.
We loved on each other.
We talked.
We laughed.
It was wonderful.

I actually took about 60 pictures.
These are just a few of them.

Christmas Part 2

Justus was a happy boy on Christmas even though we have still not really gone thru his stocking with him. We just never got a chance - I feel bad but I don't think he will remember. I think next year he will give Hannah a run for her money on excitement.
Hannah opened her stocking (or sock as she calls it) and was very excited but she was very jealous of what Daddy had in his sock. We actually had to hide Chris' stocking from her and she just kept walking around and looking for it saying "where's Daddy's sock go?" Luckily for her Daddy shared one of his gummy lifesavers with her. How sweet.

Then we had our traditional big breakfast. Very fun. My hubby looked so cute in his apron cooking me some bacon, on the stove!

Christmas Part 1

This was a fun Christmas. Here are a few of our memories.

Hannah loved looking under the tree to decide what gift she was going to get next and deliver. She made me laugh every time.

Hannah was very sweet about showing Justus his gifts - up close! And some of her gift too. She even sat right down and read to him out of his new Bible right away!

Funny Story. Hannah got two coats. The perfect combination. One is more of a heavier coat and the other is more of a jacket and would be great in the rain. Anyway, she LOVED them both. As soon as she opened up the first one she put it on and would not take it off.... until, that is, she got the second coat and then she put that one on and would not take it off. SO, most of the pictures of her opening presents - she is wearing a coat! That is so funny.

Hannah got the hang of showing off the clothes she got real quick. It was cute! OH, and she liked to show Justus' clothes off too.

Justus had fun showing his own clothes off too. OH, but Daddy showed off one of the outfits that Justus got!

We all had lots of fun and were so happy to be together! It was a fun day full of smiles.

Happy AND Sad

Is that possible?

Ever have that friend, that someone special, that you were happy for but the happiness meant they would not be near you anymore and so.. it meant you were sad too?

I have that friend. Kelli. I already miss them all. The just left Friday to move to California! So Far!

Kelli has been such a wonderful blessing in our lives. Kelli (and Mr Brian - Hannah will quickly tell you) is very special to Hannah in particular. Kelli got to take care of my little wild and crazy Hannah for about 3 months and there is such a bond that is so so sweet.

This is a picture of Hannah telling Ms. Kelli bye bye. It was so sweet. We were about to leave (we had all said bye to the family) but then Hannah said she didn't say bye to Ms Kelli so she HAD to go say bye again! It was weird but I really think Hannah understood in some strange way what was going on.

We Love You Fergusons!
We Miss You but are Glad You are Back Close To Your Family!
We Can't Wait to Come and Visit You!
(and we can not wait for another visit from you - here!)

Menu Plan Monday

Well, I did bad this week. My grocery bill was $89.08. Luckily I had a $50 Kroger gift card that we had gotten for Christmas and so our out of pocket was only $39.08. Thank Goodness.

I am not sure what happened this week. Maybe wanting to have some nice meals for Christmas? Maybe knowing we are going to have a couple of guests in the house for a couple of days? Maybe wanting to try too many new recipes in one week? Maybe wanting to take advantage of a few coupons before they expire at the end of the year? Whatever the excuse, I went over - bottom line.

SO, a plan of action for this..... I put a couple of the new recipes I wanted to try this week aside and will push them until next week AND I am doing a couple of meals this week from stuff we already had. Hopefully next week the bill will be LOTS less! We will see.

((On a positive note about my grocery bill, with my coupons and Kroger Plus card I saved $63.57 - My bagger was very impressed by the final amount I had to pay!!))

SO, on to the menu:

Monday: 4 Can Black Bean Chili, Chips & Dip

Tuesday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
(We have some wonderful friends who watched the kids Saturday night so that Chris and I could go on a date. SO, we didn't have the Spaghetti planned for Saturday of last week.)

Wednesday: Gilled Italian Chicken, Ranch Potatoes, Lima Beans

Thursday: Ham, Green Beans, Macaroni and Cheese

Friday: Supper at a friend's house. We just get to take brownies, ice cream, and some drinks.

Saturday: BBQ Meatloaf, Lima Beans, Cream Cheese Corn

Sunday: Sandwiches and left overs

I will keep you up dated. Hopefully next week will be better.
To see other's menu plans just check out OrgJunkie!

Labor of Love

My good friend Jonathan (known to my children as Uncle JMelt) introduced me to this song last year around this time. And this Christmas season, I have heard it again - more. It has changed me.

As a mother and a woman who has carried a child and given birth to a child, I am so surprised it has never really hit me before. The words "It Was Not a Silent Night" just get me. Mary was in labor and gave birth to a baby and all that comes with giving birth in a stable!!

She was human, like me and you. Imagine her faith and her love for the Lord and the trust that she and Joseph had.

I know that the words to this song are not in the Bible exactly like this but this song, to me, ...this song helps to show the humanity of it all. The Bible is not just about stories and it is not about things that happened so far removed from who we are. It is NOT fictional. The Bible is a written account of what really happened to people. People like you and me. Men and Women like us.

It Was Not A Silent Night.

Our Sunday Pictures