Home Again

Today, we made the trek home from the grandparents' houses. Our visit was terrific and we made some great new memories. Now begins the countdown until the next visit "back home".

We made some photos on our way out of town: one of something I didn't expect to miss...Ingle's grocery stores! Ingle's, please consider opening stores in the middle of the state. My search continues for another store to fill the hole in my life, until Ingle's finds me. Next, E. took a photo of the nativity scene put up by my hometown--makes me proud that they still do this (Now, some of the other decorations made me scratch my head in bewilderment). The other photo just barely shows my bro-in-law and sis-in-law in their van, going our way for a brief time this afternoon. I'm not sure where they were headed, but we acted crazed when we pulled beside them, as if we had not seen them in years, when in fact, we had just seen them a little bit earlier.

The last photo is of our first fire of the season. In fact, it's our first fire in this house. Don't worry, Mimi, we opened the flue and the chimney hasn't caught fire (yet). The kids want to make s'mores and I'm not one to turn down some gooey, chocolatey calories--I do it for the kids, y'all.

Hope y'all have a good evening and a blessed Lord's Day!

Later Days!
Kelly

Not-So-Black Friday

Hi. I hope everyone reading this had a terrific Thanksgiving! We have had a wonderful time visiting with our families, talking with friends, eating turkey and dressing, eating many other things....

In fact, the above photo shows part of the family eating at our favorite "back home" restaurant, Puerto Nuevo! I'm pretty sure the restaurant staff had been wondering where we were :o).

We didn't get in on the "Black Friday" shopping at 5 a.m., but some of us ventured out a bit later to do battle. We bought some winter coats, hats, and gloves for all the kiddos--believing that there will be S*N*O*W this winter. Living in S.C. all my life, I've had to act in faith many times on this issue.

Must run enjoy some family time.
Later Days!
Kelly

Giving Thanks!

We have so much to be thankful for! We've been enjoying our visit "back home" with our families so much. Last night, we joined the throng of travelers on the interstate going home for the holiday. Today, just as you would expect, has been a day of much eating, joking, and dozing.

In addition, we enjoyed a couple more family Thanksgiving traditions. After eating at Mimi and Papa's house, it is customary for the crowd to go for a walk (before dozing). At Nana and Gdad's house, it is customary for the children to put on a Thanksgiving play (written, directed, costumed, and performed by themselves).I like the above photos because they're of my family "unplugged." You know, acting the way real people act. Of course, it'd be nice if my children would occasionally pose like those kids in wallet photos :o).

We'll be staying with grandparents another couple of nights and may even get to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant while we're in town (Muy bueno). Right now, I don't even want to think about food....

Later Days!
Kelly

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi friends and family! We are awaiting Thanksgiving with eager anticipation! Tonight, our church had a special Thanksgiving service and K. sang with the children's choir (see above photo--she's the one on the end, wearing a purple pullover). Unfortunately, after her group sang, I missed the rest of the service b/c M. got rowdy and I had to take him to the nursery.

Since we moved Wednesday's service to Tuesday, that leaves us free to travel home tomorrow afternoon instead of waiting until Thursday :o). We don't yet know where we'll stay but I'm pretty sure someone will take us in...pleeeeeeease.

After Thanksgiving it seems that December puts on a burst of speed and we fly through the rest of the year. With many family b-days, anniversaries, and church commitments during Dec., there's barely time to breath. You know, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Later Days!
Kelly

Sunday

With today being Sunday and all, I really need to be getting ready to go to evening service right now but I thought I'd let everybody know what this weekend has held for our crew. Friday involved me frantically doing MY schoolwork, trying to get a course finished (not yet). Saturday involved me frantically doing MY schoolwork, trying to get my course finished (not yet), while answering the kids' questions about why I was doing schoolwork when it wasn't a school day (because moms don't get days off). Also on Saturday, Hubby and K. went to a college basketball game for a team that shall remain nameless on this blog :o). The tickets were given to them, OK? They enjoyed the game and the time together. Saturday evening, I attended The Silver Ring Thing with E. and other youth from church. An eye-opening event, I can tell ya! While the laser-light show, the pounding music, and the on-stage pyrotechnics didn't really do it for me, I appreciated the message of purity that was presented and was proud to purchase a silver ring for my daughter to support her in her pledge. Youth today need all the support they can get to lead a godly lifestyle--pray for them! Finally, today being the Lord's Day, we've been to Sunday School and morning worship and have the evenings activities and worship to go.

I hope all of you have had a terrific weekend and a blessed Lord's Day!

Later Days!
Kelly

I finally did it....

It was time. I'll probably be faced with derision and scorn from a great number of people for doing it. It hurt me, but it had to be done. I trimmed M's hair. Not all the curls are gone, I promise. It must be faced, though, that he DOES look older, more mature. His beautiful, red curls were becoming frizzy, finger-in-a-light-socket, scraggly flames of hair, leaping from his head (How was that for a word-picture?).

Some of you, even now as you are in shock, are wondering how this thing was accomplished. Well, I already had him howling mad from bathtime last night so I figured I had nothing to lose. We had fought and lost the battle of getting his hair tamed too long--it was trim it or braid it! I parked him in front of The Doodlebops (I know, child abuse) and quickly, stealthily, snipped random wisps of hair until it looked (somewhat) even. Even today, I see places that need a bit of work. Happily, I also see some rebellious curls refusing to be tamed! After all, who would M. be without them?

Above you see a photo of last week of M. sitting in the storage ottoman vs. today's photo with slight hair modifications (notice the presence of the unruly curl).

Later Days!
Kelly

p.s. Please allow yourself a cool-off period before calling or emailing me to fuss :o).

Wed.

This is a post mainly to tell you that I regret that I have nothing interesting to say :o). More schoolwork, more laundry, more cooking, etc., took up the bulk of my day. We did have a good service at church tonight (including all of the kids' activities, such as choir, RAs,GAs, Youth stuff). Little M. required much chasing, as usual. And, as everyone knows, Wednesday is Taco Night for the Adams'. That's a law, right? So...a good day, but not a particularly exciting one.

I included a photo just to make it worthwhile for the grandparents to keep checking my blog. You never know what might appear....

Hello to all my family back home--looking forward to seeing you all next week!

Later Days!
Kelly

Monday

Today was a business-as-usual kind of day. Loads of laundry, loads of schoolwork. I'm happy to report that, not only did I shepherd the kids through their homeschool subjects today, but I also got around to doing some of my own coursework! I'm taking a Teaching Methods class for my Master's Degree and it's been some time since I've had a chance to work on it. I'm too busy teaching to work on Teaching Methods! Once I finish this course, I'll be about 1/2 finished with the degree and I'd like to be done by summertime, so I've got my work cut out for me :o).

My crew are all doing well. Alan has had a very busy day--prayer breakfast at a local restaurant at 6:00 a.m., on to the church office to work, a couple of hospital visits, and, last but not least...a Wild Game supper tonight! Yes, he's eating some sort of defenseless woodland creature with a host of other Baptist men from around our association. I told him to enjoy that while the kids and I had a Wild Thing supper like always--our meals often deteriorate into the sort of event that Martha Stewart has nightmares about.

I better quit goofing off while I should be working, so for now...
Later Days!
Kelly

p.s. For no special reason other than that I love sweets, I decided to post this quick, easy recipe....

Crookies (a salty, sweet, crunchy treat)
Need: one sleeve of Salteens (off-brand crackers will do nicely)
one stick of butter
one cup of brown sugar
one bag of milk chocolate chips

1. Spread the entire sleeve of salteens on a baking sheet, side by side.
2. Melt the stick of butter and the cup of brown sugar on med.-low until ooey & gooey.
3. Pour this mixture evenly over the crackers.
4. Bake for 5 minutes on 350 degrees--this makes the topping bubbly.
5. Remove from oven and sprinkle the bag of milk chocolate chips over the top. As they melt, spread the chocolate with the back of a spoon.
6. Pop the baking sheet into the refrigerator or freezer until the mixture sets and then break it into pieces (The cookie, silly...not the baking sheet).
7. Eat the entire thing OR share with Mimi.

The Lord's Day

Happy Lord's Day to all! We had a wonderful time with my parents in town. As my eldest said, "The house seems empty" when the grandparents have to go. We are looking ahead to Thanksgiving when we'll get to see ALL of our extended family back home!

Today's morning worship service was good. Hubby is preaching a series on the Ten Commandments and today was "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." Though Exodus 20 is a very familiar passage of Scripture, the Commandments are often ignored these days. I've enjoyed delving deeper into God's Word and listening to my favorite preacher :o). After service we had our church's Thanksgiving fellowship meal (mmmmmm).

Tonight is what our church calls Family Focus Night. We have many examples in the Bible of small groups gathering together in their homes for worship and that is what we are supposed to do tonight. Each family is encouraged to have their own time of worship: in our family, our eldest is doing the Scripture & leading us in a study of it, K. is leading us in music, N. is taking prayer requests & leading us in prayer...and it looks like I'll be doing nursery :o).

Later Days!
Kelly

Ottoman fun

These photos needed a bit of explanation so I thought they deserved their own post. We wanted a way to store some of M.'s toys in our den--he doesn't have his own room and right now many of his doo-dads reside in Rubbermaid totes, which are functional but not necessarily attractive in our den. Our solution for now is a pair of storage ottomans, which are SUPPOSED to be filled with his toys. We've discovered that they are sometimes filled with him instead!

The final photo shows a worn-out little man, who chose an unusual place to take his nap...notice the highly photogenic drool spot on the chair :o).

Later Days!
Kelly

Friday Highlights

Today's menu...I mean itinerary...included a breakfast of biscuits from Bojangles, lunch from Chik-fil-A, ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery, and a date--yes, a DATE with my husband, including dinner and Christmas shopping for the kiddos while Mimi and Papa watched our wild children...I mean their precious grandchildren.

I feel better having started some shopping. We still have 4 family b-days and 2 family anniversaries (including ours) to celebrate before Christmas, so we have much more shopping to do. At this time of year, it's easy for me to panic about all of the things I THINK I need to do and buy. I need to continually refocus on thankfulness for all our blessings and the joy of celebrating God's best gift to us...His Son. I'm always on the lookout for ways to instill that focus in our children--and I'm open for suggestions if anyone will share them :o).

Later Days!
Kelly

Welcome!

Mimi and Papa have joined us for a couple of days and we're showing them a good time, Adams-style. Remember how we ate and shopped and ate and shopped when Nana and Gdad were here? Well...this calls for more of the same. Here's some photos of the whole crew at our favorite pizza buffet (***NOTE*** I captured the elusive Mimi on film). Yes, more riding on the merry-go-round.

In addition, we made our weekly library visit today since Tuesday was Veteran's Day (library closed) and I was sick on Wednesday. K. is most impressed that our local library has all of the American Girls on display above the AG books.

Finally, we capped off our exciting evening with a trip to Target and Home Depot! Nobody can say we don't know how to have a good time. I'll let y'all know what we do tomorrow.

Later Days!
Kelly

Wednesday

Hello to all who have been breathlessly waiting for a new post. I'm afraid I haven't really done anything blog-worthy today (unless you want to hear about my tummy bug). Thankfully, everyone else is unaffected and we pray that they remain so. My parents are coming to visit tomorrow and I'm hoping to be back on my feet so we can enjoy their stay. Photos MAY result, but it's tough to catch Mimi on film :o).

K.'s early-morning dr. appt. went well, for all who are waiting on news from that. Results from her blood tests should be coming in a couple of days, but we're not expecting anything alarming from those. Thank you to all who are praying.

Later Days!
Kelly

11*10*08

Catching up: Thankfully, our eldest perked up considerably and was able to go to church yesterday. Our Lord's Day was very good, with wonderful services AND a surprise visit from some back-home friends! Hubby's folks returned home on Saturday and are probably enjoying a little peace and quiet :o). We enjoyed their visit and are already looking forward to my parent's visit at the end of this week. Time is flying by and it will soon be time for us to go home for Thanksgiving!

We were very blessed yesterday to receive an unexpected (and very much appreciated) gift of a Family Membership to our local zoo! We can't wait to go, knowing that we'll be able to thoroughly enjoy it over many visits. I assure you that there will be zoo photos appearing on the blog before long.

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. The apple-spice cake was wonderful!

The Next Food Network Star?

Nana and M. made a delicious apple spice cake today. Iron Chef M. loves to dump ingredients, stir, and even use the hand mixer a little. We'll all enjoy the fruits of their labors in a little while and I'll let you know the results of the "judging".

Otherwise, it'll be a pretty quiet (for us) afternoon. Oldest child E. woke up with a fever and congestion so she's had a trip to Doctor's Care this morning (what we call Urgent Care back home). Nothing serious, just sinusitis...enough to make her feel a bit draggy. So, a lazy Saturday for us (hopefully).

Oh, one last thing. Unnamed sources (you know who I mean) have informed me that one recent theory regarding dinosaur extinction is that they died from...flatulence?!? Their own "emissions" resulted in a greenhouse effect that ultimately led to their demise. No photos were available. Interesting, yes? So go the conversations around our house.

Later Days!
Kelly

Skype

What an amazing age we live in! So many technological advances exist today that would have seemed like science fiction several years ago...cell phones, laptop computers, digital cameras, etc. One of our new favorite techie gizmos is Skype. It allows us to have face-to-face phone calls with grandparents and friends, using our laptop computers and web cams. Skype-ing is an "event" at our house...kids jockeying for position in front of the camera, everyone talking at once, kids fighting, kids being sent to their rooms.... Still, it's great to "see" your loved ones when you can't be with them.

The above photos show my crew gathering around to talk to Mimi and Papa just a little while ago. We're looking forward to having them visit with us next week!

Right now, we're enjoying a visit from Hubby's parents, Nana and Granddad (Gdad), for a couple of days. Today we kept busy shopping and eating, eating and shopping. Who knows what we'll do tomorrow, but I suspect there'll be a bit more of the same :o). Stay tuned for details.

Later Days!
Kelly

I'm Thankful For...

Of all the earthly blessings that God has given, I'm most thankful for my family. My hubby and I have tremendous, godly parents whom we respect and depend upon for encouragement and guidance (and babysitting whenever possible). We have four wonderful children who have added so much joy to our lives and who have been God's tool for "growing us up" in many ways.

M. made a page of handprint turkeys in church last night and the photo shows how proud he is of them! We are very thankful for the many dedicated, godly people who pour themselves into our children's (and our) lives through Sunday School classes, keeping nursery, children's church, and all other activities, past and present.

Boy, I have so much to be thankful for and I bet you do, too! Praise the Lord!

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. Nana and G-dad (hubby's parents) just came to spend a couple of days with us--we're very thankful for that!

Tuesday = Library

I'm thankful that my crew loves to read. For quite a long time, Tuesday has been our day to visit the library and max out our library cards. In fact, it's possible that the library takes on extra staff on Tuesdays because of us (it would have nothing to do with the fact that I bring a wild-man 2yo with me).

Today was no different--I took a wild-man 2yo with me :o). While it can be stressful keeping up with 4 kids who want to look in different sections of the library, it is rewarding when we get home and everybody plops down and dives right into a new book. Except Mom...who has to get lunch ready, while savoring the anticipation of starting a new book.

Later Days!
Kelly

Vote!

Unless you've been asleep for the last 18 months or so, you realize that there's a Presidential campaign going on. I strongly urge everyone to pray and seek God's will and then VOTE! Though both candidates are flawed (aren't we all?), one of them is deeply committed to making the "choice" to terminate a baby's life an even easier "choice" than it already is. God loves and has a plan for each person even while they are being formed in their mother's womb--we must speak up for these little people who cannot protect themselves (and who have NO choice)!

We are commanded in Scripture to pray for all those in authority over us, so please pray for whomever becomes President, those in Congress, our Supreme Court, and all others who must make incredibly difficult and life-altering decisions.

I strongly suspect that I'm "preaching to the choir", in that only my family and close friends are readers of my blog :o). I'll have a lighter post later in the day, OK?

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. Shout-out to my Big Bro--in honor of the election, I'm going to try to watch the Election Night episode of TWW.

Welcome November!

I love November! The beautiful colors of the leaves, the nip in the air, the holiday family gatherings just around the corner....Wait, that means Christmas is right around the corner!?! That will get the adrenaline pumping--every year I vow to have a sane, simple Christmas with no last minute running around. I'll let you know if it ever happens.

Today was a day for doing moving-related projects that weren't fun but that needed to happen. Hubby cleaned the garage so that both vehicles can be parked in it (and we can still open the doors to said vehicles); we moved boxes of stuff up to the attic; I organized the pantry; hubby worked hiding all of the cords for the electronic stuff. All in all, a good days' work.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Lord's Day worshipping at church tomorrow!

Later Days!
Kelly