handsful

Randy bought me the Roomba vacuum cleaner 2 Christmas’ ago. I love this thing. We have a black dog and light tile floors (as seen above!) all over the house. Black dog hair shows up really well on these floors! (Note to self: next house, dark floors) Not too long ago, Roomba slowly started losing battery power and finally quit about a month ago. The new battery came in the mail yesterday and today…he’s back in business! I love watching that little guy suck up dog hair. I’m easily entertained.

Leslie tagged us on her blog (“My Girls – Leslie” on my side bar) so, here goes! Christmas Questions!

* D: Donna R: Randy

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? D: Hot Chocolate R: What’s wrong with Mountain Dew?
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? D: We’ve never given gifts from Santa. The kids have always known he’s pretend! R: True – But we still normally put a few presents out where the kids can see ‘em.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? D: Colored lights on indoor trees, white on garland and wreath at the front door. R: Red and White lights on my N.C. State Tree, colored lights on the live indoor tree, white lights on the outdoor wreath and garland around the door, and colored lights on the drake elm outside. I’ve got a little Griswald in me.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? D: NO R: What she said.
5. When do you put your decorations up? D: A day or 2 after Thanksgiving. R: . . . is when we start, and then we normally finish a day or 2 before Christmas. Again, it’s the Griswald in me.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? D: Sweet Potato Casserole! R: Pecan Pie. It’s not dessert if you eat it first.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: D: More like “funny memory”…seeing the bicycle under the tree and thinking “oh no, I have to learn to ride that thing.” R: My brother and I waking up before daybreak, yelling down the hall to our parents, and playing a riveting game of “can we get up yet?” for about an hour.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? D: I have no memory of that! R: I don’t either . . . pretty sure my older brother had something to do with it, tho.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? D: When I was a kid, mom would let me open 1 present on Christmas eve! R: Sometimes D & I will open one or so the night before, but we always make the kids wait.
10 How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? D: Randy does the lights, then the kids gather around me and I give them ornaments to hang. R: Check . . . except for some particularly special ones that we hang up high to make sure they don’t get broken – ornaments from our trees as children, from my grandparent’s tree, etc.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? D: Love it, but never see it! (Florida!) R: I love it, too. Looks VERY pretty on T.V.
12. Can you ice skate? D: Tried to once…did okay. R: I can rollerblade. I’ve heard it’s similar.
13. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? D: Doing all those traditions with the kids…like, baking the SAME cookies that I did with my mom. R: And obviously doing everything we can to keep ourselves and our kids focused on why we celebrate Christmas and why Jesus came to Earth in the form of a baby.
14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? D: My Grandmom’s chocolate pie R: Hmm…already ate the Pecan Pie for dinner, so I’ll have some of my mom’s raisin nut log for dessert.
15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? D: Taking a picture of the kids as they each hang their “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments. And, reading an advent book each night with the kids. R: I’ll agree with Donna on the advent book (we read Jotham’s Journey, then Tabitha’s Travels, and are working on Bartholomew’s Passage this year). We loved doing a “Walk through Bethlehem” at my dad’s church in N.C. (the kids loved seeing my dad as a wise man), but we’ve missed that since moving.
16. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? D: Giving…love to see the person’s face as they open the box! R: Giving. Especially if it’s something the person didn’t specifically ask for, but you know they are going to love it.
17. What’s your favorite Christmas Song? D: Joy to the World! R: Hmm…I like Away in a Manager. I always picture my Abbey-girl singing it at the top of her lungs when she was 5.
18. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?  D: As long as it’s a non-traditional flavor (Jellybelly!), then I love ‘em. R: Not so much.

Join in the fun! Copy the questions and answer them on your own blog or email your answers to me! Merry Christmas…

I’ve had my laptop computer for probably 6 months now. When we were setting it up, one thing eluded us. We couldn’t find the volume control. We read the manual inside and out and checked every button and knob we could find…nothing would increase the volume. So, for the last 6 months, I’ve been straining to hear songs, videos, etc.

Tonight, Marley was using my laptop to play Neopets.com. She calls me over and says “Hey, Mom, I found the volume on your computer.” Huh?? No way. She then shows me a little dial right on the front edge. My husband (who, by the way, knows his way around a computer) and I just stare at each other. My daughter grins. We also have several switches in our kitchen that we have no idea what they do. Marley promised to get right on that in the morning.

Tonight Randy and I attended our second Waiting Families meeting with our local FCC chapter. (Okay, my second but Randy’s first!) There are FCC chapters all over the country and, from what I understand, our chapter is very active! There are lots of activities for families that have already adopted, and we’re excited to be able to be a part of this community once our waiting is done. For now, we will gather as much support and information that we can from our facilitator, Donna (she adopted her daughter 10 years ago!) and the other great people in the group.

Another cool thing about tonight was finally meeting Kelly! We “met” in an online adoption group and realized we’re from the same city! She’s just as nice in person as she is through email :) Kelly’s blog is listed in my links “Journey to Mia Jade”. Check it out…and be sure to order one of the cookbooks that her family is selling to help fund their adoption….”Some Daughters Come By Plane”. I just got one and there are lots of yummy recipes to try!

Third Day has always been my very favorite Christian rock band. We have almost all of their CDs and Randy and I saw them in concert a few years ago. It was fantastic! (By the way, it’s a Third Day song that you’re listening to right now…unless, your not set up to hear blog music!)

I heard a month or so ago that they were putting out their first Christmas CD. I made a mental note to buy that. Then, I hear that there is a song on the album about a family missing their daughter…who is in an orphanage in China…who they plan to adopt. Hello?? I immediately placed my order on amazon.com.

The CD is wonderful, all the classic Christmas hymns. “Merry Christmas” is the last song on the CD and was written by Brad Avery, a member of the band. It’s his family that is in the waiting phase of their adoption from China. I’ve listened to this song probably 12 times, and have yet to make it through without at least choking up. Here are the words of the chorus:

“It’s Christmas time again but you’re not home…Your family is here and yet you’re somewhere else alone…So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms…and tell you from my heart…I wish you Merry Christmas.”

If that doesn’t get you, then here is the last chorus:

“It’s Christmas time again and now you’re home…Your family is here so you will never be alone…So tonight before you go to sleep I’ll hold you in my arms…and tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas.”

Oh my.

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday! My parents came down from NC to spend a few days with us. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner…my Mom makes great mashed potatoes! That afternoon, we drove to the beach to take Christmas pictures. It was chilly, so we smiled quickly! On Friday, I managed to drag mom out of the house by 5:30am for over 5 hours of shopping! That was fun. Randy’s high point of the holiday was trying out the potato gun that he’s been building. We started out using little foam balls in the driveway…worked great. Then, we all walked down to the pier in our neighborhood to give potatoes a try! Wow! Those things really flew!! Randy was so proud!

See the smoke?

Daddy is way cool!

Yesterday, we received Secret Pal presents from BOTH of my groups…June-July CCAI group and July Fireflies group! Here are the pictures!

July Fireflies…Ladybug theme! Adorable Mama and baby ladybug toy. Pull the plastic loop and the mama scoots, pulling baby along with her!

June-July CCAI group…Chinese theme! ladybug chocolates, chinese coin replicas collection, beautiful journal, wooden fan, porcelain tea set, and a Smores brownie mix for the kids to make!