I Love You, Santa!!

Well, Liam finally was able to meet and speak with Santa Claus. This activity was super high on his list of 'to-do's'! John and I took Liam to Cool Springs Galleria and stood in line for nearly 2 hours to take a picture with Santa. Jonathan was at a friend's house and for some odd reason, didn't want to go. Ha!

Liam was an absolute angel the entire time we stood in line. This was probably because he was focused on his mission-meeting Santa and trying to make sure he had his wish list just right for when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas.

I was a little fearful that Liam would freak out once he was actually with Santa but he didn't! He jumped in front of Santa and said, "Hi, how are you?" and then hugged him tight. He took a picture with Santa and then told him everything he wanted. When he was getting down he said, "Santa, can I give you a kiss?" Santa said absolutely! So Liam gave him a kiss and said, "I love you, Santa!" Ahhh...

As we were walking away to pay what could be loosely termed 'extortion' for the pictures, Liam stopped and ran back over to Santa Claus. Liam stood in front of him and said, "I forgot! Merry Christmas, Santa. Bye Bye!" Liam was on a high the rest of the day. Mission Accomplished!

Beyond Tragic

Hi! I know it has been a while since I posted. To say I have been busy is an understatement! I promise to update with Thanksgiving photos over the weekend! However, I came across this story on CNN and it really tore at me. Please read and keep this family in your prayers.



Tucson mother passes away, leaves husband and newborn triplets
Posted:Dec 6, 2007 05:27 PM CST

LOOK BELOW FOR DONATION INFORMATION
During this holiday season, a Tucson father has three reasons to celebrate. Andrue Smith's wife recently gave birth to triplet boys.
But tragically, his wife died after the babies were born.
Andrue is now struggling to cope with the loss of his wife and raising the babies on his own.
They're daddy's little boys. Legend, Tristian and Jaisyn were born six weeks premature, a week ago today.
"All I wanted was a son," he told us.
You can see the love in Andrue's eyes. Love, and sorrow, because his wife Debbie will never see her babies.
Andrue says, out of the blue, his wife got deathly ill. Doctors saved the boys, but couldn't save her.
"My wife's heart had stopped beating. Her body suffered and her brain suffered... It's not the kind of thing people will recover from."
So Andrue made the difficult decision to discontinue life support.
"It's going to be hard, very hard. I can't imagine a life without her."
Numb, this 28 year old single father of three is trying.
"My wife, I know she'd expect me to be strong and she'd want me to take care of those kids."
Andrew has a full-time construction job, but questions whether he earns enough to afford childcare. And if he quits his job, how will he pay his mortgage?
"Absolutely anything anybody can help out with or contribute, I'd be very happy to accept anything. I've got my babies, my three boys to worry about, and that's what's keeping me strong."
Andrew calls them daddy's little army.
If you'd like to help the Smith Family, you can drop off items such as diapers, clothes and car seats at Victory Assembly of God Church, at 2561 W. Ruthrauff Rd., Tucson AZ, 85705-1853.
A memorial fund has been set-up as well. If you'd like to donate to that, just go to any Wells Fargo Bank and donate to the Debra L. Smith Family Memorial Fund.
If you are wiring money from outside the Tucson area, please tell your local Wells Fargo banker to send your donation to account number 8453610233 through routing number 121000248.

Mad as He!!

Can I just rant for a few minutes? Would you indulge me for a bit? Good...

I heard on the news that the school district in Seattle is declaring the Thanksgiving holidays as a time of mourning. Yep, I am serious. I know public education is lacking in so many areas, but this is ridiculous as the administrators are seriously lacking in common sense.

Their logic is that we should mourn what we did to the Native Americans and not celebrate how we once dined with them and then turned on them so violently.

Let me say this; as a former history teacher and one who has taken graduate level history courses, I am not ignorant to the fact that we could've handled things a lot better years and years ago. Take a look at the text below...

Historical revisionism is the attempt to change commonly held ideas about the past. In its legitimate form (see historical revisionism) it is the reexamination of historical facts, with an eye towards updating historical narratives with newly discovered, more accurate, or less biased information, acknowledging that history of an event, as it has been traditionally told, may not be entirely accurate.

"Historical revisionism" (also but less often in English "negationism"

[1]), as used in this article, describes the process that attempts to rewrite history by minimizing, denying or simply ignoring essential facts. Perpetrators of such attempts to distort the historical record often use the term because it allows them to cloak their illegitimate activities with a phrase which has a legitimate meaning. Negationism relies on a number of techniques such as logical fallacies and appeal to fear.

Please just give me a break. When was the last time you sat at the table with your family and recreated the Pilgrims and Indians feasting together like on the Brady Bunch episode 30 years ago?

For me, Thanksgiving is a time to be with loved ones and enjoy their company. It is a time to relax and reflect on all of the blessings we have to be grateful for and then actually giving thanks for them. Truly, this is what Thanksgiving means to me. Well, that and eating too much and watching the Dallas Cowboys! (P.S. How 'bout them Cowboys?!?!?)

This year we are traveling to York, PA to be with John's aunt, uncle, dad and grandma. We will also visit the Gettysburg National Battlefield and the Amish Country. I love going to York because it is a happy and welcoming home in which we will stay. There will be lots of laughter, love, food, wine, and stories---perfect.

Don't look for us to be running around in the backyard chasing indians and stealing corn. And no, I am not making light of what happened to the Native Americans. I am just 'taking back' Thanksgiving.

No need to mourn this week-thank you very much!

Interview with God

This may take some time to load and play. However, I assure you that it is worth your time. Very touching and very timely. Please enjoy.

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/

Fall in Nashville

After living in Texas for 32 years, I now live in a part of the country that experiences seasons. I absolutely LOVE this about Nashville. My favorite seasons are autumn and spring, probably because of the visual eye candy they each provide. The picture to the right was taken just off of Natchez Trace in Williamson County.



The above picture was taken in the backyard, in our birdbath. Beautiful leaves. The picture below is taken just at the south end of our property. I love the burning bushes.




The next picture was taken a week ago in my co-worker's subdivision. I loved the colors on the tree as well as the rainbow. Gorgeous.




I am loving this time of the year. New England is known for their fall colors-but Nashville is not too shabby either!