Tuesday, December 22, 2009

We Have A New Child!

We have a new child! Well, same child, new attitude!

Not that Emery was a fussy baby, or even a difficult child..... but she has battled one ear infection after another since she turned one....six ear infections, three of them double, since July.

My poor poor baby! We finally got the go ahead, and referral to get ventilator tubes put in her ears.

Easy procedure, you can read more about it in the link below..... 15 minutes total. She was a different child by that afternoon.
Mayo Clinic

Here's to no more ear infections!


Friday, December 18, 2009

It's Genetic

If you've known me long, the fact that I have a slight obsession with books is an understatement.

I love love love books.

I was the girl who never sold back my textbooks, because I loved them. I used to hate loaning out books, because I loved them. I would buy books anywhere I found them, because...you got it.....

I loved them.

Upon graduating from seminary/ having a baby, and buying our first real house (we owned a condo before, but all that means is we didn't get the 8,000 bucks from Obama when we bought our first real home) anywhoo..... after all that I decided it was time to downsize our book collection.

So I sold. And sold. And sold.....books in 3 yard sales. It was sad to see them go.

In my attempts to be "green" I have also made a commitment to not buy anymore books and to use my library.

Let me just tell you. I stinkin love my library.

It makes me actually read a book in a timely manner, because I know I have to return it as not to be charged. And we all know I won't be charged.

I'm frugal like that.

If you don't visit your library. Do. I cant' wait until Emery is old enough to check out books.

Did I mention that she has a slight obsession with books as well? If she could she would have me read her every book she has, all day everyday.

It's genetic. I know.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Favorite Christmas Song Eva

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), 1867)

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

It Was Bound To Happen

Our church had a big tailgate party for the Clemson/South Carolina game.

So in the spirit of ministry, for the work of the Lord, Benji and I HAD to pick a team.

So we went with orange. We had a great time at the tailgate and watched the game on a huge screen in the gym. Here are a few pics of Emery in her orange and purple!


GNO Christmas

I know you've all been waiting for GNO pictures from December.

Well here we are, in all our pajama glory. We decorated ornaments with adorable stencils from this website, uppercaseliving.....

Then we all exchanged ten dollar gifts in a white elephant swap.

And of course we ate way to much! I love these girls...it is truly the highlight of my month.



Farm Fresh Bread

Whew!!!!! We have been partying hard! I'm telling you, six Christmas parties in two weeks will take it out of ya! haha....

We've had a blast, but I am exhausted. The first party that kicked it off was our high school gingerbread contest/party. Our small groups got together and built gingerbread houses. The Church staff then voted on the best out of the 10....First place won Bojangles biscuits every Sunday for the rest of 2009.

Guess which group won????

MINE! yahooo! Ours was a replica of the barn of one of the girls in my group.

We had a blast at the party, eating pizza, talking smack about the other groups and just hanging out with each other.

Notice our hot tub in the back....sweet!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Do Your Part

So we signed up for Netflix.

Love it.

But, that's beside the point. One of the first movies I watched was a documentary called, Food INC...... I've been wanting to see it for awhile. Here are some simple tips on how to help our environment, our wallets and of course help YOURSELF.

We could all use some health tips right? And if it benefits our wallets and our environment that is a plus.

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages....(in my case...DIET COKE)
You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).

2. Eat at home instead of eating out.
Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.
Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers.

4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

5. Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.
An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.

6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.
Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

8. Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.
The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.
Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.
Poverty among farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees.