December...so far...

After my last post, I feel like I owe any readers I have left a real post...so here goes...

To get started, here's some pictures from our Christmas adventures this month...

Greg attended a conference at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville,
so we took advantage of the opportunity to tag along!

I cannot imagine how it must have seemed to someone
not yet 4 ft tall...

It was beautiful and we were all overwhelmed.

We were hanging out by the fountains while waiting for Greg
to finish up at his conference and go to dinner with us.

One of the Christmas features is Gingy's house and the
opportunity to have your picture taken with him.

We decorated a Gingerbread family while there...

The Magnolia Lobby

Love these two and am blessed to experience life with them!

Some of the highlights from this month include:

• Thanksgiving and a week with my parents visiting
• Christmas parade and viewing decorated Christmas store windows
• Advent Readings at Church
• Christmas Breakfasts at Church in lieu of Sunday School
• Opryland at Christmas (a bucket list item for me!)
• The Polar Express in 3D
• Caroling with our Church family
• Christmas parties
• Driving around to look at Christmas lights
• Watching Christmas movies
• Wrapping and Baking
• The Jesse Tree
• Reading Christmas Books
• Making a Gingerbread family and Gingerbread Snoopy Village

And we will continue adding to the list.  Stay tuned for more updates and more pictures...

This is one of my favorite goodies to make with small children,
because they can do it almost completely on their own.

Start with pretzels, place a kiss or a hug on top...

Warm in a oven for 5-6 minutes, and then smoosh an M&M on top!

Precision is key when cutting out cookies...

We each have our own unique decorating styles.
Good Times, indeed!

The One Where She Throws Turtles...

We were going out of town for a week, and I was desperate to get my garden planted before we left.  I worked hard the whole week before and got all my seedlings in the ground.

Anxious to return and check on the progress, we arrived back from our vacation to discover that the plants were all FULL-GROWN (in a week, yes), loaded with mature fruit, and the whole garden was lush and plentiful.  Delighted (though a bit astonished), I started running towards the garden to begin plucking its treasures for my table...

...and that's when I saw them.

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Snapping turtles were roaming my beautiful garden...they were everywhere.  And they were not alone...

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They had these long-neck turtles along too...

I continued towards the garden...they were turtles after all, and I was a lot bigger and definitely faster than them.

As I entered the garden to begin picking the fruit, the turtles slowly started coming towards me...

No big deal...just ignore them...

Wait!  Is it just me, or is that one gaining speed?  Yes, that one...that HUGE one is definitely running towards me...and it doesn't look friendly.

Friends...I was chased out of my own garden by a turtle.

I can't believe I just typed that.

After repeated attempts at entering the garden, I continued to be chased out.  The turtles were not backing down...

Obviously they didn't know with whom they were dealing...

The next morning, I awoke determined to conquer the turtles.  I crept towards the garden very slowly and quietly, and I managed to sneak up behind the first turtle I saw.  With my super-human strength, I grabbed it from behind, one hand on either side of its shell, and hurled that thing as hard as I could into the woods, where it landed with a thud and promptly said, "Oof."

I spotted another...I crept up behind that one, lifted it above my head and catapulted it in the same direction as the previous one.  With each turtle, I gained a sense of victory and new found strength.  I did not stop until every single turtle in my garden was returned (with force) to the woods, and I was again Queen of my garden.

I did indeed spend the better part of the night chuckin' turtles...

...and then I woke up.