On The Sixth Day Of Christmas ...

... I picked my word for 2011.

Instead of merely:

-- thinking I should send someone a note of thanks, encouragement or welcome;

-- thinking I should read more books with my child and go back to doing more art work with him;

-- thinking I should tell my husband how much I love him and appreciate all he does for our family;

-- thinking I should call my parents more often;

-- thinking I should finally set up JS's play room;

-- thinking I should spend more time with Him;


I will act on those thoughts.

And by the way, I'll start by cleaning that refrigerator you see in the photo above. I've been thinking about doing that for far too long. ;-D




Have you picked a word that you hope to carry with you throughout the upcoming year? Please share it. If you're still thinking about a word, please come back and let me know once you've posted your word on your blog.

On The Fifth Day Of Christmas ...

... I pondered the year that was 2010. Alphabetically.


A new year

BlackBerry

Coffee (and the lack, thereof)

Disneyland

sEasons

First grade

apple Gathering

Hip (a new one)

pIano player

Jeggings

Keurig

Loft (see "Jeggings")

Mulching

frozen Nostril hairs

Olympics

Panic attack (a.k.a. the diorama project)

Quitter (a.k.a. Why I quit blogging for a bit)

DR. Seuss (here, here and here)

Sump pump

Therapy (post-surgery physical therapy, that is)

Ugh! Stop saying that!

Vikings (the good times)

Wedding

eXtremely grateful

countrY drives explained

Zoo (San Diego Zoo, to be more specific)


Yup, it was some year. Thank you for being a part of it.

I look forward to seeing what 2011 brings.

On The Fourth Day Of Christmas ...

... We decided we wanted a little bit of spring in our lives.

So we gathered our things, hopped in to the car and headed south ...

... about 50 miles ...

... so we could see some of these guys.


The last time the three of us had been in a butterfly garden was at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, but that was when JS was about two years old. In my opinion, five years is a long time to go without experiencing the tranquil environment of a butterfly garden, so this trip was long overdue.

I've got to admit that at first, I got a slight case of the heebie jeebies when I saw exactly how many butterflies were flying about freely in the room. But then I became mesmerized by their vibrant colors.

JS was mesmerized too.


We saw some of these ...

... and these ...

... and these ...

... and these ...

... and these.

I'd tell you the names of the butterflies (as well as the white and green ones we saw) but my hubby had to hold the identification chart so I could take photos.

See?


I do know the name of this guy. I memorized it from our 2005 visit to a butterfly garden.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Blue Morpho. It's my favorite. It's also "ginormous." ;-D


Wanna know what made this trip even more special?

Seeing this blessing on the way in. ("May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun, And find your shoulder to light on.")

And then experiencing it. (Thanks to my hubby for capturing it with my cell phone.)


It was a great escape.

On The Third Day Of Christmas ...

... I actually thought about taking down the Christmas tree ...

.... but decided to change it up a little instead by placing my greeting cards on it.

Thank you to all who've sent us Christmas greetings. I will be thinking of you and praying for you each time I have a quiet moment to look at the tree.

On The Second Day of Christmas...

We woke up to frost-covered trees, so JS and I decided to go for a drive around our local state park.

We saw plenty of this stuff ...

... as well as a lot ice crashing along the shoreline.

Perhaps my favorite photo of the bunch I took Sunday.


Look! Feather dusters! ;-D

I found it really funny that I would see these after just telling JS that when we got home, mommy has a lot of cleaning to do.


The following is the last photo I took in the state park. Someone behind me wanted to zip around the one-lane road, rather than take his time looking at the scenery.

Apparently, when you go off the beaten path to go for a drive around the state park, you're supposed to pretend you're on a major highway. *eye roll*


We did finally get a chance to take a shot of these little snow-covered trees.

And all was right with the world. :-D

On The First Day Of Christmas...

I was the first person to wake up Christmas morning, so for the first few hours -- yes, hours, because I was up at 4 a.m. to make sure all the Santa gifts were ready -- I simply enjoyed the quiet of the morning.

I lit all the candles in the house ...

... and waited for the sun (and my son) to rise.

JS finally woke up at 8 a.m. and went straight for his stocking.

We had sprinkled some of this Magic Reindeer Food (given to him by his teacher) out on our front porch on Christmas Eve so that Santa could find our house.

See?

The only thing he really wanted from Santa was a copy of the Toy Story 3 DVD.

But Santa got him a bunch of other stuff too.

I immediately zeroed in on this.

Just Dad and I then watched JS open his gifts from his grandparents, his teachers and from us.

After breakfast, JS and his dad had to test out the new Lego Star Wars game for our Wii.

There was a lot of movie watching too: All three movies in "The Santa Clause" trilogy, Shrek Forever After and Toy Story 3.


While they did that, I took random photos around the house:

The stocking holders I found at a dollar store earlier in the week. (I had been looking everywhere for the perfect stocking holders.)

Just two of JS's new toys.

Temptation.

The wreath that hangs over our mantle. (By the way, the wreath was a homemade gift from the same person who made this for me.)

And yes, it did snow a little on Christmas morning.



The three of us also ate our way through Christmas day, and topped it all off with cake in honor of Jesus' birth.

Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

LOVE,

JUST FAMILY

Just December: Guess Who's Coming...

Me: Do you know who comes on Christmas Eve?

JS: SANTA!

Me: Do you know who comes on Christmas?

JS: JESUS! (pause) Does Jesus come down the chimney too?




And with that ... a very Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. :-D

Just December: Not Too Much Longer...

Are you ready?