Life as a Lewis

Anyone else in complete disbelief that it's the last day of 2009? Time seems to be flying around here. Because we're old and have 2 kids, there are no fun plans for tonight other than homemade potato/broccoli soup and game night with Camden and Rory. Hope your New Year's Eve is at least as exciting as ours! :) Shabby Princess: Clementine Sahlin Studio: Giving Thanks

We did not quite manage to cross everything off our "to do" list yesterday (translated: nothing), but Brian and Camden did manage to get in some squirrel hunting (check out Brian's blog for a cute video) and we saw The Princess and the Frog. It was a seriously cute movie and my new favorite Disney story. In case you're interested, here are our favorite parts. Melissa - music; Brian - the lightning bug; Camden - the popcorn; Rory - the bad guy. :) Because of yesterday's laziness, we're not stuck with unpacking, cleaning and laundry today and to be honest, we're all 4 a bit cranky - must be vacation hangover. Hopefully, we'll all snap out of it soon. maybe my favorite picture of the week or maybe this one is our back door view at my parent's house I think she's having fun him, too

I didn't quite get extra sleep as planned last night since I stayed up much too late watching the Minnesota/Chicago football game. Believe me, no one is as surprised as me to read that sentence since I've been an serious football hater for my entire life. I've recently decided it's not so bad and am starting to actually enjoy the sport. Brian could not be happier. I'm a shallow fan, however (and much too competitive for my own good), and like to follow quarterbacks around. Since I like to win, the quarterbacks have to be winners. Apparently, I'm a sucker for old guys since Brett Favre and Kurt Warner have been my recent favorites. Even if I'm a shallow fan, Brian still couldn't be happier (especially since Favre has been his favorite for years). Today we're unpacking, squirrel hunting (that would be Brian and Camden), making a library run and then taking the kids to see The Princess and the Frog. Even though Rory is not a TV fan (yes, she's back

Did I fool you with my posts last week? :) I actually set them up prior to leaving (well, except for the poem post). We spent the last 7 days in Illinois with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, nephews, and brother. I've decided I cannot possibly edit and upload all the pictures we took (think almost 800 between Becky and I) and share them all here at once so I might just share a few at a time. I also think I'll condense the events to say that we had a really wonderful time that included lots of eating (thank heavens my mother and sister are fabulous and adventurous cooks - clearly, I did not get my lack of domestic ability from them), baking, watching the kids scream/play together, with alot of laughter mixed in. I really have just the best family. We enjoyed a Christmas Eve service (in the freezing rain), a white Christmas (plus a few extra white days after), baked cookies and then passed them out at a local nursing home on Christmas Day (which was alot of fun and also made

Twas the day before Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house The four cousins together scared away every mouse. With excitement and energy that never seems to cease We all wished for a brief moment of peace. Uncle Brian, being so brave and so smart, Came up with a plan to take the kids and depart. McDonald's PlayLand would be a nice treat, He never imagined it would be such a feat. With all of the kids safely squished in the car, The events to unfold would be quite bizarre. They safely arrived and inside they all went, Hullabaloo over happy meal toys Brian couldn't prevent. An order was placed, to PlayLand they would go. Uncle Brian, once fast, began to feel slow. With coats and hats flying, and shoes off too, Ronald McDonald's playhouse turned into a zoo. With barely a sip of his coffee enjoyed, Uncle Brian soon heard words of something deployed. To the bathroom they rushed, a disaster to prevent, but in the Fruit of the Looms, Brian found a present. While cleaning and

Kate Hadfield/Kaye Winiecki: Merry and Bright Lauren Grier: Birthday Monsters

One of the little girls from children's church wrote in a Christmas card to Brian, "Thank you for teaching me about God (a.k.a. Jesus)." When asked in children's church where baby Jesus was born ( looking for "stable" as the answer), Rory piped up and said, "in Korea!" When Camden unwrapped his Transformer Bumble helmet (which goes with the Bumblebee arm he got from Michael and Liz), he was jumping up and down in excitement. He said, "Now I'll definitely never be bored again." Not to be outdone, Rory jumped up and down and said, "Now I am definitely going to be bored."

I figured the easiest way to tell about our weekend was just to show the pics. And let me preface the pictures by saying that I love my new camera, but am very frustrated at my own inability to take good pictures indoors. It's totally my fault because I don't have a CLUE what I'm doing! I need an extra couple of hours in the day to try to read tutorials and improve my photography skills. Okay, rant over. Friday night Brian's parents came over for pizza and presents. Gram, Gramps, and the kiddos Camden had TWELVE ornaments from school to show us. And yes, there was a story behind each one. And, no, I did not take a picture of each one. Can you tell he's excited by his new train? Rory got a new puppy that she was pretty happy about. And a new Dora tent that's pretty fun. She must be my daughter - she found her baby, moved the tent, posed and said "take my picture!" No pictures from Saturday's activities, but we were quite busy. A trip to Nashville ru

Brian and I barely survived yesterday. The kids had a very off day; I spent most of the day in the kitchen, which is one of my least favorite places to be (I'm not very domestic as anyone who knows me can attest to); poor Brian had a bad day with his group of 21 fourth graders (and I won't even go into how horrible one of them behaved which involved multiple visits to the principal's office and finally a call to the parent to come get the child); I was not very patient with Camden and Rory for which I feel badly. Thankfully, today is a new day and I can start all over again. Brian only has to work a half day today and then he'll be off for two whole weeks (woohoo!). His parents are coming over tonight for supper and to exchange gifts, and the kids are very excited. Here are a few things about the girl and boy from this week: Rory's new favorite word is "sumpin." As in: Let me tell you just one sumpins. Can I show you sumpin? Let's talk about sumpin. Ca

I have completely slacked in the blogging department this week mostly because I've been so busy and once I'm a few days behind, there doesn't seem to be a point in catching up. So here's what we've been up to. I spent Saturday getting a haircut and then braving the crowds running about 8 errands. I was gone all day long while Brian stayed with the kiddos. He's always appreciative of me, but he's especially appreciative when he's spent all day long at home with a 3 and 6 year old. Monday was full of laundry, grocery shopping, gymnastics with Rory, while Brian and Camden went to a basketball game. Tuesday Rory and I along with another little girl and her mom made a trip to downtown Nashville to see a Christmas performance at Lifeway headquarters. It was really beautiful, but not especially kid-friendly and we were in the very last row which made keeping two 3 year old girls happy a challenge. We finished up with a late lunch and poor Rory did not get a nap

Rory's new favorite past-time. And I quote: "Moooommmmy, you messed me uuuuuppppp!"

No time to chat this morning, but here are a couple of pages I scrapped last week. credits here Credits here Credits here

I decided I couldn't wait until Monday to post these pictures I took this week. It may not be entirely appropriate for a 3 year old, but black is my favorite color for Rory. She looks great in it (if I do say so myself)!

I think I've mentioned Crazy Love on here before. I read it earlier this year, immediately told Brian that he had to read it, and he's now getting ready to start teaching through the book in Sunday School. The principles are all something I've considered before, but they seem to have taken on even new meaning for us this year, especially during the Christmas season. Brian and I have struggled each year to not be consumed with the craziness that has become Christmas: shopping, shopping, spending money, so many activities that you can't enjoy each other, more shopping, etc. This year we've taken even more steps to be very deliberate in how we celebrate Christmas, and I randomly ran across this video last night. It so perfectly describes what we're trying (we're still a work in progress) to do and thought I'd share.

Our weeks seem to cycle. Last week was fairly busy; this week slow; next week is quite busy. I would prefer a bit more of a balance, but that's all right. Rory and I have been enjoying the quiet days and I'd like to say that I've gotten lots of housework done, but I've scrapped and spent extra time with Rory instead. I've got to buy some craft supplies because Rory loves them! I'm not exactly crafty so after we'd exhausted the puzzles, Dora, and books yesterday, I pulled out a piece of construction paper and cut up a Christmas tree and then free-handed some circles for her to glue and put together. It was not pretty (due to my barely competent scissor skills), but she thought it was so fun. Rory and I went to story time at the library yesterday, and do you know the child that is front and center interrupting the teacher to tell them everything from their daddy's birthday to Christmas plans? Yep, that'd be my girl. And when the teacher finally got tir

Oh, yes, she really is this loud most of the time. Despite the fact that she is called a little doll (mostly by random strangers), she is not very quiet and dainty! LOL

Stttrrreeetttccchhh A smile! (although fake) Concentration More concentration Keep concentrating The Christmas balls were their favorite Trying to get a Christmas kiss She thought you actually wear the stocking Tired of all the Christmas decorating Annual picture in front of the tree