Life as a Lewis

Christmas pictures from the big camera. Two things. 1. If you can believe it, I'm only sharing a few pics and sending links to family to the rest. I have nearly a 100 in the Christmas 2013 folder. You're welcome for not sharing them all. Actually with Flickr's new crazy-town photo sharing, you can just click through a slideshow of all of them. 2. Anyone else feel frustrated that their photos are unable to capture or convey the sheer joy they're feeling at the moment they snap the picture? Okay, 3 things. I'm really ready to have my own computer back. Enough with this little laptop nonsense. William and Rory playing the DS on the bed. The glazed looks on Camden and Xavier's face should tell you they're playing the Wii. Camden and Rory's Christmas present. Their reaction when they opened the present. Oh, yes, we did get a big jar of Nutella for Christmas. This is self explanatory. The guy's took a ...

We spent the last week in Oklahoma with Micah, Becky, William, Xavier, my parents and my brother (briefly). If 2011 was the Year of the Preemie Baby and Gallbladder Attack and 2012 was the Year of the Flu , then 2013 was the Year of the Purse. With Christmas money burning a hole in our pockets, my mom, Becky, and I spent our days searching for the perfect purse and wallet. The search included 2 different Dillards (3 trips), Macy's, and T.J. Maxx (3 trips). We all managed to find the perfect purse/wallet. Leather smells so good. We also had a fantastic time eating (of course), drinking coffee (of course), listening to the boys play (loudly, of course), and being together. We also managed to fit in alot of shopping (Brian and Grandpa ended up on kid duty. Alot.), a trip to see the Rhema Christmas lights , a beautiful Christmas Eve service (with Michael Boggs leading worship), a trip to see Frozen (which was seriously fantastic - Camden even had to shush Becky because she...

I received many beautiful cards in the mail this year, but only sent to family for the first time in many years. For all of my friends, here is your virtual Christmas card and I won't skip out next year!

DSC_8151 , a photo by 4lewisfamily on Flickr. Sure! Go ahead and make yourself comfortable.

The kids finished up their fall semester with a Christmas party yesterday. We were home by 10:45, and they were bouncing. off. the walls. Lots of holiday cheer going on around here. :) I put Camden to work making our chex mix, and he did a great job. I might have handled the stirring once it went in the oven, but that's it. Speaking of chex mix, I made this sweet version . Oh. my. stars. One of Rory's Christmas crafts. The girl is seriously into crafting right now, which is unfortunate because her mother knows nothing about crafting. Brian is in a whole new level of elementary school hell: colonial day the week of Christmas parties and break. He had to dress up, make butter from cream, dig holes in the ground (for something?). He came home yesterday exhausted and declared Teachers: 0, Students: 1. Today is their Christmas party and then he is out for a whole week and a half. That is not long enough, right? I love Christmas music, and bought this Dave Ba...

The difference in boys and girls is mind-boggling. Or maybe it's just the difference in an oldest and youngest child. Or the difference between a 10 and 7 year old. Whatever it is, these photos kind of sum it all up. Rory perfectly happy to be my test subject. Now let's add 10 year old brother to the mix. Having your picture taken is just. so. difficult. A very small victory. And let this serve as a before picture. Much-needed haircuts are this afternoon.

Instead of blogging the last week, I've been racking up a list of surgeries on my "to do" list. Oh, I wish I were kidding. Actually, I'm being slightly melodramatic because none of them are certain yet. Up first is a preventative mastectomy after meeting with a genetics counselor last Thursday. I was going to write a whole post on that meeting, but decided it's too complicated and slightly depressing to do. Suffice it to say that Vanderbilt finds me very interesting . . . it's tough to determine what my risk is for breast as well as other cancers . . . they're using my case at one of their peer panels. We're also redoing my genetic testing for the THIRD time as they try to figure out why in the heck I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the first place. What they discover could have a significant impact on the other females in our immediate and extended family. Oh, and then there's that preventative mastectomy they want me to strongly conside...

I made a brief and fairly disastrous detour into the paper Project Life world, but the past few weeks have gotten back on track with digital. Paper looks so pretty, but I just don't have the creativity (or supplies) to do it justice. Pretty sure I'm a digital gal for sure. A very abbreviated Week 47. Week 48 Week 49

We've had a fairly busy couple of days, although ice canceled several of our events. While some of those events were going to be fun, some quiet time at home snuggled up in blankets because of winter weather outside is also kind of right up my alley. We drank alot of extra coffee, watched a movie or two, played some games, and mostly stayed in our p.j.'s. Here's our last 4-5 days in pictures. Each night we're reading Advent scripture and then singing Christmas carols by the light of the tree (and iPad). Thank you, Becky, for this idea. They won't win any kind of Pinterest award, but I went with what I had on hand and the kids decorated goodie bags for our church college kids. Ice on Friday/Saturday. After seeing what the rest of the country went through via ice/snow/loss of power, etc., our little ice seems laughable. It was enough to cancel school everywhere, Camden's Christmas program at the mall, and our city parade. I cannot ...