My Christmas Wish

On this Christmas Eve, as Keith and I sit in our living room watching “A Flinstones Christmas Carol”, I’m thinking of all the things I have in my life to be thankful for. Yes, I know, Thanksgiving was a month ago. However, with all of the turmoil in our world these days, we should all be thankful for what we have, where we live, and who we have in our lives.

I’m thankful . . .

for this quiet time in the warmth of my home.

for my husband who is sitting next to me on furniture that is paid for.

for my daughter who is sleeping peacefully in a bed, with a comfortable mattress and warm covers for her to snuggle in.

for the homes we’ll be visiting later this evening where family will be waiting to share in this joyous time of year.

for my health and the health of my family and that we are at home instead of a hospital.

for my church family - for a pastor who is there for us whenever we need him, for a youth group who loves us and whom we love, and the freedom to worship with them in a church building that protects us from the elements.

for our jobs.

for our vehicles and a dry garage to park them in.

for my house and the family that makes it a home.

But most importantly, I’m thankful for what this season represents. The most precious gift we have ever been given; yet it is also the one gift so many people forget about, ignore, or reject. He is my Saviour. My Comforter. My Friend.

So, in this short post of mine, my Christmas Wish is this:

For all my friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, and all the people I encounter - I wish the Joy of Christ be real to you. Most importantly, if you don’t know Him, I pray you will realize your need to have Him in your life and in your eternity.

He is THE reason for the season and I am thankful that He came.

Merry Christmas.

The Joys of Toddlerdom

Looking at such a sweet little face you could never imagine the phase of toddlerhood we’re going through.

Ah, yes. Nora has taken to screaming when she doesn’t get what she wants. And, for the first time, this past weekend she actually cried over not getting a toy she wanted. Actually, it was the first three times all in one weekend.

We have tried to explain to Nora that she can’t have everything she sees that she wants. Of course, we always get the dreaded, “Why??”. After repeating this same statement over and over and over and over this weekend, Nora finally said, “but Mom, I want EVERYTHING!” If you have forgotten, please see my Note to Santa post that will show this repeat of history.

On a side note, Nora is about 90% potty trained. She only wears pull-ups at night and when we are going out for a long period of time. For those members of my family reading this, I believe she has a little spirit of Granny Dietz in her. She absolutely refuses to use any public restroom. Period. It has gone as far as us going into a bathroom, putting a pull-up on her, her doing her business and then putting her underwear back on. Tell me how messed up that is??? Like I said, a little spirit of Granny is in there.

Also this past weekend, we attended the birthday party of Titus, my best friend, Elizabeth’s, son. Titus turned the big 1. This was a great event because Nora and Avery, Titus’s older sister, are “best friends”. They had the cutest little conversation about poop while they were eating. It was soooo funny. We were sitting at a table with Matt’s dad (Titus’s Popsy) and Matt’s Granny (Titus’s Great-Granny). Keith and I found it all quite humorous and, of course, were encouraging their little chat. However, Avery and Nora were informed by Granny that potty talk was not appropriate at the dinner table. Too funny. After they ate, Nora and Avery were off. Those two ran so much that they were OUT-OF-BREATH. Can you imagine?? Two 3 year olds breathless. That’s how much they ran.

I know there have been so many funny things that Nora has said lately, but I’m old and can’t remember them. I need to start posting as she says things to keep up with it all. Here is one such tale that I can remember:

Last night, Nora pulled one of her I have-to-go-the-bathroom-instead-of-going-to-sleep routines. After she was through, Keith decided to go, too, since he was up. Anyway, from the bathroom he is telling Nora that she better be going to sleep when comes in the room, blah, blah, blah. So, I, being the sarcasm lover that I am, said, “Alright dad, but either pee or get off the pot.” Ha. Ha. And, Nora, being the mocking bird she is replied, “Yeah, dad. Either pee or get off the pot. That’s your options.”

Where has she heard that before, you might ask. Oh, about 5 minutes before she went to the bathroom, I told her she needed to get on her pillow or get in her own bed. Those were her options.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

My New House Guest . . .

I’m not sure what the average age is for ‘meeting’ your imaginary friend, but in our house it is 3 ½. Nora’s little friend is named Rosie. As in Caillou’s little sister. For those of you who have young ones, you know this family of Sproutland. For those of you who don’t, you’re very lucky.

It was really quite funny the first night she started talking to her. It was this past Monday night. The part that creeped us out a bit was the fact that we were watching the TV show “The Ghost Whisperer” which I DVR. (I’m a couple of weeks behind b/c I was depressed with the story line. If you watch, you know what I’m talking about.) Anyway, if you’ve never watched the show, Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a lady who ‘sees dead people’ and helps them ‘cross over’.

So tell me, if you’re watching such a show and out of nowhere your little one says, “Come on Rosie lets go in here. Be careful and step over that” as she points to my laptop drop cord, how would you feel????

And, if in addition to the show, your husband or significant other just so happens to be a Funeral Director/Embalmer, do you think that might add a new level of creepiness?

Keith and I just looked at each other, slightly confused.

So we asked her who Rosie was. She said, “Caillou’s sister.”

Ok. Breathing can return to normal.

So now when Nora takes a bath, Rosie takes a bath. When we wash Nora’s hair, we wash Rosie’s hair. When we dry Nora’s hair, we dry Rosie’s hair.

Get the picture? It is really quite cute. Now, anyway. She did ask me that same night where Rosie was. I had to explain to her that she was the only one who could see her so she would have to keep up with her. It did help when we were going to sleep and Nora wouldn’t settle down. She asked again where Rosie was and I told her she was lying on the pillow beside her asleep so she needed to be quiet. LOL!

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that right after the introduction of Rosie to Keith and me, he had to go out on a ‘pick-up’.

Quite a night in the James house.

A Couple of Nora Stories . . .

1. How to know when Nora has spent the day alone with her dear old Dad:

Lying in bed Wednesday night, I was tickling Nora and picking at her.

She, in a very serious voice said, “Mom, if you don’t stop, I’m going to fart at you.”

Ok. Maybe that’s not appropriate to report in blog land, but it is my life. I should always question what Keith and Nora will be doing when he has a day off with her. I need to make sure they are active in some way with little time to converse. Maybe then she will stick to the innocence of ‘fluffing’ and not the harsher references my husband teaches her.

2. Where, oh, where has Grandpa’s hair gone??

Tonight, we had some candles burning on the bar in the kitchen. Nora climbed up in a barstool and leaned over them. Here’s the ensuing conversation:

Nora: “Ooh, that’s fiery.”

Keith: “Be careful and don’t get your hair near them. It’ll burn it off and you’ll look like Paw.”

Nora: “Dad is that what happened to Paw. Did he get caught in a fire?”

For those of you who do not know my father-in-law, he has been mostly bald since his twenties.

I guess I am lucky that the conversation ended in innocence. I’m sure at some point in her life Nora will hear the story of Dad, his buddies, a lighter, let’s just say a little natural gas and a not so fun way to learn the pain fire can cause.

I’ll spare you all the details and pray my little girl avoids the lighter.

It's a Jungle Out There - Or In Here . . .

Ok. So I'm really behind on posting. There's a couple of new ones now, so read on. Anyway, my little angel decided to only wear her Halloween costume on the day we got it in the mail. I think one of the girls from our youth group got her to put it on for about 2 minutes on Halloween night, but not for anyone else to see.

Here's our little giraffe. The only costume that she insisted on since we began asking her what she wanted to be. I have to say, it was absolutely, too cute. But I am biased. Too bad the rest of the world didn't get to see her Trick-or-Treat in it!!

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Nora Faith!

As I look at this picture, I look to the future. I look to the day that my beautiful baby girl weds the man of her dreams.

I then think of the reception with all the food, fellowship, and that sentimental video playing of pictures from her childhood. Ah, the tears of joy and sadness that will come as memory after memory is flashed on the big screen.

And then this picture will appear.

And the tears will become the result of the laughter surrounding this photograph as I retell the story of the day at Burt’s Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville, Georgia. I’ll recall what a germophobe I was and how I made my sweet little girl wear a pull-up that day so she wouldn’t have to use a Port-a-Potty.

And as we walked among the huge pumpkins and selected one of our own, I will tell how we noticed Nora was hiding among the biggest. I thought that it was a great photo-op. However, my little girl looked up at me as I snapped picture after picture and sweetly said, “Mom, why are you taking pictures of me pooping?”

Yes. The Great Pumpkin Poopfest. What fond memories I will be able to share as Nora not-so-proudly listens on.



It is so great to be a parent. He! He!!

Now I'm It

My good ol' buddy Shana tagged me for a meme. Being new to the world de blog, I cannot meet all of the question requirements. I will do my best to make her proud.

Rules: Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, goes to their blogs to inform them they have been tagged by leaving a comment to read the tagger's blog, and letting those bloggers answer the questions themselves.

Here are the questions:

10 Years ago I:
1. had been married for 2 years.
2. was considered getting a dog (didn't happen for another year).
3. was working at Shaw as a Credit Secretary.
4. drove a green Ford Thunderbird.
5. stayed up and watched a tv show that I wanted to see instead of the latest Dora.

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Put in a good day's work.
2. Pick up prescription from the doctor's office.
3. Go to Walmart to buy supplies for Nora and also for Keith's Sunday School class.
4. Pick up Nora.
5. Cook dinner.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips, salsa, and sour cream
2. Popcorn
3. Grapes
4. Hot Fries
5. Munchos

5 places I have lived:
1. Split level on 41 Hwy.
2. First brick house on 41 Hwy.
3. Mom and Dad's current house, also on 41.
4. (Finally broke away from 41) Mobile home on Cleveland Hwy.
5. Current house in front of mobile home location on Cleveland Hwy.

5 jobs I have had:
1. Shop Rite cashier
2. Cashier at Lowes for 1 night.
3. Cash office clerk at Lowes after 1st night.
4. Credit Secretary at Shaw.
5. System Engineer at Shaw.

5 people I tag: (I only have 3 blogger buddies that Shana didn't already tag):
1. Carrie
2. Stacia
3. Cyndi

My Thoughtful Baby Girl

So, today, Keith comes home from work exhausted. He is recovering from a migraine that he had yesterday. After talking with us for a few minutes, he sat down in the recliner and went to sleep.


Nora and I were going to Hobby Lobby and to get groceries after he woke up. For quite awhile, she kept telling me to be quiet and not wake Daddy up. On a side note, she was definitely ON ONE today. She was cracking me up all evening. Anyway, I digress. Keith had been asleep for around 20 minutes or so when Nora decided he looked lonely. So she added her Tigger to his lap and told me that he would help daddy sleep. She quickly realized that was not enough and added 3 more stuffed toys to the mix. Hence, the below picture that I could not resist taking.

Granted, Keith is not 100% thrilled that I took the picture and even less thrilled that I am posting it for the blogging world to see, but how could I not let the world know how thoughtful my little girl is???

A Note to Santa

Oh, yes. It is that time of year again. We have been asking Nora what she would like for Santa to bring her. Last year it was a bike, a bike hat (aka helmet), and drums. Of course, these items were all aglow on Christmas morning for her as she ran away crying.

So, this year we are hoping for a little more happiness on Christmas. When asked this year what she wants, Nora continuously says, "I still want a dolly house." Its the only thing she has consistently asked for, until this morning.

She had a little accident last night that kept us up all night and so I stayed home with her today. As we sat on the couch watching volcano Dora for the third time, she pulled out the Fisher Price catalog that came in the mail and asked me to read it to her. I had her pick out what pages she wanted me to read. And I read. And read. And read. I sounded like an advertisement for them as I read all the little ads for the products they were selling.

After quite a while of reading, she took the catalog from my hand and closed it. She then proceeded to give it back to me and said, "Tell Santa, I want everything."

Enough said.

Oh, but I guess there is one more thing. Santa, if you're reading this, Nora wants everything in the Fisher-Price Fall 2008 Shop-at-Home Catalog.

And, she still wants that dolly house.

I survived!

I’ll tell you about Keith’s trip in a different post.

I couldn’t tell you how many pats on the back, hugs, and sympathetic comments I received at church yesterday. My pastor even congratulated my survival. We only had a few incidents that hindered our good times:

• One busted lip (my toddler)
• One head butt on the wall (also my toddler)
• One golf cart through my dog lot (more on that later)
• One teenager falling through the window of Jeep
• One adult chaperone falling up the stairs (not me)
• One forgotten meal at lunch
• Two pre-teens mad at each other (one crying – then both over it in like 5 minutes)

Other than that, we had a great time. We went to Rock City’s Enchanted Corn Maze. We had lunch and went back to my house to do a little hair dyeing. One of our girls had put some nice fire engine red highlights in her blond hair. So, I went and bought her a more natural, suitable color. That led to three others also wanting to enter the James Hair Salon. They ended up doing each others’ and I was able to avoid any blame if it had not turned out ok.

So anyway, I was upstairs minding my own business, when one of the younger girls came in and said, “They hit your dog gate with the golf cart.” In my mind, I envisioned the bottom of the gate pushed slightly inward or a little scratch. Oh, but no. It was not quite so simple. Granted, our dog lot leaves a lot to be desired, but given Smokie’s Senior Citizen status, there has not been much point in building a new one. Anyway, see the below picture:

All I can say is, Thank God for my father-in-law. One of the girls and I were able to hammer the top back together (that’s right, me with a hammer – they took a picture of that, too.). However, I still had no gate to keep Smokie contained. Gene came to my rescue with a large pallet, a metal stob, and a wire clothes hanger. Just call him MacGyver. So far, it has held up, not so easy on the eyes, but sufficient nonetheless.

Oh yeah, we were late for church. Even though everyone had taken a shower Saturday night, they still needed a little coaxing to get out the door. Then we had to sit in line at McDonald’s for quite a while. You didn’t think I would actually get up and cook, did you???

Here's one picture of some of the girls on the hayride. I don't have one on my camera of everyone together.



Over all, roughing it in Varnell wasn’t so bad!

Roughing it in Varnell

Hi, all! After much prodding and “encouragement” from my friends, I have finally started this blog. I hope through this blog, I can keep our families and friends up-to-date on all of the important events in our lives (we’re such exciting people you know).

What we’re up to this weekend:

1. Tonight we are taking Mom out to dinner for her birthday (it is the 23rd). It will be Mom, Dad, Kimberly, Chris, Keith, Nora and me. Ought to be fun times!!
2. Tomorrow morning we are meeting at church for the monthly Men’s Prayer Breakfast. The men at our church graciously invited the ladies to join this time. We will have breakfast (prepared by the men) and a guest speaker.
3. After the Prayer Breakfast, Keith is taking the guys from our youth group camping in Dahlonega, GA. Our Pastor’s son-in-law set up the arrangements. The guys will be staying at a site where they can do all of that outdoorsy stuff that I so try to avoid. Sunday morning, Keith will conduct a Worship Service at the campground.
4. While Keith and the boys are roughing it, all the girls and I will be sitting nice and cool with no bugs, noises, or smells, in the comfort of our house (well I can at least hope for the no bugs thing – noises and smells may not be easily prevented). The exciting part of our weekend will be seeing how 10-11 girls get ready for church all at the same time sharing 2 ½ bathrooms!! I may be roughing it after all!!

I’ll let ya’ll know how it went and hopefully have some pictures from both camps.

FYI – I told the girls that I considered ‘roughing it’ having to sleep in a full-size bed in a hotel instead of a queen or king. However, I offered to go if they really, really wanted to. I had very few willing to do without their hair dryers and curling irons. I’m so heartbroken!!