days in the life of a
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November 2009
click here to read older November 2009 posts....
November 26, 2009
SWEETER THAN EVER
This smile was worth 12 hours on the road, 600 miles in the dark,pouring rain.
Karter's big grin when he saw us was totally worth it all!
Papaw Kim has already read Karter about 50 books.
He does the speed-reading method...no time to dilly-dally over so many words.
And Papaw loves to tease Karter by stuffing things in his shirt.
In this photo he looks a little like Mommy!
Uncle Kyler helped Karter build towers, just so they could knock them down and start over again.
At 17 months old, Karter is at such a fun age...learning to talk and discovering new things every day.
And Grandma and Papaw are loving spending Thanksgiving here in Minnesota with him and the rest of the Gray gang!
I mean, who can resist this?!
He's truly sweeter than ever!
November 27, 2009
THE MORNING AFTER
It's 4:45 a.m.
Outside, it's dark and a cold, frosty 23 degrees up here in Minnesota.
Inside, the house is warm and cozy, still and silent.
Kim is sleeping on the upstairs couch, Kyler is sleeping on the downstairs couch, and Karter is sleeping in his crib.
Calm, peaceful, and quiet.
For a few minutes, anyway.
The other 6 are shopping, hitting Target (of course!) by 5:00 am on "Black Friday," joining the retail craziness to get the Early Bird bargains. In a couple of hours, they'll be back, giddy from shopping, ready for breakfast, and the quiet will be replaced with chatter and laughter for the rest of the day.
I much prefer to stay right here, typing on my computer with the nursery monitor nearby, ready to do my grandma-thing if Karter wakes up before they return.
I'M LOVING EVERY MOMENT OF THIS!!!
I started to post about all the things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. But I realized I only have a few minutes of quiet time here and my list is long, VERY LONG!
God has been so good to me, blessing me daily beyond anything I could even imagine! He placed me in a loving family the day I was born and hasn't stopped blessing me since!
God gave me with an amazing, godly husband whom I adore and who adores me, and over the past 29+ years has provided us with good health, a lovely home, and financial security. He blessed us with four fantastic children who all love the Lord and will do incredible things for Him in their lifetimes. And God has added 2 beautiful daughters-in-law, 1 wonderful son-in-law, and a precious grandson with another soon to be born to our family!
But I won't go into all that right now...
I'll just say "Thank You, God!" for the privilege of sharing this Thanksgiving and my life with such precious people!
And after all the cooking, busy-ness, hubbub, and CALORIES of yesterday...
I'm going to enjoy a relaxing, joyful morning after!
November 28, 2009
PRE-CHRISTMAS GIFTS
Some gifts just can't wait until Christmas.
Like this Fisher Price nativity set we got Karter.
He needs it before Christmas, so he can enjoy it during the holiday season.
Karter quickly learned that when he pressed the button on top of the stable, the star lights up and "Away in a Manger" plays.
(Ignore the red smudge on the side of Karter's face...it is a trace of ketchup left over from lunch that Grandma apparently missed during clean-up duty...)
I've never really considered "Away in a Manger" a dancing tune, but hey...what do I know?!
And then my daughter-in-law Dana surprised me with a pre-Christmas present of her own!
She thrilled me with a Pioneer Woman T-shirt from her book tour and a copy of the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook...
...for which she STOOD IN LINE 5 HOURS to get it autographed for me!
Dana is 7 months pregnant and she stood in line for 5 hours!!! Now that is what I call love for her mother-in-law!
You can read about their Pioneer Woman adventure by clicking here.
Not only was the cookbook personally signed by Ree Drummond,...
...it was also signed by Ladd Drummond, aka Pioneer Woman's hubby Marlboro Man.
On his...photo.
Don't you just love presents? I sure do...and why wait until Christmas?!
November 30, 2009
NORTH COUNTRY CHRISTMAS TRADITION
Just across the highway from the little Minnesota village of Hampton where our oldest Kristoffer and his family lives is Little Oscar's, a small hometown diner.
Dana pointed out to us that on the weekends this time of year, many of the diners who stop in for a bite have a newly-cut Christmas tree strapped to the top of their cars.
If you look closely at this photo taken Saturday morning, you'll see she was right! Three vehicles at Little Oscar's are heading home with a fresh tree for the holidays.
As we drove through the countryside that afternoon, we met car after car with a tree on the top. And finally, after passing several of them, I decided to get my camera out and snap a few photos through the windshield.
In Indiana, we might occasionally see a sight like this, perhaps once or maybe twice a year. But it is not the norm...nearly everyone I know has an artificial Christmas tree, and those who do have fresh ones usually buy them already cut at the local grocery store or perhaps a Christmas tree lot in town and throw them in the back of their pickup.
But in Minnesota, where people are very nature-conscious and so much of the land is comprised of lakes or woods or both, apparently lots of folks still do the old-fashioned tradition of cutting down a tree either on their own or, as in these cases, visiting a nearby tree farm.
All that was missing in this Christmas card scene was snow...and that, no doubt, will be arriving in Minnesota before very long!
I'm guessing in the half hour we were driving on the country highways, we saw probably 20 vehicles bringing home their Christmas trees.
When we got back to the house about 3 hours later, sure enough there were two more vehicles in Little Oscar's parking lot carrying trees.
A nostalgic reminder of days gone by...but still, up north, a country Christmas tradition!
