Day Three Hundred Sixty Six 2012

Tonight’s December thirty-first,
Something is about to burst.
The clock is crouching, dark and small,
Like a time bomb in the hall.
Hark, it's midnight, children dear.
Duck! Here comes another year!
~Ogden Nash

Day Three Hundred Sixty Five 2012

My family got hit with the stomach flu bug after Christmas. Daughter Kelly was the first to get zapped, then they started falling like dominoes. Grandson Knox, grandson Elijah, and son in law Kerry suffered (or are still suffering) with this crud. Daughter Holly is iffy at this point. Hubby Neil says he refuses to get it, but it’s not looking too good for him, either. Kelly is over it, and Knox has finally come through it, as you can see from the picture. I’m patiently waiting my turn at this, for no one seems to escape it once exposed. Keep a good thought for us! Hope you all stay healthy on this next to last day of 2012. Today is Day Three Hundred Sixty Five, but this was a leap year, so we get an extra day. Happy New Year’s Eve Eve!

Day Three Hundred Sixty Four 2012

Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery.
~Bill Watterson
We didn’t even get an inch today but watching it fall was a thing of beauty, as always. Hope we get some more this winter.

Day Three Hundred Sixty Three 2012

To get (grandson) Knox to eat, sometimes his mommy has to resort to making him laugh, which distracts him and makes him open his mouth long enough to shovel in some food. It works. Wish you could hear his belly laugh in this picture.

Happy TGIF, everyone! Rock on!

Day Three Hundred Sixty Two 2012

Granddaughter Shelby and grandson Elijah are on Christmas break from school until the new year. They brought their bikes to my house today (Shelby got hers from Santa) and rode around for a while in spite of the 30+ degrees.

See that little face in the bottom middle window? Grandson Knox had to be content to watch his cousins from inside the house.

Someday

Shelby was stylin’ in new jacket, boots and knee socks. Love the purple bike.

Daredevil Elijah—riding one-handed! Then they headed inside and thawed out with some hot chocolate (with marshmallows, of course).

Day Three Hundred Sixty One 2012

"I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” 
~Knox Skywalker

Day Three Hundred Sixty 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE MABRY CLAN!

For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home. ~W.J. Ronald Tucker
Those of us who could be together this evening enjoyed all these things—fellowship, a whole lot of feasting, giving and receiving (also known as ‘Dirty Santa’), and also a whole lot of good cheer, and home, too, as my sister Ann and her husband Terry open their home to all of us at Christmas. Thanks for hosting our holiday happy time together, Ann and T! As always, it was very merry and bright. I am so thankful to be blessed to be a part of this awesome family. Love to all of you. Merry Christmas!

Day Three Hundred Fifty Nine 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE RANFT, MYERS, KIMBROUGH FAMILIES!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
~Burton Hillis
We had ourselves a merry little Christmas tonight!

Day Three Hundred Fifty Eight 2012

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Day Three Hundred Fifty Seven 2012

Keep your Christmas-heart open all the year round. ~Jessica Archmint

Day Three Hundred Fifty Six 2012

Looking through one of the beveled glass windows in my front door this afternoon I could see three suns. That would have been a nice reality on this cold and blustery first day of Winter—the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Happy TGIF and Happy Winter, everyone! (The Mayans had no clue. I'm not surprised. Are you?)
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Wishing my brother in law, Terry Sissom, a very happy 56th birthday today!!

Day Three Hundred Fifty Five 2012

Grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah are out of school for Christmas vacation (winter break for the politically correct). They were here today, amusing themselves watching America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Captain America on Netflix. Shelby was productive and made colorful braided bracelets out of embroidery floss for each holiday. So far, she’s made ten. They’re very pretty.

I was productive, too, and made some cranberry white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. From scratch. They turned out pretty tasty. Blustery weather here all day—rain and wind and now it’s cold. The grandpeeps are hoping to see some snow. The ground is too warm for it to stick if it did snow, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a few snowflakes. (FYI: today is the last official day of Autumn, although people have been saying it's Winter since before turkey day)

Day Three Hundred Fifty Four 2012

“I bought my brother some gift-wrap for Christmas. I took it to the Gift Wrap department and told them to wrap it, but in a different print so he would know when to stop unwrapping.”

~Stephen Wright

Day Three Hundred Fifty Three 2012

Grandson Elijah looked everywhere for our crazed version of elf on the shelf this afternoon after school and could not find him anywhere—not even upstairs. And then his sister Shelby was surprised to find the elf lurking in the freezer, just waiting for little kids to open it up for a tasty frozen treat, which is usually the first thing Elijah does when he gets here after school each day. He was too freaked out just looking for the elf to even think about grabbing a Bomb Pop. The elf didn’t mind the freezing cold, by the way. After all, he lives at the North Pole. So now he’s moved on. Who knows where he’ll appear next. You better watch out!

Day Three Hundred Fifty Two 2012

Baby, you can drive my car. Beep beep'm beep beep yeah!