the family room couch….

calvin and ty… 2008

it’s a homeschool thing!

just before the Christmas school break…. i came into the room and this was the scene I found…. calvin doing a reading assignment and Ty sleeping close by!

one of our family traditions…

every year we sit down and decorate a ton of roll out sugar cookies… then we eat them one after another, until we are sick and they are all gone! a few “titles”, jim is the ‘redhot king’, you can tell a cookie he made when they are covered with redhots… calvin is the ‘frosting king’ it’s piled on and he likes to make faces on the cookies… me, well lets just say, I’m the ‘baking queen’!  another wonderful Christmas has come and gone… guess it’s time for me to start making those, “next year I’m going to be on the ball” statements that I’m sure to not follow up on! hey, guess that’s sort of a family tradition too!

again, Merry CHRISTmas everyone!
Upside Down from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

wishing you all a blessed and joyous Christmas and New Year!

Jim, Laurie and Calvin

I am completely and utterly thrilled to announce, that Jim has been promoted to Colonel in the Air Force Reserves! The official notification came today… Out of some 1200 on the list, Jim was one of only 68 who were promoted!

And I say, “Well deserved, my love.”

(photo taken this fall in NC)

how lovely is your heavenly pine scent! our little family decided on a “real tree” this year. I am so glad we did… last night we loaded up in Jim’s pick-up and headed to a nursery in Donelson.

 here a few photos. all taken in available light… ISO jacked up to 1000

ta ta for now…

man it was COLD! today we went through ICE, How the Grinch Stole Christmas display…. Everyone gets a big blue long parka to wear inside, BECAUSE IT’S 6 DEGREES! Here are some photos I was able to take between putting my glove back on so I could FEEL my fingers again… Actually it was very beautiful and whimsical but did I mention it was COLD…?

before we went in…  {jump shot} sort of… we were still warm here, even though it was probably 34 degrees!

the kids loved the ice slide and went a ton of times… here is a shot of Mrs. Titan, my wild and crazy friend as she was whipping down the slide. A lady next to me commented, “She is really flying!”  If you’re wondering, NO, there are no photos of me flying down the slide!

Mr. J was hanging out in the ice cave..

this nativity display is remarkable…

before our group went in I took the opportunity to capture a few shots of Mr. J… are these eyes stunning or what?!

thanks for your visit…. I’d love to hear from you… comments are open… 

yeah, this is where it went! Love this kid! link

really smiling, a bunch of yellow smiley face balloons are JUST THE THING!