Two of my favorites from Christmas

We had a really sweet Christmas this year. As the boys get older, it just gets more and more fun to give, get, eat, play, relax, love, eat again, etc.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from this year.

This is my mama and Simon reading about baby Jesus. I love the intense look on his face.
















This is our little family of five by the tree at church. We take pictures here almost every year, and I can't believe how different those little boys look from year to year!!
















Hope you're having a fun "week between". This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. Don't forget to stay in your jammies for awhile and play board games and eat some junk food.

Today...

Outside My Window... a little snow and a cat on the porch who doesn't belong to us and WON'T GO AWAY!!

I am listening to... Smallville in the living room (the 5th or 6th episode since yesterday at this time!) and quiet quiet quiet on the baby monitor (yippee!!)

I am wearing... jeans and a fuzzy (our name for fleece sweatshirts)

I am thankful...for Christmas break, a warm house, grace, coffee, my four guys, and friends, in no particular order

I am pondering... the healthcare bill, but I don't want to talk about it because you'll probably be surprised by what I think and I HATE arguing about it so PLEASE don't comment about it...just know it's what I'm pondering. :)

I am reading...I started Les Miserables in October, but have not found a moment to read it since then. Perhaps I should get off of this computer and go read it.

From the kitchen... plans for toffee and chocolate chip cookies, haven't given a thought to supper...hmmm...do we have any entertainment money left???

I am creating...pillows and pictures.

I am thinking... that I should NOT have brought up the healthcare bill. :)

I am going... to have a really fun week with family.

Around the house... Christmas is in the air, Lou has become an inside dog, toys are out but the house is clean...life is good.

One of my favorite things... sitting on the couch with Tim after the boys go to bed

I'm loving this today...

Some Vintage Christmas Ezra

I found this treasure of a photo today while I was loading up our digital picture frame with old Christmas pictures. It reminded me that a sweet baby is the center of all of this flurry we are in. I love the flurry. I love the sweet baby who came. I love the man who died for me.

We love our Grammie!

I think this picture captures so much. Isaac is the first grandchild, the quiet one, the protective one, the one who loves to draw and play checkers at Grammies house. Ezra is the middle grandson, the one who can get almost anything he wants from Grammie if he just cuddles up and gives that sweet smile. Simon is the baby, the one who can bring joy when no one or nothing else can, who squeals with delight when he sees "Mammie". I love this woman, and I love these boys.

In Tennessee's fair eastern mountains reared against the sky proudly stands our alma mater as the years go by...

The Wood family has decided that an annual trip to Milligan College Homecoming is a priority for us. Isaac, Ezra, and Simon enjoyed playing with Elizabeth and Kate, catching candy at the Homecoming parade, and playing football on Pardee Lawn. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed staying up late with old friends, eating at all of our favorite restaurants, and remembering the days of falling in love. We remain thankful for our years at Milligan and for the shaping and molding that is still taking place in our lives and our family because of that incredible place.

What a precious family!!!!

Well, Bubba (as my boys call him) is the dad of this family, and he's been like a little brother to me since his birth in 1983. I remember the day he was born...my mom came to school to tell me...I was in 3rd grade (Mrs. Nicolson's class), and we were in Art class. Well, now he's all grown up, and he has a beautiful wife and a sweet little boy...I can hardly stand it, they're so cute!!!!!

We had a fun photo shoot on a fabulous fall day...

...and she keeps taking pictures

Want a cute shot of your family for Christmas cards? Check out the Christmas card special, and then share the good news of the special with a friend!!

so sweet...

I had the honor of taking photos of this sweet family this weekend. Monica and I went to college together...Tim says that he always hoped Monica would tell me the things he wanted to convince me of because I listened to her wisdom more than I listened to his. :)
This is one of my very favorites, so I'm sharing it with you...

Lee's Senior Pictures

Even though he was skeptical at first, Lee actually admitted (as he was diving onto the ground for the football shot) that he was having some fun! Lee's sisters, Megan and Ellie, got in on the fun, too. We got several good photos, and here are a few of my favorites.

By the way, I'm still having lots of fun taking pictures. :)

Wishing we were here right now...

....but a trip to Pumpkin Works will have to do!!

Might As Well Face It Tuesday

In only the 2nd week of my new feature, I'm a day behind. Oh, well. We might as well face it today that Simon is the baby of our family. He gets away with things Isaac could never have done. He has the power to change all of our plans if we let him. Sometimes he gets rocked to sleep; sometimes he sleeps in the middle; sometimes he eats chocolate candy for a snack. He always kisses; he always hugs; he always drinks strawberry milk; he always makes us smile. He's our baby, and we might as well face it...we love him to pieces!!!

Surprised by Photos

Do you remember my post about taking Hal Enkoff's senior pictures (I just love to write that name because it's my maiden name and sometimes I miss it!)? Well, I've now taken Jordan's senior pictures, and I also have some appointments for more senior pictures and some family pictures.

I really do enjoy taking pictures and "messing" with them on the computer. I am struck with surprise and joy when I think that perhaps I could do this as a little job. Thanks, sweet Father, for blessing me with this scrumptious surprise!! I'm sharing a couple of Jordan's pictures and my little "ad card" for senior photos.

Disclaimer: Tim DOES A LOT around the house!

In my effort to encourage and build up my sweet family, it seems I have embarrassed and upset my dear husband, so I just need to say, for the record, that Tim does tons of stuff around our house. In fact, I've often said that our house and laundry would be in much better shape if he was in charge of that area. I think I get overwhelmed by the dishes and trash/recycling because it's just such a constant thing...we are always dirtying dishes, we are always making trash. You heard it here first...Tim is more than helpful...and even as I type this, he is, in fact, loading the dishwasher!! :)

Might As Well Face It Monday

My friend, Missy, started this Monday post on her blog, so I'm following suit--well, at least for today, no promises for the future.

So, I was planning on writing about how I might as well face it that I'm the only one in the house with the skills to empty the dishwasher or maybe just put the dishes into the dishwasher instead of leaving them on the counter (even when the dishwasher's empty!) and how I'm just going to have to face the fact that I'm the only one living here who knows how to flatten boxes and put them in the recycling rather than leaving them to pile up on the counter or empty the trash instead of just putting more in and letting it overflow...BUT then I read Missy's might as well face it for today, and, well, I would have been griping, so I'm left with figuring out a new "Might As Well Face It Monday".

Hmmm...well, I might as well face it, all of that griping aside, I live with a pretty special group of people...

There's Tim, the love of my life, my very favorite person to hang out with, my handsome love, my only boyfriend ever, the man of my dreams...I love that he gets up before all of us and spends time with his Jesus, I love that he cares deeply about all of our feelings, I love that he puts the boys to bed EVERY night. I might as well face it...he's fabulous!

Then there's Isaac...my firstborn, the one who taught me how to be a mama, my sweet sweet boy, my responsible helper...I love that he notices if I'm sad or stressed out, I love that he is so very diligent with his school work, I love that he is kind. I might as well face it...he's so much fun!

Well, and now comes Ezra...our middle child, the one who reminds me of my sweet daddy, the one who is ever amazing me (or should I say "shocking me")...I love that he lives to make us smile and laugh, I love that he is so concerned and interested in his friends, I love that he loves to pray and read about Jesus. I might as well face it...he's one of a kind!

The youngest of our brood comes next...Simon, the baby, the one who adores his older brothers, the one who gives good hugs and loves to snuggle, our fiesty little guy...I love that he can't wait to hug and kiss everyone when he hasn't seen us in awhile, I love that he loves strawberry milk and shouts "yes!" when he sees the refrigerator door open, I love that he loves other people and makes them smile. I might as well face it...he is so very sweet!

You thought I was done..but there's one more...it's Don, our intern at church who's been living with us since May, who we've known since he was just a bit older than Isaac, who watches House with us every single night...I love that he loves our boys and invests in them, I love that Simon LOVES to snuggle with him, I love that he is so grown up and responsible and smart and kind. I might as well face it...he's a great addition to our family and I'm going to miss him when he leaves in November!!!

I might as well face it...I don't feel like griping about the chores anymore. I'm a girl who has a fantastic house full of people...might as well face it...it doesn't get much better than that!!!

Things you would have heard in our house this week if you were the mouse that we caught on Tuesday...

"Mom, I'll even watch Mary Kate and Ashley with Ezra if that will make him happy, cause when he's happy, you're happy, and when you're happy, then all of us are happy." --Isaac

"Did you kill the mouse?" --Tim
"No, I put it in a Walmart bag." --Jen

"If there were rules on the soccer field, one of them should be that you can't ever take the ball from me." --Ezra

"Jen, wake up, there's a bat flying in our room." --Tim
"Are you hallucinating? I don't have any pants on." --Jen
"Just get downstairs." --Tim

"More, more, more..." --Simon (that's all he ever says and I didn't want him to be left out!!)

grace and strength

I enjoy reading blogs. Sometimes I end up reading the blogs of complete strangers just by clicking on link to link to link...

That happened tonight. I eventually read of a young mother who died of cancer yesterday. Honestly, I couldn't read the whole thing. It made my heart hurt too much. I clicked it closed, praying as I did that God would give her friends and family the grace they would need for the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

I started thinking about the weeks and months after my dad died when people would say, "How can you go on? How are you coping?" I didn't really know how I was...I just was. I heard somewhere along the way the notion that God gives us the grace and strength we will need for the stuff that will be in our path, so if the stuff is in someone else's path, we can't figure out how they are coping because God didn't give us the grace and strength for that stuff. That makes sense to me...it helps me when I can't figure out how kids will go on after their mom died of cancer yesterday.

It makes me wonder what grace and strength God is growing in my boys. What will be in their paths? Will they know great joys? deep pain? Will they realize that God has given them the grace and strength they need? I'm counting on it. I know He is faithful. I've seen what He can do. I believe He will carry on the work he has started in these three.

My Sweet Little Cousin Hal

I do so love to take pictures, and I do love my precious little Canon Rebel, and I'm growing to love Photoshop Elements more and more as I make my way through "Photoshop Elements for Dummies" (oh, but I'm NOT kidding!!). All three of these loves are coming together as I've taken some senior photos for friends and family in the last week.

The first of these photos were of my sweet little cousin Hal...

...well, he is sweet, and he's still my cousin Hal, but he's not little anymore. Hal has grown into a very handsome and thoughtful young man. He even found an "oldies" station (you know, REO Speedwagon and all of those other "oldies"!) for me as we were driving from place to place taking photos.

Here are a few of my favorites. To Hal's mama...your jump drive of pictures will be in the mail in the next couple of days...it was my honor to capture your little boy, or, I mean, your young man on film.