Last day of November...

One can easily see why this boy doesn't get Cherry Coke often....

Mel & Piper throwing out gang signs. and on Thanksgiving no less. hmmph! :)

One day, Beck and I will take a serious picture.

These girls were thinking of running away.

Piper loooooves her big boy cousins, Will & Ethan.

Becky & Scott celebrated 7 years of marriage yesterday. Happy Anniversary, guys. We love you and your precious girls to bits.

these are all Tom's amazing photos, just in case there was a question....Here's Molly, kinda scary looking on the Barbie guitar.

another fun attraction of the day was to get into Gracie's doggy cage....I have to admit, it was kinda nice to know she wasn't going to hurt herself. ha ha.

These girls are fuuuuuuu-nny! I love that they are such good little friends.

I have stolen some more of Tom's Turkey Day photos and will post them later but for now, just wanted to say HI to my blogging friends on this dreary last day of November.

Are you getting ready for Christmas? Is your tree up? Once I find one more strand of silver garland, I will be able to put the ornaments on our tree. Levi asks me all day, every day. poor fella. maybe today.

On another note, I announced on Facebook this past Saturday (our 17th anniversary) that I was 10 weeks prego. I know, shock, gasp, wow! We are excited. I'm very thankful for the good comments and responses that people have posted. Once I feel better, I will believe this is really going to happen...considering that I'm older (will be 38 in June when baby is slated to arrive but I've had 5 trouble-free, easy natural births, 4 of which were at home, one almost being in the car. remember THAT?)...I'm having an iffy time, feeling poorly and having strange appetite issues. Tomorrow, we will meet a local midwife and hope that she's the one for us! So far, so good.

Well, I certainly hope that your Tuesday is a delightful one. Make someone happy.

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!

I sincerely hope you had as wonderful of a day as my family and I had.

We awoke to pounding rain, wind and chill. Considering the previous 8 days, David said he just could NOT even consider getting up and enduring the annual Drumstick Dash. I was bummed. for 10 minutes. The weather said it'd be raining all morning...being wet and cold was NOT something he was up for and I followed suit. After texting my sister to see what she thought, finding out she thought that was a super idea to skip, I fell back to sleep.

I forgot to text Mel to tell her the news (she had spent the night at Beck's with Levi and Molly, who would be watched there by my gracious Mother while we hoofed it)...I got a text at 7:22, "MOM, are you coming????"

Needless to say, she was bummed. So were Will and Ethan. We got some great lime green DD shirts outta the deal and hey, our entrance fee goes to Wheeler Mission to feed the homeless....so it wasn't a lost cause.

Dinner was to be served at Beck and Scott's around 3...so we got there by 3:45. Thankfully, my dad wasn't there yet and we really can't start without him!

The food was delish and we paced ourselves. We took our annual Christmas card pic after eating.

Clean up is alwayyyyyyys fun, game time (Telestrations, referred to us by our friends, Jen and James P, a VERY fun game, go get it at Barnes and Noble), and dessert, which was strawberry Weight Watchers cake and Strawberry Dream torte (not currently endorsed by WW, folks).

Will and E. went to spend the night at my parents and David, Mel, Levi, Moo and I came home to play the Wii, which we can't seem to figure out without our older boys' help...settling for a few rousing rounds of Go Fish, which I won 2 of the 4 rounds. ha ha. (memory like an elephant).

Have you ever seen the Radio City Music Hall's Christmas show? We watched that for a bit on PBS...and my cousin Kara agrees, when they get in that line and do that leg kicking bit? I actually got a bit choked up. it was the weirdest thing...it wasn't a story about Christmas shoes or a Baby in a manger (which makes me choke up too), it was a line of leggy women, kicking in time and I got spicy eyes.

Go figure.

Today, the sun is shining, a welcome sight after the past few murky days...I have to run to the bank, avoid Black Friday sales, start taking my calendars seriously that I am making for gifts and find some more silver garland...

Tomorrow, my faithful, thoughtful, diligent, handsome husband and I will joyfully celebrate 17 years of marital bliss...Hope that this post finds you enjoying a much needed day off!

God Bless YOU!

Photo credit: Tom Greenhill photography

Five days...

...till this guy and I celebrate our 17th anniversary.....

I find this rather hard to believe....

in just over 3 years, I will have been married longer than I was single. weird.

Anyways, today promises to be extremely crazy, as Monday's do. Biology for Will, Piano for Levi and Mel, Karate for E and Levi. I guess it's really not all that much but when you live 20 minutes from the places where all of these activities occur and you are the lone driver, it makes for a tiring day. I just made myself tired.

Maybe I will squeeze some coffee time in with my sister today. Or catch a glimpse of Tambo, whose leaving town and is returning my coffee maker....I can hope.

We'll see....all I know is that it seems weird that even though David is still in town, we haven't seen him much. We did get to be with him at the hotel on Saturday night and that was fun, fun, fun...I pray he will actually get to have some time off for Thanksgiving, like the hospital says....

I miss that boy!

Help!!

I've gotten a bit further since this pic was taken but man, my heart is not in it today. I'm under attack of some sort...

I'm adding some halogen lights too, which are supposed to be white but are more purpley. soooo, this year's tree will be quite interesting. I'll call it my eclectic tree.

I'll be back later....I need to go get my buy one, get one free holiday drink from Starbucks to keep going. pathetic.

Oh Tannenbaum

Christmas 2009 - back when Molly had adorable ringlets in her hair. sniff. and that great floor lamp behind my dad? Ethan broke it shortly after Christmas last year so it's no longer here either. dang.

Tonight, I am putting up our Christmas tree. It's not really how I want to spend this Friday evening but.....It's been sitting out on our porch for a week now and so I had the boys bring it in so we could start fluffing it.

I usually wait till the days around Thanksgiving...but wanted to get a leg up on it this year...work at it a bit at a time. ya know? We are doing the Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving and will most likely be hosting the Turkey Day dinner at our place so it will be nice to have it all done.

I'm putting it in a different place this year. I will take some pix when it's a bit more finished.

Hope you have a delightful weekend. David will be working all weekend but we have set aside some time for some fun....of which I hope to blog. That boy needs some fun. Until then, word to your mother.

fresh hair

It's been since April for Mel and I. and probably Will too...that boy, shoot, these two kids have soooo much hair (they've taken all of mine).

So, for my hair stylin' appreciating cousin, Tory, this is for you. even though you probably saw this on Facebook. This pic is a little different. but I still look old and white.

Gotta lot to do today so I'm outta here but hope your gloomy Thursday brightens a bit.

Later...

all right, all right....the people have spoken :)

Mostly just you, Tory dear....but I'm listening! :) and I be lovin' you...

David and his oldest boys putting together a cheap-o table that we bought from Target and ended up taking back. They'd gotten it almost completely put together and D. said NO! this is JUNK! ha ha. no particle board crap for this cat.

we got another one at Value City...supposedly better, lifetime warranty and such...got it home today, outta the box and dang it if it isn't broken on the side. Needless to say, I get to take it back on Thursday and get a replacement. super.

this is our runner....it would be nice if the door trim was put back up but that's ok. someday.

Flippin' fun...on the new area rug. Saturday night, David and the boys decided to have a "Jump-a-thon"...I actually caught a bit of it on video...love this mid jump pic of my hubby.

Moo fell asleep before all the jumping started...I love when she finds a nitch to snuggle into and falls asleep. and it's true (her shirt, that is)....she's 100% sweet when she's like this.

Friday night, we had the opportunity to visit with my niece, Phebe and her mom, Rachel...it was fuuuuh-reezing cold out there but these 3 plopped down on the crunchy, frosty grass to gaze at stars. granted, it didn't last too long...but it was cute nonetheless.

Phebe's the chick in the front, with Levi, E, Moo, and Will. Mel was at Kaleo...so she missed out on coffee fun.

Pheebs and Rachel, with sneaky Levi in the background.

well hello there...what's new with you?

uh huh....

oh yeah....cool.

really?

Lots going on here...lots and lots.

1.) David's company started their big hospital job yesterday...he's going to be MIA a lot I think.

2.) It's raining today. and it's cold. and nasty. eww.

3.) Will got a hair cut, Mel and I are getting our hairs cut tomorrow and then Thursday, I hope to take updated (new and improved) school pictures since the last ones include Will looking rather hobo-ish. no offense, kid...we learned a lot from Stacy, our hair stylist chick, today. Did you know that the 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioners are bad for your hair, especially the Suave ones? I like expensive shampoo but when I'm on a budget, that's the first area that suffers....Down with Suave...We washed Will's hair with Dawn dish detergent because it had considerable build up. kinda gummy. ewww. he looks like a new man.

4.) Levi's loving karate and piano and I'm so glad!

5.) My house looks so empty with no pics up on the walls in the living area...hatin' it. I took all the pix off the big window wall because when they put the siding up, the pix would get knocked off. or so David tells me. Hoping we get our siding on the front of the house SOOOON. really. how'd you like to be naked? :) Tyvek ain't perty.

6.) Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married. So what you say? I LOVED his mother back when she married Charlie....and I still haven't recovered fully from her death...so sad that she won't be around to see her eldest, handsome son marry. this really isn't going on in my world, I just love the royals. and to think he gave her Diana's sapphire ring....ohhh pitter patter. it was a perfect fit.

7.) I'm going to bed...I'm tired and feel ickish so I hope that this finds you faring well.

man, forgive this post...it's all over the place. good night...

Mr. Big Stuff

I could go swimming in his beautiful li'l peepers...could he be any cuter? we'll see next month.

Mr. Big Stuff...who do you think you are??

Future psychologist...

I love that my sister in law hasn't thugged me for posting pix of their beautiful baby yet. (please don't beat me up, I just wanna share the beauty that is Ryan with all of my blog friends)...

I thought my kids were cute. till I met Ryan.

that's all...I have so very much to do and I have no desire to do ANY of it.

Happy weekend!

I love old pictures...and home decorating.

but I'm only "good" at one of them...(can you guess which one it is? I'll give you a hint. it's not decorating...)

Happy Veteran's Day....this is my handsome Grandpa, Gaines Greenhill. He served in the US Army. If only my Grandma was alive to give me all those details I wish now to ask about...take it from me, folks, if you have elderly relatives alive, ask QUESTIONS!!

here is my Gramps and Gram with my mom and dad...so fun to glimpse them in the olden days, and having fun to boot. wish I knew what they were giggling about.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••ªªªªªªº¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡£™£¢¢¢

I'm feeling very nostalgic today. beware, this post is going to be allll over the place....

I'm in a redecorating mood...how to go about it, well, that's the tricky part. I usually just decorate with pictures. But I've been inspired by a friend of mine...who has mad decorating/color skills...

David and I went out on a little date last night. He says it's like a "guys" space. whattt? We are searching for a bound remnant for Mel's room, which got us looking at other stuff for the home. We are wanting to cozy up our upstairs...which is a big open space that needs some warmth. (apparently all of my scrap pages and pics on the wall aren't cozy enough for him)...we found a really great area rug at Target, with reds, whites, blues, browns, etc and we are in love. glad we are on the same page with color. The treadmill died so we get to take it out today. I kinda don't like exercise equipment up here but hey....We also found a media table for our DVD player etc that is cool...wall hangings, other stuff to make it look more cozy. So much to do, start small. take it easy, girl. Shades on the windows, touch up the paint. Back in the late winter, he decided he wanted to change all of our interior door trim so he yanked it all off...it's still off. I've even done my part and painted the new stuff, but I can't put it up myself...(I'm essentially talking to myself in this paragraph, k?) ok, I've just totally worn myself out for the day. ha ha.

so much overwhelming stuff. nice deep breath...I will do what I can.

not sure what the above pix have to do with all this nonsense? me either. nostalgia makes me want to decorate. go figure.

For today, I will focus on Mel and Moll's room, touching up trim so it will be all ready when we find that perfect remnant TODAY! cement floors are chilly in November. I will update the progress...Hope your Thursday is fantastic. I know mine will be. (power of positive thinking)

Bulletproof

nice outfit...

Not much going on in our world. I mean, there really is but somehow, there's too much to even blog about...as I type, Molly (Bulletproof above) is singing a lovely little diddy on the pot. I just closed the pool up with the boys. Mel is playing nicely with Levi. I took a walk with Mel (3 miles and every step felt like torture today) in this balmy fall weather. David's getting ready to start his big job at a local hospital. Tonight, he and I are going to find a remnant for Melanie's room and maybe squeeze in a "date". But not before 4 of my 5 kids head over to the east side so Jennifer can tutor Will in his Algebra. After I do some necessary banking and such....sheesh.

Admit it folks...I lead a glamorous life. I know. don't be jealous.

I hope that this finds you enjoying this lovely November day...no matter what! I know I'm trying.

Peace...

Superman turns 8!

Levi loves his big brothers (who are dressed as Lord of the Rings characters for last week's Phos Ontos Clue party)...

Handsome guy

so, this evening, we shall celebrate this little tough guy.

Here's the scoop on Levi Taylor of late:

•He's really doing well with his schooling, though Phonics still presents a struggle. I say, STRUGGLE ON, fella. and he does. He is definitely a numbers/order boy, like his dad. that could all change by high school Algebra.

•This coming Monday, Levi will start piano lessons with Melanie's talented and beautiful teacher. This boy loooooves to sit at the piano and sound out songs or just make up his own.

•This coming Monday, he will also begin taking Karate with Ethan with Brown's Karate. He is very, very excited about both events. I'm so happy for the little dude for the structure and change they will both bring to his existence.

As I sit here, I can't help but feel a bit choked up...David is laying in the middle of the floor playing matchbox cars with Molly and Levi. Such patience and love. In 10 minutes, my family will get here (ha ha) and the birthday celebration for Levi and my dad will begin.

I'm sure I'll be back to bore you with those pics later. hang tight....

Guy Fawkes Day

So, Remember Remember the fifth of November...

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Go watch "V for Vendetta" but try to ignore the skanky, weird parts that Hollywood insists on putting in for thrill, ick factor.

This weekend promises many things...hopefully high up on that list is REST!

Now that my momma has made it back home to her nest, we can now have Levi's 8th birthday party, and only 6 days late. That will be the highlight of our day tomorrow.

Today, I really need to get my pool covered...

Mel gets to go to a Kaleo retreat tonight and she's so excited. So thankful for the Bandy's and their amazing ministry to youth!

The new cat, aka SATAN, decided to sharpen her claws on the leather couch. uncool.

We are getting together with some old friends (they're not old) on Sunday and very excited about how God restores relationships. Maybe I'll blog about it. that is a story for another day. or maybe not. if you know me, us, you know what I'm talking about. Praisin' the Lord BIG TIME over this!

All in all, the weekend will be chill. and I couldn't be happier. thanks for allowing me to be completely random.

Happy Friday!

hang on tight...picture explosion ahead...

Ethan definitely stayed true to the character of Nacho Libre...if he wasn't my kid, I'm sure he would've won the costume contest...Levi is a cheeseball.

this was the FIRST year we actually carved pumpkins. for no particular reason....just never wanted to mess with that. the kids loved it (mostly)

I always realize in moments like this, just how much room our lower level does NOT have. Party Wing.....my next house will have a party wing most definitely!

Molly and Caroline (the Red Queen) warm up to the Pinata before he meets his doom.

we followed the proper procedures in light of the burn ban on Morgan county...and were all able to enjoy the lusty glow of the fire! it was a lovely evening, not too cold, not too warm....

this pinata has no clue what's in store...

Junior Superman giving the pinata a go!

Go Senior Superman...amazing!

Beck even got to take out some aggressions on the ol' pinata!

Nacho, it's a good thing you have those stretchy pants on!

Tom, I have to hand it to you, this is probably my favorite picture...your camera ROCKS!

Jose, Julian and Xochitl M. even participated and what fun!

Annie Mae and Melanie Lane (hippie names) adoring the cat that would become ours. Meet Ivy...our new cat. sheesh.

Man of Squeal, er I mean, Steel.

Daphne from Scooby Doo with her lovely momma

Evening Gown Barbie (husky style)

Will portrayed a very convincing Napoleon Dynamite.

David, aka Moon Beam, aka Ozzy Osbourne

Molly, with one of the two cats lurking around that night. This cat did NOT become our family pet...

beautiful momma and most of her beautiful family...even Renaissance Princesses get boogies in their noses.

So, there really are more pictures that I would like to blog but I need to get my day going.

All credit for these amazing pix goes to my big brother, Tom, who did an excellent job capturing the festivities. Thank YOU, bro! I didn't snap ONE picture.

I haven't tallied up the final numbers on just how many people attended but there were A LOT!

I hope your week is going well and that the weekend ahead brings much joy to you and yours. We will have Levi's "official" birthday party on Saturday, since my mom has been MIA since the 25th of October...:) love you, momma but miss you too!

Happy Wednesday!