Out of The Mouth of Babes...

The entire family has been recovering from bronchitis since Thanksgiving, which has made productivity at our house non-existent. The first two weeks of December were gone before we knew it or even began to feel normal. Because of this, the Garners are not doing a traditional Christmas tree this year. I have Christmas trees I made out of tomato cages that sat on my fronch porch in Jackson, when my house was big enough to have a porch. Here, I have a cement square. Anyway, these two trees, a big and small one will be our Christmas trees in the house.

Why? I live in a two-story shoebox with two bedrooms and no storage. We rent a storage unit, and it's a huge ordeal to get all the Chritmas deocrations to our house and return the boxes so we have room. Then you have to get the boxes from the storage unit, fill them up again, and take them back to storage. I refuse to stress out over it. Christmas isn't about the decorations.

Yesterday, I was explaining to Georgia that we will have a Christmas tree, but it will not look like the one we had last year. Here's how the conversation went:

Georgia: "Why, Mommy?"

Mommy: "Because we have a small house, Mommy wants a bigger house, we've been sick, and time has gotten away from us."

Georgia: "Mommy, our house is just fine for us. Right, Mommy?"

Mommy: "Yes, honey it is."

Georgia: "Right, our house is fine, and it's cute too. Mommy, our house is beautiful!"

See, out of the mouths of babes. Georgia is absolutely right! Our house is just fine for us. The Lord will provide when we need it, and I am not stressing about Christmas decorations. I'll be good to even get Christmas cards out this year!!

Thank you, my sweet precious girl, for putting it all in perspective!!

Christmas Singing

Georgia's class at school read the Christmas story and sang songs to the English As A Second Language classes. The church where the school is teaches these classes. Georgia and her two boyfriends where the three wise men. Yes, Georgia has two men - twin boys named Taegon and Jaegon. Enjoy the pics!

1st Grade Proverbs

A 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!

1. Don't change horses - until they stop running.
2. Strike while the - bug is close.
3. It's always darkest before - Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power of - termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but How?
6. Don't bite the hand - that looks dirty.
7. No news is - impossible
8. A miss is as good as a - Mr.
9. You can't teach an old dog new - Math
10. If you lie down with dogs - you'll stink in the morning.
11. Love all, trust - Me.
12. The pen is mightier than the - pigs.
13. An idle mind is - the best way to relax.
14. Where there's smoke there's - pollution.
15. Happy the bride who - gets all the presents.
16. A penny saved is - not much.
17. Two's company, three's - the Musketeers.
18. Don't put off till tomorrow what - you put on to go to bed.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and - You have to blow your nose.
20. There are none so blind as - Stevie Wonder.
21. Children should be seen and not - spanked or grounded.
22. If at first you don't succeed - get new batteries.
23. You get out of something only what you - See in the picture on the box
24. When the blind lead the blind - get out of the way.
25. A bird in the hand - is going to poop on you.

And the WINNER and last one!

26.Better late than- Pregnant

I'm Alive!!!

Man, bronchitis is some NASTY stuff! I think I am finally on the mend. I went to a real doctor on Tuesday after seeing a Quack on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day). The real doc gave me a Z-Pack. I took the first dose (two antibiotics), and I thought I was cured! After coming down off that high, I realized I wasn't and missed work yesterday. I was also at home on Monday and Tuesday this week. I hate missing work. I always feel guilty calling in sick, but I really needed to rest. All that to say...I'm alive and kept both my lungs!!

Yuck...The Crud!!

Everyone in my family has been sick! G had bronchitis in October. It officially returned the Monday before Thanksgiving. I don't think it ever went away. Rick was sick before G got sick again, and now it's my turn!! I am tired of feeling like a lung is going to come flying out of my mouth. I apologize for the fun explanation, but this too shall pass!!

If you have a little girl...

You have got to check out the Fancy Nancy books. Aunt E introduced them to us, and G is hooked. Fancy Nancy and Angelina Ballerina are the IT books in our home. I believe I am raising a little reader because G loves books! The Fancy Nancy's below are the hardback books, and are G's favorites. There are some paperbacks and a few reader books.

The American History Museum

Today the family went to the renovated American History Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian. It has been closed for two years and re-opened November 21st. Well, we thought with it being Thanksgiving weekend no one would be there. WRONG! Not only was it extremely crowded, but half of the museum is still closed. Several of the exhibits don't reopen until January 2009. I will wait until February or March to go back in the freezing cold when all the tourists are GONE!!

The one good exhbit we did wait in line to see was the American Flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore and inspired the Star Spangled Banner. There are pics from Fort McHenry in an earlier post. When we visited Fort McHenry we bought Georgia a book about Mary Pickersgill, the lady who made the Star Spangled Banner flag. A picture of the book is below. Mary came to the museum to talk to the kids about the flag and had the kids help her put the flag together. It was neat to bring history to life for G. I hope that while we are here, she remembers all the wonderful things we show her about our American history.