Happy New Year!

I am finally posting our many pictures from Christmas. We have been working on cleaning the kids' rooms all week and I have been playing with my new embroidery machine and working on Joseph's socks so I haven't taken the time to post anything.

First our tree and the kids inspecting the tree on Christmas morning.

They love eachother so much sometimes...

Unwrapping presents from Santa is serious business...



They got sleeping bags.








And their pretty church clothes.




Steve liked his zebra socks,



Elisabeth liked her My little Ponies,









Joseph had fun with his bath toys and his castle...when it was finally put together :)


I will post some pictures soon of the cool stuff I have been making on my embroidery machine :) I have had so much fun with it.

We gave Mitch a weather station so he can see what the temperature, humidity, air pressure, etc. is outside, it is really neat!

We will be spending New Year's at home, Mitch is singing tomorrow in church, a choir of seven men, I guess you would call that a septet :)

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We had a wonderful early Christmas dinner with Becka and Dustin on Thursday night. Of course the bad children we are we didn't take pictures :(

We ate yummy snow crab legs, cocktail shrimp and we all kinda forgot to eat the salad and rice :) Becka brought over some French wine and we had rice crispies treats (the kids made in the morning), gingerbread cookies and fudge for dessert along with some delicious coffee and Kaluah.

We gave Becka and Dustin a Rachel Ray cookbook, Cooking 'Round the Clock (30 minute meals) and I finished Becka's scarf and hat just in time...now she has something warm with her in Virginia :) (I'll have to get a picture of her wearing her new gear when they return.)

They gave us a night out to dinner and a movie complete with babysitting! Elisabeth got a Shel Silverstein book called Runny Babbit and Joseph got a set of Hotwheels.

I also managed to finish another Christmas present last night, these socks...
for Steve, they will be gifted tomorrow.

Sadly, I have not finished the last gift I was working on, the tiger socks for Joseph have only made it this far...that is only the first sock, so I think these will make it as a Hanukkah present later this week.

Tonight we are going to Christmas Eve service and then home and the kids need to go right to sleep so Santa can bring all their presents. Tomorrow we will have the kids open one present and their stockings before church and then we will come home and Steve and Aida will come over to open the rest of the gifts with us. Tomorrow night we are going to their house for dinner and to light the first Hanukkah candles. WHEW!

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve and I will post more pictures after Christmas.

I finally got my grades....

After waiting all afternoon for UF's evening time grade posting.....

Drum roll please.....

I got an A in Latin
an A in Structure of French
a B+ in Intro to French Lit
and a B in Writing in French

Happy Dance!

YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!

Now I really can celebrate this holiday!!!!

I don't know how this effects my GPA yet, transcripts will be updated on Wednesday.

Edited to add: My GPA went from a 1.84 to a 2.50 this semester!

It really feels like Christmas

Yesterday our church choir performed the Cantata. They performed A Canticle of Joy. It was beautiful and our choir director always goes all out and organizes a mini orchestra for the performance. Rebekah played oboe and english horn and Mitch sang.
It was so hard to get a picture of them. Becka is always behind a music stand :)

We had a yummy lunch together after church and then Becka took a couple of these boxes home to wrap...see what you have sent to us mom ?!?

Anyway it has been lots of fun guessing if we are going to get another package each day :)

I worked on these socks last night...they are for Joseph hopefully for Christmas.

And I've been working on my scarf, it is almost done!

Frappr!

OK I did a Frappr Map, sign it please :)

I am FINISHED!!!!

Well for three weeks at least. I finished my second and final exam for this semester and now I am on my 3 week semester break. I get to spend the next 3 weeks cleaning house, teaching the children, knitting, reading, laundry, knitting, cleaning house, reading...I need to start making a to-do list for the house. I've got to buckle down and finish a couple Christmas presents I've started.

Friday night is Mitch's company holiday party, which should be a lot of fun. And we will be doing our shopping this weekend.

My grades will be posted this weekend, but excuse me now while I enjoy doing nothing for a few moments :)

One down one to go...

I took my Latin final exam this morning. The exam only took a half hour to complete, it was no longer than any of our other tests! So that one went well and tomorrow I will take my exam for Structure of French.

I have been able to catch up on some of my knitting, one Christmas present is nearly finished. I have started on the tiger socks and I was able to finish the second Amble sock. I was in Jo-Anns the other day and couldn't resist this yarn it is becoming a scarf. The colors are hard to see, but it is blue with flecks of purple, pink, and green throughout...and so soft!

Well I should go study while the kids have their quiet time. Tonight is a Brownie night!

Getting ready for Christmas

After seeing so many other bloggers post pictures of their holiday decorations, I thought I would too. First here is our tree, the kids did most of the decorating and insisted on putting every ornament as high as they could reach, so the bottom of the tree was neglected.

We then have our fireplace with stockings and advent wreath.

I love to decorate the piano for Christmas...Elisabeth has even been learning how to play some Christmas carols :)

Only in Florida could you have roses picked from the garden next to Christmas decorations!

We bought a pretty little potted tree that now decorates our passthrough.


I just love having all the decorations out!

The kids are getting excited about Christmas, Elisabeth made a calender at girl scouts to count down the days, you can see behind the stockings on the right, one candy cane a day until Christmas!

Florida Snow!

This is my snowflake I made on Make-A-Flake.
I discovered this site through another blog I read. Lots of fun!

I think I will have the kids create our own little snowstorm here in Florida :)

Countdown time!

Today I am finishing up one of my final 3 papers for my classes. I have one due next Monday and one due next Friday after classes end. I have 2 finals to prepare for after classes end and another test to prepare for the last day of French lit class. The last day of classes is December 7th, my finals are the following week, one on Tuesday (I think) and one on Friday. I can't believe how quickly this semester has flown by!

I am all set for next semester. Classes start January 9th, so I will have a nice break for the holidays.

Well it is thundering and lightning outside right now. I should probably get off the computer. Time to get the kids breakfast anyhow.

I will post some pictures from Thanksgiving later this week.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. We have much to be thankful for:
We are healthy, we have a roof over our heads, we have 2 beautiful children, and we have a wonderful future ahead of us :)

I am touched each time I see a news story about a Hurricane Katrina victim, someone who just a couple of months ago had nothing and through the kindness of strangers and the grace of God is able to move on and be thankful for what they do have today. Makes you realize that we are really not in need of anything.

We will be going over to Steve and Aida's for dinner late afternoon. Becka is coming when she gets off work but Dustin has to work a double shift :(

I am making my yummy Apple Caramel Pie, Cran-Raspberry Sauce and yeast rolls; Becka is making the Pumpkin Pie and Aida is doing the rest.

Since it is also Joseph's birthday today we will have a birthday cake for dessert also! I can't believe my baby is 4 years old already.

Have a Happy Day!!!

Recent knitting...

I guess this is good, I'm posting twice in one week:)

Here are some pictures of the little bit of knitting I have gotten done these past few months.


First the first Amble sock finished. I haven't started on the second one yet, too many other things that I need to finish up first. I can't wait to get back to this one. If you notice the stitch pattern goes all the way down the heel. This sock is modeling on my flowering tarragon.

Second is the Mosaic sock, I have started on the heel of the first sock. Mosaic is modeling on one of my new rose bushes, well the roses were new this September.

More later :)

It's crunch time!

The semester is nearing an end and everything becomes frantic. With 2 weeks left, I have 2 major compositions for my French Lit and Writing in French classes. I have 3 finals (I guess it's good to only have finals in 2 of 4 classes) to prepare for. And Thanksgiving, Joseph's birthday, Christmas and Hanukkah all arriving before we know it :)

Yesterday was a long day for me, I went on campus early to meet with departmental advisors. I met with an advisor in the Eudcation department to discuss the Pathways to Teaching Education minor which will allow me to obtain a temporary FL teaching certificate, important if I am unable to start my graduate work right away, at least then I could get a job. Then after classes I met with the French advisor to map out the courses I have remaining for my degree, the good news is that it's not a lot. And she said she heard I'm very good in French :) (I'm assuming from one of my profs). So I know what classes I need to take for the next year and a half, my life is mapped out for that time! I registered for classes for spring. Now that's done I can focus on finishing this semester and then the holidays.

With all going on and trying to keep up with Elisabeth's school work, I haven't had much relaxing time. I have yet to start on Joseph's tiger socks. Or finish the pairs that I have already started. I did finish the lace scarf which was a birthday present for Aida. This is a close up of the stitch pattern. And the scarf laid out blocking.

The other pictures are the kids at the Orlando Science Center about a month ago.

Sharon Needs...

10. Sharon needs more time to work.
9. Sharon needs to create a new special unit to implement this dirty work.
8. Sharon needs an excuse to organize.
7. Sharon needs to be on a regular fertalizer schedule.
6. Sharon needs to see the big picture.
5. Sharon needs to formulate a new course of action.
4. Sharon needs to be more forceful.
3. Sharon needs to do something simple that would have a profound meaning worldwide.
2. Sharon needs help
1. Sharon needs all the help (s)he can get.

I have seen this on several blogs I read. All you do is go to www.google.com and put (your name) needs in the searcch box. See what you can come up with :)

I AM still alive!!

I promise I haven't forgotten about all of you :) I have been so busy with everything.

My classes are going well, just a lot of work now that we are more than halfway through the semester. We went to Orlando a couple weekends ago, we visited Sea World and the Science Center again, lots of fun. I didn't take a lot of pics because we just did this in July, I do have a couple that I will post soon. I started a Mary Kay business, Becka got me into it and I really am loving the opportunity. And then we got a surprise visit from Daddy!! We also celebrated Aida's birthday this weekend.

I guess that kinda sums up the past few weeks.

I will try to post more in the next days and get those pics up soon :)

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I did something really stupid yesterday...

See my poor car?!?!? That's right folks, the rear bumper is completly gone! It's really stupid because it was my fault. I was backing out of a parking space at the Lowe's/Target parking lot, and I didn't see a pickup coming into the parking aisle. Granted he was turning pretty quickly into the lot, but I should have seen him! The truck has a dent on the left rear quarter panel, and I have no bumper.

In my 10 years of driving, I have NEVER had an accident or even a ticket. This really sucks, for lack of a better word. Thankfully, this was minor and noone was hurt, our insurance will cover the damages to both cars, no police report was filed, so no tickets were given, etc.. but it really ruined my afternoon!

Today is a better day, Elisabeth has her Girl Scout Pinning ceremony tonight. Rebekah is practicing oboe with the choir for the anthem on Sunday, I am signing the same piece. She is reading French scripture and I am signing the scripture. I am very excited about participating in worship for World Communion Sunday.

Tomorrow, Rebekah has her Mary Kay debut, I hope it is a success for her.

I haven't gotten much knitting done these past few days. I am still plugging away on my Amble socks, I think I will finish the first one and then start on the next sock for the six sox knit along, maybe I'll get those done in time for the drawing at the end of the month. I started on a lace scarf in that pretty turquoise yarn I posted about a while back, I've gotten 2 rows done. I'm making up my own pattern for this, well I found a lace pattern I like and I'm just doing it in a scarf size, it should be really pretty. I will post a picture when some more is complete and the pattern is visible.

Well gotta go.

Katrina Pics

Last week Mitch's friend Bernie went with his wife to Biloxi, MS. They took with them a trailor full of donations collected by family and friends, for the storm victims there. We sent along some clothes and some toys the kids helped to pick.

I was originally going to choose a few pictures to share here, but Bernie sent over 600 pictures of their trip. It is impossible to choose only a few to tell the story, so I am placing the link to his online photo album here on my blog. You need to sing in to create a free account in order to view the pictures. Plan to look at the pictures when you have plenty of time, they are simply amazing.

Pictures from Biloxi, MS.

More pics

Well I didn't get these posted when I said I would. But these are some pics from Elisabeth's party.
The kids started off by painting figurines, they were little bugs, very cute.






Then they decorated goodie bags and tried to break a pinata.

Then we had cake and popsicles and then went inside for presents.
The kids had a great time!
















I was glad Rebekah and Dustin were able to come to the party!















I have also been working on my Amble socks, after the 4th start I finally have them fitting correctly, and I really like the pattern.














I have also been working on my "Gator" socks, I found this yarn that has among its colors orange and blue!










And finally a picture of the Opal Tiger yarn I received, this will become a pair of socks for Joseph, my tiger nut, I think I will also be able to get a pair of mittins out of it for him.

Finally Some Birthday Pictures!

OK, I realize it has been forever since I have posted anything and now I am going to post a ton of pictures. These are all pics from Steve and Aida's camers. I was a bad mom and didn't take any of my own, ok I was a little busy too :)

We all had a great time. It has taken me all week to recover though.
I start with all of us at dinner at Newberry Backyard BBQ for Mitch's b-day. It only took them over an hour to seat us, we were a party of 14! We had quite a feast though!















Adam and Ysette got in late, so they had their BBQ at Steve and Aida's...




...before we got to the wonderful spread Aida had for Mitch :) Three kinds of cake, cookies, chocolates, yummy! Mitch needed help from the kids to blow out his candles ;)









I also have a bunch of pics from Elisabeth's party, but it is late and I really need to go to bed, so I will post them tomorrow.