A GIANT Christmas post

Christmas 2008

We have had such a great week. Last Saturday was our annual neighborhood Christmas party. We have been so blessed by all of the wonderful people we have met here...we could not have moved into a neighborhood filled with more fun people!

That's my husband...he cuts rugs...Graham's parents came up on Sunday and we have just been spending time with them.
On Wednesday we went into the city (which takes about 2 hours by train) and saw Jersey Boys. It was a really great play!
It was not terribly cold, either...which was nice.
I couldn't believe how easy it was for us to go and spend a day in New York. Now that we know, we will be going there much more often!!
Today the snow came. Debbie and I headed out to run errands this morning...and we were on a strict deadline due to the impending storm. Well, 11:00 came and then 12:00 came and we were getting very skeptical that this "storm" was going to happen at all. We all sat down to lunch around 1 and watched out our breakfast room window as flurries turned into bigger snowflakes and buckets just began to fall from the sky. Bear got to have his first snow experience...he almost blends right in!


Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it is blessed and joyful!

Tis the Season

Normally I am not a big fan of those pull-at-your-heart-strings, bring-tears-to-your-eyes kind of appeal videos, but this one is amazing. It really captures what Christmas means...something that I think most of us forget at some point or another in our lives. I have forgotten. Let's remember.

The Week in Review

A lot has been going on in the Scobey house this week. A LOT. As soon as we got back in town from Thanksgiving break Graham and I decorated our house. (I have been wanting to do this since mid-November which, needless to say, I was forbidden from doing...so I did not let the freezing rain stop me from decorating as soon as we woke up last Saturday morning)

While watching Top Chef on Wednesday I got a craving for something sweet. "Cheescake", I thought. Well, Graham then got a counter-sympathy-craving for fudge...so we made fudge. It was sticky-sweet fun. My husband makes a mean fudge!!This is just a fun picture of my dog pulling on my jeans...he does not like it when I set the table for dinner because he knows that it means he will have to watch us eating for 30 min or so...pure torture for Bear.
Due to the extremely hectic schedule we have over the next two weeks, us Scobeys did our family Christmas on Saturday this year. Pretty early, we know...but oh well. Here is Bear opening his present. It is a mint flavored orby bone. He keeps trying to eat it because it smells so good, but he hasn't quite grasped that it is a toy yet.We then got our first snow cover of the season this morning (Sunday). The house looks even better with white on the roof!

Well, there is our week in review. It has been busy but wonderful. Classes are done for me...so I just have papers to turn in and exams to give/grade next week :) I hope everyone is having a wonderful December thus-far.

Poignancy In Pop Songs...Part II

As I was running yesterday and listening to my I-pod it occurred to me, yet again, how insightful some of the pop songs are now-a-days. It is truly just amazing.

1. Beyonce - If I Were a Boy: "If I were a boy, even just for a day, I'd roll out of bed each mornin', and throw on what I wanted. Go drink beer with the guys, and chase after girls. I'd kick it with who I wanted, and I'd never get confronted, cause they stick up for me."
   This song is a truly ethnographic look into the life of boys. Beyonce takes an oldie' but goodie' qualitative research method that allows us to learn so much about these "boys". Thank you, Beyonce, you are a true anthropologist.
   
2. T.I. and Rhianna - Live Your Life: "I got love for the game but hey, I'm not in love with all of it. I do without the fame and the rappers nowadays are comedy. The hootin' and the hollerin', back and forth with the arguing. Where you from, who you know, what you make and what kind of car you in. Seems as though you lost sight of whats important with the positive." This challenge to modern day materialism is simply inspiring. I am so please to see this problem addressed. We should all take a cue from these two; don't lose sight of what is important with the positive.

Like I said, positively inspiring.
And yet...no other genre seems to be able to inspire me to move my booty nearly as much :)

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Our family has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year.

Belle Candler, my birthday twin, was born on January 15th...she and I are bound to be partners in crime...

Then, on August 15th, Jake and Mallory joined the gang...coming into the world just one minute shy of each other.

The fourth recruit in the baby brigade is this gorgeous girl, Ella Grace...born November 5th

And as if Belle doesn't have enough baby cousins to boss around as it is, Graham and I figured we would give her one more. We are going to be blessed with a little bundle of our own on June 10th of next year. Here is baby Scobey's first photograph...not quite as cute as the others...but he/she is gettin' there.

Life is so full of surprises, it's a wonder that I even bother planning anymore. We are feeling overwhelmed and excited, but mostly thankful that we have plenty of experienced parents to get advice (and hand-me-downs) from!

Stormy Saturday

Well it has been a good end to a crazy week. We had friends over for a Halloween party on Friday and had a blast. Then we cleaned, relaxed, and ran errands on Saturday. It had been threatening to storm all day long when, at around 3:30 (right when we got home, thankfully), it started to pour. Not only was it raining, but the wind was reaching 40 mph gusts...needless to say our potted plants were all toppled this morning. Then, at 4:00pm, our power went out and didn't come back on until around 7. This is one time that my love for candles has come in handy.

Today we are taking it slow yet again.

Weekends are the most wonderful time to recuperate.

Two weekends ago I went to Atlanta for my Papa's 65th birthday party. It was so wonderful to see all my family. Here are some overdue pictures from the fun-filled weekend.Just a quick update. More to come later.

Crazy, Wonderful Life

I apologize for the lack in posting lately...things have gotten really busy around here really quickly and time has just gotten away from me.

It is winter here...well, in my opinion at least. This week the temperature has ranged from the low 30's to the mid 50's, and Graham, Bear, and Myself are all having to bundle up to go on our walks now.

We have (finally) hung some artwork in our dining room...my little sister (who is, obviously, an incredibly talented artist) painted these trees for our new home right before we moved (there is another one on the other side of the window). I love them.My other sister, Lauren, wrote a beautiful post this past week about the difference between wishing for things and having hope in God. It made me realize that, in my moments of weakness and sadness, I am too prone to wishing...that thing were better, different, easier...when what I really need to be doing is praying a prayer of thanks that I am, in reality, exactly where God wants me to be. He does, after all, know so much more about what I need that I do. Thank you, La, for challenging my perspective.