Ornament Swap Numero Dos

In a momentary lapse of judgement, I decided to do two different ornament swaps this year.  

I don't know what I was thinking....

I've never even done one swap let alone two swaps!!!

I kept the same rules - I would not buy a THING!!!

I would only use what was in my craft room.

So this is what I made:

I used plain ornament balls, hot glue, an old book, the end of a thick paint brush,

 and a 1-inch square paper punch.  I punched A LOT of squares out of the old book I had.  Then, I would take the square, wrap it around the end of the paint brush, put a dab of hot glue on the end, and place it on the ball.  I did that A LOT until the ball was covered and looked like this:

If I had had more time (I may or may not have been finishing these 30 minutes before the swap), I was going to add something Christmas to the side of it.  However, everyone loved the way it looked without anything else.  I liked them and was pretty proud of them.

Here is a look at more of my super talented friends and what they shared with me!

From Kim Scott

From Adana Buttrum

From Debbie Holman

From Sarah Ellis

From LeighAnne Dugger

From Jerra Leek

From Ally Rogers

From Aubrey Buttrum

From Janet Sweeney

From Carole Cosbey

From Jana Dugger

I love that these special people will always have a special place in my heart and on my tree.

This Pretty Much Sums Us Up....

All a mother wants is ONE decent family picture!!!

Is that really too hard to do?

Is that really too much to ask?

I have always called Tompkins my third child because he and Carter got into so much of 

everything together!

I am glad Hayley caught all of these moments while trying (and only succeeding) 

to get ONE picture.

No kidding... THIS was the final pictures of NINE!!!!!

I do love my family!

Our December Graduates

Well, December graduation is here.

Which means part of my heart is leaving.

I am trying to look at the positive and remember the good times.

I've already cried, so I will try to contain myself during graduation.

Our dear Tompkins led the prayer - I like to think that Carter gave him plenty of practice for this since he was always a favorite to the say the prayer at lunch!

Tompkins with his sister and soon to be sisters!

 She acts like she doesn't love the boys but you know she does when she delays going to the BFF's house so she can go to graduation!

We were so glad to see Whitney again! We can't wait for her and Tompkins to get married in August!!

Thanks for everything, boys!

Know you are loved!

A Last Lunch

I hate goodbyes.

That's it.

You would think being an Air Force brat that I would be use to goodbyes.

I'm not.

I really don't do well with goodbyes when it comes to our college kids and over the next 12 months

I will say goodbye to 4 of them.

It literally breaks my heart.

This last lunch involved the first 2 guys who have been with us for at least 4 years.

That makes it harder.

 What a blessing these guys have been to our family.

 My babies - I don't know why the color is bad....

 Their true selves!!!!

We are so glad God chose to bring CT and Tompkins into our lives.

Because I knew you.... 

I have been changed for good.

- Wicked

Time to Deliver the Cookies!!!

When it is time to deliver the cookies, we break into 3 different groups. 

Some groups travel by foot to different houses while others hop in a car to deliver.

The groups have remained somewhat the same throughout the years because some of our older friends like to see how the girls have grown over the years!

Our older friends love it just as much as we do!

LB and I went with one of the walking groups with Sarah and Rachel Grace Hibbett and Allison, Addie and Shelbie Cross.

We loved visiting with the Barbers.

Then we ran into problems....

The others weren't home...

Not just one house...

But two...

And three...

Shelbie and Addie did not understand why no one was home

and why they would not want our cookies!!!

We did manage to give our cookies to people one way or another!

Christmas Cookie Swap VI

The day we look forward to when the Christmas season comes FINALLY came!

We always love the Generational Christmas Cookie Swap and we couldn't believe we have been doing this for six years now!!

I would recommend doing this with any group of people.  It is so much fun and so rewarding!

We always have each family unit to bring 3 dozen cookies along with the recipe.

As the girls and their mothers/grandmothers arrive, we have some kind of craft for the girls to do.

This year we collected mugs from the Dollar Tree and had the girls decorate them using Sharpies. When the decorating was done, we put them in the oven at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

When the crafting was complete, the girls picked up Christmas boxes and began to fill them with some of the goodies that were brought.  These boxes will later be taken to some of our older friends in the neighborhood and from church.

Then, we get to enjoy the treats that were brought and we enjoy just being together.

Now that our bellies are full - we deliver!!!!