Lights! Herbie! Vomit!

Yeah. You read that right.

Tonight was awesome.

A true memory in the making.

We dropped off a Christmas box to a local family & then my hubby surprised us with a nice dinner out.

After that we went to look at Christmas lights.

The neighborhood we were in was  a popular one~they had tour buses & everything!

So we are cruising around OOoohhing & AAaawwwing at the lights when we turn a corner & all of the sudden we are surrounded by about 50 VW Beetles!

(You know, Slug Bugs!)

It was so funny! It was just like that scene from the second Herbie movie where all of the Herbies come to life & chase down the bad guy :)

We were laughing so hard!

It must have been some kind of club & somehow we ended up right in the middle of their light tour (in our  Ford pickup no less).

Right on the trail of all of the Herbies was a huge stretch limo. You know these crazy Californians ;)

So we are cruising along enjoying the lights when The Biscuit.......hurls.

All over himself & his brother who was holding him so he could see the lights.

Eeeeeewwwwwwww.

We pull over & strip Biscuit, who has extra clothes in the diaper bag.

Unfortunately for his brother, he did not.

So there we are, stripping the bubby & Big Brother is forced to strip down to his skivvys as the VW's & the limo are cruising past...

It was epic :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is coming...

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat

Please to put a penny in the old mans hat

If you haven't  got a penny a ha'penny will do

If you haven't got a ha'penny then God bless you

I have that song on an ancient Muppet tape.

Cracks me up every time.

I have to say, it's hard to feel Christmas-y when it's 60 degrees outside, the grass needs to be cut & the roses are blooming.

It's just wrong ;)

We did 3 nights of a Live Nativity at church.

We brought one of our goats & our precious little mini donkey, Pea.

Pea was by far the star of the show.

She is just so laid back & loveable. She let everybody pet her & play with her.

This was our first year with the Nativity & it went well.

The first night we had 5 cars pull in & stop & lots more honked as they went by.

The second night I think 8 cars stopped.

The last night 16 cars stopped!

And we only got rained on one night.

God is good.



Blessings.

Abuse

I have never thought too much about abuse.

I have never known anyone (at least that I know of) who suffered from abuse.

Until now.

A friend is trying to escape an abusive marriage.

Physical & emotional abuse.

Scary abuse.

Afraid for her life & the lives of her children abuse.

It breaks my heart.

And it has made me think...

My husband & I tend to be very silly.

We have water fights. We wrestle. We chase each other thru the house screaming & laughing.

Our children, for the most part, just look on in disgust :)

Sometimes they will join in & hand me a fresh water bottle when mine is out or try to help 'bring down' their dad (an impossible task).

But when their dad picks up their mom & carries her screaming from the room ~ everyone is laughing.

It isn't scary.

What about other kids?

What about kids who see their parents hurt each other?

What about kids who try to help their mom because they fear for her life?

How do those kids make it?

How do they ever grow up & be 'normal'?

It is heartbreaking.

And it makes me angry.

Angry that people hurt the people they are supposed to love.

Angry that they hurt the people they have been charged to care for.

Angry that they seem to go unpunished & are unrepentant.

And it makes me thankful.

So  thankful that my husband takes care of me.

That I can run screaming from the room, shooting water at him as I go, and I have nothing to fear.

Thankful that my children laugh & know we love each other.

Thankful that my husband is a good man.

Thankful for the one powerful thing I can do for those who are afraid and hurting: PRAY

Please join me.

Blessings.

Bah Humbug

Ugh.

A cold has been working it's way thru the family & I have succcumbed.

Nothing too serious just a sore throat & general yuckyness so far.

I had planned to start decorating for Christmas but may sit on the couch & whine instead.

In other news: we are planning a live nativity at our church.

We want a camel so badly but haven't had any luck yet.

How cool would that be & wouldn't you stop in if somebody had a camel?

We will have goats & a donkey but a camel would just be awesome.

Maybe we can just disguise my horse, hmmm...

It is so hard to get into the "Christmas spirit" or even think about Christmas in this weather.

The sun is shining, the grass is green, it's in the 50's.

Back 'home' the temp is in the negatives & they have 2 feet of snow on the ground. And yes, I am just crazy enough that I want that over this.

I love winter. I love snow. I love cold.

Sigh.

Anyway. we may actually get a Christmas tree this year. The kids have been begging :)

Hubby still says "We'll see" soooo, I guess we'll see ;)

Blessings.