The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a King, Queen and Prince. The Prince, by law, was to marry a Princess, but there was none to be found that suited him.
One stormy night, a young woman came to the castle. She was separated from her family in the storm and needed shelter. The King and Queen agreed to allow her to spend the night. She told the Queen she was a Princess, but you could not tell by her tattered clothes and tired body. The Queen, wanting to know for sure, placed a pea under 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds, knowing that a true Princess was extraordinarily sensitive and wouldn't be able to sleep.
The next morning, the Princess said she felt like she was sleeping on a rock, and was surprised for she thought 20 mattresses would provide a wonderful sleep. The Queen was elated, and told the Prince (who had already fallen in love with the Princess). He told the Queen that he already knew she was a real Princess by "the gentleness of her eyes, the softness of her voice and the kindness of her heart".



And, the Queen told the girl that she could spend the night at their castle.

She prepared 20 mattresses with 20 feather beds. Then, she placed a single pea under the lowest mattress.

Then the girl (Princess!) layed down for what she thought would be a good night's sleep.

Thank you Ms. Donna for this most thoughtful gift! Kate loves the story and the doll!

It snowed in Coosada!

Actually, we had flurries all day. No sticking. But, the kids had fun trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues!

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas Eve started out with dinner with our neighbors, the Weekleys. This is now a 3 year tradition! This year we had taco soup and hot sandwiches. I will never forget 3 years ago, Scott and I were both working on Christmas Eve. When I got home, Jimmy has built a fire in our fireplace (the first since we had lived here) and Janice invited us over for dinner. It was so thoughtful, and I'm so glad that the thought has turned into a tradition!

I had tried to make our cookies for Santa before dinner, but the dough wasn't cooperating. Well, the dough didn't cooperate AT ALL, even after refrigerating it for several hours. I ended up making circles of the dough and flattening them out, then decorating them. But, Santa enjoyed them - so it was worth it! We placed 9 carrots on the plate for the reindeer (including Rudolph). The kids also spread their reindeer food over the lawn so that our house could be easily seen! Then, to bed everyone went (well, almost everyone)...



The next morning, we waited for the kids to wake us up, which was about 7:30am. They both woke us up saying, "Mama! Daddy! Wake up! Santa came!" They were so excited. Kate got what she wanted: a camera and a barbie (a veterinarian barbie none the less!), puzzles and pajamas, a book and assorted princess art. Brooks got what he wanted: a tennis raquet, tennis balls, a football, a baseball tee, pajamas, 2 books, a Wii game and assorted little things. He also got a UGA bedspread set - which he loved once he understood what it was!

Our Christmas was wonderful.
We are the most blessed family and we thank God for our blessings every day.

Updated Client Knowledge!

In case you haven't read it in a while, I updated my "client knowledge" column on the right side of my blog. If you want some laughs, just click and read!

A child's heart

Kate just overheard a commercial about a "back pain sufferers". There was a patient named Sylvester that was told that he would need surgery and shots. She immediately turned around and asked if we could pray for him! I told her of course - that we could pray for anyone she wanted to. Then she said that she was so glad that Sylvester was put on TV so that lots of people could find out and they could also pray for him.

She has a pure heart! I wish that it could be there forever~

Mally the Dog

Here is our Mally. She is doing so much better at our house. While she isn't completely trustworthy, I consider her relatively housebroken. Her only vice (still) is the fact that she won't come when called if outside. She runs like a wild pig. Sure do wish we had a fenced in back yard... oh well. Golden Retrievers are pretty good dogs - she is the first one I've ever owned.

It's great to be an Auburn Tiger!!!

photo by Blake Moody

PS

Somebody hold me back!

:)

Playing more

An oldie but a goodie! :)
Before and after...

Trying it out

Photoshop is hard.

But, I think I am getting it.

Maybe.

I really like this one of Kate

If I could have manipuated this one this well last week, it would have been our Christmas card. (You didn't read that, Casey)

Photoshop

Well, I got Adobe Photoshop Elements. To say it is not user friendly is an understatement. I am working on it, but wow! it is difficult. I am excited to learn something new, but I have always done so much better with a teacher than learning on my own.

This is an old update - but Reed is doing so great now! There is a large defect growing out of his hoof where an abscess ruptured. When I put him out tonight he took off across the pasture - bucking all the way! :)

I hope that Scott will get to work more on the deck tomorrow - if his help is able to come. I hope so. And, the SEC Championship game is tomorrow... War Eagle!

Christmas trees

The kids were AWESOME helping me decorate the trees this year! They couldn't wait to be able to get going. I am so glad that we now have the 3 tier trees - it makes it so much easier to put them up.

Some of the things that Brooks said that were the best:

- "I just love Christmas!"
- "I love hanging ornaments! It's my favorite Christmastime!"

When he prayed tonight, he thanked God for our Christmas trees, and he prayed they would still be up in the morning, and that Christmas Eve would come soon. His prayers have come along so well here as of late, and I am just so proud of him.

And, I can't leave Kate out. She was super at helping out! She was a little sad at the fact that she had to share her tree with Brooks this year, but they worked well together.





I got these stockings last year from Target after Christmas. It took a while to find all of our initials, but it paid off because they were so cheap. I purchased the pom pom trim separately and Mom sewed it on for me.

Playing catchup

Today, at the grocery store, Kate asked to buy some Brawny, because "it never let's you down..."

We had a great time in the mountains this year. Brooks was sick with walking pneumonia, which made our week a bit different. He ran a fever off and on for the first few days, and didn't sleep well at night (and the kids slept in our room, so we didn't sleep well either). But, by Tuesday he was feeling better. Thank goodness we had started antibiotics on Friday before.

Didn't get to Cades Cove this time, or to Gatlinburg, but we did go to the beautiful cemetery outside of Gatlinburg, picked a TON of acorns and got to hike a little. We all enjoyed it! I wish I could do more of that.

This coming week I have to work all week - so I will be T-I-R-E-D. But, I feel rejuvenated from a week away. We spent the day catching up on the house, and Scott is working on taking apart our back deck. He and a friend at work will put a new one up next weekend. Ours was past bad, with several boards rotten. We are saving a lot of money with Guy helping us. And, it will be something else to learn!

Quarterboy can't stay out of my lap since we got home. And I love it.

Faves of Kate

Some of my favorites!

More Mountain pictures

Me, Papa and the kids

Papa and our family

Rick and Brooke (Caroline was asleep the entire time!)

Happy Fall Ya'll!

I have been after pictures this week!

Here are some of the better ones...

Hmmmm.... which one will end up on the Christmas card?