What is it that a teacher on Christmas break does with her time?

Well, she carefully documents and counts every single bite that goes into her mouth. Gotta do something to fit back into last year's pants.

And she uploads pictures onto iPhoto. 

She might choose to blog them one day.

She connects her kids' new Didj games to her computer to help them "buy" characters for them and set the skill levels to their appropriate ages. This is kinda fun, but I draw the line at actually playing the games.

She finds herself mysteriously drawn to Days of Our Lives. Not much has changed since she had Benjy 5 years ago. Or since college for that matter, where everybody she knew scheduled classes around Days and The Cosby Show.

She analyzes her friends' dreams.

She is entirely too lazy to create anything herself, so she checks out what other more energetic and artsy people are doing with their time.

She wonders why she writes of herself in the third person.

Then she remembers that today is a full day of The Burn Notice on USA. And Michael Weston needs her to watch him for, oh, about 24 hours. 

TTFN ~ ta ta for now. She learned that from her 1st graders.

Today was our first Christmas without Michelle. And though we were richly blessed this Christmas, there was still a giant hole she used to fill. This is a shot she took of Mom and Dad's tree last Christmas. Her last visit home.

This was our last family picture, taken in October 2007 at Aunt Sandy's in Virginia. We were gathered for cousin Tonya's wedding, and it was a perfectly wonderful weekend. I found this long-lost picture on a link she had sent me to her Kodak gallery album. There are, like, more than a thousand pix on this, many of which are copies and crops of other pictures. I'm gonna order the copies of this photo that I promised my family I'd get them, oh, about 8 months ago or so....

Who's the chick with the skinny legs? Oh, that's ME?! I had no idea. My legs are like chicken lately. Pasty. Flabby. Cellulite-y. Yes. That's a real word now. There's not enough taekwondo in the world to take care of this job. I need to start counting points. (New Year's resolution, OK?) By the way, because it's totally relevant to the convo at hand... Santa brought me not one, but two RED Jhang Bongs for Christmas. Oh yeah, Baby! I'm armed and dangerous! (I have no idea if I spelled that right.)

See that sweatshirt Shell's wearing here? Mom passed it on to me, and I gave it to Camden. That child loves to wear this shirt. He's so proud to have a little bit of Aunt Shell in his possession.

Benjy talks of Aunt Shell a lot. Especially when he's tired. That's when he turns into Angel Benjy and seems to have thoughts and prayers for people he hasn't mentioned all day long. Serious stuff, too. He loves to talk about Aunt Shell having a picnic with Ellie, our faithful, loyal beyond belief, black lab mutt who passed away a couple of years ago. Aunt Shell loved Ellie. But Emma, I do believe, was her favorite. "Helmet Head," she called her. It must have been her ears. I think she felt sorry for her because she was second. Shell was second. Did I tell you that?

When Shell and I were kids we used to take the presents out from under the tree every night in the days leading up to Christmas. We would sort them according to the recipient, count them ~ because, hey, we had to be even, and rearrange them under the tree. A new arrangement every night. Mom never minded. It's just what we did. And so when Camden took to dragging presents out from their nest this year, I just smiled and let him. It's in his genes.

Michelle and Brian didn't have any children of their own. Here she is with her dog, Smokey or Abbie, I am sad to say I'm not sure which. And she's snuggling a new baby. It may be Baby Tatiana. I remember her talking a lot of her. But she had so many friends and family with children. And she loved them all so deeply, as if they were her own. She was so amazing like that.

Shell and Brian didn't have any human children. They had a menagerie of pets. Two wiener dogs and a whole passel of cats. I don't like cats, so I cannot pretend to remember their names. I think they were Ricky, Tigger, and somethingorother.

This is Michelle and cousin Tonya. Tonya and her new hubby Jeff drove all the way from Richmond last Christmastime to visit Mom and Dad and Shell. It was a blessed time. Dad was about to begin his cancer treatments and it would be a drag from that day on till he was in the clear. So he was relatively healthy - stronger and alert. This visit from family would be her last. We had no idea.

I'm not sure of the date here, but I'm assuming it was around summer-fall. Brian, her husband of 8 years, is with her and Mom and Grandmomma.  He was Shell's soulmate for true. We love you, Brian. 

Here are the two mates on their first real grown-up vacation since their honeymoon. They went to the Cayman Islands in early December of 2008. Right before she came home for the last time. Did she know this was her last vacation? Did she know she would come home one last time? I wonder these things often. I'll find out one day. But at least for now, I'm at peace knowing she's at peace with Jesus. 

She's a little hot tomale, no? I loved her so dearly. Even if my Barbies were better than her Sunshine Family.  

And I miss her dearly. I miss her phone calls. I miss her handwriting on her cards and letters. Even if they were always late. (it's a sister thing)

I miss her big heart, her love, her graciousness, and her voice. But I am at peace, thanks be to God, because I know where she is now and I am confident that my family and I will see her on the other side. 

Merry Christmas, Shell. 

I love you.

It's on.

24 straight hours of The Christmas Story. 

We're watching at least the first two. 

And we'll probably watch at least 6 more hours of it off and on tomorrow. 

It's what we do here in Casa de Lifeboy.

I've got a ton of pix on the camera but am way too lazy to upload them. 

I've captured the kids on a scavenger hunt for their Christmas Eve gift. I've got video of them hurling reindeer dust into the back yard. This is special dust to ATTRACT reindeer, not cremated deer dust. That's just wrong. I've also got pictures of their snack for Santa left sitting on the kitchen table. This is a first for the boys. They usually insist on putting the food by the tree, but this year they reasoned that it made more sense to eat in the kitchen. House rules and all. Good boys.

Well, I'm off to see that Ralphie doesn't shoot his eye out. 

Merry merry Christmas!

Let Benjy tell you a little story.....

It begins like this: "Mary went on a field trip...."

Thanks to Kenner Road, I'm up to my knees in glitter. Pink glitter. Hot pink happy glitter. I'm typically not a glitter gal, especially when mixed with a class full of first graders. But when it's just me and my stash of too much stuff, it's another thing altogether. Here's what I created today. Note, you won't see my mess. Just glitter. And not the glitter on the soles of my feet.

Don't you think the camels could have used some glitter in their dromedary lives?

These were made with an old roll of player piano paper. I love how it curls just right for the tree branches.

I feel sure somewhere in the desert where camels live, there should be Christmas trees with pink snow-tipped branches.

This little door hanger number is a favorite, too. I love how the white bell jingles.

Thanks Kenner Road for these fabulous Christmasy projects. My camels and I adore them.

Curt's sister, Tam, has been visiting with us. We've started calling her Mary. Mary Poppins. She pulls stuff out of her suitcase that couldn't possibly have fit in there when she left Raleigh. And yet the goodies keep coming. 

Aunt Mary Tam has educated the boys on the merits of St. Nicholas. (You know it was his birthday yesterday. WE celebrated. Did YOU?) 

She's taught them how to play the dreidle game. Hey, Jesus was the greatest Jew, after all. 

Aunt Tam and the boys have adorned this house with window clings and table decorations and Christmas tree ornaments and icing and candy coins. 

Here's the St. Nicholas Day table we ate at last night. You can't see it well, but there are tiny little animals by each plate. Camden had all elephants at his place. While we grown-ups ate turkey dumplings (yum) and shrimp, the boys ate bagle bite mini pizzas. How perfect is that?

And check out these mini "yule logs". They're HO HOs!!!!!!! Did you know that these are my all time favorite snack cake in the entire world???  The kids and Aunty Tam Poppins iced them up real special. I ate three of theses babies. And I want MORE! M-O-R-E!!!!!!!

Here are Camden and his aunt doing some St. Nicholas Day activities together. Well, they might be distracted by TV. Because we're not perfect. Are YOU???

Here's Mary and I having a little vino before sitting down to dinner. I'm not pregnant. I promise. But this is the favorite sweatshirt that I wore when Baby Benjy was swimming in my tum.

Here is the motley crew playing The Castle Game. I'm not sure of its real title. It involved a dragon who was forced by an evil sorcerer to be mean to the good people of the castle land. Then the peasants helped the dragon and he turned good again and saved the day. I think that's the gist of it. At any rate, they all had fun. And I played with glitter the entire time.

I was daggone bound and determined that TODAY was THE DAY we would get our picture for our Christmas cards. And, thanks to Mr. Crovak at tkd, here are our choices. This guy is a multitalented child. He not only has his 2nd degree black belt, but he also can take pictures on a fancy camera using the manual settings. AND, he can teach paper folding to even the most challenged student. I'm special, what can I say? More on that later....

Here are our unedited pix, courtesy of Mr. C. That's Crovak, not Claus.

And here are the fancy Christmas stars I made tonight at tkd. Mr. D. sure has a terrific repertoire of classes in his school. Origami rocks! Mr. C. calls these "throwing stars", but I call them "garland". Can't you just see a strand of these babies hanging on your tree? If so, sign up for his next class. He's a patient teacher who will guarantee you'll get your Christmas Throwing Star right or your money back!

This last day of Thanksgiving break was well spent making stuff. I just love to make stuff. Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class started today, and since I paid to take it two years ago, I am getting it for free again this year. What a great perk.

So, as in past years, we created our opening page, a manifesto of sorts, to start us off and get our minds focused on Christmas and how we can take some time each day to document the times. Here's my journal for this year and my opening page. 

It's really more of a scrapbook for me, since I'm a crafty type. But it could be anything depending on your preference. Some do digital scrapbooking, others just blogging. Others keep a journal with no pictures, and others focus primarily on the photos. I love the freedom I have to make the entries in my style and still be challenged to step out of my box a bit. Even in this third year. This book will take me through the 12 days of Christmas on Jan. 6.

And over at Kenner Road, another kit club I ♥ ....

They're having a 2-week freebie class for kit subscribers. I know. It's an addiction. I can't help it. Just ask ES.

So today we made this dandy little wreath. Although the one they posted was far superior in craftsmanship. 

This little ornament I stuck on it was given to me in 5th grade by Jackie Syphers. The year was 1978, so I consider this a bit on the vintage side. 

Here's my take on the title. I changed it from a frenchy title because I, frankly, don't like french. It sounds so dirty. You know, that grrrrrrrrrr sound isn't on the top of my sound bites. :) :) :) And the little Santa in the silver thingie: those are leftovers from Jenni Bowlin kits. The silver thing is actually an old milk bottle cap. Yeah. They made those before plastic.

Here's hoping I can got 2 projects completed tomorrow.....

Oh yeah, here's to you and your toe, Princess!

For a good time, go here.

And for your viewing pleasure, 

Love ya, sistah!

True dat!