A very FEW Christmas Pictures

According to my computer, I have 738 Christmas pictures! And that's even after I've deleted A LOT just trying to weed through them. Ridiculous, isn't it? I just don't know how to control myself when I take pictures! Jason's family tell me that I'm like the paparazzi. But in my defense, we did an extreme amount of Christmas stuff this month, and I have to document each event...holiday lights, baking and crafting, gingerbread houses, 4 family gatherings, plus our own Christmas morning. And laying all jokes aside, I have a terrible memory; so in all honesty, taking pictures helps me to remember all the details. So, out of 738 pictures, I chose 7 of them to share with you.

My sunshine boy on Christmas morning

Showing off his Christmas pajamas

Gavin loves horses, so Santa brought him one that he can ride, and it sings songs too.

He also loves to watch us cook and pretend to eat and make stuff,

so this is the other thing Santa brought for Gavin.

(Jason didn't care too much about this gift because he thinks kitchens are for girls.

But I assured him that Santa would bring a boy-colored kitchen - and besides, men cook too!)

On Christmas night, we open gifts with my mom and dad, and the rest of our gang. Santa made a surprise visit to say good-bye to Karis and Gavin before he headed back to the North Pole. (It was actually my dad. I thought Gavin would recognize his voice, but he didn't.)

My favorite gift - a Vera Bradley apron, monogrammed - courtesy of my sister. (We're VB fanatics.)

All of us - I love my family.

Hollywild Lights

We went to Hollywild last night to look at Christmas lights. Jason, Gavin and I, Ray, Katie, and Mom and Dad went. We had such a good time. Here are some pictures from our outing.

Mom and Dad sat in the very back of our car -

which is a big no-no to me. (I'm a car safety freak.)

But I have to admit, it was fun bending my "rules" a little bit so that all of us could fit into one car.

Once we got to the zoo, we unbuckled Gavin so that he could see.

He loved being able to climb around.

This long horn thing came right up to our window and ate the pancakes off the ground. His horns kept rubbing the side of my car. I was about to have to ask him to scoot over a bit so he wouldn't scratch my car. When he was finished eating, yes, he did scoot over. But just a tiny bit. He started peeing right there beside my car, and yes, it did splatter on my door. Yuck. We laughed so hard.

Katie and Gavin hung out the window for a better view of the animals.

Gavin got to feed some of the animals with a bottle. Of course, they didn't want much because everyone was trying to feed them.

If you haven't been yet, you can go online to their website and print a coupon - Buy 3 Get 1 free. Not really a fantastic deal, but it at least saved us $5.

Gingerbread Houses

One of our Christmas activities on our countdown calendar this year is to make a gingerbread house. I found instructions for an easy gingerbread house - where you use a school milk carton to be the foundation. It was the perfect size, because I didn't want anything too complicated or too big. We got together with Kelli and the kids to do it at Mom's house. (Her house is grand central station.) Here are some pictures of our fun:

I put icing on the "roof" and then looked away to grab Gavin some graham crackers. When I turned back around, he was licking all the icing off.

Getting help from Pops.

Gavin's finished masterpiece.

All of the masterpieces.

Family Fun

Gavin was in a good mood, so we quickly took advantage of a picture moment with him.

Mom and I didn't plan this - we wore the same Christmas in Carolina shirt. Gavin loves his Karis.

My daddy (Pops) has 1 main job whenever we all get together...to let Gavin and Karis ride on his back like a horse.

I love this picture because Kelli's expression is priceless! (The kids fell off dad's back.)

Random Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of things we've been doing in the Varner house: Because of all the craziness this past week, we had to postpone Dad's birthday dinner until Sunday night. That old man turned 56!

Yes, there are 56 candles on the cake. Pops with his grandkids. (Yes, my child had to be half naked.)

Jason made us red and green pancakes for breakfast.

This is my wild animal boy that I love so much.

Tonight, Pops stopped by to play with Gavin. Gavin loved playing trains with him.

When it rains...it pours

Have you ever heard that phrase?...When it rains, it pours. I'm sure you have. I have 2 meanings for that tonight. First, most of you know that mom had to go in to a specialist and have a melanoma taken off her face on Wednesday. She has had a spot on her face that has changed and she began to get worried. Thank goodness it was time for her dermatologist check up and they caught it before it got any worse. So, I promised mom and dad that I would cook dinner for them since the doctor said that mom would probably zonked out on medicine for a couple days. Well, those plans changed, and I ended up having an emergency appendectomy Wednesday evening. (Most of you know me - I work on a routine and schedule, and this was definitely not on my calendar. It totally threw me for a loop.) After surviving a million needles and IV sticks, and a crazy story behind the surgery, the doctor said I would live. He said I can't lift anything over 10 pounds for 4-6 weeks and that I would be extremely tired for several weeks. So, Kelli, my sister, is having a hysterectomy this coming Wednesday and mom and I are supposed to help out with the children. So..this means all 3 of my daddy's girls will have had major health issues all in one week. The hospitals, I'm sure, are loving us right now. Here is where I say, when it rains, it pours. The second reason I say that is that I'm totally amazed at how God works. He always has His hand in the little things - things that don't make sense at the time, but in the end, everything comes together and makes sense. For one, and this may sound silly, but I think God knew this was going to happen to me and let it happen before the end of the year. My insurance changes in January - because we're down grading to something less because we're never sick (knock on wood). There's no telling what kind of bills are about to come rolling in. Plus, the timing is crazy. We only have 2 weeks of school before Christmas break, so there wasn't anything major I was going to start doing with the kids until after Christmas. And then, I've had this pain in my side since Friday night, so I went 5 days before anything was done about it. I really didn't think it was my appendix because it didn't fit any of the symptoms that I read about on the internet. Before I went to the doctor on Monday to find out what was going on, I prayed that night - God, if it is my appendix, please let it hold off until a doctor can check it and know for certain. I didn't want it to rupture and all that mess happen (even though it had already ruptured and I didn't know it.) So, again, when God rains down his mercy and protection....He pours it down. Because that's exactly why my situation wasn't any worse than it was. Here's the condensed version: Friday night - pain started in right side; thought it was gas from eating too much popcorn at the football game Pain all weekend. Doctor's office Monday afternoon. Bloodwork showed it WASN'T my appendix. Instead thought it was my ovaries or a kidney stone. Scheduled CT scan to be sure. Tuesday - nothing Wednesday morning - CT scan; doctor's office called 15 minutes after walking back in the door - get to surgery immediately. It really was my appendix. In surgery, the doctor found that my appendix had folded itself over and had actally ruptured, but the puss had adhered itself to my small intestine like glue. A piece of fat had stuck itself over my appendix, trapping the puss and bacteria in and keeping it from seeping out into my belly. (That will be the only time I will be thankful for fat on my body.) So, he said he had to cut away the fat, and then peel away and cut my appendix off of my small intestine. Crazy, isn't it?? Other than some normal pain after surgery, everything is good. Ok, so off of that story - I just want everyone to know what a fantastic hustband I have. He has been a great nurse. He has had to help me get up and down, help me use the bathroom, and had to help put my clothes and shoes on. He has made sure I've taken my medicine on time and has massaged my swollen feet and legs. I couldn't ask for anyone better to take care of me. (Plus, I'll give a shout out to my mama. Even though she has been in pain from her face, she has helped me too. She helped me take a shower, wash my hair and helped bathe me, and even rubbed my legs down with lotion afterwards!) Because the doctor has said that I can't lift anything more than 10 pounds for 4-6 weeks, that means I can't lift Gavin in and out of his crib. So, Jason went and bought a toddler bed for Gavin and has been working his hiney off all day cleaning out Gavin's room and closet, and making a new "big boy" room.

Down with the baby bed.

And up with the big boy bed.

And some new touches we added to his room...

(Kelly - you should see this new clean room. You'd be impressed.)

My 2 Blessings

Of all the wonderful things the good Lord has granted me, these 2 are my favorite:

Thanksgiving Meal

We ate dinner at Mom's house for Thanksgiving. Our menu:

turkey & ham

cornbread dressing & gravy

green beans

mac & cheese

brown rice

sweet potato casserole

hash brown casserole

deviled eggs

broccoli salad

fruit salad

yeast rolls

cranberry sauce

& a delicious assortment of desserts

And of course, I ate WAY TOO MUCH!

We are Thankful

We have a Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar that we've been using - each day we talk about something specific we're thankful for, and then do an activity to go with it. Here, we are thankful for a nose to smell. We lit a candle and smelled its sweet smell.

And the other night, we talked about how we're thankful for good food to eat. We set the table with a tablecloth, and ate off of real plates instead of paper plates.

Marriage Retreat

This weekend, I had the privilege to attend a Marriage Enrichment Retreat at The Candlestick Retreat Center in North Carolina (in the middle of nowhere) with other couples from church. Each week, we see each other in church and say "how are you", and maybe wave at each other from afar; but we were able to spend quality time with other people and really get to know each other on a more personal level. The couple leading the retreat were Tom and Brenda Preston, who are involved with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Here are a few main points from this weekend that really meant a lot to me:

1. We all know that there are threats to marriages. Society today doesn't view marriage the same as in the past. Other than worldly views and culture affecting marriages, another is "extra marital affairs". Affairs aren't necessarily with other people. It could be an affair with something, or someplace. Other than Christ, our spouse is supposed to be the one who satisfies and fulfills our needs. When we seek other things to meet our needs, that's an affair. Some examples of affairs people have are with work, our hobbies, computers (Facebook, email, etc.), our children, and alcohol/drugs. Our relationship with our husbands should be the primary relationship - not the relationship with our children. Tom mentioned that so many women try to be super mom and focus more on their children than on their husbands. Basically, he wanted us to focus on our priorities.
2. Another point he made was that all marriages have conflict and hardships. As Christians, Christ never promised us an easier life. Our problems are the same as those who aren't Christians - we all face issues with money, children, jobs, family members, etc. It's how we react and respond to those hardships that seperate us from others. Christians can have faith in a God that will help us get through our problems and grow from them.
3. God created marriage to be like an escalator, not an elevator - you get on and don't get off until the end. We're not meant to push a button and determine how far we want to go with our spouse. We make a vow to stay with our spouse until death.
4. In Ephesians 5:22-23...that infamous verse about women being submissive...they mentioned that so many people think it means that the husband is the boss of the family and the wife is inferior. It means that he is the leader and the head of the household. He makes the final decision for the family, but women are to help make that decision. We are to lift our husbands up, prefer them, understand and encourage them, and help them become the leaders they are called to be. We are to listen to our men so that they know they are important; to support our men and be their #1 fan. One of their quotes was, "If he wins, I win. If he loses, I lose." because we are one single flesh and one family.
5. God created us to be in His image - male & female together mirror His image. In Genesis 2:18, God says it is not good to be alone, so He created Eve - a helper - to bring Adam companionship. She was made to complete Adam, to fill an emptiness and a need in Adam. They used a quote from the first Rocky movie, where Paulie is asking Rocky why he loves Adrienne. Rocky said, "I got gaps. She got gaps. Together, we ain't got no gaps." And that is exactly how God created us. Women have gaps and weaknesses, men have gaps and weaknesses; but together, we are one and have no gaps.

No matter how frustrated we may get with our men - Husbands are a gift from God. To reject our husband is to reject God's gift to us.

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treating with Gavin was so much more fun this year than last year. He actually got the point of it - getting candy! He even said "trick or treat" and "thank you". I was so proud. We started out our evening going to a few houses in our neighborhood before heading over to Mom and Dad's for a bonfire - in the rain! It's hard to roast weenies in the rain, but it was still fun. We all sat in the garage and talked while the kids ran and played in the rain. I'm so glad it was warm enough to do that. They would have gone crazy if we had to keep them inside the garage the whole time. Rain or not, we still had a great time.

My Little Monkey

Jason's Jack-o-Lantern

Gavin loved the yard decorations at a neighbor's house. Trick or treating at Nana and Pops house.