The Wednesday Word

Proverbs 22:6

King James Version (KJV)

6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  [source]

Here we are waiting on the Christmas Parade for this year.  It was really cold that night.  I didn't want to get out in the cold weather for the parade because I had already been out in it earlier. The freezing cold had gotten into my bones, and I couldn't seem to get warm no matter how hard I tried.

The boys came home from school expecting to go to the parade that night.  I hated to disappoint them so I conditioned our trip back into town to watch the parade on their acceptance that we sit in the car until we could see the actual parade floats coming down the road.

I didn't want to stand out in the cold waiting.  I didn't want the boys standing out in the cold waiting either.

They agreed.  When we got there, despite their earlier agreement to my conditions, the boys still pleaded to stand out in the cold with everyone especially their friends.  But I stood firm.

Once we saw the first of the parade topping the hill, I allowed the boys to get out and wait with everyone else.   .  .  with their warm coats on!

It was soooo cold!  They were freezing.  Look at Shane's chattering teeth and red nose! 

It didn't take long before they were huddled next to me trying to warm up.  I didn't have to ask them to get in the car once Santa and Mrs. Claus at the end of the parade rolled past us.

 All this to say that training up children to wear their super warm clothes for the freezing cold during a Christmas parade is best done by letting them "freeze" a little during the parade.  Fortunately, no children got sick from this training exercise, and hopefully they learned a lesson about bundling up for the cold!

Training up boys that sometimes learn the hard way is how it's done with . . .

                              the Ferrell boys and me!

Jeff the Elf's Christmas Mischief

For the past 3 years we've been blessed/cursed with an Elf on the Shelf named Jeff.

I say blessed because my boys love him.

I say cursed because he makes a serious mess!

Here's are some highlights of the mischievous antics that Jeff got into during our Christmas season 2013:

1)  A little Hotty Toddy for the Ole Miss fans in the house:

2)  Some mischief in the dum dum sucker canister:

3)  Motorcycle mayhem:

4)  Our milk mysteriously turned green:

5)  An elfin warning:

6)  A little zip line fun:

7)  A messy snowball fight in my kitchen with the minions:

Jeff caught red-handed with the "snowballs".

The minions are prepared for a battle.

8)  A computer screen message from Jeff:

While Zach was reading this message, Jeff started typing an additional question for Zach.

That totally freaked Zach out!  He ran to the kitchen to see how Jeff could be typing him a message.  I guess some elfin magic?!?

9)  Some fun craft activities hidden in the oven:

10)  Some hot chocolate and cookies are just what an elf needs sometimes:

and finally . . .

11) Jeff said the beards are back!

And so ends the Christmas season and our time with Jeff, our elf on the shelf.  Even though he makes a mess most every where he goes, I wouldn't trade the fun he creates every Christmas season for . . . 

                           the Ferrell boys and me!

Christmas Eve Blunder!

This has not been my finest Christmas ever.

Somewhere along the way . . . I got tired . . . unmotivated . . . and too busy to do everything I normally do.

I had icicle lights hanging on the front porch from last year that only needed to be hooked up to an extension cord.  Didn't do it.

In fact, I didn't decorate the outside of my house except for the single Christmas wreath I hung on the front door.

I didn't mail Christmas cards this year even though I still had last year's Christmas cards in the envelopes, addressed, and ready to go out . . . from last year mind you . . . and I still didn't mail them out!

And then on Christmas eve . . . after all the boys were in the bed . . . and Dave and I were in the bed . . . it hit me!

We didn't leave any reindeer food sprinkled on the lawn!

We didn't leave Santa any cookies and milk!

And Horror upon Horrors!  I forgot to unpack the boys' stockings!

I sat straight up in bed.  What to do?!?  

Little Debbie snack cakes will have to do for Santa . . .

The stockings were packed up in a box in the loft of the barn.  

So I had to improvise.

Rubber boots set out by the fireplace . . . in the hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there!  Ha!

Santa got the hint and filled the boots just like he would have filled their stockings.

The boys loved it!  They thought it was so cool.  (Please excuse the stamped images on Alex's stomach.  Apparently he got bored waiting on me in the car and decided to stamp his stomach several times with my notary seal stamp. )  (This is my life with boys!)  :)  

And so another Christmas has past and . . . .

Even though I didn't do everything I had planned to do or decorate everything I had planned to decorate . . . . 

I still had a wonderful Christmas spent with my boys and my wonderful church family and friends.

And Santa came to see the Ferrell boys . . . 

Even though I didn't leave the magic Reindeer food sprinkled out on the lawn for Santa's reindeer and  . . .

Even though I didn't leave homemade cookies for Santa to snack on and . . .

Even though I didn't have stockings hanging for Santa to fill . . .

The boys got lots of presents and goodies from Santa and a Merry Christmas was had by all including . . .

                         the Ferrell boys and me!

Christmas Eve with The Holcombe Family

We always spend Christmas Eve with my family opening presents and nibbling on finger foods.  My sister brought something she called a redneck hors d'oeuvre:  Trashy Taters.  :)

Recipe for that delicious tater trash coming soon!

During Thanksgiving my SIL Marlana and I hit some late night black Friday sales at Walmart on the Friday night after Thanksgiving.  Most of the crazies had gone home by then, but we still were able to capture a few good deals.

Like $16 Mp3 players.  The boys loved them - even Shane.

Michelle scored Big-Time with the presents she got the boys.

Shane a Stuffie and some cool dinosaur transforming toy.

Alex a Batman cave.

And this blurry picture is Zach opening his WWE Allstars video game.

Michelle ROCKS as an Aunt!

PawPaw surprised the boys with handmade gifts "wrapped" in plastic trash bags!  :)

A desk for Shane:

Shelves for all the boys to hold the personalized wooden bats I got for them.

The boys wanted every kind of electronic technology item that apple makes . . . iphone, ipod, ipad, etc.

We aren't ready to make that kind of investment for the boys at this point in their life.  They have broken the screen of two tablets already, lost several mp3 players, and countless video games.  We both have told the boys that they must show us that they can be responsible for these gadgets before we could consider spending the kind of money the apple products cost.  

However . . . 

Dave did some investigating and found some 10 inch tablets (I don't know the brand name) for the great price of $118 apiece so . . .

They came in a protective case that also has a keyboard that hooks up to the tablet.

Shane wasn't as quick to open his present, but you can see the happy anticipation on his face as he struggles to get his present opened.

They were so excited!  It was their Big Present from us and a compromise between their desires for an ipad/ipod/iphone and our struggle to keep some perspective in their lives.   

Alex is in the 4th grade and he has a tablet.  When I was in the 4th grade, my big gift was a Barbie dream house and Barbie airplane!

Let's not even discuss what I got in Kindergarten!  Shane, who is in Kindergarten, was so excited about his tablet.  It's really not fair to compare my childhood "wants" with the "wants" of my children today.  Shane is as proficient on the tablet as my 11 year old Zach when comes to downloading games and watching Netflix.  I just hope he takes care of it.


The highlight of the night for my sister and I was when my Daddy surprised us with his last homemade item.

A little wooden stick puppet that dances on a board.  

When Michelle and I were little, my daddy used to entertain us with a similar puppet . . . but alas, we can no longer find that puppet.

So Daddy made one for me and my boys, and he made one for Michelle.

Here's some videos of my Daddy demonstrating how to use the wooden stick puppet. 



Isn't my daddy the cutest thing?  Here's another video:



And then Alex had to demonstrate his technique:



So much fun and great memories for us all!

The final gift that night was for Shane.  I had actually hidden it in my closet and then forgot where I hid it!  Ha!

The only thing Shane wanted for Christmas was the Swap Skylanders video game for the Wii.  

My sweet SIL Marlana picked it up on Thursday night shopping during the Black Friday craze.  Which was a good thing cause it's expensive otherwise!  And that was seriously the only thing he wanted!  I asked him one time if he wanted mommy to get him a pony for Christmas and he looked at me with all seriousness and said, "I told you I only want Swap Skylanders for Christmas!"  Ha!

Dave and I didn't get in any of the pictures for our gift exchange.  And I missed getting pictures of everyone else opening their presents.  Bizarre!  

Dave did very good.  He got me a new camera.  A Nikon.  :)

I got sweet Dave several necessaries like T-shirts, blue jeans, and socks, but I also gave him a Hamilton Beach Scoop coffee maker. 

It makes single cup servings like a Keurig, but you can use your own coffee and not have to use the k-cups.  Dave loves it!

And that wraps up Christmas Eve with my family and . . .

                               the Ferrell boys and me!

Final Five on Friday - 2013

I'm linking up with some other blogs to share

Five on Friday with the Ferrell boys and me!

[ one ]  Shopping

I don't like to shop, but when I get to shop with my friend, Laycee, it's like one of my favorite things to do!  In fact, she's a very good shopper.  She can figure in her head and quickly determine the best deals out there to buy.  Love that about her! 

This past Sunday, we had to deliver a rack to one of Dave's customers before Christmas and it just happened to be near Birmingham, Alabama, and the Leeds outlet mall . . . so Laycee and I made it a work/shopping trip!  Found something for Dave! Ha!

More likely Dave will get this . . .

Of course, I must have been really good this year cause Dave got me a super great gift. . . .  

I've been having the most fun taking pictures of everything!

Mostly pictures of Shane . . . in every possible pose . . . what a nut!

[ two ]  Sunday School Craft

I've been subbing in Sunday School for one of my friends that had surgery and is recovering.  I get to teach the 1st through 3rd grade classes.  We've been having a good time together.  :)

I decided we would make a craft the Sunday before Christmas and found a cute nativity idea on a website.  My class and the older class combined together to make these cute nativity crafts.

[ three ]  Christmas Eve . . .

with my family at my house this year.  No stress there!  Ha!

Separate post to follow with details on that fun family time!

[ four ]  Wrapped presents

Santa wrapped all the boys presents this year. . . for the first time.

The boys loved tearing through the paper to see what Santa brought them!  

[ five ]  Energizer Bunny

Usually on Christmas Day, we drive up to Pontotoc to spend the day with Dave's family, but Dave had to work on Christmas Day so they put off their Christmas celebration until this coming Saturday.  So what to do with this day that all the stores in town are closed and the house is strewn and covered with empty boxes and toys?!?

You invite your mother over to help you clean and organize your children's rooms to make room for the new toys they got from Santa!  She also brought my daddy with her the first day to have him hang the boys' baseball bat shelves that he made for them.

My mother a/k/a the energizer bunny doesn't stop until the job is done!  She's been here for two days now cleaning, culling, and chastising boys along the way!  A slice of petrified pizza in Shane's bathroom cabinet almost sent her over the edge!  She's coming back today to help me with my room.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared!  

In fact, she just got here . . . She's in the kitchen fixing a pizza for the boys right now and . . . oh no!  She just stuck her head in my bedroom door and shook her head.  I'm in trouble, folks!  :D

So there's my Five on Friday!  Hope you've enjoyed this quick look into this very busy past week with . . .

                               the Ferrell boys and me!