Let the Christmas Season Begin!

This morning Mamaw, Sissy and I headed out to shop the big sales at about 5:00 a.m. I must say that although it didn't start out very promising we picked up momentum once we hit Target about 7:00 a.m. and finished with a trunk-full of great deals around noon! Though we were tired it was a fun time, as usual.

After supper we all headed to the mall where Eve got to see Santa Claus and ride the carousel. She was unsure about Santa at the beginning, but he made her laugh by asking if she wanted a bag of dirt or a box of rocks for Christmas. She had a great smile in the photo, but Santa looked a little rough. He must have hit the Black Friday sales early this morning, too!

Eve loved the carousel! This was her first time to ride one and she had a great time. Daddy joined in the fun with her.While at the mall we ran into some people we know... Chelsea and Justin! The group from Murray who was coming through on their way to see the Calloway County Laker football playoff game stopped off at the mall for dinner. We even saw Uncle Tim and Auntie Em!Tonight Eve has gone to have a sleepover with Mamaw and PawPaw at the hotel. I hope they are all able to get some rest! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving week has been eventful thus far! On Monday we had a yummy Pre-Thanksgiving dinner at Grammy and Grandad's house. Eve and Zak had a great time together, as always! When Eve said her prayers at bedtime that night we thanked God for the usual family members and before the amen Eve said, "What about Miss. Byers?!?" (Ms. Byers is what Eve calls her great-grandmother Byers.) So we added, "God bless, Miss. Byers," to the prayer and Eve was satisfied. Yesterday we came to Bowling Green and spent the afternoon with Aunt Sissy and Uncle Pip (aka Sarah and Philip). Mamaw and PawPaw arrived last night. Today we enjoyed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a delicious lunch and fun family time. We talked to family members that couldn't make it on the phone. (Shout out to Andrew and Kayla: You were dearly missed today! We love you!) Eve even helped with the lunch by stirring the hashbrown casserole! This evening we are planning our annual Black Friday shopping trip. Sarah is making the official list of gifts/stores for the day. For the first time ever we are going to wake up and leave at 4:30 a.m. We aren't usually such early risers (well, we typically leave about 5:30 a.m. instead,) but we are hopeful that we will hit many sales and get some great deals. Shopping is never without incident so I am sure I will have more to report tomorrow. :)It would be impossible to list all the many blessings for which I am thankful in mere words. God has truly been generous when looking over the Johnson and Stark families. We are SO BLESSED!God is good all the time! All the time, God is good!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Five years ago today Jay and I were married at University Church of Christ among family and friends. It was a gorgeous day... about 75 degrees! (A far cry from the 32 degrees we saw for a high today.) Our wedding was a long-awaited event. After a really long engagement we finally felt prepared to take the plunge. It has been a wonderful ride thus far and I look forward to the next fifty years. Every year is better than the one before so 2058 should be an amazing time in our life together!!I worked this afternoon to put up and decorate our Christmas tree. It was certainly a fitting way to spend our anniversary. I was flooded with memories as I put our "First Christmas Together," "Parents-to-Be," and "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments on the tree. Then I was taken back even more as I carefully hung my "Baby's First Christmas" ornament and other special ornaments from my childhood. When Eve was finished with her bath she came in to help. I had left all the non-breakable ornaments for her to hang on the bare bottom branches. She was so precious as she tried to choose just the right spot for each one. When we finished with the last one she said, "What do we do now, Mommy?" I said, "Well, now we just look at our tree." She looked up at it and breathlessly said, "Mommy, our Christmas tree is bee-you-ti-full!"

If only the evening stopped here this would be a sweet sentimental story, but now that wouldn't be Eve, would it? About 15 minutes after the tree was complete, Jay and I were watching television while Eve played. We heard a tinkering and commotion from the other room followed by, "I'm so sorry, Mommy. I'm so, so sorry." After a summons from her daddy Eve came rushing in the family room with a bucket-full of ornaments. She said, "Wook! I got all these berries off the tree!" Then she proceeded to empty the contents of the bucket in the middle of the floor resulting in this last picture. Our poor Christmas tree may be in for a long month!!

First Day of School

Thursday was Eve's first day of school! Well, actually she is going to Mother's Day Out two mornings a week at a local Baptist church, but it is school to her. I took the day off so that I could be the one to take her and pick her up on the first day. Daddy ended up coming, too. We had a yummy breakfast of chocolate-chocolate chip muffins (per Eve's request) and watched "Max and Ruby" and Eve's new favorite, "Toot and Puddle." Afterwards it was time to get ready. Eve was dressed in a new outfit from Gymboree (my favorite store and one of my reasons for working) and ahe looked like such a big girl with her backpack on her back.
When we got there she waltzed right into class and started playing. Jay and I gave her a kiss and told her goodbye. She didn't even get up from her coloring, but waved and said, "Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!" I told her I was sorry she was so upset to see us go and her teacher just had to laugh.Supposedly, Daddy had to run an errand at some point in the morning so he drove by the school. He saw all the kids on the playground and stopped to watch. He noticed a child who looked like Eve, but she had on the wrong jacket. Sure enough some other kid had on Eve's precious coat and scarf and she had on another random one. When I went to pick her up she was busily playing. Her teacher said, "Eve had a good first day. Of course, all of this is new to her and it will take a few days for her to get used to our routine and the way we do things. She loved playing outside. She didn't even want to come in." Now, Jay and I are teachers which means we are skilled at the art of decoding teacher comments (for all you parents out there... always read between the lines... we have dreamed up lots of nice ways to put things so that you won't really know what we think.) In this case I will interpret, "Eve had a very hard time listening, following directions and changing activities. Additionally, she threw a fit when we made her come in from the playground."
Overall Eve had a good first day and she is looking forward to going back to school. I realized when we dropped her off that she really didn't need Jay and me there half as much as we needed us to be there. Education is a really big deal to us (obviously) and we want Eve to know that learning is an important part of life. This was certainly a milestone! She's growing up very fast and that IS NOT okay with me!

This island is in the house!

With the money we made at our garage sale in August, I ordered an island cart with bar stools for the kitchen in our new house. I was ecstatic to get a great deal from J.C. Penney complete with free shipping. I was extremely disappointed when I was notified that the shipment would be put on backorder until November. Now that my purchase has arrived, I feel really proud. Although I can display patience about a lot of things, waiting for something I have already bought and paid for isn't my forte. I got a great deal and waited it out... now my kitchen is just as I pictured!Hmm... I wonder how long my patience will last for the formal living room that is currently practically void of furniture and decor...

Beautiful Fall

This weekend we took some pics in our backyard under a beautiful fall tree. The leaves were a perfect shade of red and they blanketed the ground underneath. I just couldn't resist posting them! They will serve as a good reminder that the weather will change again in spring... it has turned cold and rainy here... winter is fast approaching.

A Household of Faith

Everyone who knows us well knows that Jay and I don't always see eye-to-eye on politics. At times like this our differences are really brought to light. We joke that when we head to the voting booths we are there to "cancel each other out." My wish for Eve is that she get the opportunity as she ages to make her own decisions and choices when it comes to politics. But, all political differences aside, Jay and I agree on the biggest and most important issue... God. My prayer for Eve is that she knows that on this front we are not a house divided, but a household of faith. Sometimes we need to remember that regardless of the election's outcome and regardless of who we voted for as individuals, all leaders need our prayers. God deserves all glory (above any man) and should remain our ulitmate ruler. I hope Eve grows up learning this from her parents... no matter which political party she chooses.

Happy Halloween!

This year Halloween was quite an experience! Eve dressed up as a ballerina. She even wore real ballet slippers! She was precious, of course! She really got into the whole process this year. We took her to a few houses near ours. Eve was not at all shy as she marched up, said, "Trick or Treat!" and accpeted any and all candy offered to her. She proudly told everyone, "Thank you!" as we walked away, too! As trick-or-treat-ers came to our house she greeted them all with, "Happy Halloween!" She was constantly snatching treats out of Daddy and Grammy's bowls. She even tried to walk away with some families telling us, "Bye! I go trick-or-treat!"

We had heard that Halloween was a big deal in our new neighborhood. Well, "big deal" was a huge understatement!! Families from all over the county came to our neighborhood, parked their cars along both sides of every street, hopped out and blanketed the subdivision. The first children came at 4:45 and we were out of about 20 pounds of candy by 6:30 p.m. One neighbor had bought $200 worth of candy hoping to last the night. Another neighbor was keeping tally of the number of children. Last year they counted over 700 trick-or-treat-ers!! We had never seen anything like it!!

Just as we were running out of candy, Zak and Trent came to visit. Eve and Zak were eating and playing with no time for photos. So, I turned on the Halloween episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and they settled down. To get them to smile, I said, "Say underpants!" They both giggled, shouted the word underpants and I got the perfect picture! ("Underpants" is their new silly word. They both think it is so silly. They were cracking each other up at supper on Wednesday night saying it over and over and laughing. Who knows what these two will come up with next?!?!)





We ended the night with supper at "High Burger" (I'm not sure of that spelling) with Grammy and Grandad. It was good, but we were all tired. What a day!

Ewww! Pumpkin Guts!

On Thursday Eve and I went to Kroger in search of the "perfect pumpkin." After looking through the crates we settled on one we both thought was perfect. (Eve is eating a cookie in the picture.)After supper Daddy starting carving. He asked Eve to help him clean out the seeds. She reached in, pulled out one tiny seed and said, "I done!"

She did not like the pumpkin guts one bit!

And Daddy didn't help. He swiped his hand by her arm while holding some pulp and she had a fit! Here she is saying, "It's on my arm, Mommy! Cwean it off, please!"

In the end we had our Jack-O-Lantern. Mommy designed it, Daddy carved it and Eve just watched. :)

Like Mother, Like Daughter

The past couple days I have been trying to get some photos of Eve looking cute in some of her new fall clothes. At times she is fully cooperative, at times she wants to call the shots and at others she is stubborn and hides from the camera... all three reactions, I might add, you could have gotten when trying to take a picture of me at any given time as a child. (Just ask my parents or my PawPaw!) It really is striking how alike we are... I look forward to watching her grow and to the relationship we will continue to build. Jay, however, may need your prayers in dealing with the two of us!!

Mommy: Eve, let me make a picture of your outfit.

Eve: No!

Mommy: Yes, just look at me and say cheese!

Eve: I get on the slide.

Mommy: Take your picture on the slide?

Eve: Yeah!

Eve: Mommy, take a picture on my swing now!
Mommy: Eve, let me take a picture of you in your dress this morning.

Eve: Noooo! (Turns her head away.)
Mommy: Let me try again.

Eve: I hidin' behind my cup.

Fall on the Farm

The MSU Agriculture Department hosts this yearly fundraiser at the Pullen Farm, right down the street from M.E.S. Every year we walk with all the students from my school to attend. (Well, to be truthful I don't attend anymore now that I teach Title I, but I went when I had a homeroom.) This year Emily and I decided that Eve and Zak would love to go. It was so much fun!! (And... Emily and I will do anything to squeeze in a cousin photo session or to find an excuse to make a photo book!) In fact, we took so many photos I thought it would be easiest to share them in a slide show. Check it out!! Emily and I agree that this is such a fun time with our kids. They are both so smart and loving... we are truly cherishing every moment... especially when we can get them both together!!

A Busy Day

Today was the final day of Fall Break for Jay and me. I must admit, teaching is the best job out there... it is so nice to get these breaks to be able to spend time at home with Eve. It is the next best thing to being able to stay home all the time!

Our busy day began this morning when Cousin Zak came over to play. (Jay and Tim went to play golf.) I was amazed at how the two-year-olds interacted. They talked to each other and semi-organized their play. Gone are the days where they just co-exist or steal each other's pappies... they really are good friends!

After lunch Eve and I went to the Public Library. Eve really loved this! She told everyone to "shh" when we walked in the building. When she saw the children's section she sat right down at the table and began looking at books. I read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to her. Then she sat down at a computer and we played a "Blues Clues" game. She chose a few books off the board book shelf and when we checked them out the librarian gave her a sticker. It just doesn't get much better than that!Tonight we wento the Murray High football game. Eve sat with her good friend, "Boof." She cheered for the Tigers, ate popcorn and a sucker, and put on quite a show for all those sitting around us. She sang rousing verses of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," "Jesus loves me," "Jesus Loves the Little Children," and the Alphabet Song. And, oh yeah, by the way, the tigers won!

Truly a busy and blessed day in our lives!!

Imagination at Work

Eve's imagination has really taken off in the past few weeks. It is fun to watch and listen as she plays and talks to her baby dolls, stuffed animals and imaginary friends. Tonight she came up to me with two plastic golf clubs. She was kind of banging them together and humming. I didn't pay much attention to her and even tried to shoo her away as the clubs came dangerously close to my face. Determined, Eve continued with the strange behavior until I said, "Eve, what are you doing?!?" She proudly answered, "I playin' the violin, Mommy!" How could I not have recognized it? Later, I asked her to show me how she played the violin with her golf clubs so I could get a photo. She gladly obliged, but very quickly threw one of the clubs down and exclaimed, "Wook! I twirlin'!" And just like that the former golf club turned violin had become a baton!

Homecoming Weekend

This weekend was MSU Homecoming. It was a busy time as Mamaw & PawPaw, Philip & Sarah and Micah, Kacey & Finley were all in town! Eve had a great time with all her family. Mamaw and PawPaw brought her prizes that were blue (per Eve's request for a "blue prize") including a flashlight (who's batteries ran down the first night) and a Mickey Mouse Memory game (at which Eve is very good as long as she is the only one who gets to find the matches). Sissy and Pip brought her a Princess sticker book that she loved, too. Yesterday was Pip's birthday so we had a yummy Cake Lady cake. On Saturday Sissy joined the Stark/Puricelli family for the MSU Homecoming Parade. As it turned out, Uncle Micah was more entertaining than the parade! He was full of antics, as usual!! Since I am pointing out his craziness, I should also point out Micah's victories. He was the winner of all golf this weekend. Thankfully, no silly bets were placed this time!! We had a wonderful weekend with everyone... if only it could have been longer. Days go by too fast when you are in the company of family that you just don't get to see often enough. Eve was sad to learn that everyone had gone home this morning when she woke up asking for Mamaw and Sissy. Then, when we had to say goodbye to Finley and Kacey she was disappointed again. I must admit, I shared her sentiments, but we will just have to look forward to our next visits and dwell on the new memories made this time! Love to all!!

Sound Asleep

As a part of Eve's bedtime routine either Jay and I will go in and check on her after she has settled into bed. (I know, Dad, the day will come when she asks us to come back "in one minute.") Tonight when I went in I couldn't see her face very well in the dark so I whispered, "Are you asleep?" To which she whispered back, "Yeah, Mommy. I asleep." I held back my giggle and said, "Okay. Well, sleep tight. I love you!" She hugged me and whispered, "Lub you, too!" Oh, if I could only stop time and bottle these moments!!

More Marching Band!

Murray State had the honor of hosting a Bands of America Regional marching band competition today. Jay, Eve and I (along with Uncle P) had the honor of attending using Racer Band passes courtesy of Mr. Fannin. :) We didn't get to see very many bands (after my Wal-Mart time, Eve's nap time and Jay & P's golf time) as it was an all-day affair and finals did not even begin until almost 8:00 p.m. (In fact, Racer Band is probably preparing to go on in exhibition as I type!) But, we did get to see the band from Collins Hill High School in Georgia. Collins Hill is near where my family and I used to live during my middle school and early high school years. I felt very nostalgic while watching the Screaming Eagles Band. The last time I saw them perform was at my final band competition as a Dacula Falcon at Rockfield High School in Georgia. That was a night in my life I will never forget! We won our class as a band and our guard was third overall! I guess marching band is one of those things that becomes a part of who you are... at least I know it will always be a part of me! I suppose I am proud to be a BAND NERD! :)

The Band from Georgia

A Good Family Shot - Thanks, P!

I bought Eve a miniture flag! She loves it! It is gold... for Murray State and Murray High!

Feeling Artsy

If you know me well, you know I love anything artsy or crafty... well, I have been at a loss as to what to hang over my couch in our new house. I remembered last week that I had a large canvas out in the garage and decided to do something with it. Some painter's tape, acrylic paint, sponge paint brushes and crackle medium later and you have my large art project for the week. It looks really nice in our family room. It adds color to an otherwise neutral room... I am pretty proud of it!

Festival of Champions

Each year, the MSU Racer Band hosts a high school marching band contest called Festival of Champions. Eve and I headed out to Roy Stewart Stadium to watch some bands perform yesterday morning. (Daddy was on the golf course.) We cheered on the Murray High Tiger band and waited for Angie and Baby Jaclyn to come. We sat with them to cheer on the Caldwell County band, too. Eve really loves watching the bands. While enjoying her sucker from the bank she mastered the art of holding the sucker in her mouth so that she could clap without having to hold on to the sucker. The best part of the day was that Eve was able to wear her very own Racer Band t-shirt that Mr. Fannin had specially made for her. When we walked up to the gate I told the band members there that I was escorting an honorary band member and we walked right inside! (By the way, this time when I asked Eve what she would like to play in the band she said, "The pilano!")