. . . through thick and thin . . .

. . . on this

~ the final day of *nablopomo ~

i want the world to know

that i am grateful

for my many, many blessings . . .

. . . i sometimes {a lot of times}

post about silly & frivolous stuff . . .

. . . and then i'll hear {out of the blue}

from random folks

that they read my blog . . .

{the carpet cleaner called to say

his sister told him i'd posted about them.

i don't even know who his sister is!

but hi, sister! and thanks for reading!}

. . . so

~ while i have your attention ~

i want you all to know

that deep down

i seriously count my blessings

every single day . . .

. . . and while i don't post about him

very often . . .

. . . please know how much i love

and am thankful for this guy . . .

. . . he is truly my hero . . .

. . . i simply cannot imagine

the suffering he has endured

for the past seven {SEVEN!!!!!} years . . .

. . . every aspect of his life

has been affected . . .

. . . and for the most part,

he has remained his cheerful self . . .

. . . i have to remind myself occasionally

that he is definitely entitled

to a "down" day

every now and then . . .

. . . bless his heart . . .

. . . also ~ i hear from so many people

that we are included

in your prayers . . .

. . . please know

we can feel that strength . . .

. . . and thanks . . .

{please keep it up!}

. . . bottom line ~

through our challenges and trials,

we love the lord

and thank him daily

for everything

with which he has blessed us . . .

. . . we have awesome kids . . .

. . . they have great spouses . . .

. . . they are blessing us

with darling grandchildren . . .

. . . we live in a lovely home . . .

. . . we are surrounded

by wonderful neighbors

and friends . . .

. . . we enjoy freedoms and privileges

in this great country . . .

. . . we can {and do}

worship as we choose . . .

. . . we have {for the most part}

good health and strength . . .

. . . we've been blessed

with talents and abilities

that we can use to serve others . . .

. . . and we're entering that season

where we celebrate

the birth of our savior . . .

. . . he who gave us

the greatest gift of all . . .

. . . and we are sooooo thankful . . .

{*nablopomo = national blog posting month.

the challenge is to post every day for thirty days.

and you thought november

was just for giving thanks and not shaving!}

. . . a little behind schedule . . .

. . . this is the first year

in a while . . .

. . . that no son or son-in-law

has been living here

at christmastime . . .

{chris, brent, tyler and drew

have always been so great to volunteer}

. . . so ~ this year ~

i've been honing

my own staple gun skills . . .

{bought myself a fancy new electric model!}

. . . i am smart enough

{however}

to enlist the help

of the nicest neighbor

{thanks jeremy!}

to get up on the roof

and light the dormers . . .

. . . all that's left to do now

is figure out

the timers and extension cords . . .

. . . but i ran out of daylight . . .

. . . hoping tomorrow's the day

we flip the switch . . .

{drew [bless his heart] would have had the entire project done saturday

if not for the fact that it was definitely time to replace our ancient lights}

. . . so THAT'S what color our carpet's supposed to be . . .

. . . ewwwwwwwwwwwww . . .

. . . plus . . .

. . . equals . . .

. . . ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

. . . free advertising . . .

. . . even vintage plush carpet

is rejuvenated . . .

. . . proving once again

just how easily

i'm amused . . .

. . . genesis 1:28 . . .

. . . be fruitful . . .

. . . multiply

and replenish

the earth . . .

. . . instructions given

to adam and eve . . .

. . . and the romneys,

evidently . . .

. . . our family ca. june 2005 . . .

{there were ten of us}

. . . march 2008 . . .

{then there were twelve of us}

. . . november 2011 . . .

{now there's seventeen of us}

. . . we're ever so grateful

for our growing family . . .

. . . great kids . . .

. . . their wonderful spouses . . .

. . . and darling grandchildren . . .

. . . we are blessed . . .

. . . el = 3 . . .

. . . he's been realllllllllly excited . . .

. . . today was finally the big day . . .

. . . elliott turned three . . .

. . . and since frosting

just isn't his thing . . .

. . . chocolate chip cookies

and candles

made the perfect birthday treat . . .

. . . outtakes and takeout . . .

. . . family photos . . .

. . . first of all ~ it isn't easy

to get all seventeen of us

in the same place

at the same time . . .

. . . today the stars aligned . . .

. . . exhausting, i tell ya . . .

. . . especially when you consider

all that goes on

behind the scenes . . .

. . . and, hey . . .

. . . let's all pause

for a moment of silence . . .

. . . as we give thanks

for digital photography . . .

. . . where outtakes disappear

with the click

of a delete button . . .

. . . where there's no need to fret

over wasted film or photobombs . . .

{hi, elliott!}

. . . in fact ~ just go ahead

and laugh it off . . .

. . . and while there's no guarantee

big people will pay attention . . .

. . . you can be certain

little ones definitely won't . . .

. . . but somehow . . .

. . . someway {photoshop} . . .

. . . you'll hopefully end up

with a few decent shots . . .

{don't worry ~ we did}

. . . then after the outtakes . . .

. . . takeout

{happy meals and el charro burros}

makes it all worthwhile! . . .

. . . giving of thanks . . .

. . . the main dish

is highly overrated . . .

{in my opinion}

{thanks, mary!}

. . . not to worry, though . . .

. . . you can bet my plate

will be piled high

with delicious side dishes . . .

. . . one day a year

simply isn't enough

for my mom's

amazing dressing . . .

{NEVER EVER to be confused with stuffing! blech!}

. . . her perfectly salty gravy . . .

{made in tiny individual batches ~

she says making one large batch would ruin it}

. . . the sweet potato casserole that

{let's be honest}

should be

on the dessert table . . .

. . . my aunt's rolls . . .

{i really hope she makes them!}

. . . and molly's pumpkin roll

with cream cheese filling . . .

. . . what's your favorite item

on the thanksgiving menu? . . .

. . . good thing all of that

happens after

the 8am turkey trot . . .

. . . maybe amanda will let me

push the double stroller . . .

{#needtoburncalories}

. . . mission accomplished . . .

. . . almost . . .

. . . i wanted to have

all the decorating done

before thanksgiving . . .

. . . most of it is finished . . .

. . . we haven't put lights

on the house yet . . .

. . . we're doing family photos here

on friday . . .

. . . i didn't want lights and wreaths

in the background . . .

. . . hopefully those will be up

before the weekend's over . . .

. . . i still need

to get the nativities set up . . .

. . . love them . . .

. . . hate the styrofoam . . .

. . . :( . . .

. . . so ~ the biggest difference

this year? . . .

. . . the entry . . .

. . . here's 2007 . . .

. . . and 2011 . . .

. . . the tree ca. 2007 . . .

. . . the tree today . . .

. . . no big changes . . .

. . . i just shined everything up

and moved a few things around

a little . . .

. . . and took out

most of the black/white stuff . . .

. . . still trying to calm down

about the random dark spots

on the tree

where the lights just won't light

any more . . .

. . . but thankful

~ oh, so thankful ~

it's done . . .

. . . *needing so much more than dusting . . .

{*second beauty and the beast reference of the month ~

which character sings this line?}

. . . there's a really high shelf

in the living room . . .

. . . quite a handy spot

for a cranberry glass collection . . .

. . . it's kind of waaaaay up there . . .

. . . and i really only think about

it once a year . . .

. . . i probably oughta check it

a little more often . . .

. . . and maybe it's time to have

the a/c ducts cleaned . . .

. . . dang summer haboobs . . .

. . . sowing some oats . . .

. . . i'm a little tardy for this party . . .

. . . and even though

they say

it's really good for you . . .

. . . i've never liked oatmeal . . .

. . . especially the instant variety . . .

. . . double yuck/slimy . . .

. . . now, steel cut oats . . .

. . . they're a whole different animal . . .

. . . such nutty, chewy deliciousness . . .

. . . love 'em! . . .

. . . the thing is . . .

. . . they do take a while to cook . . .

. . . however long it takes

to boil the water . . .

. . . plus thirty minutes more . . .

. . . so ~ a little planning ahead

is required . . .

. . . i usually start them

right after a shower . . .

. . . then by the time

i've finished hair/makeup . . .

. . . they're hot and ready . . .

. . . just add a splash of milk,

a little brown sugar,

and/or fresh berries,

peanut butter,

craisins,

pecans etc . . .

. . . a real stick-to-your-ribs breakfast . . .

. . . the formula: use four times

as much water as oats

and don't forget to add

a pinch of kosher salt . . .

. . . have you tried steel cut oats? . . .

{i'm investigating the overnight crockpot method.

if you're cooking for a crowd, this will work great.

i, on the other hand, would need a smaller crockpot}

. . . house parts . . .

. . . a three-part post . . .

. . . and yes ~

i do remember all three parts . . .

{part one}

. . . drew was sixteen . . .

. . . he was in the midst

of a round of accutane . . .

{a wonderful/awful drug}

. . . a much higher dosage

than he should have been on,

we later discovered . . .

. . . that stuff is strong! . . .

. . . good thing he turned out pretty

in the end . . .

. . . but, during? . . .

. . . oh, my ~ his poor fingers . . .

. . . the tissue around

every single nailbed

was swollen, inflamed, infected,

and {shall we say?} oozy . . .

. . . an extremely painful/messy condition

for a basketball player . . .

. . . but only when you need

to dribble, catch or shoot . . .

. . . his body was

in such a state of stress

that this happened . . .

{please don't be jealous that

a professional photographer documented this momentous occasion

in the middle of our family photo shoot}

. . . you'll recognize this as shingles . . .

. . . and a belly button . . .

. . . drew referred to this condition

as fingles . . .

{you can thank me later for tastefully cropping!}

{part two}

. . . sixteen years earlier . . .

. . . we were at a romney family party . . .

. . . lots of aunts, uncles, cousins . . .

. . . amanda was five . . .

. . . she showed all of us

a rash forming on her tummy . . .

. . . then ~ exactly two weeks later . . .

. . . i was in labor

waiting for drew to be born . . .

. . . when we got a call

at the hospital

telling us that three-year-old amelia

and all the little romney cousins her age

were breaking out in chicken pox . . .

. . . amanda'd already had them

a couple of years before . . .

. . . but the herpes zoster virus

lives forever . . .

. . . her shingles had exposed

all her relatives

to chicken pox . . .

. . . we like to share! . . .

. . . my favorite part of this story,

though, is that

amanda loved telling

anyone who would listen

that her ouchy rash

was called "shutters" . . .

{part three}

. . . our home celebrated her

twenty-eighth birthday

this week . . .

. . . i'm just not

a very good gift giver . . .

. . . it's hard to come up

with exactly the right thing . . .

. . . this year, we decided we'd go

with something practical . . .

. . . so, she got

a fresh coat of black paint

on her shutters . . .

. . . you say shingles {or fingles} . . .

. . . i say shutters . . .

. . . parts is parts, i guess . . .

. . . photosynthesis . . .

. . . big word ~ no? . . .

. . . impressed? . . .

. . . don't be . . .

. . . i remember a biology term

from thirty-five years ago . . .

. . . but i'm not sure

what i did yesterday . . .

. . . i thought about photosynthesis

this morning . . .

. . . watering and thinking . . .

. . . i've got these pots

along the pool fence . . .

. . . each one potted

with three geraniums . . .

. . . and five alyssum plants . . .

{they smell heavenly, by the way}

. . . they all started out

exactly the same . . .

. . . but now ~ watch the alyssum

{the tiny white flowers}

from pot to pot . . .

exhibit A

exhibit B

exhibit C

exhibit D

. . . why the difference? . . .

. . . the sun, of course . . .

. . . light, if you will . . .

. . . the sun hits pot A

first thing in the morning . . .

. . . that life sustaining light

shines on it all day long . . .

. . . it is flourishing . . .

. . . pot D

~ shaded most of the time ~

looks okay . . .

. . . it's nice and green . . .

. . . but, as far as blooms go . . .

. . . you know ~

the reason we plant flowers . . .

. . . it is sorely lacking . . .

. . . plants need the sun . . .

. . . they derive

life and energy from it . . .

. . . without it

they don't accomplish much . . .

. . . watering and thinking

this morning . . .

. . . do you know

what else i thought? . . .

. . . i need the Son . . .

. . . that's where

my life and energy

come from . . .

. . . without Him

i don't accomplish much . . .

. . . i can't bloom and grow

without relying on Him . . .

. . . He is the Gardener . . .

{thanks for the link to this wonderful talk, daughter ~

it was just what i needed}