30 November 2011

. . . 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!}


29 November 2011

. . . 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}


28 November 2011

. . . 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 . . .


27 November 2011

. . . 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 . . .


26 November 2011

. . . 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 . . .


25 November 2011

. . . 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! . . .


24 November 2011

. . . 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}


23 November 2011

. . . 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 . . .


22 November 2011

. . . *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 . . .


21 November 2011

. . . 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}


20 November 2011

. . . 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 . . .


19 November 2011

. . . 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}