I have a horrible case of WANDERLUST!

I’ve got travel on the brain!  Trying to figure out where to go this summer has got me thinking about travel and how much my family and I love it.    You can see our former adventures at the following previous blog posts:

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/the-only-home-schooling-ill-ever-do-travel/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/europe-adventures-2009-part-2/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/spain-part-3/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/i-love-oprah-but-not-that-much/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/final-chapter-of-europe-09-london/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/europe-paris/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/european-adventureexpedition-2009/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/whats-your-sleep-number/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/spain-part-one/

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/condensed-dvr-version-of-the-summer-of-08/

Speaking of travel, my little sister (see her family blog at http://www.thecoypond.blogspot.com/ ) is a very adventuresome traveler.  She and her husband took their little boy to South America, Italy and Ethiopia… and that was just during his toddler and preschool years!  She even has an amazing website that is a resource for parents who travel domestically or internationally with their kids.  Check it out and recommend it to people you know who share our love of travel:

www.carseattraveler.com

Recently there was this U-Tube video on carseattraveler and it brings me joy every time I watch it so I wanted to share it with you:

A Cute Little Holiday Decoration

When the kids were younger, I really went all out on the holidays – lots of hearts or Easter stuff or turkeys, pumpkins, wreaths, etc.  Now that the kids are a little older I find that a little bit goes a long way.  Each holiday I try to do a little something in three main areas of the house:  the front door, the entry table and the hearth.  Not only is it a lot easier, with less JUNK everywhere, but I like the less-cluttered look a lot more.  Everything still feels festive and yet I am not constantly going up and down to the attic with mulitple boxes of  the newest season of “stuff”.  This past year especially I donated all the Christmas and other holiday decor that I no longer liked or used.

I do love these little garlands that I bought as a kit from a website called http://myemmiecakes.blogspot.com/.  Originally I just had Christmas and Give Thanks, but recently I added to the collection with Be Mine, Lucky, Spring and Birthday.  They came in the mail yesterday and they are all adorable. 

 Just a little something fun and it only takes about five or ten minutes to glue and string yourself (or you can buy them already put together for more $).

Men! *#?*^$#@!

 

Little VENT of the day:

John Gosselin, Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton ….. all a bunch of cheaters.  But the one that really gets me is John Edwards.  It is amazing how a man that I always thought was such a dashing and handsome man can become so incredibly ugly to me instantly when he shows his true character!

Some people become so much more beautiful when you get to know them and some people become so incredibly ugly…

Get Your Tissues Ready!

 This Christmas when she was up at my cabin my sister was telling me a story about how worried her son (my nephew Vu) was.  He was “freaking out” that Santa Claus would not come.  He was just so stressed that he wouldn’t get the toy that he really, really wanted.  It was becoming a bit of a nuisance to hear him night and day lament that he was so worried. He couldn’t sleep…. he thought about it all the time!  Finally my brother-in-law assured him:  “Vu… you have been a very good boy.  Santa will come, he always does!”

“No he doesn’t,” said Vu, “He didn’t come when I was in Vietnam!”

wow. 

It’s true.  Santa didn’t come while Vu spent his first six years in an orphanage.  How do you explain that one?  Really, you don’t.

Luckily, Vu is now in a loving immediate and extended family that will love him and support him for eternity.  But that doesn’t mean he is not sad and we are not sad that we missed out on the first years of his life!  Thank God Vu is now a part of our clan, but that doesn’t mean it is any easier to answer questions like “Why didn’t Santa bring me a gift in Vietnam?”.  Or the question he asked my sister as soon as he had learned enough English to form the sentence , “Mommy, whaat took you so loong to come and get meeee?”

Luckily, Vu was placed with a family that knows how to help him deal with the past and move forward into his bright future.   My sister and her husband are incredibly amazing parents with wonderful children… 

Go to http://abushel-and-apeck.blogspot.com/2010/01/guest-author-sleeping-bag-of-grief.html   read the gifted way my sister explains how she has learned to cope with her own grief over losing her 21-year-old son while helping Vu deal with the grief he has.

Get your tissues ready!

Are you a subscriber?

Hi blog readers — I just got back from vacation and noticed a few changes to my blog home page….. I no longer had a place for you to subscribe via email to the blog.  For those of you who have subscribed in the past, I am wondering if you are still recieving updates/new posts via email – let me know.  If not, please go to the sidebar of www.astheworldchurns.com and re-register.  If you are not signed up, I invite you to do so.

Technology!!??*#!! I try to stay up to date and hip with this stuff, but the world is just changing so fast… keeping up with blog technology, ipod, itouch,blackberry, twitter, school home access center, facebook, email, online banking, etc.  All this technology is so convenient in some ways and makes my head spin in other ways. 

 I think what happened is that when we got a new desktop computer my capabilities soared and all of a sudden my blog server wordpress was able to update my blog, leaving me in the technology dust:) 

Maybe we should go back to smoke signals.

Did Your Baby Get a Cell Phone for Christmas?

Happy Holidays – SNOW much fun!

Still up in Oregon and loving the snowy weather.  It has been a fairy-tale holiday so far.  We don’t have internet at our cabin so I came up to a friends’ cabin so I could show you a few pics:

Cutting down the tree in the woods.  We picked a 22 foot tall tree and had to drag it about 50 yards… then we had to get it into the cabin!

Grandpa helps decorate the tree:

We also made gingerbread people and went sledding:

Do you Think This is Hilarious?

I find this next picture just absolutely hilarious….. is it just me?  Sometimes I wonder if my sense of humor is really that “off” or if it just feels that way when I laugh hysterically and no one joins me.  Tell me what you think:

The Real Housewives of the Lone Star State

I love holiday parties!  My friend Michelle really goes all out for the holidays – I simply don’t have the passion, the patience, or the storage to go all out.  Nut I certainly appreciate all the effort others put in – it really makes Christmas a big celebration!

I thought you all might enjoy these fun pictures from Michelle’s recent ornament exchange.  Every inch of her house is Christmas and wonderful… I especially love how she decorated her mantle:

Multiple Christmas trees with themes:

Even a decal on the wall and little tiny adorable santa suits hanging on the wall:

Add in some great ladies (The REAL Housewives of the Lone Star State):

Then add some fantastic food (this is just the dessert table):

It all adds up to a beautiful, delightful evening!

It’s a Blue Blue Christmas

Remember my friend Sally who did all the pink holiday lights last year?  Check it out at:  

http://astheworldchurns.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/merry-christmas-i-hope-you-are-tickled-pink/

Did I mention that every year she does a different display?  This year she went with these beautiful icy blue LED lights.  It looks gorgeous, don’t you agree?

Last year I interviewed Sally for this blog.  This year I thought it might be fun to interview her husband, Jim (aka Jimmie Neal).

Me:  So,  do you enjoy this massive holiday decorating project that your wife undertakes each year?

Jim:  Yes, dear.

Me:  Do you think this year’s icy blue is even more incredible than last year’s pink or the mardi gras theme year or the red, white and blue year prior to that?

Jim:  Yes, Dear.

Me:  Do you help out when Sally asks you to?

Jim:  Yes, dear.

Me:  Do you think your lovely wife is crazy when she stays outside until 2 am putting up lights or goes to the craft-store and tests the lights until they close at midnight on Thanksgiving weekend?

Jim:  Yes, dear.

Me:  Do you really understand just how lucky you are to have such a fun, beautiful and vivacious wife?

Jim:  Yes, dear.

As you can see, Jim is a man of few words.  But he has definitely learned what the two most important words in the husbandly dictionary are!