The Feast of St. Nicholas

As a Catholic family, we celebrate various saints on their feast days, and one of our favorites is St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas is known for his love of children, and stories of his kindness and generosity made him popular world-wide. It was these legends that eventually evolved into our modern-day Santa Claus traditions.
We have chosen to teach our children about the real, historical St. Nicholas rather than the modernized fantasy Santa Claus, and to celebrate him on his feast day, separating the St. Nick traditions from our Christmas celebration.  On St. Nicholas’ day, we traditionally have a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, sausage, and hot chocolate, and we find in our stockings gold-wrapped chocolates, candy canes, warm socks, and other small goodies.

Our Christmas celebration will be focused on celebrating the birth of the Christ.

13 (Mostly) Happy Years!

HoneyBear and I are celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary this week, and we went on our customary anniversary date last night. Even though I am hugely pregnant, it was one of our best date nights yet!

We went to see the Stardust Big Band, who plays regularly around Hot Springs, and I was thrilled to discover my former college clarinet professor, Dr. Earl Hesse, leading the saxophone section. I remember Dr. Hesse as a very talented, fun-loving man who was well-known for his practical jokes on HSU band trips. I was able to visit with him while the band was taking a break, and I felt very honored that he seemed to remember me as well! It has been 20 years, and he doesn't seem to have aged a bit.  Here he is playing a solo…


It was fun to see people our parents' age on the dance floor “cutting a rug”. It’s definitely an inspiration to take good care of our health and stay in shape!
Some of them seemed just as amused at seeing an 8-month-pregnant woman on the dance floor.
(Did I mention that I am HUGE?)

After working up a hunger, we lingered  at Belle Arti Ristorante. The atmosphere was romantic, and the lobster bisque soup, stuffed portabella mushrooms, lobster-stuffed ravioli, and filet mignon were heavenly!

Even if the prices did make us go:

Oh, well, it’s only once a year.

After dinner, we wrapped up the night by strolling through Garvan Woodland Gardens, which boasts a  two-million light Christmas display. It was definitely worth the hour and a half it took to waddle through. HoneyBear had to pull me up some of the hills, and I wound up taking off my boots and walking in my sock feet. It was 70 degrees out! I think we’ll take the children back in a couple of weeks. Maybe it will actually feel like Christmas then?

Still crazy in love after 13 years of marriage and six pregnancies together…priceless.

Walking Around Our Small Town

Today, my Honeybear and I went walking around our small town--the town where I grew up—and for some reason, it occurred to me to pull out my iPhone and snap some pictures.

I have lived here my whole life, but it has changed a bit from when I was a child. My Daddy lived here his whole life, and from the pictures I’ve seen taken when he was a child, the change is even more dramatic. I guess I just wanted to document for the children the town of their childhoods. If we ever move (we are discussing it), I know I will appreciate these memories.

This burger joint has been here for as long as I can remember. It sits at the major intersection of the two highways that run through our town, and travelers passing through are well-acquainted with its mom-and-pop-style burgers.

Continuing up the square, the courthouse is a block away.
Across from the courthouse is the dojo where I began studying martial arts in 2002. I help teach here now, and two of my children study here.

There have been many different businesses occupying these buildings in the last thirty years.

We wound up stopping in a small coffee house, which has been here for…I dunno…ten years now?
I love the décor and the atmosphere of this place.

Even more, I love sharing coffee here with this man.

Around the block from the coffee house is our city hall.
And on our way back home, a street from our quiet neighborhood, where we’ve taken many walks and bicycle rides through the years.

All Hallows’ Eve

We decided to do something different this year…trick-or-treating. Most of the kids have never been. And Mama and Daddy decided to join in the fun and dress up, too.

Greg even talked me into going to Wal-Mart dressed in my costume.

My Fun Weekend

Every year, I look forward to our martial arts training camp. This year, camp was focused on kendo/kenjutsu. We learned sword kata, practicing with bokkens, and sparred with shinai in kendo sparring gear.

Since I am 31 weeks pregnant, Greg told me sternly, “No sparring.” Boo! But here I am with the other two ladies at the camp.

It was Greg’s first camp. When we got a break, I asked him, "So what do you think?"
He replied, "Y'all run on full-throttle around here."

I Love My Coworkers

Even though this is our 7th baby, my coworkers still wanted to help me welcome him with a potluck and baby gifts. I appreciate their well-wishes, and I appreciate being part of such a group.

Erica wrote “Baby Sue” on top of the cupcakes. I had posted on Facebook that since we had no idea what to name him, and since he kicks all the time, I was going to call him “Sue.” (Y’all have heard Johnny Cash’s famous song “A Boy Named Sue”, right?)
(I dropped the plate trying to get the lid off and messed up her artwork.)

The critical care dept. will be experiencing a Baby Boom around Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!