Dear Santa, I would like grass and a front yard for Christmas! It's ok if I don't see it until spring

Ok, I know this is weird, so I will start off by acknowledging my weirdness.

Since our move to rural Arkansas, I have gain a new appreciated by being surrounded by God's work and beautiful landscape. Our house (mini house/cabin) sits on wooded acreage and you get to drive up a windy and curvy road to get to the cabin. All great especially the roadside lake views you see on the way.

The first picture I saw of this cabin online was a winter picture with the house in snow. So cute, then I saw a few summer time photos with a small grassy front yard surrounded by trees and woody stuff.

Since we bought the house, the yard has never been groomed or mowed and is now taken over by weeds or wheat growing tall, sticker bushes, you name it. Nobody's fault in particular, but we were a little busy this summer, you know, figuring out how to run a marina, opening a motel, moving, etc.

Lately, I have been on a kick to try to rake some of the leaves and trim some weeds to see if there is signs of life under all this mess. To my great surprise I think there is. The dogs love to run through the trees but the also love to lay in the yard and bast in the sun. Kinda hard to do with sticker bushes under there paws and weeds taller than them.

All this to say, I miss green groomed grass and am hopeful I can create a patch next year. Probably on my own since Mr. H is not so excited about creating more work and stuff to maintain. Understandable, but it will look pretty.

Who votes for a small front yard amongst the jungle I now call home?

Every 50 feet in Arkansas - Curvy Road Ahead

Every 50 feet in Arkansas
Originally uploaded by adhumphreys

Car sickness. My husband I don't think truly believes in this, but that is probably because I get nausea almost every time I get in the car.

There are a few things that increase the likeliness of this happening - sitting in the back on a car, not eating that day, afternoon sun, etc.

I continue to surprised myself. Normally this only happens when i am a passenger, but there is always a first. When driving to the marina from the cabin early afternoon recently, I had not eaten yet that day and manage to make myself car sick.

You literally see one of these signs every 50 feet which does not help.

Upon arriving at the Marina, Mr. H looked at me and said, "Why do you look so pale?"

Normally this is because I haven't been in the sun much, but no, not this time. Me, "I got car sick".

Mr. H, laughter.

Add this to the "Things you should consider when moving" list.

Meet my nephew, Wesley(the chihuahua)

My sister, Katie, and husband, Daivid, got Welsey earlier this year, but I don't get to see him often enough. He has only made one trip to the lake and lets just say I didn't make it back home very often this summer.

Katie prepared dinner for the family and Scott's early birthday celebration, so I was able to get some Welsey time in. He is the cutest little thing. I do love my dogs, but he fits in your hand.

So I thought I would introduce you to him. The other big dog that he is sitting on is Sammy, their other dog that does really cool tricks(like when you sneeze-brings you a Kleenex, go and gets firewood, etc).

I am thankful for to have more time to visit home and hang out with the family.

Annual Craft & Baking Night

About 5 years ago, I started a tradition with Scott's two cousins (Morgan and Taylor). They are like having little sisters that I don't see often enough. So to give their parents a night to themselves(they normally go shopping), we have a slumber party and craft night each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Kelsey started joining us a few year back after joining the Humphreys family. Always an all girl party, but the boys don't seem to mind.

Some of the activities we've done:
Concrete Stepping Stones
Pottery & Jewelry Making
Ornaments and Craft painting
Wire Letter Ornaments
This Year - Bulletin boards and fleece blanket

Each year there is not enough time to get everything done, but that never prevents us from trying. Along with a craft project each year, we bake sugar cookies and do lots of decorating with icing and sprinkles. Morgan's favorite part is putting flour on the counter top to roll out the dough. This year we did cupcake instead but was just as much fun.

Bedlam Football: Sonners and Cowboys

Thanksgiving weekend is not complete without some OU and OSU football. This is always entertaining since this OSU alumni married into a OU spirited family. This year we were fortunate to have both sides of the family attending the bedlam bash down in Norman. Outcome did not favor my Pokes, but smiles all around just to enjoy fun times.