fiesta at the Carter's

We had our fiesta with my family this weekend at our place. I had a good time, but being the crazy-running-around-like-a-chicken-with-my-head-cut-off hostess that I am, I didn't take time to take any pictures.  Instead I was running around making sure everyone had a place to put the food that they brought and asking people if they needed something to drink.  It was fun. We all prepared way too much food and, therefore were forced to eat way too much food. We somehow crammed 14 people into a 950 square foot apartment! It was tight! I was glad to have the experience of hosting my entire family excluding Jared and Curtis who both had to work on Saturday.  I wish everyone could have stayed longer. I didn't feel like I had time to catch up with everyone, but perhaps that's just how it goes when you're running the show. I did get to enjoy teaching the kids how to play UNO and hold my baby niece.

We toyed with the idea of making it a competition potluck like we did with the chili cook-off back in October, but it didn't happen. I think that it would have been hard to judge this one since everyone made different Mexican dishes. Austin and Sarah were volunteered to host the next family gathering at their new house, which I am excited to see! I can't wait to visit with everyone again soon!

Below are a few pictures that Leigh Ann captured with her iPhone. Can you tell Lola really enjoyed the fiesta?

flowers for Valentine's Day

My husband gave me these flowers for Valentine's Day. We had to throw some leaves and one lily away because they were smashed. Valentine's Day flowers are usually crammed in pretty tight when you buy them at the store. Now that they've had some work done, they look really pretty. They should only get prettier since there are a couple of lilies that haven't even bloomed yet. It just goes to show that nothing's perfect, but with a little TLC, you can make not-so-pretty things pretty again. The same is true of marriage. The difference is that we need something that we can't work out ourselves with a little TLC. This work can only be done through Christ. Thank you, Lord for restoring us! Thank you for making us perfect in your sight! 

snow is falling down...again.

Is winter ever going to ease up? I am sitting in my office (on my lunch break of course) with my forbidden space heater blowing on my feet watching the snow slam into the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky or Schneider Hall - or whatever heck the name of that building is!
The snow is keeping my husband out of work again today. It would be really nice if he could go back to work, but he can't because there's no school.  I am just really tired of all the snow.  I guess I shouldn't complain. There's still plenty of food on the table, and lot's of time off for him. That means less chores at home for me:)