reb loves the fire

yess you dooo yess you doooooo!

THANK GOODNESS we had bread!

the BIG MONSTROUS snow storm of 2011 provided no school and an icy snowy mix everywhere. perfect for sledding! we had a ball. fire in the fireplace. house full of snow puddles and wet gloves thrown in the dryer. a walk to a neighbor's house for delicious spice tea and great conversation. a snow football game to get the boys warmed up for the national championship game. ps. in the south a toboggan is a hat and a sled is a sled. we tried to use a cookie sheet to sled in the early am. this did not go great.
we had a busy, fun day. those are the days you remember forever. here are a few pics.

7:30 am

of my many colored days

some days are sad. i don't know why.
a cloud over my head hangs in the sky
the sun is out but i can't feel it's rays
because the darkness sometimes stays
nothing i have said or done. nothing to do
i just flat out am feeling blue
this is not to be taken light
to hide for another night
my friend prays a prayer for me
that through the darkness i can see
i am loved...especially by HIM
and though hope feels often slim

this too will pass i know this to be true
my dark sky will again be blue

dealing with occasional depression is super stinky. it feels like a weight sitting on your head. i share the poem above to HELP ANYONE feeling this way. through prayer and sometimes a doctor it is easily maintained. talk to someone, don't be ashamed. i am one of the most chipper people in the world and i battle this at times. don't let the darkness fool you. don't let it envelope you. get help. doctor, pastor, friend....or all of the above.

a bald trick. my alopecia areata is acting up!

so, i have lost a good amount of hair on one side of my head. luckily there is hair that falls over it. BUT that hair is getting thin itself. here is a pictorial diary of how i handle this setback:

seems normal. BUT, if the wind blows, or if i tuck my hair behind my ears you can see baldness.

yikes! i know, it is freaky.

i found this on the internet and it is like an eyeshadow for your scalp.

(mine has been used A LOT)you are supposed to pick a color that is as dark as your roots and use the applicator

creating a "shadow" under my thin hair makes my scalp not as noticeable.

now i can even tuck my hair behind my ear!

our trip to madison! COUSINS REUNITE!!

we went to visit my sister's family in madison, mississippi. this might be one of the cutest, nicest places in mississippi! we loved it. the town is so clean, and friendly. there is something going on all the time in their neighborhood. it is winter so not that many people were out and about but we enjoyed outside activities just the same! they have horse stables in the neighborhood and we enjoyed visiting the horses. we went to chic-fil-a and found out it is the number one chic-fil-a in the country (for breakfast). the kids rode on riding toys without fear of traffic until crunch ran into the neighbor's bushes. we made cookies, refereed the kids and played the wii. we went to the thrift store and i found an ole miss ashworth golf shirt for bert (score!). OH, and MOST importantly peanut and my niece got their ears pierced! here are some pics from the weekend.

making cookies with little mil!

beau wants some cookies!

maddie's turn

thank you VANA!

maniac

time for the big moment at "claires"

i'll hold your hand

here goes!

SHE DID IT!!

maddie's turn!

hold my hand?

a little nervous

big girls!!!

funny facebook post "REBEL"

STATUS:
Liz- rebel the dog is not a christian. he keeps eating small bibles. you know, like the ones your children get as baptism gifts. NOT A CHRISTIAN. I am about to evangelize.


Bebo- Actually maybe he is so much of a Christian that he has to have the Word of God in his body. He is so incredibly Christian that he must ingest the Bibles. Next thing you know he might start speaking in tongues. But in that case I am sure it will just sound like a bark to the untrained ear.

ME- laughing out loud and surprisingly relieved

Patti- He is a christian...he's eating up the WORD!

Liz- LOVE IT!

new haircut

CRUNCH decided to cut his bangs off yesterday and a little bit of the side of his hair. i noticed that as i was addressing some Christmas cards, he walked in with scissors in his pocket. then i noticed the new doo.

this is after the "fix it" haircut. notice how short the little area in the front is. i think he was going for a buzz!

playing with focal black and white on picassa

i am a power dancer

i am bored with going for walks. i can't always have a babysitter to keep the kiddo's while i go out for a long walk to burn off these xtra few lbs. and i get so antsy(is that a word?) when i am walking. i just want it to be OVER. that is why i have taken to indoor walking (yes, the mall) because i can window shop, smile at people, talk to babies, get a chicken terriaki sample shoved in my face, and then grab a cappuchino from the bookstore before i take my satisfying drive home. but, the mall walking has stopped because the kids are out of school...SO, i have had to become creative with my exercise.
this has come in the form of what i call "mom's power dance hour /thirty minutes". this is a humiliating time for my kids who just watch me in disbelief as i dance all over the house. FOCUSING on my "core" i am flailing about trying to mimic aerobic exercises from the past. one time i did step aerobics on my hallway steps. my arms going up and down like a bird flapping it's wings.
what music am i listening to? you have to know it is my i pod! so, the kids hear nothing while i dance about the house. if the song is slow, i might just drop and do twenty sit or push-ups. this can look strange to children and i am aware that it does, but some things just HAVE to be done.

i just finished the thirty minutes of "mom's power dance hour /thirty minutes" and i feel GOOD! i put in a dvd of michael jackson's greatest hit videos and i rocked out to "the way you make me feel" and "beat it" and of course "thriller" and "black or white". after that, i did some floor yoga and then i got bored with that and stopped. no terriaki chicken or cappucino as a reward. but to keep from eating the entire bag of chocolate covered almonds that someone sent, i am blogging! btw, why do people send food at christmas? i vote we switch to ornaments. everyone needs them. my jewish friend julie even had a hanukkah tree growing up. she would love a new ornament. please send ornaments. that is all i have to say about that. MERRY CHRISTMAS! and a flab free new years! start your own power dance hour/ thirty minutes! i won't laugh at you! 

if you learn to dance really well you could score a dance with someone like Caesar

Antique Building Materials, Inc., Birmingham, Alabama

shout out to fletcher horn! thank you SO much, fletcher and kimberly for giving me all of this incredible wood! i have had so much fun painting on it!
fletcher creates the most amazing furniture and designs for your home like beams and antique flooring. their own house is amazing! you can see it on his website (the photo of the house in the snow). the wood beams that they have on their porch are simply incredible. even their mailbox sits on a beam that catches the eye. he collects wood with serious history in it. the wood that he cut for me was from the 1850's and was in an old home in alabama. "if this wood could talk!" if you need any wood in your home...i know a guy!
fletcher@abmwood.com
http://www.abmwood.com/

four ladies dancing

a house in oxford

just did this one for a friend to give her in-laws! hope she likes it!

rebel-rooo

the dog is getting better. he does not bite like he once did. he still occasionally tinkles on the downstairs carpet. he poops too. he really is pretty terrible. we still don't know who his weenie dog mom mated with to get this crazy "designer" breed! oh well. i am sure that he will set a trend as more and more people see him and want to copy his look by mixing all sorts of breeds together. they won't get it. they just can't. i think that he is a one of a kind! the only dog that was bread from a german shepherd and a weenie dog with a little chihuahua. so he is a "shepchiweenie"!
the problem is....we LOOOOOOVE him!
the kids love him!
oh well.

it's been driving me crazy. who the hector is parson brown?

i do not know who "Parson Brown" is from that Christmas song. so i googled it. here is what i found out and i feel SOOO much better. and i also used to think that the song went, "later on we'll PERSPIRE, as we dream by the fire."

MY GOOGLE: PARSON BROWN

what popped up: from wikipedia

Who is Parson Brown and why are they making snowmen like him???


 Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The following lyrics compose the musical bridge of the song:



"In the meadow we can build a snowman,

then pretend that he is Parson Brown.

He'll say 'Are You Married?'

We'll say 'No man, but you can do the job when you're in town!"



Being that a Floridan orange grower was the only well-known person by the name of "Parson Brown" at the time the song was composed, one can assume that "Parson" is used as a title, instead of a first name. In the period when this song was written, parsons (now known as a Protestant minister) often travelled among small rural towns to perform wedding ceremonies for denominational followers who did not have a local minister of their faith. Therefore, the children are most likely pretending that their snowman is a Parson with the surname "Brown," which would be visiting the town again in the future.

family of owls

i did this painting for a fimily with 5 children! she loved it when she picked it up this morning! a surprise for her family. i think they will love it!

tall, blonde, confident....

do i deserve dirty looks? i feel frustrated this morning as i think about a couple of incidents that happened to me this week. "GIRLS". i would think that the same things that happen in elementary school would be gone by say...our thirties. i have felt, my whole adult life that i have to PROVE that i am nice. there is nothing worse than a tall blond or brunette that is confident and is not nice. they can be misconstrued as snobby or aloof. i am fearful of this, so i am always friendly as possible. not fake, but friendly. when girls get together there is power and meanness in numbers. that group of girls that is chatting at a party find it fun to talk about every girl there. what they are wearing...etc. this brings me to what happened to me at a party this weekend. i was wearing a crazy looking faux fur jacket, jeans and boots with heals. i had done my hair and make-up and felt good about my appearance. 5 extra pounds and all. when i walked in, there were girls everywhere and one little pack of them looked at me said nothing but looked at each other and LAUGHED AT ME! i know they were laughing at me because they looked and then laughed. UGGGG. i was SO embarrassed.
then, while mall walking, i kept coming in contact with three girls pushing their babies. NOW, i knew one of them, have seen her many times...so i smiled, said hey......no return hello. i passed them again and made a comment about how cute their babies were.....no "thank you". once again, i was ignored.
you might be thinking...."liz, get over yourself!" i am aware that these girls could have been busy talking and simply not had enough time or been way too tired from pushing their buggies to say hello. let me tell you why i know that this might not be true. i have friends that have told me in words such as this: "when i first met you, liz, i thought...'i bet she is a snob or not nice'....then i was so surprised to find out how nice you were!" i have never known how to take this. why do i come across as someone who might not be nice? so, i MAKE SURE that they see that i genuinely am friendly, nice, and a believer. oh, btw being a believer can also warrant some unpleasantness! God warns us about this in the bible.
i am sorry to use my blog as a counseling session. but, i can. it's my blog.

the progression of circles painting

first draft. too primitive. maybe too many dashes and geometric

almost

changing some colors here and there

flipped upside down!

the customer is happy!

an important fashion message: BABY GOT BACK

i will not include photos in this post because it just would not be right. i want you to know that i DO have a photo or two of this actual thing...that i am about to rant about. when bert, the kids and i were in oxford, ms. for the game we ate in the town square. there were a lot of college girls in there. ok....ready?...they all had on tight leggings (yes, the ones that you wear UNDER dresses, skirts etc) with sweatshirts that come to the waist. all we were looking at is butts. all different sizes in embarrassing tights! uggg! for real? now, don't get me wrong, most ole miss girls are precious, beautiful and fashion forward. but, this? this is not ok? even if you are thin enough to do it.
LISTEN TO ME GIRLS....I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE. just because your friend is wearing tights with halter tops does not mean you can. ok? PLEASE! look at your body type and work with it. you can look fabulous! but NO ONE looks good in tights with your butt showing.
glad i got that off my chest. oh....speaking of chests.......

my Christmas mantle is a hoot!

paintings on wood from the 1850's! super cool.