Monday, November 9, 2009

Beginning and the End



THE END
Bless your hearts! When you people come to my blog, you NEVER know what will greet you! Orange Children are on parade today!!!! The boys junior varsity cross country team painted themselves at the State Cross Country meet on Saturday. They spelled out Go!Mavs! (our mascot is the maverick) Child #2 is the first exclamation point in that first picture!! Those kids had the MOST fun standing out in a dusty field painting letters and painting the names of the varsity boys on their backs! The JV girls got in on the fun and helped out too. I just stood there and laughed and took pictures! This was one of the highlights of the season! The beauty of this team is that the kids have bonded and are more like brothers and sisters than anything I've ever seen. They pick on each other but will take up for each other in a skinny minute! They all cheer their teammates on...in good races and ugly ones alike. And the parents...oh, mercy! We have a ball! We have spent the past 3 months together twice a week! The majority of our parents make it to most of the events. We, too, have bonded! I am going to miss my buddies!!
THE BEGINNING
This has nothing to do with cross country!! Saturday night, after flying back home, I "fru-frued" up a bit (gone were the pink running shoes and t-shirt!). We had "Holiday for Her" at my friend Phebe's church. 25 women in the church decorate a table--they pick the holiday of their choice. Then, they invite 8 friends to join them for a delicious meal, singing, and a guest speaker.

Here is Cindy, me, and Phebe. We love to run, and Cindy is our bicycle babe!
This night gets you in the mood for the upcoming holiday season. Here's my question for y'all today! When on earth do you begin decorating for Christmas? I have a friend who has already begun! I still have not gotten my pumpkin people back in the attic for their 12 month nap! I did buy two Christmas presents today! That's it! I need some encouragement to get on the ball! Let's hear your ideas for getting ready to decorate. I'll get to the decorating part in another post!
Still have errands to run! Have a fabulous day, my friends!

Sweet Blessings!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are just the cutest lil thing~ I bet it was fun getting those tennis shoes off and have fun and dressing up~ What a neat evening!

Amy said...

Thank you for sharing your athletes with us. That definitely brought a smile to my face.

I have only ordered one present, so far. However, this year we are scaling back big time. Our eyes have been opened to so much true need, that buying presents just to buy presents is not really a priority.
Blessings,
Amy

Marci @All Things Wonderful said...

I love the team spirit! That is great.
I haven't begun the Christmas decorating, either. But, some of my neighbors have. Yikes!

Kathleen said...

Runner Mom with Runner Family. I'm out of breath just thinking about it!

Christmas? Love it, and every year I decorate earlier & earlier, but rarely before Thanksgiving weekend.

I actually enjoy Christmas music in March, or July. It's the best!

Blessings,
Kathleen

Andrea said...

I have done something a bit strange the last few years. We live in a large home. I have left my Christmas tree up in our living room. Through out the year, I go in, flip on the lights and sit and enjoy....just a few minutes to reflect. Recently a visitor noticed and made a negative comment. I smiled and said, "everyday is Christmas in our home."

Sharon Sloan said...

Love ALL the pix! I am going to begin next week. :) I like to enjoy the decorations for a long time and enjoy the Christmas season being prepared. My blog is already "Christmas-esque"! :)

Hugs,
Sharon

Gotta Run..... said...

enjoyed the post and the orange people. So much focus in the run!! Love it!

Christmas.... can not even go there yet. We are still weeks away from Thanksgiving girl. I need some turkey first I guess.

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Decorations will begin next weekend; otherwise, I'm toast for the rest of the season. I don't do much, but find that I enjoy Christmas so much more if the tree is up, along with the pottery.

Had a great weekend in the mountains with our friends. Goodness, I could so live there...

peace, friend~elaine

Andrea said...

I was actually in a small town called Inman, near my home town (even smaller) called Campobello. I was there for my cousin's baby shower.
Thank you for your sweet comment and yes, you may drop by any hot july day when you need a little peaceful Christmas cheer. I love it....maybe crazy to others, but I am not sure my tree is ever coming down.

Blessings, andrea

Empty Nest Full Life said...

December 1 is when I start decorating for Christmas. I love to focus on Thanksgiving before I roll into the Christmas season. You look smashing all dolled up! I have yet to make any Christmas purchases. Still trying to get myself in the mood. Love the orange guys by the way. That's team spirit! Gotta run Jackie

Kimberly said...

You are so fun! How blessed your boys are to have you as their momma! And how blesssed your friends are, too! :)

We will soon be putting up our Thanksgiving tree. That's how my hubbie and my gals talk me into putting the tree up early. :) We decorate it with Turkeys and other fun stuff, writing what we are thankful for on them. Then it's all things Christmas the day after Thanksgiving!

Love you, you sweet encourager, you!

Cheri said...

I love how the brothers support each other. It's awesome.

As long as you don't decorate for fall and Christmas together like the department stores do, you should be fine. It's ok to start shopping whenever. Not such a shock to the budget. I start decorating the day after Thanksgiving. That's the start of the holiday season. Corrina is already looking for Christmas lights when we're out driving.

Joyful said...

For years I always decorated the house on November 11th, as it is a holiday here for Remembrance Day. The past couple of years has found me a little tardy, but I try and get it all done before the end of November rolls around. Best case scenerio, I get my sister or a friend over to help. We put on Christmas music, make some hot chocolate and make a mini party out of it.

Enjoyed all your pics Susan. Trust you and yours are all well.

Hugs,
Joy

Mary Singer Wick said...

Hey Susan!

Always so much fun to read your posts. I just wrote about Veteran's Day myself. As for decorating for Christmas, I bought some new decorations this week and will start transforming my house Thanksgiving weekend. Stay tuned for photos!

God bless you,

Mary

PotterMama said...

Great pics!
We put our decorations up last week, and our outside lights today!!! :-)