the goods

It is seeming that more and more over the holidays it is almost frowned upon to take the time to mention and almost even acknowledge the gifts we are given and give on Christmas. I think this is silly! Yes, I agree that the importance of it can be taken a bit too far, but I will be the first to admit that I love exchanging presents on Christmas!



And we are so very blessed this year! The run down-

*Billy-

From my Mom & Dad- an animatronic robot Transformer, a Timex indiglo watch, books, lego set, and Papo knight figures.

From Mom & Dad Gallagher- a Pottery Barn NFL-AFC quilt for his bed

From Uncle Bobby & Auntie Kristi- board games, and a gift card

From Uncle Billy & Ausashia- cash to go shopping

From Uncle Dave & Auntie Laurie- gift card to the toy store

From Auntie Jill & Uncle Mark- Patriots outfit, Patriots cap, Patriots picture

From Santa- a remote control Hummer, Lego set, and a football video game

*Brooke-

From my Mom & Dad- Lego house building set, a loop&loom set, Island princess Barbie, scarf, books, and Papo figures.

From Mom & Dad Gallagher- Julie, an American Girl doll

From Uncle Bobby & Auntie Kristi- board games, and a gift card

From Uncle Billy & Ausashia- cash to go shopping

From Uncle Dave & Auntie Laurie-gift card to the toy store

From Auntie Jill & Uncle Mark- a Patriots sweat shirt, Patriots cap, and an art supply set

From Santa- a Hello Kitty alarm clock, a sticker maker machine, and a Barbie laptop

*Jim-

From my Mom & Dad- a magazine subscription to Civil War Times, L.L.Bean socks, a tie, Best Buy gift card, Barnes&Noble gift card, and two Red Sox championship pictures.

From Me and the kid's-a Bible, Tom Brady book, gloves, Patriots mug, and Civil War Stratego

From Bob & Kris-a gift card

From his employees- gift cards

*Jennifer-

From my Mom & Dad- a cricut cartridge, magazine subscription, gift cards, craft stuff, and new jammies

From Dad Gallagher- yummy truffles

From Jim and the kids- a Coach purse, a Coach key holder, and a red wool coat

From Bob & Kris- a gift card

From my boss- a gift card



We also received from Mom & Dad Gallagher a yummy box filled with maple syrup, pancake mixes, jam, and candy. We also received a gift of money from Nana Lill, and Nana Gallagher, and many beautiful cards and photo's from family and friends.

We are so very thankful for all the kindness and generosity from all of you . Thank you all so much!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We missed you all!! We had a very fun, relaxing day. Billy and Brooke had fun playing with all the new toys. Billy lost his very first tooth today! It has been hanging on for about a week. So, he will be getting a visit from the tooth fairy. I will add more pictures soon!

Journal My Christmas Album

Magic

It's that magical time of year again. I love having all the decorations up, and the excitement of the holidays in the air. I finished making cards today, and finished up the gifts for the school party. Almost done with the teacher gifts, just a few finishing touches left to do. Billy and Brooke start Christmas break on the 21st. Last night I finished wrapping most of the gifts, and they were excited to see them under the tree this morning.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Happy 10 year anniversary Bob and Kris! We love you guys!

Christmas card photo fun

I decided to take the photo this year to put inside the Christmas card. With Jim's help we got some good picture's. Here are a few of the many, just a little peek. Enjoy!

Taking Back My Christmas

I have signed up for an online journal class. The idea is to pick a theme, mine will be Christmas. I always have a hard time and really miss family this time of the year. So, I thought this would be good for me. So,
Starting December first, I will keep a Christmas journal. In it, I will write something everyday to reflect in the holidays of my past, enjoy the holidays of the present and dream about the holidays of my future. To some, this will be a stack of papers and trivial scribbles, but not to me. I am taking back my Christmas, I am letting it be something I relish and most importantly, I am giving some time to myself everyday no, matter how crazy this season becomes.
It will be like an art journal, a place to put pictures, receipts, cards, etc. I have also been making some holiday decorations. Here are the pictures of these that I have promised some of you-
This is an altered trading card spinner that I have covered the cards with Christmas papers, and included parts of Twas the night before Christmas story on, it is still a work in progress!

This is just a little holiday picture I made. I cut 2inch squares of holiday paper, and put embellishments on them. Pretty easy, and after the holidays I will take it out and put the photo back in it's place.











These are styrofoam cones. One I covered in buttons, and the other I punched out heart shapes from my stash of Christmas paper, and placed them on the cone upside down with pins.




I am liking the lime green, pink, red color scheme this year. Just having fun creating. Now, I have to go start making cards.

Our Thanksgiving Day

Hope you all had a great day yesterday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! We love and miss you all.

Extreme Makeover

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to our town! The beneficiary of this 2Million home was Patrick Hughes, a 19-year old University of Louisville student and his family. Patrick was born without eyes and his arms and legs don't fully extend, so he gets around by wheelchair. His house wasn't wheelchair accesible inside or out. He has an amazing gift for music, he plays the piano beautifully. Because his father wanted him to live life as "normally" as possible, Patrick attends college and even marches in the band. Patrick's dad attends classes with him and does the marching as he pushes Patrick's wheelchair for him.

This episode will air in February on ABC and apparently will be the Season FINALE! (How cool is that?!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope you all are having a fun Halloween! Jim and Misha took Billy, Brooke, and Max out. Abbie and I have candy duty. I will add more photo's later! Be safe and have a fun night!

Carving Fun!

We had fun carving pumpkins with the kid's tonight. They are excited for tomorrow night. Brooke is going to be a cheerleader and Billy is going to be Tom Brady. I will add more pictures tomorrow!

I LOVE FALL!

FINALLY! It is Fall here! This is my very favorite time of year! After the heat of the Summer, it is refreshing to be out in the crisp cool air.

I am having fun playing around with the camera, and the photo editing software. So lucky the kid's like to model for me. I took these yesterday.

Billy played his last game of the season this morning. I am so proud of him. He played each game with such determination.

We are enjoying a short Fall break from school. The kid's had an open house on Thursday night, and we go back on Tuesday. It is so amazing what they have learned in such a short time!

Enjoy the weekend!

Pumpkin Patch

v

It was a good weekend here. We made it through the severe weather on Friday night. We spent half the night in the basement due to the alarms going off for a good hour straight. When the alarms finally went off, we made our way up to bed.

Saturday Billy had a soccer game, and he played a great game. He scored three goals-yes 3. On the way to the game he said, "Mom I feel confident that I'm going to get a goal today." He has become such a great young man, but of course will always be my little man!

Brooke is doing great, we spent a good part of the day reading books. She started reading several weeks ago and now she wants to read everything! She also enjoys spelling words, we played Jr. Boggle about six times. She is having a blast at school, and loves learning new things.

Hope you all have a great week. Oh! including these pictures.

The photo to the far left is from our trip to the pumpkin patch last year. Look how much they have grown in just one year!

Gallrein Farms

We went to Gallrein Farms on Sunday for the second year in a row! We had a blast! We fed the animals, took the horse drawn hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, Brooke rode the pony, and we went through the corn maze. The kids each got a big pumpkin and lots of little pumpkins.

I love this time of year. Enjoy the pictures!

The power of scripture?

Last Saturday morning, Billy and I were riding to his soccer game around 8:15 and Billy was practicing his "memory verse" -

"So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith."

and I asked him if he knew what "confidence" meant. We spoke about confidence and faith for a while, then Billy said, "Dad, I'm confident I'm going to score a goal today!"

Now, Billy, try as he might, had yet to score a goal in his 3 years of playing soccer. To be fair, many of the kids haven't. But this year especially, Billy has been playing with the heart of a lion, running as fast as his little legs will take him...and he's the fastest one out there. He drips sweat at the end of each game - he tries so hard.

So the game begins, a balmy Kentucky sky burning off the morning fog as 14 eager 6- and 7-year olds race up and down the field, half flourescent green, half royal blue. 1st quarter ends, Billy on defense. 2nd quarter, Billy's picked to be goalie. Nothing goes through.

He's looking confident. The score's 1-1.

Halftime ends and it's Billy's turn on offense. He and his best buddy Dakota give each other that look they always give - they've played together 3 years now. Veterans. They nod to each other and the 3rd quarter starts.

Down the field they go, Billy on the left, he turns in towards the goal. 8 kids at once battle for the ball. One emerges from the pack, just for a moment. And Billy shoots, and he scores!

I high-fived everyone around me, most who knew the "story". Billy's whole team high-fived him. His coach screamed from the sideline. "Way to go Billy!" You've never seen a kid so happy.

And then and amazing thing happened - he scored again! This time making the audience almost gasp when Billy kicked it in from mid-field! The momentum fully on the Green side now, Dakota scored 2 more for a hatrick. Billy, inspired now, kicked in one more in the 4th quarter to get his own hatrick.

3 goals. Final score: 7-1.

Billy's team is undefeated. This week we're getting it on video :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today we want to wish Mom and Grammy a Happy Birthday! We hope you have a very special day, we wish we could be with you to celebrate! Sending lots of hugs and kisses! Love, Jim, Jenny, Billy and Brooke

Bluegrass Balloon Glow

Saturday afternoon we headed to Bowman Field to attend the balloon glow. This is the last event of the Kentucky Bluegrass Balloon Festival. At sunset all the balloons gather on a huge field and light up the sky with beautiful colors and designs. It was truly amazing to walk through a field lit by 40 or so giant, glowing hot air balloons. Billy liked the Harley-Davidson balloon, and Brooke liked one that looked like a stained glass window. The kids also enjoyed jumping on the bouncers, and we had lots of good food! The night ended with a fireworks show. The balloon festival is one of the top ten in the United States, and all the proceeds go to charity. HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!