Christmas Ornament Countdown 2020: 21 Days Until Christmas

While we were in Florida for 5 weeks, we were able to visit a few more places other than just Disney. We loved Disney, but being able to explore Florida was lots of fun. One of the places that we were able to see was the Kennedy Space Center. 

We had decided to go there on President's Day so Robby would be off work and wouldn't have to think about that. Our date was set and then we found out that there should be a rocket launch that day. How exciting. Now we knew from our November trip, that rockets don't always go off when they think that they will. 

However, this day was indeed a rocket launch day. We arrived early, found our spots and waited for the rocket to launch. We were able to see it fairly well despite the trees. It was so loud and the vibrations were pretty intense. It was certainly a super neat experience. 

After the launch, we were able to explore the space center and had a great day learning new things. We also had a great time afterwards, eating ice cream on the way back to the house! Here is the link to that days post.

December 3, 2020

(click here for today's pictures) 

• Aw, the last day of school for the week-there is nothing better than that. I am certainly cherishing these days because I know they will not last forever. (Our free Fridays are due in part because Bible study is not meeting in person this year. Instead they are zooming (most of us are not), so that gives us all day Wednesday for school. I will definitely struggle when it comes to losing our free Fridays when Bible study starts back, but it is worth it-but I will have to keep reminding myself of that over and over again.)
• School did go very well. Reagan has an essay to write and has waited until the last minute to do it-a procrastinator! That is not me at all-Robby was making fun of my tonight for getting things done as soon as possible. 
• Whitman continued to be distracted today. I thought that by him doing 3 math problems at a time and then working on something else that might speed him up. Nope, that didn't work. He is currently fascinated with Roman Numerals but I can't figure out how to make that his math instead of the problems he has now (43,214 minus 28,989-who wants to do that kind of stuff with all of that borrowing-yuck!)
• Reagan drove herself to school today-well, I rode in the car too but tried to say very little. That is pretty hard to do. Then I did some running around-Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Jasons, Grannymoms and then home.
• I ended my afternoon at the pregnancy center volunteering with Campbell. I kind of felt sorry for them there because they are without a lot of their help due to covid. It is just too far away for me to go more often, but I do hate that I can't do more. 
• I came home just as Robby was chopping up the meat for supper. He had been smoking some meat all day long and gracious it smelled delicious. I think that it smells better than it tastes-and there is nothing better than eating it right as he is chopping it. Though you have to be super careful because he chops it with this massive machete. I thought that Campbell was going to lose a finger tonight while grabbing meat.
• Our after dinner entertainment was the nightly return of the possum. They shot at him with the bb guns for a good 15 minutes. 3 bb guns didn't do the trick so they started throwing basketballs at him. Our yard is currently littered with balls that no one picked up-because no one wanted to go under the tree that the possum was perched in.
• When they became too cold, everyone came in. Later Keaton saw the thing right by our bedroom window-Robby then chased it around with a broom for a little bit. Some days I think that all we do is sit on the couch, and then other days we would make great sitcom material.
• Robby and I then made a late night run to the grocery store. We spend 100 bucks at Kroger while making a 100 walmart grocery order-that is how we do our shopping now. It is kind of crazy, but it is entertaining at least.

Christmas Ornament Countdown 2020: 22 Days Until Christmas

The same trip that we shredded a tire on the way home, began with pretty much the same amount of excitement. A hurricane had become a tropical storm and battered us with rain our entire drive to Mississippi River State park. (I am on a mission to see all 52 Arkansas State Parks.) The rain had calmed some as we found our campsite. We realized that we didn't have any cell service there, so we drove to the visitor's center to sit in their parking lot for a few minutes.

As we were sitting there, we did notice one lady walking around, knocking on doors and using her phone. Soon she came to us and knocked on our window. She let us know that we were in a tornado warning, and the ranger was coming to open the building for us to shelter in there. 

Gracious, that was interesting news. We decided that after seeing another car rush up and head indoors, that we should as well. We hung out in the visitor's center for over an hour watching strangers! It was super interesting-they brought in their ice chest and had drinks and snacks for their group. 

We were quite hungry by the time that the storm was finished, so we hurried back to set up camp and start on our supper. It was definitely a trip that we will always remember. Here is the link to that days post.

December 2, 2020

(click here for today's pictures) 

• Third day of school around here, but with Bible study online for 3 kiddos it does take a few more minutes. It probably was a good thing that Keaton is already finished with school for the week and Campbell again did hers early this morning. 
• Whitman though, he was in his own little world and really kind of in a funk all day long. It took him a long while to do his math-long enough that I was finished with everything and everyone else and just sat there and wrote down the numbers that he said. After he finished his math, he was able to zoom through the rest of us stuff since I took a bit away so things would be easier on all of us.
• There was some more painting this afternoon-I am getting close on that table. What I really need to do is wait for a sunny day and bring it outside where I can really see what I need to touch up. Then the wax and then finished-hopefully, I can get it done fairly quickly. I want to set some more Christmas out on it.
• This afternoon we had a few folks come over to the house. Who am I kidding? It was a party, and we all had fun. The kids had fun playing with their friends and the moms had fun playing a game. I enjoyed the day so much that we just planned to do it next week as well, plus I enjoyed the game so much that I really want it for myself. 
• When everyone left my kids went to town, just like always, working on the house. Popcorn was everywhere, but by the time that I was finished vacuuming the kids had straightened the entire place. 
• Campbell, Keaton and I eventually loaded up to go to Walmart for a few things. I left a bit disappointed because I didn't really mark anything off of my list. I then came home a bit stressed worried about the kids gifts, but I think that I have most of them figured out and all will be well. 
• Robby had supper ready-just waiting on my buns...my buns and the hamburger buns that I brought home with us. We had chicken sandwiches for supper along with french fries.
• Then we watched a bit of the Hogs play. Afterwards, it was time for all of my people to go to bed! Maybe I can get a Christmas movie in tonight!

Christmas Ornament Countdown 2020: 23 Days Until Christmas

This year Robby and I celebrated our 20th anniversary. We had super big plans to sneak away to Disney World while three of the kids were away at camp. Unfortunately, camp did not happen nor did Disney. However, Robby and I were able to still go to Mount Magazine for two nights to celebrate. 

This our our first experience at a hotel since Covid and gracious things were weird. They were strange enough that on the way home, we stopped to look at a camper. And two weeks later we had a camper!

While we were at Mt. Magazine we hiked to the highest point in Arkansas. It was a short little hike but in the middle of the summer, it was a hot little hike. Here are the pictures from that trip. 

December 1, 2020

(click here for today's pictures) 

• I had briefly thought that if I woke up early this morning, then I would get up and walk on the treadmill some. I did wake up before my alarm, but it was 5 when I did look at my clock so that idea was quickly thrown out. I rolled back over and went back to sleep and snoozed until it was time to get up and hurry to start the morning.
• We did our reading this morning and are plugging away on some Christmas books. Then the kids started on their school work-well, Campbell was already finished with hers since she got started early. And Keaton worked on hers last night, so she was also finished as well.
• I was able to knock out working with everyone fairly quickly. So when I left for school with Reagan, I was done for the day. Whitman was finishing up as well so it was a nice long afternoon for everyone.
• Reagan drove to school and then she drove and practiced where she will take her driving test next week. We made the loop twice and she did really well. The only issue will be if she goes a bit faster than she should-there is a hill in addition to a school zone, so we will see! This driving stuff is exhausting. I am going to make sure that Robby is the driving instructor for the next two upcoming Dennie drivers. Maybe I will make sure that he is the driving instructor for the next 5 Dennie drivers.
• After dropping Reagan off, I ran to pick up Pops a shake. He hadn't eaten or really drank anything in a few days and was in a ton of pain this morning. After some new meds, by lunch Pops was wanting a ChickFilA treat. He later said that his shake was very good, so I guess that he is a feeling a smidge better.
• This afternoon while I was busy  waiting to pick up Reagan to school-I painted, I cooked (if sticking baked potatoes in the oven counts as cooking), I blogged, I cleaned and I'm not really sure what else I did. I will say that it makes it sound like I was busier than I really was.
• When I returned home this afternoon, I stood by the oven warming up while waiting on our massive baked potatoes to bake. They eventually did bake and we all sat down for supper. 
• After supper, we eventually got around to hanging the mirror in the girls' room. Then we hung a few records on their wall as well before settling in for another Christmas movie and some ice cream!

Christmas Ornament Countdown 2020: 24 Days Until Christmas

I think that the ornament that I have chosen to start off our 2020 Christmas ornament countdown fits perfectly with the year 2020. This year is our 9th year for our Christmas ornament countdown. Last year I had more than 25 new ornaments-so many that I wasn't even able to show you all of our new ones. This year-I have 6 new ones. And one of those new ones is one that I just found from 2002 that has never made it on the tree. 

Despite a global pandemic, we have still had a great year plus we have had a pretty good travel year. We spent 35 nights at Disney during January and February. Robby and some of the kids spent a night in Tennessee for the SEC basketball tournament. Plus we purchased a camper that we have already spent 21 nights in with a few more planned for later this month.

And that brings us to the ornament! This really isn't an ornament, it could more accurately be called road debris, or a piece of an expensive trip, or even a testimony of God's protection. As we were driving down 40 in the camper on the way home from a great trip, we all heard a loud boom.

Robby knew immediately what it was and could see our shredded tire in the rear view mirror. The kids were all screaming "What was that? What was that?" while Robby was shouting back at them, "We're okay, We're okay."

And we were indeed okay. We pulled over and waited for AAA. They arrived soon, and we moved slowly to a gas station where the man put on putting the spare on. We had recently put the spare on the rig so it was used much sooner than we expected. 

Robby pulled this piece of tire out of one of the storage bins on the camper. As I sat there with it on my lap, I decided that it would be a great ornament. I will always think about how poopy this 2020 year has been, but I will also think about all of the good things that have also happened this year. Here is the link to that day's crazy blog.