mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow.

created by evie coates

wrapping things up...

and i don't mean presents even though they are...

i have been having a good amount of braxton hicks contractions over the past 6 weeks but last night i was having some serious braxton hicks contractions and chip ... i mean coach did a great job... so c section or labor ... BRING IT!

today i have my last doctor appointments prior to meeting NOBLE... when will he get here... how will he get here. i am thankful to trust in a BIG GOD the GOD OF ALL THINGS who is both creative and all knowing...

so for now i will put my feet up drink another cup of decaf and wrap up some lose work ends from this cozy over sized chair at home.

christmas stollen making day

here is to my little nanny... aka the german great grandmother who would come stay with us for a few months always including the holiday season. we would make stollen (sweet bread) and lepkuchen (honey almond) cookies. today we will make the stollen. mom and anna will take care of the lepkuchen.

so today we honor her... by making these delectable treats that have been apart of our family traditions on the walter/mccoy side.

stay tuned for irish potato candy and other delights which has become a thomas family tradition.

christmas on calusa lake

it is the eve of the tree cutting...

last year...

this year we are going to brave it... take it an extra hour and a half away from the hospital... that is two hours we will be away from the hospital... but we will come home with good memories of family and friends... a belly full of soup and sweets... and a TREE attached to the top of the car.

we can then officially start to drink hot chocolate ( i have been practicing that though... ), listening to christmas music and decking all the halls.

noble's nursery

thanks aunt anna for pat the bunny

cozy

my goodwill aesop's fable project

the sweater that little nanny, Hilda Walter,

aka "the german great grandmother"

knitted

... all of the mccoy kids wore it

the plate my dad won for grannee

at the fair

beautifully perfect art by evie

i love having evie and marty in the nursery

Sisters Make Everything Better... For That I Am Thankful!

lima bean day and i am rather pensive

pensar= to think in spanish
pensive = to be in deep thought...

last night i soaked a huge bag of lima beans and today i will begin to cook them slow on low heat with ham... and i am pensive... and a little sad. for the past 15 hours i have been wrestling with the sadness and nastiness of the world... and how so many people accept it as "normal" ... i am just NOT okay with it. it makes my stomach turn ... so much that at one point i thought that morning sickness (at night) might be returning OR i might be having contractions.

this morning i am resolved to NOT accept things the way they are but not allow them to disable me. to know that i am here to LOVE and keep LOVING( but that does not mean i have to love the state of the world... just the people in it).

__________________

on a much lighter side... the MACY's Thanksgiving Day Parade is TOMORRROW!!! i get to see my family and i am especially excited to see my cousin Newt.

I'm Making Pies

Today is Pie making day. I will make the crust this morning and then complete the pies tonight.

The McCoy family likes to have at least one of 4 types of pies where some families have just Pumpkin or Pecan ... We like to have a little more variety ...Apple, Pecan, Pumpkin, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Pecan, and then my Aunt always brings a delicious Vegan Pie normally apple.

This year I am using pumpkin crushed mixed with my grandmothers pie crust recipe. Will let you know how that goes...

I sure love having this week off... and I love baking... and I love the Macy's day parade with coffee in PJ's. This sure is and will continue to be a GREAT day!

One year ago today... I woke up as Mrs. Thomas

and it was really kind of like that... a whirlwind of life and its trials and blessings i met and married an amazing manly man named chip. met - september 20th, first date - march 28th, engaged - august 14, MARRIED - november 21st...

the first year there is so much to process and understand... somethings i have come to understand that i just won't understand. i have learned so much this year about chip, myself, hunting, fishing, chip, small towns in georgia, pregnancy... WHIRLWIND! i have been loved more than i knew was possible, i have laughed more than possible, i have cried at legitimate and ridiculous times (PREGNANCY CAUSES CRYING), i have prayed with some GUSTO, and i loved. i have learned that anniversary's are a BIG DEAL and should be celebrated... even if in a homemade fashion... THEY SHOULD BE CELEBRATED!

i am thankful for EARL FLOYD THOMAS II "chip" his love and commitment. he makes me laugh when i get to serious. i have found that he actually SINGS MORE than i do randomly through out the day. he loves my family and friends well. he has made life so rich for me in so many different "simple" ways.

MOST IMPORTANTLY i have learned that i MUST love GOD more than chip.

course work completed... its almost official

in the weeks to come the final paperwork will be completed and i will be MASTER THOMAS! woohoo! so thankful to be done!

reflection pictures to come... including my robot, graduation non-alcoholic celebratory beer, and my final log off.

A Public Love Letter

Dear Friday-

I love you especially your 4:40 pm hour as I turn the radio up and pull away from the supersized school house. Will you please tell Saturday and Sunday to go slow!

Thank You,

June

ironic... don't you think

so in just 17 days this picture will be a year old... turns out mary margaret and noble share the same due date a year later. so if we were to return to this tree a year later the tables would have turned and the sweetest almost one year old would be there with us.

even more ironic if leslie, becky, claire, or charlotte were to join us back at that tree we would all be substantially pregnant with due dates ranging from december through march... no it was not a pregnancy pact.

final details for Noble's nursery are in the mail... woohoo!

i am not a decal person but this made me one... thank you etsy.com ... thank you wall spoken in bozeman, montana...

this is not the nursery just the photo from etsy.com. we ordered the N in valentine red. i love the bedding in the photo but i chose all white of course... it is the presense of ALL colors. so the nursery is almost done... then we wait for the final most important part...Baby Noble

dinner time truths....

Chip's Grannee is probably his favorite person next to me. She gave him so many great characteristics. She had a tradition at her table that before dinner everyone at the table would select a card from this decorative container and read the scripture on one side and prayer on the other. Chip kept the container of cards and for that we are greatful probably on an eternal level.

Here is my card from dinner...

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord." Zechariah 2:10

O God, I want to begin this day you have given to me in worship and dependence on you.

I look forward to meeting Grannee one day.

Our Baby Noble is growing and growing.

9 more weeks (if not sooner) until we meet

Noble Cannot Wait to Meet His Cousins!

folded fitted sheet.

thank you martha for informing the world on how to fold a fitted sheet. i am a little sad that you did not go with the kissing metaphor... we call this process the kissing technique

if you missed it i found this tutorial that will catch you up. thank you pat from consumer reports.

so excited...

WANTED:

the deer who ate my pumpkins and brussel sprouts.

come thou fount of every blessing... PLEASE

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of God's redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Orignial 4th Stanza:
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

growth

our pumpkins

our beans

our baby boy

dislike with a passion of a thousand blazing suns

friday is here and i am not sure how i got here...

i think i have been going on auto pilot most of the week because it is friday... and i am just not sure i know how i got here and it is september... WHAT! scary... but mostly just too busy. here is to a three day weekend without laboring! woohoo!

the I is for IRRESISTABLE!

two years ago today... was the day that my dad had 13 hours of surgery (post 3 months of chemo) to remove the cancer and effected organs from his body. it has been a long haul for him, with many changes but he is now 2 years without cancer (WOOHOO!) and multiple months without infection (please pray that this will continue).

he is a full time golfer husband, granddad and soon to be even more of a grand dad... he is my daddy Michael I. McCoy (the I is for IRRESISTIBLE!)

eye opening inservice

don't have much time to write but just want to put this out there... will return to add details...

Bridget Jones (the pregnant type) Loses Battle With Peanut Butter Moments Before Important Meeting

So last Monday, after much questioning... and debate... Meredith and I accepted the position of co-department chairs. We had to set our first meeting were we would be announced as well as conduct our first meeting together. Many people were in attendance from out administration and from the county office. I was not nervous that is until...

To back track 10 minutes prior to... Baby Nobel got REAL HUNGRY... and I say this because I had just eaten a bowl of cereal before I left the house. So I warmed up my english muffin with peanut butter. mmm... It smelled delicious and I new the protein would end the hunger pains... After 15 seconds in the microwave it was heavenly... I started down the stairs to the conference room... just cramming it in as I scurried down the hall... as I walked into the office the secretary told me that some people had already gone back... she complimented me on my outfit... however as i rounded the corner she said in the most charming southern voice... "my lands you have peanut butter all down the front of you" ... i looked down and sure enough... it was in my scarf... down my shirt... and skirt... i tried my best to clean up ... and then hide the stains with my also stained scarf... IT WAS DONE... but it was time. Not even a great smile could detract all eyes from knowing that I AM A BRIDGET JONES.

It did break the ice and make even the most studious colleague laugh... I was prepared and organized and I guess that trumped the smell of peanut butter and large stains with grease spots because yes... it was natural ground peanut butter.

Stay Tuned I feel as if this is just the beginning.

well said.

i just could not have read this at a more appropriate time... nor could i have said it any better.

suzanne i wish you were my neighbor...

paint the nursery ... CHECK

momma di came over for a slumber party on monday and painted painted the nursery yesterday. it is PERFECT!

i can be weird an picky about colors...

this one is brought to you by good ole ben moore and it is entitled "iceberg"

she is the BEST!

chip fixed the dryer once and for all...

it went from a digital motherboard to a one switch wonder. . . there was drilling... sawing... and a mastermind plan. not only is he a hottie he gets the job done! sweet boy is busting it all day and fixing broken appliances by night. thanks! pictures to follow as soon as i find my camera.