The Lundy 5

In Georgia, we got to visit the Garrisons, eat some great chili, and play a crazy fun game. We met the Gardners finally, and they parked beside us for a few days.  All the girls went with Darla to see the Christmas lights, and they ran into Santa! My brother happened to be driving from Pensacola FL to Dalton GA for a job.  When we called him, he was only an hour away, so he stopped for dinner.  The first dinner around our new table!  Even Ryan agreed, my meatloaf *is* that good!   We went to the Garrison's church with the McCloskeys, and had our last meal together (at least for now). Our first time eating at Zaxby's. 

On our way south, we stopped to see friends in Georgia.  The McCloskeys were camping and the Garrisons bought a stick house (groans from the RV crowd).  :)  We just saw them for a few days in Arizona last year, so it was nice to spend some more time with them.  And it was great to see the McCloskeys again, who we've seen many times, but not enough of course.  They arranged a tour for us at the Chick-fil-A corporate headquarters and it was so interesting.  Not just because we got freshly baked cookies at the end either!  It was neat to learn how the restaurants started, how involved the whole family is, and what all they support now.  It was a great lesson to the kids about hard work, business, values, and family.  And chicken.  :)  It was beautifully decked out for Christmas.   Check out the office chair cover. I think Mr. Cathy planned this for the kids, but whatever.  Learning about the first restaurant, started by two brothers.  That is the original grill.  Jos

Thanksgiving with the Hamel family!  We missed this last year for the first time in... maybe 30 years?!  While we had fun in CA with friends, we were glad to be with our family this year, even though it was a little chilly in Kentucky!  We stayed with Uncle Jim and Aunt Katie again (our favorite campground ever!) for a week. Football... Food... And lots of family... We took some family pics in front of the church. Amelia's the newest and cutest addition to the family. I don't think her feet hit the floor once with everyone taking turns with her.  More pics:

We finally got to meet my brother's new puppy, Atticus Finch.  An Australian Shepherd who is cute and playful... And bad...  (No, this was totally Ryan's fault!) And adorable... And will plague me with red eye and green eye!! 

So I stumble out of bed one morning into the living room (yes, the three whole steps) and Allen says "Honey, what if we just take out the whole couch/table and put in a real table & chairs?"  First, I think "Who's talking to me, it's morning?"  Then, I think, okay, I actually say "Absolutely not. We have a perfectly fine couch that's big enough for all of us, even though we never use it and we all fit around the table, so no."  Probably with a scowly face.  Then starts our typical dance of "Just hear me out..." - "But...." - "This could work..." - "Yeah, but..." - "What if we..." - "Well, yeah, maybe..." In the end, of course I'm excitedly measuring for a table and chairs.  And more awake. Deciding factors: Even though it's a nice big couch, the table blocks it, so we rarely all sit on it.  The table is wobbly (and on its third set of holder-inner-things-that-break, cu

Why we homeschool our kids .  This is the story of how we chose,   fell into,   were nudged into,   were forced to,   tried not to,   accidentally started homeschooling our kids.  The short version : We did "nothing" and it was better than school. Let me explain with the long version :  We never planned to homeschool. There are schools; kids go to them; we simply never thought beyond that. So when it was suggested that it would be helpful to homeschool Lizzy for adoption-related reasons, we said Um, no . She did need time with just Mom because she never got that, in her past, or now, being in school all day and with her siblings all night.  Still, no . Both boys had time with just Mom to attach and do all the things moms and babies do naturally.  Matt was 3 and Josh was 2, and they learned to love and trust doing those things. Oh, dear . The suggestion was right, Lizzy needed that.  How could we not?  Um, okay . We decided to give her one year.  Ideally, she