New Year's Project

Eric and I have a long standing joke about a New Year's project. Usually it is done on New Year's Eve. Not this year. We held out until New Year's Day.

I have become addicted to Pinterest. I think I follow it more than Facebook. I love getting new ideas for decorating, teaching, recipes, and crafts. I pin a project I wanted to do to help eliminate the clutter in our kitchen. Here is a picture of what I found on Pinterest:It comes from this blog:

http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/p/organizing.html

Here is our version:

Eric getting it started:

The Final Product

I am so proud of it. I can't wait to put it to use when we go back to school.

Happy New Year

We spent a fun evening at home on New Year's Eve. Eric worked on the fire pit so we could roast marshmallows. The kids had a blast getting them toasty brown. Their favorite part was eating the s'mores. After that, we went out front and Rebecca took over as the firework queen. Our neighborhood is supposed to have an ordinance prohibiting fireworks in the sky. Being the rule followers that we are, all of ours were low on the ground. There were some neighbors around the corner that were shooting some major fireworks. The kids could have cared less about those. They were excited about their small ones. Just goes to show you-bigger isn't always better.

Digital greeting card personalized with Smilebox

Christmas 2012

This Christmas was a little different. With 4 children, it is very difficult to travel at Christmas. We decided we would go to Donna's on the Thursday before Christmas and come home on Christmas Eve. My mom and dad were going to come Christmas Eve day and my sister and family on Christmas day.

Unfortunately, my Brother in law, Anthony, was admitted to the hospital on the Monday before Christmas with gallbladder problems. He was in the hospital all week and had his gallbladder removed on Friday. Mom, dad and I met in Asheville on Friday to have our Christmas with the Griffins. The best present...Anthony was released on Saturday and the surgery went well.

Christmas with 4 children is wild. There were presents everywhere. Our floor was one big heap of wrapping paper by the time we finished opening gifts. Below is a slideshow of a few of the pictures. (We can't post pictures of the foster kids so these are very limited.)

This free digital scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Saluda Shoals Lights At Christmas

We started what I hope to be a new tradition this year. We went to Saluda Shoals to see the Christmas lights. We were very lucky because there was not a wait. We were able to go around it twice. We even got out and rode the tubes down the "slope". That was fun!! Here are a few of my favorite displays:

Santa and Me

I was able to get Rebecca to go see Santa another year. : ) It helped having the other kids there to get her to do it. I'll take it however I can get it.

Competition Season

It's competition season at the Liles' house. Our Saturday's are filled with a lot of cheerleading. I LOVE it!! Yesterday, Rebecca's high school squad took first place at their competition. They have faced a lot of obstacles along the way, but pulled it together on the floor. I am so proud of them.

I am coaching the middle school squad again this year. Our squad has been doing amazingly well this year. We have scored the highest of any other squads at our school.

Safety First

Eric has had a rough year with driving. He has been caught talking on his cell phone while driving a few times. He has had 2 speeding tickets. He forgot to put his truck in park and it rolled into a ditch. He was called before the safetycommittee at work last week for all of the incidents. (He usually serves on this committee.) They had pictures of the truck in the ditch and him talking on thephone. All of the guys he works with had a great time pulling his chain. One of them recommended that he have to wear a motorcycle helmet when driving. I came up with the idea of him wearing a bicycle helmet. I bought him one and used my cricut to cut out vinyl to decorate it.

Eric thought he needed something on the back. He suggested the number 88. Rebecca came up with is on the back.

He had the office laughing all day. Hopefully, he has learned his lesson.