One of our best Christmas Card pictures...

This photo was taken at a Christmas tree farm in Dec. 2001. (Ian was 8, Cole was 3.) I was trying to get the boys to pose nicely...and as usual, it was not going well. But out of the chaos one perfect picture emerged. (Remember this was PRE-digital camera days. You took a few shots, and hoped for the best!)

Looking back - I just love the mischievous looks on their faces. That's my dear, sweet pickleheads! Christmas excitement was in the air, and they had such sweet twinkles on their little eyes!

Christmas Is...

Christmas is so many things. Family gatherings, new traditions & old ones, shopping, special music, pretty lights, and glittery things. It's making things for loved ones, and wrapping up presents. Keeping secrets & trying to remember where you hid the goodies! It's fun ~ people smiling & laughing together at parties, going to band concerts, and spending a day (or 2 or 3) decorating!

Here's a little bit of the Christmas at our house...

Christmas is Joyful angels, angels on tabletops, atop trees, and all over the mantel with a nativity scene. And stockings lovingly made and hung with care.








Christmas is a piano covered with snowmen, santas, and pictures of the boys with Santa. Silly little snowmen who shouldn't have had hot chocolate, and pretty snowladies made with love... that make you smile. I love looking at all the pictures and how the boys grew each year.




















Christmas is nutcrackers and snowglobes, and villages complete with their own Bumble! I think these are Cole's favorites. He puts the village together & arranges everything, and he plays with all the Nugcrackers & Snowglobes.













Christmas is being silly...
Ethel found a cozy place to sleep amongst the Santa hats.
Riley discovering there is a new toy 'duck' hidden on the tree. He knows it's for him and gets so excited!
Bobbin looks like she's worried...she knew she's been bad! So now she's snuggling up to Blake, trying to make some brownie points before Christmas!

The boys not cooperating for a Christmas photo...it's practically an annual tradition. We settled on the 2nd picture...it was the least lame of the bunch. =/




















It wouldn't be my house without a quilt decorating the room some how...
and a wee little quilt hung on a door, too.




But above all Christmas is Jesus. After all... Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving means a lot of things.... first & foremost, thankfulness for the many blessings in our life...especially our family. The Hancock family has expanded from the original 8 children of Pappy & Granny Hancock to a mass annual gathering. This year we had 67 folks. Some years it's less, other times is more. Sadly, we've lost most of our seniors, though. Of the original 8 Hancock children, only 2 brothers - Uncle Dick & Uncle Thurman remain. And I think Mama is the eldest senior remaining now, and she'll be 84 soon. So we treasure the times we have together, share stories, and try to pass down a much of our family history & geneology as possible.



My brother Gary checking out the most popular table...the desserts!


I'm not sure how or when it started, but every year we go out under the oak trees in Granny's yard & take some family photos.

Gary, Carol & Courtney. (Robert was too busy sleeping to bother coming to Dade City for Thanksgiving this year. *blowing raspberries* We missed you Robert!)


David, Alishia & Levi.


Cole, me, Blake & Ian.



In addition to the family & food, Blake found some pretty flowers... And some sandhill cranes came visiting...I wonder if they were hoping for some turkey or grateful they were not turkeys!?



After the big family gathering is done we head back to Mama's place for a little Christmas fun. This is when we exchange gifts with my family. Blake's jelly was well received, and Ian & Cole are always excited to open what Aunt Carol has picked out for them. And Uncle David's gifts are always fun, too. It was nice to meet Mr. Wilbur, Mama's new-old friend, too.






Black Friday shopping & crowds...no thank you! Blake & the boys went golfing, while Mama & I went visiting.




And as usual, Blake finds something interesting & different to photograph. A pretty sunset, the mossy trees in Townsend House Cemetary, and these 'banana spiders' are harmless, but HUGE. They stay outside, but often have webs covering walkways, so we have to be watchful. They have FUZZY knees!




But as expected, all travels must come to an end. Blake got us up WAY too early - 5:00 a.m. - to start our journey home. I can't figure out exactly how it happens, but we always end up packed to the gills on the way home! I was squashed in the front, while the boys were squashed in the back...but poor Riley was really squashed in the very back. We always leave him room on his doggie-bed, but a 100lb dog just doesn't get a lot of respect when it comes to stretching out room, but he survivied the trip with minimal complaints and we are ALL blessed and thankful to be back home again...at least until we have to go back to work & school on Monday morning!

Who You Gonna Call?!?! Halloween 09

Ahh, Halloween.... the crisp, clear, fall air, the pretty leaves, and pumpkins, and cute costumes. Well, that how it is in some places. For us Halloween 2009 was wet, misty-rainy, cold, pumpkin-free, and had some just plain weird costumes. But that's okay, 'cause we had a blast anyway!!

First in our parade of characters....

Ian as Ghostbuster Peter Venkman. Don't cross the streams!!!!




And Ian matched his new friend, 'Stupid' the boxer...they were exactly the same colors!

Next, we have a character of Cole's very own creation....'The Amazing Fart Face'!!!!
Cole actually wrote a book about him, and has continued to write other stories featuring this most unusal super hero. His costume included the appropriate sound effects...watch out when Fart Face says'Pull My Finger'!




Together - quite a pair of heros??? characters??? weirdo's???....



Now we have Blake...he has leaves dangling from his hat and has to puff & blow them out of his eyes. What is he????




Blake is a Leafblower!


And me....I have snowflakes. NOOOO, despite my dear friend Donna Q's comment "I always knew you were a flake!" I am a Snowblower!



Together, we are 2 cheap & easy costumes!! (Total $ invested...$2.00. The look on people's face when they 'get' our costumes...PRICELESS!)

Rounding out our night of characters, we have nephew Alex, as Harry Potter! Wahoo! Awesome costume - Bravo, Pam, you did a fabulous job making it.




Our Church hosted it's annual JAM Fest/Trunk or Treat... which due to the weather, was moved into the gym. WOW is all I can say. We estimate 750 to 1000 folks came through our church last night. We literally ran out of candy, hotdogs & drinks. That's something that has never happened before. I think a lot of other activities were either rained out, or folks couldn't trick or treat in their neighborhood, so they ALL came to the church. That's cool! We look at it as a community outreach - and that's what we did.

Upon coming home, Cole - still going full speed on a sugar-high, decided to put on Ian's ghostbuster coveralls. I think we have a costume for next halloween, already!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Cheaha! Brrrrrr!!!!

Fall is usually my favorite time of year for camping. After a long, hot, sticky-humid summer, a nice cool weekend in the mountains - low humidity, no biting bugs, and refreshing temperatures just sounds heavenly. The weatherman said the weekend was looking to be cool & pretty, so we loaded up the van and headed to Mount Cheaha State Park in Alabama - the highest point in AL - only 80+/- miles away.
Well, guess what...The weatherman LIED!!!! Friday started out quite chilly, and drizzling - but that's not enough to stop us. We arrived to find the mountain covered with clouds, windy and cold. We didn't see even a hint of sunshine until sundown Saturday. The daytime temps stayed in the mid-low 40s...not counting 'windchill'. And Sunday was even colder... 32.4 according to our little handy-dandy thermometer! But we're tough and we can handle it. Blake packed extra blankets...thank you dear hubby for your wisdom! And we pretty much wore ALL our clothes for the entire weekend. LAYERS are awesome! Layers are essential! Layers make camping in the cold just another adventure!!! I went to bed at night counting...not sheep, but the layers I was wearing and number of blankets. (FYI- undershirt, T-shirt, long sleeved T-shirt, sweat shirt, sweat pants, undies, longjohns, 2 sets of socks, + sleeping bag, comforter, my fuzzy blue blanket and 2 more blankets.)

Despite the challenges, we had a great time. We saw some deer - always a thrill. And we hiked to "High Falls" in the Talladega National Forest. It was a fairly easy hike, once we found the right trail. (Do Alabama people not mark their trails!?!?! There wasn't a sign saying which way to go, and there were 4 trails leading off in 4 directions!) I'm VERY happy to say I DIDN'T fall into the creek when we crossed it. Very challenging & slippery for me...AKA McTrippin'! WAHOO!(That's always a reason to celebrate!) Above the creek crossing there was a series of 3 waterfalls...very pretty.

Being deep in the forest, surrounded by mountains, trees, wildflowers, rushing waterfalls, and rocks, and listening to birdsongs, wind in the tree tops & gurgling creeks always makes me so grateful and aware of God. I just feel His presence when I see the mighty works of His hands. In the woods, "Be still and know that I am God..." Ps. 46:10 comes alive for me. That's why I love to camp in the mountains. No matter what's going on - it refreshes my soul. It feeds my soul. It makes me aware of no matter how beautiful this world is, Heaven is going to be soooo much better. I can't look at a mountain without thinking how awesome God is. He MADE them! That is sooo cooool!

My short little 'dashund' legs were sore the next day - but hiking aches & pains are always a 'good sore'.





Around camp we tended to huddle around the fire - either the grill or the campfire. Whatever it takes to stay warm!
Ian had his own methods of keeping warm











Riley enjoyed the camping trip too.

He would lay down right next to the fire & just relax in that big dog kind of way that just says 'I'm happy and content with my family'. We have to be careful though. He often walks up to us & stands there wagging his tail... which is waving in the fire! He's had his tail 'feathers' scorched more than once. He also reaped the benefits of the extra pancakes. We've taught him to catch them from off of his nose.





Cole says "We R Cold. Send Heat! Send more 'smores! We're almost out of pretzels. I don't wanna go home...but I'm really cold!"

His Promise...

Even tho' it's been a rough couple of weeks around here....major flooding in our area - thank the Lord our home was spared,(altho the computer was zapped by the lightning),- but at least 10 people died as a result of this deluge, major traffic woes due to 100s of roads washed away, no drinking water for a week, as well as the boys loosing a week of school, a couple of very unpleasant dental procedures which were NOT fun, and the stomach flu, my camera got dropped = it's in the repair shop, a friend's life is a complete mess & I can't help her, a family member (who's life is a complete mess, too,) is ill & we can't find out his status, Blake's been out of work a full year now, and now this week the tragic loss of a beloved chorus teacher, and the mom of one of Ian's band friends. I feel like there is a little black stormcloud just sitting on top of us bringing constant gloom & doom. But, last night just before the start of the football game I was reminded of God's promise.


He placed a beautiful rainbow above us. So strikingly beautiful in it's colors, placement, and poignant reminder of His presence on our lives. HE is in control. He won't ever forsake us. He has a plan for us! Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. THAT is MY verse. The verse I cling to, rely on & keep close to my heart night & day.
All I can say is that I will continue trust Him in all I do.

The lyrics of this Casting Crowns songs seem to say it whats in my heart:

PRAISE YOU IN THIS STORM
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

So what's the point of this blog post...to whine about the problems, cry about the tragedies, be angry about the things we can't control? No. It's a reminder to myself about how blessed we are.
We have our home.
We have our health.
We have our loved ones - some near, some far - but always in our hearts.
We have food, shelter, and have been able - by the Grace of God - to pay all our bills.
God as provided for us in an incredible way. ALL our needs are met.
ONLY GOD can do THAT!
And...
We have hope for tomorrow. Thank you, Lord Jesus.


Upon this Rock...

Invader 'Shrooms!

We've had more rain around here lately. Now something weird and magical has happened....we've been invaded by shrooms! Mushrooms are all over the yard... In the sunny areas of the yard, in the shady, mossy areas, in the woods...everywhere!!! It's really interesting to stoop down & get a good look at these invaders. They come in all colors - red, orange, yellow, pancake-tan, woodsy brown, each has a unique, almost other-worldly appearance. Some look like wee little fairy umbrellas. Others look like huge creepy yard-tumors! And Ma & Pops have a 'fairy ring' in their woods...an entire ring of mushrooms. Which according to legend or folklore is the location of gateways into elfin kingdoms, or were the path made by fairies dancing in a ring. The \fairy rings were where fairies came to dance and celebrate, the mushrooms of the rings were used as stools for the fairies to recuperate during the evenings festivities. One European legend tells of the origin of these rings as being burned into the soil by a sleeping dragon's tail. It is also said that if you sit in a fairy ring at night you will fall under a spell and fall asleep until dawn and then fairies will never return. I'm not too sure mushrooms have all that 'power', but they are cool looking!





















And if it IS an invasion...then THIS must be their Leader!
(It's a really cool looking Caterpillar Blake found.)

But despite all their differences, deep inside they are just happy little 'shroom-guys from deep under the earth...also known as some really fungi's!

Friday Night Lights!

It's that time of the year... marching season is here again!
Wahoo!!! The excitement, the kids cheering. rocking and dancing in the stands, the music playing, the uniforms & instruments looking flashy, and everyone pumped up and ready to take the field. It's a great way to spend our Friday nights and I enjoy photographing the fun.

I think one of most favorite thing is right before going on at half-time the kids gather 'round the director for a pep talk. Then Ian hand's his Bible (which he always keeps with him, in his pocket), to the Drum Major and the entire band prays together. Ian says some of the kids now call him 'Bible Man'...how awesome is that! (And quite a switch from his usual 'Beans' nickname.) Our Drum Major is a great kid and wants to be a preacher one day. I can't think of a better bunch of kids for Ian to be associated with. I'm not saying they are perfect...teens are teens! But I think most of them are on the right path...and have kids like Ian & David to help lead the way,... altho' Ian would never admit to being any kind of a leader. I guess God is using him despite himself. *g*

God Bless the LSHS Marching Band, and their awesome director, Mr. McC.

Baby Quilts

This is what happens when I pull out my quilt photo album.... I just HAVE to share pictures of 'quilts of the past.' These are some of my favorite baby quilts.

Alan's Critters



Pam selected a wallpaper border for Alan's room. I used it as a pattern for his quilt. This was the first real quilt I ever made! I was so intimidated by this project, but so eager to give it a try. I think it turned out pretty cute...if I do say so myself! =D Alan just started college last week, so that gives you an idea how long ago this was.

Next came Levi's Bear with bunny slippers.







This was a fun quilt. As you can see, I got more brave & added lots more quilting. I just love the wee little bunny slippers on the bear. Levi just started his senior year of high school...so yes, that is me - approx. 18 years ago.



Then came Ian's Bunnies.




We didn't know if our little belly-bunny was a boy or girl, hence the pink & blue colors... but I knew I wanted to decorate his/her room with bunnies. I've always loved & collected bunnies. A girl from work had commissioned me to make a baby quilt for her grand baby using a bunny wallpaper border as the pattern. I fell in love with these bunnies - and saved them for my future belly-bunny. I really tried to capture the cute personality of each bunny. They are adorable. I was VERY pregnant with Ian while quilting it...had a hard time reaching the sewing machine! But it got done in time, and hung on the wall above his crib. He use to love to look up at his little bunny friends and smile & coo at that. They use to have some wonderful conversations. =)

Then came Cole's Star




I just found out I was pregnant when we moved into our current home, Ian was 4 years old and a very busy little boy, and I was still working 40+ hours a week in Atlanta. Life was fast & busy I was also sick, sick, sick during this pregnancy. So Cole's quilt really isn't anything fancy or snazzy, designed just for him. His quilt is a star burst in pastels. It's small and very usable, as opposed to the bigger, wallhanging quilts I made for the other babies. (Just so you don't feel bad for Cole not getting a quilt designed for him, he & I have an 'Alien Quilt' in the works for his bed. We have all the fabric & patterns - I just need to get busy working on it!)

As Cole grew, and Ian started to school, I attempted to do more sewing, crafting & quilting. As a baby, Cole was content to sit in his bouncy seat on the table next to me as I sewed. But as a toddler he want to HELP. He would climb up in the chair behind me, climb on my back like a monkey, hanging over my shoulder to watch as I sewed. This is not the best way to sew...for either of us. So I found my old toy sewing machine. I took out the needle, plugged it in, and let him have at it. He loved it! It made noise, and pulled the fabric through just like Mama's sewing machine. We were sewing together.

Funny story - he was sewing, but didn't have the fabric close enough to the feed-dogs for it to move through. I told him to get it closer to the feed-dog.. He paused, looked at me with a funny look, said 'okay Mama', and got up & went outside. I peeked out the window and much to my shock & delight saw him FEEDING THE DOG!!!! That's my Cole!

Stupid Sock Creatures

I found this old picture & had to share. As you can see, Cole was quite a bit younger.... this picture was taken December 2005 - before we had a digital camera.

I stumbled on a book called "Stupid Sock Creatures"


& knew that would be the answer to Christmas presents for my various nieces & nephews. The book doesn't have patterns or exact instructions. It's more of a general guide on how to make your own creatures & encourages you to let your imagination run wild. So I did! It was a lot of fun playing with the various socks/color combinations, and coming up with wacky creatures. Cole latched on to one, named it 'Flapper Tongue', (the smaller one in his hands), and STILL has him.

It's not Smuckers, but we think it's still pretty good!

Blake is King of Jelly and Salsa!

He's canned so much jelly & salsa we're running out of room to store it. It's invading my sewing room space. Grrrrr!
So far, he's made 5 cases of strawberry, mulberry/blackberry, peach jelly, fig perserves. And this weekend he added 2 1/2 cases roasted tomato-garlic salsa. We have jelly and salsa coming out of our ears!!!! But as icky as that sounds - it's a good thing. All this will be family Christmas presents in a few months.

Mmmm, chips & salsa. Yummm, biscuits with homemade jelly.


Life is good.

Got 'R Done!

I've been procrasting on finishing my niece Courtney's quilt. It's a beautiful quilt and I have no grudges against it.... I think I let the size of it intimidate me. King sized quilts will do that to ya! So this weekend I took it in baby steps. Friday I cut out all the strips for the binding, pressed them & prepared them to be joined at a miter. Saturday morning I sewed the strips together. Then without thinking, planning or making excuses, I just decided to dive in & tackle it. I sewing the entire binding on - all by machine - on Saturday afternoon. Now I'm very happy to say It's Done! What a nice statement...it's done.

*insert big happy sigh*




We took pictures of it this afternoon. Can you guess which side Blake is holding up & which side Cole is holding???? I 'stitched in the ditch' (via freemotion quilting)all over the quilt. Everywhere 2 fabrics met, I quilted. As you can see from the back - it's nothing real fancy, but it's a lot of quilting. I used a king sized sheet for the backing, and some bright green fabric for the binding.

I hope you like it, Courtney! I'll get it mailed out to you this week....definitely in time for you to snuggle under it during Fla's so-called winter. =D

Yet another first day of school

*Look VERY carefully at the number of fingers Ian is holding up.*



August 6th - the First Day of School...the boys were not impressed, thrilled or otherwise joyful. Summer went by WAY too fast. I think they still had plans...plans to sit around all day & do nothing, plans to watch more movies, plans to play more X-Box, plans to munch more junk food, plans to make plans. But the schools had other plans...So off we go ~ during the hottest part of the year. No more plans - because now is the time for action! Ian's life will be busy with early morning First Priority, after school band practices, and Friday night football games. And Cole's life will start a new chapter - middle school, and all the ups & downs in that wonderful pit of hormonal despair. But Cole is really excited about one thing - he's started band now, too. So soon we'll have the sound of a beginning saxophone player wailing, squeaking & hooting around the house.

Sounds like we need to make some plans to buy earplugs. =)

Just 'cause I love this picture....

Sometimes the magic works, and the button gets pushed at exactly the right moment.
Thank you, Rachel, for helping me freeze such a cool 'EPIC' moment in time.

Yuck Night at FBCLS

The most fun filled photo-shoot I've EVER done was last night at our church youth YUCK Night. I knew it would be wet, wild & yucky, but nothing could have prepared me for this...



We who are about to be YUCKED salute you!







First you get good and wet in the 'HURRICANE GAME'.


NExt we add a little slime, thanks to the Egg Drop. You have to crack the egg & drop it into the little cup.






Now we 'made some biscuits' with our messy, slimey, wet faces. They have to find the M&M candies hidden in the plate of flour.

Jacie's method was to BLOW the flour out of the plate!


Cole's method of cleaning up between games.


The spaghetti relay race rapidly deteriorated into a food fight! YUCK! (This is when I got slimed, and I was just an innocent bystanding taking pictures!)









"Harvesting the spaghetti"


Next is 'Redneck Paintball'. A large marchmallow is dipped in goo...nacho cheese, chocolate pudding, mustard, etc, and then your fling it via a plastic spoon at your designated team-member target.
This too turned into a massive food fight.








John looks like a man on a mission - determined and focused on revenge!



Now we move on to the "Zit game."
One team member is given a peanut butter 'facial'. Then the team tosses mini-marshmallows at them. The one with the most 'zits' wins!


Dusty was a marshmallow magnet!









Rachel taken a clean-up dip & toss.

Now the icky-ist, gaggy-ist game of all! "Calf Snot Shots"

I drew the line at photographing kids tossing their cookies...but you get the idea.





Finally, some good ol' slip & slide fun!



What a crazy, fun, icky, slimy, messy, gaggy, night! And these pictures are just the tip of the iceberg! FBCLS Uth Rock!!!