don't bust a gut

bath from audrey smith on Vimeo.

uh oh, Santa

I have to admit, this holiday season has been way too chaotic and stressful for my liking (to say the least). Noah has worked 3 jobs for the past 8 weeks (with a tiny break for Thanksgiving and a trip to AR). He's worked day and night, worn to the bone, sleep deprived, and desperate for a long rainy slow saturday to revel in doing nothing. But, in less than 2 weeks, we will be debt free! I'm needing a break myself, from the monotony of baby wrangling day and night. I spent 2 weeks doctoring and smearing honey on a hole in my dogs chest the size of a skein of yarn from that cursed black widow. I somehow managed to get 2 blood blisters on my thumb, making it rather difficult to sew all of my homemade gifts this year. Abe had the stomach flue twice since thanksgiving, and now I have a fever blister to show for the mess of a holiday season. I sound like a total Scrooge! But I will be glad for this season to be over with. And I can't get that horrid Paul McCartney song "Wonderful Christmastime" out of my head. For sure the worst Christmas song of all time!

To be a bit more positive, here are a few things we've done to commemorate the season: Noah took a break from work last night so we could walk up Christmas Tree Lane. Abel loved it (although you can't tell by his scowl in the picture). I Finally finished Abel's Tim Burton stocking, along with all of my homemade gifts. Abel made cookies for the first time, using the cookie cutter I made when I was about 7 or 8 at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. We bought our first Christmas Tree. Every morning Abel gets a few of his toys and sets them on the lower half of the branches, usually breaking off large limbs and making the tree even more sparse. And last, he's really into the phrase "uh oh, Santa".

A tribute to Ed Smith's boots

Noah Smith-1980

Abel Smith-2009

An early Christmas

Arkansas

family photos

Blackie

All is well with my soul now. I just needed some time with a horse.