Merry Christmas...

...to ME!!! I FOUND MY CAMERA!

So here is a flashback of pictures, enjoy!

First, we have pictures from Binghamptoween of which Randy and I won best costume! Because it had to do with current events, you might be scratching your head trying to figure out our costume two months later, but we were "homemade" Chilean miners. The best part was rubbing coal all over my face and arms, ha!

Adam and Sarah as Mario and Luigi...mustaches were big this year :)
Binghamptoween had some pretty difficult apple bobbing...especially if you're wearing a Bert costume. See Ernie in the corner?
Some of the girls..homemade elephant from old scrubs, Miss Piggy, a flapper, Chilean miner, and Angela (impersonated by Stephanie)
A distraught farmer and an optimistic miner.
Alisson and Stacy.
Dr. Hall, yes he is really a dentist, but here he is a seriously disturbed tooth fairy.
Some of the gang watching and cheering for more apple bobbers.
Me, David, and Erin...they helped me place in the pumpkin carving contest!
Now moving on to my mom and Sandi's birthday day. This was when we had family come to Memphis and we all had a feast at Sandi and Jack's. This is the caramel cake I made...mmm.
Jack preparing the delicious ribs.
Uncle Mike and Aunt Glenda. It was a beautiful day!
My mom and her dad, Pa.
Now to fast forward to current matters. First of all, Randy's family came to visit for several days and we had a wonderful time. They were a HUGE help around the house with Randy and his dad blowing insulation into our attic and Phyllis helping me (helping might be an understatement) sew roman shades (see the last picture posted for end result). Although we did a lot of working, we managed to eat some good, fatty Memphis food together, they got to visit our church, and we did our CHRISTMAS with them! We watched some good ole Christmas movies and ate far too many delicious Christmas cookies (thanks, Phyllis). Everything was going great until the last night when Henry decided to pee on the carpet IN THEIR ROOM. Really? Yes. Has he EVER done that before? No. Hopefully, despite the events of that disturbing last night they want to come back so we can treat them to more fun and less work. We are really blessed that they traveled so far to visit us and make Christmas that much more special.

Last night (first time to have my camera back) we went to the Zoo to see the lights and go ice skating. Unfortunately, it was far too crowded to get in to the ice skating rink, but we still had fun just hanging out with good friends.

This is why we didn't get a chance to ice skate...it looked like this...
The lights were a disappointment considering we had to pay to see them even though we are members...but that's ok, it was good to walk around since all other Christmas activities involve eating and sitting.

Me and Randy in front of the Christmas tree at the Teton Trek lodge.
Adam and Sarah.
Afterwards, we went to get donuts and then were lazy...Sabre decided to snuggle with me on their couch..hehe.
And now, the reason I found the camera. These girls came over to watch ELF and I lost the remote for a second. Well, with 10 people on a couch looking for the remote they found...my camera!!! Yay!!! Thanks, Nehma!
Merry Christmas...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Gingerbread Houses

I finally have some pictures to show! Thanks to Ellissa for emailing me photos from our Girls Club meeting, I actually have something to show for the month of December! I don't know about you, but this week is about as jam-packed as it can possibly be, and that is just to prepare for even more busy-ness come Saturday!

With all of the hustle and bustle, it really is the most wonderful time of the year! I have to remind myself to not let the crammed schedule ruin the merry mood. Anyways, last night was one of six commitments I made this week outside of school..phew! Girls Club is a group of teenage girls in the neighborhood who get together with myself and two other "adults" to have Bible study, snacks, crafts, games....really just whatever we want :)

All of the girls happen to be refugees from Burundi, and I am absolutely amazed at how well they have taken to the American language, school, culture, etc. They keep me smiling a lot about what they find fascinating/weird/funny. Last night was set aside solely for making gingerbread houses since they have spent the last two weeks studying day and night for exams.

Enjoy the pictures!

Vialette and Nehma EATING, not USING marshmallows for their houses.

Ester hard at work.

Look at that table! Henry was in heaven licking up all the sugary scraps!

Justine was sad because people were laughing at the "hair" on her house.

Randy got home from the gym in time to judge and Ester was the winner!! Too bad it isn't a better picture of her masterpiece.

Sakora used up all the cement on her mansion of a house.

Lots of merry-making. What a fun time on such a cold night!

Thanksgiving in Louisville

Without a camera, posts are no fun. However, for the sake of Thanksgiving, I will fill you in on how we spent our holiday. After school on Tuesday, Randy and I drove the whole 6+ hours to Louisville. We arrived after 1 or 2 am, I don't remember which, and crashed.

On Wednesday we went to Story Time with our sweet nephew, Luke, and then played with him while he tried to figure out who we were. That night Randy's parents arrived with pizzas from Donatos and we all just visited together.

On Thanksgiving, Rob and Jen and Grayden came and so did Grandma and Grandpa. We had a feast (of course) with some deliciousness that deserved a picture. The best part about our meal was that it was a small enough group (10 ppl) that we all sat around the dining room table together! My family never could do that!

Friday morning we woke up to SNOW!!! Not a lot, but it was the pretty kind. We got some good shopping buys but went late because there was nothing major we needed. Later that day we took the nephews to a blow-up indoor playground called KaZoing. They were so much fun to watch, and I even got to slide down the slide too!

Saturday and Sunday are kinda all a blur right now because I was so full of food, ha! Although it doesn't SOUND fun, we watched the boys play (they played so well together) the entire time... I loved seeing how they interacted together and what would make them smile. So that's it- family time as Thanksgiving should be!

On the way home we stopped for my dad's birthday lunch and family pictures thanks to the talented Jessi Carden :)

In wrapping up Thanksgiving, I have a lot to be thankful for, but at the top of the list would have to be my salvation. What a JOY it is to wake up each morning and know that no matter how terrible or wonderful this world is, there is something far better than my imagination waiting for me to enjoy with my Lord one day. And to know that it all came thanks to the birth of Christ: our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

Matter of Business

So I am against decorating for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving...that includes Christmas songs, the Christmas tree, and almost all other things...except of course getting a head start on Christmas shopping. Well, through other friends' blogs, I found a way to get free digital Christmas cards this year. This idea excited me greatly because I have way too much to do and not the money to make them myself!

Shutterfly is doing a promotional giveaway of their holiday collection in turn for some advertisement. I don't know about you, but I LOVE getting Christmas cards in the mail! Although I love handcrafting them myself, I am anxious to try the Shutterfly 2010 designs this year, and maybe then I will be a convert into the digital world of Christmas cards. I thought this would be a good year for them, too, since we have a new house and a new dog for people to see! If you want to check the Shutterfly Christmas card selection, you can do so here http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards. Here are the photo cards too http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards.

I also cannot wait to use adorable cards like this one day: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/invitations/twelve-months-pink-birthday-invitation-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=60389.

Now that my blogging about Christmas cards is done, GO ENJOY THANKSGIVING!!! I promise it is a good holiday, too! Maybe it doesn't have cards and presents and stockings, but it has delicious food and a great reason to be surrounded my family remembering all the things to be thankful for!

i LOVE my job!

I absolutely love teaching art to children ages 5-11. Sometimes it absolutely drains me, but it is worth it to see their adorable faces and get thousands of hugs each day. I mean, how many of you can come home and say that Leopold Dong made your day by telling you your pretty, or that a little girl shouted out that she has a UTI, or had to argue with a second grader who tells you that her sister DOES date Justin Beiber. Also, I don't think too many of you have pictures drawn like this of you and a student:

Is there a reason I look so fat??

Anyways, I wanted to share some student work/my examples (hopefully you can tell the difference between the two) because child art is sure to brighten anyone's day! Enjoy!

The beauty of a FULL drying rack in the middle of a busy day...

This is my board of all the projects I was doing this past week. Sorry it is backwards, I still cannot find my camera so I had to use my photobooth. I wish I had a couple of more examples like of the haunted houses and 3D buildings and Matisse fishbowls...but I got tired of holding up pictures for photobooth. I'll include more later!

My excuse...

My excuse for not blogging in so long is that I have lost..misplaced..my camera. I was hoping to locate it by now to have pictures, but I guess that isn't going to happen in the near future. Since it HAS been so long, here are the highlights of lately-

Binghamptoween- Yes, I made this word up, kinda clever, huh?! Well, Halloween in the neighborhood was a lot of fun. We went to a October Extravaganza at a friends house where we won the costume contest thanks to our homemade Chilean Miner costumes. We had wonderful food, grown ups bobbing for apples, and a pumpkin carving contest which I placed in and got a slip-n-slide which I then gave away to the kiddos that assisted me with my haunted house pumpkin. Also, I attempted a homemade (everrrything) chocolate three layer cake that fell, which I then went out and bought a store bought cake which NO ONE ate. It is okay though because I made cake balls out of the original cake...thus making lemonade from lemons.

October birthdays in MEMPHIS- They came to us! Pa, Mike and Glenda, and my Mom and Dad all came to Memphis to celebrate birthdays. They came to our house first and brought a wonderful kitchen island cart for my kitchen, met Henry, swung on our tree swing, and then went to Sandi and Jack's for delicious ribs in their gorgeous backyard. We had so much fun although it was a short trip. Oh, and I made a cake for that that actually turned out!

Henry update- He is 63 pounds and officially 6 months old today. We took him to the park the other day while we played a soccer game, tied him up only to find that he chewed through his leash and ran out on the field. He's a beast.

House Church- Our dear friends the Donlon's have a new baby in the family, Helen. Since we normally have church at their home (which is far bigger than ours) we offered to have it at our house during the first few weeks of the newborn being home. Thus, we had 36 people at our tiny home Sunday morning for worship. It was crowded, loud, full of energy, fabulous, and I loved it. We will have it again this weekend and I've learned some little things I can do to accommodate such a large crowd. This was an event I really wished I had had my camera to capture.

Open for Rent- Our house guest has moved out to a home in Orange Mound. Her and a roommate are living near an outreach center and we are really excited to hear about the work she does there. She has already met a lot of kids to get to know, and this will hopefully be a way for more people to move into that neighborhood and be witnesses for Christ. We will miss her as a "tenant", but happy for her to find a home and glad to be able to offer a bed to the next person in need.

Babies- No, not me. Get your mind out of the gutter, ha. My two sister-in-laws, Jen and Jenna, are both pregnant and due within 6 weeks of each other. Yay for two new nephews/ nieces/ twins? Haha, you never know, right?!

Fall Break- I successfully painted the living room, dining room, and kitchen with LOTS of help! It looks great (again, wish I had the pictures to prove it)...not that the home really needed it, but it makes it feel more ours. I also went to the dentist, a.k.a. my husband, over the break and got the royal (pain) treatment. Honestly, he did a great job (I got a filling) but the whole process was a lot more difficult than either of us had imagined...I complained and he got frustrated. Good news is that I have work that might get to be used for his boards next year. And yes, I know, I will have to be on my best behavior as a patient if that is the case...no complaining.

That's it, well the big stuff that is...everything else is, well, life in the Hartman home. Crazy at times. Boring at times. Just us.

Camping, Visits, and Birthdays

What happens when you get behind blogging? You end up with a bunch of random happenings lumped into one post. So bear with me here...

The first weekend in October was the fulfillment of something I have been wanting to do for a loooong time now...and we had the best weather! The Hartmans finally went camping! Whoever it was that got us our tent that we registered for for our wedding, thank you because we have now finally put it to use! Eight of us (four couples) packed up and went to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. It was about 3 hours and 15 minutes away but absolutely worth the drive.

Jon, one of the guys that went with us, decided we had the nicest camping setup he had ever seen with all of the equipment and food. To me, it was just camping...guess I don't know how to "rough it".
Two nights...a really packed car (this was one of two).

It just so happened to be Sarah's birthday that day, so Stacy made her a super cute birthday cake. What better way to celebrate a birthday than by a campfire?
Sarah and her "dirt cake"...very fitting for a camping weekend.
Our tent for the weekend...we had to set it up at 11:30 on Friday night!
Delicious pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning. Nothing like an iron skillet on open flame...that's good cookin'.
Randy and the great outdoors!
Our little hiking trip trailed along a beautiful river, took us to a giant waterfall, and super cool cave!
Beautiful day!

This picture definitely doesn't do the waterfall any justice, but it was really big. Problem was, I couldn't get close enough to the edge for a good picture, and we didn't have time to go down to the bottom of it. :(

Girls picture. Stacy, me, Emily, and Sarah.
This would be Jon inside the cave. No he is not naked, but it did make for a pretty funny photo op.
Beautiful cave. Again, not too great of pictures.
This is mainly what our weekend consisted of. Sitting/standing around the campfire and talking about life.
Awesome hammock thanks to Adam who was prepared with all things camping.
Meat night. Chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers. Delicious.
Sarah's birthday dessert #2: cupcakes!
And no camping trip is complete without a good batch of smores....mmmm!
We ended our trip on Sunday morning after a wonderfully amazing breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

2nd part of blog...great visits from great friends! The first of which came from my Australian mate, Sarah Kate. She left a couple of years ago to do some work with a church in Perth, and two years later, she is married to a wonderful Australian surfer dude...sounds too perfect, right? Well, she deserves it all! We had a great time catching up and eating some yummy yogurt. I love hearing about her life halfway across the world, and although I miss her dearly, I couldn't be happier for her. Maybe the next time we meet up should be in her neck of the woods?!
(This is an old pic, because we failed to take one in the 2 hours we had to catch up.)

Second visitor was Kelsa, a friend twenty years in the making. We have been childhood friends, teenage moody friends, roommates, and now are almost like sisters. She came for the weekend just to catch up for one of the last times for a while because she is planning to move to the west coast. We did nothing but walk, eat, talk, and eat...oh yeah, we did manage to go see a movie. We had an amazing time just talking...it's so funny how our conversations have changed over the years from school to boys to actually meaningful stuff. From the pic below (which is also old) you can see that we share the same bizarre sense of humor.

And here you have a picture of our amazing breakfast pizza we made. I just had to include a picture because it was that. good.

Last but not least, Randy's birthday was this past weekend, and he is now a quarter of a century old! Such a cougar I am. We spent a pretty simple night eating at the local mexican restaurant, El Toro Loco, with our friends Josh and Amanda. They sang to him while putting a sombrero on him and stuffing whipped cream on his face which was a pretty funny sight. At home, we ate some ice cream cake and then just enjoyed a quiet night in.

I'm not going to go on and on about how much I love this guy, but I will say that I am one lucky girl. As we like to say in the Hartman household, we are "two peas in a God pod". I'm happy to have him as my faithful and trusty pea to travel through this crazy journey that is our life.

Happy 25th Birthday, Rando!