What a fun night :)

A few nights ago, we had one of those simple nights at home when you turn off the TV and just hang out as a family. We don't do this nearly enough! After dinner, Sam & I played hide & go seak with Daddy. We would hold hands and run and hide while Matt hollared, "Where's Sammy?". Sam would stick his sweet little finger to his mouth (or sometimes behind his lip) and say, "Shhhhh". However, he was anything but quiet. He would chuckle & giggle as loud as ever while we would sneak up on Daddy & jump out and say Boo! Matt would be very dramatic and act scared and Sammy loved it. Matt wouldn't hardly have the words out of his mouth and Sam would be grabbing my hand saying, "a knee, a knee" (again, again). He and Matt finished with some football & good ol' tickle torture. He was so excited that he started going in circles until he was dizzy (which is his new favorite thing). See the video below which is crooked and I don't know why...(Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page)

Leave it to me!

Ok...this morning I was rushing around trying to get to my parent's house to take them to the airport when it happened.....I shut my left pointer finger in the garage door (the big one, not the little door leading to the house). The result? I crushed the end of the bone into pieces, pulled out my fingernail from the main root at the nuckle and severed the end, 1/2 - 1" or so, of my finger off (not just the skin but the whole end of my finger). It was barely attached but luckily it was still hanging on by a thread. (I have heard the word crushed far too many times today. Apparently the words crush injury together are actually a medical term).

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Fortunately, it was my left hand & my pointer finger instead of my middle finger. Otherwise, I'd go around for the next 4-6 weeks, while celebrating Christ's birth, telling everyone that they're #1.

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I would tell you the long drawn out story but I am having to hen peck this with my right hand. We are just hoping & praying that the reattached portion of my finger survives. The ER called in a plastic surgeon to sew it back on so at least I know it was done the right way & we've done all that we can, we just have to wait & see. For those of you that know me, this is coming as no surprise to you...I'm what you call "accident prone". :) Above is a pic of me in the ER waiting on the surgeon...I may look as happy as a clam but I'm not gonna lie, it hurts like a fool.

A Little Reminder...

*Twas the month before Christmas*
*When all through our land,*
*Not a Christian was praying*
*Nor taking a stand.*
*See the PC Police had taken away,*
*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*
*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*
*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*
*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*
* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*
*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*
*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*
*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*
*Something was changing, something quite odd! *
*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*
*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*
*As Target was hanging their trees upside down*
* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*
*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*
*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*
*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*
*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*
*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*
*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*
*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*
*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*
*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*
* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*
*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*
*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*
*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*
*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*
*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*
*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,
not Happy Holiday !*
Please, all Christians join together and
wish everyone you meet during the
holidays a
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christ is 'The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!

The Whole Gang

The day before Thanksgiving, we headed out for the amazing task of capturing a group picture of Sam and all of his Texas cousins (the Cheatham gang). My friend Melissa(http://www.melissadarstphoto.com/) said she was up for the challenge although I'm not sure she knew what she was getting herself into! She actually got some really great shots. Between two toddlers and my sweet nephew with autism, we have quite a challenging group to say the least. My mom had the idea of putting jersey style shirts on them to show their birth order. I love the way they turned out! Luckily, we managed to get them in their element and capture the love/chaos! Enjoy!

This one was taken on my dad's antique tractor.

He collects them and donated one to Nash Farm in Grapevine, TX. The other big thing in the background is some other kind of equipment donated by one of my uncles.

Although he is 150% boy, Sam doesn't really like to get his hands dirty. The cans were rusty and he had dirt on them which, as you can see, he was overly concerned about. These are my brother Kelly's 4 kiddos.

These are the 3 girls...Halle Caroline, Emily, and Ellison.
There was a goat in that pen...I can't believe she got Sam to actually look at the camera!

Merry Christmas from the Clay Family

This is our Christmas Card for 2008. It was designed by Shannon Foster. She is really easy to work with and did a great job! Her email address is cardsbyshannon@yahoo.com

A Lot To Be Thankful For

Otis and I were busy at work throughout Thanksgiving Day. What a great opportunity to take some great pics! Matt said the theme of Thanksgiving 2008 was my new camera (he's just jealous). We started the day with a little of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sam was interested for about 30 sec. and then he was over it and wanting to watch Clifford.

As soon as we got ready, we headed to Matt's Mom's house for Thanksgiving #1 and then to my parent's house for Thanksgiving #2. Sam had a great time playing with his all of cousins. Here are a few pics of our Thanksgiving #1...

Rita (Matt's mom), slaving away over a hot stove...

The unbelievable trees in their front yard. Family Pic

Sam's Thanksgiving Feast (AKA Waffles)

Next, we went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving #2. Here are some pics...

Don't let Sam fool you into thinking he's eating turkey with all the fixin's, he's eating fruit made with tons of delicious sugar :) My sweet nephew, Drew.

Playing video games with Ellison.

Busy Busy in NeNe's toyroom!
Giving Grandad (AKA Din Din) a kiss. He loves his Din Din!Checkin out the Door Buster Ads as if we would actually camp out and hit the stores at 4 am. For those of you that do that, more power to ya!