Jammin' for JOY

It's Christmas Eve...

Groceries are shopped (yup).    Presents are wrapped (almost).  Coffee Cakes are baked (yummy).  Stockings are hung (oh darn, I knew I forgot something!)

In the midst of all this holiday hustle and bustle, I wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect on one of the truest JOYs of the holidays. 

Family bonding. 

Or, in our case, Hip Hop Lessons.




(if you're on email, you'll want to click here to see the results of our labors...  It's worth it, I promise)

I hope this made you smile - we've been practicing awful hard; you know, just for the JOY of it!

(if you would rather see my family do a country music rendition, you can see it here. Nature Boy has some smooth moves!)

And from our Home to Yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Okay folks, now it's YOUR turn!   Lets spread some JOY!

I know it's Christmas Eve, so you might not have lots of spare time for blog hopping, but if there is anything that gave you JOY this Christmas Season I'd love to read it...

If you have a blog, add a link to the "MckLinky" application below... (please be sure to link to the post, not to your home page). In addition, it would be great if you would add a link back here... I'm not anal about it, but I appreciate it!

If you don't have a blog, please share your thoughts in the comment section below... it's wonderful to read about your JOYS!

And of course, everybody should click on some of the links listed below, and be sure to leave a comment so they know you stopped by for a visit. It's just good manners after all!



By the way, if you're reading this in email you need to click here to see what I'm talking about... it's definitely click worthy.

Zero is GOOD!

{Be sure to read all the way through to the bottom, so you don't miss out on the coolest giveaway!}

Dr. Ayala - a mom, a pediatrician and a life long vegetarian - is brilliant.  Not only is she brilliant, but she is a really good cook.  So good in fact that she has made water taste better!

Dr. Ayala has developed a product called Ayala's Herbal Waters in which she has infused organic herbs into water, creating unique flavors and incredible aromas.  They artfully satisfy your thirst, and offer a refreshing and invigorating jolt to your taste buds. 

I'm a huge fan of water (and truth be told, the occasional iced tea).  I drink it with almost every meal and rarely have carbonated drinks. 

When I heard about Ayala's Herbal Waters I was intrigued, but not super confident that I would be impressed.  I mean, how can you make water better?

Forgive me Dr. Ayala.  I've now tried your Herbal Waters and I'm a convert.

Absolutely WONDERFUL.

Have you ever tried them?  Honestly, these are terrific.

Late last week Nature Boy and I received a complimentary "water sampler."  After the Little Man went to bed on Friday night we had a date in our dining room.  We set up the bottles and sipped Ayala's Herbal Water from wine glasses, just like the vineyards in Napa Valley.

It was very posh, I assure you.

The verdict:   these are GOOD.   Very good.

NO CALORIES:  if you're thinking that maybe, perhaps, it could possibly happen that your New Years resolution might involve getting into shape, losing weight or eating healthy you should absolutely try these wonderful waters. Just cutting out sodas or sweetened drinks can make a HUGE difference!

USDA ORGANIC Certified:  this water is as pure as pure can be...  and you can read every single word on the labels!  No need for a PhD in Bio-Chemical Engineering to know what you're putting into your body if you drink Herbal Waters

THEY ARE DELICIOUS!  nuff said.

Would you be interested in trying some of Ayala's Herbal Waters out for yourself?  Well you're in luck!

You can order them directly from Ayala's Herbal Waters and use coupon code holiday09 to get a $5 discount.

Plus, there several great special promotions going on right now (like buy three, get one free)!

You can also enter to win the same 6 Bottle Sampler Pack that Nature Boy and I enjoyed... plus they'll throw in an Herbal Water Tote Bag! 

You have up to four ways to enter....

- go visit Ayala's Herbal Waters and look around.  Then leave a comment here telling me what you think is most interesting about her herbal waters

- Tell someone about this giveaway - either send an email, post it on your blog, or send out a tweet (example tweet:  Ayala's Herbal Water #Giveaway!  #Organic and delicious.  Two winners chosen on 12/24   http://bit.ly/4SY12B   @gtbsharon).  Once you've told a few friends, come back and tell me what you did in a comment.  You can do each of these three things once, just leave a distinct comment for each one!

I'll choose a winner via Random.org on Christmas Eve.

Good Luck everyone!

the W in Christmas

I don't know who wrote this, but is showed up in my email today and took my breath away....  

Just one of those moments that makes my heart rejoice...

Merry Christmas

Written by anonymous

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience.

I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending..

Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old.  For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school’s Winter Pageant.

I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production.  Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher and she assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation.   All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.

Fortunately, my son seemed happy with the compromise.

The morning of the dress rehearsal I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down.  Around the room I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats.

As I waited, the students were led into the room.  Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.  So when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

My son was aglow (as were all of his classmates), adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row- center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M” upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, as she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.

A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is.

New Home for Sock Monkey!

I'm embarrassingly late in announcing that the homemade, slightly crooked Sock Monkey has a new home!  (remember this?  Feels like ten years ago!)

Say congratulations to Katelyn who said "Great!  I need to make a sock monkey to go with this"

Based on that, I think Mr. Sock Monkey is going to be well loved!

Congrats Katelyn!  Send me your address and I'll get him in the mail!

Christmas in Cooperstown

Cooperstown is known as America's Perfect Village and at Christmas time, it's not hard to understand why. 

Last night the Farmer's Museum hosted their annual Candlelight Evening and it honestly takes my breath away (and not just because it was 25 degrees!)

The ground was covered in snow, there was hot wassail brewing over an open fire, and the sound of Christmas carols echoed through the air...

And then you look up to see a horse drawn wagons waiting for their passengers (Oh what fun it is to ride in a two horse open sleigh!)

Or if carousels are more your style...

They even offer flying lessons....

For me however, the most enjoyable part was watching our son indulge in his fascination with lights, whether it be candles...

... or lanterns

... or Christmas trees

(Can you imagine what Christmas morning will be like when he comes down the stairs and sees our tree for the first time?  I can't wait!)

From from America's Perfect Village let me say Merry Christmas!  If you come to visit be sure to bring your mittens.

What Could You Do?

I would like to invite to read a post written by Tori.  And then I would like to invite you to click on the links she provides.

It's not too much, just a click and a few paragraphs to read...

If you're too busy, save this for later.  But maybe, if you're too busy, now would be just the right time.

Please?  Just click this link.

Name that Photo!

Yeah for Friday!

Each Friday I've been taking part in the Friday Fix It at I ♥ Faces...  which I really love and learn so much from and highly recommend.

But this week, they are taking a break from fix its.  And since, I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to play with a photo, I thought to do something a little different instead...

See this adorable picture?

That's my little man hanging out last weekend with his good buddy Angel Girl.  They were born two weeks apart and their mommies go to bible study together.

Her mommy happens to be a rock star athlete who wins triathlons and played professional basketball and is just, in general, really cool...

His mommy eats too many Christmas cookies and needs to do the laundry and is just, in general, not very cool.

But I digress...

I was wondering... any suggestions on a caption for this picture?   I just thought their expressions were priceless, but I'm not very good at coming up with captions.

Can you help?

And to make it a little bit fun for you too, I'll have Nature Boy pick his favorite caption on Sunday.  Then, as a thank you for your brilliant contribution, the winner can send me a picture and I'll Fix it Up for you...  you'll have it just in time for Christmas?

Sound good?  What you name this photo?

(at one point in my life, I might actually catch the typos in my posts before I hit the publish button.  Because I didn't really mean to ask you "What you name this photo?"   So much for that Ivy League Education.  Oi).