...all kids would grow up to be this generous.

A friend of mine from a message board I've been on for the past 4 years has the most awesome nieces and nephews. Her sister, Missy, has 5 kids and they are a hoot. I read her blog regularly. Anyway, her older kids (3, 5, & 7) have decided that they need to do something for the people of Haiti. So they have decided to do a hot chocolate stand (in Minnesota!!). They're going to open the stand this week sometime, but like any successful endeavor lots of planning and advertising is necessary. So they asked their auntie, Rachel, to plug it on her blog, where I saw it. It's going to be called "Hot Chocolate for Haiti".

So if you don't live in Minnesota, and I'm guessing you don't since you're probably my friends and family and most of you are in the great state of Kentucky...you can still donate to their cause! When Auntie Rachel asked Ella how much they would like to raise she thought about it for a minute and said "Uhm $10 would be good." :-) So the more they make the more this lesson will teach them that they can accomplish more than they even dream sometimes! Plus, they'll be helping some people who really, really need it right now.

So go here to read about the details and learn a little bit about Ella, Tate, and Tucker.

...everyone would be this smooth.

My kid is absolutely, without a doubt, the hippest kid on Earth. :-) He digs old school rap and other great tunes as well. Hell, he likes music PERIOD. But here's a little taste of his wicked chair dancing moves. Enjoy!

...I could do this for a living.

So I love taking photos. I especially love my little man as a subject. :-) I don't get to take as many as I'd like. It's either too dark or he's too mobile! But I did manage to snap a super cute one of him in his UK sweatshirt. The kid just looks damn good in blue! (with a little help from Photoshop-OK a lot of help-his eyes really pop!)

...everyone could sympathize with others.

Last night on American Idol, yes I still watch it, there was a girl from small-town Tennessee auditioning. It gave some of her back-story. She is very poor. Admitted that she has no life. Never goes to the movies, never shops, never does anything fun except bridge jumping which is free obviously. She had terrible teeth, probably from years of no dental insurance or a way to pay for dental care. She was just as sweet as she can be. She had just bought a dress, the first one she owned (or so she said) and it cost her a whopping $4.50.

She came into the audition room and I'm sure the judges were immediately put off by her because her appearance isn't normally what makes it through. She was SO nervous. You read it in her body language. She performed a song I love, and she did great. Not amazing, not AI winner-worthy, but way better than even I expected.

She made it to Hollywood.

She jumped for joy! She cried. She couldn't believe it. She was absolutely over the moon excited! She was tickled pink that she was going to get to go to Hollywood and ride on an "Air-o-plane".

This is where the excitement stopped for me. Not because she didn't say airplane right, but because when I went on Facebook to post about how I was crying because I was so excited for this girl and I saw that soooooo many of my friends were making fun of her. Not just one, not just a couple...many.

My heart broke. As someone who grew up in an area that had many, many people like her I found that I guess I could sympathize with her more than most. She was sweet. She was only looking for her one big break, whether or not she succeeds, she was thrilled to have just made it to Hollywood.

To someone who is poor and can't afford to eat some days, nor take a shower daily because they can't pay their water bill if they do, a trip to Hollywood on an air-o-plane is a once in a lifetime opportunity! She didn't care if she wins. She just was happy to be getting out of Vonore, TN even if only for a couple of days.

I know a lot of my friends think they know what "poor" is. They see a homeless person and think they understand, but they don't. The poor I've witnessed is wearing dirty clothes with holes in them because you can't afford better or to wash them. Eating at school only because your parents can't afford dinner. Telling your kids there won't be much for Christmas this year...again because Dad left and Mom is still sick. People in this area don't understand that. They've never witnessed "poor". To them poor is someone who wears clothes from Walmart instead of Gap or Abercrombie. That ain't poor, folks...that's not spoiled.

Anyway, it made me irrationally sad and angry that people were making fun of this girl. My heart is still broken for her and yet I'm elated that she's getting her "big break".

Good luck, lady! Make the most of it!

...full work weeks would consist of 3 days.

Too bad I live in a world where that's just not the case except during the holiday season. Christmas and New Year's have come and gone. Here we are back to the daily grind and I've yet to post anything! Eek! I'm being a BAD blogger.

So Christmas for Brad and I this year was the best yet. Like, literally since we've been together every year has been a struggle for us and one side or the other was always unhappy or we were constantly watching the clock. This year, none of that! A good time was had by all and no one had to watch the clock or worry about getting to "the other side". It was wonderful! I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single minute of my Christmas break.

New Year's Eve/Day were boring for us, but that's how we like it. We did a bit of shopping New Year's Eve with Popp and came home and played Mario Kart on the Wii, made a pot of chili, bought a heater for our basement so I can finally sit down there comfortably without 4 blankets on me. Then we watched a movie and played some more Mario Kart after Doodle went to bed. It was great. Very relaxing and chill.

So I've decided to do two things in 2010. For one, I'm going to try to be more active. When spring arrives Brad and I are going to start taking evening jogs with Miles in the stroller. Starting now I'm trying to make better decisions with my diet and what I put in my mouth. No more sweet tea for me! (I know it makes me want to cry!) The other thing is that I'm going to try to be a better wife and mother. Brad is so amazing and I find that I take him for granted a lot. I plan to try to do more for him and thank him more often for all that he does instead of picking on what he isn't doing. As for the mother part, I'm going to try to work on my patience and play a lot more. I play a lot already, but really when you're 1-2 there's never enough playing going on!

So that's that. :-) Below is a video of the man on Christmas morning that I thought was cute. I'll try to post some more pictures tonight or tomorrow. Happy new year everyone! May it be better than the last!

...it would already be Christmas morning!

I can't even try to deny how excited I am for Christmas this year! Miles will actually enjoy all of his toys. He'll get tons of them (from what I've heard anyway and I haven't even heard about ALL of them!). We've got Christmas worked out so that both sides of the family seem happy and did so without any guilt from either side. It's great and quite a welcomed change for Brad and I.

Christmas Eve will be the Conley Christmas, complete with Papaw, a standing rib roast, lots of toys and I'm guessing lots of laughter. Then Christmas morning Brad and I will get up and see what Santa brought for Miles. Play with some toys and eat some breakfast. Then we'll head over to the Clark's for the afternoon and dinner.

Miles has been fighting a bit of a cough that I'm watching. I'm hoping and praying so hard it's not worse than just a cough. RSV is running rampant and while it's not as dangerous for him as it would be a teeny baby, it's still no fun to be sick. So keep your fingers crossed that he fights it off. I swear to God he can't stay healthy. He was happy and healthy for like 3 days. Now he's got a damn cold. We can't win! But he has been pretty happy despite the cough. So that's good. :-)

Alright, I'm signing off (probably) until after Christmas. Don't worry, I'm charging my video camera batteries and preparing the point-n-shoot camera for action!

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you're warm, happy and surrounded by friends/family.

...we would all be happy regardless of what holiday we're celebrating.

I am so sick to death of hearing people complain about when people tell them “Happy Holidays”. (No this is not directed at anyone in particular, just Americans in general.) Is it really that hard to graciously say “Merry Christmas” back to someone who tells you “Happy Holidays”? At least they’re not telling you to go to hell. They’re trying to be kind to you and trying not to offend anyone in the process. Is “Jesus the reason for the season”? Perhaps for you, but not for everyone.

It’s amazing to me how many people that claim to be Christian people are so concerned with putting the “christ” back in Christmas when really if they’d just quit their complaining they could focus on the spirit of Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be a time of giving, caring, hope, joy and peace. Remember that piece about the angels and the birth of Christ…I believe they said “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward man”. Uhm, let’s bring that back. I think those angels had something there. I don’t believe they were talking about only people who celebrate Christmas when they said that.

How about we all just be happy to be alive and be comfortable enough with our own faith that we recognize how dumb a “Holiday Tree” is without having to make a spectacle of ourselves? Or we understand that having a Santa in your Nativity scene is just plain silly? Let’s take a look on the bright side of things: We live in a country where we can worship whoever, whatever, however, and basically whenever we want. We have freedom, thanks to my brother and brave souls like him and of course our forefathers who were thinking way ahead of their time with those clever “Freedom of Religion”, “Freedom of Speech”, and all those other lovely freedoms we enjoy everyday.

So people, I beg of you, please…in the spirit of Christmas please feel free to celebrate whatever you want, however you want. Just please do so with a smile on your face and a little tolerance for others.

With that said, here are a few fun pictures from our Christmas festivities. We went to the Louisville Stoneware Company and painted pottery with our former neighbors and good friends, the Macy family. We also made/decorated cookies Sunday for the first time with Miles. He enjoyed it a great deal as you can tell from the pictures.