What a great dad! Seth and the boys built this fort the other day in our backyard. Seth is such an outdoor man and always has some project going on out back. I swear he splits wood for fun and is always burning something. Caleb and Adam love to be out there with him. Oh yeah, and he LOVES to mulch! This fort has kept the boys quite busy this week. They sit in there and play dirt bikes or shoot their new bows that Aunt Jeanie bought them.







This is the fort they built down at Bear Creek this past weekend:


They also built a huge four wheeler trail through the woods there.






We have been outside as much as possible lately enjoying the weather. Here are a couple of videos of the boys jumping off their swings:
They just think that is the greatest thing ever.

Seth's cousin gave us some clothes for Annabelle the other day and there were these tiny dress-up high heeled shoes in there. She loves them and I can't believe that she can walk in them. It is the cutest thing ever! She brings them to me and then goes to get Caleb so he can lead her around the house in them. She has that guy WRAPPED! The other day I had to give him a little talk about how we need to try not to spoil Annabelle and while it is so sweet that he takes care of her so well, he doesn't have to give her EVERYTHING she wants. If she comes and demands his toy, he can kindly say no and offer her something else. I am very afraid of spoiling her.


This is a video of the shoes. She leads Caleb to the door and thankfully, he knows not to let her out.

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!!!!!




I just made an elf of myself
and my kids for that matter.
CLICK ON THIS


One of my favorite parts of Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Harrisons!

Annabelle has weaned herself.


As my sweet mother would say, "It is the end of an era for you, Julie." No more babies, no more nursing. Alas, I am quite sad.

Adam nursed until he was 22 months. Caleb quit after a year but I figured it was mostly because I was almost six months pregnant at the time. I thought Annabelle would at least make it to 18 months.....you know to get through the cold and flu season. Nope, she has better things to do. Plus, she was only nursing at night for the last month or so. Maybe she will sleep through the night now. Truthfully I have always been a doubter of those who say that their babies "weaned themselves" at 10 months, but now I can believe it. (so judgmental I am)

So 13 1/2 months was it for little Annie.

Thanks giving was odd this year for us. The boys all went down to Acworth, GA for Thanksgiving and then left for the hunting land immediately after the meal. Annabelle and I stayed here since I have sworn off Bear Creek until she is older. Mimi made Thanksgiving breakfast for Grandaddy, Uncle Jonathan, and us. Then we decided to go to Walmart later in the day when we realised how uncrowded it would be compared to the rest of the season. It was a lovely time to be in Walmart except the cashier was a little nasty to us. (don't blame her though, she was working on Thanksgiving..........been there many years myself) You know, now that I think of it, we don't ever really celebrate Thanksgiving the same each year. I worked every holiday before kids, then most years were in GA, and two years ago we were in Barbados. This year we were a part.






I did get a lot done while the guys were gone. My mom and dad love that show "Flip This House". (I would love it too if we had cable.......Angie, could you please tivo it and I will watch it next time we are down?) Anyways, they have learned a little about selling houses and so we decided that my powder room needed some help. Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses. I got a new mirror and stenciled a pattern on the walls. It looks fantastic. It may be hard to leave this house after all. Nope, it won't.

Are you bored now? Bathrooms, stencils, kitchens, blah, blah blah.






Yea for Christmas time!!! I love it!


Merry Christmas!

The Party and Being Thankful

I highly recommend to anyone planning a birthday party in the future to have it at the WEGA gym. We had a blast there for Lanie and Lucie's 2nd and 4th birthday party Saturday. The gym has trampolines, swinging ropes, bars, balance beams, a climbing wall, a foam pit, and all of the floors are "springy". It was great! You know everyone is having fun when you decide to skip opening presents so that we can play more. I can't wait until my kids have birthdays so we can go back. Here are a few pictures and videos of the fun:



Actually I am going to let Amie post the pictures on her blog. Here are two videos. I couldn't get the others to load. I think that they were too long or something.







To close I have made a list of a few things that I am particularly thankful for. Annie did this in her blog a couple of days ago. Since then I have been sort of mentally making my list and it is amazing the way my heart is changed when I just think about what I am thankful for.


5 Things I am thankful for:

1. I will just say ditto to all of Annie's: God's love, forgiveness, family and friends, and health. She said it so well that I don't want to try to reword it.
2. That God's timing is not my own. None of my children were planned by Seth or me.......especially Adam. However, I am so thankful that my boys have one another and, of course, for my sweet Annabelle.
3. I am thankful that my parents and Seth's parents support our decision to homeschool.......and trust me to do it.
4. I am very thankful that our spec house sold and for all of the sweet prayers of our friends and families for us during that time of life.
5. All of the little things: hand-me-down clothes, bikes and cul-de-sacs to ride them in, aerobics classes, my van, music, a big yard, holidays that make the winter less dreary, funny shows on television, sweet neighbors, and on and on and on. Oh yes, Caleb and Adam said that they are thankful that they are going to Bear Creek in 2 days!

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22 and 23

More Birthday Pictures

Here are a few pictures that Justin took at Annabelle's party. Aren't they great?!!!

I just thought I would post this picture because it is really weird. What a face! I will write more later. We are off to Lanie and Lucie's birthday party at the gymnastics gym. I......I mean.......the boys are so excited about it!

There is this thing that goes around the "blogger community" where people list ten random facts about themselves and then "tag" others to do the same in their blog. It is a little like that survey email that we all did a year or two ago. I loved those things and thoroughly enjoyed answering as well as reading what others had to say. Anyway Becky tagged me so here is my list.




A few things that you may or may not know about Julie Harrison:

1. I have never parallel parked a car. I am too nervous and have really bad spacial judgment when it comes driving. It is actually very easy to avoid.......you just have to walk a little further.
2. Both of my top eye teeth are still my baby teeth. When I was 18 my retarded dentist realized that they had never fallen out and gave me two options: pull the two teeth, get braces and attach wires to the permanent ones and pull them down OR wait it out because the baby ones would probably last until I am thirty anyways. As a vain 18 year old, of course I chose to wait to deal with it when I am thirty because that was SO FAR away! They are still hanging in there at least for a few more months I suppose.
3. I almost died in childbirth.
4. I really love sad songs. Actually I really like sorrowful songs. Well, I like music that makes me feel something whether it is happy, sad, mad, or whatever. I just prefer the sad ones the most.
5. If I could play another instrument, it would be the harmonica. I think it would be great to be able to wail on one. I want to be really good at it. I would also like to play the banjo and fiddle. In the meantime, I should probably just practice playing those darn barre chords on the guitar.
6. I am addicted to nose spray. I use one squirt per nostril every night. I know what you are thinking: my brains are going to start oozing out of my nose soon. Yes, and I will blog about it when it happens.
7. I am really good at finding four leafed clovers. One time I found a five leafed one.
8. When a dog licks me, I automatically think about how they lick their privates too.
9. I broke my finger in kindergarten when I slammed our sliding glass door on it. ( In a fit of rage)
10. I watch General Hospital and like Jennifer Lopez's music.



Technically I am suppose to tag 10 other people but I don't know that many people who blog so I only officially tag

LESLIE! ...... so that she will start a blog.

So there is the post dedicated to me.


I will get back to the lives of Caleb, Adam, and Annabelle next post.

Ahhh, it's Monday. Monday has a different meaning for us here in the Harrison house. It is actually our laid-back day because we have nothing scheduled outside the house. We are usually tired from our weekend, (yes, tired from Sunday....church really tires little ones out) so we just hang out here at the house and get a bit of schoolwork done. I like Mondays, though Fridays are my favorite because I teach step class at Cheshire.

If you haven't heard the news already, we bought a van! Actually my dad bought it sort of first. During the Widespread craziness last Wednesday, my phone kept on ringing. and ringing. and ringing. After the show I listened to my messages and there was ol' Grandaddy saying, "Julie, I bought a van tonight on ebay. If you don't want it, I will take it for myself." (He was serious. My father loves minivans!) A few days later, Seth and I drove down to Wake Forest, NC and picked up our a sweet '02 Toyota Sienna. I love it! It is definitely the nicest car I have ever owned. (I don't consider myself as an owner of Seth's truck) I have always had something against driving a nice car for myself personally. It made me nervous and I was afraid I would run into the garage opening. (I have been known to do that a time or two.........I just have a hard time judging that stuff)

Let me tell you, minivans are great! I can open my sliding doors with my keys and that is about as convenient as it gets. The other day, while I was grocery shopping, I felt guilty about having asked the bag boy to help me out with the groceries. Usually I feel like if anyone needs help out, it is me. However, it is so easy to load my children now that I actually had a chance to help load them into my trunk.....or back.......whatever you call that on a van. OK, I think that I have gone on just about enough about the van. I think will go take a picture of it to post.

Bear Creek Videos

Adam and Walker riding four wheelers:





Uncle Johnny and Adam hitting a jump:




That is about as cool as it gets as far as Adam is concerned. The boys are back down at Bear Creek this weekend again. I am really trying to get caught up on housework and paperwork. I actually need them to stay gone for a week or two .............. I also need a babysitter for Annabelle. Then I could get it all done. I do miss them. So does Annabelle.

Bear Creek is some property in south Georgia where the Harrison family hunts. Fishing, riding bikes and fourwheelers, sleeping campers and tents, being with Walker, building fires...... It is just about as close to "heaven on earth" for the Harrison boys as it gets. Oh yes, not to mention that there is a serious dirtbike track a quarter of a mile down the road. Yep, the boys were in heaven.

We were originally going to drive down early Friday morning, however, Thursday morning Seth convinced me to throw our stuff in bags and head down there for a long weekend get-away. We left the house a mess....and it is still a mess.....OK, I am not going to go all into that. It was great to see Caleb and Adam having so much fun.

We had a really great time. I love being outdoors too. Annabelle had a blast though she is really not in the best stage to do all that. We were able to sleep in Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Carolyn's house which was quite wonderful. I spent a lot of time running after her making sure that she didn't fall into the fire, or into the pond, or get run over by a four wheeler. We got to spend time with Jacob (12) and Katie (8) (Seth's cousin's kids). Adam definitely has a crush on Katie. When she got there on Friday evening, he was really embarrassed that his feet were so dirty so he had me wash them before he could hang out with her. It was too cute. Nana organized a birthday party for him and bought him some more dirt bike toys. He was ecstatic!

Seth and I played some music around the campfire after dark. We really need to work up some new songs that people are familiar with. We actually made a list on the trip home so y'all can expect to be able to sing along next trip!

Seth loves that place too. I think they are going back again this weekend. I plan on staying here and cleaning house.

Oh yeah, about that Widespread Panic show.
-I should have worn a costume.
-It was fun.
-Seth will be going solo from now on. I am sticking to my sweet, mellow, Americana, singer/songwriter folky shows.
-It was a filthy experience.


I had better get to bed. I will write a more upbeat post later.

Goodnight y'all.

Bear Creek

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