Our Apartment Christmas Tree

Our apartment was about 450 square feet and so having a Christmas tree proved to be a challenge.  We basically had two rooms, the living room and our bedroom.  William slept in a closet and the kitchen was like a hallway.  In the living room we had a card table where we ate, a love seat, a little chair for William, and a TV.  There was not much floor space left for a Christmas tree. 

There was however, lots of wall space.  So, we came up with this idea.  William loved decorating it and he did not seem to know the difference between this Christmas tree and a real 3 dimensional Christmas tree.  It was all the same to him.  All he knew is that he got to “hang” ornaments. 

And, if I may be permitted to add a side note, this attitude of William’s was always a blessing and encouragement to us.  He was happy and thankful all year long.  He could have cared less about where he was sleeping and how small everything was and what he didn’t have.  He just enjoyed what he had.  Often I would look at him and ask the Lord to work in me the heart of child.

NC State Fair

William loved the NC State Fair this year.  He got to ride several rides and he remembered the fair all year long.  Sometimes, out of the clear blue, he would start to talk about riding the horses and ask when we could get more tickets so we could go again.  In August, 2011, when he heard us talking about the Appalachian Fair he was certain we were going to go and talked about it every day until we did.

It's 10:00 p.m.  We have been at the fair almost 12 hours and are waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Warrior Path State Park

We live close to a very nice state park called Warrior Path.  The park has a very elaborate playground that is handicapped accessible.  It’s one of only a handful in the U.S.  Besides all the neat playground equipment it also has “stations” that tell the story of ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’.  They have lots of full size props that go along with the story that the kids can touch and climb on.

Apartment Life

I would not describe our apartment as a pleasant place to live, although while we were there we made the best of it.  However, it was pretty stinky, the carpet had more stains than any carpet I’ve ever seen, and we seemed to have a herd of elephants living above us who were most active between the hours of 12 and 3 a.m.  We lived there for a year and once I got pregnant the smell was almost unbearable.  But we were together, and that is what mattered most!

Creation Kingdom

There are very few good things I can say about this time when Russ is in TN and William and I are in NC. The only thing I can say I heartily enjoy is when I’m in TN for the weekend and we have the freedom to go exploring. A few weekends ago we went to “The Creation Kingdom” in VA. It’s only about 30 min away from where we are. It’s only been around for about a year and it’s basically a very small private zoo. I really couldn’t believe how ramshackled it was but the animals looked very healthy and active so I guess it was okay. We enjoyed looking at the animals and feeding them.

Creation Kingdom:Feeding the Animals

Creation Kingdom: Animals big and small

There were several animals to see: barnyard animals, exotic birds, monkeys, tigers, leopards, zebras, and more. William liked feeding the barnyard animals best of all.

Don't know if you can see it or not, but that's a tiger back there.

I've seen an ostrich before but maybe not this close.  I actually fed this one.  The fence was big enough for him to stick his neck through which was a bit diconcerting becasue he really was a massive bird.

William was fascinated by the little silk worm he found crawling along the picnic table.