December

I try to convince myself that I am going to keep up with things better but I somehow always manage to fall behind. This month was super busy as I am sure that everyone else is in December as well.
Typically we make our gingerbread house on Thanksgiving. This year did not work out that way so Sweet Pea and I decorated it on the 15th. It turned out cute and with a lot less stress this year. We bought the pre-made gingerbread house versus the ones that you have to piece together yourself this year and it saved a lot of time. The real fun is all in the decorating and sneaking candy anyway. Sweet Pea and I took turns squirting the left over icing in our mouths to get that good old sugar rush afterward.
The finished Gingerbread house

On the 15th, I had lunch with my work. On the 16th, I took my mom, sister, and nephew Christmas shopping. My mom is the worst to wait until the last minute and hates driving anywhere at this time of the year so I did my good deed for the month. I enjoyed the time out though and my nephew was great for me. We had fun looking at all of the Christmas decorations out and about and laughing at all the craziness.
On the 20th, we got together with some friends to eat dinner and exchange presents. The girls got Amazon gift certificates (although they did not fully comprehend the reason yet) and we got a single serve Keurig machine. The hot chocolate is delicious! Both of the girls have had to have hot chocolate at least once a day since we received the gift. The girls also put on a little dance show for us that they coordinated that evening, which was funny to watch!
Our new Keurig

I took the 21st off with plans to visit my best friend from college but she ended up having to work so me and the girls ran a few errands to piece together the last of the Christmas presents and wrapped gifts that evening (that hadn't already been completed).
On the 23rd, we went to Dollywood to check out the Christmas lights. It was cold but it could have been much worse and the crowd was not horrible.
Christmas lights at Dollywood

On Christmas Eve, we went to Matt's aunt's to eat and exchange presents. The girls received Amazon and Itunes gift cards (and I again had to finagle my way around why with Pumpkin Pie), Hello Kitty water bottles and banks, and fudge and pecan pie. The sweets were the girls special requests from their aunt.
Bailey and Shelby playing

We always celebrate Christmas with the kids on Christmas Eve because Christmas day is so busy with everything else. The girls each got a new jewelry armoire, Ipod Touch, and Kindle Fire, among other presents. We gave Pumpkin Pie her Ipod touch as her big present and Sweet Pea the Kindle Fire. Matt snuck upstairs and put the Kindle Fire on Pumpkin Pie's desk and the Ipod touch on Sweet Pea's desk to find when they carried their other items upstairs. Pumpkin Pie is oblivious to the world at times because she never noticed the huge gift on her desk until we pointed it out. The girls were absolutely thrilled because they had no idea that Christmas was going to be so nice for them this year. I told them not to expect this kind of gift giving every year because we rarely spend quite so much on them.
Me and Bailey
Bailey's presents

Bailey after he opened his presents- he snuggled up with his new penguin and went to sleep. I think he liked all of his gifts (candy cane bone, his favorite dog food, peppermint flavored bones, some new toys, a blanket and a new picture frame for his picture).
Matt's presents- Grippo's, popcorn, new gray Bass shoes that I thought were super cute, sweater, khakis, socks, etc. His big present is already on the desk; he got a new computer for Christmas but given he picks those kinds of things out, he got to get it early.
Sweet Pea's presents
Pumpkin Pie's presents

My presents- Coach purse, new shirt (based on Courageous movie), and odds and ends. My big gift was an Ipad 2 but Matt is not good with keeping secrets so I got it early :)

Christmas day we were blessed with being able to attend church. After church, we went to my grandparent's home. We ate dinner, read the story of the birth of Jesus and then opened presents. The girls again got way more than they should ever get.
Bailey sticking his head in his new toy box from his wonderful aunt and uncle

After my grandparent's house, we always go to my best friend's house for the evening. It gives me some much needed unwinding time from the holiday stress and I love that I can just be silly with her and she gets it. I got a couple of really cute pictures of the kids running around playing cowboys with their hats and guns. I received an M&M's popcorn bucket, cups, blanket, clock, and Ipad case. The girls got Ipod cases and Kids Dance 2 for the Wii.
My M&M clock
Me and Matt on Christmas night

In between a couple of work things that I had to do this week, I have managed to get all of the presents put away, the house cleaned, and all of the Christmas decorations stored safely in their boxes for next year. On the 29th, we took another trip to Dollywood. This time we went to ride the rides and have fun versus seeing the lights. By the time we left Dollywood, the whole parking lot was full and people were parking at Splash Country. It was ridiculously crowded!
Matt on Adventure Mountain- pretending that he is going to fall. Sweet Pea had been requesting to do Adventure Mountain forever and they finally decided to wait in line for the "adventure". The line wait was about an hour long and that is short compared to previous estimated times.

Today we have all chilled out and rested from the holiday busyness. Matt finally touched some of the paint up that I have been fussing about for a year. Let's hope he did it right because I don't want to fuss about it again. Hope everyone else has enjoyed their holidays as much as we have.

November

November has been a good month. The weekend of the 12th, we took the kids to the Wilderness Water park. We promised that we would do that in place of a birthday party this year. Sweet Pea's best friend and dad were able to go with us and we all had a great time. We also went to Dollywood.
Weekdays are always packed with work, homework, music lessons/practice, basketball games/practice, etc.
Wednesday night before Thanksgiving was awesome! My sweet husband took me to see Breaking Dawn-part 1. I admit it; I'm a Twihard. I've read the books several times and Matt even has the audio books on his Ipod that he has listened to a few times in addition to reading the books.
Thanksgiving day, we gave thanks with dinner at home with just me, Matt and the kids. After we ate, we visited with Matt's family for a few hours. We kept up our tradition of getting the kids new pajamas and a new ornament and then decorating the Christmas tree. I did a little online Christmas shopping and purchased a few little extras that we wanted.
Friday we ate lunch with some friends, did a little shopping and then they came over to the house to visit for a little while.
Saturday was Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Matt fried fish and my sweet uncle fixed my spaghetti with tomato juice. Friday evening, my Papaw had a mini stroke so it was great getting to hang out with him and seeing him doing alright (everything considered). We also got to meet my cousins girlfriend, who is a sweetheart (and I might be partial because she wants to be a therapist!).
Sunday was church and then my best friend from college (and her husband and daughter) came to visit. We ate Red Lobster for lunch and then hung out at the house. Jason played Wii- Just Dance 3 which was one of the funniest things to see. AND even better than that...I got my Green blow up M&M to go outside with Red that I got last year.
So we are back to the regular work week and running around like crazy again. Most of my Christmas shopping is complete and any outings we have now are just because we want to get out of the house and get a good laugh at the craziness. I am planning a shopping day with my mom because she isn't done with shopping yet.
The girls had their music recital today and did an awesome job. God has blessed our family with so many wonderful things, people, and privileges. I am very fortunate to have a home and a family that I love so much.




Thanksgiving dinner- (above) Bailey begging for food, (below) the spread- Macaroni, potatoes, biscuits, and turkey- YUM!

Our new tree, our old tree was 9 years old and falling apart.


Me and Matt in front of the tree

Me and Bailey- he loves to pose for pictures.
Papaw with his grandkids.

Clouds

I remember as a kid that I would lay on my back in the yard and look at the clouds to try to find things in them. As silly as it sounds, Matt and I still occasionally play this game when we are driving some where or just hanging out. I try to get the kids into the game but they are missing some imagination! Occasionally they will play but often just make fun of me and Matt.
Fast forward to Sunday...I saw the most incredible cloud ever! It was completely a cloud with no jets, airplanes, huge birds or anything causing the effect. I also thought it was slightly ironic that I caught a sign in the picture that reads "Hill blocks view". I often am reminded of how we forget God is still in control when we are in the valley. Those mountains we have to climb can keep us from looking just a little bit higher and seeing God with His outstretched hands like a parent holding out their arms for that baby just learning to walk. This had to be God's gift to me on Sunday just to remind me that just over that next hill, He is there waiting with outstretched hands and encouraging me to keep going.

Disney On Ice

Gepetto

The Green Army guy- I told Matt that this guy has definitely been playing Michael Jackson on the Wii.

Belle (Beauty) and the Beast
Genie

Timon rubbing Pumba's belly

Tuesday, we took the girls ice skating with some of the performers for Disney on Ice. I think it made the show much more fun to look for the people that they met. We went to to the performance on Saturday and it was wonderful. The characters changed it up a bit this year and skated around the edge of the rink shaking kids hands and giving high fives after the performance (for those that had floor seats). I think the girls had a great time and I know I did.

My family celebrated quite a few birthdays in September. My Papaw's birthday was one of them.
Me hanging with my brother! He was stinky and sweaty from working at the barn.
We took a day to go to Dollywood with my mom, brother, sister, and nephew. Overall, we all got along which is a miracle.

My brother wearing powdered sugar. You would think we would grow up at some point but my brother and sister still aggravate one another quite a bit.

The three of us.

Me and the best guy in the whole entire world. I never tell Matt enough how much I love him and appreciate him but he has to be the sweetest, most thoughtful, and most obedient :) husband in the world.

Bailey begging! But who can resist that face.
Bailey decided that he wanted to help scrapbook so he jumped up on the desk. I am happy to report that I only have about 10 pages left to do to finish the Disney trip.


Saturday, we went to Rogersville to visit the family and then to hear Herman Cain speak. Matt is leaning towards him for the Republican presidential candidate.

Pumpkin Pie celebrated her birthday Thursday. We have had several small get-togethers to celebrate her and Sweet Pea's birthdays. We got the girls Disney On Ice tickets and outfits. Sweet Pea wanted Rapunzel this year and I had the cutest top and skirt made for her. I can't wait for her to wear it. Pumpkin Pie wanted something slightly more mature this year so I opted for a dress and long sweater in pinks and browns for her, which she absolutely loved as well. The girls also received Just Dance 3, some other clothes, some money, and we are planning a small Pigeon Forge attraction trip within the next few weeks.
The girls celebrated their best friend's birthdays last weekend at a gymnastics center. They will be attending Disney on Ice with us again this year as well. We are looking forward to another few busy weekends (and weekdays) ahead and have quite a few things planned.

July/August

Because I am technologically challenged, these are completely out of order and random. The tea set was something that Sweet Pea picked out on a trip to Toys R Us for her back to school present.

The car is a present she chose for pulling a tooth.

Poor Bailey was still sleepy after I got out of bed so he wanted to lay back down and snuggle under the blanket. I didn't get a picture of him this morning but he found the blanket on the couch in the playroom and decided to snuggle up under it after we all woke up today.
The next four pictures are me and my nephew playing tickle monster. Since he was itty bitty, we have played the "Don't give me a kiss" game and he has added in the element of tickle wars now.




Bailey hanging out by the fence. The neighbor has two big labs on the other side and Bailey likes to taunt them.

My cutie husband eating birthday cake (my nephew's)


One of my nephew's birthday presents was a water gun. He had been playing with it for a little while and I had given the time warning to go in for baths. He ran out of water in the gun and got mad because I refused to fill it back up so he gave me the pouty face.

My nephew chose Smurfs for his special birthday cake at our house.


My nephew's shoe fetish...I can blame that on his mommy! He calls each pair his "awesome" shoes.


These are my roses that I received for Mother's day. I'm not a plant person and was not given warning of how big these things actually get. I hope they have enough room because they are growing quickly.

My goober husband couldn't make room on the shelf for the pizza box so he thinks he was being creative by placing it in the door. Needless to say, my OCD kicked in and I had to reorganize the fridge to make the box fit on a shelf!

So the kids have started back to school. We did the ritual going for junk food after orientation and paid a visit to Krispy Kreme again this year. The workers put on a show for the kids and made funny looking doughnuts and coated them with extra icing (just for show) but the kids got a great kick out of watching. As you can see from the pictures, Sweet Pea chose a tea set for her back to school present. I didn't take a picture of Pumpkin Pie's present but she chose a fashion design book. She has big dreams of being a fashion designer when she grows up, despite me repeatedly explaining that she still has to go to college to become a fashion designer. School is not her favorite thing!
The weekend before that, my nephew came to stay with us because I didn't get to attend his birthday get together. He picked out his special cake for our house and opened up his presents...only to ask for more! The girls love having him at the house and he is so funny!
I have been attempting to get things ready for the consignment sale coming up but it has been a very slow process. We did get through most of the kids clothes and the girls have decided to part with some of their toys. The kids (mainly Matt) got a basketball goal several weeks ago and we are now looking to purchase a new grill. Matt seems to have worn his out in a very short three years; 2 burners are not working and the grill slats are wearing out. It seems to be his favorite way of cooking and I sure don't want to be the one to deprive him of that luxury.