Christmas decorations

It's tradition to put our Christmas tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But we have to make sure that everything is done before the FSU vs FL football game. The kids were very excited to help. I don't think K remembers much from last year and I don't think she gets the whole "Christmas season." She's still asking if today is the day to open presents.

Before breakfast I had to run out and get lights (and I got a few presents and a peppermint mocha from Starbucks--YUM!) After breakfast, K and I started working on the tree inside and the boys went out to put up the lights. It was cold out but not freezing. Actually kinda nice to put lights up. C got to help Daddy. He was a really big help. After they were all done, C asked if he could get up on the roof with Daddy. Once he was up there, K wanted to go up too. Surprisingly, she was more scared than C. But they were so cute sitting up there with Daddy.

We also put some lights out back this year. And on Black Friday I got 2 pre-lit trees in pots. One is on our front porch and the other is in my living room. I've wanted trees like this for years. (same ones mentioned in the last post).

After we decorated we watched the game. So sad. For dinner, we had a "snacky type" meal. I tried these Pillsbury savory sensations. We tried the cheese and spinach and the pizza ones. They are YUMMO. It was a fun family day! All in all we had a great long weekend. The kids were good, we got a lot done, we found some good deals, and made some memories. I love weekends like this.

Last week

Whew! Time is flying! It's hard to believe that we leave for Disney two weeks from today. Whooohoooo!

Let me get you caught up on last week.

Monday (Labor Day): We had our annual "Fourth of July" picnic. We couldn't have it on July 4th because of this. So just for this year we moved it to Labor Day. We had a good number of people show up (14 adults and 4 kids counting us). We grilled out hot dogs, ate some yummy sides and desserts, sat and talked, and played some outdoor games. It was a good time, but I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES! After everyone left, we watched the FSU vs Miami game. So sad.

Tuesday: I had 5 kids on Tuesday. It was a good but busy day. No major mishaps. Daddy had a business dinner and so wasn't home until almost bed time.

Wednesday: I had a doctor's appointment in the morning so the kids went across the street to play with the neighbors while I was gone. I got a few errands done while I was out and about too. Wednesday afternoon K decided not to take a nap. Just out of the blue. So she did "quiet time" on my bed. I MISS HER NAP! Wednesday night AWANA started. This year K is in Cubbies with me. She must have come and "visited" me at least 7 times--when she wasn't supposed to. We also started a new routine for Cubbies and needless to say, it was very chaotic. I was so ready for bed that night!

Thursday: The kids and I all had dentist appointments. The kids really don't have any fear of the dentist because we know our dental hygienist very well. She's the mother of the 2 that come to my house on Tuesdays! The kids went first and had no cavities. I went last and I have one cavity. Daddy met us there and kept the kids in the lobby while I got my teeth done. Then we all went to lunch. (I have pictures of the dentist visit that will be on the next post.) Thursday night deserves a post all its own (hint: we have some new wheels)

Friday: WE STAYED HOME! and did a little bit of nothing. I did a little laundry and very little cleaning. We were dog sitting over the weekend, so the dog (not Mugsy) got dropped off that afternoon. Friday night we went shopping after dinner. We got a new carseat, Daddy got some shorts for Disney, I got some coffee for my cool coffee machine, and a few odds and ends. Then we went and got ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. YUM! When we got home, the dog and my children were a little wound up. So I let them go out back in the dark and run around with the dog. They thought that was so cool.

Saturday: After breakfast, we went to the park. The kids have been asking to take Daddy to this one certain park--the race car park. After the park, we went to the Fair on the Square in downtown Danville. Let me tell you, it's nothing to write home about. There are booths but that's about it. We did get a good apple pie and a yummy cinnamon roll. On the way home we saw a cool patriotic display in front of the fire department. I made Daddy stop and take some pictures. It was really neat. After we got home, we cleaned out the garage-somewhat. I still have that crazy TV cabinet. Anyone want a huge TV cabinet? Besides that monstrosity, it looks pretty good. Then it was time for FOOTBALL! It was an awesome game day! There were a few upsets which made for some good games. FSU played a no-nothing team and barely pulled it off. What's up with that? The good games made for a late night.

Sunday: We had a good church day, a great nap, a good lunch, a perfect ending to a good weekend.

Stay tuned for further updates.

My new purse

For those of you who really know me--you know that I am not usually a purse or shoes person. Although, every once in a while, I get in a "purse mood" or a "shoes mood" and go looking for one or the other. Never both. My husband actually likes shoes better than I do. He probably has more pairs than me too. :) Shhhh. Don't tell him I told you.

Anyway. While we were in FL, we went shopping at the outlets in Foley, AL. At a Fossil store there, my sis found the cutest FSU leather purse! I wanted one! But alas! She had bought the last one! I was sad, but I moved on. Cuz as I said, I am not normally a purse person and wasn't in a "purse mood."

Skip ahead to the day we did our Christmas at my parents house (actually Christmas Eve Day). We passed out presents and lo and behold! There was a present under the tree for me from my husband! Quite the surprise. We had already done our Christmas with each other at home before we left.

I'm sure by now you all can guess what was in the box. My very own FSU leather purse! Yeah! It is so cute. It would have to be for me to be blogging about a purse. Of all things! So to prove how cute it is, here is a picture of it. Aren't you jealous?!

L-E-T-S-G-O That's the way we spell, Let's Go!

As seen in a previous post, it was the year of the Seminole. C got a football uniform and K got a cheerleader uniform. Here are their 'together' poses. As well as a few others. Kinda funny-at the end of the photo session, K did a roll/flip and showed off her pull-up. Not something you would normally see on a cheereleader.

PS: I love the scheduling option on here!

Florida State Fanfare

We have finally arrived in P'cola! In my opinion, that was the longest trip ever! But in reality, we made pretty good time.

Sunday we went to church at my parent's church. For lunch we made little pizzas with many different toppings. YUM!

Monday we went to the outlet shops in Foley, AL. For those who went to PCC, you know that they are the best outlets ever! We also ate an early dinner at Lamberts. Again, one of the best restaurants ever. It's the home of the throwed rolls! YUM! We got some good deals while we shopped. New clothes for all of us and Daddy and I got new Crocs slippers. Nice and warm.

Tuesday we made monkey bread for breakfast and hung out at the house for most of the day. Tuesday night was our Christmas Eve. The kids got to open one present and I let Papa open one of his. It was an injector for him to use for our Christmas turkey. G'ama opened her birthday present--A Christmas Carol--so we could watch it while we ate our "snacky meal." Every Christmas Eve my family only eats snacky stuff--lil smokies, hankey pankeys, crackers and cheese, bologna, cookies, fudge---YUM!

Wednesday we had our Christmas. This was the year of the Seminole. There were many FSU gifts this year. But the cutest were the ones my kiddies got. C got a FSU football uniform complete with a helmet. And K got a FSU cheerleader outfit. C immediately went to try his on. He wore it just about all day. We haven't tried K's on yet, but it looks cute!

We had our big dinner this afternoon--ham, turkey, stuffing, mashed tatos, sweet tatos, rolls grape salad, broccoli casserole, corn, cranberry sauce. YUM!

Tonight was spent playing with gifts and eating pies and leftover snacks. It was a very nice day. But now I have a headache, I think because of the humidity. I could never live back down here because of that. Although, it does make K's hair curl really cute.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will get some more pictures to download. But for now here are just a few.

This is my grandma. She got new gloves, hat and scarf for Christmas. Isn't she cute?

Christmas A Little Early

Saturday morning we had our family's Christmas. We will be traveling next Saturday and we did not want to cart all of our presents to P'cola and home again. So anyway. We had told the kids the night before, but K was a little confused. She actually got one of her presents (the one from C) and looked inside it. She also kept saying something about her birthday and not being able to wait. So I think she thought it was her birthday. We all got some cool things and here are just a few pictures to prove it.

K got a Cabbage Patch newborn. Remember when they were so popular? The name that this one came with was Trinity; however, we are going to let K rename it and I'm going to request a new birth certificate. So far she has come up with many names, but I think it's going to be Monica.
C got this huge coloring book and 120 crayons. He has been eyeing those crayons for a long time. I'm jealous. I love to color and I'd like that many crayons.
Both the kids thought they needed to help open Daddy's presents. This year was a FSU year for Daddy. He got a jersey, a mini helmet, and a polo--all FSU.

One of C's favorite super heroes right now is the Hulk. Daddy found this shirt at Wal-Mart. The hands were on sale at Wal-Mart, too. The hands "talk" every time they hit something. They growl and roar and smash. Quite annoying. They will definately be an upstairs toy. What were we thinking?

We also got K some dress up shoes. The heels on them are a little bit higher than I anticipated. She had a hard time clomping around in them. But she liked them. I like the "highwaters" with them. What do you think?

K also got a build-a-bear kit, a Tinkerbell cereal bowl, new ear rings, play food, a Tinkerbell tea set, Fisher-Price Snap 'n Style dolly and extra outfit (it's like an over-sized Polly Pocket), Elmo ornament, bath toys, Elmo and Ernie K'nex, and a new shovel. She is ready to shovel snow. (It looks like she is hitting me in the head, but she's really not).C also got his own copy of Mr. Popper's Penguins. He is so excited that he can read it any time he wants. And since we had to return the copy to the library, now he can finish reading it. he also got Uno, Battleship, a new cereal bowl, Crayola pencils, Cars movie cars, Etch-A-Sketch, Indiana Jones ornament, a Star Wars t-shirt, and the movie Madagascar.

Daddy also got the new Batman movie, 2 books, 2 new sweaters, a new tie, a James Bond calendar, a new softball, and a new shaver. Funny face for the shaver?!?! Daddy actually bought it himself the day after T-giving. This is his surprised face. I married such a funny man.
I got new S&P's, a new book, 2 new movies, new bracelets, new slides for my necklace, a computer table, and new pink fleece pants. The last and best present that I got---a very nice framed and matted FSU picture. It is so cool looking! I just can't decide where to put it. For those who know my house, any suggestions? :)

Football and Islam

What a wonderful weekend! Football, football, and more football! Saturday morning started out by a good breakfast and my second massage (bliss). Then home to watch football all day. Florida State was to play at 6 pm but they started about 90 minutes late due to weather. The game was a blow-out! FSU won 69-0--YEAH! I actually stopped watching it for a little while and watched the Yucky Gators and Miami. I don't like either team, but I'll cheer for anyone who is against the Gators. Unfortunately, the Gators won.

Sunday was more football. Nice to take an afternoon nap to. Then the Colts played after church Sunday night. They didn't do so swell. But it's only one game. Hopefully they will get their act together.

For those of you who know, our church had our annual 9-11 service this past Sunday. My pastor always preaches very strongly against Islam. VERY STRONGLY. The first year that he did it (2002) we actually had protesters in the service. Ever since then we have a strong and visible security team in place during the service. Thankfully we haven't ever had anything to report. If you are interested, all his services (including the original one) are on sermonaudio.com.

Praises!

Number 1: For those of you that were praying for my toe-thank you! It is so much better! It does get a little sore if I stub it or bump it or someone steps on it. But nothing like when it was still ingrown. Now it is starting to itch like crazy-I suppose that means it is getting better.

Number 2: Today was Labor Day and Daddy was home. It is always so nice to have Daddy home. I love it when he has a day off and we really don't have major plans. We did get stuff done though. We went to Wal-Mart, the kiddies played in the pool again and Daddy mowed the grass again. We grilled out brats for supper-YUM. It was a good day.

Number 3: Daddy has accepted a new position at work. He will be working for the same company but in a totally different department--marketing. He is extremely excited. This is something that he has wanted for a long time. It will be a good move for him to get out of the department that he is in but also for him to do something more along the lines of what he went to school for. He doesn't have an official start date but he knows it is coming. Congrats, Daddy!

Number 4: This one is a sad praise, I guess. We had to take our new computer back this past Friday. It started going crazy. It had a DVD/CD drive in it but wouldn't recognize anything put in the drive. It's like the computer couldn't find the drive. And there were other minor things that made me really leery of it. But the praise part is--we had 14 days through Best Buy to return it and get our money back. Friday was 14 days. Our usual bad luck would be that it would go wrong on day 15. But praise the Lord it went bad before the 14 days were up! So we took it back and just got our money back. Yes I would have liked a new computer, but with Daddy's new job--right now might not be the best time to have that bill to deal with. And I didn't want to have the possibility of having the same thing go wrong with the next one. So all this to say, I am back on my old laptop. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

Number 5: My best praise--college football finally started. I love this time of year! Football, pumpkins, my birthday, the coolness in the air, the leaves changing.... how much better can you get? I can't wait to see FSU play on Saturday. Go 'Noles!