Let's get obese!

We headed to Lubbock to celebrate obesity with Chad and Lesley this past week. It was a nice relaxing time and the weather we really "wintery." I was so hoping for snow, but I knew it was wishful thinking. Lesley and I made all the food and it was wonderful. The menu consisted of honey glazed ham, sweet potato casserole, homemade mac and cheese, broccoli and rice casserole, Mandarin orange salad, deviled eggs, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, and sopapilla cheesecake. It all was wonderful...but after eating it for the third time we had had enough and headed to eat Mexican food. We got to see some of Shawn's family that we never see which was really enjoyable. We ate Krispie Kreme one morning. We watched a lot of geese and Shawn and Elle fed a few of them. We helped Chad with winterizing his garden...okay really we just pulled up tomato plants. We decorated the house for Christmas and put up the tree. We did the black friday shopping but not before 10:30. We watched a bunch of The Office episodes...awesome. We went to bed early every night. I almost finished a book. Elle climbed trees and played chase with Chad and Lesley. We ate a lot and just relaxed! What a great Thanksgiving!

We have finally grown up...we made Thanksgiving dinner by ourselves!

This picture is hilarious and I think it captures the Thanksgiving Spirit perfectly...I'm naming it "Stuffed."

Holding baby Olivia....she is our 4th cousin on Shawn's side....it's Shawn's mom's cousin's daughter's baby....whew! After holding her for a while Elle declared that she gave us permission to have another baby as long as we called it Olivia! Thank you Elle for the permission.


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Cleaning out the tomato cage....Elle had the best time throwing old tomatoes against the fence.

Early Christmas Gift

My dad is the reason that my walls don't have posters from college or collage art from me and my kids all over them. When they came down a few weekends ago, my dad brought my Christmas present because he knew the car would be quite full after Christmas in Tyler. I had planned on waiting until Christmas to open them, but I knew they were paintings and I'm having Bunco and a church-wide open house in the next two weeks and really wanted the new painting up so I couldn't wait. I LOVE them!!! I love that they are unique sizes, I love that they flow well with my other paintings and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors used....so pretty!

Packing

I am so ready for that day when my children can pack themselves...and actually do a decent job of it. There is a lot of pressure on me to remember EVERYTHING! I am semi-procrastinating right now...I could be packing or asleep but alas I'm hanging out on the computer. Anyway we are headed to Lubbock tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with Shawn's brother and his wife. We are ready to leave....except for the packing part. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and take a moment to think of all those small things you take for granted....then remember who blessed you with them!

Saturday Part#2

This evening we headed to Austin, specifically to Macy's Lighting of the Tree. It sounded like it was going to be pretty neat and Jordan Sparks from American Idol was going to be there and we just thought it sounded fun. Plus it was in this upscale shopping center that we thought would be fun to wander through. The Lighting of the Tree was suppose to happen at 6 pm. Well....as 7 o'clock rolled around, they were still doing other "acts" like choirs and church groups and still hadn't gotten to the tree so we said goodbye! We figure we will come back in a few weeks and see it lit and not have to deal with the crowds or lame singing acts. Oh well...you never know what something will be like till you try it. Now we know for next year to get there about an hour late and maybe we won't have to wait FOREVER!

Here's the tree that never lit...at least while we were there.

And here is Ava looking highly impressed.

I bet you can't even tell that this smile is fake?

Fine, if you won't give us the big tree, we'll take a picture next to a smaller one.....we are sticking it to the man!

Nana and Poppies visit

We had a busy day today. Nana and Poppy came in last night and they were leaving today at 4 so we had lots of grandparent time to cram into just a few hours. We ate donuts this morning, then took them on one of our favorite trails here. After that we headed to some antique stores to look for Shawn a desk for his home office. Then we headed to lunch. After that, it was naptime...for everyone except Elle :) Then they had to head back home. It was a short visit but it was good to see them one more time before Christmas. Here are some pictures from our morning walk.

Family Christmas Picture

Here's our annual Christmas picture. If only you'd have know the circumstances going on behind the scenes....we look so calm and peaceful...but who cares what we were thinking...it turned out good and that's all that matters!

Crafsting

Crafsting is when you craft so much that it can be likened to nesting when you are 9 months pregnant. That would be the word I'd use to explain what I've been up to lately. I have been making things as if my next breath depends on it...it's almost a compulsion. Anyway, I decided after checking out the prices of some "cheap" Christmas pj's for the girls, that I could use that money more wisely and kill two birds with one stone. I decided this year not to do Christmas pj's. My kids don't wear pj's for one so it's kind of a waste of money for just one picture. I do still want to get a picture of them by the Christmas tree is something Christmasy and matching so I decided that I'd make them a monogram shirt and a tutu. One tutu will be red and the other green. Then, they will have the opposite color for their monogram. Confused yet? So the pj's I had looked at were going to cost all together $30 and I spent all together on the shirt and tutu for both about $20!!! YEAH!!! And to make it even better, there shirts can be worn at times other than just Christmas and the tutu's can go into the dress up box!!! YEAH again! Anyway, I will post pictures of course when all is finished but here is the finished shirts.

Speaking in Tongues

My child is obviously gifted in the spiritual realm. I caught her on video speaking in tongues. Can anyone decipher please?

Ava's hair

The back of Ava's hair has always been a topic of conversation in our house. Used to, it was the bald spot smack dab in the middle of the back of her head. (see pic below) Now, it defies all reason and gravity. On this morning, her hair truly looked and felt like she had spent time in her crib ratting it out.

Elle sings the books of the Old Testament

I need to discuss my gas

It's officially at $1.99 here! I know it's less in other places, but we are generally higher here than everywhere else so I'm really excited. If you need a bright spot in the otherwise gloomy economy, at least one necessary item has seen a reduction! YEAH!
Life this month, will most likely be calm and smooth. I am very happy about that. But my blog may suffer. There just isn't always much to write about. Shawn and I did head to the North Pole Saturday to pick up all the girls gifts. They must have been pretty good....I'm not sure who's standards are being used, but they will be excited! I LOVE SHOPPING FOR TOYS!!! Shawn seemed to enjoy it too...I found myself saying "Come on already!" more than once. And believe it or not, I came in pretty far under budget for both of them so that made "Santa" VERY happy!
Well....hmmm...not much else going on. How much is gas per gallon where you are?

Obama is President

I just got finished watching McCain give his concession speech. Some people are so worried about what the next four years and beyond holds. Truly, I have no fears for our future. I know where my ultimate home is and I know who's protection I'm under. I will continue to pray for the new president and pray for our country and hope that many of the decisions he makes are ones that are good. If you are worried ask yourself what that worrying is going to accomplish? I'll end with a verse:

Matthew 6:34

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Couldn't have said it better myself! Now get us out of this recession! Oh and if nothing else, I think it's pretty neat that the race barrier has finally been crossed.

This picture makes me laugh. I took it when we got home from voting. I amaze even myself with my weirdness.

Child Labor

Halloween, to me, is a time to reap the benefits of my childrens hard labor. They were ready to go home way before me last night, but I wasn't having it. Not until those little pumpkins were at least 1/2 full would they be allowed to head back home! We started out at an outdoor carnival hosted by another church of Christ in town and then headed down the most awesome street in the world for 4 straight blocks of trick or treating. We invited 2 couples that don't have kids yet to come with us. It was so much fun! I will have to say, my favorite part of the night was scaring the pee out of some trick or treaters that came to my door. They all screamed their little heads off when I answered the door and then all their parents started laughing....there's not much better than scaring little kids with my witches costume and voice! I LOVE HALLOWEEN and I'm so sad it's already over....trick or treating should be a two night thing. Oh and props to my husband for being part of the fun and dressing up even though it's not his "thing." Thank you honey!