Some much needed Mommy time

Yesterday, I finally got to use a gift certificate that I have literally had almost a year now. I went and got a massage. It was so nice!!!! I've been doing a lot of sewing lately and my back has been hurting from sitting there at my machine. I was super excited to get to finally go and use the gift certificate my dad gave me for Christmas LAST YEAR. Had it not been about to expire, I'm not sure I would have ever gotten to go. LOL

Last year, Alex and I had a small Christmas get together at our house. It was fairly small, but still fun. We decided to do it again this year, but expand the guest list a little bit. I'm SO excited about it!! I love having people over and this is just even more exciting because it is Christmas time and I can decorate the house. I've had my trees up since last week and I spent last night working on some more decorating and plan to do even more after church today. I'm not sure that it will be as fun taking it all back down, but we'll enjoy it until then at least. :)

Being Thankful

For those of you that don't already know, we've had a lot of things going on around us lately. Alex's grandmother, Gee, was diagnosed a few weeks ago with having a tumor. Upon further testing, it was determined that it is cancer. Because of the location of the tumor, it can not be removed. Alex has always been very close to "his" Gee, as he frequently calls her, so the news has been particularly difficult for him. It is very disheartening to learn that someone you love and care so much about is sick. However, Gee has been to several appointments with her doctors and has also gotten more than one opinion. So far, she has gotten pretty good reports. She will have to take a chemo pill, but the pill she will be given will not cause her to lose her hair or become nauseated, which is great! Her doctor has assured her and the family that her condition is treatable and she has had many patients do well with treatment. We are all very optimistic, but realize that she will need our love, support, prayers, and help to get through this. If you would all please pray for Gee and our family, we would greatly appreciate it!!

With all that has been going on in our life, as well as so many people around us, it has made me realize all that I have that I should be thankful for. I want to take a minute to tell you just a few of those things.

1. I'm thankful for a God that loves me unconditionally.

2. I'm thankful for a husband that goes to work every day so that I can stay home with my two children. (I love you Alex!!!)

3. I'm thankful for the daily hugs and kisses I get from Ashton and Maddie.

4. I'm thankful for a sister that is always there to encourage me, support me, cry with me, listen to me or help me in any way I might need whether I ask for it or not.

5. I'm thankful for my parents, my brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, my two neices and my nephew.

6. I'm thankful for Alex's family and how they love me as though I've been apart of their family forever. (Of course, it feels like it has been forever, right Alex?!)

7. I'm thankful for my friends, both old and new. You have been so supportive of me. I could never thank you enough. I'm very blessed to have you in my life!!!!

8. I'm thankful for the gifts and talents that God has blessed me with.

9. I'm thankful for The Journey and how it has become such a big part of my life as well as my families' lives.

10. I'm thankful for my health and the health of my husband and children.

11. I'm thankful for my country and the freedoms that I have.

12. I'm thankful for Dr Pepper, hot showers, flat irons, Tuesday/Wednesday School, shopping, AIM, text messaging, and email.... without some of these things... I'd be lost or at least think I would. LOL

I encourage you all to take a minute to think about just some of the things you are thankful for. Once you get started, it will be very difficult to stop. I think I could've listed a million things, but figured I better stop.

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!!!

Early Thanksgiving

This past Friday, Ashton, Maddie and I spent the day preparing for our Thanksgiving lunch with my mom and sister in Lawrenceburg. We made a turkey and boy was that an adventure. We made pies and a couple side items. Ashton likes to help cook. He thinks he is such a big boy. Early Saturday morning, Alex, the kids and I loaded up and headed down. We had a really nice visit. The kids played while we finished up the food, we had lunch and then the kids played some more while we taught my family golf. For those of you that don't know, golf is a card game the Reed's taught us. We had already showed Casey and Brandon to play once, but my mom had never played and Casey needed a quick refresher. Needless to say, we made it all the way through the game with only a few minor interruptions. It was a good time. We headed back in the afternoon so that the kids could get home in time for dinner and bed.

I know this week is always busy for everyone, so I hope it is a good, safe one for us all! Enjoy your time with your family and count your blessings!

Happy Thanksgiving from The Perrys!!!

Nice break

Today, I dropped the kids at school and ran some errands. I then met my sister in law, Courtney for lunch. She brought Baby Max (as Ashton and Maddie call him) with her. It was good to get to see them both and even better to get to sit and chat with Courtney without any kids to interrupt us. Courtney and I don't get to spend much time together and it was nice to get to do that. After lunch, we took Max for some shopping at Target. Courtney and I neither one can pass up on Target. Heck, who can?!

After that, it was about time to head to pick up the kids from school. Courtney headed off to pick up a few other things and I was off to follow my orders from Ashton. This morning on the way to school, he told me that today I needed to "pick up my best friend, Kaleb and his mom, Miss Trina and then pick him up from school". So, I ran by and picked them up and we headed to get the kids. Ashton was SO excited to see them. I think it just might have made his afternoon. They were super excited to get to play. As Kaleb said.... "we've not gotten to play in a long time". Those three are so cute together some times.... LOL.

Our Rock Stars

Last night, The Journey had a Volunteer Celebration dinner. It was a lot of fun. We had a chili dinner with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize winners as well as awards for those that have served or volunteered within The Journey or in outreach events. It was really nice!

After the awards were over, the praise team led us in some worship. It was great. The kids had brought their guitars to jam like the band does and were having a good time. Robbie had a special little surprise for them at the end of the night. They sang Sing, Sing, Sing as the closing song and let all the little ones come up on stage with their guitars and jam with the band. They LOVED it!!!! Here are some pictures of our little rock stars!

Ashton, Maddie and Joey "the man"

Ashton and Maddie hanging out after the show....

Ashton really enjoyed his time on stage! I have a feeling he will have to get some lessons from Joey "the man" soon! LOL

Great Weekend

Thursday afternoon Casey and Addison came to visit. The kids were SUPER excited to see them. They miss BB, KK and Addison so much!!! Ashton and Maddie loaded Addison up in the jeep and took her for a ride. When that wasn't any fun anymore, they decided to let her give driving a chance.... lets just say that was FUN. She couldn't reach the gas, so Maddie did the "foot work" and Addison did the steering wheel and I almost got run over. It was fun stuff!!

The kids got to spend the entire day with her on Friday and had a blast. They went to Pump It Up, had lunch and played and then they had dinner together. It was a big day and they really enjoyed it! This morning, we all went to watch Ashton play soccer. He had a big audience.... Papa and Grammy, Casey and Addison and Papa Monkey and Emily were all there to watch. His season will be over next week, so he was excited to have so many spectators watching him. It was a nice day of getting to visit with Casey and Addison.

Maddie's Nap Today

Today, Maddie wasn't really happy to be taking a nap. She kept getting out of bed to play. I could hear her walking around and getting in and out of drawers. Finally, the noise stopped, so I went to make sure she was in bed and not still playing. This is what I found and I couldn't resist a picture and of course a blog!

What is so funny is that it actually looks like she is climbing back in to her bed and literally hits the bed. Her toes were still on the stool!!!

A night by the fire

Last night, we had a couple of friends over to have a hot dog & marshmellow roast. It turned out to be a lot of fun. We did a lot of laughing and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We roasted our hot dogs and then made chili dogs out of them! I've not had a chili dog in a while and I have to say, they were pretty good!

These three really didn't care much about eating, they just wanted to keep cooking!

Here is Alex and Maddie having them a little conversation. They look so sweet staring at each other!!

Shortly after their conversation, the night took a turn you might say.... I went inside and come back out to a conversation about some kind of contest. Next thing I know, Alex and Erik are having a contest to see who can get the most marshmellows in their mouths and still be able to say some phrase. Well, Erik didn't make it too long before he almost threw his up. Alex kept going. These are a couple of pictures of the two of them. The rest of the group laughed so hard watching I'm surprised Alex didn't get choked himself.

I can't remember for sure but I think Alex ended up with 12 or 15 LARGE marshmellows in his mouth. It so was gross!!!

The night ended up with all the kids asleep and the adults sitting down to play some cards. I have to say it turned out to be a great night!! Especially becuase I BEAT Erik Reed really bad! I think his score was about 3 times as high as mine. WOW! For anyone that knows Erik, knows that he isn't too happy and he is out for pay back!

This Week's Wrap Up....

Monday, the kids and I went to Providence for some shopping. Ashton had gotten a few things for his birthday we had to exchange. Alex and I got him a pair of "tie shoes" and they were too small. Apparently our son's foot has just exploded and we didn't realize it. Ashton puts on his shoes himself each day, so I really haven't paid any attention to his shoes in relation to his foot. Well, I got a quick reality of the situation when I returned the "tie shoes" for bigger ones. His foot has grown 2 SIZES and I didn't even know. This child has been wearing shoes too small for months now and he hasn't said a word. I asked him why he hasn't told Mommy or Daddy his shoes were too small and he said, "Its okay Mommy... I can still wear them." I felt so bad!! So, now we are on a mission to buy Ashton more new shoes that FIT. LOL

After doing some exchanges and other stuff, we had lunch with Grammy and some friends. It was nice! The kids got to play and they definitely enjoyed that. Maddie's eye has been looking yucky, but Alex and I just assumed it was her allergies bothering it or another clogged tear duct, which we've dealt with many times before. Well, the later in the day it got, the more red it was looking, so I decided to drop by the dr's office to just double check and make sure it was nothing else. They weren't 100%, but decided to treat her for pink eye. YEAH!! So, Tuesday, Maddie got to stay home from school and play with Mommy. But she got to return on Wednesday, which I was glad because they had a "Pumpkin Hunt" at school. They got all dressed up and trick or treated the offices at the church they go to school at as well as all the other classrooms. They seemed to really enjoy that.

Yesterday morning, we decided we'd FINALLY cut our pumpkins. The kids have been dying to do it, but we just kept forgetting. It was an adventure to say the least. Ashton and Maddie neither one would help clean them out. I was shocked. I really thought Maddie would get in to it, but they just watched. :(

Last night, we had some friends over for Halloween. A group of people from our church decided to go trick or treating in our neighborhood. It was fun! The kids had a great time and really enjoyed trick or treating this year. I'm already ready to take them out again!

Ashton and Maddie dressed up like pirates. We were totally decked out with eye patches and ear rings. It was fun!

Ashton was totally in to the sword. He kept asking me how to hold it. LOL

Here is a close up of Maddie's ear rings. She was excited to have ear rings like Mommy.

Oh, did I mention that Alex dressed up too?!?! A couple of the other dads were dressed up, so Alex threw this together at the last minute. WOW! He went from not so much hair to a WHOLE LOT of hair. LOL! Ashton didn't seem to mind, but Maddie was definitely not digging it!