Christmas with Grandma and my family

Last Friday night, we did Christmas with my family and my mom, Grandma. We headed down to Casey's house, my sister, just after lunch with hopes that Maddie would nap on the way there. Well, that didn't happen!! Instead, we watched Christmas movies.

The kids had a great time all playing together. After dinner, we let them all open their presents from each other and Maddie LOVED her "princess" dress from Addison and couldn't wait to show it to everyone.


Ashton has NO IDEA what this game is, but he was excited about it! He has asked me several times when Courtney, my sister-in-law, is coming to play it with him. She told him she would come play one day and he doesn't forget ANYTHING! LOL I tried to tell her that she couldn't just tell him that because he wouldn't be forgetting it. Guess we're going to have to call her over break and get her to come visit.

Fun in the Snow

Last Thursday night, we had a little bit of snow at our house. The kids had just finished helping us cleaning up after dinner and I happened to walk through the dining room and saw that the ground was covered. WOW! I didn't even realize it was snowing. The kids were SUPER excited and couldn't wait to get outside. Alex didn't really want to take them and I had a bad head ache, but hated to not let them play. It isn't like we have snow too often for them to get to play in. So, I finally agreed to carry them out very briefly. We bundled up and headed out. THE LOVED IT!! Maddie refused to smile for the camera, but she had just as much fun as Ashton. This was really her first time to actually play in the snow. Last year she was still too little to really do anything with it. The two of them ran around like crazy kids, laid down and made snow angels and even threw balls of snow at me taking pictures of them. They had a great time.

Christmas Cookies

I haven't done much blogging the last week, not because I didn't have stuff to blog about, instead because my camera wasn't working and I couldn't put my pictures with it. We've actually been doing a lot and I've had some great pictures too.

Last week, the kids and I decorated our sugar cookies that we'd made. The kids had a lot of fun cutting them all out with their "cutters" as they called them and so I decided we'd tackle the decorating. As you can see, I let them do them the way they wanted.... some are cute and some, not so much, but regardless of their appearance it was a lot of fun!

Last year, Alex and I had a small little Christmas party with some of the people he works with. It was nice and we all had a great time. This year when we started talking about doing it again, we decided to make it a variety of people and not just people he worked with. We started on the guest list and it just kept growing and growing. I finally had to pull the plug because I wasn't sure how many more we could get in our house at once. LOL

Everything went really well and everyone seemed to have a good time. I was excited!! I planned on some little goodies for the kids to do, but they got so distracted with playing that we never even did them. Ashton and Maddie asked "are we having another party today?" on Monday morning. I laughed and said, not today....

Tuesday, I took the kids to school and headed to Mt Juliet to meet up with a few girls for some shopping. I have gotten really behind on my Christmas shopping this year and I'm usually much better than this. I've just been super busy with sewing that I've managed to keep putting off shopping. Plus, Alex's parents and us adopt a family together every year and I was so focused on getting their stuff together and back to the family early that I haven't done much of my own shopping. Yesterday, I managed to finish up what we lacked for the adopted family. I also picked up a few more items yesterday that finished a couple of people, but still have more to do. Today, I plan to get back out there while the kids are at school again and see how much more I can finish up. I am determined to get some stuff done because our Christmas with my family starts this weekend. I've gotta get busy.....

Have a great rest of the week!!

This Week's Wrap Up....

I've been really bad about keeping up with my blog the last few weeks. I really should do it more because when I sit down, like now, I've got so many things I could tell you about but don't want you to be reading for an hour. So, just to hit a few high lights for the week.

First, the kids and I got up one more and spent about an hour or so making sugar Christmas cookies. They had so much fun. After we were done, I started thinking and I didn't take a single picture!!! What was I thinking?! I missed a super cute opportunity.

Thursday night, Alex and Ashton had some "boy" time and they went to the Predators game with a friend of Alex's, Gomer. Ashton had a great time. Right before they left for the game, he told me that he was going to have popcorn. Alex told him probably not because he didn't have any money. So, I took Ashton in the other room and got him a $5 bill and told him to put it in his pocket and he could buy his own popcorn. He immediately asked me where was the rest and where were his coins. He prefers coins over bills anytime! WOW, what it would be like to be young again and think "coins" are better than bills.....

Yesterday, the kids and I got up and out of the house early for some errands and a little Christmas shopping. Boy was it cold!! The kids were both ready to go home in just about half an hour, so needless to say, we didn't accomplish a whole lot. :( This is probably the first year ever that I've been so behind on my shopping. I'm typically done by this point.

Las night, Alex and I had a MUCH needed date night. With life and hectic schedules, we've not had a date night in a while. We went to the 107.5 The River, Acoustic Christmas concert. We've been three years in a row now. Last night, it was downtown at the War Memorial building. I didn't think we'd ever make it with the traffic. Nashville was having their Christmas parade and there was also a Christmas run. It was a total mess. We finally found a parking spot, got in the super long line and waited to get inside. It was so cold and it seemed like forever before we made it to the doors. Once inside we quickly found a seat. The concert was pretty good. There were a couple of acts that were "interesting" to say the least, but overall it was a great night out.

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!!!