Saturday, November 29, 2008

the tree is up

Yes folks, the Christmas tree went up today. :) I absolutely love putting up the tree. It's one of my favorite traditions. Scott lugs out the box, puts the tree up, and fixes whatever lights might be out. (we have one of those pre-lit trees) and then I get out the ornaments and decorations and decorate to my hearts content. It's the best after Thanksgiving afternoon we have. We have many wood ornaments the boys can help us with so they get to be a part of the tree tradition as well. So here are the fruits of our labor...

Our tree, some of my favorite ornaments, the little guys under our tree, and our shelf sitters...

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi friends! I just wanted to take a moment to tell you all Happy Thanksgiving. I'm so blessed and grateful for the friendship we have and I'm even more blessed that you all count me as a friend as well. I hope you all have wonderful days full of family, fun, blessings, and thankfulness. At the top of my list of things I'm thankful for is my salvation and my relationship with Christ. If not for His sacrifice, I'm not sure we'd have much to be thankful for! What are you thankful for?

I'm leaving you with some photos of some of the yummies that will be on our Thanksgiving table.

Pumpkin Bread - made from REAL pumpkins (!!) Cherry Pie, and Apple Pie. :) Wanna come join us for Thanksgiving???


Sunday, November 16, 2008

small group

I love our small group. I normally do not blog about them, and this is no exception. Not blogging about group, just about how much I love our group. Every Sunday night I leave feeling so encouraged. I've never been a part of such amazing people. I know that each of them genuinely cares about my family, and I hope they know I feel the same about theirs. I deeply love my brothers and sisters in Christ. Being part of such an amazing group brings joy to my Sunday nights and is something I am forever grateful to God for. Two years ago I was alone. I was in the middle of a horrible situation that forced me to see, without any doubt, who my true friends were, and who they were not. Sadly, I came out bruised, beat up, and alone. (with the exception of one friend whom I cherish every day!) I felt so incredibly alone. I was depressed and severely hurt. Trust was blown. There was no way I was opening myself up to become close with anyone. If that was what "friendships" did to you, I wanted no part of it. I isolated myself and tried as much as I could to "play" friends but never really have to break the barrier. But praise God, He had a better plan. Through this group I've learned to open up more than I ever have. I still feel myself pulling away sometimes, but God is working it out for me. This group has helped me open my heart in a new way. Fully. We may not always agree, and we always have different opinions, but what makes this group so incredible is that we thrive on each others differences. By everyone having and sharing their own thoughts, we grow closer because we openly share with no repercussions. I feel safe and free here. Free to be who I am with no pretense. As dorky as I can be sometimes, this group still loves me. And safe knowing that everything I say in group, stays in group. I'm shaking my head right now because I've never had friendships like I do now. I feel so unworthy of such friends. In tonight's lesson one of the gentlemen said that when we call on God, He doesn't just do what we need, He goes above and beyond anything we could imagine. I desperately needed a true friend a year ago. God not only gave me a true friend, He gave me more true friends than I can count on both hands. These people have changed my life and I love them more dearly than words can express.

If you're reading this and are part of our group, you are more precious to me than anything I know. I am blessed for knowing you. Thank you for putting up with my dorky ways, and thank you for being there for me. Y'all are something this dorky gal can't live without!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

dano

snagged this pic a few days ago. enjoy.


I have smart children

Today was report card day. Now, no, before you ask I don't stress report card days. Our boys are in pre-k and 1st grade, not much to stress over. However, David did manage to surprise me. Not by his grades, but by all the rewards his school gives out for each level they achieve. David got straight A's on his report card. I'm so stinkin proud of him! He brought home 4 certificates for free kids meals at various restaurants and got a card for game tokens at THE coveted Mr. Gattis. If I could stress to you the importance of Mr. Gattis in the lives of my little boys, oh my. It was like manna was falling from heaven the way this boy hopped and danced around once I'd read what the cards were for. I have to admit, I actually teared up a bit seeing how great he felt about working so hard and getting such great rewards for his work. Add onto that the $1 he got from his Daddy and I thought the boy might just fall over. He really felt special today and I'm not ashamed to tell you all that I am one PROUD momma today. David has never struggled in school and is actually learning on a 2nd grade level, but to see the fruits of his labor and hear him talk excitedly about what he's accomplished is awesome. I love that he has such a passion for learning and for setting and accomplishing his goals. On his way to bed he asked me if there was something higher than an A. I said, "well sometimes teachers give an A+ for extra good work". He's already planning out how he's going to get a report card full of A+'s next time. :) Oh that boy fills my heart.

Daniel also got very good marks. They grade pre-k differently than elementary so it's not A's and B's but rather where they are improving and by how much. He is right on target and is improving as he should be. He loves going to school. Mostly for his "buddies" (shout out Tristan!), but he also likes all the learning games they play. He didn't get the rewards like David (the don't do the rewards in pre-k) but he did get the $1 from daddy and some M&M's from mommy. After that he didn't care about the "papers" (rofl!) that David got. Silly guys.

I love these guys. And I'm so glad they got my smarts. haha, j/k hubs! I love my family. We've had the amazing blessing of having family nights every Friday night for the past several months. It's something that until August, we'd never been able to experience. Hubs schedule was/is hectic and rarely ever left time for us to spend quality family time. There would be weeks where the boys wouldn't see hubs for 3-4 days because their schedules were opposite. We prayed earnestly for things to change and God blessed us with a schedule much more manageable than before. Hubs is off on Friday nights and we're able to connect as a family like we've never been able to before. We go to the drive in, go out for dinner, and have game/movie nights at home. There is such a difference in our family I can't even begin to explain the things God has done for us. Several months ago we turned our marriage and family fully over to God and the rewards have been astounding to say the least. Our eyes are opened wide to even the smallest victories. Which is why today's report card day was so touching for me. It may be something that sounds silly to you all, but for us it's a family victory. We got to spend 30 minutes cheering, hugging, encouraging, and praising our boys. It was awesome and it reminded me again of the blessed healing road God is taking us down. When I say I love my family it breaks me inside. I am so full of love for my guys. At times it spills out in laughter, sometimes in tears, most times in hugs and kisses. And like today, sometimes in all those forms. I am so proud of all my guys I could just burst. And I'm so grateful to God for getting us to this point. I can't wait to see what's next for us!

** and yes mom, and friends, there will probably be another sappy blog entry next report card day. I can't help it, those boys are too awesome. :) **

Thursday, November 6, 2008

my hero

Yep. Hubs is a hero y'all. In Sunday's paper the K-Mart ad was like a beacon of happiness calling to us. You see, Power Rangers are on sale. And not just any sale my friends, a Buy-One-Get-One-Free sale. Oh yes. And underneath that little pretty line, it said, "on ALL Power Rangers". Gasp. Yeah. We were pumped. Any parent who has a little boy that's into Power Rangers knows what I'm talking about.

Then I got sick and paid a little visit to the ER. Turns out I have Disfunctional Uterine Bleeding. Ew. Anyway, so no shopping for a few days. Okay, I'm thinking, the sales not over for several days, surely I'll have my energy back by then. Down comes more rain. David is sick. Not just any sick. Flu sick. Now for sure I'm out for about a week. David thows the meds up so it takes him longer to get over the flu.

In comes my knight in shining armor. Scott volunteers to go to the store and claim victory over the Power Ranger sale. I make him take the ad with him. (note to all of you who know how K-Mart is, TAKE THE AD with you!) He calls, we figure out the right sets and all that. I wait. And wait. And wait. And finally I call to see if he's doing okay. He's laughing and tells me that the store tried not to honor the ad but when he pulled it out of his back pocket they knew they'd lost. Hubs pulled through in a major way and saved us $53!! I am so darn proud of him! He's usually not confrontational, but these are Christmas toys for the kiddos, and the price was too goo to let go. He stood his ground and brought home 5 giant sacks of Power Ranger Jungle Fury goodness. Can I get an Amen?? :)

We're both quite sure there is now a sign on the aisle of Power Rangers stating there is a misprint in the ad, but that's okay, hubs managed to get ours on sale and I'm so durn proud of him I could jump for joy! But a good Praise the Lord is gonna have to do for now. :) Bedrest stinks.

Monday, November 3, 2008

free starbucks? say it ain't so joe!

Oh yes friends, free Starbucks on Election Day! I got this in my e-mail just a few sweet minutes ago. Any takers?