Black Friday ?

More like supercalifradgilisticexpiallidocious Friday !!! That's the only word that can explain how I felt at 4:30am yesterday morning when my sister and I decided for the first time EVER to shop ! It was insane, but so amusing that we've decided to start a new tradition. I have never entertained the thought of shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but after looking at the sale papers, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I got up at 3:45 in the AM to go to Wal-Mart in hopes of getting some Nintendo DS games. This is really the only thing that Emma has asked for, so Santa is going to bring her one. The games average $20 - $30 bucks, so only paying $9 was a bargain. There were a handful of other bargains as well. Now don't be fooled, I absolutely wasn't going to fight over anything, because that's just goofy. There's nothing I need that bad, plus it's not even what Christmas is about. Well, I got in a line that was supposed to be for the Xbox and games and while I was waiting the lady next to me saw the DS games on the shelf. I am guessing they forgot to put them all behind the glass. Confession time, the other lady and I got our games and got out of line. That was probably not the right thing to do, and I can't justify it, but I did it ! I'm a bargain criminal and I am ashamed !! So.....on to the $4 pj's. Emma loves pajamas with her favorite characters on them, and I am not a fan. Therefore, I don't like to play full price for them. So, I staked out the pj's before they went on sale. When the Wal-Mart employee gave the "go" on shopping, I was totally amazed and I busted out laughing. You would have thought Ed McMahon had just dropped a million dollars on the floor and said it was free-for-all. I'm sorry, I was not going to dive for pajamas ! I calmly parked my basket next to the display and reached in for what I wanted and walked away. I think people definitely create the chaos for themselves. My sister and I shared a basket and got a few good deals. From there, I went to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte, my current favorite, and I headed to Hobby Lobby. It was so peaceful in that place. I made a Target stop, of course, and then headed home. James was playing football with the guys and Emma was with her Aunt and cousin. I crashed out on the couch watching CSI, and I had nightmares of shopping and decorating Christmas trees ! True story. I guess I was so tired and had been thinking about decorating, that I had weird dreams. Strange. Once James and Emma got home, we went tree shopping. Now, James and I have very different tastes when it comes to trees. I happened to love all trees, but the tree themes I like, generally always look better on a white tree. He hates white trees, but is leaving it up to me to change his mind. We found a big fat tree and will hopefully pick it up tonight or tomorrow. They have to flock it for us and it needs a good 24 hours to dry. Once we get it home, I'll be on a mission to make it fabulous and hope James will love it ! I will post pictures soon as I can !

Giving thanks....

Thanksgiving was just great, but this year I seemed to be more aware of my blessings. I know I'm thankful, but I realized that I'm not thankful enough. I felt a little guilty because I feel like I take so much for granted. First of all, I'm so thankful to serve a Lord that loves me unconditionally and is always there for me and forgives me, even though I don't deserve it. I'm thankful that He has put an amazing man in my life that I was so blessed to fall in love with and marry. James is an amazing man that loves me for who I am, faults included. I know I take him for granted sometimes, but he will never know how grateful I really am to have him in my life. I am thankful to have one of the smartest and funniest kids I've ever known. She is healthy and happy and I am so fortunate that God felt that I was the best candidate to be her mommy. She gives me so much and I hope some day she will look back and feel the same about me. I am thankful for my parents and my sister and her family. They have all been there for me in the times I needed them most and never really questioned any of my decisions, good or bad, but were supportive. Beyond these people, I have a number of other family members that I am so thankful for. I'm thankful to have a job in which I get to work with good Christian people. I'm thankful for my health. I'm thankful for my church and church family and even more thankful that I get to serve in our church, with my husband, in our ministry of music. I'm thankful to live in America. I could probably sit here all day and name the things that I'm thankful for. Most importanty, I'm thankful that God has made me more aware than ever of all he has done for me, and I'll leave it at that.....

Thanksgiving Eve baking....

James helped with the cookies and I made another sad attempt at a lemon meringue pie on a humid day....just doesn't work.

Pure silliness!

What can you do with one freshly bathed 5 year old, a fleece pullover, and 4 pillows ???

(keep thinking)

THIS!!

Pure silliness.....

Birthday Girl

Last night we had a very chaotic and unorganized make-shift birthday party for our dog Nalani. She turned 3 and it was very difficult getting some shots. Harder than I had imagined actually! She didn't really want to wear her crown and she was scared of the candle at first. Plus, Clyde and Ringo were somewhat a distraction. Needless to say, it happened very fast!

Em and NalaniLooking very studious!!
I think next year we will just treat her with something and skip the party!

So blessed...

Tonight was a very special event in our lives. A few months ago, during a bath, Emma shocked me by saying "I need to ask Jesus into my heart". I did a double take and she said "God is there, but I need God's Son". I was literally speechless. I prayed that the day would come, but I never expected it to be when she was 5 years old. She's been waiting to do the baptism and then the hurricane got in the way and so on and so forth. Well, the other day, our children's minister called and asked if I wanted to do the baptism at our Thanks for Giving Banquet. Let me just say, this was so special. Not only will I remember this day forever, but it happened on a night when our church celebrates giving thanks, AND it was done in a horse trough !! How cool is that ! She looked like a sweet angel and we couldn't be more proud of her. It's amazing to me how kids just "get it". They are so literal and they don't let life get in the way of the simple gifts.

Getting ready.....

And the big ALRIGHT from Brother Robin. So awesome!

Be Somebody !!

I'm very behind on my posts and I was really wanting to post today, but I had no current pictures here at work, so I was going to have to wait, but lo and behold !!! One of my favorite blogs to read had a superb post today that I HAD to share. Cake Wrecks is by far one of the most entertaining sites around. Today's post is a marvelous story of a creative supermom trying to make her little girl's 4th birthday fabulous. That Supermom is my sister Amanda. You have got to check it out. Its too funny and it made her year to get a post on their site. Enjoy !

I can see the light.....

I promise I haven't completely abandoned my blog, our computer has just been out of commission. More like, under a lot of plastic and too much dust. The house is almost complete and I couldn't be more ready to get it back ! I'll be posting a few pictures as soon as I can. I know this sounds strange, but I am really looking forward to spending the weekend cleaning ! I hate to clean, but the dust is really getting to me. We have a had a busy week and a little fun too. Monday night we went to Hobby Lobby and loaded up on their 50% off sale on Christmas decor. I'm so excited about the holidays, secretly, I think James is too. =) Tuesday I started feeling bad and all I wanted was to lay in my bed, but I had to stay away from the house because of all the work being done. It was a crazy, busy, rainy day and I felt worse by that evening and was so glad to be going home to go to bed. Well, we got home and they were still working and decided to keep working through the night. So we loaded back up and headed to mom's. I couldn't breathe, there was fire in my throat and there was rain of Biblical proportions hitting their uninsulated tin roof. It was nuts ! James and I slept on a mattress in the living room last night and I just knew that would be so comfortable, but my nose plugged up worse. I was wishing for some Afrin just so I could sleep, but I didn't have any. I ended up using some nose spray that I bought for Emma and I was surprised at how well it worked. Then the cats started attacking me.....Oh my, I better stop, or I could be here all day. I promise, beyond how I feel right now, I'm very thankful the house is almost finished and once it's done, we are locking ourselves up for a while !

Twilight

I'm hooked.....

Sweet Deal

Your mouth is watering isn't it ? Mine is ! Does this not look like a little slice of heaven ? So, regardless of my relationship to the chef, these treats are just wonderful ! My sweet sister, Amanda, has started her home business of baked goods. She is working on getting her website up and running, but currently you can check her out on my space at Seale'd With A Kiss. She has a variety of desserts and business is starting to really pick up. I'm so proud of her and so excited for her. She's very talented and I know she will go far in this endeavor. Please look her up on my space and place your orders now ! To see more of her current pictures, please visit Heartspun Imagery. You won't be disappointed !!!

While the boy's away....

The girls will play !! James is at softball tonight so Emma and I decided to bake our Halloween cupcakes that we never got to bake. We made homemade chicken noodle soup first, baked cupcakes, and followed that up by drinking hot chocolate with tons of marshmallows! I took the easy way out tonight on decorating and instead of piping on the icing, we smeared it on...and Emma definitely did some smearing and some super duper decorating.Aside from the Halloween cupcake liners, these scream Fall to me.

And here it is...Emma's overly decorated cupcake. She says this one is for James. Over-achiever.

My country tis of thee....

Tonight we had the joy of attending Emma's first Kindergarten program. It was for Veteran's Day and they did a bang up job. I was very impressed at how many songs they had learned for the event. It was so hilarious watching all of the kids singing words to songs that they barely know, but yet it sounds like they all have it right. I found this picture to be very entertaining. Micah with his face all scrunched up. Two little girls singing with their lips poked out and then this little guy on the bottom right that you know is probably a cut up all the time....there were many laughs....I hope there will be one at Christmas!

Before the program Emma wanted to do a little modeling and was acting like a diva tough girl. I'm assuming this is something she has seen somewhere on the Disney channel, but I can't be sure since she did just start public school. She does it to be silly and she always makes me laugh.

Maybe its me, but this is definitely my kid....Solemn Sam in most pictures. That's just how we roll !

Now, I made a promise on the Halloween post about sharing one of my favorite costumes from the other night. Obama/Palin....wouldn't that be a crazy match ! I love this couple. So bold, yet so funny! I figured it would be fitting to post this now since tomorrow is the election. Please do your part and go vote. Every vote DOES count and it's your right! Have a great evening. ;}
Gotta love these guys !!

Christmas 101

I realize that my last post was about Halloween and here I am already talking about Christmas, but I have so many ideas in my little head that I may explode if I don't speak out loud. At least for a moment. I was so looking forward to Christmas this year. We just bought the house last March and moved in right after we married in April, so there are a lot of cool "firsts" for us to experience. I love getting together for Christmas and it by far is the best time of year for me. Since the house has been in shambles, I have an even deeper desire for the fellowship of family at Christmas. James and I are so ready to be in a house that is complete that once it's fixed, we joked that we were going to stay there for a week and do nothing. Yesterday Christmas was the subject over lunch. Who. What. When. You know all the normal questions that get thrown around every year. James and I suggested to my mom that we would maybe like to have it at our house this year. We haven't informed anyone else thus far, but my mind is racing with things I'd like to do. Mom and I went Christmas decor shopping yesterday. I have no tree decorations, or house decorations and I come from a mother that thinks every room needs to be decorated, and alot of that rubbed off on me. We just have very different taste. We went to Target and I was disappointed that they had no tree ornaments out yet. I have a lot to get and didn't want to have to get it at the last minute. I did find these disco ball table top trees that I was very excited about and I was able to buy some fall decor 1/2 price. We checked out Wal-Mart, Pier One and Michael's, but I'm holding out for Hobby Lobby. I know that they are closed on Sundays, but yet that's always the day I seem to want to go ! I'm sure I will post about Christmas several times between now and then. I just hope that what I see in my mind's eye is what I can actually pull off !

Oompa Loompa Doopity Doo

I must say, I'm not feeling very creative this morning, but I wanted to post pictures from Halloween. I was very excited this year about Emma's costume. She wanted to be an Oompa Loompa and I was lucky enough to find a lady to make the costume. I decided against the orange face because she has pretty sensitive skin, but the end result was still pretty awesome. This was the first picture of the evening and she was very sleepy. I couldn't even get a smile out of her.....I knew this would change after the carnival and candy at the church.


This is Micah and Emma. He's her protective friend from church and now at school. I was so glad they were going to be in the same Kindergarten class. He always looks out for her and I think its so sweet!
Mamma and her sexy ninja....I think he may have eaten too many fried dumplings

I took a lot of pictures but am only sharing a few. There were some very neat costumes at the church. My favorites included a husband and wife as Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. I may just post those soon too. There was a silver statue and an organ grinder with a monkey on a lease (her toddler, so cute!).

...and more....

Quite impressive considering the bulkiness of the costume.....Once the sugar set in, the Oompa Loompa had to join in on the action.

The night ended in cartwheels and Emma running in circles in the living room until the sugar coma set in and she fell asleep. Gotta love Halloween!