Merry Christmas Y'all

Wishing you peace, love & joy this Christmas. 

Have a blessed day my friends.

Christmas Eve

As I type this, I'm at work counting the minutes until we get cut loose.  We are all hoping its at noon.  I don't think anyone should have to work on Christmas Eve.  However, I am grateful that such places are open for slackers like myself who still have groceries and one or two more gifts to pick up today. Consider having to go out with all the other slackers my punishment because let me tell you, its no fun.  I told my sister last night I was going to start my Christmas shopping in the summer next year.  I will just have to absolutely certain the gifts I buy that early will be total winners.

I thought I would show you more pictures of Hank's whereabouts the past couple of days.  This was the day the kids left for their dad's house....zip lining from the ceiling fan to the doorway...crazy little elf!

Since the kids were at their dad's house, Hank had a break until they got back.  The day they were due back was also the day my cleaning comes to the house so I had to put Hank somewhere out of the way which was hanging out of the stockings.  No picture but Bella thought it was cute.  Score for the not so great idea.  That night, the resident 15-year old told me he had an idea and would stay up to take care of moving him.  Told him he would wait to let me see it in the morning.  Fine by me!

Here's what I woke to...

That silly elf had wrapped the kitchen! And did a fine job I might add.  I loved it.  Even better, he left a pathway open so I could get to my coffee pot, ha!  Bella loved it too.  This morning he was hanging out on top of the curio cabinet with another elf taking everything in.  Slacker move.  But at least I remembered to move him.  This morning.  When I went to get my coffee.  Right before Bella woke up.

I told you I was no good at this.  Maybe I'll do better next year.

I had to share a picture of a super fun gift one of my friends gave me. Christmas Vacation glasses!!  It is one of my most favorite Christmas movies.  My girlfriend Lisa loves the movie as well and we talked made a friend of ours watch it the other night.  The next day he was in Target, saw the glasses and had to get them for us.  They come in a set of 4 so we each got two.  LOVE them!!

The last picture I have is one I took after the kids came home from their dad's.  Me and Miss Bella snuggling on the couch watching a Christmas movie.  

That's about it for now.  After I get off work and pick up groceries/gifts, I'll be heading to Daddy's house for the Berger/LeBlanc Christmas.  I cannot wait to have everything done and just be able to relax and enjoy my time off.  It will be very much appreciated this year.   I hope y'all aren't like me running around last minute, but instead, enjoying your time with your family.  

Have a great one!!

Elf On A Shelf - Part 2 & Other Stuff

This I know for sure....

I totally suck at elf on a shelf.  It took me a while to finally remember to put him out and then once I did...I couldn't remember to move him around.  Luckily, the resident 15 year old is helping me so Hank has been moved a few times.  Here are the times I also remembered to snap a picture of Hank and his whereabouts...

 He's holding a super cool fly swatter I found at Bass Pro Shops a few years back.  Crazy guy...

Hanging onto the mistletoe crystal.....

Flirting with Barbie looking at the Nativity under the tree and the lights on the tree...

This is by far my favorite....playing poker in the kitchen with Bella's stuffed animals. Christopher came up with this one and I LOVE IT!

the last two days Hank has spent hanging upside down from one of the blades on the ceiling fan.  We forgot to move him so we told Bella the weather was too bad for him to make the trip back to the North Pole.  #lazyasses #bigfatliars

Last weekend I gave myself a present and had my hair done.  Man, I always feel good when I get my hair done.  I don't keep up with it like I should so its always a treat for me.  I went darker and here's the end result...

Still some blonde highlights cuz I'm not ready to let go completely.  Been a blonde all my life but I do like having some dark thrown in there.

Later that night Bella and I got in our jammies, popped some popcorn and headed out to look at Christmas lights.

I started this tradition years ago when Christopher was little and continued it with Miss Bella.  We couldn't talk Chris into going with us this year but we had fun with just us girls :)  Jammies and popcorn are a must!  My kids have never been fans of hot chocolate so we take an ice cold Dr. Pepper with us as our drink instead.  I did stop at Mickey D's to get a coffee for myself this year :).

Since this is the last week of school before the Christmas Break, Bella's class is doing lots of fun stuff.  Tuesday, they had to dress like a reindeer.  I could have sworn we had antlers but I couldn't find them so I gave her two ponytails and told her to tell everyone they were her antlers.  I also put some red lipstick on her nose to look like Rudolph.  She wanted her entire nose red...little stinkpot!

I love this little mess....

Today they get out of school early and I sure wish I could leave work early to spend more time with them before they head to their dad's. They will be with him until Monday but I will have them for Christmas and I will be on vacation the minute I leave work the 24th until January 5th!!  WooHoo!! 

I always wish for 5 minutes to myself but when I do get it, I have no idea what to do with myself because its so dang quiet and I miss my babies so much.  I plan on wrapping some presents, picking up the house because there's stuff everywhere and maybe do some baking.  And you know Christmas movies via the Hallmark Channel or Lifetime will constantly be on.  Going to enjoy my time.  

Almost forgot, a couple weeks ago Chris had his Fall Sports Banquet so I went with him. He sat with his friends and my sister was kind enough to let me sit with her.  We took some pictures afterward...

Look at my handsome boy....

and with his Godmother, my sister :)

So proud. He didn't win any awards but was recognize for running with Cross Country on the JV team.  Since sister and I were at the awards and its not really any fun for our younger ones, they stayed with Pop and Nana who were ringing the bell at Kroger.  Here's a pic of these cuties with Daddy and Lena....

That about sums up some of our time the last few weeks.  I'm about 90% done with my shopping but will have to wait until pay day next week to finish up the rest.  Last minute shopping is not my idea of fun but sometimes it happens that way.  

Hope y'all are enjoying the season.  Have a good one!

Giving Thanks

Happy turkey leg!!

Ok, I know it's not turkey yet but it's tomorrow and I'm super excited about it. I'm not cooking up a storm yet but honey's mom is going to put me to work when we get there this evening and I can't wait. In the meantime, I've been baking on this end and picking up some last minute things for the trip. I have really been enjoying my time off this week. It's given me the opportunity to take Christopher to his drive times and pick him up. I'm not quite sure what we would have done had I not been available. Spending time with Bella has been a blessing as well and I know she has loved being home and not at daycare. I may have to work Thanksgiving week off every year from now on. The only thing I would have loved to do would have been to surprise honey at work one day and take him to lunch. That would have made his week! Maybe in the near future when Chris is driving (gulp) and I don't need to be his transportation service, it'll work out.  For now, I'm  enjoying my time at home with my babies soaking it all up!

Y'all have a great Thanksgiving Eve!!

Elf On The Shelf

So I'm going to attempt to make this Elf happen this year, but I'm going to use an Elf (Hank) that I already have that looks very similar to the ones you buy.  Funny thing about Hank is that I bought him probably the first or second year I was married because we (Mom) always had elves on our tree growing up so I had to have them on my tree.  I've decided Hank will be given extra special magic by Santa this year to help keep an eye on Chris and Bella.  Chris will be in on the fun since he still believes but is old enough to know how it works now.  Much to my relief, he thinks Santa is still pretty cool.  And he better because in our house, you have to believe to receive a gift Christmas morning. :)  Yep, I'm one of those people!  I've never stopped believing.  What fun would it be if I didn't believe?  I love the magic of Christmas and I love the story of Jesus' birth.  Its beautiful.

Ok, enough sappiness.  Down to the business of Hank's first appearance.  I've consulted with a couple  of my girlfriends who tell me their Elf makes their appearance around Thanksgiving.  Is that the norm?  I'm drafting a letter for his first appearance explaining it all to the children.  I'm clueless when it comes to the dos and don'ts of Hank the Elf.  So, any advice and/or tips you can give me would be awesome.  I will be perusing your blogs to find out what y'all have done.  I already have lots of ideas from Pinterest!  I hope the kids will be as excited about this as I am.

Wish me luck!

It Got Cold!!

Hey y'all!  I guess you've noticed that it got really cold outside.  Personally, I am loving it!  I'm excited it will be cold through the weekend. Nothing I love more than being at home in my pajamas watching Countdown to Christmas on the Hallmark Channel and having something warm and yummy cooking on the stove or baking in the oven.  Gonna be a great weekend!

I took this picture this morning and sent it to my honey with a good morning...don't you just love my scarf?1?  I've been looking for a leopard scarf for a long time....

I should probably do a post on my loves of scarves.  I usually add a few to my growing collection every year.  Its a good thing I wore one today because the heater is out in the building so it was a cold 59 degrees in my office when I arrived.  My little heater helped throughout the day but it was still cold!  Good thing we had coffee to help.  

Honey doesn't always get a pretty picture like the one above in the morning.  Occasionally I send him something like this....

That was pretty much straight out of bed Tuesday morning.  I asked him if I scared him.  He never responded.  Probably because he was passed out on the floor.  Ha!

This same day, honey decided to play with a longhorn in the field next to him.  The longhorn decided to charge him.  Good thing that fence was there.  I told honey, fence or no fence, I would have had a heart attack for sure.   

Monday must have been a really hard day at school because this girl crawled into bed with me around 8:15 and in 15 minutes she was out for the count.  First grade is tough!

One day last week, girlfriend decided she wanted to leopard out for the day so she put this little outfit together.  I love it!

Saturday morning the girls went to a Bridal Brunch for our sweet Kristian.  They had a waffle bar and all other kinds of breakfast goodies.  Since we were all together, a picture was a must!

That's Cori, me, Bella, Kenna and sister...sweet girls :)

That about sums up the past week or so.  Are y'all gearing up for Thanksgiving, planning your meals or where you're going to be?  My babies will be with their dad this year so I'm on my own.  Honey's momma is hosting Thanksgiving and invited us so I'm headed to Dayton for turkey this year.  I'm pretty excited to be able to spend the day with honey and his family.  I will miss my babies and my family but at least I have someplace to go.  

OH!  Almost forgot....I bought a Christmas gift the other day and ordered one last night!  Two down and several more to go!  LOL!  Hey...I'm making progress!  

Y'all stay warm!

Full On Panic

51 days until Christmas and I'm still no closer to finishing my shopping.  In fact, I haven't even started.  Yep, remember back in September when I was freaking out then...well I'm really flipping out now.  I have ideas and I've even shopped online, put things in a basket/cart and then talked myself out of them. I'm horrible.  I used to never be this way.  By Thanksgiving, I would have most everything done with just a few things left to pick up. What the heck happened?  I don't like it at all.  I mean, I love shopping during the holiday season but I also want to enjoy the time not going crazy trying to find a gift when everything is picked over and/or sold out.  Why do I do this to myself?  I was never this way.  Please tell me because I would very much like to know the answer.  So, I need to get chopping, or rather shopping!  I need to complete my lists that I have started.  I need to make decisions and stick to them. Quit the hem-hawing crap.  Be strong like bull.  Yeah...I was laughing as I typed that.

Before we get to Christmas, we must have Thanksgiving!  You know how I feel about Thanksgiving. I'm giggling and my mouth is watering now with thoughts of all that delicious food, especially the dressing.  Yum, yum, yum!  We have made no plans for Thanksgiving...BUT, I will be off that entire week from work!  WooHoo!! I can't remember the last time I was off the entire week of Thanksgiving.  I'm so excited.  I don't care if we stay in our jammies, watch movies and play games all week, I'm just happy I don't have to get up and go to work everyday.

Guess I'll also start thinking about what I want to make for our Thanksgiving meal, because regardless of where we'll gather and how many people will attend, there will be a meal. :)

Y'all have a good one!!

 

Happy Halloween

I'm wishing I was at home baking sweet treats and putting up more decorations for all the little goblins this evening, but I'm not.  I'm slaving away at work...well NOT at this moment.  Haha!

Isn't my girl the cutest...

I say, "let me take your picture" and she assumes this position and smiles.  My goodness she is beautiful.  

Love this girl so much!

I saw these pictures on FB...

LOVE it!!  Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is really right around the corner.  Time flies entirely too fast!!

This is the picture Nordstrom posted...fitting isn't it? Love me some shoes!

And I saw this one on Pinterest and HAD to have it to.  I'm the weird dorky girl who says, "Isn't it a BOOtiful day?" and "I hope you have a SPOOKtacular Halloween!"  So when I saw this...I was all over it.  I'm totally gonna send it to honey cuz he already thinks I'm a dork.   

Yep, that's totally me!  Hope y'all have a great Halloween!!!

Lovin' October

October is definitely my favorite month. I love everything it brings and more...

I wanted to take the kids to Dewberry Farm this year but it doesn't look like its going to work out. Maybe next year.  Instead, I took the kids to a pumpkin patch close to home.  It wasn't the same but Bella loved it.

I even manage to get the resident 15 year old to sit down and take a picture with his sister.  

Always makes this momma's heart happy.

After the pumpkin patch, we ran a few more errands then headed home so pumpkin carving could begin.  Chris chose his design and got started.  Its serious business when you turn your hat around to work.  

Little sis watching and wanting to know everything....

Giving me her scary Bella face...and she's still a cutie to me :)

Christopher's finished product all lit up. It took him some time to get it all done and wasn't sure he wanted to do it again but...

The next day he carved Bella's pumpkin. 

Afterward he told me he wanted us to do this every year.  ha!

He did a dang good job.  Its takes some time and patience but well worth it when you see the finished product.  Kudos to those folks who carve a dozen or more pumpkins each year.   

Last week at school was drug awareness week so each day, the teachers asked the kids to dress up differently.  The thing that is different about Bella from Chris (other than the obvious) is that she likes to participate in stuff like this. Chris rarely wanted to do fun stuff.  Bella was most apprehensive about inside out day, but she did it....

See, you can't even tell...

Pajama Day (her favorite!)

Cool Shades Day!

I totally missed Monday's wear red day, and I can't for the life of me remember what Wednesday was because I didn't take a picture.  Shame on me!  

This last picture I'm going to leave with you just makes me smile.  So, we were at Hobby Lobby last night getting stuff for a "Day of the Dead" project Christopher is doing in Spanish.  Bella and I are walking down the aisles getting ideas for her bubba when we happen upon these masks.  I put one on so she wanted one too.  After trying on a few, this is what she ended up with...  

This goofy child walked through the store the entire time with this mask on...and you talk about a little character!  She was cracking us up.  She's a mess all the time, but turned into an extra funny mess with this mask.  I had to get it.  They cut the tag off for her and she put it right back on and wore the whole way home.  I wish it had been daylight because when cars would pass us...she would look out the window and talk to them.  Little nut!  I'm in so much trouble...

y'all have a good one!

 

Its Cook-Off Time in Texas!

The second half of fair week started off with a bang....or is it bust?  I came home Wednesday evening to no A/C.  Thank goodness a cool front had come through and the nights were much cooler otherwise I think we would have been bunking with some of our family.  I opened all the windows in the house so that made things better than they could have been.  I called the A/C guy (Wayne) first thing Thursday morning and honey (aka, Scott) met him at the house so I wouldn't have to take off work.  He had been down helping Tony get things together and set up for the cook-off.  Yay honey! After assessing the situation, getting a part (some dang valve) and changing it out, my A/C was running.  Big thanks to honey for handling that for me and for flipping the bill :).  I was scheduled to be off Friday for the cook-off so him being there was a huge help, otherwise I would have had to go into work Friday. Boo Hiss!  Honey did manage to help the guys get some things set up at cook-off before he took off to tend to my mess.  We headed out to cook-off Thursday night and hung out for a while...then spent all day Friday and all Saturday out there.  Sunday was tear down.  We placed 10th in Beans (thanks cousin Patrick) and 14th in Ribs (Kudos to my nephew Paul for entering those tasty ribs!!!)  We were so proud of Paul...nothing else mattered.

Our shrimp peelers...Paul, Chris, Levi & Scott...

Best of times with family....Me, Kristian & Bryan

My little cowgirl...such a little stinkpot prissy pants!!

One of our sponsors Mr. Hosaka came out to support but also wanted to help.  He dug right in and helped prep the ribs and whatever else he could.  He brought his camera and took a ton of pictures.  These are some of the few he sent us...they are so good!  I usually don't want anything to do with bbq for a couple months after cook-off but I have to say that after seeing these pics...its looks right tasty!  

Delicous Chicken...

 Brisket...

Shrimp...

Tony's Pulled Pork Sliders...

Secret Sauce

Levi working the pit...Tony in the background

View of our camp from the back....

It was another fun year, more fun for me because honey was able to join our family,help out and see what all the fuss was about too. Kinda hoping that man sticks around for years to come. As always, we got to see lots old friends and even made some new ones.  We love cook-off because it truly is a family affair...even Bella got in and rub some ribs down this year.  Everyone jumps in and helps.  Its a wonderful thing to observe in my opinion. If we do this again next year, y'all should come out and see us.  We'll be glad to feed ya!

We hope to see you again next year cook-off!!