I posted this just because...

I think she is wonderful! And when I took this picture today, I couldn't believe how grown up she looked! BAM!!! One day they are babies and the next day...THIS!!! What happens?

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, it's over...the turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, rolls, mac n cheese, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, corn pudding, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, banana nut muffins, banana nut cake, Italian Cream Cheese Cake and Fruit tea are all gone!! It was, as usual, a feast and was delicious! We always go to Granny Ma's and eat and eat and eat until we can't breathe. The guys gather in one room and talk about who knows what, the girls and the babies are all in the another room making silly noises and faces at each other trying to get the little ones to laugh. We are out growing Granny Ma's living room and are going to have to move some furniture out at Christmas. Our family is growing SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!

Our tradition is always the same, but today, Granny Ma said that before the blessing was said, she wanted everyone to tell one thing that they were thankful for. She said, "It's Thanksgiving, and we should be thankful." Paula said that she wished that she could have gotten a picture of all of us in the circle holding hands, but I told her the only way to do that would be from the air! :)

Granny Ma started off with what she was thankful for and from there we all shared our thoughts. It was such a wonderful experience to hear heart felt, no holds barred emotions and know that no one would judge you or your response. We are a very emotional family and have never been afraid to cry at any occasion, happy or sad, and today I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. It was especially sweet to hear Arden and Salem tell what they were thankful for, because children don't understand how important things like family, health and freedom are. I have to say, today was one of the best Thanksgivings I have had in my life. And even though things with the economy are horrible, our country is in a state of uncertainty, and no one knows what will happen tomorrow, none of that mattered today because we had each other! I love you all and thank God I was lucky enough to be born into such a great family!

Now on a lighter note...I can't wait to get up and bust those sales wide open @ 5:00! If you are going shopping, be safe and have fun!

Arden Claire in deep thought! Jennifer and Mylie Rae
Salem telling his mom something important!!
Sweet Sisters!!!

Paula, Arden, Connor and Ramsey
Uncle Danny looking on as Regan steals some love!
Time to play!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The guys discussing important issues!!
Salem and Channing!!
Mim and her girls in front of the Santa tree!
Daddy's girls!!
Our family!!!!!!!!!!!

Too much Turkey!!!

Sweetest Baby in the world @ 6 months!

Yesterday was Channing's 6 month check up, so you know what that means...shots! And not just the usual 3, she also had to get a flu shot, as well. But she did great and is growing like crazy!! She is sitting up all by herself, has learned to drink from a straw (SO FUNNY), and has finally begun to keep herself entertained a bit. Arden loved her bouncy seat, swing and walker; Channing has never loved any of them and would much rather be held. And she doesn't mind showing off her temper if you can't take a hint after a few seconds of her whining!

She weighs 19.11 lbs. and is 27 inches long. She is a BIG girl, but to me, the chubbier the baby, the better! I am amazed at how much she has changed in such a small amount of time, and have a VERY hard time grasping that Arden is 6 and not 6 months! She is wonderful and I can't imagine my life without her in it!

Happy Birthday, Bubbles!

We want to wish our Aunt Lynette or (aka Bubbles to everyone in our family) a WONDERFUL birthday today!!! She is one of the funniest people you will ever meet and always makes me smile, no matter what! She loves to laugh, and LOVES the beach and the sun even more! She is brown as a biscuit all the time!!! Hmmm...reminds me alot of someone else I know. (Paula B)


Happy Birthday, we love you and can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!


Bubbles and Granny Ma in deep conversation!

Finally...

I am DONE!! I just put the finishing touches on my tree a few minutes ago and thought I would post some pictures. I usually have an "all Santa" tree because I have been collecting Santas since my mom began buying them for me in high school, and I always add a special one to my collection each year. And I usually put my tree in the living room, which means I have to take an end table out so I can have my tree exactly where I want it and not have to totally re-arrange the room. But this year, there is a swing, a jumparoo, a bumbo, a "lay in the floor and stare at the dangly things above my head" thingy and all of the dogs' toys, plus whatever Arden decides to drag in here. Sooooo...all of the above "USUALLYS" lead me to this...I decided to put my tree in the dining room this year because, Lord knows that room is NEVER used, and my mom gave me these GORGEOUS purple, silver, gold, and iridescent ornaments a couple of years ago and I had not even gotten them out of the boxes until Saturday night.

This year I thought: GREEN DINING ROOM+PURPLE TREE=PERFECT!!! And it is!! I am loving it!!! I am still in the process of getting the Santa tree up, but will post those pictures as soon as I can!

Disclaimer: Please disregard the "fall" decor outside on the front porch! I promise by this weekend, there will be no more "season blending" at our house. It will all be Christmas!!! And I have 12 boxes of outdoor net lights in the garage to back that up! Shhhhh...don't tell Mike! :)

Back from the dead!

Ok, remember in one of my previous post I told you how Channing was sick with a virus and an ear infection. Well, I woke up with it around 1:00 Sunday morning and then about 6:00, Arden began throwing up. It was HORRIBLE!!!! Later on, I called mom to let her know that we were all sick, and she said that she had been sick all night too! Last night I called Jennifer to ask her a question, only to hear that she and Mylie also had been sick, as well!

Now, let me back up for a minute and explain...I took Channing to the Dr. on Friday, got meds. and she was fine Friday night and Sat. morning, so Mike and I decided to head to the Boro and do some Christmas shopping. I dropped Channing off at mom's, because I didn't want to get her out in the freezing temps. Then, after we got to Murfreesboro, dropped Arden off at Jennifer's house, so I could shop for her. So basically, my shopping trip made everyone in my family sick! I think we are all on the mend, except for Channing. I have been on the phone with the dr. this morning because she is still having bad diapers. Hopefully we will figure out what is going on with that.

I do have give props to the best husband in the world...MINE!! As you know, he is gone to Nashville all week long for training, so had we gotten sick during the week, I don't know what I would have done. He literally did EVERYTHING for me yesterday. He took care of Channing, Arden and me, washed sheets, toilets, bottles, sinks, etc. You name it, he did it! All with no sleep, because we had been up all night! Doing all of this while having to iron his uniforms, wash all of his clothes for the academy, and try to watch his precious football games! :) I can't thank him enough for everything he did! I honestly don't know what I would have done without him.

However, before all of this happened, I did get my tree up Saturday night. I will post pictures as soon as I can!

Now, I do hope that you and your family do not have to endure this! It is not pretty!!!

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Paula!

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Paula Morris! We hope your day is as wonderful as you are! And that you are feeling better soon! We love you!

Don't Forget...

to check out the Project Graduation booth at the Craft Fair! You are sure to find some goodies there and support a great cause in the process! You better get there soon or the only thing left will be the "KRUMBZ"!!!!!!

Sick baby!

Well, for 6 months we've dodged the bullet, but as of yesterday, Channing has had her first round of sickness. She has been running a temp. of 101 with a stomach virus, and has not been her usual "happy" self for a few days. So I took her to the Dr. today, and turns out, she has an ear infection. We are on the "pink stuff" for 10 days and hopefully on the road to a speedy recovery!

I took her to school with me yesterday so she and Arden could get their pictures made with Santa, but before she went back to daycare, Mrs. Brandy and I couldn't resist this Kodak moment!:) WE LOVE OUR MRS. BRANDY!!!!

These Maxine quotes are sooooo me!!!

I laugh out loud everytime I get a Maxine email. She is hysterical! These are some that I got today and just had to share!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Ok, I don't have my tree up yet, but by this weekend, I will. However, I do have my mantle, kitchen and dining room complete, thanks to my wonderful mother. She has helped me put everything together for the last couple of years and does a fabulous job. She is one of those people who can just visualize things, do it, and it turns out great. I am more of a concrete person and like to have it all figured out before I begin.
If you have your tree up, please leave a comment and post a picture on your blog. I would love to see it! I will post pics of mine when I get it finished this weekend! I am sooo ready for Christmas. I love sitting in my living room at night while my tree is all lit up!
PS I apologize for so many posts in so little time, but I LOVE my new camera and am snap happy right now!


Ta ta for now!!!

This is Carter J....

Or who do you think he/she looks like??
I have removed all of the comments I posted, so those who haven't guessed yet, won't have as many clues. I will reveal the answer on Wednesday morning. Sorry if you missed my clues in the deleted comments, I just thought it would be more fun if I didn't give any clues!

Thanks for playing along! The reason I posted the picture is this...Monday night while rummaging through some Christmas boxes, in the attic, I happened upon a box of old pictures. I had a Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation moment. You know the one where he is locked in the attic, and while trying to keep warm, he finds old photos and gets all sentimental and sappy. Anyway, while sorting through the stuff, I did a double take on this picture because it looked so much like Channing. Well, to me anyway! So I thought it would be fun to see if you guys thought that as well, and see if you could guess who it was!

Thanks so much for all of your guesses! And congrats Tammy for getting it right!!! Jennifer did too but since she is family, she doesn't count! Sorry Jenn! :)

Recipe...

Gosh, Mrs. Paula, I cook so much I don't know which recipe to post! Hehe!! Ok, that couldn't be further from the truth. Everyone who knows me, knows that I do not like to cook because I hate having my CLEAN kitchen...DIRTY. Not a good thing! I do LOVE to bake Christmas goodies, cakes, candies etc. and can't wait to get started in the next week or so.

The recipe that I am posting is one that my mom and I are going to make tonight. I love pumpkin ANYTHING and if you do, you will love these!!


Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bars
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 48 small bars or 24 larger bars

Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Christmas Pictures

Over the weekend, the girls and I headed out to the Boro to get pics made for Christmas cards. I swear I could have bought everyone of them because they were all fantastic, but I had to narrow it down to two. We had a great day together! We got pictures made and then went to Chuck E Cheese for Arden's report card reward! She made all 100/+ again this 6 weeks, so she deserved a little something! We normally don't eat there, but I endured a chicken ciabatta sandwich and fries, and she got a mini pizza. Oh the things we do for our kids! The sandwich wasn't that bad, but nothing to write home about either! From there, I had to hurry home and get her to Covenant at 4:00 to practice one more time before the big Operation Christmas Child performance. She and all of the kids did a great job! If you are interested in participating or making a donation, click here Well, it's back to school tomorrow for another busy week and then A WHOLE WEEK OFF!!!!! WHOOPPEEE! I can't wait!!

Surprise, surprise!!!

Well, I survived the big 3-0, but not without a big surprise birthday bash... compliments of my wonderful family!!! Here are a few pics from the party!!!

Kirby and Me!!

Arden and her old mommy!!!

Channing and mommy!!
Auntie P and Channing
Mim and Channing
Kirby and Channing
Mim and Me
Roxy looking for crumbs!
Foxy looking annoyed at Roxy!!
Pap and Granny Ma
Mylie cheesing for the camera!!
Justin, Foxy and Mike talking about ?????
Lynette, Auntie, Jennifer and Skinman enjoying their High Roller BBQ!
Thank you to everyone who called, texted, emailed or came to celebrate my special day with me. The older I get, the less important gifts become and the more important family and friends are. My mom was the ring leader for this party and it meant so much to me for her to take the time to plan this for me. Thank you, mom! I love you!

Also, a huge thanks to Mike, Arden and Channing for everything you did for me today and for MY NEW CAMERA!!! It even has a PINK case!!! I got Sony Cybershot with the touch screen! I can't wait to use it! Hopefully, by Thanksgiving I will have it all figured out!!

I've been tagged twice!

Tanya and Veronica both tagged me to share unusual/strange facts about myself. Thanks girls for thinking of me! Here goes...

1. When I fold clothes, I have to smell them as I fold. I love the smell of downy and it never gets old, no matter how many times I do it!

2. I vacuum EVERY DAY!!! I love to hear the stuff on the floor getting sucked up.

3. I LOVE MY ELECTRIC BLANKET!! Greatest invention ever!!

4. I love playing Wii!

5. I am extremely claustrophobic!! Don't know why, I just am!!

6. I do not color or highlight my hair. I figure one day I will have to in order to cover my gray, so why do it now. I have pretty much had the same hairstyle forever, but they say hair is a woman's crowning glory and for me that is soooo true!

7. I am turning 30 on Saturday! YIKES!!!!!!!


I now tag:
Kirby
Regan
Jennifer
Misty
Mrs. Paula
Dee

Rocky Top Turkey...

Arden had to disguise a paper turkey so he wouldn't get eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. So we decided to make her turkey into a chicken! The turkey understands that no one eats chicken on Thanksgiving, so if he becomes one, he is certain to be safe from the hunter's gun this holiday season! I can't wait to see all of the other kid's turkeys. I know they will be adorable!