Getting in the Christmas Spirit

This is our "little" tree decorated with some red and silver bling. I grabbed the ornaments on sale Friday for around $12 (That's right - $12 for the whole tree full!) Aside from the price and me just loving the colors, they are plastic which made for stress free decorating. Luke and Blake did the whole thing almost all by themselves. I only put the hooks on the bulbs and moved a couple pieces around. The "big" tree is
up but not decorated. I think the boys did a great job on this one!

Give Thanks

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful. I hope yours was filled with blessings as well. We cooked two big birds for almost 50 pounds of turkey! Whew! We had a ton of delicious side dishes and great company. We were joined by Justin's family - MeeMee, Poppy, Rex and Julie and family friends, Bill and Linda. Our after dinner entertainment included Uncle Rex reading a Dean Koontz poem about an "evil Santa". LOL! He bought this book for the boys a couple years ago and we're just now comfortable about reading it! MeeMee and I hit the town for a some great girl time on Friday as our reward for the big feast but avoided the really crowded stores and hit craft stores, a local children's bookstore and an old town toy store - truly a highlight of my weekend.

Signs of the Season

Congratulations, Luke!

Luke received three awards at the first grade awards assembly - First Place Reflections Photography; Second Place Reflections Visual Arts and a Citizenship Award. Way to go little buddy!

What a Day!

Don't let the smiles in these photos fool you! We had a morning of pure torture. Fortunately, it all ended well and the boys are sleeping in their warm little beds right now.

This morning we had annual checkups scheduled for Luke and Blake. No biggie. Usually! Dr. C. is always prompt and his office runs like clockwork. In and out. We spent well over an hour in the waiting room as a little fella who looked to be about two got stitched up and received 7 shots after being attacked by the family dog. The whole family came along for the adventure. Grandma was wearing a 2Pac shirt. Just for the record, MeeMee and Momaw, if you ever wear a 2Pac tee I'm not going anywhere with you! LOL! The boy is fine but what a mess!

So - of course - this gave my two plenty of time to build anxiety, get tired, hungry and grumpy. Blake was scheduled for 3 shots and Luke 2. Blake started screaming and flailing around and then the tears started with Luke. This came as a pretty big shock for me as both of them usually take shots with no problem. Luke has even rolled up his sleeve in the past and said "Right here!" They made up for all that today. To top it off Luke had to have his blood drawn. After several minutes of crying and rocking around the sweet little nurse went to get a big burly guy with a thick beard who had a grin on his face as he held Luke down. It was crazy! I haven't seen fits like this over needles since my brother was little and tore the pictures of the cute kittens off the wall in our pediatrician's office. After a couple hours of this I was toast. I took the boys to Carl's ice cream after we left as a reward for all they'd been through (and me, too!). Carl's never tasted so good.

Then it was off to Luke's teacher conference. That was actually a bright point. He's doing great and has adjusted well to first grade. I LOVE his teacher.

Around 5pm my friend Pam arrived with a pizza. God bless her! She and Tyler accompanied us as we cashed in our saved coins at Bloom and went shopping at the Dollar Store for Operation Christmas Child. The collection date is coming up but you still have time to pack a shoebox. We do this every year and is pretty much the official beginning of our holiday season.

I'm glad this day is over. I'm going to take a bath and watch "House".

Something Hot for Cold Evenings

This is really for all the momma's out there who may check out my blog from time to time. As cooler weather sets in, we love making chili in our family (well, I like making it and Justin loves eating it!). This is a new recipe that was shared with me on Sunday by my pastor's wife. It's a Paula Deen recipe. It's similar to chili but with a twist! Enjoy!

Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 cans pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn (drained)
1 can Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomatoes with chiles
2 cans diced green chiles
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package ranch dressing mix

Brown beef and onions, drain any fat. Transfer beef and onions to either a large stockpot or crockpot. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low in crockpot 6-8 hours or simmer over low heat stovetop for 1 hour.

May top with crumbled corn chips, sour cream and/or shredded cheese.

Enjoy! I hope it warms your cold days ahead!

Happy Birthday, Luke! (And Momma, too!)

This is a busy time of year for birthdays in our family and circle of friends! As you know, Blake just celebrated and Luke and follow just a week and a half later! Luke's teacher is so sweet this year and knows that birthdays at school are special occassions. Luke has become very good pals with Aidan this year (they've played on the same ball team in the past) and Aidan's birthday happens to be November 3rd. So, Aidan's mom and I planned together and brought the boys a photo cake of them playing ball, ice cream and drinks to class on Friday. Luke spent the night at Aidan's home for his first big sleepover (Angie was a brave girl hosting all those boys!) where he had a great time!

I also received a suprise when I mentioned to Mrs. Stalteri that it was my birthday as well. She had me hold her music book (as she does the birthday students) and played happy birthday on her flute! Isn't that cool?! Also - Friday Night Group really made a fuss over me on Friday and Justin treated me to a Van Halen concert on Thursday night with my brother and his wife.

We concluded our round of birthday celebrations with a trip to Pancho Villa with Momaw and Popaw and Uncle Rex and Aunt Julie on Saturday night. Until next year...

Questions Answered

Those of you who have read the beloved Mitford series by Jan Karon will be happy to know her new book has finally hit bookstore shelves! I've been so busy lately that I didn't even realize it had been released. Justin suprised me for my birthday with her newest novel in what is to be the first in a series about Father Tim's upbringing in Mississippi. The first book is called "Home to Holly Springs" and within the first couple of chapters a big question that was left lingering in the last Mitford book is answered! Hint: It involves the Barlow siblings!

This is the perfect book to read leading into the holiday season and cold weather!