Auld Lang Syne

I write this entry at the end of a year that was filled with lots of wonderful moments and a few sad moments as well. I am glad to see this year go and to be able to start a New Year with a better attitude. I often reflect on my life and how things are going, and what my hopes and wishes are for my life to come. It is the same this year.

I say goodbye to a year where I had to say goodbye to the most beautiful and loving person I have ever known. She was a major influence in my life, and her presence will always be with me, even if it is just in spirit. My grandmother, Loretta Martha Walty, was the most giving human being I have ever known. She taught me how to love endlessly and unconditionally. She was always there to hug me when I needed a hug, and even when I didn’t. I was so glad I was able to be with her in the end, as she was always with me when I needed her. Although she had to suffer in the end of her life, which she didn’t deserve, and it bothered me so to see her that way, but I know that God has safely wrapped her in his loving arms and she is with him now watching over us. Her legacy will forever live on in her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren. And it is my solemn vow to always make her proud.

I say goodbye to a year of change for me personally as well. I turned 40 this past year and it has really given me a new perspective on life. I feel as if this birthday has made me re-evaluate my life in general. I have grown so much over the years, but I truly believe I have grown more this year then any other. I feel as if I have reclaimed myself. I am able to make better decisions without having to second guess myself or look for approval from others, and I have finally accepted who I am, how I look, and what I believe in. I have learned that I am actually a pretty nice person, with good morals, and with a compassionate heart. I am proud of the person I have become. If you were to ask me if I felt that same way a few years ago, I would have said, “no way”. But maybe age has changed that. I am so proud of my children and who they are becoming as well. I am extremely proud of my husband for the man that he is, and for the woman he makes me. I thank God everyday for the family I have.

This has been a year of many blessings. I have realized more this year how lucky I truly am. I am blessed more than I deserve to be. We have succeeded both financially this year, but also spiritually. We have been able to help others that have needed our help, and we have been able to spend time together as a family, just loving one another. We have made more memories than any family deserves, but in the same sense I am so grateful for them. We have deepened friendships, created new ones, and in some cases let some go for the betterment of all of our sakes. We have grown…..

I look to this New Year with an open heart and an open mind. I have found a new mantra for this year….it is “to love each person completely even if I don’t completely understand”. This will be a struggle for me, as I am always trying to figure people out, but I now am slowly learning I can’t do that….people will always have free will, and I can’t control free will….God can’t even do that, so why would I think I could. All I can do is love them anyway.

Well, I hope all of you can reflect on your year and look to the New Year with the same hopes that I share. I want you to all know how much I cherish each one of you in my life, and if I never made it another day in my life, I just want each of you to know you each make a difference in my life.

I love you all!
Happy 2008!

My Baby is 14!!!!

Okay, I am really feeling old now. My baby girl is 14 today! It seems like yesterday that I was holding her for the first time. It is amazing how quickly time has gone, and how much we have been through since she came into our lives. Motherhood has truly been an adventure all in itself. An adventure I never could have imagined. There have been moments that I have sat in total awe and thankfulness of what God has given to me, and other moments that I have sat and cried and questioned if I could handle what God has given me. I guess that is what makes it what it is.

Sarah truly is a wonderful child. I know I am biased on that, but in all reality, she is a good kid. She has shown me the beauty that she has both on the outside and inside. She has a kind and caring heart, intelligence that amazes me daily, a genuine sense of humor, a determination that scares me at times, and an overall good head on her shoulders. She can be stubborn sometimes but she gets that honestly, and I can't judge on that one. She has made motherhood an absolute joy to experience. I know teenagers can be scary to a lot of people....even me....but if half the teenagers are as genuine as my Sarah is, the world is in for a treat in the years to come. So far, we have had a good experience with it.....and I know there will be times I will want to eat these words, but right now in this moment, I love my teen. She is truly the joy of my life and no mother could be prouder.

I can only end this post with saying she truly is beauty defined.

Busy Few Days

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. We have had a few busy days with Christmas, and then yesterday I took down all my Christmas stuff so it was down for Sarah's birthday. I can't believe she is turning 14 on Sunday! Now I know what they mean when they say time flies.
I went to the doctor today, as I have been battling a cough, mostly at night, for the past few days. I think I kept Todd up all night last night with the constant coughing. The doctor gave me a few things to hopefully battle it. I thought I had better go before the holiday weekend....since the office will be closed Monday and Tuesday. After the doctors appointment, we headed to Valdosta to do what my girls love to do.....shop! They got several gift cards for Christmas, which they love, and they were chomping at the bit to spend them. Bailey had no problems spending her money at Kohl's....she was so excited I couldn't get her to calm down. Sarah found a few things at Pac Sun and Ross, so she was happy as well. They love to go right after Christmas cuz they love to hit the sale racks.
Well, I guess that is all for now. I will post pictures of Sarah's birthday on Sunday. Tomorrow I am gonna get laundry etc done and actually try to sit my behind down to read a book!
Have a good night!

Merry Christmas

Here are a few shots of the girls from last night and today. We had a great day. Just relaxed and enjoyed each others company. The girls played all day! I will write more tomorrow. I am tired and just wanted to get a few shots on here tonight.
Merry Christmas!

Our Holiday Tradition

Yesterday was our annual baking day. We baked all day....from 10 am until about 4:30 pm. We were tired by the end of the day and didn't want to see another cup of sugar....just kidding, but we did bake a lot. Every year the girls and I bake all kinds of goodies from cookies to fudge to Irish Potato Candy. The girls look forward to it each year. What do we do with all of it you ask....we put together goodie trays for the fire department, the sheriffs office, the post office, and of course the servers at daddy's restaurant, and then the girls deliver them on Christmas Eve. This is our family's way of saying thank you to the community helpers.
So we got up early this morning and put our trays together and started our deliveries. I thought it was so funny when Sarah said this morning, "Mom, when I have kids I am gonna do this with them". It was like an ah ha moment for me that I have started a tradition with my children that may continue on with my grandkids someday. It was kinda a cool moment for me. Bailey was so cute when she went into the fire department. As she gave the tray to them, she said, "Merry Christmas and thanks for keeping our community safe." It was a neat moment.....and to be honest, I have to admit, I look forward to it just as much as the kids.
Well we are headed to church around 6:00 tonight, and then it will be early to bed for the kiddos. I am sure I will post pictures in the morning of all the goodies!
And of course I want to say how much I love each and every one of you, and how grateful I am to have you each in my life. I am a very blessed person, and Christmas is great time to reflect on that, but I know it every day. May you all have a blessed and relaxing Christmas, and always remember the true meaning of Christmas......
Taking a quote from one of my favorite movies/books....The first Christmas gift was LOVE!
Merry Christmas!
Love to all!

Last day of school "do"

Well, we finally made it to the last day of school before Christmas break....Yippee! It was crazy today at the preschool and loading the children full of sugar and then sending them home with their parents kinda has that bittersweetness to it! We had a good day though! Then I had to head to the dreaded Walmart for the holiday grocery shopping......I think every other person in Tifton was there today....no lie, it took me 2 1/2 hours to do my grocery shopping just trying to get around all the people, and then today of all days, they are stocking all the shelves, so I had to wind my way around all the boxes and crates.....not fun!

After getting Bailey and Sarah from school we had to pick up the van from the shop....needed new brakes, rotors, front tires, alignment etc done....so $459 dollars later I decided this is what I got for Christmas! I know it is a paid for vehicle and some people spend that a month on just a payment, but I don't know what it is about car repairs....it just erks my onions to put that money out! Todd keeps saying, "honey we have hardly put any money into that vehicle....it is okay", and I know it is true, but at Christmas time you really don't want to put that money out! At least I don't! Okay I am done whining now.....thanks for listening.

Bailey had asked me to do her hair all "funky" for the last day of school before Christmas, so as you can see from the pictures, we did our best. We had fun doing it, and she got lots of compliments on it at school today. Sarah survived her finals and did a great job this semester in her classes. She has a 95 average across the board for this semester.

Well, I guess I will say goodnight for now. We are already in our pj's, and we are gonna just hang out tonight playing games and watching tv.....I am gonna enjoy every minute of it. Tomorrow we will probably start our holiday baking after we clean house and then Todd and I are going on a date to see National Treasure. I will post again probably on Sunday!

Have a great Saturday!

Christmas Concert

Sarah had her Christmas Band Concert last night and it was great! They did such a great job. They played Silent Night in the total dark with just small candles lit on their stands. It was beautiful. Most of my pictures didn't turn out because of the lighting.....I never know what to set my camera to for situations like that. They always come out blurry, so the only one I have of the whole band that turned out is above. Sarah is in the front row....on left, head slightly turned. So I of course had to have her pose after the show for a normal picture. She hates when I do that but someday she will appreciate it when she actually has pictures of her school events. She looked so good in all black....made the band look very professional.
I went to the doctor for my followup this morning. My hemoglobin came back at 14, so that means the iron and vitamins are working. I was at 10 so that is a big improvement.
Well, I will sign off for now. I have to make some ornaments for Sarah's friends and get some laundry done since we were gone all weekend. If I don't we will all be naked by tomorrow, and that is not a pretty thought!
Hugs to all.

Our Weekend Highlights

Hey everyone.....

We had a very nice weekend up in South Carolina with Todd's dad and Carol. We went to see a play at a church near Columbia called, "This Man Called Jesus". It was awesome. It was a play of not only the nativity but all of Jesus' life from the birth through the resurrection. They had over 400 cast members and used all live animals throughout it. We were not allowed to take pictures in the actual play but as you can see above, Bailey got to pose with "Abraham" the camel that one of the wise men came in on. The girls loved it. This is the 20th year this church has done this play and it was packed.....the building behind the church was built just for this production and seats close to 3000 people. It was standing room only in there. They only do the play the 3 weekends before Christmas. There were tour buses from all over the place in the parking lot.....it is a great show and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to plan it for next year.

Sarah had fun looking at all of Carol's villages she had set up. She must have close to 100 houses and they are all over the house, so in the most unusual of places you would find a village scene set up. It is amazing. We headed home about 3 on Sunday and got in about 8:30, so it was a quick bath and shuffle into bed.

I do ask that you keep our friends, David and Beth, in your prayers. David was taken to the hospital on Friday for a few units of blood to be put in him. His blood counts were very low and they are saying he is bleeding somewhere internally. He is going to have his "tests" done tomorrow morning to see if they can find out where. Please keep them lifted in prayer that all goes well and that the outcome is a minor one. The doctors do believe it is in his GI tract, but still the unknown is scary for them.

We are headed to Sarah's Band Concert tonight and Bailey has cheerleading practice as well. She is doing cheerleading with our church again this year for Upward Basketball. So I will be running the mommy taxi for most of the afternoon. I will talk to you all tomorrow. I hope you are all staying warm up....especially up north!

My New Specs

Goodness gracious I don't take good pictures...crooked smile and glasses......maybe I need to get them adjusted.....my glasses that is......
I got my glasses yesterday. I have to own up to I reached the age where I need to see again. 40 stinks..... I had a rough day yesterday with them. I was sick to my stomach and had a killer headache by the time I finally rolled into bed. They told me it would take a few days to get used to them because they are the progressive lenses. I did much better today so far. We will see how I am doing at about 7:00 tonight. It may be a different story. All I know is I had no idea I could feel so crappy just from glasses. I was questioning Bailey if she got sick whenever she got new ones. She is like 'yeah Mom but you will get over it'. I feel bad she has never said anything to me about it when she gets her glasses, but you can bet I will be a little more aware the next pair she gets.

We got a quiet night ahead of us which I am glad for...I need to catch up on a few things. I feel like I have been running all week. Tomorrow is a full day. Besides having all our normal running around with the kids, I have my work Christmas party and we are having our friends over tomorrow night for our Christmas get together. Friday the girls have early release from school so we are heading up to South Carolina to celebrate Christmas with Todd's Dad and Carol for the weekend. We will be going to see a Christmas play with them so that should be fun. With being so busy over the next few days, I won't be posting until probably late Sunday nite or on Monday.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I will talk to you all soon.

Dinner with the managers

Okay...not the greatest picture of us...Todd has his squint going on, and I just am all wrinkles, but we had fun! We had a late night, but there were lots of laughs had by all. I included the picture of Danny and his wife for a certain someone who has a crush on him......LOL

The food was good at the restaurant, and we of course ate more than we should have. Todd will never lose that culinary part of him....he has to sample everything and we have to have all the courses they have available. I am glad I didn't eat all day yesterday, anticipating what we were in for I guess!

Just thought I would share a picture of us, since I am normally behind the camera!

Have a good day!

Weekend Pics

Well, Sarah made it home safe from Disney, and as you can see she had fun. They did Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Sarah said they got to "drive" the monorail into the park because they told the Disney people that they were celebrating both their birthdays......sounds like they used that to their advantage several times throughout the weekend....LOL She did have a good time though....too good in some aspects.

Bailey had her Christmas musical at church last night. She did a good job remembering her lines which she was very nervous about. She looked cute up their singing with all the other kids. We got a few giggles sitting there watching her and the other children.

Todd and I are taking all of his managers out to eat tonight at a really nice restaurant in Cordele, Ga. This is his way of thanking them for a job well done this year. I will try to get the server to take a picture of us all so we can post it on here tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great day!

My New Furry Sister

I would like you all to meet my new furry sister, Zoie. She is a 2 1/2 month old Cairin Terrier. My dad and Sharon just got her this week. She is too cute. Bailey can't wait to hold her and I am sure Sarah will feel the same when she sees her.
Sarah called me from Epcot today to let me know she was in "Italy" eating an italian ice. She is having a great time and said the weather is beautiful! She keeps calling me every so many hours to let me know what she is doing at each moment. I think she misses me.......yeah right!
Bailey and I had a girl's day today. After her Christmas musical rehearsal, we went to lunch together and then shopped for Sarah's Christmas and birthday presents from Bailey. She exhausts me when we are shopping cuz she could go for hours!
I guess that is all for today. I will talk to you all soon!

Our Second Tree

Well yesterday we went and got our "real" tree for the living room upstairs. We went to the Christmas tree farm just outside of Tifton to cut down our tree. We went right after school, so Moses got to go with us. Sarah got to pick the tree this year, and she picked a smaller tree than we normally get, but it is a pretty one. We got it home and set up. It completes the living room now.

Sarah is headed down to Disney with her friend Anna for the weekend. She is missing school on Friday because they got tickets to some Christmas Event that is happening at Disney. This was Anna's birthday present from her parents. Sarah is excited to go. I am sure I will post pictures of her trip next Monday, as I am letting her take my camera.

I guess that is all for now. Talk to you all later!

Fun Weekend

We had a really fun time yesterday! Sarah did well at Honor Band tryouts. She will find out next week if she made it or not. She was glad it was over when it was though. She thought she had screwed up her scales, but her teacher informed me she didn't and that she had actually done more scales than was required so that should impress the judges.....who knows. She then came back to Tifton to march in the Christmas parade. You can see her in the first picture. She is the first flute player on the right in the front row. You can see Bailey with her Santa hat on watching the parade. What you can't see is that her Santa hat is filled with candy she had gotten from all the parade participants....that is why she is holding it on her head. She was so cute. She just kept yelling Merry Christmas to everyone that went by. When Sarah marched by a group of our friends and us all yelled "Sarah wears underroos". She started cracking up and got her footing off beat, so she fussed at us at the end, but it was worth the laugh!

We then went downtown for the street festival. You can see Sarah attempting to ride a bull....that was funny in itself! Bailey is on one of her favorite rides that she goes on every year. It spins really fast. It makes me want to throw up, so you won't ever see me on it. The last picture is of Bailey sitting on the "stoned" Santa's lap. This guy was the ugliest Santa I have seen in a while. Bailey was so funny cuz she said she was gonna push his moustache up where it belonged when she sat on his lap, but when she got up there, she said his breath was so bad she didn't want to touch it.......we cracked up cuz then she said, "they need to get a better Santa's helper....what is up with the Santa's this year. I need to see the real one to talk to him about this." Sarah and I laughed so hard. We decided that he looked a bit high.....on something.....cuz he would stare at you really weird. It made for a funny moment last night. We got home about 9:00, and we crashed.

This morning we got up and had an omelet breakfast with Todd before he headed off to work. We skipped Sunday school, but made it to church. We did some grocery shopping after church, and then came home to catch up on a few things.

I hope you all have a good week. May you not encounter a bad Santa's helper this week either. LOL

Hugs to all!

Busy Weekend....say a quick prayer

We have a busy, but fun, weekend on tap. I wanted to ask everyone to say a quick prayer for Sarah tomorrow. She is headed at 6:30 am to Brooks County to try out for the State Honor Band. She tends to get nervous, wouldn't we all, for these things. When she is nervous she doesn't tend to play as well. This is for the state high school honor band, which as you know she is in 8th grade, so she isn't really in high school yet. We are hoping she just gets lots of experience with this tryout....and if she makes it, that is just icing on the cake. Her band teacher just wanted her to get the experience of doing these tryouts. I just ask that you think of her and pray her nerves don't get the best of her. As soon as she is done with that, they are headed back home to participate in the Hometown Holiday parade here in Tifton. While she is at Honor Band, I have to take Bailey to the church musical practice, and then we will meet up with her at the parade. After the parade, we will head to the Hometown Holiday celebration down town. It is just a big street festival in the downtown area. It is fun, and the kids look forward to it every year. I am looking forward to spending the day with the girls at the parade and the festival. It made getting all my Christmas shopping done early worth it! We will probably get our second tree sometime this weekend too, if time allows it. If not, we will do it a the beginning of next week. I will let you all know how Sarah makes out once we hear.
Have a good weekend!

My Favorite Sesame Street Skit

Okay, I know this is not the most mind pressing post here, but I just was on the internet doing a search on a new DVD set that has been released, and now I know I have to get it eventually just because this skit is on it. As many of you know, I LOVE Sesame Street!!!! It is probably the best television program ever for children and blows today's kid programs out of the water. Classic Sesame is the best and there will be nothing ever to come close to it! Well I found out that there are two DVD boxed sets that have come out (vol 1 and 2) called Sesame Street Old School. They are classic Sesame Street from the first seasons of the show.....pre-Elmo years!
My all-time favorite skit is the Kermit the Frog Newsflash.....Rapunzel skit. I laugh every time I see it. I just think it is so funny....Todd doesn't understand me on this at all. I told him I could be having the worst day ever and if I see this skit, I laugh. I don't know what it is....the Brooklyn accent, her bald head,the fact Kermit annoys the prince, or the fact the prince tells her to shut up because he lost his horsie.....it is just one of those things for me. So for those of you who have never seen it, or for those of you who want to relive your childhood, or for those of you who just want to get a glimpse into my warped mind, I have posted a link to it. I found the skit on YouTube....it is a bit fuzzy and the sound needs to be turned all the way up to hear it, but it is priceless. I had to post it on my blog because Sesame Street is a part of who I am.

The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFOm-ngFbMg&search=1970's

If you can't click on it directly from this blog, just copy and paste it to your address line.

I really think I am gonna purchase the DVD's that came out, but I am gonna wait until after Christmas, just in case someone wants to surprise me with them ....Hint....Hint.....Just kidding!

Well, I know this is a strange post for tonight, but I have had a strange day, so it is only fitting. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! If not, I can just watch Sesame Street! Hugs to all!

Back to the routine

Hope everyone had a nice break during the Thanksgiving holiday. We definitely did. I hate to even think about going back to work tomorrow. I have really enjoyed just doing whatever. I am thrilled to say that I am done with my Christmas shopping!!!! I can't believe it. This is the first time that I have been done this early. I really am happy because I will be able to enjoy the holidays without the stress of having to get stuff done. I am going to wrap presents this week while the girls are at school, so I can get that out of the way as well. I am even mailing out Christmas cards this week as well.

We had our friends visit us from Atlanta on Friday to Saturday. It was good to see them, and we had some fun laughs! Brian and Maryann, if you are reading this, we are so glad you came to visit us, and welcome to my blog! Today, I had to run to Albany for Todd because the restaurant had a very busy weekend and ran out of a lot of things. After I got home, I did a few things around the house, while I made the girls work in the yard picking pine cones out of our flower beds and wash the van....what a mean mom I am! But I redeemed myself because I played Rummy with them when they were all done. I did make them all go to sleep early though because they are tired from all the fun of the long weekend.

Well, I will close with this post by just saying goodnight to all, and I will talk to you later in the week.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a very full day...no pun intended. We had a very relaxing day. We started the day off with watching the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV and decorating our tree in the sunroom. It is huge tree. I actually left one section out of it because it would have put another 2.5 feet on it, which as you can see from the picture, that would not have fit. The star is already scraping the ceiling. We actually did have enough ornaments though. I was a little nervous that we wouldn't have enough, but then when you collect all the ornament from 17 years of marriage, you tend to have a lot! The girls look forward to doing this every Thanksgiving. I guess you could say it is a tradition for us at this point. After decorating the tree, we finally got dressed and had a light lunch, and started the turkey. We played Scabble and watched football for most of the afternoon. We just got done eating and everything was really good. Our turkey was sooooo moist. It was scrumptious! We will now spend the rest of the evening relaxing and just hanging out. This is the kind of Thanksgiving I like....no pressures!

The mighty hunters didn't come home with a deer, but Todd did say he saw a doe. Sarah enjoyed herself and asked to go again, so I guess it was a success in itself! The amazing thing is that Sarah sat still from 6:30 am until 10:00 am!

Well as I close this post, I just want to tell you all how thankful I am for all of you. Each and everyone of you has blessed my life in your own special way. I hope you all take the time before you close your eyes tonight to say an extra thanks to God for all you have. There are so many that are less fortunate than us. I truly hope this upcoming holiday season will be one of joy and thanksgiving each and everyday. I love you all!

The Mighty Hunters

Well, they are off on their great adventure. Todd and Sarah just left a few minutes ago for their day of hunting together. I pray all goes well for both of them. Todd made her take a shower to get all her smelly girly stuff off, so the deer won't smell her.....please.......like I would have thought of that. I guess that is why I don't hunt. Next thing you know he will be putting doe pee on her so she smells like one to bring in the bucks. Whatever works I guess.....

Sarah got good news today. She was accepted into the TALK program which stands for Today's Aspiring Leaders....Kids. She had to apply to the program and get recommendations from her teachers, as well as having good grades. She will get to participate in quite a few programs. Next week she will go to the Chamber of Commerce for a congratulatory luncheon put on by the Chamber. She will get to attend a conference up at the State Capitol where she will meet with the governor as well, sometime later in the year. She will also participate in a lot of "community service" programs as well. She is very excited to be able to help with the Special Olympics and Relay for Life! I am so proud of her for doing this.

Bailey and I are going to hang out at the house tomorrow and put up Christmas decorations. We will do everything but the tree.....we are waiting for Sarah and Todd for that. We will probably do the tree on Thanksgiving, since it will be a quiet day at home for all of us. I ended up getting a head cold, which started yesterday. So I am not going to push myself too much.

I had my physical today, and I got a pretty good report. My cholesterol is good, as is my blood pressure. Overall no major problems. He did say I was severly anemic so he has me on a multivitamin with iron and an iron supplement, which could attribute to my constant tiredness, so maybe that will help. As far as my stomach problems I have had for so long, he thinks I do have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and has given me a prescription to take before meals that I know will trigger it. We are going to see if it helps. I will have to modify my diet a little bit too. And finally my glucose level was borderline high, so he is just gonna monitor that for a bit. I am gonna go back in a month to have these things checked again. He seemed pleased with my overall health though and told me to keep up what I was doing. I told him I was following Dr. Oz's plan, and he said it was a great one and that I would probably see good results......I just need to start exercising which I absolutely hate....but I gotta do what I gotta do.

I guess that is all for now. I hope you all have a good day tomorrow.

A flock of turkeys

Aren't these cute? I made some for my children at school and some for Bailey's class today. They have a peppermint patty in the center of them. Some friends came over today and we worked on some stamping projects for our children's classes for Christmas. We made 104 Gingerbread man decorating packets. They turned out cute. Other than that, it was a quiet weekend. The girls and I went to see Fred Claus at the movies....it was cute, but if I were you, I would wait for the rental. I did attend a holiday market yesterday that was a waste of time, and took Sarah to get boots for hunting. I have to work tomorrow and then I am off until next Monday. The girls have to go Monday and Tuesday, and then they are done until next Monday. I am hoping to start putting up Christmas decorations over the break. We have a 12 1/2 foot Christmas tree to put up in our sunroom, plus our real tree in our living room this year. Setting up all of my Fontanini, which is a collectible Nativity scene (like the villages people have) takes a day in itself, so I will be busy over the holiday.

I guess that is all for tonight. I will post later in the week! Have a good start to another week!

Good reports

Hey everyone....sorry it has been a few days since I put anything on the site. You know how busy things get this time of year, and to be honest I don't feel like I have anything to show for my busy schedule this week! But I really have been running a lot. I am trying to get all my Christmas shopping done early so I can enjoy the holiday season this year. I did get a majority of it done this past week, so I am grateful for that. Sarah had a list a mile long and Bailey hardly has given me anything to go on, so she is the one I have to figure out a few more goodies for. And Christmas will be here before we know it!
The girls got their midquarter reports and are both doing so well. Sarah is maintaining a 95 average, and Bailey got all "4's" (which is good because they are graded on a scale of 1 - 4) except in penmanship where she got a 3. The poor thing tries so hard, but she unfortunately inherited her daddy's penmanship, and he will even tell you it stinks. She just rushes when she writes. If she would slow down, she actually does well with it. But needless to say, we are pleased with both of their progress this year so far.
Sarah is actually going to go hunting with Todd for the first time this coming Tuesday. She asked him if he would take her, and you would think she asked him for the world...he is so excited. He even lost sleep the other night cuz he is laying there thinking of what tree stand they will sit in, what clothes she needs to wear, etc. He told me he hoped one of his girls would want to go with him sometime, but I never realized how much he wanted them to want to go. I just hope he doesn't get too disappointed if she hates it. I just keep hearing her in my mind saying, "I'm cold, I'm bored, I'm hungry" etc. And the thought of either of my girls being quiet in the woods for more than 5 minutes will be a miracle in the making!!!! That is the unfortunate gene they inherited from me! LOL
Well, I guess that is all for now. We will head into the weekend with chores to do, errands to run, and hopefully a day of working on Christmas presents that I need to stamp. I hope you all have a good weekend!

Random Thoughts

Not much to report on our end.
Moses started back to school yesterday and was very happy to be back in a routine.
Todd and I attended the Relay for Life Kickoff luncheon today at the UGA Conference Center. Hopefully Team Longhorn will have another great year like we did last year. For family and friends who are not here with us, Tift County placed #1 in the nation for the last Relay. We hope to kick off all the fundraisers for it starting at the beginning of the new year. As many of you know, cancer has hit our family hard, and Todd and I take the Relay event very seriously. I hope you will continue to support us and the American Cancer Society this year. I will send out more information at a later date.
I found it kind or ironic that the kickoff was today, which was my mother and grandfather's birthdays, both of whom lost their battles with cancer. I sometimes feel like that is God's way of keeping their memories alive with me, and the desire to help the fight in finding a cure for this dreadful disease. It is hard for me to believe that my mom has been gone 20 years this month, as it seems like yesterday...everyday of my life. And to know my grandfather has been gone for two years now just seems so unreal. I miss them and my grandmother, whom I lost this year to cancer as well, so much! I know they say time heals all wounds and life goes on, but for me it has been a very spiritual journey that has had some tough moments in it, and all I know is that my mom, my gramma and my grampa are all looking down on us, proud of all of their family and living in eternal happiness with Him. I wish mom and grampa were here to sing happy birthday to together, as we always did. But then again, for those of you that know the story, grampa fooled us all, and it should have been sung a month ago! Anyway...Happy Birthday Mom and Grampa....Happy Birthday to you!
Hug those you love tight and tell them you love them!

P.S. Dad....41 days left to see smiling faces......LOL

Wreath Fundraising Project

Okay, besides me looking like I am constipated in the picture....actually it was the sun in my eyes, but boy can you see my face aging, ahhhhh......this is a picture of a wreath I made for Longhorn for a fundraising project here in town. The Agrirama is a local tourist attraction that is a working farm town set in the late 1800's. The Agrirama Foundation does a fundraiser/silent auction on decorated wreaths. The local businesses buy an empty wreath and then decorate it. The silent auction takes place on 3 different times where all the wreaths are on display. The first is at the John Berry(country singer) concert on Nov. 17th, the second is at the actual Agrirama, and the final is at the Hometown Holiday celebration here in our town. I did this last year as well and my wreath placed 2nd out of like 110 wreaths, and sold for $105. I am not thinking I am gonna do as well this year because we only had this weekend to get the wreath ready, so this was a rush job, and I didn't get to put as much thought into it as I would have liked to. It still turned out cute if I don't say so myself, but it is definitely not my best work. You get to pick any theme you want. I already did a western theme last year, and was hoping to be able to do something different this year, but after having to run to the craft store last night, I had to get what I could get, and unfortunately they didn't have enough of the theme I wanted which was a "it's five o'clock somewhere/Jimmy Buffet/beach" theme. I thought since so many people here either have beach homes and/or go to the beach, it would have been a good selling item, but I won't get to find that out now, will I? I still think this one will do well, and since it is for Longhorn, I guess it is okay that it is a western them again. We will see how it does.

My house is a mess from crafting this and other stuff, and I have laundry to get done as well as other chores, so I better get off the computer to start cleaning up. I just thought I would share this with you, and once in a while I will get in a picture instead of being behind the camera...although this picture tells me I am better off taking the picture, not being in it.....I hate getting old!

Have a good weekend!

PS Dad, the girls have decided to boycott talking to you until you give them the answer they want to hear!!!! LOL

4 H Consumer Judging Contest

Sarah had her 4H consumer judging contest today. The competition is sponsored by the Cotton Commission, so she had to do a presentation like a mini commercial on the use of cotton in an everyday activity. Then they do a series of judging of consumer products as to their quality etc.

Tift Co. 4H competed against about 10 other counties in the South Georgia District. Tift Co. placed 2nd, and Sarah was one of the top scorers in the competition. You can see her getting her award in the picture, which was a quick action shot cuz she was walking too quickly. Then I made her pose by the poster at the end....you know the old..."Mom, please, do I have to?"..."yes, get your butt over there cuz I am proud of you!" We were proud of her because there is a lot of work that goes into preparing for this!

Next year, she will be in the senior division, and she would go onto State Competition, and then if they win that, they go onto Denver. For the junior division, which is what she is in now, she just goes to the District level which is what this was. She was shocked she was a top scorer. Her face was so cute when they called her name. She had this look of total disbelief. Her comment to us when she got back to us was "I think the judges smoked crack, cuz I didn't think I did that well." She doesn't ever think she did well in anything....gotta work on that confidence bit with her! I just thought I would share this with you all.

Have a great night!

Busy Week

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. We have just been keeping busy with our normal day to day things. Sarah has had a busy week with practices for her consumer judging competition on Thursday for 4H. She also has had a lot of after school club meetings too. Todd took the girls out to eat last night for their daddy daughter date night, and to give me a chance to have a break as well. I "kidnapped" my girlfriend, Susan, and we went out to eat dinner. We had a pleasant evening, but are now thinking that our Ruby Tuesday's here in town is the new gay man hang out. Not 100% on that, but there were an awful lot of men couples coming in and hanging at the bar together....not in a so manly fashion. And what is up with plaid shirts....it seemed like every man had one on. We laughed about it quite a bit last night. We think we should send our husbands there to scope out the situation....or get hit on.....LOL
I finally got my haircut yesterday as well, which I need desparately. I was feeling like the Shaggy DA for a while there. I, of course, am the most style challenged person on the face of the planet, therefore my hair never looks like it does when I come home from the salon, but that is okay too because sometimes she makes me a bit too poofy!
I got to go through Bailey's closet and get our winter clothes out. I need to do some shopping for Bailey for a few things and Sarah is in need of some warmer clothes as well, so sometime this weekend coming up I am gonna have to do that. The temperature here has finally gotten where you feel chilly. I even turned on the heat this morning cuz the house was so cold. It is supposed to get down to freezing tonight. I hope Todd keeps warm enough. He is at the hunting land, and I am not sure what he has to warm himself up. I think he has a heater, but I don't know if it is actually with him. He will be home tomorrow before the kids get home from school. My chore for tomorrow is to attempt to go through my closet too.
I finally have made all my doctor's appointments that I have been putting off. Us moms tend to put ourselves last when it comes to taking care of ourselves. Todd has been on me to get myself checked out etc. So I have a doctors appt. for a complete physical in mid-December. I am getting my eyes checked at the beginning of December. I am doing the gyno thing at the end of December, and finally I am getting my foot looked at again next week. I have been having pain in it again, and I am assuming it is scar tissue built up, but we will see. So for all of you who have been fussing at me to do this, I am finally doing it. I should be starting off the new year with a whole body check up. Hopefully I can then start the new year with a resolution of doing whatever the doctors all tell me I need to do. I have really been into Dr. Oz from Oprah, and as many of you know that is how I lost the final 20 lbs of baby weight that I carried for 13 years. I am now at my married weight, and proud of myself for getting there. I love Dr. Oz and I love his books...You: The Owners Manual, You: On a Diet, and now his new one is You: Staying Young. I really understand him and agree with all he has to say. I really am committing myself once the new year starts to follow his regime religiously. If you haven't read any of his stuff, I highly recommend it.
Well, I guess I have rambled enough for now. I have to get my girls and shuffle them to choir practice at church. Hope you all are having a good day!

Starting Early

We decided to start early on some of our Christmas crafts during our relaxing day. We made all kinds of ornaments. The girls had a good time doing the glitter reinker ornaments, which they are holding, and the hand painted ones which you see laying up front. I must say I am very impressed with my girls artistic talent. They come by it naturally! LOL
I got all my students Christmas gifts done, as well as 3/4 of my Christmas cards made too. It was a very productive day!
Todd got home late last night, as he ended up getting a flat tire on the trailer that his 4 wheeler was on. He was not a happy camper about that, but at least he made it home safe. He did see lots of deer, but my husband is a "big buck" man. He won't shoot a doe or a young buck....he wants it to have a rack.....six points or higher. And besides seeing the big deer the day before for a brief few minutes, he saw lots of doe and a spike. So he didn't shoot. He is headed back hunting again tomorrow and part of the day on Wednesday. I hope he gets what he has been searching for. David, who went with Todd this weekend, killed a coyote while he was there. He took the tail home to show his kids.
Well, I guess that is all there is to report today. Have a great day!

Quiet Weekend

Nothing exciting to post this weekend. We have had a quiet weekend at home. The girls and I just hung out, slept in, and had fun. I think we are gonna skip church today....I know not a good example for the girls...but I just feel like we sometimes need to do this. PJ days seem to help us all get back on task and refocused.
Todd went hunting for the weekend. He did call me yesterday and said he had seen a huge buck for a few seconds, and didn't get a shot at it because it was so quick, but that he was all excited he actually saw something! I hope he gets another chance at it. I think he will be home early this evening.
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and have a great week.

Halloween Hayride

We had so much fun on our Halloween Hayride at the Langston's house. We had two trailers full of kids and adults. Beth and David did a great job being hosts with a yummy dinner for us to eat before we headed out to get our loot! The kids had so much fun, and I had fun getting them all singing "Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'll just pull down your underwear!" I am sure all the other parents appreciated my input on this, but who really cares....the kids and I thought it was fun! Sarah was sweet enough to help the little ones on and off the trailer and helped them get up to the doors. Bailey said she would share her candy with her sister, since she couldn't trick or treat. The pictures show Bailey with a friend she reacquainted herself with. This little girl was in Bailey's preschool class when we first moved to Tifton, so she was excited to see her. Sarah is with John Thomas Langston in the picture. Sarah babysat him and his sister, Mary Catherine, a lot this summer. Sarah and John Thomas have a special "bond" between them that I think is very sweet.

Bailey got lots of candy and was still wanting to trick or treat when we were done. We headed home, but on the way home we stopped at Sarah's band/flute teacher's house for a quick trick or treat. She was so excited we stopped because she had only 3 kids stop by, and she had tons of candy. She was loading up Bailey's bag and Sarah's pockets to get rid of it. Somehow, I ended up leaving her house with a bottle of white wine that she gave me. That made the stop worthwhile right there! LOL We really did have a fun night and we hope you all had a great Halloween as well.

Thanks so much to Beth and David for a wonderful evening!

Pumpkin Carving Time....the tradition continues

Our family tradition has always been that Daddy carves the pumpkins with the girls. Mommy just snaps the pictures. The funny thing is that the pictures look the same year after year with the same poses and carving stances....I was thinking as I was taking the pictures that I will never be able to distinguish which year is which if I ever get around to scrapbooking them with the exception of the fact that my girls look older and Todd gets grayer each year. LOL

We always carve the pumpkins the night before Halloween. And the girls look so forward to it. It is like a major deal here at our house. Daddy actually has to be sure he schedules himself off the night before Halloween as well as Halloween night. So tonight we are going to head over to Ms. Beth and Mr. David's house for the hay ride and trick or treating. I will post pictures of that tomorrow.

Although it is fun watching my children at Halloween, and I now get to be the "I need to check your candy to be sure it is safe" parent who really just does it to get first dibs, Halloween is more to me. I was actually reflecting on my childhood and the happy memories I have of trick or treating in my Gramma's neighborhood after we did our neighborhood. Man, did we bring home the loot! Trick or treating has always been a favorite of mine, probably because my parents made it fun for me and my sisters. And even as an adult, I always have called my Gramma on Halloween because she always made it special for us as well. This will be the first Halloween that I won't be calling her, but I know she is shining down on all of us, putting handfuls of candy into our buckets each day....they are just not candy anymore, they are blessings.

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween! And I hope you get lots of handfuls of candy each and every day.

Celebrity Waiter Night

Yesterday was a big day for Todd at the restaurant. He hosted a huge fundraiser for the Foundation for Education Excellence. He hasn't slept for 3 nights in anticipation of this event. He wanted it to go as smoothly as possible in hopes that this will be an annual event as it brought in not only money for the foundation, but good money for the restaurant as well. For those of you that are not from Tifton, you have to understand that the "pretty people" as we are now calling them, run this town and that is where all the money is. So if Todd can smooze with them, then that just is a good business move on his part. And believe me, we are not part of the "pretty people", but for those of you who know us, we can b.s. with the best of them, and believe me, I wouldn't want half of their lives because they are all for the most part the fakiest individuals you can imagine. But as far as the restaurant was concerned it went off without a hitch. Everyone seemed very pleased and happy and the head of it already has booked the restaurant for next year, so Todd got what he wanted out of it.

Basically what it was about is all the "big wigs" in town were the waiters/waitresses and they waited on all the other pretty people in town. They were tipped for their service with all the tips going to the foundation. To give you an example, one lady made $1450 off two tables and Todd said one individual wrote a check he saw sitting there for $1000 himself right at the end of the evening....I don't even think I want to know how much they brought in from all the people there. There was 150 people there and if each one tipped comparably, then I am absolutely sure that it was a success for the foundation! I wish I had that kind of money to just give away.....that one check would pay my house payment for the month!!!!

I did help out Todd all night, and I have to tell you I was tired at the end of the shift. And I didn't even do much besides fill drinks and dish out pie. Just being on your feet for that entire time was a lot. I told Todd now I know why his legs are always in good shape, cuz mine were killing me.

So the picture I am posting here is for my friends Susan and Jay because it gave me great pleasure to see this person as a server....it was priceless as he stood by the dish pit and had to scrap plates. The look on his face was worth a thousand words. Although I would have loved to get a picture of him at the trash can, I didn't have my camera close at that time. But maybe just seeing him in a 'blue collar'/servant position will make you giggle.....

For those of you who don't know who it is, all I will say is he is our State Senator.....for Susan and Jay you know I love ya both!

Have a great day!

Fall Festival

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Besides just not being home a lot, the few times I was home, the internet has been down.

Sunday night was our Fall Festival at church, so I have sent pictures of the girls in their costumes. Bailey was a snow princess, and although I am biased, I think she was beautiful. She looked soooooo cute. Sarah is getting to the age that she really doesn't need to be trick or treating, but she did put on Moses' football jersey and paint under her eyes for the fall festival because the youth were assisting with the booths. Now tomorrow night for trick or treating is gonna be a different story. She thinks she is gonna dress up etc, but I told her already she is getting too big for that. I don't know about you, but I don't like when older kids come to the door trick or treating...I just think that should be reserved for the little ones. Call me mean, but that is just how I feel. Anyway, back to the festival, Bailey had a good time hanging out with her friends. She did the hay ride and the big blow up slide and all the fun game booths, but she was most excited that she won me a candle in the bingo game room. She kept putting it under my nose saying, "Mommy, doesn't that smell good? It smells like our house, doesn't it". I kept saying yes, but she just kept putting it up to my nose, and reminding me the candle was for me. I thought that was very sweet.

We went out to Longhorn afterwards with our friends, the Langston's, and we had a good time. The kids were exhausted by the time we got home, and were a bit grumpy in the morning when it came time to get up for school. My children have set bedtimes, and if we miss them, they are grumpy bunnies in the morning. (I call them that because when they were little, they both loved the book "The Grumpy Bunny")

Well, I will be posting another post about last night in a moment as I have a picture to add to that as well.
Have a great day!