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!