Black Friday Shopping Spree :0)

Just wanted to see how many of you did the whole Black Friday Shopping thing. For the past three years, my neighbor Jamie & I have partnered up. It is so much more fun to go as a team :0) This year, my niece Amanda came w/us. I think we have maybe found a way to out shop a teenager. . . Make her get up at 3:30 am. :0) It was a really fun day, and I got some really good deals. I am pretty much done w/my Christmas shopping. Of course I said this year I was going to have better self control, and not buy the boys so much stuff. Well I probably still got too much, but it is SOOO much fun. We started at Wally World, by 5am we were in line paying for all our bargains. At Wally World I also shopped for another neighbor who was out of town-- did I mention how much more fun it is to spend someone elses $ :-) We made a quick pit stop @ Dunkin Donuts-- Yum Yum, and headed on to Target. Well, we got there about 5:45. The store was to open @ 6. The line went from the stores front door to the opposite end of the shopping center. For those of you familiar w/the boro, All the way down past Dress Barn to The Hibbets sports store. It was CRAZY. We waited in the car until the line started moving @ 6, and then headed in. Got some really good deals there, too. We walked on over to Toys R Us, shopped there, and then finished up @ Kohls. I usually come home and take a nap, but I didn't get the opportunity. Instead of napping we started to decorate the yard. Nothing like untangling some lights :0) We finished out the day taking the boys to see the Bee Movie. It was really cute. I would recommend it.

I meant to post this the other day, but time flies when you are having fun. . . Tim won a car. It's a Nissan QX56 Infiniti. The Mac Daddy of SUV's :0) It's white w/chrome accent, fully loaded, all leather interior. He played a football game at work, and was one of four to win . . . We only get to keep it for the weekend, but it is really nice. The boys think it is COOL. When we were leaving the movie last night, Tim went to get the car. I walke outside with the boys, and Coy starts saying "yeah that's our ride." All pimp daddy like. :0) It definitely stands out.







Well I am going to go finish up w/the outside lights, so blog @ ya later :0)

What Are You Thankful For?

I put this question to my children. . .

What are you thankful for?

Here are there answers:

Seth: Momma & Daddy, Me & Coy, Max, and Spirit & Honey.

Coy: My house, Mom & Dad, Seth, PlayStation 2, my pets.

Then I said, Do you know what it means to be thankful?

Seth said, "I don't know, just because I know." :0)

Coy said, "To be happy you have that stuff." :0)

I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for. . .

God's grace
my husband
my boys
my family
my church family
a warm home filled with more stuff than we could ever really need
friends
our health
a flexible job
warm sunny days
a good book
opportunities to grow in my faith
experiences that change my perspective
more than i could ever list here :0)

Seth is a Super Star :0)

We went to Seth's school today for a Thanksgiving lunch. The kids sang. Seth actually participated :0) My kids usually just stand there, and pout. They don't usually sing, let alone do the motions. Check him out. He's in the middle on the back row, in a blue shirt, and featherd hat :0) I think he is a super star :0)

What's been happening . . .

Well, as usual, we have stayed quite busy around here.
Last Friday night, the boys helped me make corn casserole, and chocolate cake for Room @ the Inn. It is a ministry of our church: http://fbcsmyrna.org/ We took our part of the meal to church, and shared it w/homeless men from the Nashville area. It was a humbling experience. The boys were playing around w/the guys, and played some checkers. Talked about school/life. It was something I'd like to do more often. Fortunately/Unfortunately--there are so many people that want to participate, there are no other spots for us to sign up for :-( I told the coordinator to call me if any came available.
After church, we went to Emily's 9th birthday party. She was kind enough to save the pinata, until the boys got there. That is there favorite part of birthdays. I hear Emily is wearing out the "Troy" slippers I found her. :0) Got to wish my niece, Halie, a Happy Birthday on Sunday. She is in RI. Unfortunately, we don't get to visit often, and don't get to talk much either. We are going to try to start writing. I talked to the boys about it, and they are excited to have pen pals. Carlie and Halie :-)
I ended up working Saturday, because they had cancelled me on Tuesday. Tim also had to work, so the kids hung out w/Grandma. Tim has been working a lot of overtime. Don't get me wrong it is a good time of year for extra $, but he hates working extra. It makes him slightly cranky :0). They are working again tomorrow :-( Thankfully, I will be off. I worked my usual Sunday night/Tuesday night this week.
Wednesday night, the boys & I went to church. Seth's class sang a couple Christmas songs. We haven't been going regularly on Wednesdays, so I didn't have him perform. He wouldn't have liked it. He's kind of shy about stuff like that. Anyway, after the kids sang, everyone helped pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan's Purse sends shoe boxes, or shoebox size totes w/small toys, school supplies, soap, washcloths, toothpaste, etc. all over the world to children that would otherwise not have anything for Christmas. During VBS this summer, the kids made "Jesus Loves You" Bears. One went into each box. It started out a little crazy--the boys get a little over excited in crowds, and I had not slept very much, :0). It turned out to be a nice experience.
There are so many needs, not only this time of year, but they just seem to be pointed out more during this season. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed. I really want the boys to serve. Not JUST out of obedience, but because they see how much need there is, and WANT to make a difference. I want to make a difference, and pray that God keeps me on track.
This morning, Seth & I headed off to Coy's school for awards day. He got perfect attendance. He got a gift certificate to Fazoli's & free ice cream from the cafeteria at school. Pretty good motivation to show up everyday :-)
Winding down the week . . . Tim was kind enough last night to tuck the boys in by himself, so I could go hang out w/Darby & Kristi for a little while. We had some YUMMY dessert--just because :0). It was the highlight of my week. :0)
That about sums it up. Need to get back to cleaning. . . FUN--FUN Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Prayer Request

I received an email from my friend Gwen. http://oatsvallteam.blogspot.com/ She is in China right now getting her second daughter. There are several families there at the same time. One of the other families that are adopting have experienced an unthinkable tragedy. The father was diabetic, and went into a diabetic coma. He was rushed to the hospital, but he died. His name was Dennis. This is their first child. The mom's name is Sandy, and the little girl is Hannah. Sandy's mother, and brother are trying to get emergency visas to travel there to help. Please pray for this family.

Pictures from Chattanooga--Then & Now :-)

Newlyweds July 1995/12 years & 2 kids later November 2007

Since My Last Post . . .

Tim & I went on our Chattanooga get away. It was fabulous. We had such a great time. We were able to eat what & when we wanted. Take our time seeing things. Sleep in. We got there late Thursday afternoon. We ate at Sticky Fingers-- Tim's favorite Chattanooga restaurant :0) We found our hotel, checked in, and headed for downtown. We went to the Aquarium, and checked out the riverside. The weather was beautiful. I had wanted to go to this murder mystery dinner thing, but we were still stuffed from the 20 wings, and cheddar fries we shared :-) We ended up going to see Rendition. Then we ate at Big River. It was 10:00. We never eat supper at 10:00-- but we could so we did :-)

Friday we were going to do all the Chattanooga sites the Incline Railway, Rock City, and Ruby Falls. After Rock City and Ruby Falls, we were ready for a nap. :-) So we went back to the hotel & took a nap. Well I slept. Tim watched TV. Friday night we went on the Southern Belle dinner cruise. It was nice, too. Good food, good music, straight up good times :0)

Saturday we slept a little later than usual. Had a really nice FREE breakfast --make your own waffles -- at the hotel. We got checked out, and headed back downtown. They were having a rowing event. There were 5000 rowers, and all their friends. It was kind of neat to check out the happenings, but we didn't stay down in the crowd too long. We went on to the incline railway, since we had purchased our tickets as a package deal. It was pretty neat, too.

My favorite of all the places was Rock City. We've been there before, but it has been a while. We actually went there on our honeymoon 12 years ago. It is really a beautiful place. It renews my awe for God's power & creativity.

Then . . .

Back to reality :0)

We arrived home late Saturday afternoon, and picked the boys up from my mom's house. They were actually not too bad until Sunday evening. I was trying to take my nap & watch the football game, as I usually do because I work Sunday night shift. Seth came into the house very upset at his brother. I am not going to embarrass him by going into the details of the story, but Coy was not very nice at all. He got himself grounded for the entire week from TV, computer, and video games--he can't even use his mp3. Then, he goes and gets in a fight w/one of the neighbors yesterday off the bus. So to add to his grounding he is not allowed to play w/anyone all week, and is going to bed at 7:30. Yikes I am at my wits end w/him. I keep trying to remind myself that "this too shall pass" I just wonder what's next. It is hard for me not to get pessimistic, when he acts this way. I am hopeful that after a week of tough love he'll figure some things out. I'd appreciate your prayers.


I'm going to try to post pictures from Chattanooga tomorrow. Until then . . . Happy Blogging :0)