Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is the time to reflect on how very thankful you are for all that you have.  There is so much I am thankful for.  Every year I try to make a list of all that I am thankful for and although I won't put it all on here just know that I have a long list. 

We ate at my parents house for lunch and headed to Wesley's mom and dad's house for dinner.  We ate WAY too much, but it was perfect. 

My weekend started off dealing with the craziness of Black Friday.  Oh yes, believe I was there!  Which brings me to another thing I am thankful for.  I'm thankful for the nutjob that pushed me down to get to the Disney Deluxe 6-piece Playset at Wally World.  Yep, I'm thankful.  Because she made me realize that without these unbalanced people in life things would be so much more boring.  I did in fact have a great conversation piece for the next couple of days which in fact made others smile.  Why get mad?  I wasn't hurt and I have the upper hand because if she had read my blog Frugal Living At Its Finest she would have known that $29 for the set wasn't the best deal so I wasn't even trying to get it.  ;o)

Then I head over to Belk and witness a display of disgust because someone cut in line to get the free gift card.  I heard bickering, fussing and name calling for 2 hours.  I am thankful for that because otherwise it would have been unbearable sitting there for 2 hours with no entertainment.  Not to mention I had to pee really bad!  And I'm thankful for the $5 gift card I got because it was free! 

After all the excitement I slept half of the day away and when I awoke from my coma we got to work on our Christmas tree.  It's a Charlie Brown Christmas tree and I love it.  I learned many years ago not to buy the big fancy trees when you have kids.  They're just gonna tear it up anyway.  So, a couple of years ago I hit the after Christmas sale at WallyWorld and got a $50 pre-lit tree for only $5.  I like the pre-lit trees because I hate hanging lights.  And I am glad that I only paid $5 for the tree because 5 minutes after we hung the last ornament Madison knocked it down and somehow screwed up the bottom limbs and they are now hanging all the way to the ground.  But that's cool - it was only $5! 

I hang my tree with crafts my babies did.  I find that my tree is more beautiful with these little works of art on it. 

We ended the night with a sinful amount of hot chocolate!

Gearing Up!

We've been super busy baking and decorating around here!  Just gearing up for Turkey Day.  The kiddos totally love making these handprint turkeys each year.  We talk about what we're thankful for and I love it when I get answers like "I'm thankful for chocolate."  'Cuz that's really important!  hehehe 

 I hope everyone has a really great Thanksgiving!

Cheezin'

Pinecones Pre-Beautification

Personalized Turkeys - Conner was taking a nap so his is still in work.

There's Always Time...

We were out enjoying the beautiful weather that feels nothing like November here.  We had a plan to walk around the block and get back to fix lunch.  I was several steps ahead of Madison and she stopped to pick up rocks to put in her pockets.  She was loading herself down with them!  I turned and said "Come on, punkin'! We've got to get back so I can make you guys some lunch."  She replies "I'm busy!"  I said "But we don't have time."  She looked at me with the strangest look ever and said matter-of-factly "Mommy, there's always time for rocks."  Now how do you argue with that?

Disney On Ice

We went to the Disney on Ice Show at the Civic Center this weekend and the kids loved it!  It brought up those old wishes I've always had of being able to ice skate.  I can make my rounds around the rink, but not like they do.  I lack any type of grace.  In other words I bust my tail quite often.  I've come to accept this.  However, seeing these people gracefully skate around makes me a tad bit jealous and I'm not the jealous type.

Daddy and Conner

Granddaddy (my father in law) with Conner and Whitney (my niece.)

Madison with T-Ma (my mother in law.)

Loving the chewy ice.

Minnie and Mickey

Gotta love Tinkerbell!

Mitch

Me and my hubby

Roads

I drove these roads every day in high school. To school and back again.  I hated these roads.  I hated that they seemed so boring.  There was nothing but fields of cotton, tobacco or soy beans.  Now that I am older and appreciate this life so much more I love these roads.  I love driving them.  Just yesterday I saw a hawk swoop down beside the road and snatch up a mouse.  Yeah, poor mouse.  But that's life and it's beautiful.

Georgia Snow

 All of these pics were taken within miles of my house.

So I Married a Hunter

My hubby is an avid hunter.  I've gone with him a few times, but have not killed anything other than a squirrel.  (In my defense I swear that sucker was going to charge me!)  Anyway, I find myself trying on his camo gear from time to time.  I have never claimed to be a fashionista, but I think this works for me.

What do you think?

Lovin' The Golden Glow

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.Hans Christian Andersen

Driving down the interstate enjoying the golden glow that the sun throws at us late in the afternoon.  Ahhh...my favorite time of day.

  Not so much my favorite time to drive, though.  Damn sun RIGHT in my face! Hehehe

Another Reason Why I Love Living In Savannah

I'm a big wildlife fanatic.  I love animals and love taking pics of them.  I especially love reptiles and insects.  You'll see lots of pics of them here!  Alligator's can be found all around the Savannah area.
 This little guy's name is Diego.  Yeah, I named him.

Ambition

We live out in the boonies and have lots of farmland around us.  My son got some cotton from a neighbor for a project and took the seeds out.  He says he's going to save them for when he grows up - he wants to be a farmer.  He said that these are all he needs to start growing cotton.  He also has several other bags of different seeds that he's collected.  He definitely got his love of growing things from me.  There's just something satisfying about feeding your family with something you've grown yourself.  Having a garden is no easy task, but rewarding.  He also got his frugalness from me as well.  He says that the more seeds he saves now he won't have to buy later.  Smart boy! (Nevermind the fact that the seeds will probably be rotten by then.)

His ambition warms my soul to the core.  I love that he is passionate about something so good.  I'm sure he'll change his mind many times over before he's grown, but the fact that he's making plans makes me happy.

It's a Sick Day Here

All three of my little munchkins are puny so I'm in Super Mommy Gear.  I hope they feel better soon because I don't want them to miss Disney on Ice next weekend.

I Have a Problem...

Everytime I go into a store I have to try on ALL the hats.  I don't know why, but I do.

It's The Little Things...

This is my favorite time of day.  Right now it's late in the afternoon when the kids are quiet watching TV.  I'm sitting at my desk working.  The sun shines through our big Magnolia Tree and fills my space with a soft glow.  I love that tree. I fill it up with tons of bird feeders.  It brings me joy.

That may seem silly to some, but I've come to enjoy the little things in life.  It's the little things that can mean the most or can make the biggest impact.  What can I say?  It doesn't take much to entertain me.

Critters

I love the critters I find in my yard.  I give them all names.  This little guy's name is Sphinx.  It's not an original name since he's a Sphinx Moth, but chances are I've probably named him before anyway - probably something like Bob. 

Fun Day

Today was Family Day at my hubby's work.  They had tons of airplanes, helicopters, a petting zoo and lots of kiddo stuff.   My daddy retired from the same Airlift Wing that my hubby is with so he was with us today to enjoy the fun.

 Madison was trying to give me a peace sign, but she was wearing my gloves which were too big for her.

 Madison and Conner were loving the small "horsies."

Conner sportin' Poppy's hat.

 It was cold! I'm a wuss in cold weather.

 Mmmm....yummy cupcakes - all over her brand new pullover.

Tyler and Mitch checking out a plane.  Mitch was telling Tyler in great detail how it worked.

 Mitch cheezin'

I Don't Think That Goes There...

I walked into my room and found this.  Hmmm....I wonder who did that.

Life Is All About Choices

Our life is completely made up of the choices we make.  I know...we've all heard that before.  I sit here thinking back to just 5 years ago.  I would soon be entering into my last semester in college.  I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  That Bachelor's in Biology that seemed so hard to get was going to be mine!  It was a LONG, hard road as I was a single mother working up to 48 hours a week (night shift at that.) 

Years before I had watched a movie called "Outbreak" and I wanted more than anything to be an Epidemiologist for the CDC in Atlanta.  I wanted to be in the action and be a part of something big.  And that became my plan.  I was Atlanta bound come May 2006 when I had that beloved degree in my hand. Well...we all know that the ACTUAL paper doesn't come until months later.  However, the symbolic degree they hand you worked just fine for me. 

Come January 2006 I took on 21 hours so that I could graduate that semester.  I was in a zone - a get the hell out of this college zone.  Dating and partying were not in the cards for me.  Then I met Wesley.  I still remember it like it was yesterday.  We had a lab together and became lab partners on the first day. We just clicked.  I didn't want to start dating anyone - I had plans.  He said he didn't want to either.  So we agreed to just be friends.  We spent every waking moment together and the being "just friends" thing was hard.  Then one night he showed up at my house and said that he couldn't live with just being my friend.  And that's when I made the decision that maybe this Atlanta life wasn't exactly what I really wanted.  Maybe, just maybe, I wanted to be a part of something else.  I was in love and now wanted nothing more than to be with him - I wanted to be wherever he was. 

I chose to stay in the quaint city of Savannah.  Now, we have 3 absolutely beautiful children who fill our lives with so much joy and peace and a very happy marriage.  I look back and think - Pffft...Atlanta Schmanta...who needs it?  I have the love of a man who adores me and is home with me every night.  He also thinks it's cute when I get sassy.  Those kinds of guys are really hard to come by. ;o)

I was driving down one of these beautiful Savannah roads yesterday and looked up through the moss laden trees at the sun peeking through.  I had to take a picture.  And I realize just how very happy I am to have made the choices I did.  I love living in Savannah and now can't really see myself living anywhere else.

All Hallow's Eve

'Twas another great year of Trick or Treating.  As I sit here with a pile of empty candy wrappers on my desk I must say that I seriously need to lay off the Kit Kat's!  Geez!  They're gonna catch up with me after awhile. 

We were a strange sight this year.  I dressed as a cat, Mitch was Jason from Friday the 13th, Madison was Minnie Mouse and Conner was a tiger.  Wesley chose not to dress up 'cause he's a fuddy dud. ;o)  And the only bad thing about my costume was my long tail - I kept whacking people with it on accident.  Oops!

I hope everyone had a great time!

A Great Night Out

 My bestie, Kim, called a couple of weeks ago and said "Pick a day and time.  Make Wesley keep the kids.  You and I have a birthday date!"  I love her.  Not only because she answers my 20 calls everyday, but because she knows me and loves me just the same.  I can be quite the freak of nature at times and she takes it with stride all the while telling me that I am normal and that it's all good.  She's the one I would call at 3am saying "Hey!  You up?" - "I am now. What's up?" - "Let's go to the Waffle House.  I'm hungry"  She'd say without a second thought "Give me a sec to get some clothes on."  Yeah, she's cool like that.

We went out to LongHorn Steakhouse and ate like a couple of little piggies.  Diet be damned!  Then we made a quick trip to Wally World admiring all the interesting folks in their costumes.  Good times!