A sneak peek at....

our Christmas card! Last year, we had our portraits taken professionally. All the years before (when we have had children) I have taken them and then created them online at Kodak Gallery. I decided to take a pic tonight in their Christmas garb and with Cyber Monday deals...I could not pass a 30% off deal with Kodak! I saved a LOT of money! I sooooo love that!

I have a post brewing about my weekend....just haven't had the time to finish it!

From my family to yours, we are wishing you a very blessed, wonderful Thanksgiving! God is so good!

It's been a LONG time...

Black Friday....ahhhh! It is a shopper's dream....sales galore and deals to be had! Well, this year, my sister and I are going to be getting up MUCH earlier than normal. Why sleep when deals are out there?!! So, this year....we are pull an ALL-NIGHTER! Yep! I have not pulled an all nighter since Carleigh was a newborn....over 5 years ago! Do I have the stamina to do it? We'll see....in my high school and college years, oh it wasn't a problem....I pull all-nighters quite often, but seeing as I am older and two children later....oh I hope so!

As we are out there getting the majority of our Christmas shopping done, what will YOU be doing? Sleeping or shopping???

So very thankful...

This weekend was such a wonderful, emotional, and difficult weekend for all sorts of reasons. Through it all....I came to the conclusion that I am VERY thankful for my immediate family. Friends WILL come and go, but family will ALWAYS be there for you in thick and thin. When one of us needs an immediate need, we will stop whatever we are doing and help them. This happened several times in the past couple of days.

Every family member has struggled with something very different in our lives, but through it all, we have been there for each other. If it were not for my family, I would be sunk. Many times I have cried and weeped and my sister was there for me. My mom has been there for me when I could not stay home with my children. For that, I am forever thankful to her. My niece Brittany is like a little sister that I never had. I was there when she was born, got to hold her when she was 20 minutes old and babysat her practically every weekend of the first 5 years of her life.

This Thanksgiving season, I am so VERY thankful for my family. They are a priceless gift that will never be tarnished or thrown away. Thank you Lord for my awesome, loving family!

A New Adventure

My sister and I are venturing into business together! We were going to keep it a secret, but I can't wait to share it! We are going to be making jewelry, hair bows, hair clip organizers and much much more! Since my sister has a HUGE house (can I say that I am jealous?) we are using one of her many unused rooms to be our production location. We will mostly be making the product on weekends since she works second shift and I am on day shift. We have a few kinks to work out, but we are hoping for a fun, profitable business! I need to generate money for a special "project" and this will hopefully be the best way to get the $$ needed. My sister and I have already done our research and are itching to start! I will post some pics of our products soon. If it becomes profitable, I may also generate a website. I am so very excited to be doing this with the closest friend possible....my big sis Connie!

Twins

No, I do not technically have twins, but the older they get, the more it seems like I have twins. Case in point, I put their clothes in the same closet with usually Cody's clothes on the left and Carleigh's clothes on the right side of the closet. Last night I was in a hurry to get everything laid out and ready for the school day. I grabbed dark jeans and a hoodie for Cody. I get two phone calls that day telling me that I think Cody was wearing Carleigh's jeans. The first call was from my babysitter aka mom and the second call was from Matt during therapy. Needless to say that when Cody got back this evening, the first thing that I did was to check out his pants. And yes, they were Carleigh's. *LOL* Luckily for him, the jeans looked like normal jeans with the exception of a tie-dyed starbust on the upper front thigh of each jeans with a trace of glitter. I am so glad that they did not have flowers or hearts. My poor boy. I wonder if his teachers and aides noticed. LOL! This is the second flakey thing I have done this week in regards to his school affairs.

EVERY time we are out a restaurant or shop I get the question, are they twins? They are almost the same height and Cody could wear Carleigh's clothes (not that he would on PURPOSE!) so I get the reason why we get that and of course they do look alike with their blonde blonde hair. I have stopped explaining that they are 13 months apart because when I tell someone they get a weird look on their face like why did I have two children so close in age and it's not like I had a CHOICE in the matter! LOL! So I leave strangers with the idea that I have twins. I have secretly always wanted twins though.....

Christmas Shopping

I absolutely LOVE buying presents for my children. The poor children only get gifts at one time of the year thanks to having January and March birthdays. They have been waiting for quite awhile for some new toys and goodies. I know exactly what we are getting our daughter, but our son is quite tricky since his only interest is pianos and things that spin. He is definitely our shopping challenge. I do the majority of my shopping on Black Friday. My sister and I usually get up very early and make it to the stores for the big deals. We are changing our strategy and location of shopping this year to make the experience much better. 2 weeks from today, I'll be in shopping heaven!!

Concerned

We are starting to be concerned with Cody's nutrition and digestion issues. Cody is not eating well AT ALL. This is not good for a boy who is barely 40lbs (was any way)! We are looking into giving Cody protein bars and other supplemental foods to help him gain weight. His pediatrician is also concerned about his weight. It doesn't help that heis taking a medication for his ADHD that suppresses his appetite. If anyone has any ideas on helping with this, I would be greatly appreciative! Also, please keep my little guy in your prayers.

Smarter than we think

On Sunday, we went to our niece's birthday party. She played her new guitar and then her brother entertained everyone with magic tricks. While Riley was preparing for his next trick, Cody stands up with Riley's keyboard that he confiscated from R's room. He then states to his audience "Um...I play piano!" And then entertains us with his rendition of a classical piece. It was HILARIOUS! It was like it was Cody's turn to entertain everyone and play an interlude while Riley was getting ready for his final act.

He really fooled my sister Friday night when she gave him 2 quarters and they were looking at a toy catalog together discussing what the kids wanted for Christmas. Cody grabs my sister by the hand and said "Let's go to store and buy piano." When she said no he ran to his dad and faked a cry. Connie feeling guilty and didn't want to break his heart, took him to get a much cheaper piano. Then tonight at the dinner table he faked a cry with me and I called him on it. He is very smart and knows exactly what to do to get what he wants! He is such a clever little boy!

Carleigh is getting smarter by the minute also....Matt asked the kids who spilled water and Carleigh declares "It's not MY fault!" Her speech has come a LONG way!!

Getting Thrifty

As the years go by, I am becoming more thrifty and trying to save money and figuring out how to cut costs. The first thing that I did was start shopping at Aldi. I cannot get all our groceries there, but it does help trim down on our grocery bill. These days, I have been visiting more yard sales and thrift stores. My sister and I went to a gently used consignment shop for kids and found two BEAUTIFUL Christmas dresses for Carleigh. Both dresses look that they had been worn once. I cannot wait to see her all dressed up for the holidays! I also found a handsome red plaid shirt for Cody that will go with his Christmas sweater I found a few months ago at another thrift shop. I also scored a brand new Gymboree skirt and nightgown at a fraction of the cost. I am also looking into possibly starting a new hobby which would bring in profits as well.

3 years ago today...

We adopted our daughter Carleigh! Happy Adoption Day sweetheart! Our family would not be complete without our daughter. She was 2.5 years old when we adopted her and her brother's SLOW case paved the way for her adoption to much more smoothly and quickly. We love you Carleigh! She is such a funny, silly and strong-willed little girl! She has such an unique personality and such a sweetheart!

National Adoption Awareness Month

It is National Adoption Awareness Month again. It's such a special month for me because Carleigh was adopted on our county's "National Adoption Day" in 2007. I cannot believe that it has been 3 years already! Wow!

Halloween in Pictures

The kids have 4 BUCKETS full of candy and will be loaded with sugar for the next two months. Needless to say that candy will be limited, but everyone had such much fun over the weekend. With a harvest party, or treat at another church, and then trick or treating with the cousins, lots of candy was given out. The Princess and King will now how get dress up costumes to add to their role-play toys. I love purchasing things that have more than one use!

Trick or Treating with the Cousins

Yummy Treats

I baked 3 cakes, cupcakes, pumpkin and ghost cookies on Saturday, plus carving 7/8 pumpkins. It was fun and exhausting!