O Christmas Tree

This year I feel so off track for Christmas. We usually start putting up our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving and have in all done in a day or two. And here we are a few days into December and I don't have everything up and I feel like I'm wasting precious Christmas time. Well today I was thrown even more off when Aaron showed up with a live tree. We have a beautiful pre-lit artificial tree, which I LOVE, but Aaron......not so much. We bought it about seven years ago when Kmart here in Sulphur was going out of business. It was originally over $200, but we paid $60 for it. It is full and beautiful, but because of it's age, it has a few issues. For instance, some of the branches at the top are broken, but I taped them up and it works, and you can't even tell. And then last year some of the lights on the bottom of the tree went out. I spent hours working on them, to no avail. But I am fine with just adding some string lights and calling it good because I just love the look of the tree so much. Aaron has been trying to find a new tree for the last few years, but I just don't want to pay the price to have a tree as beautiful and full as the one we have, especially when we can just make do for a little longer. We were over at the Cliffords on Monday and he got so excited about their real tree and I think that is when he decided that we needed a real tree too. So here he is, all proud of his real tree.



In my opinion, the only great thing about a real tree is that it smells up the house really nicely. But, we have found that Yankee makes a 'Mistletoe' candle that smells just as good, and makes you think your tree is real, without all of the headache of a real tree. I know lots of people will disagree with me, but I think there are so many more cons than pros to having a real tree. Here are the ones that really are bothersome to me:

1. Having to water it and try to keep it alive until Christmas. I have put Aaron in charge of this, since it was his idea, and because it is a little harder for me to get up and down these days.

2. Having to pay every year for a tree that is going to die. Makes no sense to me.

3. All of the needles EVERYWHERE!!!!!

4. It is not perfectly shaped like my artificial tree. Aaron says that's because it is REAL and REAL trees, like life, aren't perfect. I say--what's wrong with a little perfection? After all, isn't that what our ultimate goal is supposed to be?!

5. The branches are too weak to hold some of our heavy ornaments. Even the ones at the top won't hold them. They just keep falling down. It's very frustrating.

Having said all of that, I really am trying not to be a Scrooge about the real tree, especially for the girls sake. They really weren't too sure about it either to begin with, but once they got out of the bathtub tonight and saw the tree all lit up after I had shaped it and strung all the lights, they were very excited and immediately went to work putting on the ornaments, which has always been their job.



Posing by the tree.



They used to put all of the ornaments in the same spot on the bottom of the tree, but they have gotten better about spreading them out.



While they were decorating, Sarah kept saying, "Mom, this is the yummiest Christmas ever!" I guess the real tree is growing on her. Maybe it will me too. But really, these smiles are all that matter.

Countdown to Christmas

I know I am a couple of days late, but I fell in love with this cute idea for a Christmas countdown on Tip Junkie and I made it today. I put fun things inside each 'little drawer' for us to do each day to help us countdown to Christmas and get in the spirit of the season. I included things like write a letter to Santa, make Christmas cookies and take some to a friend, read the Christmas story together, go Christmas light looking, go ice skating, make a Christmas ornament, send Christmas cards to the missionaries from our ward, etc. I am loving my new little advent calendar and look forward to a new fun thing to do with my family each day! I love Christmas!

Home Sweet Home

We finally made it in tonight after an extremely long drive home. We are tired and so glad to be out of the van and sleeping in our own beds tonight. We did, however, have a great visit with our family and friends in North Carolina. Here are some of the highlights.....and lowlights.

FRIDAY

Highlight--We were finally well enough to leave. HOORAY!

Lowlight--Sarah started asking, "Are we at the hotel yet?" five minutes after we left, and kept asking every ten to fifteen minutes, unless she was really distracted by a movie.

Lowlight--Getting a rock chip in our windshield from a truck we were behind on the interstate.

SATURDAY

Highlight--Entering good ole Duplin County and seeing the cotton fields. I love cotton fields. Not sure why, but I do.

Lowlight--Entering Duplin County and catching a whiff of the distinct smell of the air, which is not pleasant, because of all of the chicken, turkey, and hog farms. Sarah was so funny. Every time we would walk outside of my parents house, she would say, "EWW! Something stinks!" The funny thing is that I didn't usually notice until she would point it out.

Highlight--Going to my little sister Kristie's baby shower and seeing her and lots of family and friends I haven't seen in a while. Fun stuff.



Highlight--Going to my parents house. I like to walk around and look at every room when I get there just to see what's different, which usually isn't much, but I still like to do it.

SUNDAY

Highlight--Going to the ward that I grew up in and seeing lots of people who are very dear to me.



Highlight--Going to my niece Kyleigh's baptism. I was very honored to be asked to speak at her baptism, and that she asked me to help her change into her baptism dress, and to help her change after she was baptized. It made me so happy to be part of her special day.



Highlight--Meeting my newest little niece, Paige. She is such a sweet and happy little baby, and smelled absolutely delicious. I enjoyed every second that I got to hold her.



MONDAY

Highlight--Going shopping at Target with my sister, Melissa. Wish we could have had more time, but at least we got to spend a little bit of one-on-one time together.

Highlight--Spending time with my cute nephew Ethan, who absolutely loves to laugh, smile, and 'talk' to Aunt Lynetta....................



Lowlight--.................as long as I am NOT holding him. Makes me very sad, especially since we had bonded so nicely while we were there in July.

Highlight--Listening to Uncle Aaron tell a 'Ted and Linda Lou' story to all of the girl cousins who slept over and didn't want to go to sleep. He talked them all right to sleep.

Lowlight--They didn't go to sleep until after midnight and were up by 6:30am.

TUESDAY

Highlight--Eating some good ole' collards and chicken and pastry at McCall's. YUMMO!

Highlight--Getting to visit with Kristie and Luke again.

WEDNESDAY

Highlight--Shopping in K-town and my sweet husband buying me some UNC stuff for my van.

Highlight--Eating a cheesesteak at Andy's. Seriously the best!

THURSDAY

Highlight--Aaron helping Katie, Sarah, Charles Allen, Emmy, Marleigh, and Kyleigh shoot Katie's gun. All of the kids loved it, much to Grandma's dismay.



*Love this picture of Charles Allen shooting with his tongue hanging out. He 'shot' two turkeys and a deer. =)



Highlight--Having a delicious Thanksgiving lunch at my Grandma Barnett's house. Hey Neal, did you notice that you cut my head off?



Highlight--Sitting around after lunch and getting a family history lesson from Aunt Carolyn Jean and then hearing stories from her and grandma about how mischievous my dad was when he was little.

Highlight--Having a Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house that night and getting to eat some of my mom's delicious dressing.

Lowlight--Being so stuffed from two big meals that I could hardly move that night.

FRIDAY

Lowlight--Waking up to a cracked windshield. Apparently the cold weather had upset the rock chip that we got on the way to NC and sent a crack up each side of it. So now it looks like our windshield is smiling.

Highlight--Going shopping with Aaron and my sisters Kristie and Melissa, and Melissa's husband Jacob.

Highlight--Eating Krispy Kreme's 'hot now' doughnuts. SOOOO GOOD!! (I know--pretty sad that half of my highlights are about delicious food I ate. Can you tell I'm pregnant?)

Highlight--Riding back to my parents house with the van loaded down with our loot and a baby crib for Kristie. Poor Jake could hardly move in the back seat, but he was such a good sport about it. So wish I had a picture!

Highlight--Spending our last night there at Meadow looking at the Christmas lights and buying overpriced, but delicious candy from the little country store.

Lowlight--The line to ride the train was ridiculously long, so we just walked around to look at the lights.

Lowlight--Having elephant feet from apparently being on my feet entirely too long for the day. They haven't been like that since I was pregnant with Katie. I was going to take a picture, but you would just be grossed out.



SATURDAY

Lowlight--Left to start the long ride home. It was a very sad day. It rained almost the entire time we were driving, which seemed to fit my gloomy mood perfectly.

Lowlight--Slow driving because of the rain, and because apparently everyone else was going home from their Thanksgiving travels as well.

Highlight--We had a safe day of traveling.

SUNDAY

Lowlight--I woke up with a headache that wouldn't go away.

Lowlight--We ran into traffic almost as soon as we crossed the state line into Louisiana. Thank goodness for cheap gas and the DVD player.

Highlight--We stopped to eat at Applebee's because my sweet husband wanted to treat me to something better than fast food on my birthday, and because Applebee's is one of my favorite places to eat and we don't have one in Lake Charles anymore. The food was delicious!

Lowlight--The service was horrible. It took us an hour to get our food, and they weren't even busy.

Lowlight--It took us at least three hours longer to get home from two different traffic delays. It seemed like we would never get home. It was a LONG, LONG day.

Highlight--Although we came home with a cracked windshield and a broken plastic thingy on one of our seats, the van did great and we traveled around 2500 miles without any major problems. We are grateful that we were able to go to NC for Thanksgiving and spend time with our loved ones there. We love and miss you already!

Parent Visitation Week

This week was parent visitation week at the studio where Katie and Sarah take gymnastics, which meant that we were able to go sit in on their classes and see what they do each week. Sarah for some reason has not been wanting to go to class lately, but was so excited when she found out that me, Daddy, Katie, and Maw Maw were going to class with her this week.



She's so cute. Every time she would do something new, she would wave and smile at us when she was done.



She make a really good 'bridge' and all of her classmates crawled under.



She really has great form for her age, I think. But I may be a little biased.

Katie's class was tonight, so Sarah and I didn't go so we wouldn't spread our sick germs with her class. But my sweet husband did get some pictures so I could see what Katie does in her class.



She is doing really good with her splits, and practices all the time at home.



Another position we see her in a lot at home.



She is pretty flexible. Believe it or not, I used to be pretty flexible too, back in the day.



I wonder how high up she made it. I'm impressed that she even got off of the ground.



This is her teacher, Mrs. Amy, who she loves. It's probably the closest thing I'll come to a picture of the two of them, since Katie thinks she is too old for posing for pictures these days.

Our Thankful Turkey

We finished our 'Thankful Turkey' tonight, since we won't be here for the next week. He turned out pretty cute. We are thankful for.......

1. Brownies
2. Lollipops
3. Families
4. Jesus
5. The Earth
6. Aunts and Uncles
7. Food
8. Heavenly Father
9. Our Country
10. Our Bodies
11. Flowers
12. The Gospel
13. Our Home
14. Friends
15. Katie
16. Sarah
17. John David
18. Mommy
19. Daddy
20. The Spirit
21. Temples
22. Family Home Evening
23. Prophets
24. Doctors
25. Medicine
26. Home Teachers
27. Priesthood Blessings

We are truly blessed and are so grateful to our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ for all that we have been given.

Just Our Luck

Just once it would be so nice for us to go to NC without anyone being sick. It seems like most times we go, we have someone get sick just before we leave or just after we get there. On our trip last year for Thanksgiving, which also happened to be my sister's wedding, Sarah was sick almost the entire time we were there. She had a high fever and was throwing up. We thought to begin with that it was a virus, but we finally took her to an urgent care when she just wasn't getting better. A few hundred dollars later, we found out she had an ear infection. And unfortunately, this time is more of the same. We thought we had nipped it in the bud because we took Sarah to the doctor last Friday and got her on an antibiotic for her ear infections. I called yesterday to schedule a follow up appointment for this morning just to make sure her ears were cleared up and she would be ready for our trip. After she didn't sleep well and ran a low grade fever last night, I wondered if she was not quite well. I was also not feeling well when I woke up this morning. So after the doctor looked at Sarah's ears, she said they were better, but not well. She then looked at her throat and said she found the cause of her fever--strep throat--which explains why my throat was hurting pretty bad when I woke up this morning. So I called my doctor and they are calling out an antibiotic for me. Thank goodness, because I am so tired and didn't feel like going into the office. So instead of leaving this afternoon like we had planned, Sarah and I are going to try to get some rest and get our antibiotics going and hopefully we'll be able to leave in the morning. I don't think it's asking too much for us not to be sick for just one trip. Maybe someday.

Sewing Projects

With my sweet little Sarah being sick today, it gave me the chance to work on some sewing projects while she hung out on the couch watching movies. Since the second time RaeAnn came over, Sarah has been begging for us to make her a 'baby pouch.' We started on it last Friday and finished it up yesterday. When we first finished it--or thought we had finished--it fit Sarah snugly, with no room for the baby. Being the beginner that I am, I thought we would have to start all over. But RaeAnn just cut it, cut and pinned on some more fabric, and told me to sew it. And, voila, a cute little 'baby pouch' for my baby's babies. She loves it, and so do I.



Whenever I have my stuff out, Katie has been asking to learn to sew too. So we made these cute blankets and pillows out of scraps for her barbie beds. I cut and pinned the fabric, and Katie did the sewing on the machine. She did really good and she really liked it. I'm going to have to find a new project for her. I love that she wants to learn to sew now, instead of at age 35.



RaeAnn also showed me how to turn these cloth diapers into cute burp cloths. I was actually pretty frustrated after doing the first two, but I kept trying and I think I've got it figured out. I made these for my sister who is having her baby boy in January. I get to go to her shower next Saturday. I can hardly wait!



I also figured out how to make taggies. I actually made this little one out of scraps, just for fun and to see if it would work. And it did! It matches the baby blanket I made.



And this one I made for my sister. It matches the burp cloths I made for her. And I got to use the left over minky, which I love!

Tagged

My sweet sister-in-law, Kristen, tagged me. So here goes..............

8 favorite TV shows

1. Life
2. Lost--when it actually comes on
3. The Today Show
4. NCIS
5. The Unit
6. American Idol
7. Cold Case
8. Everybody Loves Raymond reruns

8 things I did yesterday

1. Added 100 lbs. of milk to my food storage
2. Went to playgroup with Sarah
3. Finally completed my baby blanket
4. Watched Life--LOVE that show
5. Played 'Princess Monopoly' with Katie
6. Called my Dad
7. Ate the last piece of Jo's cake
8. Finally got to a really interesting part in 'Twilight' as I was reading it before bed

8 things I look forward to

1. Going home for Thanksgiving
2. Black Friday!!!!!!!
3. Christmas
4. My next sewing project
5. John David's arrival
6. Not wearing maternity clothes anymore
7. Completing my year supply--getting close! =)
8. Our next Temple Trip

8 favorite restaurants

1. Applebees
2. Olive Garden
3. Rockola
4. Andy's
5. Posado's
6. Fazzoli's
7. Bennigans
8. Logan's

8 things on my wish list

1. My dad to have a healthy heart
2. To be debt free
3. A huge family trip to Disney World
4. To go back to college and finish my degree
5. To add on to our house
6. Landscaping
7. To be the size I was when I got married
8. To be able to play the piano

*I'm supposed to tag 8 people, but I'll just let whoever wants it take it!

Rearranging

This morning at about 3:30am, we heard an extremely loud clap of thunder. It sounded like a shotgun right outside our house, magnified by about 1,000. It actually shook our house and everything in it. I jumped as it woke me up, and then immediately said a prayer and asked for us to be protected and that the girls would sleep through the storm. Well, only half of my prayer was answered, because we were of course safe, but the girls were both in our room in less than a minute. They too were awoken by the loud thunder and were scared and quickly crawled into bed with us. Aaron relinquished his side of the bed, told them they could sleep with me, and headed for the couch. As I was trying to comfort them and tell them we would all be fine, I remembered what my mom used to tell me when I was a little girl during thunder storms. I told them, "My mom used to tell me when I was a little girl not to be afraid of the thunder because it is just Heavenly Father rearranging his furniture." I know it sounds silly, but it really did help comfort me. Katie said, "Well he must be moving something big, like his couch!"

We are Thankful for Veterans

We started out yesterday morning at the Veteran's Day Program at Katie's school. It was a short, but sweet program, with the elementary kids singing patriotic songs and such. Then the veterans who were present introduced themselves and told what branch they served in and how long they served. I admire and respect the men and women that choose to serve our country this way. It is something I don't think I could do.



The kids singing "You're a Grand Ole' Flag."



Our favorite veteran.



Monday was also the Marine Corps birthday. Aaron calls it his birthday too. In order to properly celebrate his day, he stopped by Jo's and bought himself a cake. We are so thankful for all of the men and women, past and present, who dedicate their lives to protecting our freedom. May the Lord continue to watch over and protect them and their families, and bless them for their amazing sacrifice.

Farewell to the Jorgensens

Sunday night we had the Jorgensens over for our last supper together. We decided we had to feed them some good ole' Cajun food since we figured it would be harder to come by in Montana, and luckily we decided to make jambalaya. Turns out it is one of their favorite Cajun dishes. We had a great time, except we missed their sweet girls who are in Utah with their grandma. But we were able to get a little glimpse of what our house may be like once little John David arrives, thanks to Jace. He is such a cutie, and FULL of boy energy. We, along with all of the Lake Charles Ward, will miss this amazing family tremendously. They are such great examples and truly an inspiration to us all. Since we didn't want to say goodbye, we made them a cookie cake that said...................................



..................see ya later alligators!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Date Night

Saturday was an extremely busy day for Aaron. He started out early in the morning going to help out at an Eagle Scout project. He got home just in time to take a shower and get ready to take us to Alexis's baptism. After we got home from the baptism, he had about an hour and a half before he had to leave to go to the stake dance. He called his mom and asked her to watch the girls, and then asked if I wanted to go with him to the stake dance. I have to admit that it really wasn't my idea of a fun date night, but any time I get to spend with him these days is precious to me. So I went and it was actually a good time. We enjoyed visiting with the youth and leaders too. We were also quite entertained watching the youth--and some leaders--shake a leg. I am grateful for date nights and my husband who tries to include me in his busy schedule.

On a Happier Note

As disappointed as I am in the election results, I know when I wake Katie up in the morning and tell her she will be very upset. She asked me tonight as we were watching the 5:30 news, "Mom, what are we going to do if Obama wins?" When I answered, "Pray", she asked, "Pray for what?" I said, "Pray that he will make good decisions for our country." It has amazed me how interested she has been in this election, and has been wanting us to put a 'McCain/Palin' sign in our yard for weeks now. I meant to get one, but it just never happened. Anyway, I am quite certain that I didn't know anything about presidents, elections, and voting when I was 7 years old. Hopefully she will have a lifelong interest in the affairs of our country and who our leaders are, and will always take advantage of her right to vote. And now the praying for our president begins. Or continues, I should say. But even more fervently than ever before.
On a much happier note, I spent most of the day pretending that this craziness wasn't going to happen by listening to some good tunes on my ipod while happily sewing my sweet baby boy on the way a blanket. I think it turned out pretty darn good for a first project. And I must say that I think I am hooked. I LOVE sewing. I can't wait to start another project. The pictures really don't do it justice. It is much cuter in person. Here is the front.



And here is the back.



I don't know what the yellow fabric is, but it is very soft and cuddly and I can't wait to snuggle my sweet baby in it. I can almost smell him now.

A Day in the Park

Johnice came and got the girls and took them to the park today so I could get some things done.



They went to pick up Maw Maw Mire, grabbed some lunch at Wendy's, and went to Sam Houston Jones State Park for a little picnic.



After their tummies were full, they decided to feed the ducks.



And they came prepared.

They all had a great time together.

Counting Our Blessings

Tonight we had the Cliffords over for dinner and afterwards FHE. We had a lesson about being thankful and how we should be thankful everyday for all of our blessings. We talked about some things that Elder Dallin H. Oaks said that we should be thankful for as members of the church. Then we made turkeys for our families to help us count our blessings and to help us count down to Thanksgiving. Each day we are supposed to add a feather to our turkey and write on it one thing we are thankful for. Since it is November 3rd, we put three feathers on tonight. Katie was thankful for families, and Sarah was thankful for brownies and lollipops. Not long after we got started, we caught Sarah trying to cut her hair with the scissors. So being the horribly mean mother that I am, I took them away from her, which triggered a mini-meltdown. She went and sat on the couch for a few minutes, but we were finally able to convince her to come back and help us finish our turkey. Right now, I am thankful for friends who invited both of the girls over to spend the night, and for Maw Maw who is picking them up tomorrow morning to spend the better part of the day with them. Just in time for a much needed break for me. HOORAY!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

This morning Katie and Sarah both came and climbed into bed with me and snuggled for a few minutes. I asked, "So did yal dream of candy bars and lollipops?" Sarah said, "No, I dreamed about Jesus." When I asked what she dreamed about Jesus, she said, "I dreamed that he was being nice to people and helping people feel better, like Grandaddy. He was blessing that he would feel better." This brought tears to my eyes, as my dad is in the hospital right now. I am so grateful for my sweet girls, who teach, inspire, uplift, and comfort me on a daily basis.

Dorothy and the Not So Wicked Witch of the East

Happy Halloween! Here are our princesses all dressed up and ready to go to our ward's Trunk or Treat out at the Aucoin's.



Katie was a lovely little 'Dorothy', complete with her little dog 'Toto'.



And here is the Not So Wicked Witch of the South. Every time I called her the witch of the South, she would correct me and say, "No, it's the East, not the South." I tried to tell her we live in the South, but she still wanted to be called the 'Wicked Witch of the East'. She wanted to be a good witch, but still wanted to be green. Although I found every other color of the rainbow in the cream make-up, I could not find green. All I could find was this glittery stuff, but she thought it was the coolest, so we got it. After I got it on her face, she kept looking in the mirror at herself and saying, "I look so good" and "I am so beautiful." She was pretty excited to be glittery green.



Dorothy found her good friend, the Scarecrow, by our front porch.



And then the witch came and said,



"I'll get you my pretty.................



..........and your little dog too!"



We also brought a doctor with us, just in case.



Here are Jaimee, Katie, and Savannah waiting to go into the 'Haunted House'.



And here they are coming out. Katie said wasn't too scary, but we could distinctly hear her screaming. After she went through the first time, she just kept going back over and over and we hardly saw her at all until it was time for the Trunk or Treat.



Here they are after collecting treats, trying to be scary. Then Dorothy clicked here heels and said, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home." And then magically..............





.................they were at home asleep.