It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas, Finally!

I'm not sure what the deal is, but it has taken me and unusually long time to get my decorations up this year.  I just couldn't get in the mood or find the time.  So, over the weekend, I finally just buckled down and did here.  Here are a few pictures of my decorations.  We don't normally go all out or anything.  With small kids in the house, I just would rather not spend all of December telling them not to touch things.

My Precious Moments Nativity.  I collected the pieces over a few years, but since we got the piano this year, I decided that this would be a safe place for me to put it.

This beautiful ornament was part of our Christmas portrait package from Kelly Williams of The Bond Between Us.  I think is it awesome!  She ordered them from a seller on Etsy.

With kids in the house, and advent calendar is a must.  I got this one from Hallmark when Emma was little, and I just love it.  All the little ornaments have magnets and stick onto the tree.  The star even plays a song when you press it.  The best part if the hidden pocket between the bottom two tiers of the tree where you keep all the ornaments.

This shelf in my dining room is filled with random items that really don't have another home. Madeline has already enjoyed rearranging them, and even breaking one of my snowmen.

Our Christmas tree, all decorated and ready for presents. After I took this picture I realized how sad it looked with no presents, so I wrapped some, but didn't take any photos. :-(

Here she is again, all lit up.  I turned the lights off for this shot, and I really like how all the colored lights are showing on the wall. 

Thanksgiving recap - just in time for Christmas!

I started off Thanksgiving with a week long visit from my sister Erin, her husband and her little boy, who is 6 months younger than Madeline. We had a great time. Since she lives far away, we rarely get to spend that much time together at once, and we made the most of it. We baked for a whole day, we crafted, we shopped, and we even ventured out on Black Friday. We were in line at Old Navy at 10pm for a midnight opening, then headed to Walmart after that. Although the trip was a little stressful, considering the crazed redneck lady that tried to break in line at Old Navy once the door opened, it was a successful trip. I was able to get some Old Navy jeans for $15 for me and Ike, and I got our whole family fleece jackets at Walmart for $7 each! I love a good deal!

The actual Thanksgiving meal was at my mom's house this year, and it was full of activity. We ate, played, and just enjoyed each others company. The house was so full. We had two little ones under 2, two 7 year olds, and one in between those. So to say the house was nuts is a little bit of an understatement. The kids had a great time together though. My sister Erin and I made the kids cute shirts with turkey's on them, and I think they turned out well. I did not come up with the turkey shirt idea by myself though, I got it from an Etsy shop, then just drew it out.  I'm not very creative on my own, so I have to "borrow" ideas from other bloggers and crafters.

Here are some pics of the kids in their cute shirts.

Wordless Wednesday for Decemeber 1, 2010

Camp out - Take two

Emma is always asking to go camping, but it's just such a pain to have to actually go to a campground, and I don't think Madeline would sleep in a tent.  Last year we tried to camp out in my mom and dad's backyard, and we had a decent time, but it got cold after the sun set, and Emma wouldn't sleep in the tent.  She also complained about the noise of the traffic coming from the road near my parents house.  So, basically we put up the tent, sat in our camp chairs, made smores and played with sparklers.

This year, Emma wanted to try it again.  So, a few weeks ago we decided to try it out at our house instead.  We live in a really quiet neighborhood, and it was looking like the weather would be good, so we just went for it.  Ike helped me, and we spend a good part of the day cleaning off the back porch, getting the tent set up, readying the fire pit, and moving around the patio furniture.  By the time Emma got home, everything was ready to go.  We spent the afternoon and night playing outside in the backyard as a family and it was so much fun.  Emma and Ike slept in the tent, and Madeline and I went back inside to sleep.  I just didn't feel comfortable having her in the house alone.

Here are some pictures from our night.

Our new fire pit/bowl.  It worked out great, and we can't wait to use it again.

Madeline loved playing in the big tent.  

Ike had a great time cutting up some limbs for us to use as firewood.  Ha!

This was Emma's play tent from when she was little. Madeline loved going in and out of it.

Check out Madeline trying to eat one of the GIANT marshmallows that we got to make smores with.

Madeline loves to be outside!

I had to put this shot of her with the marshmallow in her mouth.  It was so huge!  She wanted to do it all by herself.

It was a full moon that night, and I tried my best to get a decent shot of it.

Madeline had a blast bouncing around on Ike's air mattress.

Trying to get a good picture of Emma these days is getting harder and harder.  She never wants me to take her picture, and it's like pulling teeth to get her to smile.

Infant and Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Day

October 15th is Infant and Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Day. I know many women including myself who have experienced the loss of a child, so I just wanted to post this to help raise awareness. This day was created for those who are suffering or may know someone who has suffered a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy, a still birth, or the loss of an infant.

I lost a child in April of 2008. It was an ectopic pregnancy and I never even got to hear the heartbeat, but the loss was devastating all the same. We had been trying for a year to get pregnant and with the help of clomid, we thought our dream of having a second child had come true. Sadly, two days after getting a positive HPT, were were told that I would lose the baby. It was such a sad time for me, and I really didn't have anyone to talk to. I turned to the Internet and realized that I was not alone in my grief.

The grief of losing a child is very real, whether or not you were able to hold your child on earth. Society has somewhat put this type of grief on the backburner and failed to recognize the loss of a pregnancy or an infant as a real loss. Some well meaning people, even women, will say things like "you can try again", or "just be thankful you weren't further along". While I am sure that the people that say these things mean no harm, their words are very hurtful.

So, today, please remember those who have lost a child. Their pain and loss is real, and their child's life, no matter how short, had weight.

You can check out www.october15th.com for more information.

I'll leave you with a bible verse:

Psalm 139:13-16
 13 For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.
 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.
 15 My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
 16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.

Plowboy Day - Winnersville 2010

This week marks and important time for our town.  It's Winnersville Week!  Basically this means that we will play our cross town rivals in football on Friday night, and that this week is full of activities at the local schools.  This week at Emma's school, they had a chance to dress up each day.  They were out Monday for Fall Break, but the schedule looked something like this:
Tuesday: Twin Day
Wednesday: Tacky Day
Thursday: Plowboy Day
Friday: Viking Spirit Day

Emma didn't have a "twin" for Tuesday, so she didn't dress up.  Wednesday was tacky day, and I had a really tacky outfit all picked out for her to wear, but when it came time to get dressed that morning, she wouldn't do it.  She said she didn't want anyone to make fun of her.  I tried to explain that everyone would be tacky, but she wouldn't do it. But today, she dressed up with no problem.

Our teams mascot is the Viking, but for as long as I can remember, our nickname is the plowboys.  If I remember the story correctly, when they started the county school system as we know it today, and built the high school back in the 60's, most of the areas of the county that were divided off to go to the new school were full of farms and "rednecks".  So, since there were so many farmers, the city school started calling us plowboys.

Anyway, I said all of that to show you a few pictures of Emma dressed up this morning.

Back to school

As many of you know, I have been teaching Emma at home through Georgia Cyber Academy.  She has been at home with me, for half of K and all of 1st grade. Over the summer Ike and I started to talk about when we thought we should send Emma back to regular school.  For a while, things are home were getting pretty rough with Emma, and it was starting to make the mother/daughter relationship feel very strained, since she was having trouble distinguishing between my role as her teacher and my role as her mom. We debated back and forth all summer about what to do, and we just couldn't seem to make a decision. Finally, with about 2 weeks until the start of our local public school, we decided to talk to Emma and see what she wanted to do. She really wanted to go back to regular school, so we decided to give it a try.  So, on Friday, August 6th, Emma started 2nd grade at the brand new Pine Grove Elementary.  I was really nervous for her, but she did great.  She wouldn't even let me walk her in once we got to school. She said that she would be fine, and walked in all by herself.  We were really proud of her. She came home after school on the bus, and said she had a good day, and that she liked her teacher.  So, only time will tell, but we are hoping for a great year.

Here are some pictures of her on her 1st day.

Some of you may notice that she only has one earring in.  I would like to say that I was a super observant parent, and didn't let my child go to school on the 1st day with only 1 earring in, but....I did.  I didn't even notice it until after she was already at school and I was back home downloading the pictures off the camera.  Uggh. Maybe nobody noticed. Ha!

Long Time No Blog

Well, summer has come to an end, and it went by really fast. Last weekend we celebrated the end of summer by heading to Destin to visit some family and to celebrate my cousin's little boy Devan's 7th birthday. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

Me and my cousin April at the bowling ally.

Me, and my cousins April and Stephanie at the bowling ally.

Check out Emma's bowling form. Ha! She had a great time.

The birthday boy Devan, and his sister Laila.

After the party, the kids had some fun in the sprinkler and the hose.  Even Madeline got in on the action.

We had a great time visiting with our family!

Happy 7th Birthday Emma!

Seven years ago today, I gave birth to a 6lb 7oz beautiful little girl. I really can't believe that it has been 7 years.  Emma is still just as cute, if not cuter than she was then, and is still just as hard to handle.  She is the most stubborn and persistent child that I have even come in contact with, but I really hope that those personality traits will serve her well in life.  Sadly though, she is so much like me, that I can barely believe it.  So, here's to you baby girl!  I love you!

Here are some pictures from her party that we had on Friday night.  we had pasta for dinner and cupcake and ice cream for dessert.  Thanks for my sister Erin for all her help with the party.  She had a great time, and I really appreciate everyone who was able to come and celebrate with her.

I apologize for the quality of these photos.  Our house is terrible for taking pictures at night, and during present time, it was almost impossible to get a picture without someone walking into the shot.  Thanks to my hubby for taking these pics though, he really tried his best.

Schools Out for Summer!

Emma hit a milestone this week, that I wanted to share.  She finished the 1st Grade over the weekend!  She was super excited to be done with school for the year, and she worked really hard over the holiday weekend to get finished up.  Our last day is officially Friday the 4th, but once you have all the days and hours accounted for, and all the lessons complete, then you are done for the year. 

Here is a picture of her online school screen, showing that she completed all the subjects.

We also got Emma's CRCT scores from her teacher last week, and she "met" the state standard in Math and in Language Arts, and she "exceeded" the state standard in Reading.  We were really proud of her!  Her attention issues make concentration hard for her at times, and she has some anxiety issues as well, so for her to be able to concentrate on the questions and push her anxiety aside to complete the tests and do well, was an accomplishment!