Christmas Presents Time!!

It's almost time for the new year. Hope everyone has some special plans. None here, We'll probably be home playing games together or something as a family :) I'm looking forward the new year. I don't have any resolutions although I should be getting on a weight loss plan and finding a church for the family. Those are just thoughts. But we'll see.

I feel like we were really blessed this Christmas and my girls were spoiled. As always I do have pictures to share from our Christmas. Here is a picture of our tree with the girls gifts :)

Here are a few photo's from our christmas with Mom :) For some reason I didn't get a picture or Abbey with her gifts from Nana or any of the rest of us with all our gifts, I hate when I do that, A picture of everyone with all of their gifts in one shot is so much easier to Scrapbook :)

Christmas morning at home was delightful, The only thing missing was Ashley, She was at her Dad's this year for Christmas Morning. We hd the web cam set up so Jake's parents could watch Abbey open her gifts. Abbey opened her gifts and she found her favorite right away :)

Here I am with my gifts from Jake, He spoiled me :) I got an ipod 20GIG!!, a kitchen dock for the ipod (thank god! as much time as I spend back there music will make it so much more enjoyable:)) and a tuner to use it in the car although we're having trouble finding a station to tune it into.. hrm...

I didn't get pictures of Jake with his gifts, I'll have to sit him down for one, I can't believe we didn't take one!!!

Of course Ashley was not left out completely. We let her have her Christmas as soon as she got home last night. The easy bake oven was a favorite right away, She's already made cookies in it and she loves it, She squeeled when she opened it.. hehe!!!

Well that was our Christmas. We had a good one. Ashley is out of school for the week but now she has lots of goodies to keep her occupied. I have to clean out the girls room one day this week to make room to organize all the new stuff in there.

Ashley is sleeping in this morning, When she came home from her Dad's yesterday she was all snotty and not feeling to well, So I'm letting her sleep. When she get's up we need groceries so I hope she feels up to the trip.

We had a good weekend, I got to do LOTS of knitting which I hadn't done in awhile. Jake and I watched Seven Pounds at the movie on Christmas Day, That is the saddest movie I've ever seen and so good, Will Smith is such an amazing actor. Then on Saturday we watched 3 movies at home the sequal to National Lampoons Christmas vacation via Netflix, it was awful, It was only about Counsin Eddie and so dumb Jake fell asleep half way thru. Then we watched Silence of The Lambs because I'd never seen it. It was as disturbing as I knew it would be, which was why I never watched it when I was younger. LOL!!! Then we watched "The Bucket List" which was a wonderful movie, I love Jack Nicholson he sure is aging :)

I guess that's it for now, I need to get some meal planning and grocery list things going.

Until Next time . . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow is the big day, We're ready we just have a TON of wrapping to get accomplished tonight. Good thing my hubby is as into wrapping as I am :) hehe! Above are some photo's of our tree. I always hang the cards we get with Photo's on them on the tree.

We had Christmas with my Mom and Sister last night we had our normal Mexican Christmas, Mom made the turkey enchilada's from our leftover thanksgiving turkey and we exchanged gifts. Mom spoiled me as usual. I got an awesome repositional tray for my laptop that slides under the edge of the couch, I also got THE BEST bread knife which I needed so badly I didn't have a good knife to cut through the homemade breads and I got the most awesome silicon Apron!!!! Water proof and heat proof. I was very Happy with my gifts, The girls and Jake were spoiled as well, Mom is always so good to us and she always worries it's not enough when it's really too much.

Ashley will leave this evening for her Dad's. It's her Dad's year to have her for Christmas. So Abbey will do Christmas morning alone. Ashley will get her gifts from us when she comes home Sunday evening. I hate making her wait so long but thought it would be even more cruel to let her open them all today and then have to leave it all to go to her Dad's. LOL!!!

This past Friday was Ashley's last day of school before Christmas break. so her class had their Christmas party. I went and brought iced cookies and took pictures, Ashley's class was cute. I was surprised at how well mannered everyone was as well. Lot's of Please and Thank You's being used. I do love that. So here are some photo's from the Party, Abbey even got to enjoy some goodies.

I found the most awesome thing at Starbucks on last Monday nights knit in. A coffee mug that looks like a cabled knit!!!! awesome! I got it of course.. haha!!!

I guess that's about it for now. Until next time . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Lighting of The Tree

Every year downtown we do the lighting of the tree which is located downtow in our Central park. Following the lighting of the tree they have a parade of lights, every year the girls and I attend with My Mom and Sister. here are some photo's from the even this year . . .

The pre lit tree
My Sister, Ashley, Mom & Abbey

Me, Mom, Abbey, Ashley, kristi

Questions That No-One Asks . .

Ryan's Blog is one of my favorite blogs He & The Pioneer woman know how to keep a serious blog reader entertained for sure. I always look forward to Ryan's posts & Today he posted this entry. It made me realize I often like to answer questions that people never ask me. hehe, So here are my questions that people never ask . . .

Why do you chose to stay at home instead of going to work?

Because I want to raise my children, I love them and I want them to have

my morals and my values. I want to teach them to love others and be good

people no matter what they do in life. I want to be there for them %100 when

they need me. I sacrifice a nicer house and material things, so what? :)

Why do you keep your house so neat and tidy?

Hehe, First of all because I'm a control freak> TOTALLY! Stuff has a place

and it needs to be there. Secondly, I'm a SAHM to me my house and my

children are a direct reflection of what I do each day. Third I'd say because

my Dad was... maybe it's genetic.

Why do you think your overweight?

No-one is ever brave enough to ask this one. I'm fat because I love food. Not

because I'm unhappy because believe me I'm VERY happy. I love to cook food

I love to taste food and I love to eat it :) oh and I hate excercise... I'm an addict

to food. it's serious. Sometimes I wish I could be one of those people who forgets

to eat.

Why do you scrapbook?

I love recording my Children's lives for them. I love knowing that I'm creating something

that will be cherished of me long after I leave this world. I love that my Children will see

themselves grow and live thru my eyes.

Why do you knit?

Simply put, I started knitting because I needed something to keep busy on while I'm sitting and watching TV with the family. It drives me nuts to not be getting something accomplished while sitting there. I feel as thought I'm wasting time if I don't. I knit because I love handmade things, I knit because I LOVE the way those two needles and yarn feel in my hands. There is just something that is very comforting to me about it. Only a knitter could understand what I mean.

Are you truly Happy?

Yes, I believe I have found true Happiness. Jake and I could not be more perfect for each other & I believe the two of us could get thru almost anything together. My girls are Healthy, Loving Children. Sure I complain sometimes about not having a bigger (maybe even nicer) house. But we have a home & I know inside I am to just be thankful for that. I'm only human afterall, we like nice material things don't we?? I thank the Lord very often for being so blessed.

Okay corny but true, There they are. Ryan asked to link back to his blog if you followed his lead. So if you decide to do this on your blog please leave me your link in my comments, I'd love to visit and see what your Un-asked questions are.

Christmas Time :)

I can't believe that Christmas is only one week away, Wow. It really did sneak up on us this year, Way to many things going on last month, I guess it made the time pass quickly.

I have a few photos saved in my blog folder to share. So I'll do that, These first three are some snapshots I took of Abbey a few weeks ago. She was being too cute, Saying cheese for me and Hamming it up to the camera :) She's getting so big and learns something new everyday. We got her potty chair back out of the closet today and we're going to start working with her on getting potty trained. She'll be 2 at the end of next month. She loves Elmo and wearing Hats & Pretties (any accessory)

Our Thanksgiving was good. Nice and relaxing. We had Mom, Kristi, My Grandpa, Then Me, Jake, Ashley & Abbey. Nice and small. We had the basics that everyone has for Thankgiving, Everything was yummy and we had plenty of leftover Turkey for Mom's yummy Turkey Enchilada's for our Mexican Christmas Dinner :) Here are a few photo's one of The family, One of Mom Making giblet gravy, The food and My Grandpa and sister Kristi :)

Ashley & I were in the Ardmore Christmas Parade on 9th with Campfire. This was Ashley first time to be in a parade, She loved it! All the Campfire kids were dressed up like Snowmen with Top hats and we walked along behind our float. Here are some pictures I took from that day. This took me back to High School when I used to march in the parades with the school band. I sure miss those times. I always had fun.

I haven't been doing very much knitting. I haven't had a lot of time to sit still lately. at least not to sit and relax. I did finish two more of the playful plaid dishcloths. I'm thinking I'll give these to someone since I'm not in real need of any new ones right now. This is one of my favorite dishcloth patterns. here they are.

Okay that's it for now, I do want to say to everyone who's blog I read, I'm sorry I haven't been able to leave comments, I am reading them, I just haven't had the time to reply. I promise to get back to that soon. I know how cherished comments are :)

Happy Holidays!!!

Sometimes when it rains..

.... it POURS.

November was not a good month for us at all. It was not a good month for many different reasons.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, My Grandma Tipton passed away. I knew the time was coming. She had liver cancer and the last two weeks when I would go to visit her she looked so bad and was basically unconcious :( It was so hard seeing her that way. She and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. She was hard woman because she had a hard life. It was hard losing her but she is now where she wanted to be, With her Husband and boys. So I've been handling things involving that.

then in the middle of everything I got served a subpeona to appear in court for a child custody case for friends that Jake and I no longer meet with. I won't say a lot about it here. But it was definately not something I needed to go thru in the middle of losing my grandma and planning her funeral.

I was so stressed out there for awhile I didn't know which was was coming or going. Things are settling a bit now so hopefully I will start to relax a little. I have pictures to share from the Holiday and some things with the girls.But I'll save those for another blog post, I just wanted to let my friends who read this know where I was and why I hadn't posted anything.

until next time . .

Star Trek & Rosie :)

Hello, It's so boring around here lately I don't have anything new to post about. hee! Ah well uneventful is good for a change :)

Jake and I got a subscription to Netflix awhile back, Truly one of the best things we have done for ouselves, We enjoy it so much, I'm working my way thru the Season's of Boston Legal and Sex and The City. Jake and I are looking forward to the new Star Trek movie to be released in 2009 because it has Zachary Quinto from Heroes play Spock! So we've been working our way thru watching the Star Trek movies, I've never seen them!! I love William Shatner, He's so funny. Love Spock. my Favorite, it's been fun watching these old movies.

I've been knitting on several things, I have nothing finished lately though. I'm getting close on a pair of socks using the Monkey Patter by Cookie A. I'm learning that no matter what the sock pattern says for my fat feet and ankles I need to use the size 3 needles for socks for me.

Okay, Next week on the 26th on NBC Rosie Odonnell has a special on called Rosie Live, I've been a fan of Rosie's for years and I CANNOT WAIT to see the show, I miss seing her on TV :)I've heard that if this show does good, there are plans for a weekly show in the future :)

Okay well, nothing else to babble about I guess.

Until next time

Hello!

This is a photo of my Grandma and Mom, Aren't they beautiful?!? My Grandmother raised 5 children of her own, She now raises 3 children that belong to her youngest daughter, She taught us to be strong and independant and how to do things for ourselves. My Mom raised Me and My Mentally Challenged sister pretty much on her own with a husband who'd rather be gone than home, but she never stopped loving him until he was gone. Both did everything alone, Both are strong and beautiful. I love them. They are a part of who I am :)

I've been thinking of ways to cut down on our living costs. Not because we're starving or anything but I'd like to start saving us little bits of money wherever I can, So I've been reading a lot of money saving articles online this week and educating myself. Jake and I have always budgeted our money, He's good like that and anything I can do to help save some of our money is a good thing.

Many of you already know, some don't, That jake works at Circuit City Dist. here in Ardmore, He's worked for the company for a little over 13 years I believe. The company hasn't been doing great for the last couple of years and with the economy like it is right now it's hit them pretty badly. They laid off a lot of corporate employees and filed Chapter 11. They want to try to Restructure the company. I do so hope it works, But Jake and I are going to begin preparing our life and ourselves in the even that it doesn't. We're okay now, as we always have been, but we have to be cautious and think ahead so if he does lose his job we're as ready as we can be for it.

Not too much going on around here, saving money means no extra spending so I've been home ALL of the last two weeks.. LOL! That's okay though, I enjoy being at home :) Lot's of cleaning, Second Life, and Knitting time :)

Guess that's it... until next time . . .

Bad Week

It's been such a bad week for me, I'm stressed out about various things, mostly relating to money and my hormones have been worse than they have ever been with my pms. I've been sleeping a lot. Normally I like to stay up late and play on the computer after everyone goes to bed, but I haven't been able to stay up very much past 9pm this week. I'm half asleep before we get both girls in bed, which is sad. and I have no energy, So I'll be glad when I get passed all of this.

Ashley had a bookfair at her school this week, She used money she'd been saving from her piggy bank to buy herself 3 new books. I'm so proud of her, You may remember she was held back to T-1 because she wasn't reading yet. The other night she sat at the table and read 37 pages of Dr's Suess Hop On Pop. I couldn't believe it!! Just in this short time she's come such a long way. I'm so proud of her. Her Teacher is wonderful, Ashley has always loved books, I knew she just needed the right person to help her.

I've been cooking at home all week, We knew we wouldn't have the money to eat out very much this week so I bought plenty of meals to get us thru to payday. So that means cooking everynight :) Here are a couple of things I've made this week posted to my recipe blog . .

Taco Stew

Banana Muffin Recipe

I have a few more I'll try to get posted on there tomorrow.

Tonight Ashley and I are going to attend the meeting of another campfire group. They are learning safety sells and cents, so we're going to join in, This will help Ashley earn her Sells and Cents emblem.

I haven't been doing very much knitting, I'd like to get some hats and scarved started soon. But I'm unmotivated for all of that right now.

Until next time . . .

Halloween Post

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween, Mine was busy but fun!

Ashley was Hannah Montanna and Abbey was a Kitty Cat since that is one of her favorite things right now. hee! They were both too cute!

It was very hard to get photo's of them this year. I've not been real good about taking pictures in the last month, I need to get back into picture taking mode but our digital camera is getting older and it pretty much only takes good pictures in natural light which is hard to get just right sometimes. I think that is what I will be begging for, for Christmas, ours is way old... like 5 years old.

Anyway, Jake and I took the girls down town to trick or treat the businesses from 3-5pm. Ashley went with her Daddy at 5pm and then I headed to Maypearl, Texas with Danette to a Halloween crop at the Stolen Moments Inn. We had a fun time and I got 18 layouts done. I'm almost caught up on the girls albums! After that I hope to get to some of my old pictures from single life :) hee!!

I did my weekly menu plan yesterday. Here is what's on the menu for the week.

Au Gratin Beef Bake (Melissa's week)
Seasoned Burger & Potato Packets
Italian Crock Pot Meatloaf (New Recipe)
Chicken Stew (my week)
Easy Chicken Cacciatore (Melissa's Week)
Easy Taco Stew (My Week)
Spaghetti (made with Mini Penne Noodles as always)
Beef Roast (not sure how I'm going to cook it this time yet)

I have a few bread recipes saved I want to try and a new tea cookie recipe I'm going to make for our campfire meeting Wednesday night, I also have a few banana's about to go bad so I'm going to make banana nut muffins with those :)

I just posted 3 new recipes to my recipe blog that we tried last week. As always we really liked them or I wouldn't have posted them. Go check them out when you have time and if your interested.

Au Gratin Beef Bake

Bacon Chicken

Hillbilly Goulash

Abbey got to have a little fun with Ashley's Hannah Montanna wig after Halloween, or Monya as Abbey calls her :)

Until Next time . . .

A Bella Card :)

This is a card I made a few weeks ago, The Stamped Image is is from Stampin Bella and it's called superbella. I do not have this stamp yet, some very nice ladies from my bella group shared it with me. I figure this card will go to Ashley's teacher sometime this year :)