The "Nook" has left the building!!

My wonderful hubby bought me a "Nook" for Christmas - I L O V E to read and since I am a "techy" kinda gal I had to have one of these!! I was kinda bummed because these gems sold out QUICK, so I wasn't able to actually have my Nook on Christmas. I was one happy girl when the email came today saying that the package was on the way, and I should have it in 3 days! That gives me 3 days to finish my Sookie Stackhouse novel, before I start reading ALL my books electronically. Can you tell I am EXCITED!!
Speaking of books and reading - I have told many of you about the Bloom Book Club that I started doing a few months back. It is an online book club that was started by Angie Smith and Jessica Turner, I have had such fun reading and posting about the books with other readers. The next book that we are reading was announced last week, and well I have already finished the book! It is titled, "Same Kind of Different as Me", I do not want to write much about this book because I know that several of you are currently reading it either on your own or as part of the Bloom Book Club. All I will say is that this book has impacted my life, and it is a story that I will NEVER NEVER EVER forget!! I wish I would have bought some of these books as gifts, and matter of fact I just might do that!! If you have a birthday coming up, you just might get this book from me! If you are someone who likes to read or if you are someone who doesn't I would encourage you to read this book! The book is the TRUE story of two men who become friends in a very unique way, I could write more but do not want to spoil it for anyone!! Once we in the club start posting and discussing I plan to post more on this fabulous book as well.
Hope you are having a great week!!

Merry Christmas Avery!

I read this sweet sweet poem over on Katie's blog and I had to post tonight.

Merry Christmas to my sweet sweet Avery Grace, we all love you so!


I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below, with tiny lights like Heaven's stars reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular please wipe away that tear,
for I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear,
but the sound of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you of the joy their voices bring
for it is beyond description to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart
But I am not so far away, we really aren't apart.

I can't tell you of the splendor or the peace here in this place
Can you just imagine Christmas with our Savior face to face?

I'll ask Him to lift your spirit as I tell Him of your love
so then pray for one another as you lift your eyes above.

Please let your hearts be joyful and let your spirit sing
for I am spending Christmas in Heaven, and I’m walking with the King.

~ Wanda Bencke

Have a FABULOUS Christmas everyone!!

Gingerbread House

Since Addison has had to stay in the house the past week, I have been trying to find some type of Christmas activity for us to do each day. Last Sunday we made a Gingerbread House, she had a wonderful time and kept begging to eat all the candy! Here are a few shots of our finished house.



She and I had a blast making this house together - I think that next year I am going to have a Christmas party with some of my friends and their daughters and we all make gingerbread houses together.

Much Love,

Getting To Know Me - Christmas Version!

With our family Christmas gatherings starting today - I thought that I would answer these cute questions that I found over on Caroline's blog.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Gift bags for the adults, and wrapping paper for the kiddos. Kids just love to tear into that stuff!!

2. Real tree or artificial?

We have an artificial tree - I think that they are so much easier to deal with, and I am not big on that pine smell.

3. When do you put up the tree?

We have started decorating the inside of our house the weekend before Thanksgiving, and then doing the outside of our house the weekend after Thanksgiving. I have a wonderful hubby that does such a good job helping out with all that stuff!!

4. Do you like eggnog?

Negative

5. Favorite gift received as a child?

My first CD player

6. Do you have a nativity scene?

We have many around our house - we even have a Santa kneeling by Baby Jesus our in our front yard. It is so sweet!

7. Hardest person to buy for?

Just recently our family has started making wish lists, this makes it SOOO much easier!!

8. Easiest person to buy for?

Addison or Shawn

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Mail

10. Favorite Christmas movie?

I love Christmas Vacation, The Nativity Story, but have watched Rudolph DAILY for about a month now!

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

I TRY to start early Thanksgiving

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Sausage Balls - YUMMO

13. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree?

I am a clear kinda gal - when Shawn and I first got married this was an issue hahaha, he loves colored lights

14. Favorite Christmas song?

"O Holy Night" - and "He is Joy" by Kevin Paige

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas?

We stay in town, but go to several places starting TONIGHT!!

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

No, because the ONLY one that matters around this house is Rudolph!!

17. Angel on tree top or star?

We have star

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Morning?

Both.

19. The most annoying thing about this time of year?

Traffic!!!

20. What I love most about Christmas?

I love being with my family and just thinking back to all the blessings we have been given over the past year. I love thinking back to the night when Christ was born, and how Mary and Joseph must have felt knowing that they were parents of the Son of God! I love, love, L O V E the music of the season as well - I am always bummed when I have to pack up my Cd's for another year.

Glamourous Blog Award

Jamie gave me this fabulous award and now I must pass it on to some of you!!

1. Caroline
2. Kelly
3. Angie
4. Jessica
5. Harmony Song

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

There is NO Place like Home!!

So sorry it has taken me this long to update about Addison - I have been doing my best to keep everyone up to date via Facebook. We were able to come home from the hospital on Sunday night around 6ish. Addison was so ready to get out of the hospital that at one point she asked if "this room" was our new home!
I do have to brag on her though - she was AMAZING in the hospital. She was good as gold, and played with her toys and stuffed animals that different people had brought for her. She did not really cry/whine about much other than when she honestly had a reason too. (Like getting her I.V. in the E.R. the night before)

Here she is in the smallest wheel chair I have EVER seen leaving the hospital on Sunday

I was an emotional wreck we were finally inside the E.R. and we were told that Addison was really laboring to breathe. I was having horrible flashbacks of that rough day when she was about 3 weeks old, and I got the phone call that I needed to come to the NICU because Addison might not make it through the day. As I sat back in that ER room - I kept thinking about seeing her laying in the incubator, hooked up to a ventilator and seeing every nurse in the NICU wiping tears from their eyes. As fear came over me I quickly remembered one thing, that Almighty God is in control! He watched over Addison that day four years ago when she almost went to be with Him in heaven, and He was going to watch over her Friday morning as we sat in the ER. I am not going to say that I still did not worry, because I did. However, anytime a worry came into my head I was able to just give it over to Him and know that He was watching over my whole family as we all had some rough emotions going on over the weekend.
We went to the doctor for her follow up visit today and she has an infection that turned into pneumonia. She will do breathing treatments for the next 3 days every 6 hours, and then we will continue those treatments twice a day for the next 8 weeks. Her little lungs sounded great today when he listened, we just have to be very careful with her for the next few weeks to make sure she doesn't catch anything else!
Now if Addison's little trip to the hospital wasn't enough to push me over the edge it was also FINALS week for me at school!! I was able to get most of my assignments and finals done, and was able to submit stuff via email to my instructors.
I am so looking forward to these next few weeks without homework, paper, and studying!! I am ready to hang with my family, watching Christmas movies and just relaxing for a few days!! Shawn bought me a new couch and I haven't even been able to enjoy it because of living on the computer with homework!!
I hope you all have finished your shopping and are looking forward to next week as much as I am!
Love,

Breathe In, Breathe Out

We have had a very interesting 24 hours - I am so tired right now that I cannot even think. Addison was admitted to the hospital at 5am with pneumonia. She has been a very very good patient considering everything she has been through this morning and tonight. I wanted to share a few pics with everyone - and ask for you guys to remember her in your prayers. We are praying to get discharged tomorrow if Addison is able to keep her oxygen levels where they need to be without the help of a nasal cannula.

Getting a breathing treatment

All of her animals that people have given her today!!

I have been an emotional case today - but have been surrounded by the comfort of my Savior! I am going to catch some shut eye while Addison is resting well - Thanks for all the prayers, and I will update soon!

Addison's Debut!

Playing Bells!!

Singing in the big girl choir!!!

She did such a good job - we were all so PROUD of her!!

Have a fabulous week!!

Show Us Your Life - Christmas Trees

It's time for another post from Show Us Your Life from Kelly's Korner! This week the topic is about Christmas Trees and what a GREAT day for me to show off my TREES!!!!!!

Here is my tree at home without the lights on

Here is a shot with the lights glowing

AND...we had a little decorating going on today at the office take a look at my TWILIGHT tree!!

Here is one with my EDWARD CULLEN stocking!!

And the FULL effect!! Oh how I heart this tree!!

I will have to post pics of our whole office this weekend - CloseTRAK was full of the Christmas cheer today!!
Have a FABULOUS weekend!!

5 Question Friday

I found this cute list of questions for 5 Question Friday over on Harmony Song's blog, I thought it sounded like a fun idea! So here we go with my first 5 Questions!

1.Favorite gift you are GIVING this year?
I cannot answer this question just yet! I have many family members who read this blog, and I don't wanna give away any surprises!!

2. How many parties are you attending between now and Christmas?
Wow - I have something to do on the9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th - so that makes FIVE back to back Christmas parties, whew!!

3. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant has always been a favorite of mine. Right now Addison is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer NUTTY, so we listen to that one often

4. Who was your favorite elementary school teacher and why?
My favorite elementary school teacher was Mrs. Valerie Brown! I had her for Kindergarten and again for the 6th grade, I loved everything about her! One of my first memories of her was how wonderful she was with me when I was so horribly scared of fire/tornado drills!! I just absolutely adored her - she even attended some of my birthday parties as I was growing up! You can check our cute daughter Caroline's site here!!

5. If you had a choice to live in any other period of time (other than now) what era would you choose and why?
I would love to have lived on this earth when Jesus was in the flesh and teaching to people. There are so many people of the Bible that I cannot wait to talk to one day! Jesus being one of them and then Paul and Esther being two others!

What great questions!! If you have a blog - play along!!

A Little Christmas Cheer for You

If ANYONE is thinking about starting a blog, then do I have a deal for you!! Click the button at the top of this post and head on over to Jamie's blog - she is having a Christmas Blog template deal that you CANNOT miss!! She designed my fabulous blog, and I have to say it puts a smile on my face every single time I look at it. Check her out - you will NOT be disappointed!!

The weekend is almost H E R E!!
Much Love,

Momma's not the only one with homework this week!

That's right Addison had her first "project" that is due on Thursday. We had to be creative and decorate a Christmas tree that her teacher will use to hang on a bulletin board for the month. I was in charge of the hot glue gun and Addison stuck her decorations exactly where she wanted them.

Here is our finished tree!

Here is the artist and her art!

She was so proud of herself for finishing her homework tonight! Now it is time for Momma to hit the books for a few hours.
Hope you are having a good week!!
XOXO,

Show Us Your Life - Christmas Traditions

This week is Christmas Traditions week over at Kelly's Korner! I was excited to see this post because our family has started a new tradition this year, and it has worked beautifully so far! How many of you have heard of "The Elf On The Shelf"?

I bought one for Addison this year at the Merry Marketplace. I had read about this book/doll last year but didn't think that Addison was quite old enough to really have fun with it. Basically, you get a book with a darling story about an elf that comes to stay at your house each year around the holidays, and the elf goes to the North Pole each night to report to Santa. Every morning with the child wakes up the game is that the elf has found another spot in the house to "watch" from, it might be a shelf, a table, or even finding a place in the Christmas Tree! Addison has had the best time looking for our elf each morning, she was kind of scared of him at first. She was not really "diggin" that this little guy was walking around our house at night when she was asleep! She has named him Tiny the elf, and she talks to him every day and tells him things to go back to tell Santa each night. I will be honest and tell all you parents with little ones, it sure has been nice to say, "Addison, Tiny can hear you or he's watching you!" Here are a few pictures of our elf, he is currently hanging out on our tree for awhile. You can find out more about The Elf on the Shelf here!

I HEART my tree!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend, and look forward to reading about other family Christmas traditions!
Love,

So Much To Be Thankful For

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! We had a terrific lunch at Shawn's Aunt Linda's house, and saw some family that we had not seen in awhile. Addison had such a good time playing with cousins that she did not even eat, other than a slice of "the best" chocolate cake! Round 2 of the festivities started around 5ish when we headed over to my parents house. We celebrated turkey day with The Lazenby's and were home by 8:00. Once we were home and settled, Addison and I laid down to watch Rudolph and we both fell asleep and didnt wake up til 1130! It was a much needed nap for me because I am hitting the stores in about 45 mins with some friends, my first "black Friday" shopping EVER! That's right, I will be headed to the stores at 345am to do some Christmas shopping! I have said year after year that I would NEVER get out in the crowds, but I am actually kind of excited and hope I can report back to you that "operation gifts" was a success!!
Today I have so much to be thankful for: my husband, my kids, my family and friends. Above all, I am thankful to God for sending his Son to save me, and cover me with His love, mercy, and grace.

Love,

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving...

and we went to see Curious George LIVE! I am going to be honest here and tell you all that the show was not that good, but its all about the kids right!!?? Addison absolutely loved it, and as we were leaving she said, "I'm sure gonna miss that lil guy!" I forgot my camera but did shoot a few pictures with mom's camera, I will post those tomorrow.

What about this fabulous blog design!!??!! I love it! I read about Jamie over on Caroline's blog, and since I had to start my blog ALL OVER - I decided that I would start new and fresh! If you are looking for someone to design a layout for you, Jamie is the girl to do it! You can check our her website here. Thanks again Jamie - I cannot tell ya how happy I am with the finished design!!

I am off to look up some black Friday ads online - I am actually going to head out in the crowd this year!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Show Us Your Life - Pets

I have always read many of the great "show us your life" posts from over at Kelly's Korner, so this weekend I have decided to join in. This weeks post is about pets, and at our house we have a wild and crazy cat named Nala. A few years ago, I thought that Addison was ready for her first pet. At the time she was really into "The Wonder Pets" and a guy at our office was giving away some guinea pigs, being the sucker that I am I got one for her. Needless to say that the guinea pig didn't live 12 hours in our household. Addison was still too young and she did not understand that the guinea pig could not just roam the house, it HAD to stay in a cage. The night that Lenny, the guinea pig, left our house Shawn, Addison, and myself were all in tears. I felt so bad that I had brought home a pet to Addison and I was already taking it away. The next day Shawn took Addison to Petsmart and she picked out Nala.

We love Nala, she is a very sweet kitty for the most part. She still has alot of kitten in her, and for the past TWO years we have to fight with her to keep her out of our Christmas Tree!! Tonight Shawn told Addison that Nala thinks she is a black panther in the jungle hiding under that tree, just waiting for her next ambush!!

Now does this look like a black panther to you??!!??


Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Hello Again!!

So, today I deleted my other blog by mistake!!! :( All those memories and videos gone forever, I have learned my lesson though and hope to have this blog til I am 90! Seriously though, I got really upset when I realized I had lost my old blog BUT quickly realized that things could be worse! So delete the old website and add this one - join me for this wonderful ride I call LIFE!!