Beginning December 2011

Thursday was December 1st. "No shave November" was finally over. Stroker shaved his beard that he had worked on for three weeks.  I continued knitting my third scarf. I have plans to gift some of them this Christmas.
Friday evening, we went to El Tap for dinner before we went to watch Devin's first ball game of the season. He scored 2 points, made a few rebounds due to his height and had a few good blocks. 
We spent Saturday preparing more Christmas cards. I made 2 trips to Hobby Lobby and another store to stock up on a couple more Christmas gifts. I'm a bit slower this year on finishing up our shopping, but I am slowing knocking it out.
Saturday evening, Stoker pulled the truck from one driveway to the other and turned off the engine. A few minutes later, he went to start it back up and just as luck would have it...the battery was dead.  Uuugghhhh.  Not exactly what we had in mind to purchase in December, but it's one of those things that you can't get by without.
After replacing the battery, we hitched up the trailer (that sounded kinda redneck) and headed to Jaiden's 9th birthday party.  She had a beautiful two tier cake. Wish I had a photo to post, but I haven't picked up the camera this week.
Today, Brooke and I headed out to White County to visit mom. The three of us went to lunch at one of the upscale restaurants that Sparta has to offer. Mom got the fish-fil-a combo, Brooke got the cheeseburger combo and I had the McChicken sandwich. After we ate, we drove around a bit looking for some good Christmas decorations that Sparta has to offer (not much luck finding any) and detoured our way back to moms house.  We took here an inflatable Christmas Sponge Bob decoration for her yard, so Brookelynn and I installed it while we were there.
Stroker and Devin spent the day at home; watching football of course. When Brooke and I returned home, Stroker and I decided to open our Christmas gift "to and from" each other. So we spent the evening enjoying our new surround sound. I wish I could say that we were enjoying a good movie in surround sound, but instead it's just more football games...uuuuggggghhhhhhhh!
So, how was your weekend?

Ending November

Tuesday night, we had a peaceful "grown up" dinner with four other adults at the Cracker Barrel. It was quite a different experience compared to our normal dinner conversations. We had a great time, but hurried back home to the kids who spent the evening at home with pizza, homework, PlayStation and TV. Hhhmmmm...that actually doesn't sound half bad. Who knows, the kids may have enjoyed the evening more than we did. Devin had basketball practice at 7:00, so dinner was a bit rushed for us (as usual).

Wednesday was back to the "norm"; We went to Bible study at church and had a late dinner with the kids by our side. Stroker was beginning to feel the onset of a sore throat and chest congestion. Typical symptoms for this time of year.

Two for Tuesday

1 .  Brookelynn is in Christmas shopping mode. She and I went out shopping for a while last night. She wants to spend "her" money to buy us gifts...how precious.

2 .  Tonight is date night for me and Stroker (and two other couples) at Cracker Barrel. It's not often that we partake in adult only outings. We have both been looking forward to this one.

Rainy November Days

Rainy, Dreary days are good for two things...

1. Laying around on the couch...Brookelynn wouldn't get up, so Stroker laid in her lap.

2 . Getting those things done that have been on your "To Do" list for a while. I made a movie of Brookelynn's birthday photo's and posted them online. You can view it by clicking HERE

Black Friday

We spent the day today, dragging out Christmas decorations and we even got some of them displayed. The rest is scattered precariously throughout the house.  The Christmas tree is up and decorated at least.
When the mail ran today, I received a couple of envelopes with the following enclosed:

Remember when I posted about my debit card number being stolen in October?  Looks like some of the money orders that were purchased managed to find there way to me.  $3,820.00 worth of them anyway. I still can't fathom when and where someone got hold of the number.

I wonder if my debit card number was stolen in Destin Fl. when we went on vacation? We did use it A LOT while we were there and we paid for the condo with it too. 

Note to self:  Future vacations will be credit card and cash only.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:

Stroker received one of his Christmas gifts today. We ordered "Big 10 Network" so he spent the day glued to the couch.

We came down with a case of cabin fever around 6pm and took a trip to the movies to see "The Muppets".

It wasn't awesome, I must admit...but it did spark up some nostalgia from my childhood years.

Thanksgiving 2011

During the Thanksgiving holiday, I feel that it's important to take time to reflect on the things that we are truly thankful for. It's so easy to get caught up in the baking, planning and preparation of the holiday that we easily miss the significance. We take a lot of things for granted every day, such as our home, transportation, mom, dad and siblings. I thank the Lord everyday for Stroker, Devin and Brookelynn; they were truly hand picked for me by Him. I am also very thankful that our family became actively involved in church this year. Those on and off visits to church in past years were just not sufficient. I am especially thankful that my children accepted Him into their hearts this past July.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 1:4)
This year God gave us all a reminder that he is in control and that we should acknowledge Him for who He is.
Tuesday night, just after 11pm, we received a disturbing call that Briana had been in an accident. She flipped her Ford Escape several times, took out several fence posts and landed across the street. Amazingly, she walked away with treatable injuries. The greatest blessing is that she walked away.

We thank you Lord for Your mercy and grace.

We spent the day traveling to Sparta and Algood to feast with family and friends. It is blessing to have a place to go and spend the holiday with loved ones; it is a greater blessing to have more than one place to go to celebrate the holiday. For that, I am thankful.