Feasting, Teeth Extractions and Birthday Parties

Morning came early on Sunday, November 17, we had church at 10am followed by lunch at El Tapatio with Debi and Sterl. Afterwords, I came home and got busy cooking for our church's Feast of Thanksgiving dinner that night. I made homemade macaroni and cheese, squash casserole and a cheese danish. The dinner started at 5pm. Darlene and Gary came over to join us. I think the number was 140+ that we fed that night. I stayed in the kitchen to help serve. The only downfall of that was the squash casserole was all gone by the time that I got a chance to eat. That is okay though. I plan to make more next week at Thanksgiving.

On Monday, November 18, I drug out all the Christmas decorations only to find that my most favorite wreath ever was smashed. Stroker decided to store it between the rafters in the attic. Needless to say, I was heart broken. I keep telling myself that I need to get over it, but I am struggling. By the time that I got out all of the decorations and floofed and floofed my wreath, there was no time to set anything out. It was almost bedtime. Here is a picture of it from last year when it was all fluffy and new.  I'm not even going to show you how it looks today.

Tuesday, November 19, I got this crazy ideas to make eggrolls with taco meat inside. There are two things wrong with that idea. One: I have never cooked eggrolls. Two: taco's are a totally different cuisine than eggrolls. It was like mixing Japan with Mexico. Anyway, I made them and my family actually thought they were great. To me, it was not the taste that I was aiming for.  By the time I washed all the dishes and cleaned the film of grease off everything from frying the eggrolls, another evening was behind us.

We went to Zaxby's before heading to church on Wednesday, November 20. The food was good and there was no clean up. My kind of meal. We picked up our tables at church while we were there from where we had them out for Feast of Thanksgiving. Can't believe that this time next week I will cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Where has November gone?

Brookelynn had a ballgame at Prescott South Middle School on Thursday evening, November 21. I got in a nap before time to pick her up. I'm already worn down and the holidays are not even in full swing yet.

I went to check Brookelynn out of school at 9:45 on Friday, November 22. She had no idea why I was there. Maybe I am a mean parent for keeping it a secret, but I just didn't want her to worry about getting four bicuspids pulled today. Her appointment was at 10:40, so we went for a good meal at Cracker Barrel before heading to the dentist. She was a little upset with me to say the least. She done a great job of being brave. Dr. Bryant got all four out without any hiccups.

Jett's birthday party was on Saturday, November 23. He had a Dispicable Me 2 party. I can't believe he is celebrating 6 years old already.

Stroker got the idea that he was still young and had to pull off a Rim Hanger. He will be hurting this evening.

2nd Annual Christmas Shopping Trip

Today was a day that I have been looking forward to. It was the 2nd Annual Christmas shopping trip with my friend Maleigha.  This year, we headed out even earlier. 7:30 to be exact. We hit a drive-thru for breakfast and got the show on the road. Store after store, we came we saw and we bought. We also made time for plenty of catching up. I made it home twenty minutes till midnight. and I am beat.

Zooming Through Another Week

I went down to “Picture Perfect” Tuesday. November 12,  to get my new Christmas print framed. I am no good at picking our frames. I was so overwhelmed with all the different mats and frames. By the time I was finished, I was exhausted.

Darlene called me while I was there and asked me to go to Sam’s Club with her…so I met her there.  We browsed and shopped a little. I then had to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up the ingredients for chili because I had promised Stroker chili that night..and I did get it made around 8:30 that night.

Brookelynn’s iPod arrived back from Apple and guess what!? It was a brand new one. Meanwhile, she now has an iPhone so we have an brand new iPod that will never be touched.

On Wednesday, November 13, we went for dinner at Fazoli's before heading to church. Brooke loves Fazaoli's. The rest of us just tolerate it because we love Brooke.

Thursday, November 14, was my 3rd year attending the "Sneak-a-Peak" shopping night at Christmas Village in Nashville. It is a great time to shop because they do not allow children or strollers during "sneak-a-peak". 

 Don't get me wrong, there was still madness.  I know the number of people in the building had to exceed the fire code. 

I did find a unique gift for Brookelynn...a gum ball hula hoop

It was after 11 pm when I rolled into the driveway Thursday night. A long day to say the least.

Friday, November 15, I gave Zumba another go. This time Shanna and Katey joined me. Shanna and I were in our element...Katey not so much. I believe this is Katey's first and last Zumba experience.

It was a rough day for Kimba. She was eager to jump in the back of Stroker's truck at 7 am this morning. Little did she know that the next stop was at the Spay and Neuter Clinic.

Birthday Celebration

Brookelynn had a ball game from 5:00 – 8:30, Thursday November 7. Cheerleading pretty much consumes her most days. Stroker began catching the crud that I have been battling for over a week. The cough is the worst.

On a good note, I ordered tickets to The Story and I can’t wait to go see it. Stroker asked me about it a couple of weeks ago. I was shocked that he even looked up an event for us to have a date night.

Friday, November 8, Amy and I went to a Zumba  class for an hour. She was okay with it, but I really enjoyed it. J

While I was at Zumba, Darlene stopped by to pick up Brookelynn to take her birthday shopping.  When I got home, I was feeling my croupy cough kick back in so I dosed up on cold medz for the fifth day in a row. I tried to wait up on Darlene and Brooke to get home but I fell asleep on the couch.  Darlene is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to shopping…and she wonders why I refuse to hit the stores with her on black Friday.

Saturday, November 9, was Brooke’s birthday party day. Although two years ago she said she was done with parties, we scheduled a 1:00 party at Victory Gymnastics. Seems like each year, she has a different plan. I got up and started working on loading up the car with drinks, decorations, cupcakes etc. The party went great and was done in an hour and a half. Those kids had a great time. Treasure came home with Brooke for a sleepover too.

Later Saturday evening, Darlene and I went shopping. At our last stop before heading home, Darlene backed into a little red Toyota matrix and dimpled in her bumper :-(

Treasure went to church with us Sunday and lunch afterwords with our pastor.

Monday, November 11, was back to our Monday routine of ballgames and FAITH visits. Brooke's ball game was at Burks Elementary in Monterey tonight, so we had to make two trips...one to drop her off and one to pick her up. We got back home after 9pm.

Brooke's Big Day

Happy Birthday to Brookelynn. 12 years old today. This young lady is the most sensible person in our family. When the rest of us are in the midst of a meltdown, she is our logic. Sometimes I am amazed at her maturity, compassion and rationality at such a young age. God is good and I thank him every day for for this perfect daughter that he has given me and Stroker; the perfect sister for Devin. 

We surprised Brooke this evening with an iPhone. 

We disguised it in a toothbrush box.  

 For a second there, I thought she was never going to finish opening the box.

We ate in a bit of a rush because cheer practice was until 5pm. 

We took the girls cupcakes and drinks to celebrate followed by  El Tapatio for her birthday dinner. 

We had to be at church by 6:30. It was a busy evening to celebrate.

I'm Getting Sick

Brookelynn started out November with a sleepover at Kali’s on Friday, November 1.  It was the rescheduled night of trick or treating at Monterey. Cookeville is tomorrow night.

Saturday, November 2, was a nice day. It’s cooled off, but feels like fall. We met Darlene at her church. We took Brookelynn to Ella’s because she plans to trick or treat with her and spend the night.  It’s also the night that we “roll back” our clocks. By tomorrow, it will be dark between 4:30 and 5:00. 

We went to church Sunday morning, November 3, and came back home. I feel like I am catching a cold. My chest feels tight and breathing seems tough. The day was way too short today. I do not like this time of year. My countdown to winter solstice has begun.  

I got up with a sore throat and a cough Monday morning, November 4.  I trudged through the day. I got home and cooked dinner. Not that I felt like it, but I cooked.

I didn't feel good Tuesday, November 5, but I joined a couple of girls for "heated yoga". That was humiliating and exhausting. I seen the instructor giggle a couple of times...as we made eye contact. I don't think that I will ever punish myself like that again.