Happy un...Halloween

Well ghost and goblins will be out in full force tonight and jacked up on sugar. Hard to believe that it is Halloween already. That only means that I can "officially" put up my Christmas tree tomorrow and not be laughed at. Yes I know I am weird, but what can I say. But if the retailers can do it, then so can I!

As for Halloween, this is probably the second day of the year that most kids spend the whole year waiting on. The idea of dressing up and getting all the candy you possibly could want is a dream for almost any kid. We don't really do the Halloween thing very well, I personally don't like the day. Yeah I know, bad parent. There is a function at the mall being put on by our local christian radio station called "take back the night" with all kinds of things to do, we may go and take the three younger ones to that. We already did "Boo at the Zoo!" two weeks ago, Nathan went as a reporter/sketch artist, Noah was a pirate and Sara was a girraffe and they had a great time. Nathan's main goal is "the one with the most candy wins", Noah is at that stage where everything is 'scary', so he is a little hesitant about all these people in costumes and Sara, poor girl just doesn't have a clue yet. I will be sure to post some pictures later. Jonathan is going to a lock in at our church (http://www.chilhoweehills.org/index.php) for the teens, he will be up all night, if he makes it throug the night without sleeping, I'm sure he will crash tomorrow morning. I am on call tomorrow, so we will see how my luck plays out!

October is almost over and the next thing you know we will be in the full swing of the holidays. This year is going to be different. How? Well due to a new holiday work schedule, for the first time in seven years I will be able to travel out of town to visit my husbands family for the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm excited because there will be so many of us there. At least 23 of us...talk about one big turkey!

Sometimes it's hard to say good-bye!

As the title would suggest, I am finding it hard to say good-bye. Good-bye to what you might ask? Well, my baby girl is growing up. She just turned 10 months old and growing like a weed. So now I am left with having to go through the house and decide what things we no longer need and get rid of them. That almost sounds so harsh. As I am going about and collecting the bouncy seat, the walker and exersaucer, the swing and jump-a-roo, the this and thats...... Then making a listing on Craigslist, for some other parent, who in turn will get to make memories with their child. I am getting a bit sentimental and emotional about all of it. Never again will my daughter ever be this small again. All I have to remind me are pictures and my memories (until old age takes them). I am excited at the prospect that we get to move on to bigger and better things, but yet again, can I just enjoy her being this small for a little while longer? It just seems like yesterday I was pregnant with her, waiting with anticipation for her arrival. Then meeting my beautiful daughter early in the morning on the day she chose to be born. What a blessing from God she has been. Even though there were some rough spots along the way, I look back and just sigh because those are moments in time frozen forever. She is her own little person with so much to offer the future. Everyday it seems like she has achieved so many milestones and is sure to be walking any day now, and the older she gets the cuter she becomes. Soon we will be celebrating her first birthday and I'm sure will aquire even more stuff to replace the old stuff that I am letting go.
Letting go, that seems like something as parents we have difficulty doing at times. But time moves on and so must we.

Wait until May 0f 2010 when I have my firstborn graduate from high school, I'm sure I will be a complete mess!

Football Widow

I am sure I am not the only one alone in this, football season rolls around and then I become a "football widow". I don't have it as bad as some, but it does get to be a bit much at times. Like today for instance, every time the hubs had a chance he was watching, listening and checking stats online. And this is only the first few weeks into the season. Don't get me wrong, I like a good football game and there is nothing better then being right there in the thick of it, but there are so many other things going on in my life right now.

The hubs comes from a family that are true blue (um really crimson) ALABAMA fans. I think it is a family rule that you must have at least 7 Alabama shirts is some variation. Even though I am not an Alabama fan and probably never will be, I give them props for being so loyal to their team.
On the otherhand we live in a city where football is a way of life, I would say that most people here breath and sleep football and think that the Tennessee Vols and the color orange are the only things around. I would have to disagree. I have never really been a Vols fan, but it was always fun to ag my hubs on when the two teams met during the year. So much so that the hubs had a license plate frame that said "house divided".
But if I had to chose a team based on the cutest mascot, it would definitely be the Georgia Bulldogs Mascot Uga.....gotta loves those bulldogs! Such a girly thing to say, yeah I know.
Only 3 more months of football and then the playoffs!

Where does the time go...

Wow, can not believe that I have not posted in a little while. Life gets pretty busy at times and then the next thing you know, it's weeks later. I am however happy that the fall has finally arrived. Yesterday as a matter of fact. When I was leaving work yesterday, I couldn't help but notice the nice evening it was going to be. You know those evenings when the humidity is low, the air is fresh and clean and the temperature it just perfect! That was the kind of day it was...PERFECT! Now I am getting all excited to dig out my fall decorations and put them up. This is one of my favorite times of the year.

But can you believe we are already winding down the month of September? Where has this year gone? I started the year with a brand new baby and now she is almost 10 months old and growing so fast and conquering her own little world one milestone at a time. She will be walking soon and I don't know if I am ready for that just yet. I am trying to relish every moment with her, because she is our last. Thinking to myself that she will never ever again be this small. I can only daydream about what the future will be like with her, little pony tails and ribbons in her hair... But then again, I have a son who will be 16 shortly and is a junior in H.S., when did I become old enough to have a child that was a junior? It just seems a few short years ago that I was in high school, but when I do the math, it has really been 20 years. Funny how fast that time flies by.

But I have been blessed with a wonderful family and want to enjoy them while I have them. I am also thankful that I have got to do and see a lot of things in my almost 40 years, so I am thankful to God for all that he has given me.

What the heck?

Okay, I know the talk about gas is a sore spot for some of us. As I get up and head out the door to go to work this morning, I pass by a Pilot gas station on my way to work and the price of reg unleaded gas is $3.67/ga and then as I am coming home from work today 9 hours later, the same station is now selling gas for $4.69/ ga. As a Holy Cow, you can't be serious flies off my tongue, I just shake my head in utter disgust.
Yes there is hurricane brewing in the Gulf named Ike, never knew such a name could strike so much fear in a nation. Yes, I realize hurricanes are destructive and know all to well the damage they can do, especially after hurricane Katrina wrecked havoc three years previously on the Gulf Coast. So this hurricane has sent people scrambling to go and top off their tanks, fill up and prepare for the worst. Gas companies are shuting down refineries in Texas because they don't know what this storm will do. So for that reason gas can go up over a dollar in less then 9 hours? Come on there has to be a law against this right? Surely someone is getting rich off of this and it's not me.
Thankfully I had the common sense to fill up my van yesterday at $3.64/ga (that and I was almost empty!), sad thing is I only get 19.2 miles/ga in my van and it takes over $60 to fill it up. Sixty dollars to fill up a minivan......are you serious? I can garantee that the price will not come down as fast as it went up. They have conditioned us now to think that $3.49/ga. is a cheap price to pay. I remember back in 2001 on a trip down to Disney World that we payed $0.89/ga for gas. That seems like eons ago and I know it is a price I will never see again in my lifetime.

Scrap Blogging

I know scrapbooking has become a very "now" hobby, but I seriously do not have the time or funds to go and buy all the necessary things that you would even need to even start that kind of hobby. I have seen some high dollar scrap books and the time and effort that goes into them, I am completely amazed at the talent that I have seen.

But for those of us who enjoy scrapbooking but may not necessarily have the time, may I just introduce you to Scrapblog.com, it's a cool website where you can do online scrapbooks, there are all kinds of features and it's SOOOOO easy!

Here are a few I have worked on:

Bye-bye summer

Well it looks like we are winding down another summer, August is almost all but a memory and soon September will be here. This is when I start getting excited, because I love the fall, it is probably my most favorite season with spring coming in a very close second. There are so many things to look forward to: the cool crisp air, the spectacular fall foliage, football, marshmallow roast in the evening, drinking hot apple cider, decorating pumpkins, fall mums, sweatshirts, cuddling under a blanket on the couch and the anticipation of the holidays. We live in beautiful east TN and are at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, you can see some wonderful vivid autumn colors in late Sept and through Oct. If you ask me there is nothing more fun then raking up a big ol' pile of leaves and then taking a dive right into them, makes you feel young again. The fall also is a busy time with birthdays in this household, we have four birthday in three month, one in Oct, two in late Nov and one at the beginning of Dec (the last three all within two weeks of each other), we will soon have a 16, 10, 3 and 1 yr old in the house.
Then there are the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year with a change in my work holiday schedule, we are hoping to be able to finally get to spend a holiday with my husband family. There is nothing like family getting together for Thanksgiving and all that wonderful food. This year if all of my husband family is able to make it (he has 2 brothers and a sister, along with their spouses and children) there will be a house full. This year will be a record breaker for grandchildren with three new grandchildren just within the last year alone, for a total of nine! I'm looking forward to this year.
So now that all the kids are back in school, they are slowly replacing the back-to-school aisle in Walmart and Target with Halloween decorations, and you can bet the Christmas decorations are not far behind!
Why was when we were kids, it took forever for Christmas to get here, but now that we are older it seems like it comes around every six months?