Night Before Christmas

This weekend, we went with Paul, Gretchen, Matt & Melanie to the Night Before Christmas Home Tour in Madison. We ate dinner at a place called Key West Seafood and then toured several homes of different natures - all decorated for Christmas. One of the homes was a new construction home and the others were all historical. They were just beautiful. We heard stories of how people lived in the 1800's which was fascinating! It was a fun evening and really put me in the Christmas spirit!! After the tour, we ended up at McDonald's for hot chocolate. For the rest of the story, you'll have to log onto Gretchen's blog! Ratherbeshopping...

Eric took this picture of a tree. We thought it was neat! =)

Inside one of the churches

One of the homes in Madison

Melanie is happy go lucky and Gretchen looks like she is starring in "Scream 3"!

Gretchen, Tracey & Melanie - Great times; Great friends!

Thanksgiving

I'm so thankful for my family. They are all truly great! I look forward to Thanksgiving every year and it just seemed extra special this year. My aunt & uncle came in from Texas. It was great to see them. Then, as usual, my aunt & uncle from Indy were here.

Some of my favorites:

Thanksgiving turkey & stuffing - yum!

Cracker dumplins - my paternal great grandmother didn't have the money to buy flour to make homemade dumplings, so she used crackers. Thus became our tradition many years later to make cracker dumplins!

Mom's chocolate pies - chocolate in a pie, need I say more?

Laughter - with five grandkids all 4 years and younger, there is much laughter!

Black Friday - it is tradition for the women to get up early (if 7am is early!) and spend the day shopping; we got a lot of bargains this year!

This was the first Thanksgiving in my mom's new kitchen! Some of you out there know that she just remodeled part of the house. Sometimes I just want to go there and sit and pretend it is mine! LOL So, this is kind of a two fold email - show off pics from Thanksgiving and the debut of mom's kitchen! Enjoy!

Dad is carving the turkey - yum! It was soooo good!!

Eric & Levi reading the J.D. Tractor book, one of Levi's favorites.

Emily looking for someone to give her a nibble of food!

Here's a shot of the double ovens and pantry.

A shot of the island (and the nice flat screen!)

Emmy, Travis & Uncle Kevin

The new play room. (This is the doll house that my dad made my sister and me for Christmas one year. It was our favorite thing EVER to play with!)

Yes, Grammy bought swords, knives and guns for the play room! (She's brave!)

Oh, I forgot to mention that Batman made an appearance!

Griffin has been working out quite a bit.

The family hanging out after gorging ourselves! LOL

Later in the evening, we went to visit with Mamaw and Papa. At Aunt Joyce's house, Levi played with these little fences the entire time! They used to be his Daddy's toys. =)

Papa & Levi cleaned the tv. Somehow, it acquired little hand prints all over the screen. Hmmmm...

Papa & Levi playing Lego's.

What's new?

What's new, you ask? Well, let me fill you in. Tonight is Wednesday. Last Tuesday, someone came to look at our house. She was interested in buying it. No, it isn't for sale. (Her dad works with Eric. She had a deal with another house in our area, but it fell through. Eric mentioned she could look at ours and she came that same night.) She came back on Saturday to see it during the day. She made an offer. On Sunday, we looked around at a few houses, but nothing really stood out. Monday, we looked at one more house and fell in love with it. We made an offer yesterday. Today, they countered our offer and tonight, we accepted their counter. So, if everything goes through with the home inspections and appraisals, we will be closing on the two houses sometime around Dec. 15th. Is this some kind of record? Do we get a prize? Now, the funny thing in all this is that Gretchen is worried about us having a Christmas tree!! LOL

I'll keep you posted! I guess I will be packing like crazy over the next 3 weeks. Oh, and sometime in there, I have to Christmas shop! This will be fun!! =)

Have a great Turkey Day tomorrow! We sure plan to!!

G.N.O.

Girls Night Out

So, we hit the town...a wild, carefree night out without husbands, without kids...no rules...just fun! Don't be jealous! You know everyone out there wants to go to dinner, shopping and be home by 9:30! LOL

We started at Kansai - one of my absolute favorite places to eat! It's such a great atmosphere! Then, we went shopping at Old Time Pottery and Kirklands. Some of us got some cute Christmas decorations and odds and ends. Of course, what evening is complete without a trip to the Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen?!?! Yum!

Thanks girls, it was a blast!! Enjoy the pictures.

Oh, and yes, Jami, you beat me!! ;)

Jami & Gretchen

Melanie, Janna & Tracey

Melanie & Janna using their chopsticks!

Dessert at the Pie Kitchen...strawberry cake, iced cupcakes and apple pie! YUM

Just for fun, here's Jami cracking up at her own story of the "polka dot bikini"!!

Sweet 16

Friday night was Emilee's Sweet 16 birthday party. 16 - omg!! I met Emilee when she was in preschool. I remember the first night I met her. Eric and I had been dating about a month and he took me to her preschool Christmas program. She was absolutely adorable and took an instant liking to me. The feeling was mutual! Now, 10 years later, she's all grown up and such a sweet young lady. Enjoy the pictures from her party! Amanda did a great job organizing it!!

Happy birthday, Em!!

Emilee, Eric & Levi

Susan, Megan & Emilee

Eric, Levi, Alan, Eric's brother and their dad Phil

Emilee and her friends (oh, to be young again!!) :)

Emilee & Megan...adorable girls!!

Judy, Eric's mom and Bonnie, her sister-in-law

Cousins and pals Megan & Levi

Alan & Amanda

Levi (goofing around) and me

Eric and Alan...they both share the same "take the freaking picture!" look!!

I am a MOM

Sometimes I still have those "holy camoly" moments when I sit here and think "I can't believe God chose me to be a mom!" I can screw things up better than anyone. Seriously, I think sometimes I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached. And still, God gave me a kid. A cute, hilarious, imaginative, fun, gentle-spirited, lovable little boy. I'm amazed by him everyday. Growing up, I remember people telling me that God loved me more than I would someday love my child. Is that possible? I love Levi in a way that cannot be explained. Has God given us that love to show us how much He loves us? I believe so.

So, I sit here typing while Levi is watching 'Thomas the Train'...his latest fad. It's funny how quickly his fads can change. Just a couple weeks ago, he was into CARS. Now, it's Thomas. Another fad that has stuck with Levi for a while now is a stuffed animal...a dog that is cleverly named "Doggie". Doggie goes everywhere with us. To the grocery, to the grandparents, to school, and yes, to the potty. Doggie has to go potty each time Levi goes. Tonight, though, Levi decided Doggie needed to wear a pull-up. Yes, a pull-up. So, it's after bath time, we're watching 'Thomas', and Levi and Doggie are both chilling on the couch...

... with their pull-ups on. LOL

Man, how time flies! Below, I've posted a few other pics from the past. Levi is 2 1/2 now and it seems like yesterday when he was just a little baby scooting around on the floor!

Last winter with his "gangster" look! We called him Levi Soprano.

(Ignore the dates below...our camera was off internally!)

2nd trip to the beach; 14 months old

Easter...11 months old

1st time Levi stood in his crib at nap time; 10 months old

Little Manning; 10 months old

Love the hair! 9 months old

Feedin' time! 8 months old

Can't go back any further or I'll be sitting here with a box of tissues and Eric will come home to a weeping mess! LOL What a fun trip down memory lane!! Some day I will post some more of him as a baby!

All Boy

This was such a busy week! It seems like the weeks drag by and then when Friday afternoon hits, the weekend goes so fast. I got a couple of cute pictures of Levi this week. He helped me bake brownies on Monday that went in my Chocolate Delight dessert for Bunco. He loves to lick the spoon and bowl. It is actually funny because he and Eric fight over who gets the spoon!

This was a nice weekend because we didn't really have any big plans. We all three hung around the house and just enjoyed each other.

Since it's turned cooler, we allow Levi to ride his bicycle inside. The other night, we heard him in his room playing. It sounded like he was rearranging furniture or something! A little while later, this is what we saw going down the hallway...

He found some dress up beads in his toy chest and hooked them to the back of his bike. Then he hooked the beads to the front bumper of Eric's Hummer (yes, Eric's Hummer! LOL) and just towed it around all over the house. He'd yell out "Watch out! Levi's comin'!" His imagination amazes me! He is all boy! Loves trucks, tractors, trailers, monster trucks, motorcycles, dirt, bugs...you name it, he likes it!

So, it is already Sunday night again and Levi is in bed (on the floor!). I am sitting here just feeling so blessed in my life. God is good. I am amazed at His presence in my life - how He cares about the little things. Even in the midst of trials, hard times, sorrow...whatever we may experience, God is good. All the time. There is no God like Jehovah.