Black Friday Buyer's Remorse....

Ah the emotions of a 27 hour day!!!!

My experience started yesterday morning at 6:30...when Noah woke up crying and had to be fussed over and brought into our bed where he tossed and turned until 7:30 and then I was able to sleep until 8:30. At 8:30 we got up to get ready to drive to Newnan for Thanksgiving lunch. We stayed there until 2:30 or so and then we headed back home to do dinner at Cracker Barrel. Well, after that we came home and I finalized plans for my outlet adventure.

Me and three of my friends arrived to our local outlet center at around 10:30pm to join the line of people waiting among the "first 300" to get a bag with free pajamas and goodies. At midnight the line started moving and we were able to get our bags. The nightshirt was pretty cute, but the other goodies not as much...just some coupons and a Vitamin Water and Fuze. ha.
I have to say, the standing in line for an hour and a half wasn't truly that bad, especially with fun people to pass the time with...but I cannot believe how many people were out during the time we were there, with their very young children with them! Come on people!!!

Anyway, we then spent until about 3am browsing around the outlet stores. Gymboree had their kids pjs for $5.99. We all found some and stood in a thirty minute line to check out. No kidding! The line was completely wrapped around the store. Needless to say we ALL found more stuff besides our original awesome deal! First buyer's remorse!!! I got really cute outfits for the kids to wear in their holiday picture and to gatherings though!

Second buyer's remorse: NOT buying something. The GAP outlet had their sweaters for 50% off. I really should have gotten one. I was trying to actually buy Christmas stuff though and didn't want to get it for myself. The thing is though...I have lost 30 pounds since last Christmas and my pants and shirts are all huge! With the exception of 1 pair of jeans I bought this summer and some tee shirts, I really don't have clothes that fit. They actually had nice, soft, long fitting and crew necked sweaters. I can't remember the last time I found that combo in a sweater. I usually have to compromise on the length (show my back in the back, you know what I mean!) or the neckline...scoop low cut or something. *sigh* I am really really regretting not buying at least one of those sweaters!!!

Third buyer's remorse: NOT buying something else. Old Navy had their jeans (incorrectly) marked 50% off. They were taking the signs down, but had to honor anyone who already had them in line. I could have had another pair of pants that would actually fit well for $14.75. Should have gotten a pair! Agh!

Fourth buyer's/shoppers remorse: Arriving home at 3:30am and leaving again and 4:20am to head back out to shop! ha ha! It was fun at the time and I guess I was running on adrenaline, but when it was 11:00am and I was just heading home to rest, it was a pretty rough time!!!!!

My mom and I met at our local Toysrus because it was a good location and parked my car so I could go out to Wal-Mart and K-Mart for some doorbusters. The line at Toysrus was backed all the way across the entire parking lot!
We hit up Walmart first where all the deals were gone before we got there, then to K-Mart where she was able to get everything she wanted to get. So, that was good. I just had still not bought anything I needed for the kids, so we then blitzed through Toysrus (nothing good enough to stand in line for) and then to the Dollar Tree. Our local Dollar Tree always has some cute stuff for stockings. Then back to Wal-Mart after the crowds had cleared to do more stocking stuffer shopping. Oh, somewhere in there we ate the Chick-fil-a breakfast buffet! YUM!

I got home and laid down to rest for a couple of hours and I am thinking when I get out my Wal-Mart bag there may be some yet to come buyer's remorse....ha ha! I really had wanted to head down to the Disney Store to get some tees for the kids to wear to Disney and I still haven't made it to Target!!!! I can say though, that there is no way I would have survived Kennesaw today!!!

Oh well....my husband also did his own shopping while I was out. Sitting on the couch next to the kids he was able to get some good deals from Amazon.

So, there you go...that was my 27 hour holiday shopping experience. It really was a lot of fun, but just one of those things you KNOW you are going to regret doing, but go for it anyway!!!!

ABCs and 123s

I am on a 45 minute break between shopping sessions and need something to keep me awake...so...here I am finally doing the "tag" that Bethany tagged me on probably more than a week ago!

The Topic is: 5 things you love...I decided to go with an "F" theme because that's just what I thought of first, some serious, some silly...here we go:

1. Friends! It's just great to be with friends...laughing, hanging out...being yourself!

2. Family! God's greatest creation!

3. Faithfulness!! Isn't is good to just be able to depend on God...your spouse....your family? I love that my people are faithful and I am blessed that my God is faithful!

4. French Fries! YUM! All varieties...McD, Zaxby's, Steak and Shake...all great fries! Good anytime!

5. Fall! Just the best time!

K, the other thing I wanted to do was the "ABCs of Thankfulness like Bethany did...but I just realized that my brain is too fried for A-Z thinking right now...so nevermind!

Have a good night!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Of course, I had to do this post! ha ha! We will be heading out early in the morning to go to Newnan for my dad's side of the family get-together. We already had a dinner this past Sunday with my mom, dad, brother, mawmaw, and Hannah (brother's gf).

Anyway, after lunch with that side, we will head back here to Adairsville for some Thanksgiving Cracker Barrel style! I love their chocolate pecan pie! YUM!

Just in case any gift buyers are reading....I have a recently updated wishlist posted over to the left. See the cute Christmas tree picture? I pretty much replaced the entire wishlist with some new things they recently expressed interest in, and what would go well with their "big" thing they want from us this year...

So, Happy Thanksgiving, and have a fun Black Friday! I will be standing in the pajama line at the outlets in Calhoun, waiting for the midnight opening to get my free bag of goodies!!! Woo hoo!

Blog Highlight!

I just discovered through my visitor tracking at the left, that a very old friend of mine has just joined blogland!!! I never realized that she was a reader of my blog...though I know I had sent her a link a while back!

Alicia and I met in the first grade and have off and on through the years kept in touch. She has just started a blog to keep their friends and family informed throughout the adoption process that they will be heading through in the coming days and months.

Please visit my friend and make her feel welcome to blogland, and leave her a comment! We bloggers all know how getting comments makes you feel great and I am sure a prayer for her and her husband while you visit would be much appreciated as well!!

http://growinginaliciasheart.blogspot.com/

Game Night, Noah style!

We had a family game night tonight. Noah was our master coordinator of events and he actually managed to incorporate a floppy flyer, bean bag, monster golf ball, croquet mallet, and a soccer ball into a series of fun games....

First of all, he told us that we were going to be on teams. The girls were on a team and the boys were on a team. The series of games were as follows:

1. Throwing a floppy flyer and/or beanbag to each other.

2. Kicking a soccer ball back and forth down the hallway.

3. Croquolf (I just came up with that name) One person uses a foam croquet mallet to hit a monster golf ball into a bowl turned sideways while the other person blocks them.

Noah picked Croquolf first while Katie and I alternated throwing the floppy flyer and beanbag. At Noah's signal we all rotated and had a turn at each activity.

It was fun because Noah REALLY enjoyed making up the games and being boss as he explained the rules and procedures. At the end he announced that the winners were "the grown-ups" and we announced that he was the best game maker of the night.

Tomorrow Katie gets a turn. What fun!

Overcoming...(sort of a booking through Thursday)

*Stepping on my potentially offensive soapbox*
I haven't posted in a while because I have kind of been mad at the Internet. I have decided that some people like to use the internet as a way of spreading doom and gloom and I just simply avoided it because I truly just don't enjoy reading or hearing bad news. Now, I know that may seem like living under a rock, but I don't mean it to be that way. If there is something that I need to know, then I know that I will be informed. I do not, however, feel the need to be a newswoman by telling all my friends that if you go to Target you might get abducted by someone pretending to need help. I do not feel the need to warn people about the latest plot against women or how tylenol has been proven to kill you if you take any made between these certain dates. These forwards and emails are just meant to spread worry, fear, anxiety, and to keep people buried in their homes and being totally inactive in the world! There was actually a true warning going around recently about a suspicious van in Bartow county going around trying to trick people into opening their front doors...but really....do my friends think me such an idiot that I would open my door to an unidentifiable stranger?! I have to wonder about what people think of me to think I would drink something that had been tampered with or to think that I would pick up a hitchhiker or that I would leave my kids alone in the car while I go in the store.
I do not pass these things on to 10 people and I DO love God. I have yet to have bad luck because I didn't share this important warning with others. Most of the time these things aren't even true. I do not use email and the internet to spread things that are not of good cheer or a source of encouragement for others. Our job as Christians is not to be the "downer" for other people, but to be encouraging to others, especially when bad things happen.
Even if something is true, doesn't mean I need to share it with others so they can be worried and depressed over it with me! If you are reading this and you are a "forwarder" I hope you don't take offense. I know people who forward things are just trying to share the "whatever info" with others, but really, you can take me off your list. It isn't going to go further than my newly instituted "FW" folder where everything pretty much just gets immediately deleted.
The next time you think about passing something along the world wide web....just ask yourself if it to encourage someone or if it is going to upset the person you send it to. The same thing goes for calling on the phone and being the bearer of bad news to someone who just really doesn't even need to know what you are going to say....why? What is your motivation? When is the last time you remembered to call or email someone when something AWESOME happened?!!!!
*stepping off the soapbox*

Matthew 5:13-16:
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ... You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

As a mom, a teacher, a Christian...I want to be a light in my world. I want to spread GOOD news, because the last time I checked there is STILL GOOD news to be shared and spread. I want my children to know security in their Savior....to know that Christ brings joy and hope where others have none.

Who is going to want to join up with a cause (Christ) when the people who are already a part just seem depressed and worried all the time? I know you can't avoid troubles or whatever, but why don't people quit brooding over the state of the world and all the bad things that can happen if you leave your house and start trying to share the GOOD part that we know about, the reason that we can be hopeful and confident in our futures?! God has good news. God has hope and joy and great things for the future of His people! God has plans for us that involve GOOD futures and GREAT things. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news or worry or the cause of discouragement for others. Our children learn from watching us and is the job they will see us do as Christians be the "important" job of spreading fear or spreading joy?

I am also trying to break a cycle of fear and worry in my own life. I am being very candid on here, I realize, but I hope I can help someone by sharing this.

In our Bibly study/book club that I told you about before, we just finished reading two chapters, one of which I believe was written just for me. It is all about diagnosing fear and worry for what it is in your life and how it just completely stops you from being what you are supposed to be in God. WOW, it truly spoke to me and made me realize that living in fear is just not what I am meant to do and how if I want to do the right thing, I MUST move on and get over it! Whatever situation you are anxious about, whether it be something with your family, marriage, church, local or world issues....just pray about it, hand it over, and stop obssessing so that it takes over your life and prevents you from moving forward!
It isn't that I will adapt an attitude of "not caring." I do care. I care about my family and my church and all those things....but being anxious and worried is no way to live fully in all those things I need to be doing on a daily basis. I have found that fear and worry could stay in my heart and my mind that it would prevent me from enjoying a great day or keep me from doing something that I need to do for God because I am so worried about doing it correctly or obsessing about something totally unrelated. Am I no better than someone whose addiction keeps them from God? Am I addicted to being worried about things?! Am I totally bound by my thoughts that are straying constantly from what truly matters (fellowship with God).

Here are some key verses that really have been lifting me up in my quest to move on, and one thought from the book that I thought was particularly good:

From the book:
"The Bible tells us to not fear over 350 times! Why is the Bible (God) so adamant about our avoiding fear and worry? Because God knows that worry short circuits out relationship with Him. It fixes our eyes on our situation rather than on our Savior."

Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love, but full-grown love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment and he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love.

Matthew 6:27
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy about your life.

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

John 16:33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

So, there you go. I admire you if you trudged through with me and are still reading. I have made it my goal to spread good news and hope and cheer. I will try to say things that are uplifting and encouraging. I will not spread doom and gloom. I will not allow fear and worry to ruin any more of my days or nights or to steal my joy. And along with that, one more verse that seems to be ever presenting itself in my life for many different reasons:

Philippians 4:8
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.

New Year's Resolutions: Revisited

Well, if you want to feel like a failure, let's start revisiting those New Year's Resolutions you made at the beginning of 2008....HA! Here are mine....

1. Get out of debt!

Well...we're not out of debt. We have been more "aware" though. We have actually saved for big purchases rather than just buying them....but a good bit of debt is still there...which isn't exactly the correct way to do things. We have to be more disciplined...



2. Keep the house out of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome*).



I am very proud of us with this...though I am not sure it is really to our credit! We have done tons better since we finished our flooring project. Also, since we have another student coming over our house is truly presentable 99% of the time. But, you really don't want to ring our doorbell on that other 1% of the time!!!!


3. Eat dinner at home 6 out of 7 days per week!

Well....I would say we are at about 5 out of 7 on this one. Not exactly on par, but not too shabby either!


4. Stop biting my fingernails.

I did this for a couple of weeks, then decided long nails were more bothersome...ha!


5. Eat healthy.


I was a cheater on that one...I took a pill and lost 30 pounds (I know...cheater!) so now I am eating healthier just because I established the habit of eating much smaller portions. As for the "content" of my food....eh...it's better...but really we don't eat "terrible" for you things that often anyway..it is mostly portion control. I HAVE been taking a vitamin every single day though..a good habit I established while taking the diet thing...I had to at that point so now it is a habit that I am very proud of...and doing well with my kids and daily vitamins as well.


6. Make an effort to be joyful about household chores.

Doing better.... This is hard! Our current Bible study may help with this too...(Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.


7. Do a Bible study devotion with Corey 5 days every week.

NOT successful....totally ashamed!



8. Finish the scarves I started knitting for Katie and Noah.



Pretty much done!!! WOO HOO! Just finishing left...adding embellishments. Now, if we could just FIND Katie's again so I can finish it completely (she started playing with hers when it was off the needles, so who knows where it is?!)



9. Learn to sew and make a curtain for Noah's toy shelf.



I have, kind of, learned to sew. I haven't made the curtains, but I did JUST make a pillow this past weekend.



10. If I don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all! (The most difficult one to keep of all I do believe!) The only way I see to accomplish this is to just NOT be around certain people, or to come prepared with plenty of things to daydream about while I am around them so that I don't pay attention to anything they are saying. Or perhaps I can work on my attitude.

Really and truly, I have done better on this one. God is helping me. On a slightly different note, but similar, I am trying to do this with my thoughts as well. I have truly been better at looking toward the positive side on things. Especially in the last couple of days :) Trying to focus on the big scheme of life and "keep on keeping on" and trying to not get down in the dumps like I used to do so often. God doesn't want me to sit around and "fret"...He wants me to be busy! So, I am very much trying to do that!

#11: Recycle.

Oh, we had such good intentions!!!! I think that if we had cancelled our trash service pickup then this one would be so much easier, because then we would be going out anyway. I think we need to do that, maybe I can talk to Corey about it. Our church is ON THE SAME ROAD as the recycling center/trash drop off....so it wouldn't be that difficult...just a little extra work, and isn't that what sacrifice is all about? (perhaps a little different sort of sacrifice...but if you truly believe it is the right thing to do....) Hmmm...something to think about.

So, there you have it. Three out of eleven complete successes, a few "working on it"s and a couple of complete failures. I'd say that's just about how life goes, huh?! I will be pondering over these things the next few weeks...trying to decide what goals might be in store for me next year...

Girls' Trip!

Bethany and I had so much fun on our trip! I really thought I had taken more pictures than this, but I guess many of them are on her camera, so I will be eager to get those soon!
You can read Bethany's post about the trip here....
We got there just in time to take a quick look around the room and make a sandwich before heading to the bus and the Christmas party. The hotel really did smell incredibly great!
All of the pictures from our night at Magic Kingdom are on Bethany's camera because her camera is small and we wanted to carry as little as possible with us.
We rode some rides, Bethany talked me into doing Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...which wasn't terrible, but my eyes were closed the entire time!
Anyway, the party was really fun and the park was beautiful all decorated for Christmas. Unfortunately, Bethany's camera battery died and we didn't get any pictures of the actual "Christmas" part...the parade, fireworks, or special show. But, we did ride everything we wanted, had a free meal given to us because of a mistake with the order (two meals for $7 woo hoo!) and enjoyed plenty of delicious hot chocolate, cookies, and apple juice!
The next day we got up and walked around the resort. Then we went out to find Sweet Tomatoes and Target. It rained really hard while we were at Target so we ended up spending more time there than we had planned. Oh, we also went to an outlet briefly, but it was full of stores we don't really care for...
Anyway....after that we found the Animal Kingdom Lodge and walked around there for about an hour. It is GORGEOUS! We saw some animals, but since it was dark they don't really show up well on the camera. When we got back to the hotel we walked down to the Boardwalk area and watched two different fireworks shows. Pretty cool....walked around the area and just talked...
The next day we went to Downtown Disney for souvenir shopping and to meet up with Marcy and Scott. It was really fun getting to meet my online friend, who is now my real life friend I guess! They are really sweet and we had a great visit with them.
We then headed back to the resort for some pool time. Bethany did the water slide and we waded around in the pool and then hung out and rested and read books. It was nice.
After that we went back, got dressed and took the water taxi over to the Boardwalk to try and find some food. We ended up getting an appetizer to go and just hanging out in the room....Bethany was sweet enough to tell me that she saw something going on outside like lights, so I was able to watch the Wishes fireworks show from our window! VERY cool...you could see the entire thing.
The next day was time to go home. We ended up leaving around 9:45 and making it to Bethany's house around 1pm. We packed up for Canaan who rode home with her mom and I and hit Atlanta at exactly 5pm! God is good and traffic was just not bad at all...we were through it all and home 6:30 or so!
We had a great time and although we didn't just lay around as much as we had thought we would, it was a great rest for our minds and not being "needed" for a few days...
I am so glad Bethany could come with me!Although she did not enjoy some of the things as much as I did (the wasteful fireworks! ha), there were things for her too, like Space Mountain and Bath and Body Works products in the bathroom! ha ha!
Oh....the meal challenge! Including snacks like ice cream and a cookie at Downtown Disney, we ended up spending $45 for all the days we were there! That is COMBINED! Between the TWO of us!!!! Thanks to some groceries in the room and sharing meals, we really came out great!!! Go us!

More to come...

Here is a picture of us in the pool area. This hotel has an awesome area with several pools, waterfalls, bridges, and a water slide. We have lots more pictures but most of the ones we took last night were with Bethany's camera and I don't feel like messing with that right now as I am about to go eat a great lunch at Sweet Tomatoes then relax by the pool. Maybe later we will head out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, take pictures and grab some exotic dessert! We are having a great time, just trying to recover from my 21 hour day yesterday as I got up at 5am then back in bed at 1am this morning!!!

My theme for the rest of the week....

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

I know this isn't exactly in the precise context in which I will take it...ha...but in a way it is. BECAUSE my soul is at rest...then I can completely rest my mind and body for the next few days while I take a vacation from my everyday life. I pity the people who can't relax when they get away from it all, even when they ARE away from it all, because their souls are not at rest.

See you on Wednesday probably, with photos from Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! Bathany ordered our tickets today and in 13 hours I will be getting ready to head out of town! Please say a prayer for our safety and peace of mind while we are both away from our children who we are usually with 24 hours a day!, and for Corey, Katie and Noah as they go through the rest of the week. Also, for Nana, who will have charge over them during work hours...and who will be going through some school work I have left for them.

I am truly excited and ready for some REST!!!!

Planning and Planning....and more planning

I have managed to squeeze quite a bit of planning into this trip, in spite of the fact that I found out I was going only 4 days before leaving!

Bethany's babysitter (her mom) will be driving down with me (hopefully that will still be the plan!) to stay with her kids at their house while she is gone. I hope to leave Adairsville by 6am. This is just a necessity since we have to go through Atlanta you must leave super early or late. I don't want to leave late because it takes 4-5 hours to get to Valdosta and we need to be leaving there by lunch time in order to get to Orlando in time for our evening plans.

Bethany and I have decided for sure to go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party the night we arrive. It is only shown certain nights of the week and Tuesday night is the only night it is showing while we are there and you can get into the park at 4pm!

I am very excited about this! Bethany has NEVER BEEN to Disney World before!!!! This is an after hours event that you buy a special ticket for. They will serve hot chocolate and cookies for free (well the price of the ticket, $52...you know), have a special Christmas themed parade....have a special Christmas fireworks show, SNOW falling at the beginning, special meet and greets with the characters dressed for Christmas, and most of the major rides will still be open. The park will be open until midnight for the party, so this will be a perfect way to experience the park without paying the full price for a ticket. The crowds should be non-existent as well....I am really really excited about that and I hope I can talk Bethany into wearing a "first visit" button while we are there! :)

My "online friend" Marcy, is going to be in Disney World next week too, so we will finally get to meet in person while we are both far from home! She actually lives in GA and is a college friend of Bethany's so we plan on meeting maybe Thursday in Downtown Disney. Isn't that wild?! I was so jealous when she started planning her trip that she was going so soon, and CRAZY that I get to go the same time! They are celebrating their anniversary, so Happy Anniversary Marcy and Scott! See you in FLA!

I also have been challenged by Corey with my food budget. He thinks it would be unthinkable for someone to be able to eat on $30 for 4 days. This is not my budget by the way, but when we were deciding how to afford it I suggested that I COULD do this if I had to. He thinks its impossible. I plan on proving him wrong. Bethany already has her BOGO coupon for Sweet Tomatoes ready! ha ha! Anyway, who knows if I will actually make the budget, but I do plan on being as cheap as possible with food just to see.....

I have a long list on my fridge. Katie has been busy herself, making lists of things....she is so cute! She has a list of toys to take to Nana's house (babys, dolls, frog Lily, etc), a list of foods to tell Nana to have (oreo dessert, soda pops, strawberry pop tarts) and just general lists...remember to tell Nana that we love you mom...just adorable! Don't worry Nana, they aren't bringing all that stuff! I think they still don't understand exactly what is going on...Noah mentioned spending the night at Nana's earlier and I explained to him that he would be coming home to sleep. It is so odd for them to think about being HOME when I am not there...staying with Daddy. It is the other way around when Corey has to travel as he does regularly, so this will definitely be different for them. I hope and pray they will not miss me too very much that they cry at night or something.

My list includes every single thing in the world I want to remember to take....believe it or not "clothes" is on my list. ha ha. And, before you think that is a little nuts, let me explain. It will remind me to check my clothes again just to be sure I have what I needed and didn't forget to add something I was washing to get ready to go. Also, computer,camera and memory sticks, vitamins, snacks, swim suit, etc...the usual stuff.

The funniest thing has been the things that Corey has requested I get ready for him while I am gone. He wanted me to get all the clothes laid out and ready for the kids for the week...yeah, Katie's clothes can be a challenge sometimes as far as what still fits, what shoes go best with which pair of jeans (some are long and require boots for example).
He also said to be sure that if their nails need clipping to do that before I go! ha ha!
Another request: be sure there is a brush and at least one pony tail holder where he can find it!

This will not be the longest I have ever been away from my kids...I am pretty sure Corey and I were gone on our solo Orlando trip this long too...but this is definitely the longest amount of time that Corey has had the kids on his own! I know he will do fine...I just hope he remembers the vitamins and medicine every day!

Anyway, better get back to getting things ready....laying out clothes...packing up stuff...cleaning..calling Bethany 100 times to discuss stuff...

What's cuter than a 6 year old with a missing tooth?!

A six year old who has TWO missing teeth, of course! Second one out tonight. That's all for now, no more loose at this time. Isn't she the cutest?!

I'm a WINNER!!!!

AGH! I just found out this morning that I won a drawing for a three night stay at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel!!!!! The catch is that I have to go NEXT WEEK!!!

WOO HOO!!!!! I never win anything and I am so excited!

One drawback is that since it is so last minute, we had no time to prepare for spending money, etc, so I can't take my dear husband or children! *sniff sniff*

But, the bonus for that is that I get to have a girls' three night getaway!

I have talked to my only friend who is as Disney crazy as I am...PJ...so if she can go we are going to head out Tuesday. We will probably just spend time touring the resorts and relaxing! The hotel it supposed to be very nice! I am SOOOO EXCITED!!!!

Update: I have more time to write now....so, pending the budget, and if time permits, we may go to the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on the Tuesday night we arrive. It only costs $52 and you get to go into the Magic Kingdom early and see special characters dressed up for Christmas, a special parade and fireworks too. Also, a lot of the rides are open as well. This would be cheaper than the $130 to get a 1 day park hopper, which would be my choice if I had the $$, but I have to think of the other people who are coming also. If I did that I wouldn't be able to eat while I was there, AND my poor friends probably wouldn't want to be power pulled through 4 parks in one day with me! ha ha! We'll see. Whatever we do it will be fun! The resort itself provides a day's worth of activities and I really want to spend time seeing all the other resorts as well.

As awesome as it is to win this, it does come at kind of a hard time of the year for spending $. For us, we are already saving for our trip to Disney in February, and also Christmas is just in a month....so whatever we do I will love it and I can't wait! I will have to add a countdown! ha ha!

*Anyone who would like to make a donation to the "1st ever last minute girls' trip to Orlando and no time to save $", please email me at creativecarriet@comcast.net ha ha!

Booking Through Thursday

I want to share a new book with you this week.....
I have been wanting to start a mom's Bible/book study at church, and it the right time has come! I have never been in charge of leading a study before, so as you read this please say a quick prayer for me to have the right things to say and to be a good leader for this new thing!
We are going to be meeting on Wednesdays at 6pm...a time that will be perfect for us moms who need to get our kids in the bed at a decent hour! ha. I am very excited and believe I was lead to a great book as a beginning point for us.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver

I have heard great things about this book and as I read through the first three chapters as a sort of "preview" I am really enjoying it. The topic has actually been a good one to start a mom's study group, because it is all about MAKING time for God through the "busy-ness" of a mom's life. The back of the book says:

"An invitation for every woman who's ever felt she isn't godly enough, isn't loving enough, isn't doing enough. The life of a woman today isn't really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord's feet...but the daily demands of a busy world just won't leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him...yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy. Then comes Jesus, into the midst of your busy life, to extend the same invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters from Bethany. Tenderly, he invites you to choose "the better part"---a joyful life of intimacy with Him that flows naturally into loving service."

We had our first group meeting tonight and I think it was quite a success! We have a good group of girls and I am so excited about making new friends!

Weblink Wednesday

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Here's my link for the day! And it is actually a homeschool link (Yay!)

I can't remember how I found this site, but it is one of my first go-to sites for finding extra activities for my kids. We use Sonlight, which has little/no worksheets for most things (tons of reading!), especially at the age my kids are now, so this is a fun place to find brain building worksheets from preschool to 5th grade and on particular themes.

http://www.tlsbooks.com/

I wasn't going to post anything about the election...

AND I am still not going to do it! Ha ha...this uplifted me when I read it just now, I hope it does you too!!!

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2008/11/psalm-11824.html

Sunday Sewing with Carrie

I did it! I sewed!

I have been meaning to blog about the awesome sewing machine I recently inherited from Corey's grandmother. They are clearing out all their belongings and getting ready to move, so they are passing along things they don't want to take with them. Corey's grandmother is a very talented seamstress and has collected a lot of sewing supplies throughout the years. She actually had several sewing machines and I was blessed to have one passed along to me!! I have had it for a couple of months now probably, and just now have gotten around to making something.

Here is a picture of the sewing machine. It is nicely displayed in my new "sewing corner" in my bedroom. The desk was inherited from Corey's great grandad who recently passed away. It is a beautiful desk and it just perfect for this use!!

Here is a picture of the material which was also passed along with the machine. Three HUGE plastic containers filled with tons of beautiful material! Corduroy, polyester, cottons, blends, etc...all kinds of prints and patterns. Wow...I have NO excuse right?!

Here is a picture of the drawer holding all the little extras that were also passed along to me....thread and more thread (including embroidery thread for the embroidery attachment!), measuring tape, scissors, buttons, zippers, extra needles for the machine, and more....and beside the drawer is a large cutting board also passed down. I can't remember now if this was also Corey's great-grandmother's...I want to get all that specific information again so I can record it somewhere. It is great to be set up for a great hobby that will be fun and useful, but even more awesome that all this stuff is special because it has been passed down from a previous generation. Supplies that were used to create clothes and toys for my husband and his mom...

And HERE is a picture of my first ever sewing project! I made a pillow for the living room using some dark brown corduroy. It definitely has....character! ha ha! Unfortunately, I forgot about the cutting board in my enthusiasm to get to working on something finally, so the cutting out process wasn't very precise, therefore the pillow isn't exactly a perfect square. AND, since I have absolutely no experience sewing, the finishing up of the pillow after it was stuffed definitely could be better. But, I am very proud of it....it really adds to the couch to have an accessory, and I can't wait to try making more with the other shades of brown corduroy I have. It really made a pretty pillow, the photo I don't think does it justice...the color is very pretty.