Wordless Wednesday - Christmas at the Beach

 

Hailey was like...daddy I got this! There is nothing like spending Christmas at the beach...

Where did the time go?

No seriously…where did it go…LOL. I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year and had an awesome holiday. We had a super hectic and busy holiday, but it was awesome.

I don’t even know where to start. We went out of town for Christmas this year and that brings on a whole other set of stressors with trying to figure out logistics. How does Santa do it? I finally had to just simmer down and come to the conclusion that if this Christmas wasn’t all that great…that at least the older ones were on their last year of believing and Hailey wouldn’t remember it past this year.

I was thankfully stressed for no reason. It went waaaayyy better than I thought it would. We got to Florida the week before and were able to get all of our shopping done and wrapped with NO issues…thank god!

It was really nice to be able to spend time with all the fam right at Christmas instead of before or after...not to mention all the yummy food and desserts that went along with it.

As for New Years Eve the hubby and I stayed home...you couldn't pay me enough to be on the road with all the drunk and crazy people (not to mention we were recovering from the drive home).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girl finally saw the big man...

Between all of us getting sick and other stuff…I hadn’t taken Hailey to see Santa yet this year. Well that was until yesterday…she was so excited. We’ve been watching all kinds of Christmas shows and of course her normal shows have had Christmas stuff as well (all in preparation for the big day).

I don’t think she has quite got the presents and Santa connection yet, but after Christmas this go round I’m 100% positive she will.

Anywho…we went to our local mall (they always have an awesome Santa and scenery set up). I figured I’d scope it out and see how busy they were cause there is NO WAY I’m standing in some super long line with this one. I couldn’t believe it, there was only one family ahead of us. Hailey could hardly contain herself to wait and mommy made the mistake of letting her out of the stroller...thank goodness we didn’t have to wait long!

 It was funny, the little girls ahead of us weren’t too pleased about visiting with Santa and then the little one after us had a complete melt down.

Hailey must be some kind of Santa wonder or something because the Santa kept commenting on how good she was (and I mean like over and over). I guess after we saw the last little girl have a total cow it kinda makes sense.  

Hope you guys are getting all your Christmas stuff finished up…

 

 

A great Cause

Don’t get me wrong….I love getting presents! I think though, I like giving a really good one even better. I’m not one of those people that can just go at the last minute and grab whatever…it’s got to be right. What can be any more right than giving someone what they REALLY need??

Trust me…I know how busy we all are this time of year, but isn’t it a great time to stop for a minute and think about those that have been injured or set back from unforeseen circumstances. There are so many ways to give to your community that costs very little if anything at all.

Hailey and I recently went through all of her little baby toys and gave them to a family that really needed it. The mom had to go on leave from her job very early in her pregnancy and then ended up having her baby prematurely. Needless to say, she ended up staying home a lot longer than they had planned. I’m sure going from a two income family to one unexpectedly with three kids can be challenging.  I was so excited to be able to help them out!

Another notable way that just came to my attention is the Holiday Hurricane Rebound program that is sponsored by Touchstone Crystal (a member of the Swarovski Group). The goal of this program is to support the roughly 250 independent business women on the east coast that were severely affected by the effects of Hurricane Sandy. These women depend on income generated from in-home party sales and were unable to have them due to the devastating effects of the storm.

The aim is to have people from anywhere in the country partner with a specific Touchstone Crystal small business owner on the East Coast that was devastated by the storm. In addition, Touchstone Crystal will make double jewelry credit awards available to any remote host who signs up for the program.

To see some of their beautiful jewelry you can go here. If you would like to get more information on the Holiday Hurricane Rebound Program you can go here.

 

 

Did ya miss me?

 

I’ve been so dog sick I thought it might actually be possible for the germs to transmit through the internet….LOL Yes, the girls passed me their nasty germs. We were so sick over the weekend that I didn’t even get dressed till yesterday! I know…that’s bad. So obviously I didn’t leave the confines of the house till Monday…YIKES! Can we say STIR CRAZY?

I’m finally starting to feel better so I figured I better get on here and let ya’ll know I’m still alive and that I officially made it a month of daily postings…and just in the nick of time too! Cause there was no way I was gonna post this last weekend.

 I hope everyone is avoiding all the nasty little bugs that are currently all over the place and getting all your holiday stuff done! Fa la la la la la lots of shopping to do....

Long weekend wrapped up

For those of you concerned that I was going to miss my post today….you can breathe a sigh of relief. I know I left it down to the wire for sure!! But here it goes…figured I’d wrap up that long weekend (speaking of wrapping….who has started on that one yet??).

 

I hope everyone had a great time and spent time with friends and family. I know we got to see all kinds of friends and family and had lots of great food. As you can tell from the pics…the kiddos had so much fun they all pretty much snoozed all the way home today (I need to figure out that panaram pic thing so I can get all the sleeping beauties in the pic).

 

 

Hot diggity

I love it when the hubby has the same mindset about something as I do…it makes life sooooo much easier! Especially when it comes to a new TV for the bedroom. Can we say early Christmas present...why yes, yes we can.

Yea, yea…I know you’re not supposed to watch TV, play on the computer, etc. etc. in bed.

source

If I actually listened to that bunch of hooey ya’ll would never get any posts from me. Cause the only time I can get any peace and quiet to actually put a sentence together is to sit right here and write on the laptop.

Anyhwho…with all my blathering on about not going out into the black Friday madness…as soon as the hubby said: “hey, ya wanna go get a new TV for our bedroom”…I was like when we leavin’? Granted, this was in the afternoon after all the downright craziness was going on. Boy did I hear some stories about all that too…all I can say is to quite Hailey and say….dude, seriously!

Speaking of the girl….can these teeth please come through all ready….ai caramba!

 

 

Swirling vortex of doom

 

There is NO WAY in “you know what” that my happy behind will be caught in the midst of the utter chaos that is known as Black Friday. I don’t even like doing grocery shopping on weekends let alone going Christmas shopping on the busiest shopping day of the ENTIRE year! To drive home my aversion to being anywhere near said craziness…I made sure we had any and all possible groceries and errands done well before today (I will be a home-body all weekend…might possibly consider venturing to the park but that’s about it).

For those of you that brave the craziness….more power to ya!

source

 

I actually wish I was one of those people that could get all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving, but as most of you can probably guess…I’m not! I’m not a total last minute person, but it’s like that month before is the best time to do it…after Turkey Day it’s like this switch that says “come one Christmas.”

 

I Hope everyone is having a good extended weekend in whatever you’re doing…whether it’s braving the stores or recuperating from eating too much!

Happy Turkey Day!

I am so thankful for so many things in my life, but most of all I am thankful for my friends and family...especially my kids!

When I first came across this I knew I had to put it aside for something special. I’ve stopped to read it multiple times since first getting it…maybe I’m sappy, but it brings tears to my eyes every time.

 I hope you guys enjoy it and are having an awesome holiday week!

The following is called: A Child’s Ten Commandments to Parents, by Dr. Kevin Leman

1. My hands are small; please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture, or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you.

2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely: don’t restrict me unnecessarily.

3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little such a short time—please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and do so willingly.

4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs; don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would like to be treated.

5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by, and disciplining me in a loving manner.

6. I need your encouragement, but not your praise, to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.

7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I’ll be prepared to make the kind of decisions life requires of me.

8. Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me with my brother or my sister.

9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together. Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.

10. Please take me to Sunday school and church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning more about God.

 

Wordless Wednesday - Not so wordless

I'm continuing with my daily posts for November....so my wordless wednesday isn't so wordless today.

All I gotta say is...who knew how much fun they could have with a felt mustache. It's kinda like when you were a kid and ended up playing with the boxes and wrapping paper more than the actual toy. I wish the kids toys today could still be that cheap.

Speaking of toys...we're only how many days away from Christmas?? Eghad!

Don't get me wrong I LOVE Christmas...I just need to get my booty in gear is all.

Halloween Recap

Mommy was SUPER excited about this Halloween…Hailey didn’t know what to expect so she was just excited to wear her Cinderella dress (The girl would wear that thing daily if I let her).

All I can say is …. fun was had by all! The girls didn’t want the night to end and it was like pulling teeth to get them to go home.

Hailey loved following the older girls up to the doors. She had to make sure at every door to do her own trick-or-treat and thank you!

Needless to say the girls eventually got impatient had to move on….so mommy was then going door to door with Hailey while daddy brought up the rear with the little wagon that could.

By the end of the night we were thanking Dan and Noel for the wagon…cause not only was Hailey in it, but my friend Ami’s little boy and her dog were in there too! We hauled our wagon load over to their house and had smores over a pit….can we say YUM—MY??

Obviously we wore the girls out cause by the time we got home. Hailey went to bed and didn’t move…she was immediately sacked out and Livie wasn’t far behind!

Hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

Blog Angel Final

This week we are wrapping up the month, enjoying the Halloween festivities and finishing up the Blog Angel project. Rosie @ Craftbotic Q is the brains and workhorse behind this whole Blog Angel thing and does an awesome job! I sooooo wouldn’t want to have to keep up with all those folks!

I do wish I had taken part in this at a time when all of us weren’t quite so busy with the holidays and all coming up. I know how hectic my life can be and some of my fellow bloggy girls are feeling the pinch as well.

Megan (from Memoirs of Megan) and I got off to a slow start for those reasons, but we’ve made up for it in record time! I just hope that my input has given her some ideas and a different perspective to help her out.

Megan’s main concerns were: How to gain followers, advertise, promote giveaways and then help in promoting her and Heather from Cookies for Breakfast ‘s new blog hop. It starts this week (Tuesday) and is called The Mommy Confessions. I think these concerns are ones that ALL of us have had at one point and time. I figured I could just copy one of my emails to Megan and it might help someone else that comes across it…This is what I said:

Hey Megan,

When I first started this thing, I literally had NO clue what I was doing. I would look at lots of fellow bloggers' sites and see what I liked and didn’t on each (this also included what each of them did to advertise and get followers. It's amazing to me all the girls that started at roughly the same time as I did and how far each of us has come! Personally, I've joined lots of hops (some weeks you won't get much of anything from and then others you'll get a ton). I don't know about you, but trying to remember which ones are on which days is the hardest thing! I constantly look for new hops with different people in them.

 I've done several button swaps (if you want to do that...I'm game). One of the biggest things is doing giveaways...I haven't invested much monetarily into my blog for this either. As for the design part of my blog, if I see something I want for my blog...I figure out how to do it myself! For promoting giveaways....I've done all of mine with a group of other bloggers. Twitter & Facebook are HUGE for advertising giveaways!

I would love to join up on your link on Tuesday...just send me an email when it goes live...or right before! I have a hard time keeping up with remembering all the bloggy stuff in addition to everyday life.

 I hope that was helpful...if you think of anything else...I'm just an email away!

Anissa

Aren’t ya’ll glad I don’t normally type this much in every post?? J

Wordless Wednesday - Halloween

 

Happy Halloween everybody!

Can you guess which princess my little princess is for Halloween?

 

 

 

In the SPIRIT of Halloween

NO, not that kind! LOL, but it does sound good right about now. Any-who, I love this time of year and one of my favorite Halloween activities, is Boo-ing. You’ve probably noticed the signs around your neighborhood or even at work. If you haven't been boo'ed before… this is actually a boo you want

In different areas of the country it can sometimes be referred to as “ghosting” or “the phantom” it’s all the same. It’s similar to Secret Santa at Christmas and just as much fun.

source: http://free-border-clipart.blogspot.com/

To start a Halloween BOO, one person secretly leaves a small treat, a BOO poem, BOO instructions and a BOO sign at a neighbor's doorstep.

That lucky individual is then asked to post the sign near the door, letting others know that they’ve been BOO-ed!" That way, new BOO recruits won't leave a duplicate BOO on a doorstep. They are then supposed to do the same to two other people….this starts a whole lotta Halloween fun with the chain reaction!

Once it starts…there’s no stopping it, but who’d want to?

So we get to my GRAND idea….a boo for bloggers!!! I’m not quite sure how to leave a treat for each, but at least we can show some bloggy love…Let’s see how many we can get to go around the blogosphere…

Instructions:

source: http://free-border-clipart.blogspot.com/

1)     Place the “I’ve been boo’ed” button somewhere on your blog where everyone can see it!

2)    Choose two bloggy friends as your boo-eees and send them the button and boo-note (or a link to them).

*If anyone needs boo supplies you can go here-à Boo Central (it's a BOO page on my blog)

3)    Sit back and enjoy the boo-ing activities.

If you guys can think of any other ways that we can make this even more fun….let me know!