Random Happenings...

It's been a BEAUTIFUL week here! I am loving the break from the hot weather... although Thomas has gotten a little longer and so all of the pants I had set aside for him to wear this fall and winter are too short... so I'm hoping the warm weather stays around for just a little bit longer! :) 

Thomas started his first type of preschool this week. He's with me and my two year old class, so I count that as starting. He's enjoying it, but he definitely does not like sharing his momma! He's been a little congested this week, so that's made him a bit more attached. Thomas also took quite a spill the other day and face planted into the side of my (rock) house. I think he wanted to make sure he got plenty of sympathy from me! I'd show a picture, but it looks pretty rough. The side of his little nose is scraped, and he also managed to get a bump on each side of his face, scrape under his arm and his leg! It was so sad! Last night he was playing in our church nursery while Derek and I were in a class and he fell and his his cheek, so he has a big bruise there too! It's really pitiful! 

Thankfully, we decided to have a day at home, cleaning and baking some cake pops for a friend's first birthday! This morning Thomas and I took a nice long walk around our "neighborhood." 

Anna-Kate has had a great week too! She was home with us on Monday, for Labor Day and so we all 4 enjoyed a nice day at home getting things done. Monday night she got to go play with some friends, Shelby and Riley. She loved that! I love how close Anna-Kate and Kristen are, but I think it's good for her to make other friends too. Shelby will be 4 next month and she is hilarious! She is always saying the funniest things! One day, I watched her and she said "Thank you for having me over. I had a nice time." So cute! Anna-Kate got to go to Uncle Ryne's football game last night, which is always a favorite for her. She and Kristen each filled up water bottles with rocks. I think I have mentioned before how opinionated she is about clothes. It seems like there is something wrong every day. If I'd let her she would probably wear the craziest things and shoes that are about 5 sizes too big. I got an idea from my doctor to try and give her one or two days a week that she gets to pick out her outfit. So I gave Anna-Kate one day of her choice and told her that if it went well she could have another day. She chose Saturday (yes!!). That was going well until we had a huge fit over something I picked out and I took her day away. Now she's back to the same old routine of fighting with us about everything! Shoes she used to love, she hates. Her pants are too big or sag. She doesn't like t-shirts. Anyone have any suggestions on what worked for them, besides making her wear the same outfit every day? I'm probably going to re-introduce the one day of the week thing, but I still think she's going to fight me! Anyone want to take her when she hits 13?? You can give her back when she's over the teenage phase... :) 

Derek has had a pretty good week at work. He's just struggling with the motivation to keep going. His job is challenging Derek in ways he didn't expect. I am so proud of how hard he is working and I know that things will get better. He just has to keep fighting through! He does such a good job balancing family and work. I know it's draining on him but I am so grateful that he's always here when I need him.  

Okay, sorry for the randomness! I just felt like I've missed out on updating about us! I feel like I do too many link ups and I forget to share about what's really going on! I love the link ups though... so tomorrow I'll post my normal Friday link up! 

I've been a terrible photographer and have barely busted out my camera, but here are a few of Thomas lately! 

He cracks me up! 

Super Bowl

This was the first time we were in town for the Super Bowl in 3 1/2 years! 

For the past several months I have been looking forward to the Super Bowl but not for football reasons! I have been so excited about Super Bowl snack foods! ha. I love to cook and bake and I love hosting parties mostly because of the fun things you get to make. So this year, our class at church was having a party and we decided to go. Derek signed us up while I wasn't there and guess what he signed us up to bring?!!

Drinks...

I'm not kidding! I was kind of disappointed, but it ended up working out well. We had a busier day than expected on Saturday and so I honestly didn't have time to make anything spectacular. (I did make Mississippi mud cupcakes... but that was for us)

There were so many young families at this house! It was really great, but pretty crazy too. We had so much fun playing and getting to know everyone better.

Anna-Kate decided to "feed" everyone

Thomas grabbed this cupcake and would not let us take it away!

He really loved it. 

After a little bit at that party we decided to go over to Derek's parents house and watch the rest of the game with them and their friends. Anna-Kate had been asking for Kristen anyway. We had lots of fun there too! Anna-Kate got to run around with the kids and Thomas enjoyed being the center of attention too! Oh my- he was a total ham! I thought he would be fussy and tired but he held up well. He just got really goofy and clumsy the more tired he got.

We had a great night and I'm already looking forward to next year! I will make sure I am with the sign up sheet! :)

Snow Day

Last week we had the first snow day of 2011! We all got to be home and enjoy it too! 

It started on Sunday night while we were in church. We were nervous about the "long commute" home, but we made it across the street just fine! ha! 

Anna-Kate taking it all in! 

We woke up to about 3" on Monday morning. I love the snow. Everything is just so beautiful! 

We played around here and then Anna-Kate was dying to play with Kristen so we ran a few errands and headed over to their house. I was so excited because Anna-Kate was really into the snow! 

Anna-Kate had to wear her sunglasses, she's such a mess! 

This is behind Derek's parents house. So beautiful! 

Kristen made a snow angel

This is Bella, Derek's parent's dog. She had snow on her nose! So cute! 

Derek's mom watched Thomas while we took the girls out and helped them build a snow man. They were so funny about  all of it!  When he was built, they danced around and sang "Frosty the snowman!" haha! Such a difference from the crying last year! :) 

At one point I told Kristen that our snowman needed mittens on his hands. She said "um... they're just sticks." Too funny! 

New Year's Resolutions!

This year I have a few resolutions I want to share here so maybe we can stick to them! ha. They're really not all that big. 

First, I want to simplify. Derek is starting a new job, Thomas just started daycare (yes, sad but true. more on that later) and we are no longer preaching in Lepanto. I just feel like there are so many changes going on. I have a tendency to want to do everything I can and be busy but this year I'm trying to say no to myself! ha. I really love being super involved. Along the same lines of being simple around here I want to keep our routine simple and easy.

I'm going to try to cook our meals for the week on Saturdays and then just freeze them. Then we don't have to worry about rushing around and trying to cook dinner while the kids are under our feet. I want to work on getting everything laid out the night before so that our morning routine goes smoothly. 

My second resolution is to fully commit to paying off our debt. Keeping my first resolution in mind, I just want to have the first step done. That is saving a certain amount as quick as we can. Derek and I are already working towards that and I am so excited! 

I just have one more resolution. That is to figure out what I want. ha. Sometimes I feel so lost and I know it's normal but I feel like it's time to do something about it. I want to make progress towards finding myself. 

That's that. I'm not really one to make and share my resolutions but here's to a New Year! 

Christmas in Franklin Part 3

Hey guess what... 

this is my final Christmas 2010 post! ha! 

Thursday morning we had a girls breakfast with my sister, Sara, before she went to work. After that my Grandmother, Anna-Kate and I went shopping! We needed a few things for our family gift exchange that night. 

We had a lot of fun shopping but poor Anna-Kate was worn out and she got drug from grown up store to grown up store! I decided to give her a special treat and let her visit the candy store. It's one of those grab a bag and scoop and fill places. Anna-Kate's eyes were huge when she realized that she could get any candy she wanted and as much as she wanted. I think she had a lot of fun scooping out the candy and it helped redirect her. Of course I watched how much she ate and she never really ate very much but it was the whole experience that she really enjoyed. Sometimes I think that's important. I worry so much about making sure they eat healthy and so I hold back on things. But I do like to let go every so often and just let her be a kid. 

We enjoyed a laid back day and then went to spend time with family. 

This is one of my favorite family gatherings... I really love them all but I always get one of my favorite things at this one. Boiled custard!! My grandfather's sister probably makes the best boiled custard! I'm still craving it. One glass was just not enough! ;) 

Of course I love getting to spend time with that side of the family too! 

Thomas decided to kick his legs up after dinner! haha! We all thought it was pretty funny! 

Greer is one of Anna-Kate's idols... this night she passed her love for shoes to Anna-Kate... 

monkey see, monkey do... :) I love this! 

She did have tights on but decided she was too big for them- after all Greer wasn't wearing any! You'd be amazed by how much Greer motivates Anna-Kate to wear a certain outfit or a certain night gown... even 6 hours away! 

We had so much fun! Plus we got to take home the cutest little basket. I'm going to put this in our playroom and put the kids toys in! The basket also had several Tennessee goodies, including the neatest little Franklin plate! 

We packed the car that night and headed out Friday morning. 

Anna-Kate does so good watching movies!! We had the best ride back! :) 

The entire back of the car was stuffed full! It was crazy! 

We stopped in Lepanto before heading home, but that's a whole other post! :) 

It is always so nice to go and visit my family. I love seeing everyone. I especially enjoy getting to share my children with so many members of my family. I hope that Anna-Kate and Thomas will share the same love for Franklin as I do when they get older. 

But as good of a trip as it was, there's no place like home! 

Picture-Packed Weekend!

Weekends have quickly become even more special for me now that I'm working. I cherish the moments I get to share with Anna-Kate and Thomas. 

Last Thursday Anna-Kate told me that she missed me which absolutely broke my heart! I was extra good this weekend and took lots of pictures! :) Aren't you proud of me? ;) haha. 

I threw in the first few pictures from last week because they were too cute to resist! 

Wednesday nights we host Bible study while Anna-Kate and Thomas go to church across the street. Derek's parents usually walk them over to us and then chat and stay for a few minutes. I walked into Anna-Kate's room and found her in her 'Fancy Nancy' dress up outfit! It was so cute! 

Anna-Kate also has a new rug, isn't it super cute! Thanks to Nini and Granddaddy!! 

Thomas enjoyed a special treat- sausage balls! He loves them! 

After everyone left, we played in our jammies for a few minutes! 

Growing up, Frosty always hung on the wall in our kitchen around the holidays! I love sharing him with my children! 

Anna-Kate decided to leave on her leggings and shoes and wear the dress OVER her nightgown! haha! 

Friday Morning I made Thomas some pancakes before work! He was very happy about them! 

We got invited to a Christmas Party Friday night! It was so much fun! 

He's such a cutie! :) 

Anna-Kate wore her cheerleading uniform because her school made it to the State Play-offs! :) More on that in a second! 

I know this is going to make me sound so lazy but Saturday morning we all slept until nearly 10!! It was great! After we got ready we grabbed lunch at a pasta place in town! 

The waitress brought Thomas his own marinara sauce and he loved it! He wanted to dip his own bread! 

Thomas and Anna-Kate shared tortellini. It was so good! Thomas ate most of it though! 

After we ate, Derek took Thomas for a nap while Anna-Kate and I had a special "girls only" movie date to see Tangled! 

She was so excited! Although once we got in she did point out all the "daddies" and say that it was girls only! haha! 

She liked the movie a lot but I think it was a little scary for her. She wound up falling asleep just over halfway through! Poor thing! 

After the movie, Derek went to the play-off game in Little Rock! We decided that it would be too cold for the kids, so I stayed at home with them! 

We played for a while... 

and attempted watching The Polar Express. Then we ate dinner and took baths and the kids went to bed while I did some online Christmas Shopping! 

Our team lost, but Derek said they played really good! 

Sunday we went to Lepanto and I taught Sunday School! 

Anna-Kate was probably telling me how I don't do things like her other teacher... haha. She's a good "helper." 

Poor Thomas had to wear his jammies through class! :) 

Thomas was WILD during church! It is so hard to keep him from distracting everyone! He was putting the attendance cards in and out and then he'd reach up on his tippy toes and look in. After church, I tried to catch him doing that but he was not cooperating! 

After church Sunday night, we made the drive back home! 

I know it's not super exciting, but we had a good weekend! 

Return to the Christmas Tree Farm!

Last weekend we made our second-annual trip to the Christmas Tree farm!! You might remember our trip last year, but if not click here. It's really neat to see how much the kids have changed! :)

Anna-Kate wanted Kristen to join us, so we picked her up on our way! She was super excited too! 

All ready to go! 

When the girls get along they are so sweet!! 

When we first got there we went on a hayride up the hill to find our tree. 

Haha! Thomas really wanted out of the stroller! 

The girls chose this tree, but sadly it wasn't for sale! haha. 

Posing by our tree!! 

Helping Daddy cut down the tree. 

Waiting on the hayride to pick us up and our tree! 

After we got off the hayride, Derek went to get the tree and I took the girls over to the little petting zoo! 

They thought this piggy was super cute until they were petting it and it "oinked" at them! haha! 

This goat tried to eat Anna-Kate's shirt! 

After the petting zoo, the girls wanted to swing. 

They loved the swings but it's hard work keeping three swings going by yourself! haha! 

I was happy to have Derek's help! 

When we got to the farm, the girls quickly spotted the cow ride and that was pretty much all they wanted to do! They were very excited when they finally got to ride! 

What's with my face? Oh my! 

The man running the ride pretty much insisted that Thomas join in on the fun and Derek was so sweet to "let" me go while he sipped hot chocolate! 

Thomas and the girls loved the ride so much that we let them ride again! This time Derek "got" to ride while I drank hot chocolate! haha! 

We pretty much loaded up after this. The girls and Thomas all did so good! We had a lot of fun and I love the tree we picked out!! 

After the farm, we ate at a Mexican place and then headed home. We dropped Kristen off and then decorated our tree. I am planning on joining in on Kelly's Korner's Tour of Homes soon, so I'll post a picture of the tree on that!