What I'm Loving Wednesday

October edition... 

Since we had so many fun things happen last month, I thought this would be the best way to update! :)

I'm loving the fun Saturday we had in Lepanto! It was so wonderful to visit and see our friends! Not to mention, it was a beautiful day for Terapin Derby!  

I'm loving the homecoming pep rally that we got to watch! Anna-Kate was so excited we came along and she loved getting to high-five the football team! Plus they won the game! :)

I'm loving that I got to go with Anna-Kate on her field trip to a farm! We had so much fun at cowboy day!

I'm loving that Thomas had such a wonderful birthday!! We took monkey cake pops to his school and then we had a small party the night of his birthday with family. We made mickey mouse pizzas and then had cupcakes. He had a cute mickey-themed party on Saturday with some friends!

I'm loving the cute going away party we threw! Anna-Kate's student teacher had her last day in October, so we gave her a little surprise party! Complete with a "Thanks for making us wiser" tote bag with all of the kids fingerprints turned into little owls! We also had ice cream sundaes and owl cake pops! 

I'm loving the wonderful time we had at Grandparent's day this year! Anna-Kate was so proud to perform and to show off her class to Nini and Granddaddy! 

I'm loving how adorable my little monkey and owl were this year!! Thomas got to wear his costume to school and he was so excited! 

I'm loving that we went to Anna-Kate's fall fest at school and got to play games with her! She was so excited to see us! 

I'm loving that we had a wonderful trip to Franklin! We went to Pumpkin fest and got to spend lots of time with family! 

I'm loving that we still had time to go Trick-or-Treating at several houses on Halloween! 

I'm loving my precious little family and all of the special memories we got to make this October! I know I say it all the time, but I feel so blessed that I was able to be home through all of it! :)

Sorry for the mega post- but that almost catches you up! What are you loving today? Link up here and play along!! 

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! 

Christmas in Franklin

We left Searcy on Monday morning to go visit my family in Franklin. Anna-Kate and Thomas did pretty good in the car- thank goodness! It is about a 5-6 hour drive, so that's not easy on a little one. 

When we got to my grandparents, we visited and then they let us open gifts. (I left my camera in the car so I don't have any pictures of that!) One of the things Thomas got was a tickle me elmo. I thought he would love it, but it completely scared him! Elmo starts off standing up and then laughs so hard he falls on his bottom and then lays on the floor. He eventually stands up but it's all the movement that frightens Thomas! I tried to get him over the fear but he's still not impressed. 

My grandmother completely surprised us with a dual screen portable dvd player for our car!! We were SO excited! Our car has never been quieter! :) 

After we exchanged gifts we got ready to go see my Dad and his side of the family. Two of my Dad's sisters came and their children and grandchildren! It was pretty crazy! Thomas and Anna-Kate had so many babies to play with! It was so much fun because I know that is how it was for my dad when we were all younger. 

There were a lot of people and it was pretty crazy so it took Thomas and Anna-Kate quite a while to warm up. 

We ate and visited and then we decided to attempt a picture of all our little ones! 

Thomas and my nephew Luke

Here goes: Luke (7 months), Anna-Kate (3 1/2), Thomas (14 months), Declan (5 years), Kara (8 months), Miles (almost 3), Willow (8), Edan (9 months), and Emberly (4 months)

We exchanged a few gifts. Let me just say, when you are 3 1/2 and are on your 7th Christmas "party" you start to expect presents at every gathering. I'm embarrassed to say that's how Anna-Kate acted! ha. She started seeing gifts and saying "I want to open presents." Then we would open gifts and she would say "I want more presents" or "I never get any presents" haha. It was so bad! Oh man. Thankfully, we are on present detox and hopefully by her birthday she won't be so greedy!  

When I was going through my pictures I found this one. Looks like Aunt Jessie and Anna-Kate "borrowed" mommy's camera! Too cute! 

As we were wrapping up I walked in the other room and caught Anna-Kate, Willow and Declan hanging out in the recliner. 

We had so much fun visiting with everyone. I especially loved getting to see family that I haven't seen in forever! 

Grandparent's Day

Last week was a busy week! I feel like I'm settling into a new routine and trying to find the balance between doing the things I would have gotten to do if I was at home and doing the things I can do now that I'm working. It's hard work! 

 I had two days that were just crazy with the juggling! Wednesday, we dropped Anna-Kate off at school, then dropped Derek off at work and then I took Thomas to Amanda. Then I headed back across town to help with a party at Anna-Kate's school. Friday was her student teacher's last day at school, so they threw her a surprise party on Wednesday. I brought made-from-scratch-brownies and then helped set up and stayed for the party. THEN I headed to work! 

I know that it was a little crazy, but I honestly LOVE being able to help out as much as I can at school. I love making fun little treats or just getting to set up the parties. I've always wanted to be really involved in my children's school activities. But I think that I'm just surprised how hard it really is! 

Friday was Grandparent's Day at the Academy and Anna-Kate's class was performing after chapel! I COULDN'T miss that! Despite it being a bit of a crazy morning, I was worn out from the week and slept a tad late! Thankfully, Derek's parents loaned us their truck and so Derek was able to drive Anna-Kate to school while I got ready! So after the morning scramble to get Anna-Kate out the door, I fed Thomas and got us ready. Then we headed to Harding and got to see Anna-Kate perform! I even was early enough to visit with Derek's parent's and his grandmother and then sneak over and say hi to the girls! 

They always make me laugh! 

I got to sneak up to towards the front and see them perform! I have a couple of funny videos but I can't upload them!! 

I had to bolt out of there after her performance to catch the baby sitter, but I left my camera with Derek's parents and they took pictures for me! 

So after Anna-Kate and Kristen sang, Ryne was VERY excited to perform! 

Can't you tell?? ;) ha! 

This is Anna-Kate's new thing, she does this and then says "I'm going to eat you up!" ha! She's really so goofy! 

So I dashed out of Anna-Kate's performance, met the babysitter and then rushed to work! I'm telling you, this scrambling thing is tough work! I know I'm going to get the balance eventually. Until then, I'll have to deal with the craziness!  The fall seems extra busy anyway, with the holidays and parties and all, so I'm sure that's not making things any easier! It really makes me even more grateful for my Grandma- I can't imagine how she managed me and my sisters! ha! 

On a positive note, Derek and I have gotten good Insurance news! Our car was totaled (who would have thought that'd be good news) and since it was, we don't have to pay on our loan anymore. Plus, the value of our car exceeded the loan and we are getting that back! So we are relieved that things have worked out well. Hopefully we'll be able to save up for another car soon. I'm thinking of getting a super cool mini-van! Seriously, all that room seems SO nice after driving my corolla around!

I've been looking forward to this week! I love my job, but I'm excited because I have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off! I'm planning on doing a little craft project with my friend Amanda and doing some extra holiday baking! I can smell the pumpkin bread already! ;)

Anna-Kate has a half-day on Wednesday too, so I'll get some extra time in with her! Thursday is MOPs and then we are leaving for a trip to Franklin to spend some time with my family!

I know that God is taking care of us! It's so nice to have a good week and another great week to look forward to!