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! 

Football Games!!

We have been spending most of our Thursday nights at Derek's brother's football games! You can read about previous year's games here and here! 

I really enjoy going to the games! It's a little difficult wrestling Thomas because he wants to play with the girls so bad! ha! Plus his bedtime is usually around 7 at the LATEST so he's usually pretty worn out before we even get to the games.

Thursday we were supposed to go to Franklin but when our plans changed, we got to go to the game! I told Anna-Kate she and Kristen were going to be cheerleaders! Kristen said "yeah, when I grow up I'm going to be a cheerleader!" Then Anna-Kate replied, "when I grow up I'm going to be a broken-footed cheerleader!" haha! It was so funny! 

Proof that I don't just take pictures of the girls and Thomas! ha! Ryne is number 23! 

Thomas and GG

The first game was SO hot!! 

The girls were worn out!

Haha... Kristen was mad about something, but I forget what it was! What a face though! :)

Look familiar?? 

Remember Anna-Kate's favorite place to watch the games? 

Anna-Kate 13 months, Thomas 12 months! Only difference is that Anna-Kate was completely walking and Thomas is not.

She really is a great cheerleader! But I'm a little biased!

This Thursday is their last football game, so after that we should have a little more free time- at least until basketball season! :)

Just What The Doctor Ordered

A day off! 

Well the doctor didn't order it and I don't just have one day, but you know what I mean! :)

Today was SO fun! I think I appreciated my day at home a whole more than I used to and I know Derek certainly enjoyed having his dinner on the table when he walked in. ha! 

Derek "let" me sleep in this morning, so I was barely awake when he and Anna-Kate left. (Before you say anything about me being a lazy bum, keep reading!) I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't and then I thought about what I needed to get done so I woke up and took a nice long shower. Those are great, aren't they??! Then, I wasted an hour on the computer. (Now you can call me a lazy bum!) 

Thomas woke up right as I was finished getting ready so I fed him and we played and took our time getting ready. 

Then we went to the dollar store in search of a styrofoam or straw wreath for my craft day. I looked at Walmart but didn't find one and then the dollar store didn't have one. Hey- in a small town those are the places you go for these things! We don't have a fancy Hobby Lobby! ;) Ooohhh I wish we did though!! 

When we got home we had just enough time for a snack and to start some fruit tea and chicken and dumplin's before Amanda and Jackson came over for our crafts! 

I found the wreath ideas from Lauren over at Little Big Nest! We were in the same social club at Harding and I've been following her blog for a while now. She has the cutest house and is always inspiring with her creative decorating and crafts! Since we couldn't make our wreaths today we decided to try the toilet paper pumpkins that Lauren also made this fall! 

They were pretty easy to make and also pretty inexpensive! Each pumpkin takes a roll of toilet paper, a small piece of newspaper and some fabric! (you can click on the link above for the step-by-step instructions)

Amanda's are the red and the tan ones. I think they turned out so cute! She had really great fabric to work with! 

While I worked this is what Thomas did... 

hahaha! 

Amanda and I took a little time to take pictures of our boys let our boys play outside... they're just so cute! 

And that's where the pictures stop! I hate it when I forget to take pictures!! 

After Amanda and Jackson left, Thomas and I went to pick up Anna-Kate from school. She got out early today and I was so excited to spend some extra time with her!

When she got home Thomas laid down for a nap and then she helped me finish the chicken and dumplings! She really loves to put things in and stir them. Anna-Kate loves to help in the kitchen and I really try to let her most of the time. 

Anna-Kate laid down for a nap after that. I really thought that Thomas would be up soon, so I just relaxed for a couple of hours. I finished up the chicken and dumplings and got the table all set for dinner and then Thomas woke up, just in time for Derek to get home! Anna-Kate wound up sleeping until 5:30! 

After dinner we got cleaned up and ready for bible study. We host a home bible study, so we usually try to have some sort of a snack each week. While we were waiting on it to be time for church, Anna-Kate recited her memory verse for us! It totally took us off guard! I knew that they were learning memory verses each week but that was the first time we've ever been able to get her to say it! It was so cute! I wish I had gotten it on video! Maybe tomorrow I can! 

It was "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5 

I mean, that's a pretty tough memory verse and she said it all... including the book, chapter and verse! I was impressed! 

Thomas went to bed pretty soon after church and then Anna-Kate and I stayed up and read books together. She told me that she had to read 5 books so she could get her name written at school. ha! I'm not exactly sure what that means, but we read the 5 books just to be on the safe side. :) She has really started to love reading! I'm so glad because I used to read all the time. 

When they went to bed I finished my fruit tea and made hash brown breakfast casserole for MOPs tomorrow. I love fruit tea but I've had the hardest time getting it right! I think I need to just read the recipe closer. ha! 

So, I had a busy day but I loved every minute of it! Tomorrow is another busy day with MOPs and then packing for our trip. We are leaving tomorrow night for Franklin! I'm hoping to squeeze a little time to bake some pumpkin bread in there too. 

If you can't tell, I love being busy and I love cooking! I think that's just what I needed to snap out of my funky mood I've been in lately! 

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!