Christmas Music...my faves!

Well, it has officially turned into Christmas at our house. I love it! Everything is ready to celebrate this wonderful season of Jesus' birth. Today I made the final touches to the house and brought out our Christmas cds. I LOVE these c.d.s. I anticipate these c.d.s. I will have them playing everyday until January 1st. I wanted to share with you my personal faves.

Here's my Christmas Playlist!

Natalie Grant: Believe


Amy Grant: Home for Christmas
Casting Crowns: Peace on Earth


Amy Grant: Christmas Album Michael W. Smith: Christmas Time Point of Grace: Winter Wonderland
Steven Curtis Chapman: Christmas is all in the heart
Michael W. Smith: It's a wonderful Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through the generations." Psalm 100:4-5

Happy Thanksgiving! We sure do have a lot to be THANKFUL for. My list consists of my wonderful husband, son, all of my family (near and far), for my country, for the service men and women who give their lives daily for my freedom, for my friends, and most importantly for God.

I hope that each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Update on Ornament Exchange

So about a week ago, I shared with you that I signed up for a Blogger Ornament Exchange. If you want to read more about this click here. The other day I received my package. I was so excited. First, because I love mail and packages. Seriously mail makes me smile. I love it!

Here are my pretty ornaments from Lacey.

I really think that I will participate next year. It was a lot of fun to go shopping for someone that you really did not know. It was also fun to meet a new friend...kind-of the 2000 version of pen pals. Whenever I put these ornaments out on my tree I will always remember this exchange and think of my new NY friend, Lacey.

I need some advice!

Okay here's my dilema. I have saved every, well almost every, art project that Zachary has made in preschool and Sunday School. I save it in a rubbermaid container. I promise I am not a hoarder but here is where I need some advice.

1. Should I take pictures of each piece and then toss the originals?

2. Should I pick a couple favorites from each year/stage of his life and then toss the others?

3. Should I keep all of it?

What I have done is taken a picture of all of his projects from his 2 year old class...see below. Do I put this in his school scrapbook and toss the originals? As you can see I need some help. PLEASE leave any and all suggestions on what I should do. Especially any moms of older children. I know that he is going to get more and more stuff as time goes by. In fact the projects have almost doubled this year in preschool than last. I want to be realistic but I don't want to regret tossing anything later on.

The joys of a large box!

A week ago I received some ordered items in a very large box. I was going to toss the box until I realized that the box could probably provide some fun for Zachary. I was right. Zachary and I have played in or with this box daily, sometimes for at least an hour or two. Then Elliott came over one day for lunch and both of the boys enjoyed it. It funny because we have a tent/fort downstairs that is similar but for some reason this "new" box was way cooler. I keep thinking about throwing this box away because it is starting to wear out and get in my way but then Zachary reminds me how much he loves it. So I guess it will stay around for a little bit more.


Elliott taking my lunch order through the drive thru window

Zachary taking my imaginary money for my overpriced "diet coke".
My loves! E & Z

Pheasant Hunting

Last weekend, Kevin, my father-in-law, Matt (my B-I-L) and his father, Gene went Pheasant Hunting in Western Kansas. The guys had a great time! The best part was when they returned and brought the "sleeping" pheasants in to our home. It was bed time for Z but I let him stay up later so that he could see his dad, Pawpa, and the birds. I really thought Z would be fearful but he was not.

The guys with their HUNT....look how proud Z is in this photo!
PawPa and Kevin

Poking the birds eyes!
Zachary trying to wake up the birds! Yes we did wash his hands after this episode!

Girls NIGHT In!

Earlier this week, I attended a Sunday School Class Girls Night Out! I love these nights. This time my friend, Betsy, hosted the event at her home. It was an appetizer and fondue night. Each person brought an appetizer and then Betsy made chocolate fondue. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay the entire evening because we had our church directory photos. But the time that I did spend was wonderful. The food was yummy and the company was better!

The spread of appetizers
The Fondue

My girlfriends...Heather, Betsy, Annie, Jill, and Julie

I am so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful Sunday School class with amazing families!

Zachary is thankful for....

This week at Zachary's preschool they focused on families, Thanksgiving, and turkeys. One of the classroom activities was telling the teacher what you are thankful for. The teacher then wrote what each child said on a construction paper turkey. When I arrived at school the teachers told me to read the turkey's on the door. EVERY child said, " I am thankful for my mom & dad", Or "I am thankful for my family and my sisters". You get the idea. The only turkey on the door that was different was Zachary's.


It said, "I AM THANKFUL FOR JOHN DEERE." Seriously this little guy truly LOVES anything John Deere. My heart melted right in the hallway of the preschool. How funny and cute!


Here is the door of Zachary's classroom

Zachary's turkey
The other childrens Thankful Turkey's.

Pneumonia = Scrapbooking

So I was officially under "lock down" for 5 days. Doesn't seem like a long time until you see what I got accomplished. While I was under lock down I had no responsibility. The only job I was supposed to do was to rest & get better. Someone in my family was watching Zachary for me so I did not have to worry about his needs or wants.

I wanted to sleep and rest however there was no way because of the side effects from my meds. I had a racing heart beat and insomnia. I felt like my body and mind were working at double speed. So as much as I wanted to lay in bed and rest it was hard to do. So what did I do instead? SCRAPBOOK! I have not utilized my scrapbooking supplies for two years. I never got my supplies out of the closet because I was afraid a curious one year old would pick up a small accent piece and choke. Plus I had no time with a toddler to scrapbook. Believe me I have a TON of material that needed to be scrapbooked but no time to do it. With my 5 day house arrest I was able to knock out an ENTIRE scrapbook. Mind you nothing in the book is in order or sequence but I got so much done. So one good thing about pneumonia was that I got a lot of scrapbooking done. So much done that I think I can put my supplies away and not get them out for another two years. I am kinda at a creative mental block.

Christmas Ornament Exchange

Well, I recently did something I have NEVER done before. I signed up for a Christmas Ornament Swap on The Southern Girls Nest blog. It sounded like a lot of fun and being that I love Christmas I thought it was a great idea. So about a week after I signed up I got an e-mail from The Southern Girls Nest that had a questionaire about me to fill out. I filled it out and the next day I got my partner for the ornament swap. My partner, Lacey, is from NY. This was exciting because I have only driven through the state of NY on a bus. I have never been to NY City but I have always wanted too. My partner looks like she is a lot of fun and looks like she has a great personality with a zest for life.

Yesterday, I was on a search to find the perfect ornament(s)for my partner. I wanted to get her something that she would love and cherish on her tree forever. I will tell you more about her ornaments once she gets them. However here is a picture of my package to her. I mailed it today. Hoping she gets it sometime early next week. I will keep you updated on the swap once we both receive our ornament(s). Stay tuned because I will do a follow-up post!

Until then here is my wrapped package getting ready to be taken to the post office! Lacey I hope you enjoy them!

Acts of Kindness

Since I have been under the weather and unable to leave my house I have had so many friends and family members offer to do the nicest things for me. I have been so blessed by these friends that I am dedicating this whole blog post to them. Before I get started on this post let me just say that I am doing a lot better. I went to the doctor today and I got the okay to start doing things outside of my house. I still have to be careful of germs and I need to focus on preventing illness in my home but my lungs are showing signs of improvement. Thank you for the prayers. I get worn out easily but I am a lot better than I was a week ago. Anyways back to my sweet friends and family....

My former neighbor offered to pick up my groceries for me. At first I did not want to take her up on it. But I thought about how much extra Kevin was doing around the house and thought if Cindy got my Wal-mart list that was one less thing Kevin had to do. Plus we were really out of groceries. Anyways, I e-mailed my detailed list to Cindy and later that afternoon she was at my house with all of my items. MAGIC! She also snuck a couple cooking magazines in my groceries as a little get well soon present. Talk about sweet! Thanks Cindy!
I made Cindy pose for this picture. I had a lot more than a bag of apples. My sister and brother-in-law took Zachary on multiple occasions allowing for me to rest at home in peace and quiet. Zachary LOVED being spoiled rotten by his aunt and uncle. He also thought it was a real treat to get to spend the night with Elliott on a week night. Thanks Rachel and Matt for all you did to help me recover! I am amazed at your self-lessness ALWAYS! Here is a pic of Rachel dropping Zachary off at our house. Funny thing...Zachary hardly ever naps but after 24 hours at Aunt Rachels house she brought him back napping. Elliott was sacked out in his carseat as well. After she dropped him off I got 3 more hours of rest because Zachary was napping. THANK YOU! Elliott napping in the carseat.

Last Thursday night our new friends from church , Andy, Betsy, & Adelyn made stopped by with the most wonderful NO-BAKE cookies. It was the best surprise. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Betsy, Andy, and Adelyn but I forgot so here is a picture of the cookies. What a treat! Another funny Zachary story: Kevin came home from work when our friends were at our house. Zachary ran over to him and said, "look Dad they brought us sausage." Zacharys favorite thing to eat for breakfast are sausage patties. So he thought the no bake cookies were sausages. He was quite surprised with the "sausages" were sweet and yummy!



On Friday, my mom came over to play with Zachary while I rested some more. Not only did she play with Z but she took me on a little drive. I really needed to get out of the house so she drove Z and I around in the sunshine. When we returned from the drive, Zachary and Grams played with playdough and then she got him ready for bed. THANKS MOM! Zachary was bummed that Grammy was not spending the night but he loved his visit with her.

Grammy made a tooth out of playdough!


Dr. Grammy and Dr. Zachary playing Veterinarian on the doggie....pulling earwax.

Z and Grammy drilling in the monkey's mouth

Birthday Blessings...

It just so happens that my birthday landed right in the middle of this pneumonia stuff. I told Kevin and all of my family. PLEASE DO NOT WORRY ABOUT my birthday. I am postponing it! I will celebrate it. I will eat cake. I do want my presents :). However I don't want to celebrate my birthday when I am sick because it won't be as fun and my birthday dinner will not taste good at all considering the medicines I am taking alter my taste. So the night before my birthday Kevin said, "Are you for sure?" I think he was afraid if he did not give me my card or gift that I would get mad at him. I said, "100 % sure, don't give me a thing because I really want it when I feel well." If you don't personally know me I love celebrations. I love food. I love parties. So the morning of my b-day I walked into the kitchen and there were these lovely flowers, a card, and a gossip magazine on my table. Kevin said, "don't get mad this is just a "sick birthday present". I'm taking you out when you are well but this is just for today. Isn't he sweet!


Then my sister called to tell me that she was coming to pick up Zachary. She thought he was going to drive me nuts being cooped up in the house. This was the best present. He LOVES his Aunt Rachel, he was thrilled to have someone to play with, and I got some rest. When she came by she brought me this birthday present.


I love the cute brown purse and matching wallet. I started feeling better immediately.

Then about an hour later my doorbell rang and it was a floral delivery. The wonderful girls at Kevin's office sent me the prettiest pink floral arrangement with balloons. Talk about a surprise. They really did not have to do that but I love them.


Then my sis called me to meet her at her OB office at 3:00pm to go to her appointment with her. Mind you this was before I knew I was not supposed to be out of my house. Opps! Anyways, she was supposed to hear the heart beat of the baby today. When we got she introduced me to her OB and told him it was my birthday. He said, "Let's hear the heartbeat...better yet you want to see the baby?" He said, "He did not have time to order me flowers so the ultrasound was the next best thing." Mind you he is a funny guy. So he pulled in an U/S machine and next thing you know my niece or nephew was staring right at me. He/She was moving a lot and had it's hand up by its head. It was saying, "Happy Birthday Howie". Too cool for words. The best present of all! I was so overwhelmed and excited I forgot to take a pictures. Bummer!

Once I got home I checked my e-mail and one of my best friends from church said she was coming by at 5:30 with dinner. No ifs, ands, or buts. She was coming. Julie brought the nicest card, with a huge crockpot of the yummiest chicken noodle soup and rolls. What a blessing! Thank you Julie, Jeremy, Rhett, and Drew!

So for being sick on my birthday it was filled with many unexpected blessings. Thanks to everyone who called, texted, sent something, mailed cards, sent birthday wishes on Facebook, etc. It turned out to be a blessed birthday. I will post more birthday pics when I celebrate again. Not sure when that will be possibly in December. Zachary wants me to have a John Deere party :)!

Trick or Treating

We have a Trick or Treat tradition in our home. I am sure that when Z gets bigger we will change our routine but for now it works. We "usually" dress him up head out to my in-laws house then go to my "Aunt" Steph's & "Uncle" Keran's house for dinner and trick or treating then we head to my Aunt Mary & Uncle Don's house and end up at my parents. At my parents, Zachary and Elliott love to pass out their candy.


This year since we were coming from Topeka and that I was not feeling well we broke the cycle. First we picked Z up at my parents house. Unfortuately my dad had to work so he missed out but he has seen Z in his Buzz Lightyear Costume several times this year. We let Z trick or treat at Grams.



Elliott and Zachary at Grammy and Poppy's door

Grams passing out her Halloween goodies

The boys could not wait to get into their treat.

Then they each had to have Grammy show them what it was. Grams got them each a Hallmark Ornament with the Toy Story characters in it. The boys could not have been any happier.

Group Pic

After Grammy's House we went to my cousins house hoping to see my Aunt Mary & Uncle Don there as well. It's funny Z thinks that when you trick or treat you need to ring the bell, get your treat, have your picture taken inside the persons house by the fireplace, and then you need to stay and either eat or play with their toys. I guess this is the only thing we have ever done. In a couple of years our neighbors are going to be shocked when Z walks in and makes himself at home.
Ringing Doorbell at my cousin Lisa & Darrin's house

Lisa let Z pic as many pieces of candy out of the bowl as he wanted. I did not think we were going to get him to stop. :)

Z needed his pic by Lisa's fireplace

Getting ready to get back into the car. Z was having a BLAST!

Next stop..."Aunt" Steph and "Uncle" Kerans house.

One of Z's favorite things is that Keran & Steph's neighbors bring their dogs trick or treating. He remembered this from last year. Skittles and Chico were the stars of the show. Z & E loved them and thought it was hilarious!

Next stop: MaMa and PawPa's house
Pic by another fireplace

Family Photo

Zachary told PaPaw that he needed a costume. Pawpa went to the bedroom and came out with this. Do you know what it is? Pawpa asked Z what he was and he said, "Wall.E from Disney's WallE movie." Cracked me up!

Wall E and Buzz Lightyear!

That was our Halloween 2009!