What is everyone doing tonight? Nothing big planned for us, doubtful that I will even make it to midnight! LOL. I went and got some munchies today, we had some sparkling cider with dinner and made a toast just in case none of us make it, ;0) I plan on letting Maddie run around until she drops or gets on our nerves, whichever comes first, lol.

Whatever your plans are tonight, be safe!

Here are a few lo's I have done ....

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.......I INTENDED to do a countdown entry but as usual there isn't enough time in the day for me to get everything done that I need to.

SO, this would have been on Sunday.....
We just got back from our christmas with hubby's family. Always love visiting with family, Maddie had a great time. She got 3 dress up dresses from Nanna and Pappa, a wedding dress, cinderella dress and belle dress all made with love by Nanna! Of course right now her favorite is the wedding dress but I know that she loves all of them. Her latest infatuation is the whole getting married concept so it really doesn't surprise me that she likes that one the best right now. Have no fear though, I know that all of them will get plenty of mileage the way that she likes to wear them on a daily basis. Uncle Josh and Aunt Jen got her a Sleeping Beauty barbie that you can take in the bath with you and one of the heads that you can style. She really loves everything and what a lucky little girl she is!







My goals for the week were:
*make cookies for Santa
*work on picking up around house
*scrap (haha)
*get things ready for Maddie's big day on Christmas

Ok, so fast forward to now..
Monday night was SUPER busy, Johnny had an interview with a recruiter scheduled for Tuesday so we had to go get him a suit jacket. Should have went to Goodwill but we weren't sure that they would have something like that and all though we didn't have the extra cash per say we figured it might be worth it in the end to not have to go on a chase. After we got the jacket we still had to get dinner, 7ish by the time we sat down to eat so that pretty much took care of that day.

Last night we made cookies for Santa, Maddie had a blast, as she gets a little older it is funner making cookies with her because she really "gets" it and can do more. That can be good and bad though.



Today when we got home Daddy said he didnt feel to great, no shock, there has been stomach bug going around at work but it seems to be a fast moving one, so hopefully by the morning he will be feeling better. I sure hope that I don't get it because with the holidays I have to go to work on saturday or I lose my holiday pay. Anywho...He forced himself to go play for the beginning of the Christmas Eve service because he was involved in quite a few parts and didn't want to let anyone down. I cleaned up a little, trying to get toys straightened out to make room for what is coming tomorrow. Maddie had a meltdown from 7-8 and probably should have lost her movie for tonight but I still had way to much to get done so for selfish reasons of my own she got to keep her movie. Daddy started wrapping before having another episode and I finished up so the presents are under the tree and ready to go. My camera has a card and a full charge, the camcorder is going on the charger as soon as I get done with this. So for the most part I think we are as ready as we are going to be for the morning.

Tomorrow I plan on relaxing, scrapping, uploading pics and enjoying my day. Friday is my day off too and I will try to do something around here but I really just want to catch my breath from the hustle and bustle of the last couple of weeks.

Next is to try to think of "goals" for next year....I don't like to say resolutions because those are meant to be broke from the minute you set them it seems, lol.
* enjoy scrapping
* get cards mailed out ON TIME :p
* alter and make gifts

I'm sure I will be adding more....

I hope everyone has a super Christmas with family and friends!

Love and Blessings

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

Luke 12:2-3

Only 7 days until Christmas!

Ok, so.....as far as my list goes, buckeyes are made, chex mix is made. Cards? Uh...yeah, they are going out, I'm not sure what it is with me and getting things in the mail but it just doesn't happen. We are getting ready to head out to go see the in laws so I expect to have plenty 'o pics when we get back!

Weather is expected to be kinda ify this weekend, pray for our safe travels.

House is still a wreck! Maybe I'll get to it before Christmas!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Love and Blessings
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

Luke 12:2-3

8 Days Til Christmas!


Yesterday I managed to get some cards ready to get sent out, went grocery shopping and got things I need to make Buckeyes and tonight when I get home from my corporate training I plan on getting them started. Friday we leave after we get home from work for Cortland so time is ticking!

I want to blame my lack of getting alot accomplished yesterday on Maddie. Yes, dear sweet Maddie...ha! She was a holy terror, not listening, telling me what she didn't want to do and that she wasn't going to do it. Example--after several times of telling her not to do something and her doing it anyways I told her to go face the wall for a time out. Maddie's response--no, I don't want to face the wall for a time out. My response--I don't care what you don't want to do, you aren't listening so you need to go face the wall. Maddie--I said I don't want to and I'm not! I reminded her once again what she needed to do which led her to stomping to the wall and telling me that she doesn't love me. Ah......that old card....I remember saying this once or twice when I was a kid in rage, but I also remember not getting away with it. So I knew that I was in trouble when this happened at 8ish in the morning. Ok, so fast forward to nap time. I really wanted a nap because I haven't been sleeping to well at night with my hip hurting. So, I told Maddie to come and lay down with me on the couch and cuddle which usually pleases her and she will fall asleep with me. She had gum in her mouth and I told her she needed to get rid of it. She didn't want to throw it away, said she wanted to swallow it, ok, fine, I'm not going to fight this battle, swallow it, pitch it, do whatever but get rid of the gum in your mouth. I THOUGHT she had gotten rid of it. Silly mommy,tricks are for kids...I dosed off only to wake up because I heard Maddie walking around. Imagine my reaction when I wake up to find a big wad of gum in her bangs. Yep, you got it, gum in her hair, exactly why I told her she had to get rid of the gum in the first place. So what did I do? Did I cut it out? Nope. Did I try peanut butter or ice like everyone has talked about that works so well? Nope. What did I do? I attempted to see if I could just slide/pull it out and ultimately took a pretty nice chunk of hair out from the root. Ok, it might not be a big deal, hair grows back right? Let me just tell you, that image moment has been running through my mind ever since I did it, what the heck was I thinking pulling at it? Now I swear when I look at Maddie its noticable that she has hair missing which I'm sure is not detectable to anyone and I keep having these thoughts that I just ruined her hair and caused trauma. Geez. Is my fun for the day over though? NOPE. I finally got Maddie to fall asleep so I could attempt to get rid of some stress only to wake up to the smell of nail polish. Now this time she was asleep so it had to be when she was up the first time carousing around the house as if she owned it. I didn't inspect her at first, I just wanted to track down the smell and the bottle. I went in her room to find a few splotches of hot pink nail polish on her bedsheets and asked her where the bottle was, to which I got a shoulder shrug and "I don't know" than she told me it was under her pillows, I tore her bed apart only to not find the bottle in question. At this point I told her, guess what, you just lost your movie for bedtime tonight. I'm not sure why but I remained calm, no screaming, just numb, LOL. I proceeded to get her ready to go to the grocery store with me and when I looked down I saw this:


I asked her, why did you get into the nail polish and do that? She said, because I asked you and you said later but I can do it. Shocker of the year, a kid that doesn't want to wait. Another shock to me is that she was able to get the lid off, I have them on pretty snug, obviously not snug enough! Who am I kidding, this is the girl that survived her cord being wrapped around her neck 7 times and came out perfectly pink, she has super human strength, I should have known a measly nail polish bottle would be no big task for her. So as we were finishing getting ready she was telling me how she can't wait to show her friend Emily the next day and I see this:


Oh Maddie, at this point she is giving me this cute 'I'm so proud of myself' look and I'm not nearly as upset as she thinks I am. Gotta say though, she didn't do too bad on her fingers!

Last event of the evening, after we get back from the grocery store and have everything in the house my last trip was to go get the mail. Well, Maddie had already taken her coat off and was on the move so I figured no big deal that I go out. When I went out the door she came running after me and I told her its too cold for you to be out here without a coat get in the house, she kept coming and I told her 2 more times, get in the house. I heard her stomp into the house as I got the mail. When I get back up to the house guess what? Miss Maddie closed the door and locked me out. Yep. You heard me right, locked me out. Did I panic? Nope, I had my keys in my pocket, but I rang the doorbell first to let her come and unlock the door but I guess she was to busy because she didn't come. I let myself in and asked her why she did it, she said " Because you took to long and you can ring the bell" GRRRRRRRRR. Smarty pants.

Needless to say I'm almost happy to go to work today. Hope everyone has a good day!

Love and Blessings!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4

Let the countdown begin 9 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!

Well, this weekend wasn't TOO bad at work, the full moon didn't beat me down this time but I did have one of my favorite residents die, granted she was 100 but its still hard. Her sister who was also a resident died on Wednesday so say a prayer for this family, they are having a rough holiday season.

What does everyone have planned for the week? I need to get cards in the mail now that I have our pics, go to the grocery store and get things to make Buckeyes, make some cut outs with Maddie for Santa, I would love to take her to go see Santa, clean up around the house, wrap and make sure everything is ready for our christmas in Cortland this weekend and maybe even do some scrapping! This is going to be a busy week, my mind jumbles with alot to do and extra stimulation so I hope I get things accomplished!

Here are some more cards I got done:






And a layout:


Wish me luck that I will get things accomplished today!
Love and Blessings!
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Romans 12:11

Happy Friday everyone! This is my weekend to work so you know how that goes, nothing big planned .....but next weekend we will be having Christmas with the inlaws, I can't believe Christmas is coming soooooo fast!!!!! I keep saying that there just isn't enough time in the day or energy to do everything I need or want to do.

A while back my friend Angela from TSR tagged me on her blog to post 7 fun random facts about me and I intended to do it before now but its the whole time concept thing that I mentioned above. =0) I'm not sure if I can come up with 7 but I'll give it my best shot.

1--I despise putting up the christmas tree for some reason, when I was younger I loved it, as I get older I just can't get into it.

2--I still get excited for Christmas day and the thought of Santa Claus, even though hubby and I don't give gifts to each other anymore, at least now I have Maddie around to endulge with.

3--I treasure good times with family and friends

4--Sometimes while I am at work I will bust out in a kids tv show song, such at Wonderpets or a Backyardigans song

5--my favorite christmas songs are Jingle Bell Rock, Rockin around the Christmas Tree, I'm gettin nothing for Christmas, Chestnuts roasting over an open fire, Winter Wonderland

6--I am over sensitive and cry over the dumbest things sometimes

7--Ive been told that I can remember the words to just about any song I have ever heard, I often get "how in the world do you remember the words to that song?!?"

Our tree for now is just lights. Why? Because the other night what little ornaments we did have on it were taken down by Maddie. When I caught her taking ornaments and tossing them back in the box I asked her why she was doing that and she responded "because its not Christmas time, Santa isn't coming for a few weeks!" Geez!

I did get a chance to do some scrapping today, hope to post my work soon! Loving my TSR kit that I got the other day, so much good stuff to play with!

I noticed tonight when we went out that the moon is FULL, which means I am going to have a very exciting weekend at work I'm sure. I fully expect the alzheimer's patients to be wound up and ready to go. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Love and Blessings
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday right? Hardly. I despise Mondays...today was a not so joyous day at work. Its QA week so there is added stress and I just felt grumpy from the jump.

It was a fun weekend with my mom and Bri...Maddie of course enjoyed her visit. Mom sent me home with Maddies Christmas stuff, can't wait for her to enjoy all of her goodies!

Maddie has been pretty adamant on the thought of Santa and when he is coming. The night that we put up the christmas tree she was insistant that Santa was coming the next day. For the next few days after that she would keep asking if Santa had come yet so I decided to make up a countdown for her. No surprise that the other day when it finally sunk in that Santa wouldn't be here for a few weeks yet she came downstairs and started to take the ornaments off the tree, I yelled, what are you doing?!?! She said--but its not Christmas yet, Santa won't be here for a few weeks--why does she have to be so literal at times?!?!?




I'm still plugging away at Christmas cards, I'm waiting for family pics to get back before mailing them and than after that they will be postal!

So what does everyone have planned for the week? This week I am off Thursday and Friday, Maddie needs to get her letter for Santa together and mailed, at some point I want her to go and visit Santa and have her pic taken, I need to get started on Buckeyes and do some house cleaning. Not sure how much I will get done but I'll try my best!

Thats it for now!
Love and Blessings

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:28

TGIF! Have a great weekend everyone!

The tree is semi up--I put it up Wednesday night but when it came to putting the lights on none of them worked and I wasn't going to go through each strand and see what was wrong, figured they are on sale almost everywhere and it would be less aggravation. So Thursday I stopped at Hobby Lobby, they were 2 for 5 and got the lights on last night. Maddie started to put ornaments on but the novelty was over fast, lol. Tonight I am hoping that we get it finished up, I've been taking some pics of her decorating the tree and I am still trying to figure out how to get a good one of her with just the lights. I'm also thinking of punching out some snowflakes for her to put on the tree but we shall see.

Maddie is SOOOO excited for christmas this year, every day she thinks is the day Santa is coming. Last night we were watching TV and she came down the steps and said, are there presents? Did Santa come? LOL--this is going to be a LOOOONNNNNGGGGG month! Tonight I am going to make up a chart for her with a bag of santa stickers, I am thinking every day she can put a santa on a spot and when she doesn't have any more santas she will know its Christmas. Same concept as an advent calandar I guess but nothing special designated to each day.

Tomorrow we are going to Lima to see my mom and Bri, Maddie will be thrilled when we tell her in the morning!

Here's a pic to wrap things up, I took this awhile back with my cell phone, finally remembered to email it to myself.



Love and Blessings!
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57

Yay Johnny!

He made the DEAN's List for the Summer '08 term, this is the second time he has made the list! I'm so proud of him!

Love and Blessings

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

Revelation 3:19

Hope everyone had a great weekend! This was my weekend to work so we all know how that goes, it wasn't to hectic though, pretty nice and fairly calm just like the way a weekend should be. =0) Next weekend we will be in Lima visiting with Grammy and Grampy H!

Holy cow I can't believe that it is Dec 1st!!! Where has the year gone? We will be dating things 2009 before we know it! I am done shopping for Maddie, just have to pick up a few gift cards for the nieces and we will be all set!

What does everyone have planned for the week? I am off Tuesday so I hope to get the tree up, with Thanksgiving being a week later than usual it seems like I really need to hurry up with it already. Have I ever mentioned how much I really don't like putting up the tree? Stringing the lights, putting on ornaments, I like to enjoy it for the most part, but than only to have to take everything down. Humph, sound like a scrooge don't I? I also need to get cracking on making Buckeyes, chex mix and chocolate covered pretzels for my goodie bags at work. I was going to try to make something crafty homemade for a few of the girls but I don't know if I will get around to that or not.

I've actually had a little bit of time here and there to scrap....






Here are some birthday cards that I made for some girls at work....



Hope everyone has a great week!
Love and Blessings
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 16:9