As The Old Saying Goes....

All's well that ends well!! Woo-hoo! What a game that was. I have to admit, I was shocked. I watched in disbelief as the Tigers whooped up on the chickens. What a great way to end the season. They have looked like a different team for the past few weeks. If Clemson doesn't give Dabo a chance, they will get grief from the fans at this point. I think the man has proven that he has what it takes plus some. He has put life back into a team that people had given up on, and they have come together under his leadership. I am thrilled with the way they have played for the past few weeks. Plus I get bragging rights to my Gamecock friends and also my Gamecock parents for the next year.... :0) I know there are still bowl games to watch (not to mention the Alabama/Fla. game next Saturday) but I am already going through football withdrawal.... I cannot stand when the season ends. At least this one ended well. Hopefully a sign of things to come!!

Good Grief

I declare, these past few weeks have just flown. I don't know which end is up right now. Trying to start packing up some things and get some rooms cleaned out and new stuff is being delivered almost every day for the new house..... Just makes me wanna scream. With the holidays coming fast on top of everything else, it's just making my head spin. I do love the holidays- and I make sure to take time out to really think about the meaning behind them and enjoy the family moments, but wow- it makes for a crazy few months. I am usually done Christmas shopping way before now, and I am not done this year. Not to mention, I've lost my list and the gifts I've bought have been wrapped for some time. It is going to be a surprise all around when people open their stuff.... Oh, well. Today was a real doozy. I dropped the girls off at school, came home, cooked stuff for their Thanksgiving parties and went back to school. Emmaline's party started at 11, and Annelise's started at 12. I picked up an extra child along the way, took them all to Chik-Fil-A for ice cream and to play on the playground until it was time for the after school Explore Lab. Dropped them all off for the lab, went to Wal-Mart with everyone else on God's green earth and went back to get them. Came home, collapsed for a minute, put on PJ's at 5:45 and ate cereal for dinner. I should be cleaning or folding laundry, but I just can't bring myself to do it tonight! I've got the "Can't Help Its" . (That's what we call it around here, anyway...) I was supposed to work from home doing phone triage tomorrow (with the girls here, too)- but thankfully they don't need me. So- I will have time in the morning to get caught up on cleaning. After being roped into playing several rounds of "Trouble" and" Go Fish", I'm sure. Such an exciting life. :0) I am looking forward to Thanksgiving with my family and feel fortunate that we don't have to travel anywhere. Well- 30 minutes to my mom's, but you know what I mean. I got my Christmas cards done and ready to mail. It is against the law in my house to put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, but I did get some down and ready to go. We usually get our tree the day after Thanksgiving, but the girls are supposed to be spending the night with Aunt Libby some night this week, and if it is Friday night, we will have to break tradition and do it another day. Besides, Saturday my rear will be glued to the couch anyway-I'll be watching all kinds of football and hopefully will be pleasantly surprised at what the Tigers bring to the table. (One can hope.) Well- here's wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Hope everyone will take time to reflect on what is important and how much we all truly have to be thankful for. :0)

This Should Be Good

Okay, so my hubby loves infomercial products. I learned this the hard way right after we got married and I got a shipment of 20 Hook N' Hang hanger thingys that are supposed to save room in the closets. BTW- those do NOT work and they went to Goodwill some time ago. After that incident I sat him down and we had a talk about it and I realized that it is something he almost cannot help so therefore I have been resigned to having to watch him like a hawk whenever we go to a store that sells these "As Seen On TV" things. Anywho- after a recent trip to Target, when we were home unpacking the 4 or 5 bags of stuff we had, I pulled out this Pedi Paws thing-a-ma-bob. I held it up and looked at it and then looked at B who had the "deer in the headlights" look and was frozen in place. Man, he is getting good- he must have snuck it in there when I sent him to get the catfood.... He thinks this gadget is going to be great for trimming our 3 cats back toenails- which is one of his jobs. (They're declawed in the front.) I just burst out laughing at him at the thought. Willie may let him do it for oh, a microsecond. Annabelle runs from him if he even looks her way- and she already sounds like something out of "Cujo" when he cuts her toenails with regular clippers. Then there's Clyde- who absolutely freaks at the sound of a burp much less a giant electric nail file that will be headed for his feet. So, I am truly looking forward to watching this whenever it occurs. Oh, do not worry- I will be sure to take pictures- although I am not sure they will be clear due to the fur flurries and most likely blood splatters that I expect to be flying about. I am going to enjoy this attempt thoroughly. I can tell this is going to go badly. Very badly......

Is It Just Me....

Or is this one of the creepiest dolls you've ever seen, too? I'm talkin' about the kind that end up scurrying across the floor in the middle of the night with an evil chuckle. This is a Madame Alexander Lollipop Munchkin doll from the Wizard of Oz collection. They would have been more accurate to call it Chucky's Spawn. It's on clearance at Target right now, for obvious reasons. If I got something like this for Emmaline, she would absolutely freak. Anyway- on a better note, if anyone is looking for toys at great prices, target.com has a big toy clearance going on. Just type in 'clearance' in the search bar and click on Toys when you go to the clearance section. They had some great deals. No time to write much today. I'm taking care of B. He has the tummy bug. I had it yesterday and you know how men are- they can never let you get anything without getting it, too. :0) So, I'm off to be a nurse and make sure he's still alive upstairs. Hopefully the girls won't get it.....

Paternal Humor

I can't believe in all the craziness this past week that I forgot to tell this story. B would rather me not, I'm sure, but I can't help it- I have to. On Halloween day, B and I had just dropped the girls off at school and we were walking back to the parking lot to go begin our day's errands. (Friday is B's day off.) On our way out, one of the school employees said something- I cannot remember the exact wordage, but the only thing I do know is that the employee thought I was a high schooler and that Brian was my DAD. I looked at B and said- "What is that man talking about?" B replied "HE THINKS I AM YOUR FATHER!!!" He was completely mortified and I was laughing so hard I was crying. Seeing as B is only 2 years older than me, I found it to be totally hilarious. Now, I do have braces- but my mouth was closed at the time and so that could not have been a factor. I had on jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. Nothing to suggest I was trying to be a teeny bopper. So, needless to say, B swears he is going to dye his salt and pepper hair and I have been telling him "Who's my Daddy? Oh, yeah, YOU are!" over and over (never gets old). It made my week and I have been laughing about it ever since. I have to enjoy that now, because I am sure there won't be much longer that I will be able to pass for younger than I am..... Anyway- tonight I am having a girls night with The Architect. We will be enjoying some PF Changs and some Barnes and Noble time. Woo hoo. (Sweet Thang- we will miss you tonight!) I will also be looking for a Clemson win this Saturday and a Gamecock whippin. Hopefully both of those wishes will be granted. Other than that- still trying to pick out some things for the house- we should have a foundation next week! (Would have had one this week, but rain stopped those plans.) Really nothing new or exciting to report, which is fine with me! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sugar and Spice

These pictures were made a couple months ago, but we just got the proofs back a couple weeks back. (Only because we have been really busy and weren't able to go pick them up....) I saw them and almost cried. I know I am biased, but wow- he did such a great job capturing the girls and their personalities in the pics. We ordered over 50 proofs, so what you see here is just a small sample of what I have. They look so grown in some of them. The first 5 are of Emmaline- I love that you can still see some of her "baby" features in her arms and wrists and hands. She is so photogenic. (I know I am braggin'- I can't help it!! However, they could possibly be the ugliest kids alive and I would never know it.....) The middle 2 pics are of them together and the last 4 are of Annelise. She is such a big girl now. I can't believe she is 6. She tried so hard to look old and be professional during the photo session. They are truly blessings in our lives and before you know it, I'll be posting their "Sweet 16 " pics up here........

Quick Note

So really quick.... So sorry for the slackness (again). It has been so crazy here. The house has been started and we have had to do some emergency paperwork and get that filed, blah blah. Cleaned on Saturday and watched football (so sad about the Tigers- maybe next week.) Then yesterday afternoon B was outside doing yardwork after church and heard something under the house. It was one of our main water lines. It had burst. Great. Instead of paying a plumber 8 hundred million bucks to come out on a Sunday at 6 pm, B - being the total handyman he is- decided to fix it himself. He ran to Lowe's to get things right before they closed and came home to fix it, only to realize that one of the key parts was missing from one of the pieces. He tried to rig it, but no go. I felt so bad for him... Annelise, being his shadow, was under the house with him in the musty, wet dark, holding a flashlight for him while he worked. That child would literally attach herself to his hip if she could. So- he went to his office to shower and left early this morning to go back to Lowe's before work and get the final pieces. No shower for me this morning, which is one of my "things"- I do not leave the house without showering, so I feel like a grimy mess right now. Gotta work and then go pick up Emmaline. Hopefully B will have it fixed before time to go get Annelise! I want to post some photos from our hike and also some pics of the girls that are just awesome , but B has to scan those because I am so computer retarded and he has not had time. Maybe tonight he can do that. I'm over my Obama rant. I figured that what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, ya know? I can live with it for 4 years. I gave it to God and He will take care of us, so I'm done with it. Anyway, hopefully pics will be on here tomorrow and I will have showered by then....... One can only hope!

My Blog- My Feelings

Let me say that I do believe that it is so very important for every person to cast their vote and have their say. However, I also believe that an uninformed, uneducated vote is worse than not voting at all. I watched countless interviews of people yesterday and last night who voted for Obama and it is safe for me to say that at least 80% of the people interviewed had no idea about what his policies are and what his plans are for this country. Some of the interviewers asked the Obama voters if they agreed on this policy or that policy and the voters emphatically said "Oh, yes, of course I think that is a great thing." Would have been fine, but the interviewers were speaking of Mc Cain's policies and were proving a point. This election was race-driven and that should never be the case. (Especially considering that Obama is half caucasian- why does no-one mention that?) I am going to pray for him and for him to do the right thing just like I would anyone who got elected. But I have some serious questions I wish he would answer for me. Like why he removed the American flag emblem from his plane and replaced it with a picture of himself. Or why he does not place his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. Or how he could attend a racist/extremist church for 20 years and then try to say that he does not follow the teachings of the preacher there. As a Christian, I cannot understand how another Christian could vote for someone who supports partial birth abortion. Don't know what that is? Go look it up. It is a horrific practice that should be stopped. It is murder in the purest form. How will he handle terrorist issues? Someone who has no experience in that area? I am so upset right now. Not to mention that he is going to take all kinds of money from people like me and my husband, who have worked our butts off to put ourselves through college, sacrificed and scraped to open the practice, and now we will be forced to give hard-earned money to people sitting at home on their rears watching Jerry Springer all day. How is that going to help our economy? Brian and I give money to several different charities. That should be our choice. I believe in rewarding hard work. His plan rewards laziness. Even Democrats have said that his plan mimics those in Europe- that are failing miserably by the way. This economic crisis we are in is blamed on Bush- but no-one seems to remember that Clinton is the one who passed the bill allowing people to buy homes when they could not afford them, and now we see the results of that. I have to keep reminding myself that in the end, Obama has no power over me that I don't give him. He cannot determine my values and my beliefs. Christians are going to have to take a stand for things like never before. God will take care of those who trust in Him- I know that and take comfort in it. Anyway- I am done with my rant. If it upsets you, then don't read it. It is my opinion and my blog. I have gotten it out and now I can move on to praying for our country and genuinely praying for Obama- that God will touch his heart and that he would seek God's guidance in his decisions. I want to be able to believe that things won't be as bad as I think.........

Halloween Scene

Our punkin. It had these lite brite sticks that you poke through, then put a light bulb
in the gutted pumpkin and it lit up. Totally cool. The girls loved it.

The girls on Sweet Thang and Mr. Paranoia's porch. Getting ready to go get their loot.

Emmaline was "Bess"- one of Tinkerbell's fairy friends, and Annelise was an Asian Princess.

Daddy and Emmaline, hammering the lite brite sticks into the pumpkin.

Annelise was more into the gutting process.....

I have several more pics I wanted to put up here, like ones that included Sweet Thang and Mr. Paranoia's Star Wars boys- but the blog system was taking way too long to upload today and I am working at the moment, so not much time..... Needless to say the girls had a great time and so did we. They loaded up on candy and they have been in sugar shock for the past 2 days. :0) I have not been true to my word this week about not being slack on the blog. We have been up to our necks with stuff involving the house. We had to make all these trips to finalize paperwork and get stuff filed at the courthouse and etc...... We also went to the tile place and we actually picked out all of our tile for the whole house and came in about 30% under budget on that! We changed our hardwood floors to hickory- which will save us another 30-40% on the budget for our hardwood floors. It has been crazy, but we are supposed to break ground tomorrow, so it has been worth it! Yesterday we went on a 4 mile hike in the mountains with my parents and my sister and her hubby and their 2 girls. It was perfect weather and a beautiful hike. I'll post pics of that, maybe tomorrow. ;0) Hope everyone had a great Halloween. Don't forget to vote tomorrow- this one is going to be a nailbiter.....

They Did It!!!

They actually won a game- even with 3 freakin turnovers!! Yeah, baby that is what I am talkin' about!!! I almost had a heart attack, but it was totally worth it.... ;0) PS- Halloween pics coming tomorrow night....