Hickory Moms Christmas Party

Last Saturday (the 13th), we went to a Christmas party that was put on by my online mommy group (Hickory Moms) and had a wonderful time. Santa was there and handed out gifts to each child and we were able to get a picture with him.











We also had a friend take a family picture of us. The last one turned out great. As you can see from the other three pictures that we took, Richard was hamming it up a bit and being goofy.

Ally's duet...

Today in church, Ally sang a duet with her youth group leader. Richard and I were there to see her sing and I think she did a wonderful job. Next Sunday, she will be singing and performing in the Christmas play at church. She is playing the part of an angel... hmmmm... a stretch maybe... lol.

Ally is a Super Reader!!!!

Yesterday, Ally came home with her progress report from school, and she has finally earned enough points in reading to move up another level to Super Reader! This means that she has read enough AR (accelerated reading) books, taken a test and passed with an 80 or higher. Not only that, but, she is also in the TOP 10 (in reading) for the entire school! I am soooo happy that I have (so far) a child that loves to read as much as I do.

Happy Birthday to me...

Well today is December 12th and it is my 37th birthday. My two oldest girls woke me up with a tap on my shoulder and a "Happy Birthday Mommy". I spent most of the day at home cleaning and rearranging things. I moved a small dresser into the living room and filled it with Katie's clothes and items because I was selling her changing table (that she doesn't use) to a friend of mine. After Richard got home, he and the girls picked out which gifts to give me and wrapped them up, then I got to open them...lol. Ally gave me 5 pairs of fuzzy gloves in black, pink, brown and tan, Maddy gave me a pair of fuzzy Christmas socks and Richard gave me a lovely pink hoodie with Mossy Oak on the front of it. Later we ate tacos for dinner and we were going to have cake but we were too full and tired to eat any...lol. So we saved it for a later date.

Wrapping Gifts...

When it comes to wrapping gifts, do you wrap them as you purchase them or do you wait until Christmas and do them all at once? I am curious because I have started to wrap up mine and it's a good thing too because I have to mail some and if I was to wait, there would be waaaaay too many to do in one night. I am in the process of wrapping the gifts that Mommy and Daddy have gotten for the kids and the gifts that I have to mail out.

Decorating for Christmas...

When do you start decorating for Christmas at your house? Alot of people I know, put up their tree and decorations the day/weekend after Thanksgiving and take them back down the day after Christmas. As I was growing up, we always waited until my birthday (Dec. 12th) to go out and cut down the tree and decorate it. That always signaled the beginning of the Christmas season for me. Since having children, I have wanted to start traditions of our own and each year I always have trouble getting started...lol. I am hoping that this year will be different and I will get our tree and decorations up on December 1st. Wish me luck...

BLACK FRIDAY!!!

How many of you go shopping on Black Friday? This has only been the second year I have gone. Part of my Thanksgiving preparations, is getting the newspaper and looking through the sale fliers while the food is cooking. Then I will make a list of things that I want to get and plan out my route of attack based on when the store will open.

I got up at 3:15am (AM I CRAZY!!!) and headed out. Kohl's was my first stop, but sadly, they didn't have what I was looking for, so off I went to Wal-mart. They had some wonderful deals on kid pj's, tracksuits and hoodies ($4 each) and some great toy deals ($5 each Barbies) that I bought for another family. It was very heartwarming to see people being pleasant and helpful to other shoppers and not fighting, yelling and being greedy. Next was a quick stop to Michael's to check out that sale and pick up a 10x13 frame and some odds and ends. My final stop for the day was Sears, where I was able to pick up Richard's final 2 gifts.

Then it was back home to crawl into bed and go back to sleep... :)

And for an update on Thanksgiving, we ended up having everyone show up for dinner and we had a great time. The wonderful sound of children and adults laughing and enjoying themselves was truly a blessing.

This is a picture of our Thanksgiving table. We set it up as a buffet and I have to say that I was very proud of myself for getting it all cooked and set up.