Thanksgiving Festivities

We enjoyed our 4 day break, that is for sure! I was not ready to head back to work today, especially since yesterday I started to feel yucky. This could be from the over eating and lack of sleep...oops!

Thursday we headed over to Tommy's mom's side for lunch and man oh man was everything delish! We ended up with 6 pies and like 3-4 other desserts. It was a dream come true! I actually made an apple pie this year. But not really. I used Pillsbury pie crust and my SIL's apple pie filling she had made a couple months ago and canned. Either way though, I put it all together, added a few of my own little touches, and baked it! It turned out delish! I was proud of myself. Brogan had so much fun playing with his cousins as well as anyone else who'd give him attention! The girls on Tommy's side (MIL, SIL, aunt, cousin, and myself) decided this year that we were going to head to Legend's Shopping Center in KC on Thursday night. We left at 9:00 pm and had an absolute blast! We stood on a few lines out in the cold but it wasn't too bad. We hit up Carter's (majority of my money was spent there), OshKosh, Rack Room Shoes, Old Navy, The Rocky Mountain chocolate place (DUH!), and a few other little places. OMG, was this a freakin' BLAST! We decided that this was the start of a tradition.
I failed at taking pictures on Thursday. I was so busy chasing Brogan and eating and just taking in the family time I didn't care much for taking pictures.

The last few years on Black Friday (minus last year and the year after B was born), my MIL, SIL, and myself venture to Lawrence to just have a fun day shopping. It's so nice downtown cause the stores are unique and normally aren't packed. When we first got down there, we stopped off at Michael's to waste time while my SIL got her car worked on. And that is where I scored my most favoritest Christmas (or birthday) gift! The Cricuit machine! Michael's had them on sale BF for $60 and they still had plenty left so I snagged one up! I've been secretly, but not so quietly, wanting one of these! I kept hinting to Tommy about it and was SO excited to get it at such a great deal. I also got a few other things but they don't amount up to my Cricuit. I can't wait to take it out of the box, but I'm being a good girl and waiting till Tommy wants to give it to me.

Friday night after Brogan went to bed and Tommy went out for a bit, I got down all our Christmas decorations and went to town, sorta. I was so tired from the last couple days that I mostly focused on the tree. I purchased shatter proof ornaments this year since SOMEONE (a cute little 2 year old who lives in our spare bedroom) broke most of our ornaments last year. It looks so good and I love dimming all the lights in the house and just having the Christmas tree lit. I have, since Friday, gotten most everything out and placed, except our stockings cause I ordered a cute new stocking holder that is BACK ORDERED!!!! Soooo frustrating!

Saturday we had Thanksgiving with my side of the family. We had a great time. Brogan took a wonderfully long nap that allowed this momma and daddy to have a couple glasses of wine, eat a delish lunch, and visit with family! After little man woke up, we played at my parents neighborhood playground. He had SO much fun! We all slept great that night! Sunday morning, my sweet hubbs let me sleep in and I stayed in that bed as long as I could before feeling guilty! Although, I did wake up with a headache and that's when the yucky feeling started. I really hope I don't get sick and that plenty of rest, water, and vitamins will help! FINGERS CROSSED!

Last night, we had dinner at Tommy's dad's house for my SIL's birthday. I ate SO much pizza and tapioca pudding! SO yummy!! We were able to get a game in, which is always fun with this group of people. Tommy's brothers GF played with Brogan so that we could play the game. Soooo sweet of her!


Tonight, I'm helping my sweet momma decorate their house for Christmas! I love doing stuff like that, especially with my bestest friend!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Craft Morning with the girls

This last Saturday, some of my best girlfriends got together for coffee and crafts. Chelsey came up with a great idea to make our GF Melisa cute onsies for her baby girl Delaney, who is set to make her appearance in just a couple weeks! They turned out so cute! We had such a nice time catching up over coffee and then continuing the fun over at Chelsey's house. Some of us (mostly me) got frustrated with the freezer paper project and went straight for the iron ons. BUT they all turned out SO CUTE! Here is a picture of all the finished projects (Chels, I stole this picture from you!! It was much better than mine!).



I'm not exactly sure where Chelsey found the freezer paper tutorial, but I know I've seen it around on some other blogs. And it's such a cute, cheap, and fun way (as long as you don't have an very detailed stencil) to make shirts. I'm totally trying this again, maybe with less espresso in my system (right Jenna!?!?).

We all decided that as each of us have more babies, we'll do this again and again. It was a blast girls! Now, LET'S GET PREGGERS! ;)

Youth Group Bound!

Yesterday, I had a meeting with my church's youth pastor, Audrey (or DCE is her official title). It went WONDERFUL! And it got me SO EXCITED! Audrey walked me through all the activities the youth do and holy smokes does it make me want to be in the youth group again! And they still do things that we did way back when! That made my heart happy. There are so many places and ways to get involved but I think my heart is leading me to get involved with the girls bible study. They meet every Monday night and Audrey told me that would be a great way to get to know the girls. I'm going to pray about it and see if this is where God wants me. There are plenty of other ways they could use me also, when I'm ready. I can't wait to really get in the mix of all this stuff! On a side note, Audrey said I'd really be great with this youth group especially with all my sass! And if you know me, you know I can have some sass (and can get a little ghetto too, but that's for another post).

I'm not sure when I'll start helping but I would love it to be soon! But I also don't want to jump in and get overwhelmed. I also think that helping with a bible study of some kind will be good for my own heart as well. I've been wanting to be a part of a bible study or group and even though these girls are SEVERAL years younger, I know that I will get something out of this one way or another.

Anywho...this makes me excited and I just ask that maybe you all (whoever still reads this since I'm so MIA all the time!) say a little prayer for me that I'm making a good decision! I'd totes appreciate it, for real. :)

Happy Weekend!

Winter is coming!

It's officially snowing in Topeka, KS today. Actually, it's more like rainy, slushy, snowy mix...but still there is snow in the mix. Which means one thing for this gal!!!!

WINTER DECOR IS COMING OUT! I wonder if my husband knows exactly how much 'winter decor' his wife has. He might be completely shocked when he gets home!

I'm so excited for tomorrow! I have a meeting with my churchs DCE (Director of Christian Education) to discuss how I can get more involved with the youth. I really think this is something that God is calling me to do and seriously, I'm so excited to get involved in this way. Now, I might just help out every once in a while but I could also be taking on more than I think. Either way, I trust that God will lead me to do what's best for me and Him.

And tomorrow is also Tommy and I's kidless night! I love Brogan more than words can say, but Tommy and I need some one on one time. Like I said in yesterdays post, we could very well just sit and vedge on the couch but whatever we do, we'll be together with no distractions.

Give someone a hug or big smile today...they might need it more than you think!

Christmas Cards!

Every year, I like to get our Christmas cards out at least the week after Thanksgiving! And this year, I decided to use Shutterfly for our Christmas cards! This will be the first time getting cards from them but it won't be the first time I've used their website! I absolutely LOVE Shutterfly and all the stuff they offer.

All of their designs are SO cute (go here to see for yourself: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards) and I love how many choices they have. They have folded greeting cards, flat stationary cards, or flat photo cards. I most likely will go with the Flat Photo Cards this year. Here are some that I'm thinking about:






Our color scheme for our pictures were black, gray, and blue. I wanted something less traditional but I still love the reds and greens, with a little blue mixed in!

I also love Shutterfly for their other products!

Their calenders are SO CUTE!



Go here to take a look for yourself: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars


They also have canvas art (http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art) which I could DIE over! I'm going to take a couple of our family pictures and get some made. What a great way to show off your pictures! Plus, saves you the hassle of a frame!



On top of ALL these great things, Shutterfly has so many other amazing gift ideas! It's almost hard to choose! They have different holiday cards, baby invitations, photo books, etc.

What's so great,is bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 That's definitely something you shouldn't turn down!

Happy shopping!

As of late...

I have fallen, yet again, off the blogging band wagon. Life has been busy and I've been lazy. I also have been using Google Reader to read all my blogs and I since I don't have to sign in to Blooger anymore, I just don't feel as obligated to blog. Hopefully that'll change (but that's not the first time I've said that!).

Here's what's been happening in a nut shell:

*Tommy has been SO busy with the play he is in. It's called 'Rumors' and OMG. HILARIOUS! I saw it this last Friday and am also going again on Sunday afternoon. We're so very happy he'll be home more often. Brogan and I have really missed our time with him. This Thursday night, my MIL is keeping Brogan over night so us lovebirds can have some alone time. I'd love to say we're going on a romantic date but I have a feeling that we'll either stay home and lounge on the couch, or go do some crazy Christmas shopping (which I'm almost done with, thankyouverymuch!).

*Tommy and I have had some ups and downs lately, if I'm being honest, and we really have figured some things out. Our relationship is so much stronger than it was even 3 weeks ago. I love him more than words can say and I'm so thankful for my husband!

*Brogan is sill on. the. go. CONSTANTLY! But I love every second! There are evenings when all I wanna do is not play the mom and just go to bed right when I get home. But then I think that he isn't as tired as me and totally deserves 100%! We have so much fun together and he truly is a gift from God.

*Saturday, we had our Christmas card pictures taken by our sweet friend Sara. She took them last year too and they turned out great! I'm so excited to get them edited and get our cards ordered!

*This last Sunday was my niece Sloan's baptism. My sister and BIL asked if I'd be her Godmother and I was so honored! Hopefully I can get pictures uploaded this week. She wore the baptismal gown that all 4 of us kids wore (even my brothers). She looked darling!

*I'm SO excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I want to decorate for Christmas RIGHT NOW but Tommy put his foot down and said that it's not appropriate till after Thanksgiving. I had my pout session, but I'll deal. He did say, however, that if it happens to snow before next Thursday, that I could at least get out my stuff that's more 'wintery', like my snowmen and such. I did get some new decor for our tree and I'm so excited to get it all put together!

*This coming Saturday, us Diva's are meeting at a local coffee shop for breakfast before we go to Chelsey's house to craft! We're making onsies for our girlfriend Melisa's bundle of joy, Delaney! She's due in December and will no doubt be an absolute doll baby!

I can't think of much more to gab about! I'm sure as the holidays get closer, I'll have much more to blog about!