Thanksgiving 2010 Part 2: The Christmas Train

The Christmas Train was fun! It is something the kiddos will not soon forget, if ever.

Thanksgiving 2010 Part 1

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. I know we did! We enjoyed our time with family so much. Thank you to all who fed us such amazing food each and every day! I can't wait for Christmas!!!

Just stopping in to say hi!

I haven't been keeping up with my blog this last week... But I am here today to say hello! My mom (hi!) needed a picture of me for a Christmas present and this is the one I sent her. She has been after me for awhile now to send her one, but I just don't have many of myself and none that are good. So yesterday Preston was my photographer and this one is my favorite. Our neighbors all think we are crazy for sure now! I can imagine them peeking through their blinds and thinking, "There is that woman again with her camera. Now she has her husband out there to boss around instead of her kids. Poor guy!". I do no such thing and don't know why they would think such thoughts. ; )

We also officially started our Christmas shopping yesterday! Woohooooo! It was fun! I feel a little behind this year. Is everyone but me almost done?

It Makes Me Smile

Maddie's outfit makes me smile today. Is that weird? Maybe. It's bright and playful...maybe it will bring a smile to you too! If you're having a trying week like I am, you'll take a smile wherever you can get it! Be joyful always;
pray continually; give thanks in ALL circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Home Sweet Home

It is good to be home! And it looks like we will be calling Paris home for a while longer. Preston didn't get the store and I am ready to give up. I want to be somewhere I can call "home" and settle in for more than a few years. Ok, enough about that. We had a good weekend with family and I wanted to share a few photos. It's been a long week already. Praying it gets better!

One more to go!

Preston went through the interview process this morning. On his way home he got "the call" that he was the one selected out of the three interviewing!!!! This is the first time he has gotten that call and made it this far. He thinks he will be flying back to KS sometime next week for one final interview with the Regional Manager! We are so excited! Could this be the one..."the place"?!?! I pray for God's will in our lives and over this situation. Please keep us (especially Preston) in your prayers!

***UPDATE: Preston's interview with the Regional Manager is Friday at 7am in Omaha!

My "Getting Caught Up" List

1. Brady's Halloween party at school was a success!
I ended up only making the bones and spiders and buying pizza and cookies. The legs were supposed to be licorice, but I couldn't find it (the day before the party). NOTE: Chocolate legs are very fragile and will break. They were super cute though! 2. Brady's spray painted boots cracked and peeled off 5 minutes after putting them on. Lesson learned! As soon as I dropped him off at school I ran to Walmart for some white duct tape. It took an hour to carefully tape just the white part, but they where done and ready to wear for the party. AND Saturday night at the Harvest Festival he won BEST COSTUME for his age group!!!!!!! I was way more excited than he was. It was nice to be acknowledged for all the painting, cutting, sewing, gluing, and stitching I did! The reward was a bag of Nestle Crunch candy bars for Brady...now that got him excited.
3. Friday afternoon I decided I had better get started on my pumpkin bowling booth. I had no ideas other than I wanted it to have a "vintage look". I went to Hobby Lobby hoping to find something quick and easy. The black and white checkered paper is Christmas wrapping paper. Easy right? Well, I knew it would get tore up in no time so I covered the entire thing with clear packaging tape. Row after row of clear tape. It took two hours! I got the idea of colored duct tape from doing Brady's boots. And the signs were easy. I just printed off the letters, cut them out, and glued them to some scrap booking paper I bought over a year ago. The lighted "Let's Bowl" sign was a huge hit! It is foam board that I poked holes through and then added the Christmas lights. And guess what??? I won the BEST BOOTH prize!!! $25 gift card to Walmart! I probably only won something because I worked so hard on it and nobody else (except the cake walk) decorated their booths. Yeah, nobody...how sad is that! Oh well, yaaaay for me!

4. Preston is on his way to Wichita, KS as I type. He has a final interview in the morning! I always "try" to not get excited and sometimes it works, but I am feeling unusually hopeful today. I could be moving to Kansas in just a few weeks!!! I never imagined myself living in KS and it will be an adjustment for sure. See, I am already talking like he got the job! I need to stop before I start searching for the perfect house to buy. LOL!

5. Friday I will be going "home"! Well, at least to the town I grew up in. It isn't home anymore and that makes me a little sad. But when you can't do anything about it, it doesn't do any good to be anything but happy and thankful for what I do have. We are going to a football game at my old high school and celebrate my dad's bday. On Saturday we are going to Enid to see more family (Hi!) and celebrate Preston's dad's bday!

6. Please do not decide to "drop in" to visit us, at least for a few days! I know I really don't need to worry about this happening, being the closest family we have 2.5 hrs. away, but I just wanted to warn you all. My house hasn't been cleaned in over a week due to the Halloween madness I put upon myself, my lack of organizational skills, and procrastination. That said, I better go feed my starving kids. ; )